My latest project--a custom baby sweater made for my friend to give as a present. If you've looked at my work in the past you know I usually keep my color palette in the earth tones, but my friend requested a girly sweater so I got adventurous and dove into pinks.
For the design I used a combination of my two cardigan patterns: I used the same construction as Baby Cardigan v2 but used the eyelet raglan design of Little Coffee Bean.
For the yarn I used Plymouth Encore Worsted--1 skein for each of the 2 colors.
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10 comments:
I really do like the combination of the 2 patterns together, very girly! The colors together look great too.
Such a cute little girl sweater! I especially love your labels. Do you make those yourself?
Thanks for your comments! The labels I purchased on etsy.com (using my logo file), and they were very affordable. Here is the etsy shop I purchased them from: http://www.etsy.com/shop/hobbytime
I just wanted to add a note about my last comment--the label that I mentioned I got on etsy.com is the label on the inside of the sweater. The tag I made (that you can see in the photo) I actually just designed in Word on my home computer.
Thanks again!
I love the 2 colors together but usually never attempt it since I fret about yarn ends. May I ask how you manage the two color scheme as you knit? The sweater is just adorable!
Hi Laura!
The stripes are actually pretty easy-because I switched color only every 2 rows, you don't have to cut the yarn. You can just carry it up along the edge.
Here's how: if the row you just finished is color A and you want to now switch to color B, hold color B out to the side of your knitting, then place color A tail up & over color B's tail, then let it fall to the back (so your basically wrapping the previous color with the current color). I plan on putting up pictures of this technique on my blog soon, so that should help illustrate this as well.
Thanks again and talk to you soon Laura!
-Elizabeth
Hi Elizabeth - I love your top down baby cardigans - they are simultaneously both classic and also so contemporary ! I just started one to fit a 9 month old, using the Blueberry pattern, and noticed that while it says to fit a 9-12 month old, the stitch count, measurements etc. seem close to your 3-6 month sizes on the Little Coffee Bean.? Any recommendations about the differences in the two patterns/sizings? Also, if I do the M1 R, any tips about how to easily get the right needle into the front of the stitch to knit - it's really a struggle ! Finally - please come up with a "slimmed down" Chunky Monkey vest variation - living in Florida, a worsted weight, would be great ! Thanks so much, Susan
Hi Susan,
To answer your question about the sizing, the Baby Blueberry Cardigan chest measurement after the raglan increases is 50 sts + 4 underarm sts while the Little Coffee Bean's 3-6 mo size is 46 sts + 2 underarm sts. So Baby Blueberry is sized a little bigger and is actually closer to the 12 mo Little Coffee Bean size.
Making the m1-R is a little tricky at first. I find that if I push the sts on the left needle higher up onto the needle (creating my slack), this loosens it up a bit and makes it easier to insert the right needle into the front of the new stitch. Give that a try and let me know if that helps.
Thanks for your input about Chunky Monkey. A lighter-weight baby/toddler vest is a great idea. In the meantime, one other option is you could knit up the chunky version using a chunky-weight cotton yarn. Cotton would suit Florida very well and would be perfect when a baby or toddler is in an air-conditioned room.
I'm pretty sure Lion Brand has a chunky cotton yarn and Blue Sky Alpaca's 100% Organic Cotton yarn would work well so long as you knit it on bigger needles (to get gauge).
Hope that helps and thanks for your comment!
-Elizabeth
Elizabeth - Thanks for your comments re sizing on the two baby cardigan versions. Regarding the vest, when it gets hot here, it gets really HOT, and something in Chunky weight just seems too bundled up looking. I'm using the Cotton-Ease cotton-acrylic blend from Lion Brand (the worsted weight) for the cardigan, which seems perfect for our spring to fall weather, and would love to be able to make a cute, summery vest in the same yarn when you can get around to modifying the pattern? (hopefully?) Thanks again, Susan
Hi Susan,
I will definitely try to modify the pattern.I will be sure to add this to my list of patterns for the near future!
Thanks again for your comments!
-Elizabeth
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