Author: Kayla

Oh Baby! What Baby Gift to Make?

Oh Baby! What Baby Gift to Make?

Posted on by Kayla

Choosing a knitting or crocheting project for babies can be an exciting and overwhelming struggle. What baby gift should you make? There are thousands of patterns aimed at babies and new parents. Some are quick and easy, others are all intensive projects, and all are labors of love.

I recently learned that a friend from college is expecting their first child. My first thought was, of course, what baby gift to make! Baby blankets, sweaters, softies, hats; there are so many choices! How do you choose what project to cast on for new babies?

Tick Tock Time Constraints

The first obstacle to tackle is time. How long do you have until the baby will arrive? Do you want the gift to be ready for a newborn, or wait until the child is a few months old? Crafting takes time, and it is stressful when done under a time crunch. Knitting and crocheting should be enjoyable! If time is not on your side, choose a smaller project like a softie or an easy sweater.

Baby blanket shown blocking in the grass. The blanket is yellow with pink animals inside small squares.
Blanket made as a baby gift for a friend.

By far the most time intensive project I have ever done was this baby blanket for an animal loving friend. It was double knit and had different animal patterns. There seemed to be miles of yarn involved, and many, many months of knitting!

I have also made several baby sweaters for various little ones in my life. You can read more about the sweaters I have done in my blog post Goldilocks and the Many Sweaters and see how I tried blocking baby sweaters in Lessons in Sweater Blocking.

Practicality, Please!

The next question to answer is how practical do you want your present to be for new parents? A gorgeous cabled sweater is a lovely item, but if the baby is born in June a warm sweater will not be very useful. Babies grow like weeds! A sweater that fits today will be too small in a few months. Softies and stuffed animals are always adorable, but most babies don’t interact with them until they are at least a few months old. This doesn’t mean that cute crochet bunnies aren’t a great gift! Emma the Bunny from Edward’s Menagerie is one of my favorite softies and would make a great gift! Just keep in mind the intended recipient and think about how the parents might receive different types of gifts.

If you are interested in reading more about Edward’s Menagerie you can read my book review. I just did another character out of the book, Angharad the Donkey, for a friend whose school mascot was a donkey.

A donkey made in school colors for a friend from college and their new baby.

Baby Yarn for Baby Gifts

Once you have a pattern picked out, the next step is choosing the right yarn. Babies can have sensitive skin, so choosing a yarn that is soft and intended for a young audience is a great idea. I enjoy using Bernal Baby Yarn and Baby Bee. Texture of the yarn is important, make sure to choose the right type for your project! That fluffy cloud like yarn makes cozy winter baby blankets, but is not ideal for light Lacey sweaters. When choosing a knitting or crocheting project for a baby, try to pick a yarn that is machine washable. New parents will appreciate this! Yarn that requires special care and blocking does not meet the busy schedule requirements of new parents.

You should be ready to create the perfect gift for the new baby in your life! choosing a knitting or crocheting project for a baby can be difficult, but some forethought can save a lot of headache down the road. Baby gifts are so much fun to make! Do you have a favorite project for new babies?

Who Runs the World? These Crochet Iconic Women

Who Runs the World? These Crochet Iconic Women

Posted on by Kayla
White book cover with crochet iconic women dolls circled around title “Crochet Iconic Women “ by Carla Mitrani.
Crochet Iconic Women book cover. Look at all those iconic ladies!

An Instagram post about the book Crochet Iconic Women recently came across my feed. Looking at the projects shown on the cover I knew right away that I had to get my hands on a copy. The book, written by Carla Mitrani, was published in 2020 and features 15 amazingly detailed dolls. Each doll represents one of the most impactful women from throughout history. Standing at about 8 inches tall, every doll has something unique that makes them instantly recognizable.

Staring out from the cover of the book are characters such as Ruth Bader Ginsberg, Serena Williams, Cleopatra, and Rosa Parks. The iconic women on display in the 120 pages lived all throughout history. Women in the book represent backgrounds in subjects like sports, arts, science, and philanthropy.

