Stripes For PB’s Sporty Cardigan #2

My second Sporty Cardigan is moving slowly along. I’m working my way down the body working in two row stripes.

I am kind of digging how tonal the yarn looks within each stripe color. I didn’t get to see while I was knitting the first Sporty Cardigan.

I may very well be playing Yarn Chicken with this sweater. I’m too scared to weigh my remaining yarn or even measure the body of this sweater. Honestly…I have no clue where I am at in this sweater, I just keep knitting neat little stripes. I’m torn between just knitting until I run out and figure it out then. Or, doing some measuring and math to figure out if I need to dig out more coordinating sport weight yarn.

Maybe PB just needs a short sleeve cardigan??? Or I need to put my big girl panties on and just be a good knitter and figure this out.

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Gidday Baby Cardigan

I can’t help myself…..my tiny PB is coming to work with me and she is gonna need A LOT of sweaters. So after the Sporty Cardigan was complete I did some Ravelry searching and came up with my next sweater for PB.

I picked the Gidday Baby Sweater by Georgie Nicolson because I loved how the garter yoke looked with the stripes and the eyelets. And I adored the simple two button closure at the top while the rest of the sweater is worn open.

The only catch was that I wanted to make 9 or 12 month sized sweater for PB to grow into and this pattern is only written for newborn and 3 months. So I decided to be the boss of my own knitting and used some logic with a sprinkling of math. I took the yarn weight from DK to worsted and the needles to US 7s and 8s. Based on my known gauge with Berroco Vintage and some slight length alterations…I was pretty sure I could make this a larger sweater.

I’m following the 3 month size stitch counts for the pattern instructions but modeling the schematic off of a 12 month sized commercially made baby sweater. Fingers crossed this doesn’t come back to bite me. If so, then it will make a good story for the blog! I’m only 8 rows in and it seems okay so far, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: PB’s Sporty Cardigan

Hey look….it’s an adorable baby sweater! The Sporty Cardigan for PB is complete and even washed and blocked….

Pattern: Sporty Cardigan for Boys and Girls by Cecilie Clark

Yarn: Frabjous Fibers Messenger Kit in Color #13. I used 100 grams of the 170 gram set for a six month sized sweater.

Needles: US 4s and US 6s

Mods: Omitted the sleeve shaping for my hulk of a baby. Omitted the bottom button of the button band because Jellybean lost the fifth button before I could sew it on or take it away from him….

Seriously this chunk of a two month old is ALWAYS fussy when it’s overly air conditioned. Pop a sweater on her and shes happy as a clam. But don’t you dare put a hat on her! This six month sized sweater fits just about right for my two month old….insert insane laughter here…. I snapped a quick photo of her in it before I had the buttons sewn on, she didn’t seem to mind.

Happy Knitting!!

 

An Almost Cardigan

Well the weekend proved fruitful…sort of. PB received her 2 month vaccinations and required extra snuggles and a TON of nursing to get over the hump. But lots of snuggling meant some easy knitting on PB’s Sporty Cardigan over top of a sleeping baby.

I managed to finish the body, knit on the button bands and *almost* finish the first sleeve. I did have to take Jellybean to the craft store to track down some size 6 metal dpns. I had to settle for Micheals brand store needles. But they worked just fine. I was using my Knit Picks nickle plated interchangeables for the body anyway and I like to use the same needle material when possible to keep gauge consistent.

I’m really hoping to bang out both sleeves this week….fingers crossed! Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: PB’s Sporty Cardigan

The time is drawing near that I have to return to work. My maternity leave has seemed to just fly right by! Well, I have prepped my office with all the items I think I will need. But there is one situation I need to address….my office is freezing and PB is terribly temperature sensitive.

Solution…..cast on a cardigan! I pulled a Frabjous Fibers Messenger Kit in the #13 colorway. I picked this sport weight kit on a deal at a LYS closing. I did some Ravelry sleuthing and found the Sporty Cardigan for Boys and Girls by Cecilie Clark. I wound the yarn and got to work. This yarn kit was perfect because it has two difference coordinating colors in the same base.

After some napping and knitting I am working on the garter stitch yoke. I’m working the 6 month size. But at the exponential rate at which PB is growing…I might need a bigger one. If I manage my yarn carefully (and maybe pull some different sport contrast from my stash)….I may be able to knit a second sweater in the 12 month size for when she grows out of this one. These colors are just going to look so cute on PB!!

Now, shhhhhh I have more knitting to squeeze in during nap!

Happy Knitting!!

Sweater Incentive

Yesterday I blogged about my Cuff to Cuff sweater and wanting to finish this long term WIP. I technically don’t have a deadline but if I do finish it by Christmas then I get some bonus points in the Down Cellar Studio pigskin party KAL. So I’m giving myself a little motivation!

I’m in the mood to KNIT ALL THE THINGS and CAST ON RIGHT NOW. I really want a Momma Vertebrae by Kelly Brooker. One with long sleeves in a nice warm cozy worsted yarn. I even have the perfect yarn! Berroco Vintage in Mushroom…

  
A neutral beige that would suit many of my tops for a great layering piece. Tons of people have knit this and I want to be wearing it already. But first I need to finish the cuff to cuff or I fear I never will! Thus this will be the carrot at the end of my needles.

Do you use knitting incentives to stay on track?

A Warm Solution 

So Jellybean is an active wiggling 15 month old and we are heading into the heart of winter. He has several jackets and coats but we never leave them on in the car seat for safety reasons. So that’s lots of on and off clothing wrestling with a marginally cooperative toddler in the bracing cold of the Midwest. I had a flash of inspiration…he needs a open cardigan much like the kiddy or momma vertebrae. Something to keep his arms/shoulders/back warm without anything on the front to interfere with the efficacy of the car seat straps!

Enter the Snugbug by Tiaga Hilliard Designs!

  
@Tiaga Hilliard Designs 

I pulled some Knit Picks Brava Bulky in red from my deep stash. I’ve already cast on and worked down to the armhole divide. I’m in love and may have to make more than one!  

Happy Knitting!!

Bulky Projects Go Fast Right?

During my bout with the flu I felt the urge for something warm and bulky. That urge led to this…

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The start of the yoke of a second Shalom Cardigan. I had some lovely softness aka Knit Picks Biggo yarn in my stash. At first I thought it wanted to be a blanket but the yarn whispered and I listened. So a sweater it was! I’m going to be close on yardage so it might be a little more cropped than my first. But since its worn over a tank or tee anyway, who cares!?

In the interest of full disclosure the sweater is not any further along than this photo. I worked on it in between feverish naps and haven’t picked it up after I got to feeling better. But it’s bulky yarn so it should just fly off my needles right?

What do you knit when you don’t feel good?

A Baby Sophisticate

It’s still pretty darn cold here so I’ve been snuggling Jellybean in hand knits. His reaction is priceless…

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Not sure what I did or said to provoke this face….but when I saw it I laughed till I cried. Parenting win for sure!

This is my Baby Sophisticate #4. I didn’t add the button holes or button instead opted for an open cardigan. I made this for a friend and she returned it after her baby bear outgrew it. Now it’s keeping my little one warm. Proof that well made and well cared for knits can be passed down and down!

Happy Knitting!