Row by Row Help for the Elizabeth Zimmerman Baby Sweater on Two Needles

It felt really good to get this one out of my system.  By that, I mean, that I have wanted to knit this little sweater for a long time.  My copy of Knitter's Almanac is well-worn from baby longies, a half-finished pie shawl(still), some attempted Norwegian mittens, and some wonderful reading.

In progress

I'd assumed it would be simple to knit, but when I finally cast on, I realized the directions were a little sparse.  I did lots of research on Ravelry, and from everyone's help I made it through pretty well.  Only one frog, at the very beginning.
I thought I'd post some notes here for anyone else knitting this sweater.

Row by Row help (not the pattern) for Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Sweater on Two Needles

Note: For this sweater, I chose to make it completely seamless, and took suggestions to knit the sleeves in the round.  This also avoided a messy cast on mid-project, and made the whole sweater seamless!


Buttonholes:  BEFORE you begin, you need to make a button-hole decision.  If you look at lots of projects on Ravelry you can decide if you want buttons on the yoke only, or buttons all the way down the sweater.  Every 8 rows gives you three on the yoke, Every 8th ridge (that's two rows) gives you only two on the yoke, and continuing that spaces them well down the rest of the sweater.  So look and decide FIRST.


Cast on the # of stitches in the pattern. 
Rows 1-3 work in garter stitch
Row 4: (First button hole row for my example)  K2 edge stitches, K2, M1, then Knit to end.
Row 5 - 8 as per pattern.
Row 9 (Increase Row, as per pattern.)
Row 10 -17 (as per pattern)
Row 18 Increase row
Row 19 (change to gull lace pattern) K4, pattern row 1 to the last 4 sts, K4.
Row 20 (buttonhole row) K2 edge stitches, K2, M1, pattern row 2 to the last 4 sts, K4.
(This was my last buttonhole, but if you are continuing down the sweater, you will repeat this buttonhole row every 16 rows.) 


At this point the pattern is pretty straightforward until you get to the sleeves.  You will continue in pattern, until the sweater is 4 1/2 inches long. 


Divide for Sleeves:
Next Row:  Knit in pattern for 25 stitches, put the next 28 stitches on a spare piece of yarn, Knit the next 42 stitches in pattern, put the next 28 stitches on a spare piece of yarn, Knit the next 25 stitches in pattern. 


At this point: Take a note of what pattern row you finished, as this will be your next row when you continue to knit the sleeves later on.


Next Row: Knit along the body as per pattern, until the body is complete, following the pattern cast off suggestions at the end. 


Go back for sleeves.
First sleeve:  Slip 14 stitches off your spare yarn onto a double pointed needle, then the next 14 stitches onto another dpk.  In the gap, pick up either 7 or 14 stitches (I did 7, but the pattern calls for 14) onto another dpk.  Join your yarn, and continue with the pattern row that you noted before, and knit the sleeve in the round, until the sleeve length designated in the pattern. Be sure to remember that in the round, your purl rows are knitted. 


Repeat for second sleeve.  Weave in ends.  You are done!
I hope I got this right and it all makes sense.  Please feel free to comment below if you don't understand something, or if I need to correct my notes.


Usually, I'll knit a project, and then I'll look for a cute outfit to match.  In this case, I fell in love with a baby dress at Peek, and then decided that it needed a sweater!

Liberty of London prints are my favorite!

Our classic tree-branch buttons from the cedars

Back view

Sharing this week with:

Frontier Dreams

Ginny's Yarn Along

Neutral Baby Sweater and Experimental Hat

While each baby sweater I knit is a work of love, some are more straightforward than others.  This one knitted up just fine, I'd knit one before and have adored this pattern ever since.  The only problem was when it came to buttons.

The Afterthought Button

In the past I've crocheted a loop on one side and toggled it over to a button.  I had intended to do this again, but once I compared the toggle button with our homemade branch buttons, well, I knew the toggle wasn't the right one.

Problem was, this sweater was never designed for these buttons, and button-holes aren't a part of the pattern.  I remembered reading in my lovely Elizabeth Zimmerman book, Knitting Without Tears about the afterthought button method. I went looking on YouTube thinking someone out there would walk me through this.  I found no such instructions, so I cracked open the book on the table with my pile of tools, and I very, very bravely, CUT TWO HOLES IN MY SWEATER!!!

