Leksak Stripes Complete

My Leksak has a completed body!

I very pleased with the way the striping worked up in this sweater. Next up is a unique button band that involves not breaking the yarn from the garter hem. I’m intrigued! And now that I have completed the body work I am a lot more confident that I won’t end up playing yarn chicken. This Berroco Comfort is 50/50 Nylon and Acrylic but it actually has a nice hand to it. I’ll see how it wears but I might consider this for future kids knits….

Happy Knitting!!

Cast On: Leksak

I had finished PB’s Second Sporty Cardigan and I couldn’t stand the thought of not knitting cute baby girl sweaters. So I did some Ravelry searching and stash diving to find a good match.

img_5483

I found Leksak by Yarn-Madness. It’s a top down raglan style tunic (or pullover if you prefer) made for DK yarn. It has an interesting button band construction I found intriguing and I had two colors of Berroco Comfort DK languishing in my stash. Comfort DK is a 50/50 acrylic and nylon blend so very washable and very durable. And I like the idea of a tunic for my sweet PB. And I am for SURE making the open front construction versus the pullover closed construction. (P.S. Leksak is Swedish for “toy” and I am of Swedish decent so I that kinda hooked me as well.)

The colors are a minty green and bright blue I originally got for making hats. While not a a pairing I would normally make I think they actually work well now that I can see them knit up together. I will be playing a small bit of yarn chicken on this project but I think with some strategic order of operations and yarn management I can make it work.

Happy Knitting!!

Wishful Knitting: Sweaters for Jellybean

I wrote last week about dreaming of sweaters for PB. She is cute and tiny and has zero opinion about what I put on her. So it’s awesome to make fast projects that I think are cute and have someone wear them without complaint. But my mom guilt got the better of me…Jellybean hasn’t gotten a new garment in awhile. He really liked the Storytime Scholar I made him last year. Not that he has noticed that he hasn’t gotten a new sweater. But I decided I need to dream about a sweater for him as well. My current options are:

  • Good Grief by Susie White. I won this sweater pattern in the 2018 PALKAL and it’s an adorable worsted weight pullover. The downside is that PB is at the top end of this patterns sizing.
  • Elwood by Jenny Wiebe. This is a nice striped old man style sweater and I think PB would really dig it.
  • Big Thom Jenny Wiebe. This is a nice mix of pullover with a nice button detail to allow for ginormous boy noggin.

What I learned from this Ravelry dive is that I may love everything Jenny Wiebe designs for boys and Jellybean may end up with a sweater collection….

Happy Knitting!!

 

FO Friday: PB’s Sporty Cardigan #2

Well, ladies and gentlemen….PB has a new sweater! The Second Sporty Cardigan is finished, washed, blocked, buttons added and ends trimmed off. Now I just need cute baby photos to put the icing on the cake.

I went with the round two tone buttons. As you can see I really worked a lot of buttons into this sweater. And the top two turned out really close together. But I kind of like it. Now I can fasten the top two buttons and let the rest of the sweater hang open to show a cute onesie underneath.

Note: Blocking didn’t completely correct my buttons bands but it greatly improved them. I’m marking this a win and moving on.

Pattern: Sporty Cardigan for Boys and Girls by Cecilie Clark

Yarn: Frabjous Fibers Messenger Kit and Knit Picks Comfy Sport. I used roughly 266 yards or 89 grams of yarn to make a 12 month sized sweater. This included every last drop of Frabjous Fibers so no pesky leftovers hanging out in my stash!

Needles: US 4s (I forgot to switch to 6s for the body so I just kinda rolled with it. My gauge is just a little tighter and my sweater a smidgen smaller than I wanted but it’s still lovely)

Mods: See above or check out my Rav notes.

Happy Knitting!!

Choosing Buttons

I raided (with permission) my mom’s button stash in my sewing room for buttons for PB’s second sporty cardigan.

img_5405

I came out with two nice grey/black neutral options. My mom suggested putting them in the button holes to really get a feel for what they would look like. She’s pretty smart you know. The ones on the left have a nice two toned look that I dig. But the ones on the right have a little bit of smoothness and sheen. I’m letting myself sleep on it but I’m kinda leaning towards the ones on the left.

What do you think?

