First Baby Sweater for Kiddle & WIPs

First Baby Sweater for Kiddle

Cast On:
April 21, 2009

Completed:
May 2, 2009

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Pattern:
February Baby Sweater on Two Needles by Elizabeth Zimmermann
from Knitter's Almanac

Made for:
My Baby Girl Kiddle Due in Sept. - Size 0-6 months

Needles:
US 4 / 3.5 mm Knitpicks Options

Yarn:
Knit Picks Shine Sport in Cherry Colorway
2.5 skeins = 275.0 yards (251.5m)
Purchased at
Knit Picks http://www.knitpicks.com

First project I am knit for my baby girl kiddle due in Sept.. I am so excited to be knitting baby clothes.

I got the Shine Sport as it is machine wash. I figured it made sense to use it on the infant stuff as it will probably still be pretty warm in Sept.. Then again, you never know!

EZ doesn’t mention adding buttonholes until the pattern started. So I didn’t put any in for the garter rows. I just decided to put an icord tie at the neck instead. I like the way it looks.

I love that is the first baby sweater for my little girl to come!

I do seem to struggle with EZ's patterns though. The way she writes things doesn't make sense to me sometimes. For instance, for the sleeves, she says knit 4" with a 1" garter stitch border. However, it isn't clear if that means it is 4" or 5" total. I went with 5" based on another baby sweater I knit. I figure if they are long they can be cuffed.

She also just assumes you know you should be putting in buttonholes all along the way. I recall from the Tomten that I should read the entire pattern before I start. But I can't seem to translate in my head what it means. I can read it, but it doesn't make sense to me. So I tend to work along the pattern and the find that there was something she wanted me to do! *chuckle*

Either way, it is a pretty sweater. And it will look great on the little one.

I am going to do the matching bonnet which being EZ it is shown but no clear instructions given. Luckily, Jamie/Silvercat pointed out that someone on Ravelry has probably already figured out how to do it. And she was right. There were a few different ones, but I liked this one the most. http://www.ravelry.com/projects/imajypsee/february-baby-bonnet (sorry Ravelry only link)

Works in Progress

I am not sure what should go on my needles next other than the baby bonnet. I do want to cast on an EZ baby surprise jacket. But I am not sure what yarn I want to use for it. Also, two EZ patterns back to back might drive me bonkers!

I have two pairs of socks on the needles currently. That is a rarity. I usually just stick to one pair at a time.

One are the Gothic Temptress socks. I love them, but they are knee socks and took forever to knit. I only have to bind off the edge, then fold over and attach for a picot edge. I will use EZ's sewn bind off so they are nice and stretchy. Though I confess I am worried about sewing the top over to create the picot edging. If it is too tight, they won't stretch enough. I am going to have to just be careful and perhaps leave more yarn than I would think was wise.

I also cast on a sock pattern that my mother-in-law got me while she was in England. I have been wanting to cast these on for a while, but hadn't yet. The Sock Knitters Anonymous KAL for April was underappreciated patterns (or a couple other options). The Gothic Temptress socks are for the April KAL as there were less than 15 in Ravelry. The Wensleydale Lace sock pattern wasn't even in Ravelry. So it definitely fit into that category. So I cast them on April 30th. I have til the end of this month to finish them for them to be included. Though I am aware I might not make it. Especially not with the baby knitting I want to do.

But either way, I want to make them. The yarn is this lovely Schaefer Heather that is superwash, silk & nylon. It has such a beautiful shimmer. And with the laciness of them, they should make nice summer socks.

The yarn I was talking about:

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The SKA KAL for May was cables or a designer who only has one free pattern. I confess that I don't really see cables as spring socks. And I don't buy really buy individual patterns. So I figured it made sense to have a pair of socks I wanted to do. If they get done in time, great! If not, I will still have a lovely pair of socks.

I have rambled enough for today!

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.

Trouble with Tomtens

(I am hoping this has some clarity. I am struggling with the crud from Hades. So I might not be completely clear.)

Who would have thought the Tomtem sweater pattern could be such trouble. Only for me it would seem.

The thing is basically garter stitch. With some very basic shaping.

Yet, I made a mess of the first one I did. I won’t rehash that one as I posted about it already.

So I am figuring I am smarter now. Of course the second one will be easier. I understand the basic intarsia I am doing. It will all be simple.

Yah. Right.

Lesson One:
Don’t intarsia in the dark.

I was watching some Battlestar Galactica at my sister-in-law’s. I didn’t want to have the lights on. I would be fine. Ummm. Not quite. Got to rip back 5 rows of work because switched the yarn at stitch 5 instead of 6. Whoops!

Lesson Two:
Just because they aren’t socks doesn’t mean you can’t create mobius strips

Yes. I managed to make a mobius sweater! *laugh* It was where the sleeve was supposed to go. With the pattern, you knit the body, then cast off stitches. You knit the tow front strips & the back separately. They are then reattached for the hood.

Seems when I reconnected them, I managed to twist one of the front panels. So there was a mobius strip along the front panel. Doh!!

