My Favorite Knitting Patterns Now - Amimono

I discovered Aminomo books at my favorite yarn store, KnitPurl in Portland, Oregon. They are one of few stores that that sells these books and the Isager yarn that is used to knit the patterns. If you are looking for modern knitting patterns for young women, check out these books. The styles are edgy but classic at the same time and are knitted with beautiful yarn. Her most recent book also includes patterns for toddlers.

The Amimono patterns are written by Helga Isager, who is the daughter of the famous Marianne Isager. Her patterns are fairly simple to knit, though they are somewhat difficult to read. I have found that charting them makes them easier to follow.

I am knitting daffodil now, and then will follow with vanilla and lemon. Stay tuned!

The patterns can be viewed here (site is in Danish): http://www.amimono.dk/
The books and yarn can be purchased here: http://www.knit-purl.com/store/pc/showsearchresults.asp?keyword=amimono and here http://yarnatwebsters.com/store/yarn-companies/isager
And pattern corrections can be found here: http://www.isagerknit.com/1-109-corrections.html

Woodland Beauty

I love all things woodland, so when I saw this mushroom baby rattle pattern, I knew I would knit it one day. Unfortunately, I didn't get it done in time for the woodland baby shower I hosted for a girlfriend in February, but better late than never! It knit up quickly and easily. The rattle is a little bigger than I had imagined, and it may be too big for the tiniest babies, but I think they'll grow into it quickly. It's about 3.5" across the top when looking down on it, and about 5" tall.

I didn't have any Koigu, so I used some beautiful Madelinetosh yarn as a substitute. If you have never knitted with this yarn, you should give it a try. It's absolutely wonderful to work with, and the colors are amazingly rich.

For this rattle and other knitted baby toys that I want to make noise when shaken, I buy small cat toy balls from PetCo. They're cheap and work well. I've tried a couple of local pet stores, but they don't carry these little balls. I'm amazed that yarn stores don't carry them, as they work so well for knitted toys.

I have found that you need to use loose batting for knitted toys as opposed to batting you would use for a quilt. Flat batting doesn't fill all the nooks and crannies as well as loose batting does. 

Pattern: Purl Bee Toadstool Baby Rattle http://www.purlbee.com/toadstool-babyrattle/
Yarn: Madelinetosh Tosh Sock
Yarn source: Bad Woman Yarns (Seattle) or Knit Purl (Portland and internet) http://www.knit-purl.com/store/pc/Madelinetosh-Glazed-Sock-Yarn-12p1373.htm

Twin Cuties

The Purl Bee is one of my favorite sources of knitting and sewing patterns. I had planned to knit this sweet little hat for a long time. I love this yarn and this pattern, so I couldn't help but make two of these when I finally got around to the project. It was easy to knit, so give it a try!

Pattern: Giacomo's Baby Hat
Source: Purl Bee - http://www.purlbee.com/giacomos-baby-hat/2008/1/9/giacomos-baby-hat.html
Yarn: Blue Sky Alpaca Sport Weight (you can get this at Purl Soho)