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Ta-da!
Isn’t that the sweetest thing you ever saw? Finished it this morning. I think it must be the fastest I’ve ever knit a baby sweater. Let’s get the specs.
Yarn: Shepherd Cynthia Helene that I won from Nona when she was giving away some of her stash last year. Yummy! 100% pure NZ merino in a gorgeous colour, Ginger. Had 4 skeins (~400 yards) and still have about enough to make a hat I think. The first photo is closest to the richness of the colour.
Needles: Denise #8/5mm and an unknown 4.5mm flexible plastic circular. I magic-looped for the first time, following instructions from this site, and had great fun! If I could lay my hands on thin long circulars, perhaps my dormant sock-knitting will get a boost.
Pattern: The Little Sister Sweater from Boogie here. It’s a seamless raglan, just a little bit of grafting at the armholes.
Time: 2 days?
Size: 21″around the chest, 9.5″from shoulder to bottom, 6″cuffs, 5″ neck opening (with buttons closed). I’m hoping it will fit my friend’s newborn.
Extra: #1 I used the smaller sized circulars for the magic loop, because I didn’t have either DPNs or circulars in the same size. I really enjoyed the magic looping and must try to see if I can do it on the Denises. And maybe some of my metal circulars. None of them is thin enough for socks, though.
#2 The raglan shaping is the neatest I’ve ever done. (Neat as in tidy)
The instructions, however, called for SSP (Slip, slip, purl) and I couldn’t figure out how to do that when I was knitting, not purling all the way round. So I did SSK (slip, slip, knit) instead.
#3 The back has optional short rows to make it higher than the front. I found the instructions confusing, but then I always find short rows instructions confusing. And they’re optional anyway.
#4 I used Kitchener weaving and wasn’t entirely happy with how my work looked, but since it is in the pits (you know!), I didn’t bother too much.
#5 Red buttons because I don’t have any brown ones in my stash. The original pattern is intended for a girl, so the button band was in the wrong place, and my feeble attempts to make a one-row buttonhole totally wiped out any evidence of seed stitch in the band on that side of the opening. Ah well. I do like seed stitch when it comes out nicely, though. If I make this a second time, I shall place the neck marker according to whether it’s a boy or a girl I’m making it for (the odds are high it will be a boy, it usually seems to be). Then I can hide the botching and sew it in place better.
Edited to Add: While I was working on this post (and mistakenly clicked on Publish without having finished), my internet went down and has just come back. Whew. I get so miserable without the web, ya know. It was gratifying to read all the comments, thanks everyone 🙂 I’m trying to find a baby hat pattern which isn’t too feminine to work on with the remaining yarn. Maybe one that uses seed stitch.
I’ve been trying a pattern from a book I have using brioche stitch, and while I like the look of it, I find it is rather big, and when finished will be closer to child-carrying capacity, than housing a baby head. Ahem.
Oh, and the monsoon is here.
Magic loop is really magic! I was in a desperate situation, making this pullover, and needing to make the sleeves. I do not have dpns in the size I required, and no way was I going to convert a knit-in-the-round pattern to a knit flat one, just for the pleasure of seaming. So I grabbed my longest circular (it’s actually a size smaller, but then I didn’t have the size required in circulars, either) and googled, and landed upon this site which has pictures explaining how to work small circumference items on two circulars or one circular using the magic loop technique. So simple and so well explained! I never want to go back to straight needles or dpns!
So I’ve come this far:
Using the NZ merino Shepherd Cynthia Helene that I won from Nona when she was giving some of her stash away. It’s yummy! 400 yards that went from NZ to the US and came to India for me. Now I’m planning it will go back to the US, for a friend of mine who’s having a second boy (something in the water, perhaps?).
This yarn refuses to be photographed in its true colours, but it’s a lovely dark browny kind of shade, named Ginger.
The circular I’m using is Heide‘s, and is some soft plastic-like material, but flexible. I tried using my Denise with the shortest cable length, but found it was too rigid. Must try and see if magic loop works with Denise, as the cable and the tips on this one are all the same piece and fused together, but the cable is quite a bit narrower than the tip, making it difficult to slide the stitches over.
