The wall of beautiful Amy Butler and Anna Maria Horner fabrics at Tangle is at once inspiring and intimidating to those of us who spend more time with knitting needles in hand vs. sitting in front of a sewing machine.  I picked up a copy of Amy Karol’s “Bend the Rules Sewing” however, and have been pleased with the number of projects that looked quick and easy to create.  My first project was Amy’s “Simple Bib”.  I am in love with this pattern and have been cranking out bibs like mad!  The finished product is great as it covers the baby’s shoulders and the snap keeps baby from tearing the bib off while eating (unlike velcro).  Next on the “To Make” list is the “Woodland Elf Hat”…Need I say more?  Sooo cute.

[pattern] [fabric]

One of the most popular projects seen this winter during Tangle’s weekly knitting group (Knit2Tog) has been the Kimono sweater.  It seems like each week another knitter pops in with a few rounds started of this pattern.  The finished product is a beautiful, simple, comfortable sweater.  JoAnne (in the photo) is creating her Kimono out of Plymouth Yarn Co’s “Encore Worsted” in the color “Fox”.  This yarn is great as it’s a wool/acrylic blend that is machine washable.  Berroco’s Ultra Alpaca is another popular yarn for this pattern.  Don’t be surprised if you run into a girlfriend wearing this beautiful sweater in the next few weeks.

[pattern] [yarn]

I love the new flannel from Anna Maria Horner.  It’s such a soft, high quality flannel, and who could pass up those amazing colors?  Luckily I’ve had lots of opportunities to perfect my flannel receiving blanket pattern with all the babies that have been born lately! This one is simple, but so great for a quick baby shower gift.

Materials:
two 1 1/4 yd pieces of flannel 44″ wide
thread in a contrasting color
Time:
less than an hour

Iron the fabric and trim off the selvage edges. Square up the fabrics, as needed, so they are both exactly the same size.  (Fabric tends to come off the bolt a little crooked.)

With right sides together, pin fabrics together around the edges.  Sew around the edges with a 3/8″ seam, leaving a 6″ opening for turning. Diagonally trim the corners to make turning easier and then turn the blanket right side out.  Iron the edges flat and pin the opening closed.

Set your machine to a decorative stitch (even a zig zag is cute!) and stitch around the edge of the blanket.  Make sure you stitch close enough to the edge to close your turning opening.

These blankets are especially nice because they are about twice as big as the little receiving blankets you buy at the store - you can actually swaddle a baby with them! I like the double thickness for winter or air conditioned buildings.

Here’s one of my sisters twins snoozing under his.

[Folksy Flannel]