Sunday, October 22, 2006

Surprise!


Its a baby!

In my little neighborhood the moms from the bustop all help each other out. Kids run from house to house, we do grocery runs for each other, and overall we try to help each other out when things get crazy. One of The Mommy Mafia is expecting another--number four!

Since they do not know what flavor they are having, I had to make something simple and gender neutral. It had to be machine washable and go with everything.

DENIM! Every baby needs a jean jacket.

If you have ever worked with Denim you know that it has a few quirks. It can be washed and dried in the machine, and it gets better every time, fading just like jeans do. It tightens in the first wash the most, losing 10-15% of its LENGTH and some of its dye in that first wash. So in Denim, you must knit everything longer than you need it. Finally, you must use washed and dried yarn to sew it up, for unsewn will pucker in the first wash and ruin your piece.

So....I have been on an EZ kick lately, and wanted to try the Baby Surprise Jacket. It was just as magical as described, and just as much fun. BUT the length shrank! and the two cardigan fronts did not meet, and the buttonholes were far away and USELESS.

Gotta boss that knitting around! So I sewed the buttons OVER the buttonholes and then crocheted loops for the buttons. My crochet is....basic, at best. But I kinda got away with it. The baby is unlikely to hate it.

I had bought this cone of denim--two pounds!--in 2005 to make a sweater for Mr. Funny. Instead it has become a blanket, two kid sweaters, and now the surprise jacket. Not much left now.


(Salt shaker included for scale.)

Now this expected child is the fourth, and will have three older brothers. My knitting could be its only chance for new clothes! What is cuter than baby feet?


Baby feet in Koigu!

3 Comments:

At 1:38 AM, Blogger Unknown said...

Excellent work! And good on ya for taking sartorial pity on the child!

 
At 4:30 AM, Blogger Mary said...

Love the new blog template! And I'm very impressed with your knitting-bossing!

Now, how does one wash and dry unknit yarn?

 
At 9:52 PM, Blogger Anne Margaret said...

TWO pounds - that's a LOT of love. SO cool of you to spread it all around. Love the jacket, but especially those little socks. CUTE!

 

Post a Comment

<< Home