Still Knitting!

Yes, I'm still knitting!  While letting the wrist heal, I was doing a lot more sewing, but I still snuck in short blocks of knitting--can't really take the sewing machine in the truck!  I had the urge to get back to basics and do some baby items (and then found out there are babies coming in the family!  Since then though, they found out they're having boys).  First up, a Baby Surprise Jacket!

 Not much to say.  I started with no plan, except to use up the purple.  Which I did--had barely a few yards left over.  I stuck with the pattern, but did my decreases and increases so they'd be more decorative.

I ran out of the purple earlier than I thought I would.  If I had realized, then I would have done more grey sooner, or did a waste yarn cast on--which makes for nicer sewing up too.  I think the purple was "Vanna's Choice" or "Impeccable".  The grey I think was left over from the Rude Robot hat and the purple from the mermaid blankets.  All together, it weighs in at 184gr, and I used either 5mm or 5.5mm needles.  I have a bit of purple fabric from that first hobo bag  and I might make a little pair of baby shoes.  Trouble is, figuring what size to make.  I think this is about a size six months-12months, but most baby shoe patterns only come in newborn.

I even created a little slideshow to explain how to fold this sweater.  I know, there are other videos and tutorials out there, but I can't resist. 

Yarn In: 1586gr
Yarn Out:  184gr + 3957gr = 4141gr
Balance:  2555gr more USED than bought
Costs:   $74.87/160days = $0.47/day

Finally Finished!

I should start a new series, "Finally Finished Fridays".  LOL.
These two Baby Surprise Jackets go back to last summer.  I'm not sure of the actual dates, but I made the pink/white/blue blanket in early October, and I know I was in the early stages of the brown BSJ when we went to Peter Smith's store in Toronto around Oct 9....I think I was working on the pink/white/blue one during the summer and that's why I made the blanket in early October.  Whatever, they took way too long to finish up.  It's a quick pattern that CAN be made in a week (I think that's what the group does for a KAL), and it's a great pattern for doing stripes because you're working the sleeves at the same time as the rest of the whole body, so you never get to the sleeves and run out of yarn and they don't "match".  However, when you're using up yarns, you do end up with a ton of ends to weave in.  And then buttons to BUY and sew on.  So, it all adds up.

This yarn is a very old Sear's yarn which was in the huge donation I received last year.  I still have 70gr left.  Booties?  The jacket is 154gr (with buttons, so lets round down to 150gr).  Garter stitch eats up yarn (the blanket weighed 234gr)!  There is a stockinette version of this pattern online, but you need the original pattern to understand it.  I tried sewing the buttons on using one long strand of yarn, but it appears that they loosened up after being washed, so I'm glad I washed it, but now I need to go fix that.  It will also get steamed.  I'll be putting it on my weebly site later this week (or today, we'll see how the day goes!).
Something weird happened when I made the button bands.  The pattern has you make the holes on both sides, so that you can decide after which side you want the buttons on (for those that still follow the girls on one side, boys on the other "rule"), and it helps to line the buttons up with the holes.  Well, I had just about all the buttons sewn on and then realized that they weren't lining up with the buttonholes! So I had to close up some, and judge where to put others.

 I found a bag of brown yarns, along with a small amount of camo and some odd balls of black, so I thought a boyish version would be nice--I don't do enough boy items.  This fellow weighs 188gr including buttons (so lets say 180gr).

 This sweater is a great example of why you should wash items before gifting/selling.  The yarns have been hanging around for a long time, before I even started.  Then the project was in various bags, taken many places (including beaches), etc.  When I washed it, a LOT of ends popped out!  This might freak out a new mom if she's a non-knitter!!  Also, there was some pilling and fuzziness, so I need to clean it up a bit.

Not sure if you can see how there's a variety of different brown yarns there, along with black and camo.  Fun.  It'd be nice paired with brown or black pants, or a cute, custom made pair of itty bitty camo pants!!

I also bought a ball of novelty yarn for a potential custom order, but she didn't like the price :(  I returned one ball that I bought for it (a plain, solid colour I know I can pick up alternatives if it ever goes ahead), but kept the novelty yarn cause it was on sale, and will come in handy at some point.  But can you believe I actually returned yarn?!

Yarn In:  4807gr + 85gr = 4892gr
Yarn Out:  881 + 150gr + 180gr = 1211gr
Balance:  3681 gr more brought IN than out
Costs:  $138.16+$3.38 = $141.54/63 days = $2.25/day

Got to get that "cost per day" back down!!  Of course, I am making some money now (not a lot!), so I guess it's okay for that to be a bit higher than last year.  Next post--a baby blanket!  Then a couple little infant hats!

