stash, knit, repeat

Things may be looking up for the EZ knits, around here.

Pattern: Baby sweater on two needles, or the “February Baby Sweater”, Elizabeth Zimmerman

Yarn: Madelinetosh Sock, “Gracious” colorway (from the first run of Magnolia Society)

Time Elapsed: This version of the sweater and booties set were knit in under a week.

Notes/Modifications: This is a sweater with a saga. In short: Since the pattern calls for dk-weight yarn, and gives no schematics, I was worried that a sweater knit in sock yarn would be too small. So I upped the sizing, and ran out of yarn.

I then ripped it out and re-knit as written, figuring it’d all work out. And it did–the sweater measures 18″ around, which is a fine size for your average 3-month-old girl. Knit as written, I had enough yarn left over for a pair of garter-stitch booties, too. While I may not have enjoyed getting to know my inner process knitter, I will admit it turned out okay in the end.

Now let’s just hope the wee one this is for stays “indoors” for another week or two!

And, sneaking in without any notice, an FO!

Pattern: Kate Gilbert’s Syncopated Cap, Interweave Knits Summer 2007

Yarn: Regia Silk and Dale Baby Ull

Time Elapsed: Definitely under a week of knitting time

Notes/Modifications: No modifications. Jacob asked me to knit him a hat to wear, “to keep my ears from getting colder”. He requested red and black all together. It wasn’t hard to go from there to the Syncopated Cap pattern. Like many of Ms. Gilbert’s patterns, this is clever and a super-fun knit. The cable-like colorwork is fun, the cap shaping is really neat, and it produces a really warm hat.

The only real problem I had is that while the hat was a perfect size pre-blocking, the yarns really grew. I’m betting it will fit Jacob next year, as well.

Charmingly, he didn’t mind at all and insists on wearing it anyway (although after the photoshoot was done, he did let me roll up the brim).

I know this phase of requesting hand-knits isn’t going to last forever, so I’m cherishing every minute!

Foiled again. I feel like I’m overdue for a simple success, knitting-wise. And it’s all Elizabeth Zimmerman’s fault!

Well, actually, it’s only partially her fault. I had this sock yarn that was just calling out to be a February Baby Sweater, but the pattern specified a gauge of 5 stitches to the inch. “That’s fine”, I thought. “I’ll just increase the size of the sweater by starting with a few more stitches.”

It sounds simple, and it was. I wondered about yarn amounts, since EZ doesn’t give yardage requirements (CURSE HER), but noted that someone on ravelry had done the same modification, minus an increase repeat, with only 350 yards of sock yarn. Since I had 400 yards, I figured I’d be set.

Well, perhaps not. Now, this is the second EZ project in a month that I’ve tried to modify to work with sock yarn. And I wound up running out of (limited run!) yarn both times. Although things finally seem to be working out regarding Tomten yarn, I knew I didn’t want to do the trade/sell dance again in such a short time. So there was only one thing to do.

Ahhh, catharsis. I noticed, as I knit, that the modified version would probably fit a one-year-old–even as large as my kids come. (Ms. Zimmerman also doesn’t provide much in the way of sizing information at her recommended gauge, at least for baby things.) So I decided to simply knit the pattern as written, in sock yarn instead of DK, and trust that it would all work out for a newborn size. Fingers crossed, of course, but it looks good so far.

Once this is crossed off my list, it’s finishing Tomten and then on to a sweater for Jacob, first socks for the husband, and more winter gear. I’d love some warm mittens this year, and the boys need them too. And as much as I love the timeless quality of Zimmerman patterns, the next few projects will absolutely be of the knit-exactly-as-written-from-a-pattern-with-schematics-and-yardage-requirements variety.

(Up next: a comically big hat for Jacob. Just as soon as he’ll sit still for the camera!)

People, I have tons to tell you about for the first time in forever. A few new projects, more on the Tomten, an FO… but something else is more important today.

Vote.