The start-itis just keeps on acting up around my house. This time, I'm going to blame Emily for mentioning that EZ's Baby Surprise Jacket pattern has an "Adult" version as well -- and that that version explains how to vary the jacket depending on size and yarn gauge. I've wanted to knit Z a Surprise Jacket with a very particular handspun yarn that I have in my stash, but the pattern as written doesn't come with information for sizing it up or down (other than varying the yarn used), and since my yarn was DK weight (or less) I was pretty sure that the Baby pattern would result in a sweater too small for my kiddo. The adult version, however, provides the details for sizing the pattern based on your gauge and the width of the sweater you need to make, so I ordered the leaflet from Schoolhouse Press and when it arrived I through all will power to the wind, found the yarn, made a gauge swatch and got to the business of taking care of the simple calculations needed to get started.
The yarn is a two-ply handspun made out of hand-dyed Corriedale roving in the colorway "Cotton Candy" from Crown Mountain Farms (note: I don't see this colorway on the website anymore -- if you wanted to see what it started out like, you can find it here). This is the little garter-stitch swatch I made 5.5 sitches/inch on US 4 needles (selected because they were the smallest set available in my Harmony interchangeable set and I couldn't find a set of US 3 needles ). I liked the fabric density and thought it would be good for a spring baby sweater, so I decided to roll with it. You'll notice that it stripes, but that the color runs are pretty short. Not ideal for this pattern which really shows of stripes to their advantage, but this yarn has far too much yellow in it to be for any garment I would ever wear.
With the help of EZ's pattern recommendations I used the gauge and my final desired width of 12" (based on a 2T size jacket that I have for Z for the fall) to determine the number of stitches that I needed to start with.
In spite of the many stitches I had to cast on, this project is just whizzing by. I've finished the initial decreases and am now working on the increases after setting aside some stitches for the collar (or what I think is the collar, I have to admit that my orientation on this sweater is poor -- even with all the pictures out there). The picture above is just before I started increasing again.
Even though there's no distinct striping pattern, I'm pleased with the way the fabric is turning out. It's more or less random, but little bits of striping show up here and there. I'm thinking that the Kureyon and Silk Garden sock yarns might be nice made up into this pattern -- assuming that one was willing to consider completely unwashable yarns for a child. In fact, though, this is the one place where I am making something completely impractical for Ms. Z -- this yarn is most definitely not superwash, and is definitely a light color. I guess I'm just going to have to be prepared to do a little hand sweater washing when it's done.
The yarn is a two-ply handspun made out of hand-dyed Corriedale roving in the colorway "Cotton Candy" from Crown Mountain Farms (note: I don't see this colorway on the website anymore -- if you wanted to see what it started out like, you can find it here). This is the little garter-stitch swatch I made 5.5 sitches/inch on US 4 needles (selected because they were the smallest set available in my Harmony interchangeable set and I couldn't find a set of US 3 needles ). I liked the fabric density and thought it would be good for a spring baby sweater, so I decided to roll with it. You'll notice that it stripes, but that the color runs are pretty short. Not ideal for this pattern which really shows of stripes to their advantage, but this yarn has far too much yellow in it to be for any garment I would ever wear.With the help of EZ's pattern recommendations I used the gauge and my final desired width of 12" (based on a 2T size jacket that I have for Z for the fall) to determine the number of stitches that I needed to start with.
In spite of the many stitches I had to cast on, this project is just whizzing by. I've finished the initial decreases and am now working on the increases after setting aside some stitches for the collar (or what I think is the collar, I have to admit that my orientation on this sweater is poor -- even with all the pictures out there). The picture above is just before I started increasing again.Even though there's no distinct striping pattern, I'm pleased with the way the fabric is turning out. It's more or less random, but little bits of striping show up here and there. I'm thinking that the Kureyon and Silk Garden sock yarns might be nice made up into this pattern -- assuming that one was willing to consider completely unwashable yarns for a child. In fact, though, this is the one place where I am making something completely impractical for Ms. Z -- this yarn is most definitely not superwash, and is definitely a light color. I guess I'm just going to have to be prepared to do a little hand sweater washing when it's done.
I love the colours, especially for springtime!
Looks great! So far with my kid, who is close to Z's age, I've found that I don't need to worry too much about having machine washable sweaters. As long as she isn't wearing it when she's eating, they don't tend to get too dirty. Plus, they're pretty small, so not a huge pain to handwash.
I don't see a problem with using Noro sock yarns for a kid's jacket. The kureyon is really scratchy but for outerwear that's not a big deal. I have a pair of "Kureyon Sock yarn" socks that I throw in the washer AND the dryer, gentle cycles. I also have a silk garden (regular worsted) sweater that I machine wash on "hand wash" (a VERY gentle cycle that I have on my washer) and dry on the "no heat" setting on my dryer. I've never used the silk garden sock version but if it's similar to the worsted version, it is more resilient than you might think.
I agree that it's not much trouble to handwash a kid sweater, as long as you're not giving it as a gift. And I too have machine washed and dried Silk Garden. It does fluff up a bit, but mine hasn't felted.
I love the colors, very fresh and springy! Reminds me of saltwater taffy actually!
Can you tell me what the booklet is called that you ordered from Schoolhouse Press. I am interested to see the "math" for this sweater, as well.
That is beautiful. Baby Z will look gorgeous in it!