I’m halfway through the second sleeve to the point where the sleeves and the body will be joined together and the yoke worked.
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Can someone explain why my “Yarn and Thread Stores in India” page gets the most spam? Does that phrase mean something it shouldn’t in some language, perhaps?
Again courtesy Cordelia (it does appear as though half my stash belongs to her, doesn’t it?).
Yarn: Lion Brand Jiffy that Cordelia sent me. In colours Kitty Hawk and Denver, I think. Used up most of both skeins.
Needles: Denise #10 ½/6.5mm circular
Pattern: A truncated version of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Baby Surprise Jacket from The Opinionated Knitter, Knitting Workshop. It’s also available separately at the link above from Schoolhouse Press.
Time: 3 days?
Size: Toddler? 22″ around the chest, 10.5″ from shoulder to bottom, 21″from cuff to cuff.
Extra: #1 Nothing much. Did only two buttons this time. I thought I had a recipient for this, but perhaps I don’t.
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Having finished Queen Camilla, I am now bookless. Please send good thoughts my way.
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While on the subject of books, Sara has a contest for her Summer of Giving. She’s giving away a book on felting and a few knitting magazines. Do go over and jump in. And don’t forget to mention I sent you over? What are friends for, after all :)?
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Here’s the back: (since you asked so nicely).
Quick, grab those sunshades…If the previous FO was a bit bright, here is something even worse brighter.
Don’t say I didn’t warn you. This is a truncated version of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Baby Surprise Jacket. It’s a great pattern and truly surprising! When I was making it, I thought it would end up like this:
When I finished knitting, it looked like this:
And when sewn up, it looked as in the first photo above. Here’s how the back looks:
Here are the pattern details.
Yarn: Bernat Softee Chunky that Cordelia sent me. I was wary of what to do with such lively colours, when Rosi suggested I make a Baby Surprise. See, that’s why I like associating with creative people: they take me out of my uncreative, dull thinking.
Needles: Denise #10 1/2 6.5mm circular
Pattern: A truncated version of Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Baby Surprise Jacket from The Opinionated Knitter, Knitting Workshop. It’s also available separately at the link above from Schoolhouse Press.
Time: 3 days?
Size: Toddler? 23″ around the chest, 10″ from shoulder to bottom, 21″from cuff to cuff.
Extra: #1 I’ve already almost finished a second one. This is such fun to make, and with the large gauge yarns I’m using, it works up very fast.
#2 I want to try this in stockinette, crochet and Tunisian crochet.
Sent this off with the Tomten and the Blocks and shells afghan to Hyderabad, where aunty (my friend’s mom) will collect it and take it when she goes to the US.
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In books, I just finished Naked in Death (Eve Dallas murder series) by JD Robb (Nora Roberts). Futuristic police procedural with some er, hot scenes. I read just about anything, so don’t turn up your noses at me!
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Catch-22
I went to my bank today to see if I could apply for a credit card (yes, I don’t have one and have been managing fine, but I need one to make bookings for my UK trip online). They told me I couldn’t get a card because
a. I don’t have an office address
b. I don’t have a credit card!
Dang, but this almost made me cry a third time in public. I’m blaming it on my need for sleep. Don’t want to think it’s anything else. Stoopid procedures. I know exactly what I’ll tell them next time I get a spam call offering to sell me a card.
This will go to the same friend I’m sending the block and shells afghan to. She has a toddler and is expecting another baby boy in July.
As usual, don’t look too closely at the thing. The colour is patchy and the workmanship just passable. Dirty Deets follow.
Specifications:
Yarn: Local small-ball acrylic Santhi from Oswal “Woollen” Mills, 25g x 9
Needles: Denise #7
Pattern: Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Tomten Jacket from Knitting Without Tears
Time: About a week.
Size: Toddler? 22″ around the chest, 15″ from shoulder to bottom, 10″ hood and 11″ on wrist to armhole.
Extra: #1 Patchy!!!
#2 I wonder if this could be done in stockinette (although of course the point is to avoid the purling)
#3 Rosi helped with a question I had on ridge counts for the hood. Got help from Sue on knitty chat on what to do for the closures. For the loops I did a row of sc around from right bottom corner to the left, adding 10ch loops whenever I encountered a button. Otherwise I followed the pattern to a T (except for a slight misunderstanding at the sleeves, leading to 4 extra ridges each side).
