Baby Surprise Jacket

Every knitter probably has a bucket list of things they would like to knit if they had more time or more skill.  Ever since I had heard about Elizabeth Zimmermann’s Baby Surprise Jacket I have wanted to knit one.

In 2016 Cully Swansen published a book called The Complete Surprise which includes a step-by-step pattern for the Baby Surprise Jacket and lots of variations.

I had this book for Christmas in 2018 and added the Baby Surprise Jacket to my list of things to knit one day.  Towards the end of last year – I started to knit one but soon realised that I did not have enough yarn – so I unravelled it and used the yarn to knit a different baby’s jacket.  However I did go to my local yarn store and buy 2 balls of multi-coloured yarn for another attempt.

Last week I decided to have another go at the Baby Surprise Jacket.  This is the jacket as it appeared when I was knitting it – blindly following the instructions.

This is what it looks like now it is finished.

I am not sure that I would have chosen green buttons - but I have got green buttons.  They don’t look too bad.  Also I think when I folded the knitting I have got the wrong side outwards but I thought it looked the better side of the two.  

The only seams in this pattern are along the top of the sleeves – so it is ideal for those of us who hate sewing up (probably everyone) – and I also like the fact that you knit button-holes on both sides of the front and then sew buttons over one side.  This eliminates a problem I often have of how to space the buttons and where to sew them so that they line up with the button-holes.

Now I have finished this little jacket – I am hoping that I will be able to finish several other partly finished items that I have found.  Several of them I had forgotten about completely.

Yellow Marble Baby’s Coat

If you have read my previous post then you might be expecting to see the beginnings of another shawl, but I while I was knitting the Purple Fade shawl – I was also knitting this little baby coat.

Like a lot of knitters – I am raiding my stash both of yarn and patterns.  I have had the yarn for several years.  It is James C Brett’s Baby Marble Double Knitting which is 100% acrylic.  It is good for knitting baby coats as it is interesting as well as practical.  I had bought it to knit a plain coat for a baby of unknown gender.  I think I did use one ball, but I had one left and I found this pattern in my stash.

It has no date on it and says it comes from Yours magazine.  I think I got it from my mother.  I ripped out the pattern before the magazine got thrown away.  I have always loved the feather and fan or old shale pattern.  I know that there is a difference but I can’t remember what it is.  I like the combination of holes and decreases.

While I have been knitting other things over the last few weeks – I have been thinking more about my Everything I Ever Knitted project.  I am going to get back to it.  It is still going on in the background.  

One of the first things I ever knitted was a long-line waistcoat in feather and fan stitch but I have also knitted several multi-yarn throws that involved this stitch.  It is the movement within the rows which makes the stitch idea to use when you are trying to mix yarns or colours (or both).

Purple Fade by Brian Smith

This week I have been knitting another shawl.  

It is called Purple Fade because the original design was knitted using purple yarns, but there is no reason why it should be.  I used the colours that I had.

This is one of the projects that I have been meaning to knit for over a year.  The pattern was published in a little booklet which accompanied Knitting magazine Issue 191 and is dated March 2019.  As soon as I saw the design – I thought – I would like to knit that - I wonder if I have got any suitable yarn.

I collected together several balls and skeins of yarn which were left over from the Knit the Sky project that I worked on in 2017.  This includes two different Isager yarns – Highland Silk and Alpaca 2, 3 different shades of Jamieson’s Shetland Spindrift and a Mirasol yarn which is a mix of wool, silk and alpaca. 

I arranged the yarns on the floor in my lounge ready to knit the shawl.  That was in March 2019!  When I realised that I wasn’t going to get on to it – I carefully moved them to the bed in the spare room – and they stayed there until February 2020.  They had gradually been buried under piles of other things that were put on the bed -  but in February I cleared out the spare room and picked them up and put them back in the lounge!  I have been looking at them while I was knitting my Brick Wall bag.

I love the pattern – it is very easy to follow.  I changed it a bit!  I always do.  I was supposed to only use 5 shades of yarn and the first and last sections were supposed to be knitted using 2 strands of the same colour.  However I wanted to use 6 colours and I was worried that I would not have enough yarn if I didn’t use another shade.  While I was knitting I also changed my mind about the order in which I would use the yarns.

