Angelarae Knits

Girly Baby Surprise Jacket

Here is my completed Baby Surprise Jacket.  You were right.  Finishing in the cream and adding silver buttons were both excellent choices.  As was, imho, the collar I knit.  I wanted something a little frilly since the jacket is in denim blue.  I think that the result is girly enough.

I tried several settings for these pics and really did not like any of them.  Oh well.  I leave with one last pic of the collar detail.  It is an eyelet picot bind-off.  You may remember the picot edging from knitting 'Fetching.'  I used this tutorial from Knitty and incorporated the eyelets.   The recipe follows the detail pic below.

Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket from 'Knitting Workshop,' by Elizabeth Zimmermann

Size: Fits an infant 9 to 12 mos. old

Yarn: Paton's Classic Merino in Colors 'Worn Denim' and 'Cream'

Needles: Denise, size 6US

Mods: Collar is the only addition or modification to this pattern.  Free collar pattern below.

Frilly Collar

~Beginning at right front button band and working around neck to left button band, pick up 46 sts.   Knit 8 garter ridges (16 rows), ending on a WS row.
~(RS)*K2, yo, K2tog - repeat from * across ending in K2. 
~Knit back across WS row.
Begin Picot Bind-off:
Using Cable Cast-on, *cast on 2 sts. and immediately bind off 4 in the usual way.  Slip the single stitch on the right hand needle, back onto the left hand needle and repeat from * across.
    I loved knitting this.  It was as fun as everyone says it is.  Also, I think that the next one I knit, I'll stripe throughout, instead of just at the beginning and end of the piece, and maybe 3 or 4 colors.

Unfinished BSJ

You are looking at a nearly completed Baby Surprise Jacket.  I say nearly because I ran out of blue (denim) Paton's Classic Merino and have only enough to knit one row, not the 3 or 4 rows of blue I need to complete the stripe motif that I went with.  I have plenty of the cream color, so I guess I could just finish it in that, but I am not certain that I will be happy with the results.  Could knit it out with what I have and, if I don't like it rip back and finish with the blue as planned.  But the nature of this piece is a wonky looking piece of knitting that will fold nicely into a baby sweater, as you see.  I have no idea what finishing in cream will result in.    I'd have to wait 'til Friday to buy more yarn...it doesn't grow on trees, 'ya know, and my fingers are itching!  It's looking pretty good,  isn't it?  I think I am going to add a collar and maybe ribbed sleeves.  What do you think?  This sweater is for a little girl, so the buttons for it should be flowers. (or maybe silver?)  What do you think?

A New Year Of Knitting and Griping

Hello again!  So glad to be back to blogging...finally.  I have visited some of your blogs over the last few weeks, but really took a break from it all over the holidays because I figured I deserved it and, also, I have the attention span of a gnat and, what with the holidays and all, I can't possibly 'do it all', much less try to.  And I am all about doing less here lately, as a way of making a small contribution toward 'taking care of myself', a totally new and unfamiliar concept to me.  To me, 'taking care of myself' simply meant that I would buy myself that bag of Lindor Truffles (dark chocolate) and hide them in my underwear drawer so that I could have them all to myself.  Apparently, taking care of oneself is slightly more involved than that.  The things you really like to eat must be forsaken and replaced by lots of veggies, whole grains, and water....lots and lots of water.  Which is okay.  I have no problem with the water and veggie thing.  I grew up always having a garden, and so I love eating vegetables. But, I hate to give up my sweet tea.  Us southern girls really love us some sweet tea.  I have gone so far as to switch to half-n-half tea (half sweet and half unsweet) to cut down on the sugar intake, (they hate me at drive through's) but I have never given it up altogether.  Let me tell ya'll...that unsweet stuff just doesn't do it for me. 
Anyhoo, I have been knitting.  I have two works in progress to share.
The first is a vest I am working on for my husband's birthday.  He turned 49 last week and the vest is something he asked for some time back.  Here it is so far.

I have finished the left panel and this is the back.  The yarn is Wool-Ease Worsted in color 'Mushroom.'  I plan on adding some leather covered  buttons.  The pattern for this lovely thing is at Lionbrand.com.  It's called the 'Unisex Vest.'

I have to show you the picture instead of linking to the pattern because things aren't working very well chez Lionbrand right now.  Sorry.

It was the only men's vest pattern I could find that wasn't a pull over. Go figure.  First, I knit the Medium size, then I used worsted when the pattern calls for sport weight Wool-Ease.  (Couldn't find it at Michael's or A.C. Moore, so used worsted instead)  Also, I went up a needle size, using size 5 and size 7 instead of using size 4 and 5.  It should just fit.  So far, so good, anyway. 

This is the other project.  It is a Baby Surprise Jacket from this book.

(Sorry for the inclusion of Zoe's butt in this picture...she wouldn't move, but isn't the psychedelic quilt cool?  Thank you, Target.)

The book was a birthday gift from my Mom.  She ordered it from Knit Picks.  They have fast, reliable service:)

Here's the BSJ, in progress...

I am knitting this with Paton's Classic Wool in a denim and cream.  I like these colors and you can't beat the price, really.  It was on sale for 30% off at A.C. Moore, which made it $3.00 and some change, per skein.