Baby Cardigan and Tasman Summer Tunic
I finally finished off a couple lingering kids’ projects that I was working on. The first is a cardigan for my friend Venks’s new baby. The boy is named Vivaan and he was born about two weeks ago. The wool is Wired for Fibre’s “Elizabeth” sock wool in colour Serenity. The pattern is free and is knitted sideways (cuff-to-cuff). I got some adorable teddy bear buttons from the button shop in the Rocks last Saturday to finish it. I can’t wait to see it on Vivaan!
Next is the Tasman Summer Tunic for my niece Indie. The pattern is by Just Jussi and is available as a free Ravelry download. I knitted the smallest size and used three balls of Morris Paddington (80% bamboo, 20% merino) in colour #611 “Dover”. I left off the beads at the hem, but other than that I didn’t change anything. The ribbon at the front is very cute, and I found a pretty star button to use as the closure at the back. I hope it fits her!
Tag: cardigans
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Baby Cardigan and Tasman Summer Tunic
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February Lady Sweater
This sweater took Ravelry by storm a few months ago. There are now more than 1400 finished projects, and another 5000 people still have it queued up. Why did it get so popular? If I had to analyze it, I’d say there were three important factors: it’s based on a famous baby sweater by Elizabeth Zimmerman, who most knitters revere; the pattern was released for free; and the author looks SUPER CUTE in the photo. (That shouldn’t matter so much, but it really, really does.) Anyway, I somehow caught the bug and started it ’round about WWKIP Day. The pattern calls for a worsted weight yarn, but I decided to use an 8ply instead. I’ve had two packets of discontinued Cleckheaton Alpaca/Wool in my stash for some time, and it seemed like a perfect match. The knitting went really quickly, even though I was making the biggest size (to compensate for the thinner yarn). The top-down construction means you can try it on as you go, so I did plenty of fittings. Since I’m so tall, I had to do quite a bit of straight garter stitch after the raglan increases finished to get the sleeves to meet under the arms. That’s why I ended up doing a 4th buttonhole. The original plan was to dye it, but I realized today that I’d rather get some wear out of it now, this winter, rather than waiting to mess around with dyes. So I’m calling it finished! I’m loving it. It’s lovely and comfy and warm. The buttons came from the Button Shop in Newtown. I may still dye it in the future, but the cream is growing on me… (Ravelry details are here.)
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Marianne’s Cardigan
Oh, wow! Two years ago, I knitted a hooded cardigan for my friends’ daughter Marianne. I knew it was going to be a bit big for her at the time, but I figured she’d grow into it. And guess what? She finally has! It looks great on her, and I’m glad she likes it so much. Thanks to Staci for the update… 🙂
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Nieces and Nephews
Last weekend I managed to finish off two small knitting projects that had been languishing. The first is a matinee jacket for my yet-to-born niece (assuming that she does, in fact, turn out to be a girl). The pattern is from Debbie Bliss’s Baby Cashmerino book, and I substituted Sirdar Snuggly DK for the yarn (going up to a 4mm needle). I just need to get a bit of ribbon to go around the waist.
The second item is a vest for my three-week-old nephew Isaiah. I spoke to my brother on the phone the day of the birth, and I said I wanted to make something for the baby. “Do you think you guys will want to dress him traditionally?” I asked. “Or would it be okay if I did something more modern, like something with a skull on it?” “I think that would be pretty bad ass!” my brother said. Sweet. This vest is based on the “Pirate Jumper” in Zoe Mellor’s Adorable Knits for Tiny Tots. I just used random 8ply wool from my stash. I think it’s pretty appropriate, given that the baby’s dad works at a Harley Davidson shop!
As always, more details are over at Ravelry.
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Baby Surprise Jacket
I’ve been slacking off on the first week of the Southern Summer of Socks, mostly because of all the babies y’all keep having! As previously mentioned, my cousin Tony and his wife Molly just welcomed their daughter, Bailey, into the world. As this is the first GIRL I’ve had the opportunity to knit for, I jumped at the chance to pull out my pink yarn. I was gifted some glorious hot pink Manos del Uruguay Cotton Stria by my Secret Pal last June, and I decided it was just begging to become a Baby Surprise Jacket. I had just enough to squeak it out. I also found the most perfect big pink button in my button box:
It’s all ready to send off, along with some pink Tim Tams!