All patterns from the book Crochet Iconic Women in one photo, taken like a class photo with everyone politely standing in neat rows.
All the iconic women in a group photo.

With a close friend graduating from law school this year, beginning with a Ruth Bader Ginsberg doll was an obvious choice. Judging by the photos on the cover of the book, the dolls appear to be fairly basic in construction. For Ruth, something like a head, arms, and a solid black robe. Not the case! The instructions are very detailed. The pattern goes through making two legs, joining them together at the waist, and even changing colors and adding texture to differentiate the pants and shirt.

A thin arm hides under billowing robes.
Not only are there legs hiding under that robe, but a shirt, and a nice transition between the two.
Arm and leg details.

The slender arms hide under long oversized sleeves, and the robe goes over the shirt and pants and down just past the legs. The black judicial robe allows the doll to be sturdier when standing. The amount of detail in the instructions is very surprising and delightful. These crochet iconic women are well made and every little detail makes them endearing.

All different angles of the finished doll.

At the end of the book are techniques to bring more life to the dolls. For example, there are instructions on shaping the wire glasses for Ruth Bader Ginsberg. Carla Mitrani does a fantastic job at making sure everything needed to make the dolls is explained. I highly recommend checking out the book, which you can find on Amazon using this link. Please note that this post contains affiliate links, I will earn a small percentage should you choose to purchase something, but it will be at no cost to you. You can read the disclosure policy here.

Ruth Bader Ginsberg crochet doll shown standing in front of blooming red tulips.
Ruth Bader Ginsberg crochet doll among the spring tulips.

My friend is excited to have her new Ruth Bader Ginsberg companion. There can never be enough crochet iconic women out in the world, which one will you start crocheting?

Ladybug Mittens: Bobbles for Everyone!

Ladybug Mittens: Bobbles for Everyone!

Posted on by Kayla

My first pattern, Ladybug Mittens, is now out on both Etsy and Ravelry. These mittens are perfect for the lingering cold days of spring. Even though it is April, the snow keeps flying here in the Rocky Mountains.

Ladybug mittens set across an evergreen bush covered in fresh snow.
Ladybug Mittens keep you warm in the snow.

Ladybugs have always been some of my favorite spring time features. They hover through the air and stick on your shirt if they choose to land on you. When I first saw the bobble cast on, I immediately was reminded of spots on a ladybug. Oddly enough I also think the bobbles remind me of scallops, but those aren’t as cute to wear on your hands.

  • Bobbles to the max!
  • Palm side of the mittens.
  • Ladybug mittens in the sun.
  • Close up of thumb details.
  • Back of mittens.

The pattern includes both written and charted instructions. No matter how you like to read your knitting patterns, there is an option for you! The mittens work up really quickly with worsted weight yarn and US size 9 needles. You can make a pair in a weekend and be ready to rock your new mittens to work on Monday!

There are five bobbles on the back on the mittens to make the ladybug spots really stand out. Bobbles are a great way to add texture and depth to a project. They can also be easily omitted if they aren’t your style. Make the mittens your own!

Close up bobble from the back of the mitten.
Bobbles along the cuff and back of the hand make for fun design elements.

Designing this pattern was a lot of fun, and also challenging because I had to slow down and write out what I was doing. I also had to remember to change where the bobbles went to make the right and left mitten different. Even after chanting reminders to myself, I ended up making 2 right hand mittens instead of a matching pair the first time I knit them. At least they are cute and will make for great gifts for my friends!

Be sure to check out the pattern, and let me know what you make! Share your projects on Ravelry and Instagram with the hashtag #ladybugmittens

Link to Etsy listing

Link to Ravelry listing


Seaming a Baby Sweater: Not as Scary as it Seems

Seaming a Baby Sweater: Not as Scary as it Seems

Posted on by Kayla

Disclaimer: Stitches at Altitude may become part of different affiliate marketing programs whose products or services may be promoted or advertised on the website in exchange for commissions if you make a purchase through our affiliate link at no extra cost to you.