Yep, I unraveled two or three stitches, and followed the sewing instructions carefully to create a secure (I hope) hole.  I pulled on it to test the hole after and it seemed to hold up pretty well, so I will for now, call it a success!  If the recipient of this gift is reading my blog, and wonders later why the sweater fell apart- well now she'll know!! (And so sorry if that happens.)

That was my first time trying the very scary afterthought button technique, but It's a good thing to know about in case any of you get into a similar muddle with buttons.

I was of course, much happier with the branch buttons than the toggle one, so there you go. There was something about the natural wood tones against the charcoal-grey wool.  Loved it!

The next phase of the baby gift was a completely experimental hat.  I will put some rough notes on Ravelry for that soon, but in chunky 100% baby alpaca it was a dream to knit with, and took about 30 minutes to finish.  I don' t know how it will do for daily wear, but I had hoped it would make a great newborn photo prop hat.  If anyone wants me to write up a full pattern for this, just let me know, and I'll get it onto Ravelry.

Also, included with this baby gift was our first attempt at wood-burning baby hangers.  My husband is the artist around here, so I gave him the tools and let him go.  I love the way it turned out, and I'm pretty sure there's more of these baby hangers coming in our future.

Sharing with Ginny today at Small Things Yarn Along
And Frontier Dreams Keep Calm Craft On.

Small Things Baby Sweater

I've got babies on the brain lately.  Two of my sisters-in-law due this month, both with little girls, and one delivered this week.  Heaven!!!!

Personally, I'm going back and forth between worrying about how on earth I will manage six kids, stressing out about the five I already have, and daydreaming about stuff I want to do:  the garden I want to plant, the decorating I want to do, and the knitting ahead.  I'm pretty sure that most of what I plan to do will get lost in the shuffle as it usually does.  Those chickens will probably have to wait a couple more years, as will that kitchen makeover.

Thank goodness for the knitting.  It's the one thing that I never have to set aside, since it goes with me, to appointments, on road trips, while keeping the kids from coloring on the walls, or listening to them recount every last little event from their days..........

And baby knitting, it's the best kind.  Who doesn't love stuff in miniature anyway? The fact that smaller things finish really fast isn't lost on me either.

I'm getting pickier about what I knit for babies though.  Especially when I remember those first little things I made for my own kiddos.  Blankets, booties, hats, soakers, leggings.  It was fun, but I'm not so quick to cast-on to just any pattern anymore.  It's not like I don't want to try out new patterns, because I certainly do, like the Small Things Baby Sweater above, it's just that I look for patterns with certain details, like no seams, growability (is that a word?), etc, that I didn't before.

Since I've much more baby knitting yet to do, including some things for my own kiddo coming this summer, I'm planning to post sometime soon about my favorite baby knits for both boys and girls.

For this gift for my littlest neice, I had set out to knit two other sweaters, but at the last minute this pattern jumped out at me. That, and I had this amazing yarn that I bought during our anniversary trip this summer.  I am in love with hand-dyed yarns.  This one is Madelintosh, Tosh Vintage, Superwash Merino Wool, and the color is Blackcurrant.  It was hard to get my camera to expose properly for the pictures, I am currently in the process of learning about how lightmeters get tricked by dark and light colors, so it looks a bit more purple than it is.  It is a dark burgundy color, with flecks of wine in it.  Never had seen a yarn like it before. Stunning colors.

Eric (hubby) helped me make a new batch of tree branch buttons.  This time some from cherry and cedar besides the original fir buttons. The cedar is the clear winner, they came out beautifully.  And since we live smack in the middle of a grove of cedars, I'm thinking I'll always be able to make them.  Which is a very good thing because I don't think I could ever tire of them!

I love the shaping in this sweater, almost Kimono-like.  Lots of detail in the stitching, but not a difficult knit at all.  This one definitely makes my list of favorite baby knits.  I'll be making this one again.

All it needed was my favorite pixie hat and booties to go with it!  I have modified the Pixie Hat pattern to add in eyelet holes along the bottom for the ties.  It makes it really fit a variety of sizes - always a consideration with baby hats!  My mods are on Ravelry if you want to see how I did that.

