sock porn for knitting voyeurs.

Tuesday, January 27, 2009

Zimmermann Surplice Baby Jacket

I'm still on a baby knitting jag-- my sister isn't getting any smaller and time still keeps marching on :)

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EZ Baby Surplice Jacket
Vogue Knitting, Sp/Su 2007
Knit Picks Cotlin, Moroccan Red-- 3 sks
US 4, 3.5mm 32" addi
Started and finished: January 2009

For those of you familiar with the in/famous Baby Surprise Jacket, this is another EZ garter stitch origami construction that doesn't look quite right til you're just about done. Not as blobby as the BSJ, but still I was scratching my head on how the construction worked til the last minute :)

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(the sts between the increase lines becomes the armhole)

I knit the pattern as written (I think this is my first time knitting a pattern from a magazine?), using the 2nd type of increase in the pattern for the arms (lifted bar plus purl on WS for a stst "seam")...

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I like the line it makes... if this was for a girl baby, I may be tempted to use a more lace-y increase instead.

I did add length to the arms after the body was seamed together (using 9R of garter st in the round then k2p2 ribbing)... they seemed too short for a baby as written but now I worry they're too long.

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My kid always grew out of everything arms and legs first, so it may not be too bad a thing (also, they easily roll up pretty far). You can see I maintained the stst increase "seam" from either side of the arms and kept another stockinette stitch between them, that one sort of flowed from the 3 needle bindoff I used at the shoulders. Can't see any of it when the ribbing is rolled up :)

The only change I made to the pattern was Becky's mod of slipping the last st and knitting the 1st st tbl... it looks really really good and eliminates the need for any i-cord bindoff or finishing.

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If you take a look at the very bottom few rows here, you'll see where I didn't slip the sts-- they look bumpy and not bad, but not as good as the rest.

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I have to say I really like this little sweater. When I first found out I was pregnant, I went a little crazy at a Tea Collection sample sale buying up wee sweaters for my son-to-be and this one reminds me a lot of one of those, both in color and in garter.

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I bought 5 different machine-washable yarns from Knit Picks* to try out for baby knitting; this was my first time working with CotLin and I like the feel of it a lot. I don't think I have a good idea about what cotton *is*-- I've used dishcloth cotton and I've used Rowan Calmer/RYC Cashcotton but they all feel like extremes where CotLin feels like a nice middle ground, really perfect for warmer weather baby knitting. We'll see-- I'm wetblocking each sweater as I go, but I'm planning to throw each in the washing machine/tumble dry low before gifting just to see how they hold up (I'd rather them shrink now than the first time being washed by sis and getting one wear out of them).

I've also decided to do all the button-assembly and shopping at the same time for all the baby sweaters... I have no idea where I'll be shopping for them (bay area suggestions? BART-able?) but I'm counting this one as done for now :)

Til then, never soon enough.


ps, Speaking of EZ, I was linksurfing and found a new copy of Meg Swansen's Fair Isle Vest DVD on Amazon for $4. I bought one and have been watching it... my first knitting dvd! :)


*Swish worsted, Comfy, Risata, Shine Sport and Cotlin

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

So cute! I'll have to add that to my queue. I might know a new baby. ;-)

Anonymous said...

Absolutely gorgeous!

karrie said...

Have you ever been to the button store in El cerrito? Walkable from EC BART, limited hours, wall to wall deadstock buttons that are 20 years old at the youngest. Call before you go, they are not long for the business world. the owner passed and now his wife runs the store

Exclusive Buttons
10252 San Pablo Ave
El Cerrito, CA 94530
ph: (510) 524-5606
Hours: Friday & Saturday, 11am - 4pm

Brooke said...

Very cute! What about Stone Mountain & Daughter? It is an easy walk from either the downtown BART station or the Ashby one. Plus there are busses that go by there all the time.

Thank you again for the hat for Jaoquin! It is so cute. I'm going to take a photo and post it.

Anonymous said...

cute sweater

and thanks for the tip on the Meg video - what a find.

i got one too.

i owe you one.

WandaWoman said...

That is a cute pattern and it turned out very nicely. Thanks for the link about the DVD. I clicked and there was one left. No plans to really purchase it, but for that price, who could resist? :-)

WandaWoman said...

P.S. I haven't used CotLin, but I would think it would be good for your climate. ShineSport is a nice yarn to use, a bit splitty, but it sheds terribly. The blend of cotton and tencel is a nice one, but all yarns, imo, that are too soft, shed and pill like crazy and Shine Sport is no different. Might not be the best use for baby stuff, imnsho.

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