Another Surprise

I'm doing another BSJ, this time for T. I adore this pattern. Such fun! Here are the fruits of two days of on and off knitting. I'm three ridges into the first set of increases:



The knitterly details:

Yarn: WOTA bulky in navy, emerald, and bare
Needles: US size 9 Knit Picks Options
Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Surprise Jacket
Mods: crochet provisional cast on for sleeves so I can make them longer. I also added 9 stitches to each end of the cast on, since I'm not doing the increase above the cuff because of how I'm doing the sleeves.

This yarn and needle choice is rumored to yield a toddler size sweater. We shall see!

Surprise!

I finished my first Baby Surprise Jacket. Fun, fun pattern, and really easy too. I was a little nervous about starting it, because I'd seen all kinds of cheat sheets and references to knitters using spread sheets to help them keep their place in EZ's instructions. Bah! Totally not necessary, IMO. It's pretty straightforward, really. My increases did travel a bit on one side at one point, but otherwise it was smooth sailing.

I used some scraps of baby acrylic I keep on hand for charity stuff. I plan to donate this to the local hospital. Now that I know I like the pattern, I'll have to find some scrumptious yarn to make one for T (and figure out how to size it for a toddler . . .).

And, of course, some pics:





And my latest WIP, a mistake rib scarf in 100Purewool:

Forward Motion!

I finished the black merino mittens! Unfortunately, I forgot to snap a picture of them before I gave them to my mom to give to her friend. Ah, well. Not much to see anyway. Just plain vanilla black mittens. That's one WIP checked off my list!

Here's what I'm currently working on:


A Baby Surprise Jacket (from EZ's Knitting Workshop). I'm just trying out the pattern, so I'm using some baby acrylic I have on hand for charity stuff. It'll probably go to the local hospital if it turns out cute. (So far so good.) I'm loving this pattern. It's really easy, and it's intriguing trying to figure out how the shaping will get you to a sweater in the end. EZ is just the most brilliant, clever knitter ever!


Crochet sampler baby afghan for friends who are expecting their second child. I have 4 squares to go, and then I have to decide on an edging.

On deck:

Refined Raglan from the Winter '06 IK. I think I'm going to try it in some Pistacchio Cotton Ease I have lying around(for me!)

A scarf for me from 100Purewool (stitch pattern yet to be decided)

Stocking cap and gaiter for DH for Christmas (probably EZ's Watch Cap, with the gaiter in the same stitch)

Play food and market bag for DS and niece and nephew for Christmas

I better get busy!

EZ Shorties

I finished another pair of shorties for T Tuesday night while watching the Pistons (and dang it, they lost again!). I may have to forego knitting while watching tonight's game or I'll probably forget what I'm doing and have to frog it. Anyway . . . this brings the count to three new pairs of summer woolies.



Pattern: Baby Leggings from Knitter's Almanac (Gotta love EZ!)
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino in camel
Needles: US size 5 circs
Gauge: Between 5 and 5 1/5 stitches per inch
Unstretched measurements: 16" waist, 21" hip (widest part, at last increase), 20" rise. It fits my 14-month-old son perfectly (but with not a whole lot of room to grow, so it would probably fit a younger baby as well).
Mods: Increased the number of stitches set aside for the crotch to 14 front and back; 5 stitches just doesn't seem like enough for an active toddler. Also did just 7 rows of ribbing after dividing for the legs to make shorties instead of longies.

The rise is indeed long, as I've read elsewhere, but I decided to just knit the pattern as written (with the exception of the mods mentioned above) the first time just to see how it turns out. It's really not that long after blocking, and since I used merino, I know it'll shorten some with the felting from regular wear anyway, so I'll probably be thankful for the extra length down the road.

This was a fun and easy pattern, and it turned out really cute. So far I give it a thumbs up, but T hasn't worn it yet. I'm interested to see how it fits and behaves on a babe in action.

Next up: Ottobre in bulky wool (probably for overnight), perhaps a pair of Ladybugz shorties in merino (I had the sudden urge to try something crocheted and bought the pattern last night--we'll see how that goes), and maybe another pair of EZ shorties in merino if I like how this pair fits. I'd also love to do another Curly Purly soaker, and the Tickle Turdle Wrap caught my eye last night. So . . . I have some decisions to make.

My First Ever EZ Project

T's Birthday sweater is done. It fits him well. I didn't have to buy more yarn (I have about 8-10 yards left of each color). I am satisfied.