And after knitting a million pairs of my favorite Stay-On Booties, I finally figured out how to slip stitches on the instep for neater edge detail, don't know why it took me so long there.  This yarn is Malabrigo Arroyo Merino Wool in the color Lotus. Love the tonal colors.

Now I'm on to knitting for the next baby!  Baby sweaters are so addicting, I can't remember the last time I knitted an adult size sweater - though I mean to, but babies always come first.  At least in my book :)

Happy Knitting.
Sharing with Frontier Dreams Keep Calm Craft On
and Ginny's Small Things

Baby Vest - In Threes

 

Summer is definitely here.

 

I can tell because my mind is starting to race with summer ideas.

 

I always start the summer with really big plans.

 

It goes something like this:

 

Re-organize my house.

Get it perfectly clean.

School the kids in grammar, spelling, reading, and math.

Grow an amazing garden.

Put up a bunch of fruit.

Make my kids into Olympic champion swimmers.

Travel somewhere amazing.

Entertain a million people.

Paint and Redecorate.

 

And what really ends up happening?

 

We do work hard, but with everyone home and making messes, we about break even.

 

I won't have one clean room for more than just a few seconds.

 

I end up chasing my toddler out of stuff, creatively keeping my boys busy so that I don't kill them, and driving my teenager to a million places.

 

Most of that stuff, that I 'plan' doesn't happen.

 

But we do play.

A lot.

And it's not perfect, but it is still

Wonderful.

 

The kids will sleep outside.

Drink lemonade.

Count the stars.

Climb trees.

Ride bikes.

Play in the creek.

And eat lots of popsicles.

 

They start out so grateful to be home.  Then after some weeks decide that they can't stand the sight of each other. And they'll get into a billion fights. There will be lots of screaming and whining.  Then after a few more weeks they'll really bond,

usually just in time to go back to school. 

 

Smile.

 

This Wednesday is our last day of school.

And here I am full of excitement for it all to begin.

 

 

And making plans.

Here comes Summer. 

 

 

As for my knitting,

 

I finally got around to knitting the popular pattern In Threes.

 

This is such a well-designed pattern.

 

This is a baby cardigan designed to be worn from 0-6 months and beyond.  It is knitted from the top down, with no seams to sew up when you are finished. 

 

This yarn was dreamy.  Madelinetosh Tosh Vintage.  In this crazy kettle-dyed or hand-dyed purple-pink color with the natural dye variations.

 

 

I added some of the tree-branch buttons that we made before. 

Though it looks pretty in the garden, it will still look even prettier on a lovely little girl.  

As an aside, this week I must return some library books that I have been treasuring.  I've maxed out the renewals on these books, and I have been deeply pouring into their contents.  It has helped to improve my spinning so much.

 

 

 

 

 I also just dived in to my first Baby Surprise Jacket.  I can't wait to show you when I get it sewn up, and photographed.  Happy Knitting.

Sharing today with:

Frontier Dreams Keep Calm Craft On
Ginny's Yarn Along
Tami Ami's Finished Object Friday
Natural Suburbia's Creative Friday   and
Wisdom Begins in Wonder's Fiber Arts Friday

For Twins: The Tree of Life Afghan

An Excuse to do some Cable-Knitting

Oh those babies.  I think I have a sickness.  I can never, ever, get enough of babies.  Not everyone's a baby person, and that's ok.  I know I'm not alone in my diseased-state, for I have spoken with many of you that share this baby-obsession, and we know who we are :)

Recently I was able to visit a good friend and see her newborn twins. I've always wondered what it would be like to have twins. Twins are fascinating creatures, and much as I feel confident holding a newborn (I've had 5 of them!) holding TWO newborns at once was a little disconcerting at first. 

 

 

 

 

 

Of course, twins are the perfect excuse to feed my baby knitting mania!  I wanted to make a blanket for them (and about 100 other things).  Come to think of it, should have been two blankets, but one had to do.

 

I decided on this one, called the Tree of Life Baby Afghan.  Two trees twining together, inseperable.  Trees are symbolic on so many levels, and in so many cultures.  This is a pattern that involves cable-knitting, where your work crosses over itself to create braids or twists.  It's actually very simple to do, but very impressive, and lends itself to some amazing fiber-design possibilites.   

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

What fun it was to make! 

 

 Coming Soon:  A lace shawl, a painted furniture project, and a trip to Port Townsend.