Announcement, Pattern Suggestions and FO

It is official. My husband and I are expecting a baby girl.

The due date is Sept. 20th, 2 days before Paul's birthday. (Which of course means some time around then. *grin*)

Though, I keep crying - "no pink"! *laugh* Hey, purple is great! That works. *grin*

(There was testing done so we know it is a girl for certain. It isn't based on an ultrasound. So there shouldn't be any surprises in that department. I am sure there will be plenty of others to make up for it. *grin*)

So I am hoping to get some good baby pattern suggestions from knitting folks I know. Any suggestions?

I have been told a lot not to bother with more than 1-2 pieces in the 0-6 month range. By all accounts a baby will only get to wear them once or twice before they outgrow them.

I am also making sure anything I was is machine wash & dry. I have picked up some Knit Picks Sport Shine in cherry (cotton/modal) and Essential Kettle Dyed in eggplant (superwash wool). I figure Maryland Sheep & Wool will be mostly about baby friendly yarns, though I also know it will be in part about fiber as that is harder to get beside mail order.

Here is the finished object I mentioned. And yes, I will be redoing the pattern for my new addition.

Sweater for New Addition to George Jr.'s Family



Cast On:
March 28 2009

Completed:
April 1 2009

Pattern:
Soft N Seamless Baby Sweater by Lynda Ward
http://www.knitlist.com/96gift/giftsoft.htm

Made for:
New Addition to George Jr.'s Family

Size:
0-3 months

Needles:
US 8 / 5.0 mm Knitpicks Options

Yarn:
Bernat Silky Soft in 135 - Navy
~0.7 skeins = 192.5 yards (176.0m)
Purchased at Smiley's Yarns Sale (2007?)

I wanted a quickie sweater that would be easy to knit during my work conference. I also hate seaming. This fit the bill perfectly.

I have to admit, I didn’t care for the increase for the raglan. It is a m1, yo, m1. I tried it, but the hole just doesn’t seem right to me for a raglan seam.

Also, I clearly didn’t get what the author was saying about the increase placement. I had finished the increases. However, I had to frog the entire thing after discovering that because I had increased in the wrong place, the raglan line was not diagonals on two of the four increases.

I took the pattern as a template and used a typical raglan increase. I placed a marker before & after the center stitch of the raglan so there was no confusion on my part. I lifted the bar on the left before the marker and knit into it, k1, then lifted the bar after the marker and knit into it. So I got an even increase that was closed.

It was very simple and quick. I was glad I could give it to them when I saw them.

I Love It. I Love It. I Love It.

I just finished the Lala Simple Shawl in my handspun custom dyed Decadent Fibers fiber. I love it. I love it. I love it! *grin*

I will post pics on Monday when I am back at the office. I have been on vacation this week. And Rhinebeck/NY Sheep & Wool is tomorrow! *happy wiggle*

I keep walking back to the table to admire the shawl. The colors form these great stripes that are not so different as to be annoying. But very present. I will just have to share the pics soon to show you what I mean.

Scary thing is that I decided last Friday that I should finish spinning the pound of fiber I got from Decadent Fibers & create something! Decadent Fibers will be at Rhinebeck so I wanted to show them how beautiful the colors look together. The fiber was custom dyed for me. I told them I wanted black, purple and burgundy. They did a great job with the colors and they look lovely together.

I spun as much as I could of the remaining fiber while up in the Adirondacks. But I forgot an extra bobbin. So I did the rest the day after I got home (Tuesday).

While letting the single rest a bit, I cast on the shawl. I picked the Lala Simple Shawl because it was simple but would show off the colors really well. I didn't want anything too lacey as I wanted this to be a warm shawl. Also, I wanted super simple so I could do it while watching some movies & getting stuff off the dvr.

The next day I plied the singles and set them to soak. After that, I continued knitting. And knitting... *grin*

I had hoped to complete it by last night so I would be certain it would be dry from the blocking in time to wear it at Rhinebeck tomorrow. But at around 1:00 am I realized I had switched from knit to purl half way into the row. *blink* You really wouldn't think that was possible given it was all supposed to be knit. *laugh* So I knit back the 1/4 on the right side & the half row on the wrong side where I messed up. *shakes head* I decided that was definitely a sign that I was too tired to finish it. So I headed to bed.

I finished up this morning and had it soaking by noon. I used a salad spinner to try and get some moisture out. But I stopped after a few tries as it kept getting caught in the top. Then I pressed it between two towels, rolled them up and stepped on them to press out more moisture. It actually worked pretty well. I just felt it and it is almost dry in some areas. So I am really hopeful that it will be dry in time to wear in the morning. But if not, I can hang it over the back seat in the car for some additional drying time.

For the bottom edge, the pattern said to do 5 ridges garter stitch (one of the pattern repeats) and then bind off. However, I decided I wanted to do something a bit more like the top edge which has yarn overs to create the increases. So I did 2 ridges of garter, then a row of YO, K2tg. Then the next row was the bind off. So there is some open edging similar to the top. I think it looks very cool.

My plan had been to do 4 ridges of garter and then start the YO, K2tg row. But I was running out of yarn. It worked out pretty well.

Though I always forget just how much blocking can change the size! I was aiming for 25-28" long. When I finished it was about 23-24". When I started blocking it was 42"! I let up some and made it 40" long. But it is still pretty lengthy. But honestly, I think it will look great that long.

I think I need to dig into my jewelry box for a pin to hold it in place tomorrow. I am sure I have something that will work somewhere (I have a ton of costume jewelry I never wear). I wish Paul's kilt pin would work. But it would be way too heavy.

It is sooo funny. After my lace shawl, I said I doubted I would ever do another shawl. So what did I do? *chuckle* But this shawl is amazingly beautiful and I think it will actually be warm, unlike my lace one. So I hope I will get some wear out of it. Though part of me says that I could hang it on a wall and I would be happy! *grin*

I will post pics soon. (And probably actually have some taken while wearing it which is beyond weird for me. *laugh*)

This time tomorrow I will be at Rhinebeck! Woohoo!!