And now for some sad news…I do not have any works in progress (UFOs abound, of course, but they don’t count). Sad but true. I want to try my hand at a version of the Baby Surprise Jacket by Ms Zimmermann, but in pinks and related colours, and there aren’t too many baby girls on the horizon. I need specific victims targets.
My reading currently is Queen Camilla by Sue Townsend. Always surprising. And I don’t have any other books lined up after that. Help!
On the domestic front, the husband has been successfully disposed off has gone off by himself to Cochin. Accommodation is uncertain, so it is also uncertain when I will reach there. For now it’s just me and the other inlaw. I have plans to visit the UK in July, more of which in a different post. I shall leave you with a close-up of the wooden buttons I used.
A few weeks ago I’d asked for suggestions on what to make for a baby girl in a hot place. This was the compromise solution I arrived at.
Thread: Anchor knitting cotton (I think it is bedspread weight) in cream, about 3 full balls.
Hook: Clover double-ended hook, with 4/0 on one end and 6/0 on the other. I assume those are size numbers rather than mm. I got two of those in a CAT PAC. They’re wonderfully light. I’m all about lightness in hooks. I used the 4/0 end.
Pattern: From Crochet World June 2005. Toddler’s Spring time dress. Errors found.
Time: A while.
Size: About 14″ long and 22″ wide.
Extra: #1 There was a row count error in the back instructions. It should read Row 44 instead of Row 43 (and so on). I found the pattern stitch instructions quite confusing and it took me several attempts to get it right. In Row 1 of the skirt part, it should read “Work 66 sc … ch 6… ” instead of ch 3. There was also some problem about right and left, which I don’t recall now.
#2 I left off the sleeves and improvised on the edging. (ch3, sc around for 3 rows). I was afraid I was running out of thread and didn’t want to buy any more, since I was stash-busting.
#3 My first dress.
I agree with Sara about finishing. Mine is very, very poor.
Here are the pins I used to block my last doily. 40 to the package. Must buy more.
And here is an in-progress shot of my latest WIP, a baby dress for my friend’s daughter. There are some errors in the pattern, but they are manageable.
I’ve now finished it, but have lots and lots of ends to weave in, then I shall wash it and try and find a proper medium (teddy bear?) to display it so that the stitches show better. The pattern is from Crochet World June 2005, but I found the stitch pattern also in one of my Harmony Guides. Ain’t that nice? I’m using Anchor’s knitting cotton (which is probably equivalent to bedspread weight). Stash thread. I haven’t bought new thread/yarn for ages (except to send off to friends).
Cordelia sent me this magazine (way back when the Post Office hadn’t yet decided to devour her mail to me) in July 2005, OMG, we’ve known each other for nearly two years now. Maaaaaaaaaaaaaaan.
The blogosphere is abuzz with news of the new knitting/crochet community called Ravelry, and the concept sounds quite interesting, especially the part about being able to keep track of your projects, stash and notions online. I’m a digital geek. It’s still in beta, though, which means, I can’t join yet 😦 I have sent in my name for the list, though.
In book news, I’m reading Martha Grimes’ The Horse You Came in on, which is a Richard Jury mystery, except it’s set in the US. Hmm. And the story keeps getting interrupted by a story within a story, which I don’t think I like. It’s slow going.
Something. Another FO.
In an effort to finish things and see what can be gifted/mailed away before we move, I finished this blanket. As usual, here are the details:
Yarn: I’ve been told it is Lion Brand Woolease, by Cordelia, who gave it to me. (I think it might be the discontinued sportweight variety). I used three full skeins (with about 3 yards left over).
Hook: Clover Soft Touch F/4.00mm
Pattern: Pattern stitch for Block and Offset Shells from Harmony Guides. Mindless. Reversible but not upside-downable, because the top of the pattern scallops. Also, I didn’t do an edging. It didn’t appear to be necessary. (Plus I was too lazy to try and figure out how to unscallop the scallops for edging). So the baby gets a sorta symmetric pattern. Do you think he’ll care?
Time: I began this a month ago, but obviously it goes much faster than that. Around a week would be plenty.
