Posts from the ‘Knitting for Babies’ category

Norwegian Baby Hats and Fiber Club

on May 10, 2007

Over the years, I’ve seen a particular type of baby hat over and over without ever finding the pattern. There was always a reference to an old magazine or book from ages ago, but never anything I could find, let alone read, as the pattern always seemed to be Norwegian or Swedish. Well, I did find it, finally, and it was in Norwegian, but Kelly Sue asked Susann, who asked Theresa and by golly, I have a translation. It was pretty roundabout, since I know everyone involved and could have emailed Theresa, myself. :P We’re working on getting permission to post it in English, because SERIOUSLY, have you ever? I didn’t think so.


I’ve got one started in Herbal. It’s sport weight, and the pattern calls for fingering, but I’m knitting the smallest size in hopes it fits at the same time the matching baby pants do.


It’s lovely in the Herbal Fat Sock, but this is what I’ve got my eye on for others. Oh, yeah, two color pointy striped baby elf hats.

On an informational note, I am not having a baby. Kelly Sue is, though, and that’s all the excuse I need to lose my mind and knit 74 baby things. Kelly Sue, leave a drawer empty for all the stuff I send!


Fiber Club:
The whole of the fiber club has shipped for May and I’ve posted details over at the club’s blog.

I spun up a LARGE sample (a little larger than actually shipped to the club members), because I’ve been thinking about more Baby Surprise Jackets.

So as not to ruin the fiber club surprise, you can see the yarn by clicking here.

6.3 oz., 360 yards
two ply
worsted weight
worsted spun, but softly

Now, to spin a companion yarn. What do you think? Pluot? B r o o k l y n t w e e d, I’m talking to you, in particular.

32 Comments

Finished Object- Baby Pants

on May 6, 2007

These were such a fast knit I’m busting them out only after they’re finished.


*held by man hands to accentuate tiny adorableness*

Pattern:Alison Hansel‘s Baby Bell Bottoms (great pattern)
Yarn: Hello Yarn Fat Sock in Herbal- 2 skeins, with enough left over for a bonnet, hopefully
Needles: size 5 long Addi Turbo for magic loop
Gauge: 5.5 sts. per inch

I changed the gauge on these slightly, aiming for a 6 mo. size, and ended up with a 17″ waist, rather than the 16″ the pattern gives. An inch was added to the length, as well, by knitting to 11.5″ where the pattern instructs knitting to 10.5″. These were worked totally in the round, instead of knitting the legs flat and the butt in the round, since I use magic loop for everything, anyway. I didn’t even subtract the seam stitches (whoops) and where the pattern calls for binding off 2 edge stitches on two rows at the ends of the legs, I just put the 4 stitches on holders and wove them together at the end. Worked like a charm.

Who wants to knit me a pair?

29 Comments

Finished Object- Handspun Baby Surprise Jacket

on April 29, 2007



The Facts:
Pattern: Baby Surprise Jacket from The Opinionated Knitter by Elizabeth Zimmermann
Yarn: My own worsted weight (12 wpi) handspun Merino wool, about 5.5 oz., 350 yards
Gauge: 5 sts. per inch
Size: 17.5″ around, 17.5″ cuff to cuff, so, taking into consideration the thickness of the fabric, to fit about a 6 month old baby according to standard sizing
Needles: size 5 Addi Turbo, 40″ long
Buttons: cuties made from coconut (many thanks to the woman at Windsor Button who helped me yesterday)
Started: April 19, 2007
Finished: April 28, 2007, including most of the spinning (The dark brown was a leftover.)

See all BSJ posts for more info.
See my Flickr set for far too many photos of this, including yarn and fiber.

The Yarn:
I spun up three different colorways of Merino wool for this jacket, approx. 140 yards of green, 80 of blue, and 100 of the brown, and used all but a few yards of each. They’re all 2 ply worsted spun from commercial top that I hand-dyed.

The Knitting:
I did what I was told. No mods, except the increases. I used my preferred method of picking up the strand between stitches and knitting into the back. I liked the way the decreases looked from the wrong side, so when I sewed the jacket up, I did so with the wrong side (well, there is no wrong side, but the side I didn’t increase and decrease on) facing out.


From this view, you can see the cast on edge across the bottom.


Here it is flipped over, with the cast off edge at the bottom.


Starting to inch things into position.


Folded and ready to seam.

I was taken by surprise by how thick the fabric is. It’s also super cushy, as the yarn is already bouncy and lush and adding garter stitch to that makes it feel beyond wonderful.

I seamed this with backstitch from the inside, after a couple of failed attempts to crochet and knit it together. I just didn’t like the results from those methods. The result from the back stitch is clean and makes a nice strong seam. (The seam can be seen in my Flickr set.)

When I picked up along those 10 lengthening ridges, from the right side I picked up the front half of the edge stitch, twisting it as I knit it. When I picked up from the wrong side on the next row, I picked up the back strand of the edge stitch and twisted it. The resulting stitches look the same in the right side of the work.

I didn’t do any edgings. With this particular yarn, which has a rustic, organic feel, I thought plain was best. I love the i-cord edgings I see on some. Next time.

Have I missed anything? Ask away if you have a question. I’ve been getting lots of emails about this, so instead of answering privately, I’ll just add to this post.

Thank you for all your kind words about this project!

51 Comments