When did I realize this? *After* I completed the hood & bound it off. This was also after I worked in all the ends. There were a lot of pieces dangling and thus I didn’t notice the mistake! I know. Not my brightest move. *laugh*

I *really* should have taken pictures!! It was that funny!

Lesson Three:
Pay attention when you pick up stitches

The sleeves are created by picking up stitches along the edge. Thing is, I picked up the stitches on the first sleeve at the bottom and back of the sleeve. It should have been the front and back. I got all the way to the end of the sleeve before I realized what I had done.

I pulled the sleeve off the body of the sweater, bound off the edge and will have to seam it to the sweater. I am knitting the second sleeve flat to match the first now. It will just mean a lot more seaming work which is my least favorite thing. *sigh*

I am truly blessed that I was in Maryland visiting my in-laws when the mobius section happened. My sister-in-law, Tee, is a knitting goddess!! When I went to see her, I cried “Heeeeeeellllllpppppp” and held out my knitting. *laugh*

I will confess, she took one look and laughed heartily. And I don’t blame her one bit!

(Though I was not laughing earlier in the day when I discovered the problem. In fact, I would have been swearing up a blue streak, but I was a guest in my other sister-in-law home. And she was sitting read not a few feet way. I really curbed my desire to throw it across the room and swear a lot. Though Jennifer is also an amazing sister-in-law. She gave me some of her high end chocolate to help me in my hour of need.)

Tee patiently sat down and asked about the pattern. When I explained, she suggested ripping out the hood. Being the lazy, I mean, ummmm, slow knitter I am, I wanted to avoid that. She warned me it would mean cutting it. I told her at this point, it was going to go on the frog pile if I had to redo it completely. So she went to work on it.

She placed a needle above and below the center point of the front section. She patiently snipped the yarn. Only to discover that I had woven in ends where she cut. It was why she chose the area, because it didn’t look quite the same! So she didn’t need to cut at all but I didn’t realize that I had woven in the ends there. Ooops.

She knit back the rows and then tried to bind them back together. However, when she did the standard Kitchener stitch, it left a gap. It appeared as if there was purling on a row that should have been knit with garter stitch. So she pulled it out and redid it in the garter binding. It looks really great! I am so happy with it.

On the plus side, she discovered a mistake I had been making. Zimmermann suggests slipping the first stitch of each row. Thing is, I was slipping it purlwise, but then wrapping the yarn around the back of the edge. So, I wasn’t getting the nice little V’s along the edges that the correct slip stitch would get. So the bright side is that I now know how to do that correctly. I have been practicing it with the sleeves and can see the difference. It will definitely come in handy when I go to tackle the alpaca cardigan. (Which I hope to cast on while on vacation.)

I am hoping the knitting woes were at least in part due to the crud affecting my brain. But heaven knows, I have made my share of mistakes before and will again. *laugh*

Finished Object Disaster

Well, it was bound to happen sometime, right?

I screwed up the Tomten sweater. In a big way.

I kept thinking while I was doing it that the sleeves seemed kinda small. But I figured it was just I am not used to looking at baby stuff.

I was seaming the sleeves this morning and knew they just weren't right. *sigh*

The light bulb went off in my head.

I double checked the pattern.

Sure enough. The sleeves say to decrease every 4 ridges. And I thought that was every 4 rows. So it is half the length it should be. *sigh*

In theory, I could rip back the sleeves and just redo the sleeves. But that isn't the only problem with the tomten. I was learning how to do two color work (technically, intarsia, but honestly, not that complex). I didn't realize there was a specific method to follow. So I was wrapping the yarn pretty haphazardly. So I made a mess of the front of the sweater. I wasn't happy with it as it was anyhow. I kept debating just pulling it all out but couldn't bring myself to do it.

I think the sleeves are just a sign to start over. I can do a much better piece and it will be something I won't be embarrassed to give away. *sigh*

Live and learn. Live and learn.

The good news is that I have time to get it done before Xmas. It only took about a week and a couple days to finish this one. And I have vacation starting Friday. So I will be off work. That gives me even more knitting time.

I have to confess. I haven't done squat with Jennifer's xmas socks. Then again, we haven't scheduled a time when we are going down to celebrate Xmas. So I know I have until at least mid-January to get those done.

I will cast on a new Tomten sweater today. I am hoping to spend my lunch with a coworker helping her learn to knit. I have already taught her some things. Thing is, one of her kids pulled her knitting off the needles. So I need to get it back on the needles for her.

I wish I had some extra circulars to lend her. I really do agree with Kelly at Knitpicks. They are great even for learning students. I listened to the podcast 28 which was about sharing the love yesterday.

Though I disagree completely about not having people start with a project. I *hate* not feeling like I am working towards something. I would rather have it be a mess, but doing something rather than working on something only to rip it all out. I love my sampler scarf. I love that I can see my evolution in knitting in it. I like having a project rather than nothing when I am done.

I think people differ a lot in what style of learning works for them. So it is never one size fits all. *smile*

Ah well. I have to get some work done today. Especially as I am taking off Friday through the New Year! Means lots of knitting time. *grin*