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Baby Yoda Costume
It’s finished! I’ve got everything ready to send off to Alexander this week. After felting the hat last week, I then soaked the ears in watered-down PVA glue and propped them up on newspaper to dry. They took a lot longer than I expected (nearly four days), but they look great. I sorta pinched and pulled them to make them a little more curly and Yoda-looking. The pattern is here. I knitted it out of Naturally Alpine 14ply on big needles, and I had plenty left over from a single hank. I’m just making a bit of i-cord now to tie under his chin if necessary.
The second piece of the costume is the Baby Yoda Sweater, which I knitted on 4mm needles out of some completely random yarn from my stash. (The two sleeves are actually different yarns, but they’re so close you can’t tell. I figure Yoda probably wove his himself, so any variation is probably a good thing.) There’s an i-cord tie on the inside as well as the outside.
And the socks are just the pièce de résistance, aren’t they? I started knitting just plain socks out of the leftover wool, thinking Alexander would need something to keep his feet warm, when the Snook pondered aloud, “You know what you should do? Put three toes on the end!” BRILLIANT. So there’s no pattern here; I just made them up as I went.
I can’t wait til Kristen posts a picture of him wearing it!
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Violet’s Cardy and GVH Socks
As I mentioned before, my friend Brigita had a baby (named Violet!) and I wanted to make her something. So last week I cracked open Debbie Bliss’s Baby Cashmerino 2 and cast on for the “Cardigan with Moss Stitch Edging.” It’s a very quick little knit, especially when you modify it to the knit the body on a circular up to the armholes. I had three balls of Baby Cashmerino in colour #340010, but when I finished I found I had at least half a ball left over. That means booties! These are from a pattern I had in my Ravelry queue called “Saartje’s Bootees.” (It’s a free download on that site.) Again, very quick to knit. And aren’t the little wooden buttons just perfect? We actually had them at the shop and I couldn’t resist. I’ll be sending this off to Brigita today… I hope Violet likes it!
Next up are my “GVH Conwy Socks.” Conwy is a pattern from Knitting on the Road, and while I still like the look of it, it wasn’t that fun to knit. The little twisting cables just get really, really boring. I used Colinette Jitterbug in the Velvet Damson colourway on 2.75mm needles. And as you will remember, I ran short. I couldn’t bring myself to frog them back though, so I used some leftover Sirdar Town & Country to finish the toes… Hence the “GVH” (i.e. “Graft Versus Host”). They’re a little bit Frankenstein, aren’t they? I still love the Jitterbug colour though, and I’m definitely going to wear them. -
It’s finished…
And with eighteen minutes to spare, the Argyle Kitty Kat Cardigan is finished!Okay, now that she’s been safely turned in at the Easter Show, I thought I’d better record some pattern notes. This cardigan was knit out of Eki Riva Superbaby Alpaca. I probably used about six balls all together. I started by taking the measurements of a fitted hoodie that I already had. Then I knitted up a tension swatch and used my gauge to figure out about how many stitches around this thing was going to be. Since I’m still pretty inexperienced with shaping, I hunted through all my pattern books to find a garment with a similar gauge and fit. I found Dotty by Kim Hargreaves from Rowan 28. It wasn’t exactly perfect – it’s entirely in moss stitch, for one thing, and it’s a v-neck – but it was close enough.
Then there’s the matter of the argyle colourwork. I started by generating some knitter’s graph paper and then transferring it into Photoshop. Then I began scouring the Internet for argyle cardigans to get ideas. My first impulse was to do a “skull-gyle” like several I saw online, but the more I thought about it, the more I realized I’d rather be unique. So the Snook and I brainstormed other designs. I thought about the mudflap girl silhouette, but she wasn’t the right sort of shape. We finally found a neat retro looking cat head while browsing at Faster, Pussycat. I set to work graphing it out and playing with colours. I then sent it ’round to Amy, Bex, and Fiona for advice. Finally, I broke out my trusty 3.25mm circular and cast on.
