Sunday, October 5, 2008

Ever Have a Knitting "Phase"?










Ever start to knit something and have so much fun, or enjoy it so much you just keep knitting more and more of them?

I get like that sometimes. In fact, I have recently gone through 2 really strong phases.

Recently, I kept hearing about the BSJ - Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman. The every popular baby sweater caught my interest and I wanted to try one out. So, I ordered the instructional DVD of Meg Swanson demonstration her mothers pattern. It contains the pattern right in the DvD case. Oh, and as an aside, Meg Swanson does a fabulous job demonstrating the construction of the sweater. Her presentation is relaxed, pleasant, precise and very easy to follow. I learned a lot from this video and I highly recommend it.

So, I made a BSJ. It was a lot of fun and I had no trouble with it at all. It is knit with KnitPicks 100% Merino superwash, DK weight in Cinnamon and Nutmeg. The buttons are natural wood and really suit this little sweater.

I had so much fun make this BSJ that I ordered more yarn and made another one!

This one is of KnitPick 100% Merino superwash, DK weight. The colors are Jade and White (go MSU!!) And the adorable little buttons are shiney red apples.

As you can see, I am somewhat fond of adding a collar to the sweater. I was really quite pleased with the way this turned out.

By the way, when I make a project and it is ready for the buttons, I take my daughter shopping with me. She has a marvelous eye for matching or combining colors. I don't leave home without her.

So, this went so well I just had do try another. But I was too impatient to wait for the LYS to open or for a KnitPicks order to arrive so I bought some yarn from the "big box store". It was a very soft acrylic in bulky weight with a bit of halo to it. Very soft to handle, but if you had to tink back even just a few stitches the fibers that made up the halo caught and tangled.

In addition, I opted to experiment with the pattern and made it in stockingette stitch. This creates a few problems (not insurmountable just bothersome), the number of stitches for the button band has to be adjusted so the front of the sweater does not pull up to much and the back sag a bit. I would not do it again, but I had to try it once.

I knit this with a bulky weight yarn, added a collar, the ribbed cuffs and a lot of buttons down the front. I like the way the colors pooled. The yarn was varigated white, yellow, pink, blue and turquoise. The button band did pull up a bit in the front, despite my efforts to adjust for it, but the little girl who got it really likes it and does not care in the least that it is not perfect by my standards. This knitted up in a size 6.

I also made a fourth BSJ, but it did not fit the recipient so it is being frogged and remade because my granddaughter loves the yarn and wants the sweater made from it. Perhaps I will upload the photo when it is finished.

I am sure there are more BSJ's in my future...right after I finish my Christmas knitting. I can usually knit one up in a weekend if I stick with it and it is a satisfying project.

Does anyone else find this a fun knit?

Hugs & Prayers
Serene Knitter

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

I have heard of the baby surprise jacket. I saw it made up on another blog too. Your pictures are beautiful. Great idea to try different yarns too. I guess I am going to have to try it since I think I am addicted to knitting too. Thanks for this post.