baby leaving the nest & road trip knitting!

I will be leaving soon to take my youngest daughter to Florida for the next chapter in her life. She & I will drive to Va. to visit her sister, my oldest daughter for 2 nights and then on down to Florida, N. Miami to be exact! My husband and daughter's bf will drive seperate on a further west route to avoid the mountains as they pulling the bf's boat. Then we will help them to get settled and relax a bit, taking a few days to check out Key West! YES! I have always wanted to go there. We spent many vacations in FL visiting the in-laws when the girls were young but never ventured very far so this is my treat!!

I am packing and finding knitting to take along. I started working on this top down sweater, it's the same pattern as the one shown in July 9th post. I changed that worsted weight pattern to baby yarn and made a few other changes. I may need a few boy sweaters as we have friends that are expecting grandbabies for the first time!! I think I can knit that in the car or at the pool for sure!

I did make a proto-type baby bootee but I am struggling to put it together, it's just not what I thought, so it's on the back-burner for now. BUT that whole process gave me some other ideas for knit baby bootees, hopefully I can develop those when I get back!

Be back soon with finished knits and pictures!

Swing Sweater & Bonnet

The yarn I used was Bernat Softee Baby yarn in color " baby baby" on size 4 needles.


Changes to Baby Sweater in ASN book #1210
Learn to Knit in Just One Day

PLEASE NOTE ABOUT INCREASES that create the "flare" on both sleeves and the body of the sweater, work them as M1 ; "Make one increase" as shown on this link:
http://www.knitpicks.com/content/index.php/archive/make-1-increase/
If you work them as K1 Front & back it will leave a hole.


When you reach Row 37 of sweater (dividing row) put left front stitches on a stitch holder; for left sleeve: K37, turn cast on 3 sts and purl across sleeve, turn, cast on 3 sts , Knit across. Work 5 rows of stockinette stitch beginning with a Purl row and ending with a Purl row.
Then work 3 sets of rows 1-6 of sleeve , ending with 35 sts
K 1 row
Purl 1 row
next row K5, Inc in next st, repeat 5 times, ending K5.
P 1 row
K 1 row
P 1 row
Now work edging as written.

Reattach yarn to right side of back, K74 sts of back, K37 for right sleeve. Cast on sts, turn, purl across 40sts, cast on 3 sts, turn, knit across sleeve stitches only leaving back sts on needle as you work. Work 5 rows of stockinette stitch. Work rows 5 & 6 of pattern, Then knit 3 sets of rows 1-6.

Reattach yarn on right side of Right Front, knit across 38 sts of right front. Using a spare needle, slide left front stitches onto spare needle, then slide onto other end of circular needle( the end that will be in your left hand). Purl across all sts & begin body with Row 3.

When you have knit 3" of body, end on a purl row. The next row will be an increase row to create the flare in the bottom of the sweater.
K 16, inc in next stitch, repeat 7 times, knit to end of row.
158 sts on needle.
Purl 1 row
Work rows 27-35 of sweater on page 24; 224 sts on needle.
Purl 1 row
K 1 row
P 1 row
K 1 row
P 1 row
Work lower edging as written and bind off
finish sweater as written.


Here it is on my "model", looks cute the way it gathers across the back.


Back to bootie designing.............

Top Down in baby weight & another FO

I completed the adjustments to this pattern from worsted weight to baby/sport yarn.

here are the details:

My version worked in 3ply baby/sport yarn , With added collar

Finished measurements:
Chest: 19"
Length: 9"
Sleeve seam: 5 ¼"
Materials: I used Bernat Softee Baby 4.25oz – 333 yard ball
(This is more than adequate, you will have yarn leftover)
Gauge: 5.5 sts = 1", 7 rows = 1"
Needle: US size 6 or size you require to obtain gauge
2 stitch holders

Abbrev.
RS= right side, WS= wrong side
K2tog= Knit 2 stitches together
Note: to increase, Knit in front and back ( F&B) of same stitch (or purl if on wrong side (WS)
Yo= yarn over
SSK= slip 2 sts one at a time as if to knit, put left needle through the front of these two sts, and knit them together through their back loops

Buttonholes: worked on right front for girl’s at beginning of row, pattern is written for a girl sweater. Worked on left front for boy’s at end of row as follows: Work to within last 4sts, YO, K2tog, K2. To tighten up the buttonhole, on the next row when you reach the YO, purl the YO instead of knitting it.g
Sweater shown has a buttonhole worked every 6 garter ridges ( or 12 rows)

CO 69
Knit 20 rows
21st row: K4, K2 tog 31 times, end K3
22nd row: K2, (YO, K2tog this is a buttonhole), Purl to last 4 sts, K4.
23rd row: K4, inc in next 31 sts, end K3
24th row: K4, purl across, end K4

Begin yoke as follows:
Row 1: ( RS) K13, yo, K1, yo, K7, yo, K1, yo, K25, yo, K1, yo, K7, yo, K1, yo, K13.
Row 2: ( WS) K4, purl to last 4 sts, k4
Row 3: K14, yo, K1, yo, K9, yo, K1, yo, K27, yo, K1, yo, K9, yo, K1, yo, K14
Row 4: K4 sts, purl to last 4 sts, K4
Continue working in this established pattern, working 8 increases per RS row until there are 173 sts on needle. There will be 13 yo holes down each seam increase, end with a WS row.