Size: 41″ square (should be good for a toddler, right? And please, no one tell me it’s too hole-y)
Extra: #1 Quick and easy.
Up close and personal with the pattern stitch:
The pattern is a multiple of 11 + 4 (plus 2 for the base chain). I made a mistake in the starting chain, but recovered by adding dcs (US) a la filet crochet. Now I need to pop it into the wash before packaging it. It’s been washed. Also, the same friend for whom this is intended tells me her next baby will also be a boy. How boring. I’m thinking I shall make something else for that baby too, and mail it to aunty (her mom) to take with her when she goes to the US. Might save on postage!
that I actually give away the things I make:
Of course, I might have snatched it away after the photo-op, but I am not like that, really, I’m not! Here is another view of the baby:
You will of course ignore the double chin and other signs of decline on the adult.
Very few of my recipients have been documented (photographed) in their gifts, sadly. Which gives me to wonder if the things fall apart, don’t fit, raise rashes, offend sensibilities or what. One doesn’t like to ask.
The dotty thing of two posts ago has morphed into this:
Yarn: The pink is Bergen, apparently a German yarn (possibly East German) made of WolPryla (mit anderen faserstoffen – with other ingredients). It is showing quite true on my monitor. The purple is Pegasus, also of the same origin. It is less blue than in the picture. Both yarns advise using 2.5 mm needles, but while the pink says “3”, the purple says “2”. Neither has a st/row count gauge indicator. The white is Cactus from Taiwan (why would you name a yarn that?!) with no indication of content, but also advises 2.5 mm. The gauge indicator for this yarn says 32 st/46 rows to 4″/10 cm. All yarns are slightly fuzzy but soft enough.
Hook: Easy Tunisian Hooks N/10mm and M/9mm, Boye K/10.5/6.5mm
Pattern: Loosely based on a Crotiques pattern. I changed st counts, row counts, button bands, and the collar pattern, as well as adding that holey lacy row in the middle. I used a Tunisian double crochet(US) for that. The body was worked in Tunisian knit stitch. Changed colours when I felt I couldn’t go further without compromising on the yarn for sleeves. The button bands and the bottom were worked together in seed stitch (sc (US) in both loops, sc in back loop only and then reverse order for next row) and I quite like how it worked out. To make the collar longer, I added a few rows of sc through both loops on top of the collar area. Instead of poke-through buttons, I plan to put snaps, and use the purple buttons for only aesthetic effect.
Time: About a week.
Size: Hopefully to fit a 6-month niece (cousin’s kid) I’m going to meet in a couple of days. She was a big baby. The size sweater is about 24″ wide and 12″ long, with the sleeves at 8″ long. Her next winter will be obviously when she’s older (a year), so this needs to fit her then.
Extra: #1 I love how neat the raglan shape came out. My knit raglans are never so good.
#2 All three yarns were very grippy. I don’t think I like that. This was true on both the plastic Easy Tunisian hooks as well as the metal Boye. I plan to use the rest of the yarn to make a hat or booties, and will check how they act with my Denises and Pony hooks. Slightly slippery is always better than grippy.
#3 The German yarns say “Altenburger Wollspinnerei” which I think refers to some sort of spinning cooperative. The Bergen also says “50-PAN-f-TDI/50 Wo” which could mean it has some wool content, but I’m not hopeful. The Pegasus says “30 PAN-f-TDI/70 PAN f ” which completely baffles me.
#4 The Bergen yarn says “100 tex x3” while Pegasus has “110 tex x2” which makes halfway sense, because the x3 has 3 strands plied together while the x2 has 2 strands.
#5 Bergen came in a 100g ball of 280m, while Pegasus had 50g to 190m. No size/weight indication on the Cactus.
#6 All this documentation for all-acrylic (probably) yarns is because I didn’t find any information on them when I googled.
#7 Shh! I haven’t yet seamed/sewn in the ends or the buttons/snaps yet. The garment has just been skilfully arranged for the photo session.
I trust you dutifully squinted for the first picture so you didn’t see the boo-boos and ha-has. Now I shall reward you with a close-up of the raglan which also shows the button band, main body and collar up close.
swakrta.com 