Everyone knows that after blocking a baby sweater, the inevitable next step is seaming the baby sweater. Let me start by saying that I love to knit. I do not love to block and seam edges and weave in ends. It is all part of the process, but seaming a freshly cast off sweater is not on my list of tasks to complete quickly. After procrastinating for about 2 weeks after the sweater came off the blocking wires I finally picked the project up again.

My hesitation probably comes from the fact that I am not great at sewing or seaming my knitting together. I can join two pieces of knitting, but it looks crude and unruly. They say practice makes perfect, but it’s discouraging to knit a fantastic piece and ruin it with 28 different attempts to sew it together. Sound familiar to anyone?

Method for Seaming

Typically I avoid seams by working projects in the round whenever possible. With a little math I could have figured out how to make this sweater in the round, but I was lazy and wanted to start casting on, not doing calculations to convert from rows to rounds. I did plan ahead (a little anyway) and I cast on two extra stitches on all the pieces for the sweater. That left one selvedge stitch on each side of the pieces to use to sew the edges together. I chose a slip stitch selvedge stitch, sometimes known as the chain or twisted chain selvedge stitch. Turns out this isn’t a common one for seaming because it tends to leave a loose and unflattering seam. So much for my initial research.

Example of edges of pieces. Visually similar to a crochet chain stitch all along the edges.
All the edges of the pieces looked similar to a crochet chain stitch.

After more research I found a great technique for seaming up my baby sweater, and it looks almost invisible! Here is a link to the tutorial that I found created by 10 Rows a Day. It is a fantastic tutorial with written instructions, pictures, and even a video. In the end, seaming the edges of a knitted sweater was less scary than I imagined!

The Baby Sweater is Seamed and Finished!

Enough talk, here are the results from seaming the baby sweater! I am happy with how they turned out. The seams lay flat and don’t draw attention away from the rest of the sweater. It was easy to work the sewing along the underarms and down the side of the body.

Close up of underarm and side seam of baby sweater.
Seams! The side and underarm seam along the sweater lays flat and looks pretty innocuous.

The final finished baby sweater turned out absolutely darling! It is on the small side (although the sleeves might be a tad long) so it probably won’t fit the intended recipient. I enjoyed working the pattern, Originally it started off as the Small Cable Cardigan from Lullaby Knits, by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard. I decided at the end to finish it like the Small Cable Sweater from the same book. You can use this link to purchase a copy of the book Lullaby Knits.

Completed baby sweater laying on grass and pine needles.
Completed Small Cable Sweater!

I just cast off a purple cabled sweater in a larger size, so growing baby will get a sweater yet! I think my next attempt at seaming a baby sweater will go even better than this time around.

Goldilocks and the Many Sweaters

Goldilocks and the Many Sweaters

Posted on by Kayla

My goal for this month is to finish a baby sweater that will be going to a sweet little girl in Arkansas who has recently joined my boyfriend’s family. Admittedly, it will be my fourth attempt at making a baby sweater that is in the ballpark of being the right size. The first attempt ended up with a really cute sweater, but somehow I didn’t think it was quite right. My childhood teddy bear enjoyed his new sweater though.

The second attempt was way too small, even after going up a needle size from the pattern recommendations as suggested by other people. With a wrist circumference of 1.5 inches it seems small even for a newborn…I really liked the stitch pattern for the cables on this sweater. It is from the book Lullaby Knits by Vibe Ulrik Sondergaard.

The next sweater was bigger, which is good, but it was a lot bigger. I think it measured up to fit a 2-4 year old. Which isn’t the worst thing, babies grow quickly, right?

This time I am trying another cable pattern and have just finished the back portion. On to the front, which is knit identically. At least I know what it should look like in the end.