Divide for sleeves and body:
K26 sts ( left front) and place on a holder, K35 sts ( left sleeve) and leave these sts on the needle. ** Turn, purl into front and back ( F & B ) of first stitch, purl across to last stitch, purl into F&B of last stitch. 37 sts.
Work back and forth on these left sleeve sts only until length from point of division measures 3", end with a WS row.
Work 2 pattern repeats as follows:
Row 1: ( RS) Knit
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: K2, * (yo, k2 tog), repeat from * to last stitch, K1.
Row 4: Knit
Row 5: K1, SSK, knit to last 3 sts, K2tog, K1.
Row 6: Purl
Row 7 & 8: Knit
Row 9: K3, * (yo, SSK), repeat from * to last 2 sts, K2.
Row 10: Knit
Row 11: K1, SSK, knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, K1.
This is where I changed the pattern rows to ribbing, you will begin on a wrong side row and work 6 rows of K1, P1 ribbing. Bind off loosely and leave a 10” tail of yarn for sewing up the sleeve seam.
Return to body, reattach yarn at armhole edge with RS facing. Knit across next 51 sts ( back) and place these sts on a stitch holder. Knit across next 35 sts for right sleeve and leave on needle. Finish this right sleeve as for left sleeve from ** to binding off.
Return to body reattach yarn at armhole edge with RS facing. Knit across next 26 sts of right front, Turn, K4, purl across 21 sts of right front, purl F&B of next stitch. Place the back sts on left needle, purl F&B of the first stitch, purl across to last stitch of the back, purl F&B of the last stitch.
Place left front stitches on left needle, purl F&B of next stitch, purl to last stitch 4 sts, K4. 107 stitches total.

Body: keeping the edge 4 sts in garter stitch, begin working in stockinette stitch ( knit 1 row, Purl 1 row) until body measures 3", ending with a WS row. Work 3 pattern repeats as follows:

Row 1: ( RS) Knit
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: K4, K1, * (yo, k2 tog), repeat from * to last 4 sts, K4.
Row 4: Knit
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: K4, purl to last 4 sts, K4
Row 7 & 8: Knit
Row 9: K4, K1, * (yo, SSK), repeat from * to last 4 sts, K4.
Row 10: Knit
Row 11: Knit
Row 12: K4, purl to last 4 sts, K4
Row 13: & 14: Knit
Row 15: K4, K1, * (yo, K2tog), repeat from * to last 4 sts, K4
Row 16: knit
Row 17 & 18: Knit
Bind off loosely.Finish: sew underarm seams. Weave in all ends. Sew on buttons

Knitted Baby Kimono Jacket

I found this on the wrapper of Caron's new Simply Soft Baby.

you can read about the yarn here.

click on my pictures to see a close-up, the yarn has little nubbies almost like twists of a fine yarn in pastel colors. no splitting at all easy to knit & soft too!

Pattern is written for 3-6 months, 12 mo. and 18 months. This is the 12 months size. It took 3 skeins of color pastel pink, each skein is only 2 ozs and 95 yards. This one is knit in sections ---back, fronts and sleeves and a lot of seaming but it was an easy pattern and fun to knit, just more time consuming. I added the applied I-cord trim rather the single crochet the pattern calls for. Actually I had the crocheted trim on in a deep rose color and unraveled it all after I found out how to-do the I-cord.

I will be tucking this little sweater away for future gift giving :)

Dream In Color Baby Sweater a FO!

Back from camping and ready to show you my newest FO! I know mine isn't as colorful as the original but I think it's soft & "summery" looking.
I truly enjoyed knitting this pattern and HIGHLY recommend it, I ordered my pattern here.

Details about the yarn used in my June 25th post.
The sweater only required 1 skein each of pink and soft yellow but I needed to use part of the 2nd skein of cream. Loved the yarn, it's buttery soft and easy to knit with. I've read on line some complaining about this yarn splitting but I had no problem with that.
and the applied I-cord, so easy! I'm finishing a different pattern now and plan to use that same technique around the edges, more pictures & details to follow!