So Close, Yet Still So Far...

Did I actually say on Jan. 10 that I hadn't purchased any yarn yet?  I guess what I meant was that no new yarn has entered my house yet.  Somehow I forgot about the yarn I ordered from elann.com which arrived on Friday.  Oops.  Four balls for a custom project (of course, I need only a few yards of each ball); the yarn came to $13.78 yet the bill total came to $21.17.  I thought there was no provincial sales tax when you order from outside your province?  That was only $1.49 anyway.  Still, would be good to know for the future.  The four balls came to 200gr.

Onwards.

Don't you hate it when you finish (knitting) a project and breathe that sigh of relief, thinking, that you've finished a project.  Then you remember you have not just sew it up, but find 5 buttons, sew them on, weave in all the ends....Baby Surprise Jackets are great for using up odd balls of yarn--due to their construction you're working both sleeves, and the back and both fronts on each row.  So, if you get to the end of the row (or, since it's usually done in garter stitch--the end of two rows), before running out, you know that you'll have a nice stripe.  However, this leaves a lot of ends to weave in.  And the sewing of the shoulders is not your normal seaming job; it's stitches to rows and often just looks a little funny.  And then finding buttons....

A long time ago (okay, probably late last summer), I started a BSJ in browns since I don't have a lot of boy stuff in my stash.  I had a Ziploc bag of browns and blacks so figured this would be a great way to use it up.  On and on it went.  I used up several of the small balls of brown (and one of camo) and was left with just one ball of brown and one of black.  I finally decided to finish it off this past week.  Last night I was casting off...the whole time wondering if I had enough to finish the cast off in the brown.  Indeed, I did make it, with about 12" to spare. 

Now, for the finishing.  I usually don't mind finishing, but since this is just going in the gift/store box, it's hard to stay motivated.  Interesting.  I'm using the HTML option for loading the pictures, and Blogger rotated those two pictures, but not the one below.

This is a pretty large baby blanket I was making on the LK150.  It's 5 colours, 25 wedges.  It's going to be a doozy.  I need to graft 142 stitches and weave in lots of ends.  Not just 50 ends, but more, since it was double stranded and sometimes one ball would run out but not the other.  Sometimes I had to cut the second strand because it was the cone and in order to wind a new ball I had to have a free end of the cone.  My ball winder would make only these little balls because the yarn was very slippery, and they'd get to a certain size and just fly off the winder.  I should have used my cone winder instead, but I have to wind that by hand, LOL.  More work!

Yarn In:  200gr

Yarn Out:  92gr (the ruffle scarf from last post)

Balance:  108gr more brought IN than used up

Costs:  $21.17/11 days = $1.92/day

I'm starting this tally from Jan 1.  I do have another hat finished, but I want to wait till I have it's mate done too.

Nearly Forgot

When I got the call from my MIL for baby items, I had one little sweater that had been in a time out for awhile. I started it in the early fall when I needed a 'brainless' project while the kids were doing their evening classes. I had found a ball of Bernat "Olympic" ("Olympia"?) in my stash, with a Giant Tiger sticker for 2.99 (GT is a bargain store in Ontario). I know I would not have bought it there, but I might have got it at Sal. Army. I started a stockinette stitch Baby Surprise Jacket. Not really brainless even though it's stockinette! I HATED the yarn. I could have used slightly bigger needles, but still...ick. I had set it aside to finish up Christmas presents and I just never wanted to get back to it. I decided to finish it up for the donation, but it was way down on the list...I thought it would be better to sew the buttons on the sweaters that were actually finished, LOL. And then I found I didn't have enough buttons. There are 5 buttonholes, and it seems most buttons come in 3 or 4 per card. Since I missed the donation date, I decided to use up every last bit of the yarn and make a hat. There wasn't enough so I added plain white. Well, the first attempt didn't work, yarn wise, and the second attempt took me about 3 tries to cast on and do the garter stitch band and I still didn't have it right. I alternated rows of white and the variegated, but each time I changed colours, I knitted a few stitches in the old colour before starting the new colour. It's a nice way to make a 'matching' hat that isn't exactly the same.

Baby Items

Back when Lucy was a wee thing, I decided I wanted to try selling at craft shows. Two of my knitting group members and I did our first show the day before Lucy turned 1. Most of my items were baby things...stuff I had made that was too big or too small or not my thing, or wrong season, LOL. We did okay, I made some pocket money, and we said we'd do it again, next year, at some bigger shows. We improved our display, made more stuff, and sold less at the next two shows the next year than we had at the first show (one of the two shows was on a day of freezing rain!). The knitting group folded, and we sort of lost interest in doing another show. But I had this box full of items that I've kept adding too over the past 7 years. Whenever someone has a baby I look in the box, and think either "That's not good enough for THIS baby" or "That's too good for that baby". And make something fresh, LOL. I kept hoping maybe I'd do another show, or find a place I felt good about donating the items (like, there's a couple really nice hats that won ribbons at the fair...)