I think it only took about 4 or 5 days to knit the shawl.  I was only knitting as normal – not all day.  It is knitted from the top down – so every row takes longer to knit  but because it is mainly stocking stitch – it was easier to remember when to do the increases.  I like garter stitch shawls but I often get confused about whether I am on the Right or Wrong side.  Even if I mark the sides – I still manage to get confused.  Anyway – there were no such problems with this shawl.  

I did change the last section.  I worked two rows in the last combination of colours before I started the rib effect and then I made the section a bit shorter because I was running out of yarn.

As is typical of me – I was thinking about knitting other things while was knitting this shawl – not least having another go at the shawl – maybe using 1 strand of double knitting yarn for each section.  I was wondering if I could make it look right and whether I have enough of the yarn that I was thinking of using as it was discontinued years ago.  I have written a “Things to Knit” list and this shawl is not on it – but that has never stopped me before!

Fandango Brick Wall Bag – Finished Version

I have finished the Fandango Brick Wall bag – it took just over a week to knit.

When I am constructing a bag – I do the main part of both sides (the interesting bit) – then the side bits, then the bottom rows and join the two sides together using a 3-needle cast off with the ridge on the inside.  I then do some of the top to until the knitting covers most of the lining.  Then picked up stitches along each side and joined the sides using a 3-needle cast off.  I sewed in and cut off all of the ends.

Before I actually attached the knitting to the lining – I sewed the handles on.  I then finished off the top of the bag by knitting in the round.  I also knitted a separate strip for the inside of the bag.  I mainly used  Fandango yarn for sewing up but I also used black sewing thread to sew the bag to the lining at the top - inside and out.  I also added a row of black cotton stitches to the handles – because I have learnt from experience that if you don’t do that – the knitting twists when the bag is used.

For me the bag was very easy to knit.   I did not find my notes on how many stitches to knit for the handles and how many stitches to pick up for the sides but I did not worry about it too much.  Now that the bag is finished – I have found them!  That will come in useful when I knit the next one.  I want to knit a blue bag but I can’t find any more linings at the moment – I have put them somewhere safe.  The moral of this story – is never tidy up.  I am now off to look under the bed in the spare room.

Fandango Brick Wall Bag – Work in Progress

I have wanted to knit this bag for years.  I bought the yarn about 5 years ago – with this project in mind.  By that time  Colinette had discontinued Fandango yarn but they had a few odd skeins left which I managed to buy.  I do love this yarn.  It makes a terrible mess.  It is cotton chenille and sheds lots of bits – but it is stable once it is knitted – and at the moment it does not matter about the mess because I am not going to have any visitors.

Here is the first piece on the beach bag which I will use for the lining/framework.

Sometimes I knit one side of a bag and then knit the other side, but this time I have been knitting both sides at the same time.  This is the pink side.

The lining bag slopes  as it goes up - so I have had to knit the bottom 2 rows of shapes slightly larger than the top 2 rows.  I did consider doing a 5^th row but it is easier to get the right fit if you pick up and knit some rows at the top and the bottom.  I confess I may have to darn a few holes too - but the yarn is such that they are very hard to see and no one will notice the darning.

The photo below - shows the blue side of the bag.

I will also need to knit some rows on the sides as well.  I have been trying to find the pattern that I have written before about how many stitches and rows to do for the handles and the top edge.  Unfortunately I can’t locate it at the moment.  It is not where I had hoped I had put it.  I can work it out again if I have to but it would be better if I could find the pattern.   I am going to have another look for it.  The problem is that I have tidied up!  I suppose it may be in the box file labelled “Accessories” – or maybe not!

Almost Running Out of Yarn

After taking out the sleeves several times and agonising over whether I had enough yarn – I finally finished this little cardigan.

The following photo shows how much yarn I had left when I had finished.  

Before I started the project – I had one 100g ball of yarn.  That would have been fine for a small baby coat, but I had used some of it to make a hat so it was not a full ball.  I looked at it trying to decide if there was enough.  Originally I intended to knit the cardigan with short sleeves, but I always think if it is cold enough to wear a cardigan then you need to have your arms covered.

I have been knitting this little coat for months.  I am not exactly sure when I started it but I know it has been on a few train journeys – so it isn’t recently.

One of the benefits of having to stay at home is that you don’t need portable projects – you can go for the multi-yarn project which needs to have all the yarns laid out.  I have started working on my brick bag – more about this tomorrow.