Craft Corner: Close Cables Hat

This year, my go-to gift for Christmas is knitted gifts. For the Christmas party for running club, I was hoping I would get a girl so that I could make her some mittens and a cowl. Unfortunately, I had to get a boy for the gift exchanged, so I headed to Ravelry to find the perfect hat to make him. I knew I wanted a cabled hat to show off my awesome knitting skills, so I decided to go with the Close Cables Hat. I had no idea what kind of yarn I wanted to use, but when I saw this Sincerely by Pearl Essence yarn in JoAnns and felt how soft and thick it was, I decided to take a chance and see how it turned out. And you know what? It was perfect!

I spent about 10 hours working on this hat and I thought it would never end. Countless episodes of Supernatural later, though, it was finally done! The original pattern says to cast on 80 stitches, but many of the projects on Ravelry said that it turned out a little small, so I decided to cast on 120 stitches and add another set of the cable rows. I'm so happy I did because it ended up big enough to fit a guy's head comfortably. It did a gray, white, and red pom pom for our school's colors and it turned out great! Needless to say, I love how this hat turned out and I was kind of sad to have to give it away. The person I gave it to loved it and everyone was definitely impressed that I made the hat. Little do they know, cables are actually super easy and the hardest part is having the patience to spend so many hours getting it done. I'm definitely going to make one of these for myself now!

Craft Corner: Granny Square Baby Blanket

Last month, my cousin gave birth to two adorable twins named Scarlett and Grayson. The babies were born very premature, but as of now they are staying strong and doing well! I had planned on having these blankets done for her baby shower in mid-November, but school got in the way and I didn't have the chance to finish the blankets until a month later. But now they're finished and I absolutely love them!

I knew that I wanted to make the babies blankets for the twins, but I had the hardest time deciding what to make them. Granny Square? Striped? There were so many possibilities! But when I found the pattern for this Granny Stripe Baby Blanket, I knew that I had found the one!

The border definitely caught my eye when I decided to make this blanket. I love the scalloped edges and the stitch was so easy for such a cute finish. My cousin and her husband are huge Ohio State fans and both met while students at Ohio State, so they named their babies in honor of that. I decided to make identical blankets for the babies, but a gray bordered one for Grayson and a scarlet bordered one for Scarlett. I'm planning on giving these to my cousin when they visit for Christmas and I can't wait! I know they're going to love them! Scarlett and Grayson are the first babies in our family, so I am beyond excited to knit them as many gifts as I can! Maybe hats next? Oh, the possibilities!