Yay! I can finally show you another one of the baby sweaters that I had made back in May! Even though this sweet little number has yet to make its way to its tiny recipient, I have it on good authority that the Mommy of the little one is quite the busy lady and won't be reading this blog any time soon. Not to mention that I just couldn't wait to share it!
Like I said, I had this knitted up back in May but didn't bother to block or find/sew on the buttons yet. I wasn't even sure who would be receiving this. The sweet little angel who will be getting this arrived a little earlier than planned and so I had to bust my butt to get this completely finito.
Normally I'm a fan of wooden buttons on baby items but this time around I couldn't find any that I liked, and the ones that I did were either too big or too pricey. I seriously cannot justify spending over $10 for buttons for a baby item. Can you? So I settled for some generic plastic buttons that I found at my local big box sewing store. You can't really tell in some of the photos, but I think they go pretty well with the colours of the yarn.
The yarn, in case you're wondering, is Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock Lightweight. I've only used this yarn once before, and that was on my Jaywalker socks. I had really liked working with this yarn while knitting those socks, and now after knitting this project I'm seriously in love. I love everything about it, how soft it is, how squishy it is, how it gives amazing stitch definition, and how it just glides along your needles. I could go on and on (and on!) about how much I love this yarn but I'll spare you. If you haven't tried STR yet, you should definitely get your hands on some! I've now gone into STR hoarding mode and have been trolling the swap threads and destashes on Ravelry hoping to nab skeins whenever they pop up. I'm thinking I should sell some of my stash so that I can make an order with BMFA before my Rockin' Sock membership ends in December...Oooohh...ok, I digress. Back to the baby sweater, shall we?
I'm counting this project towards my 12 in 2011 goal, even though I have already knit this pattern before. I figured that since the pattern was a freebie and the yarn that I traded away in exchange for this one was stash yarn, it should count as a viable project!
If you've been reading my blog for a while, you might notice that this project looks familiar. Like I said, I've knit this pattern before - the Blue Maile Baby Sweater, which was gifted to my friend Natalie and her beautiful little boy. I had knitted this sweater while knitting the Blue Maile version and still took only a few days to whip up. My stitch counts were off on the Blue Maile and so I had started this project in hopes of finding out where I had gone wrong (I had misplaced a stitch marker when I joined the sleeves). On the Blue Maile I had knit the sleeves flat, thinking they are so small that seaming them up wouldn't be a hassle. Well, I decided to try knitting the sleeves on this version in Magic Loop, whipped up both sleeves in a matter of half a day which promptly made me rip the flat sleeves and re-knit them in the round. Who am I kidding? Why make life harder for myself and attempt to seam something so tiny when it can be done in one piece?
After attaching the sleeves to the body I basically treated the whole thing as if I was working in the round and Magic Looped the rest. I had to use my 60" cable (the 40" was in use) but I think it worked even better cause I had way more room and ease when it came to the sleeves. It definitely made for less stress (and a smaller hole) in the armpit area, that's for sure.
This was definitely a satisfying knit, and so quick and easy. I definitely plan on knitting more of these when more baby announcements are made. I think it's safe to say that this is now my go-to pattern when it comes to baby gift knitting. I've already set aside a few skeins of yarn for when the next baby arrives!
Pattern: Maile Sweater by Nikki Van De Car
Yarn: Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks That Rock
Colour: Pebbles
Needles: Knit Picks Harmony Wood Interchangeable in 3.5mm (US 4)
Ravelry Link: MisoCraftyKnits' Pebbles Maile
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