Two weeks ago I got an email from my mother in law saying that her women's group was having a "baby shower" for the local young mom's help center and did I have anything I could donate, as they like to present a complete layette to the newborns, and they have a 'shop' for items up to two years old. I was currently trying to finish a baby sweater in a yarn I HATED and knew I'd be sending that item! LOL. But I got the box out and decided it was time to pass on most of the items.

Some of the items are 'sets' , you'll notice in the pictures, say, one hat matches a blanket and a sweater, but not bootees. The hats: I love the flower hats. Some of the sizing on a couple hats might be weird, I'll let the center decide that. The blue hat with the two pompoms was one of the first things I made on my first knitting machine. The multi-coloured bonnet at the top left is an Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern, to match her BSJ.

The bootees:

I've had a hard time finding baby bootee patterns I really like. Many are SO cute, but annoying to make, or the yarn I have doesn't match the gauge, or the size turns out wrong for the other items in the set...
The blue sweater on the left I actually kept out, as my sister-in-law's sister was having a baby this week and they didn't know if it was a boy or girl. Turned out to be a boy, so this is perfect. The poncho was crocheted during the poncho craze. The white/multi colour sweater is a "Baby Einstein" jacket I never blogged about because it had been sitting in my drawer waiting for finishing for ages.

This set was partially made on the Singer 327, as a ribber learning project. Patons used to publish machine knitting patterns and the sweater and pants are from a booklet. I had some issues, I won't bore you, LOL. I wasn't sure of the size, so I made two pairs of bootees ("Blue Steps") and two hats ("Aviatix"?). There is also a tuck stitch blanket in this yarn (blogged about it a few summers ago). It's from a Patons/Bernat yarn that I got at their tent sale as a "Tangled Skein" for $3 and a few evenings work (I think I blogged about it....someone "helped" when I was winding it up). The blanket is very soft and squishy, but the top and pants are knit tighter and are not quite so snuggly.

These three sweaters were some of my earliest items on the KnitSmart, summer of 2005.

These are Elizabeth Zimmerman's baby surprise jackets and baby surplice jackets (number 4 and 5 from the top...date back to 2003/2004). The bottom sweater is a stockinette version of the BSJ, done as a pullover instead of a jacket. I thought I had another one of these...

The blankets:

The top 3 are tuck stitch blankets done on the LK150, soft and squishy, they don't even need edging! The yellow one was an early Singer 327 project, I blogged about it back in 2007 probably. The pink stripes one is garter stitch, done on the diagonal. Lots of ends! The thick blue stripes one was also done on the LK150, using short rows to make a "square". Generally, you can't miter a corner in stockinette stitch by short rowing one stitch at a time...the row and stitch gauge are not the same like in garter stitch. It turns out not bad, but I was really bothered by how the striping matched up at some of the diagonals, but not others. It's a lovely squishy, large blanket, but I'm annoyed by little things, LOL. I hope the items can be used, and are appreciated. If so, I'd love to make more things! There aren't going to be babies in our extended family again (although I do have some cousins that "should" be going down that road...), but I still have lots of baby yarn and ideas!! This was a great motivator to get several items out of the drawer and buttons sewn on, seams sewn up, etc. And as for that baby sweater with the yarn I hated....I got it finished finally, but didn't have any buttons!

Some Forgotten Projects

Recently my MIL asked if I had any of the cute 'flower' hats I had made a few years ago. I didn't have any left that were small enough for a newborn (and that Meg hadn't worn). But I took some pictures of a couple other outfits to show her. Then I realized that they were from before this blog started so I haven't shared them with you! I tried selling these in craft shows, fall 2003 and 2004.

I'm not sure if I knew about the Baby Surprise Jacket at that time, but I did have the pattern for the similiar Baby Surplice Jacket. The one thing that bothers me with these sweaters is the shoulder seams/top of arms is a little stiff compared to the sweater. Even though I do a kitchener grafting, it's still stitches to rows so I don't think there's anyway to avoid it.

