I have the best friends!

I've gotten three packages in the past three "mail days" from my friends! These are friends I've never even met...yet, but I feel like we're family. BunkerBabes rock!

♥

I got this from Andrea: six skeins of "Otto", a wonderfully soft merino wool, and two books of patterns! I plan on making a lace cardigan out of the yarn, and I can't wait to try out some of the patterns in the books! Thank you, Andrea!

I got this from Dawn. She sent six skeins of "Spa", a bamboo/acrylic blend. It is soooo silky! I'm going to use it for Christmas gifts for my girls. She also sent a magazine filled with baking recipes! I love to bake, and I intend to try out almost all of the recipes. ☺ We're going to have some bake-alongs; me in Texas and her in Florida. Thank you, Dawn!

And this package is from Christine. I participated in a coaster/warm beverage swap, and she's the one who got my name. She sent me two kinds of loose-leaf tea(they smell wonderful, and I'll be trying them out tonight), and a tea ball. Some dark chocolate from Ghirardelli...YUM! And a lovely cabled mug cozy and a felted coaster, both in my favorite color: burgundy! And the patterns for the coaster and cozy, and one for a lacy shawl called "Peacock Plumes"; it was one I had looked at recently, but hadn't printed yet. And, to top it all off, a book of "Portals of Prayer"! ☺ Thank you, Christine!

My friends are awesome! I love you all, BunkerBabes! You have cheered me up immensely! And this swapping thing is fun! ☺

Baby Bibs

I mentioned in my previous post that I was making some bibs for a friend. Here they are!

I made a total of six bibs: two each of bright blue, bright red, and olive green cotton yarn.

I started with the red garter stitch one, just to get the basic idea figured out. I cast-on 30 stitches and knit in garter stitch until I had a square. Then I bound off most of the stitches, leaving 7, I think. I continued in garter stitch until I had a strap long enough to go around a baby's neck and button on the other side. I did a yarnover and knit two together, to make the buttonholes, and I made three buttonholes on each strap, so that the bib could be adjusted to fit the baby's neck snugly. For the second red one, I cast-on a few extra stitches, to accomodate the "pulling in" nature of the cables. The cable on the left side continues all the way up the strap, so the strap was wider...9 stitches, I think. I didn't keep great notes, just figured it out as I went.

I don't know why this picture uploaded sideways. Oh, well. Again, I did a basic garter stitch one. The second green one is a slip stitch pattern I saw somewhere and liked. The stitch pattern is knit five, slip one, repeat. Then all the stitches are purled on the wrong side. I added a garter stitch border, to keep it from curling. The strap on this one was very wide: 11 stitches.

And here are the blue ones. The blue cabled one is my favorite. The wide cables are 4 stitches, the narrow ones are 2 stitches. All of the cables cross in front; the wide cables every 8 rows, the narrow ones every 4 rows. The background of the cables is just garter stitch, but there's only one stitch between each cable. The strap is 8 stitches, with the wide cable continuing all the way around.

I am very happy with how these bibs turned out. I was going to make some burp cloths to match, but the baby shower is next week, and I haven't enough time. So I'll just have to buy some. They won't match, but that's okay, too.