Wednesday, January 9, 2008

Childs' Placket Neck Pullover and Baby Bonnet

My first two FO's of the new year! Inspired by a friend's pregnancy - my oldest friend, in fact. We have photo documentation of the two of us dressed as elves and singing at the local mall with our kindergarten class. And I have known her husband since the 7th grade. Old friends, I tell you.

Childs' Placket Neck Pullover:




Close-up of placket neck:


Specs:
Pattern: Placket Neck Pullover (link is to pdf of pattern) from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts.
Size: 6-12 monoths
Yarn: Magic Garden Buttons yarn in color melon
Needles: Size 6 (the pattern called for size 7s, but I got gauge with 6s.)
Comments: So, when knitting baby knits, I have started asking myself the question - will I knit this again when I get to have a baby? With this sweater, I initially thought no way. The pattern was a little fussy, and it took me a couple reads to understand some of the instructions. And the pattern called for beads to be sewn onto the placket neck to function as buttons, but there were no buttonholes - you were supposed to smash the small bead/buttons through the spaces in between the stitches. I opted to omit the beads/buttons, and figured the baby could be cool, ala the 1980s and wear the sweater polo style. I wonder if a pullover style sweater is all that practical for a baby in the first place - do pullovers turn dressing your baby into a wrestling match? I will have to ask my friend once she has her baby and it grows into this sweater. So, in summary, this sweater was definitely not as easy as the Elizabeth Zimmerman sweater I knit last year, but well, I am beginning to realize that she is a genius that few can match. Despite my many criticisms, I am really happy with how this sweater turned out, and the yarn is fun and was nice to work with.

Baby Bonnet
Profile (modeled by desk lamp):


Pattern: Baby Bonnet from Joelle Hoverson's Last Minute Knitted Gifts (see link above)
Yarn: Magic Garden Buttons in color melon and Louet Gems light worsted in green (from my stash - remnants of the EZ baby sweater.)
Needles: Size 10.5 for cast on, size 7 circular for body of bonnet, and size 7 double pointed needs for the i-cord trim.
Comments: I chose this pattern because it was in the same book as the sweater, and I had it handy on vacation. Also, I was interested in trying my hand at attaching i-cord trim (much easier but much more tedious than I had expected.) I substituted seed stitch for the garter stitch that the pattern called for along the base of the bonnet to better match the Placket Neck Pullover. All in all, it was a fun pattern (but also a little fussy), and a very quick knit - I was able to finish it in a couple of hours.

Latest news on the knitting front - I am making a hat for my grandpa. He is a smart man with a big head (26" circumference.) I was a little overzealous in my attempt to make a hat large enough, don't you think?



I am hoping to be able to turn this into a baby sweater, and I am going to procure some yarn this weekend so that Grandpa may get something like Raul's alpaca creation.

Happy Wednesday!

4 comments:

Lorrel said...

I had to laugh at your modeling the cap you started for grandpa. Hey, I bet it will fit him, have you torn it apart yet? I bet he could fill that baby up. Love the baby setter and cap. How neat that you did them in that color, I would have never have thought of using thay color of yarn. Don't know why I'm stuck on blue, pink, yellow or maybe my favorite, green.
It's always fun to read what you have written with all the wonderful information. Keep up the good work and keep smilin'. I love you you know.

Lorrel said...

I really do know how to spell sweater. Oops.

homeinkabul said...

Those are all really nice. You did a great job. I think going without the buttons is a good idea. Wouldn't the baby try to eat it?

I would like to see the elf picture...

Francia M said...

The bonnet!!! SOOOO cute! All great stuff. Great job.

 
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