Another Baby Gift

Dear Knitters of Fine Baby Apparel,

This pair of sweatpants is for a friend (not my cousin this time). She admired some soaker longies I was making for the boy a while back so I think she will like these. And she has been told that she's having a boy so I could embellish with more than green and yellow! ;^)

So have a look. The pattern is from Drops Baby 13-14. I found it a little confusing in places, and it seemed like a huge number of stitches to cast on and then increase for a 1-3 month baby. I altered the waist to have elastic in it because I was pretty sure even ribbing would not hold this sucker up, plus it was merino. As a sidenote, it's not intended for a cloth-diapered baby but there is plenty of room in there for it to make a fine soaker/diaper cover.

Front:


Front Increase Detail:


Back:


Colorwork Detail:


It was a fun piece, and I learned several tricks and some new techniques. The nice roominess of the back was from short rows at the beginning, and I tried out Two-Handed Fair Isle. I was also impressed by how adding several increases at the front crotch area helped to define the front and legs into more of a sweatpants shape.

That's all for now, I'm working on a baby towel. It's for my little man!
Lystessa

Mohair, Baby, Yeah!

Dear Spinners Who Are Into The Fluff,

Mohair is totally yummy. Just in case you haven't tried it yet.

I spun this up and navajo-plied it to get a 3-ply.







Okay, I ran out of stuff to say. Later!
Lystessa

Baby Legwarmers

Dear Knitters,

I am pleased to announce that I finally finished the baby legwarmers. And they are every bit as cute as I had hoped they would be. Let's look at the pics!










Sorry they're not very good pics, but he would not sit still for anything! Since he kept trying to climb me it was hard to get anything but closeups.

These are pretty easy btw, if you like knitting socks at all. Just cast on the number of stitches you would for an ankle (I did 60) and knit for about the length of thigh you want to cover. Then decrease a few stitches every 10-15 rows. You should decrease 12-15 stitches in all, and then do some ribbing at the ankle to keep it from rolling. I used a smaller needle for the thigh ribbing but I kept it on the bigger needle for the ankle.

Thanks for looking!
Lystessa

Finally, Finally DONE

Dear Knitters Who Have Been Anxiously Waiting,

I have finally finished the baby sweater for my cousin. I think I'm even surprised at how well it turned out.

Here, see for yourselves!


Front:


Front Detail:


Back:


Back Detail:


Top View (To show how the embroidery crosses the seam):



Whew! I felt so nervous with every stab of that yarn needle! It didn't help that, since it was in my favorite yarn, and I did a good job, that the knitting part was absolutely wonderful. Any mistake I made would be twice the mistake - screw up the embroidery and the knitting at the same time! It's not like I was embroidering it to improve it. I really think I would have liked it as much had I left it plain.

But... lucky me, (or maybe OCD, take it out and redo it if the curve isn't perfect, drive myself insane me) I did a pretty good job and the sweater has a leaf to coordinate perfectly with the hat.

Yay!!!!!!!! Don't expect any more embroidery out of me for a while!

P.S. - Don't waste your time doing chain stitch with a needle. It's tons faster (and easier to pull out and fix) if you just use a crochet hook. Plus you don't have to cut your thread until the end.


Enjoy your 4th of July Everybody!
Lystessa