Here's the finished sweater in all it's washed and blocked, yet-to-be-worn glory (the color is washed out here--it's accurate in the last two photos):



I love how the stripes turned out:





The knitty gritty:

Pattern: the "recipe" for a seamless raglan from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting without Tears
Yarn: TLC Cotton Plus, one skein each red and navy
Needles: US size 5 and 7 Knitpicks Options
Size: 12 months with room to grow--24" chest, 9" sleeves (measured from the armpit), 8" body length (measured from the armpit)
Modifications: Changed a few things to make the percentage system work for a child--no shaping on the sleeves, a bit more than 50% of body stitches for the neck opening, long ribbed cuffs on the sleeves to allow for growth. I also didn't use EZ's neck shaping method. I just added three short rows to the back of the neck in my own manner.

This simple little sweater has such a sordid history. I had more false starts and frog and redo sessions than I care to rehash (I still am not sure why this project was such a problem for me), but I'm really happy with how it turned out. Mission accomplished!

Checking In

I've been knitting away, and it's beginning to look like a sweater--finally!

I still have my doubts about how it will turn out. I'm still not sure the yarn will hold out, so I may have to make a last-minute Internet purchase to complete the project. Also, I'm not at all sure that I can graft these underarms neatly and make them look like anything that resembles decent:



I must have stretched things a lot when I joined the body and sleeves, because I've got some wonky, huge stitches on the ends of these underarm sections. I'm hoping that blocking will work miracles on the armpits (and make the decrease stitches look more even)!

We shall see . . .

Houston, We Have a Problem

It's still curling! I did a purl row six rows in, and now the whole blessed thing wants to flip up right above the purl row. I think this is worse than before. I need to go lie down.

Tough Decisions

I've finished the body and sleeves on T's birthday sweater and am all ready to join the pieces and start knitting the yoke. But . . . (are you sitting down?) I've decided to rip back and reknit the body. I don't like how much the edge is curling. A fellow member of Zimmermania pointed out that you can do a single purl row a little ways up from the edge, and that will stop the roll. I tried that on the sleeves (see photo below--sorry it's a bit fuzzy), and I like the effect. I purled on the fifth row. I think on future projects, I'll put the purl row quite a bit further in, but the tiny roll doesn't bother me enough on this sweater to rip and reknit both the body and the sleeves.



Also, I've decided to keep on knitting without buying any more yarn unless I know I'm going to need it. I think that if I'm careful and place the stripes on the yoke strategically, I might be okay. Ripping and reknitting the body to reduce the roll will give me some extra yarn for the yoke too. (Fingers crossed.)

Now I just have to decide if I want to make this a yoke sweater or a raglan sweater. I'm thinking raglan would probably take less yarn. Yes? No? Anyone?

Doomed from the Start?

Have you ever had a project that you just can't seem to get off the ground? That's how T's birthday sweater is ending up. First, I cast on and then, about an inch later, I realized I had twisted the stitches when I joined in the round. Frog. Next, I was knitting away happily, untwisted, when I started to feel that perhaps I was knitting the wrong size. Yup, I measured some more of T's clothes that I like the fit of and discovered I was making the chest 2 inches too large. Apparently, the sweatshirt I measured the first time is average length but very wide. Frog. I adjusted my measurements, refigured my cast on stitches, and cast on again with the correct number. (I should mention here that I hate casting on. Even more so, I hate casting on large numbers of stitches--figuring out how long of a tail to leave for the long tail cast on, counting stitches, recounting and re-recounting to make sure I have the right number of stitches. Shoot me now!) I was feeling very good about this little sweater, when I realized--again an inch or two into it--that I had again twisted when joining in the round. (Mind you, I knit in the round all the time, and I never have trouble with twisting like this. ) Frog. That brings me to my latest (and hopefully, final) attempt. I'm about 6 inches in, we have no twisting, and the measurements are coming out perfectly. Woot! But . . . I probably don't have enough yarn to finish this sweater. For some reason, when I bought the yarn, I figured one 3 1/2 oz. skein of each color would be enough. (I'm going to arrange the colors something like this.) What on earth was I thinking? Now I have to order more yarn online (and pay more shipping), because I'm pretty sure none of the local craft stores carries this yarn. And of course I'll have to deal with mismatched dye lots. And how much more do I need? . . . I'm trying very hard to take a deep breath and remain calm.

Roll Call

T's longies. Not far to go now.


My first sock. I can't decide if this yarn is fun or ugly, but I'm having a blast knitting it!


The plans for T's new sweater. It will be an Elizabeth Zimmerman seamless pullover. I haven't decided yet if it will be yoke or raglan, but I've got a good amount of knitting to do before I need to make that decision. You can kind of see what I'm planning from my (very poorly rendered) pencil sketch. I'm no artist (Do you like the different length arms? LOL), but it helps me visualize where I'm going.

I've decided I need to finish these three projects before I start anything new. Think I can stick to that? I've already got a scarf idea that I'm eager to get started on. (I'm pretty unhappy with the scarf I made earlier this winter--see here and here--so I'd like to replace it with something better.) Plus, I have more sock yarn coming in the mail. Oh boy . . .