Simple rectangular 'dishcloth' blanket with way too many ends to weave in.
Another EZ sweater that is currently very popular, the February Baby Sweater. I don't like how the ribbons are done; if anyone has suggestions for sewing on ribbons, I'd love to hear it.
I thought the bonnet looked a little big for a newborn although I'm sure I followed a pattern. But, maybe not:
What a cute little shrug it makes for an almost 3 year old!
AND! This is post #300!!! So, I think I will have a little giveaway. Last year at the K-W Knitter's Fair I scooped up one little skein of some handpainted Artisan NZ Merino Laceweight. It's so soft and pretty, but I think I'd like to pass it on to someone else who might appreciate it! Leave me a comment, about anything! and I'll draw a name. Contest closes Monday morning or afternoon, or whenever I get back to the blog, but not before Monday morning :)

Not So Slow Knitting

Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Sweater/Jacket is a legend. Clever construction means it's pretty hard to make it look ugly. Recently, a member of the Yahoo group Knitbabysurprise (Meg Swansen is in this group, so it's THE group to be in, LOL), converted the original garter stitch version to stockinette. This changes the ratio of the increasing/decreasing, because garter stitches are nearly square, and stockinette stitches are not. He did a super job, and if you have the original pattern and would like to try this version, email me/leave a comment, and I'll direct you to his blog where he gives his version.



I originally cast on for this in the middle of 'big project boredom' in February or so...oh, just checked....the KAL started in early January and I was determined to actually 'knit along' this time! But I came to my senses and realized I had to finish that big afghan, so this sat in my basket for awhile. When I finally got it out (early May?) I counted the sts to find out what row I was on, and nothing was adding up. So I frogged it, and started over.


It's James Brett Marble, totally acrylic, but still a very nice yarn. This little sweater took slightly less than one (100g) skein. The garter stitch version took more than one skein which is why it got matching hat and bootees. It went surprisingly quick. Baby sweaters always surprise me at how quickly they knit up, it's just the button buying that gets me down.


Just as I got to the button band, the sweater decided it would be a pullover. Okay, I said, no buttons to buy! However, I'm not sure the neck is big enough to go over a baby's head, LOL!

When I did the casting off, I was sure I had figured out how to stitch up the bottom to make it even, but something went wonky, and there's a big scallop at the front middle. Also, I'm not too sure about the section that looks like a buttonband in the middle. I knew I didn't have that result when I made the first version, but not until I got it out did I realize that I hadn't done the extension section, but to make it longer, after I grafted the front middle, I joined the bottom and worked in the round. I'd do that again next time.
(It still needs buttons on the shoulders, and I think I made this one July 2007).


As mentioned, the inc/dec sequence changes for stockinette, and you end up increasing in the same spot for three rows at a time. Usually I do a 'Make 1' by knitting in to the back of the strand, but when you do that for more than one row, it gets too tight (upper right part of the increase line). What I changed to instead was to increase (M1), yarn over, knit center st, yarn over, M1. In the next row, the increase is made in the yarn over (and you do another yarn over). This gives a little more slack for the make one on the next row. For the last inc row, and the next plain row, you don't have to do the yarn overs, as the first of the three inc rows can just use the strand between sts as normal.

I have big issues with seaming up the sleeves of these jackets. I thought, this time, because you're seaming rows to stitches, it'd be like sewing in a sleeve to the body of a regular sweater---three sts to four rows. But that didn't work out, and it ended up almost st to row. And the seam rolls (?) towards the back. But, maybe once on it's okay; I've never seen one actually on a real live baby, LOL.

I'll definately do this vesion again. It shows the colours of self striping yarns better than garter stitch (I think that's why he worked out this version). And it takes less yarn than the garter st version, LOL!!

Still Playing CatchUp

Did you know that the ASL sign for 'ketchup' is to make one fist, and whack it with the palm of the other? Oh, the things you learn when your kids have developmental delays :)

This here is a little Baby Surprise Jacket, hat, bootees and ball, all made with just under two balls of James Brett Marble. They are big balls, but a good deal at about $5.99. I like the slightly thick/thin texture, and how one ply stays grey while the other one changes colours (pink, purple and white). It is 100% acrylic, but I think in the greys especially, it does have a 'natural' quality to it. The pattern is pretty nifty too, although I'm not a fan of the seam along the top of the shoulder/arm. It makes the sleeves a little stiff.

The sweater had been done for awhile (except for sewing up and buttons), and then I decided to use up the leftovers to make a complete ensemble. It always takes me awhile to do the buttons! I did actually finish everything a little while ago (beginning of January?), but am just getting around to showing the pictures now!

