Summer of Babies
I feel like I have been knitting for babies non-stop this summer!
Gender-Neutral BSJ [flickr]
I finished another wonderful Baby Surprise Jacket. I thought it would be a little less amazing the second time — but no, I was just as amazed as the first time at how this weird-looking mostly-flat piece of garter stitch fabric becomes such a cool-looking baby sweater.
- Pattern:
- Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. This is published a number of places; I used The Opinionated Knitter. [ravel it]
- Yarn:
- Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Heavyweight in Farmhouse for the main body (1 hank), STR Heavyweight in 24 Karat for the i-cord trim (I only used a few yards).
- Needles:
- Knit Picks US6 nickel-plated Options
- Started – Finished:
- 2 June 2008 – 28 July 2008
- Size:
- 3-6 month, I guess
- Ravelry Project Notes:
- ravelry
Like my last BSJ, I decided that I prefer the sleeves to stay the same width rather than blouse out from the wrist. So rather than working the initial increases for the arms, I cast on the extra stitches initially and moved the stitch markers in as JulieFrick details here.
My first BSJ had a neck opening that I felt was too small. It worked out just fine on my niece but I don’t think she ever wore the BSJ closed. I decided that I would widen the neckline on this version a bit. After you bind off the stitches that become the notch where the neck is, I worked a few decreases — 3 per side — and that widened the neckline quite a bit more.
The other mod I made was to use the i-cord bind off again. I really like how it looks to have a mostly solid i-cord bind off on a very variegated sweater body. I knit the final two rows in yellow. On the second row, I decided to bind off 2 stitches in the five places I wanted buttonholes. At the turn, I cast on 3 stitches using the backwards loop cast-on and worked the i-cord bind off around. At the 5 sections where I had bound off stitches for buttonholes, I worked 3 rows of plain i-cord. This gave me neat i-cord buttonholes.
I found buttons at Michaels (surprisingly) and attached 4. Due to the “diaper fullness,” the bottom of the BSJ flares out and I didn’t like how the fifth button looked. I sewed up the fifth buttonhole, but I really dislike even numbers of buttons! I may take my mom’s suggestion and attach the fifth button for purely cosmetic/aesthetic reasons.
I love the BSJ [flickr]
I hope this is sufficiently gender-neutral and not too crazy. DH said it “looks like 70s carpeting.” The better to soak up spit-up with, my dear. I really hope the recipient likes it! I also plan to knit a hat to go along with it.
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it is so cute! the colors are nice and bright and busy – perfect for babies!
Argh. This is still on my list of to-dos. Beautiful. I’m going to have to start one soon.
Turned out great. I love the edging – very nice touch. As a momma of two boys, the colors are fine to me, and I would have been thrilled to put my boys in such a nice sweater. Besides, the baby won’t care. :)
i know! lots of babies around here too. i’ve had to resort to lots of bought gifts this time around.
I love this new version! I do think you were wise to adjust the neck. BTW, little Ms. N did wear it closed a couple of times, just not when you saw her…and when she was smaller, the neck fit surprisingly well. :)
beautiful color, and absolutely lovely trim.
That is one striking cardi! Very nice and the great part, no one will have another like it!
[...] with some of my leftover Socks That Rock Heavyweight in 24 Karat. It was the i-cord trim on the BSJ I knit for my friend M+R’s new baby, Veronica Marie (congratulations!). I had plenty of yellow left over and I knew I wanted to make a [...]
[...] just had their second child, another gorgeous little girl. I knit her older sister Veronica a Baby Surprise Jacket just before she was born almost two years ago, so I felt Heidi needed a cardigan as [...]