Wishful Knitting: More Baby Girl Sweaters

I am sooooo close to finishing PB’s second Sporty cardigan that I’m already dreaming of my next cast on.  I seem to be really energized knitting for cute baby girl clothes. I pulled up my stash on Ravelry and perused what I have. I know that it will have to be sport or DK weight. Those kinds of projects work up quickly but also make a nice light fabric. And because babies are messy and get changed a lot…the sweater needs to be easy on and off, not to mention easy cleaning. I created a Ravelry search and came up with the following options

  • Leksak by Yarn Madness. This is a tunic with long sleeves and a nice open front. And the neckline doesn’t look horrible for big headed babies.
  • POP! baby cardigan by Rachel Atkinson. This is a garter yoked cardigan similar to my Gidday Baby but without eyelets and in more comprehensive sizing.
  • Little Renee by Tiaga Hilliard Designs. This is a top down caridgen with a lace panel on the back. It’s a little adventurous for my knitting time and brain power but it’s drop dead gorgeous!

I think I may stash dive and pull out yarn and let the colors speak to me and tell me what pattern to pick next!!

Happy Knitting!!

Whoosh Went The Sleeves

I have been binge watching old 90s and 2000s television cop shows after the kids go to bed. And thanks to Psych and Diagnosis Murder I managed to knit the crap out of some sleeves!

I weighed my remaining yarn after finishing the button bands on PB’s second sporty cardigan. And I KNEW I didn’t have enough to make decent sleeves. So I considered my options and I decided to extend the garter ridges from the yoke into the sleeves. Then I took the remainder of my two colors and split them into two even sets by weight. One for each sleeve.

img_5390

I was kinda tired and just winging it. After six garter ridges with associated decreases I thought it looked good (and I was tired of purling, to be honest). This was of course not having any idea how far my striped colors would get me. So I knit the two colors until I ran out of each color. What resulted….well, elbow length sleeves at best.

I thought about ripping back and adding more garter ridges to make full sleeves but I honestly didn’t want to think about burning precious knitting time redoing it. This sweater will look perfectly adorable over long sleeves peaking out or just as elbow length sleeves. Kids get sleeves really grubby anyway…I’m just saving myself laundry duty!

Happy Knitting!!

Then Come The Button Bands

In pretty quick succession I managed to add the button bands to PB’s second sporty cardigan.

img_5278

I was eminently pleased to finish both bands with a decent amount of the lighter color left. As a knitter I am still working on making my button bands better and perfect my picked up stitches. This sweater may not be my best outing. But it’s done and they match and PB will never ever notice.

Plus I’m kinda hoping blocking does me some good with this 1×1 rib by evening it out and stretching it so the sweater doesn’t pull in. I know from the first sweater that I have a decent shot at this. For this second sweater I made more button holes and put them closer together. I’m hoping this makes for more customization in this sweater on a growing wiggling baby.

The only thing is that that my top two button holes aren’t as evenly spaced as the rest. I’m going to call this an unintentional design feature and roll with it, lol.

Happy Knitting!!

 

Body Work Done

PB’s second Sporty Cardigan is complete down through the body and bottom ribbed band.

I think the stripes turned out very nicely. I carried the yarn up one side of the sweater so I didn’t have that many ends left hanging out. And I’m happy but not over confident with the amount of yarn I have left over. We will have to see how the button bands go….

Happy Knitting!!

FO Friday: Gidday Baby Sweater

PB’s Gidday Baby Sweater has been done and sitting for quite awhile. I just couldn’t muster the gumption to dig out and sew on buttons. Well after a couple of poop-splosions this week I was running out of sweaters for PB. So here is her finished Gidday Baby.

I found some nice neutral semi-transparent buttons in the right size in my button stash. Which is impressive because my button stash is minimal at best. Are they the best buttons for this sweater….no. But do they look okay and make a perfectly serviceable sweater…..yes!

I made some mods in order to shoot for knitting a 12 month sized sweater. I’m not sure if I exactly made it 12 month sized but it’s big enough for PB to wear. So I’m taking that as a win and running with it. My Ravelry details can be found here with a brief description of my mods.

Now do I dare start a true 12 month sweater for PB? And if so what should it be???

Happy Knitting!!