This hat is called Cameron's Cap and is a free pattern. I altered it by using a bulky yarn and making the child's size, and I attached the hem when I got to that point instead of sewing it later. It's a little big on me I think. You do the hem, then shortrow, starting with about 6sts and working out to 2sts from either side of the 1/2 way marker and start marker (so, my size had 100sts, you work to 46st are in work). I was concerned about this because your ears are not placed directly center on your head (which is why after I made this hat, I did that other plum one that I felted a little). While it all works out, I didnt' like the way to works up to a V shape on the forehead, and my glasses get in the way. My mom however, really liked it but it didn't match her coat. I think it needs a little I-cord knot on top or something.

So, I made another one :) This time in Patons Decor. I started with a provisional cast on, but when I got to the row to join the hem, I couldn't get it even--either the front or the inside had 1/2 row too much or too little. Then I did the short rowing, but as I got near the end, I started working two more sts at one end of the shortrow but one st at the other end (and reversed it for the other earflap). This meant of course that there's not quite as many rows in the earflap as it should have, but I couldn't figure out how to get more rows but not go over into the other half of the hat. If someone figures it out, let me know. Maybe start with fewer sts at the bottom of the earflap--although I don't think the hem is flexible enough to bend around a steeper curve. If you picked up sts and did the hem after, that might work, adding in dec/inc around the curves of the earflap. These two pictures show the 'front' and 'back' (one side shortrowed 1 more st each row to almost the 1/2 way mark, the other side shortrowed 2 more sts each row. It's a very subtle difference as it ended up being only about 3 or 4 rows).

Also, the decreases happen rather quickly at the top of the hat (4 double decreases, every other row). Although I don't think this bothered me on the pink one, it seemed too pointy on the Decor one (although it could have been because my sts counts got really wonky). I ended up ripping back and doing 8 single dec on every row for the last few rows.

The first two pictures were taken with much difficulty using the self timer (after the bathroom mirror thing didn't work). This one was a last minute impulse before putting the camera away! I just held it out at arm's length and snapped, LOL. The yarn was pretty neat, it made really thick stripes in the section worked on all sts. The hat starts out going really fast, then you end up in stockinette land for awhile, and then finally you start the decreases, and they happen really fast! I'm thinking it could be done on the knitting machine, perhaps take it off to do the dec. section by hand.

There are still MORE finished object pictures to show!!

Some knitting content

Yes, I do still knit. Some. Stitch by stitch, row by row... I finally got around to knitting a Baby Surprise Jacket, by Elizabeth Zimmerman. Before I finished the first, I started the second, and before I finished the second, I started a third...but modified it to be a pullover. The intention was that it would be for my niece Nya's first 4th of July, having been born at the end of May. Well...it didn't get finished in time. In fact, none of the 3 BSJ are actually finished! But I started another one! And then ripped it out and started a Baby Einstein instead.  I do love this striped version, but it is tiny.  Maybe even too small for newborn size.

Einstein Jackets. Love, and hate it. I made one. I wanted it shorter than the picture, more like a jacket. Didn't realize until I started the top part that I was basically a square instead of a rectangle. And I made it in a cream yarn. I look like a slightly toasted marshmallow in it. What I wanted to look like was this: Doesn't she look lean, and tall, and graceful? Although I am usually not guilty of knitting a pattern in the exact called for yarn, in the shade pictured, I am guilty of knitting osmosis. Somehow, I assume that if I knit it, I will look like the model. I KNOW this is stupid. I can easily look at a photo of a pattern and say "See how she has her arms above her head? The sleeves are too long. The scarf is obscuring the neckline. It looks like it's been pinned behind her back...." But show me an Alice Starmore pattern, and I assume if I knit it I will be teleported to the hills of Scotland, grow 6 inches (in height, thereby stretching out my weight), and have flowing red hair.
I also read self-help books and think it's going to work just by osmosis. "The Weight Solution"? I should be a toothpick by now. "The Courage to be Rich"? You'd think I could buy out the yarn store. "Raising Your Spirited Child"? Aren't my kids the picture of discipline perfection?

On Thursday night I got to go to my local knitting night. Yeah!! Sure, I got there late, and when I got home, Megan was covered in Oreo drool and eating ice cream with Daddy....but I got to talk to other adult knitters! I took a copy of "Hot Knits" and "Knitted Toys" that I got from the library. "Hot Knits" was very popular, with the last 3 copies at amazon.com being ordered that night, LOL. Everyone really liked this one: Pardon the Cutco knife, I don't have a scanner, and these knives are so perfectly balanced, they're great for holding books open, LOL. The back of the cable sweater has the same cables. The cables move across the sweater on an angle by inc. on one edge of it, and dec. on the other edge. I wonder if I could do this one on the machine?

The rib dress is gorgeous, but will I become tall, slender, brunette and stunning if I knit it?
I might make it as a top only :)