The knitting of the body was relatively straightforward, and the only tricky bit was positioning my graph so that it didn’t get eaten up by the neck or shoulder shaping. I used moss stitch for the bands, opting to ignore the buttonhole issue completely for the moment. I finished the bodice eight days later. The shoulders were joined and I picked up around the neck for a moss stitch collar band. Then came the magical puffy sleeve epiphany. I spent a day or two conferring with Bex (who’s a much more experienced seamstress) and scribbling pages of calculations. Basically, I measured around my upper arm, multiplied by my gauge, and was pleased to see it lined up with the number of stitches in the “Dotty” sleeves right before the armpit. That meant I could use the sleeve cap shaping from Dotty. I worked out that the cap was 65 rows high, which meant that all my added stitches for puffiness would have to be decreased over that distance. So I planned, and then I knitted, and then I looked it over. It seemed to be working! After knitting both sleeves, I began work on the embroidery. The white lines (along with the kitty eyes and noses) were done with duplicate stitch, while the eye outlines and whiskers were done in backstitch (with the wool split in half to be thinner). I’m really happy with how cute it turned out!
So then I just had to put it all together. I sewed in the sleeves and started thinking about buttons. With time running out, I went with a simple small black plastic shank button that I hoped wouldn’t compete with everything else. I considered using Elizabeth Zimmerman’s “afterthought buttonhole” technique, but I literally had less than two hours and the idea of snipping holes at that point just wasn’t happening. So I decided to see if I could simply enlarge a gap between two stitches enough to get my button through. It fit, but only just. So I again split my wool down to 2ply and used it to overcast and enlarge each hole. I only put five buttons down the front, and I think if I had to do it again (with more time) I’d have put more. I doubt I’ll wear it fully buttoned much anyway. And that’s it!
As for publishing, I’m really not sure if it’s worthwhile given that so much of it was inspired by other garments. It’s practically a “collage” of other pieces, really! But I’m happy with how it turned out and it’ll be interesting to see what the judges make of it…
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Little Kitty Faces
We’re in the home stretch, people! I’ve got fourteen hours until Veronica picks me up to head to the Easter Show headquarters. (Minus time for sleep, hygiene, and an hour’s worth of faffing about on the Internet tomorrow morning.) Both sleeves are now attached and super-puffy. I’ve done two of the four cat faces. (A sneak peek you see before you.) So tomorrow I’ve just got to do the other two faces, and then work out what I’m doing for the button situation. Plenty of time, right? -
Puffy Sleeve!
One sewn in, one to go. It’s a wonder I even had the energy. What a week! In three days, we’ve had FIVE staff absences in the shop. Basically, this means yours truly (aka The Go-To Girl) was on her feet and serving customers non-stop. Normally this would’ve provoked a massive rant, but I’ve actually had nothing but really nice people. We had an American tourist who basically hung out with me for two hours today. On her vacation! Two hours! So at least the days have gone by quickly. And then I actually spent two hours tonight of my precious knitting time staying late to parcel out the Knit Picks (because I know y’all are itching for them). Now that’s dedication. Anyway, one side of the cardigan is now complete except for the kitty faces. The sleeve wasn’t too difficult to sew in, but as I was rounding the back of the shoulder I let fly with a string of obscenities. There, STARING ME IN THE FACE, were three random purl stitches interrupting my lovely blank canvas of stockinette. What the–? Did I go momentarily insane? I continued sewing in the sleeve while meditating on my options. I could chalk it up to an Amish mistake and just hope no one notices… or I could deal with it. The Snook was surprised to see me preparing for surgery. “You don’t understand,” I said through gritted teeth. “My Knitting Nemesis is also entering the competition, and I WILL NOT STAND to have her see such a glaring error on my piece.” So before I could talk myself out of it, I snipped. I snipped and I unravelled and I made a great big hole in the jumper I’ve been killing myself to knit for the past month. Then I picked up the stitches with some DPNs and began the painstaking process of grafting the stitches back together. (I should mention again that this is black 4-ply. Somewhere my optometrist is moaning in his sleep.) I cursed and I stressed and I had to make, like, three false starts, but I got there in the end. Once it’s pressed, you won’t notice a thing. And I’ll be able to sleep at night. Hey, isn’t that a nice puffy sleeve?
