Baby blankets .. and more baby blankets

Our oldest daughter Hilary and her husband Kyle have announced that they will be adding a baby boy to our family in March.  This has me in the baby blanket mode, and I have done 3 patterns that are all different from each other and from the normal baby blanket.  None of these are blocked yet because the youngest daughter has not returned my steamer that she borrowed to steam out the wrinkles from her wedding dress.

The pinwheel blanket measures over a yard across, and was knit from 3 skeins of Caron Simply Soft.

The center-out blanket is done with a skein of Pound of Love.  It was the closest to a non-traditional baby color that I could find.  It measures 26" across. (I am not sure what the "best" size is for a baby blanket, so I'm making them how I like.)

The eyelet blanket was done in baby yarn from Big Lots, and $2.50 for 2 skeins, which I did not use all of to make this 24" blanket .  I am told that the yarn that is sold at Big Lots is name-brand manufacturer yarn that Big Lots buys from the manufacturer and re-labels, since they are not allowed to sell it under the manufacturer name.  Whatever the deal, this is the softest baby yarn I have used in a while.  It reminds me of Plymouth, which I used to make a baby sweater for my friend Kim's Madison when she arrived 4 years ago, and I loved the stuff.

Knits for (f)all seasons

I saw the pattern for these cute pumpkins and had to try it.  They were like Lay's potato chips:  I just couldn't stop at one.  The skein of Caron Simply Soft that I had in Mango made 8 of them, so I gave away several.  Then I realized I had some knitted and crocheted pine cones (thanks, Covered in Prayer crocheters) and some knitted leaves, so I put together a centerpiece with all my fall fiber, and added some cinnamon-scented pine cones.