Dad Knits a Blanket to Track Baby’s Sleep

Knitting has been used as a way to visualize data in lots of different ways, from temperature and mood scarves to how long the train takes or how much men talk in meetings.

But this is next-level tracking right here. Seung Lee tracked his newborn son’s sleep patterns in six-minute increments for his first year of life, then made a double-knit blanket to visualize the data.

Yes, white is when he was awake.

The whole process is laid out in a thread on Twitter, and it’s amazing. I kind of wish I’d thought of it but I was so sleep deprived I couldn’t even imagine something creative to do with it.

This is an amazing keepsake that literally represents the entire first year of life. He says the actual knitting took about 300 hours, which does not count time spent planning, tracking or developing the pattern.

But as you’ll see if you click over, his son loves it, which is the most important thing.

[Photo: Seung Lee via Twitter.]

Looking for more Baby Knitting patterns? Check these out on Etsy.

Getting ready for back to school makes me think about pencil crafts, so let’s take a look at some pencil themed knitting patterns!

I recently made a pencil on a circular knitting machine, and it was a fun, quick, easy project that uses little bits of leftover yarn (and if you don’t have yellow you can make it a colored pencil using whatever color’s your favorite). And if you want to make a bigger version check out this pattern from Orange Olive Road on Etsy.

If you want to knit a pencil pillow by hand, check out Sketchy, available on Ravelry from Shana S. Cohen. This one uses worsted weight yarn and has two size options and the choice to make a pencil with an eraser or a colored pencil.

Pencil scarves seem to be the most popular kind of pencil knitting pattern, and there are lot of cute ones. This one from Cosy Craft UK mostly uses garter stitch, with some welts to add texture and what looks like an I-cord edging. It calls for DK weight yarn.

If you want to go all garter stitch try this version from Emsley Co Creations, which uses five colors of DK weight yarn and just a little shaping to make the point of the pencil.

There’s also this fun, mostly stockinette so it looks like it curls a bit, pencil pattern that looks like it’s worked in chunky yarn from Little Knits Studio. This one uses just a little garter stitch and easy shaping for the point.

If you don’t want a pencil scarf, how about some pencil socks? The No. 2 Pencil Socks from The Yarn Enabler are available from Ravelry and use five colors of sock yarn. They feature wide ribs to mimic the texture of a pencil and have options to be worked from the top down or the toe up.

Needs Sharpening by Alexander Walker is a free pattern on Ravelry that uses five colors of sock yarn to make a sort of shortie sock. The little bit of black at the tips of the toes inspired the name. These, too, can be worked in either direction and are available in three sizes.

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