Friday, February 01, 2008

Finished!

I finished the Baby Surplice Jacket, last night! :) It is very cute and will probably be the next baby shower gift that I need. The size came out 0-3 months, I’m guessing. However, the garment stretches so much that it may even go up to 6 months! The bottom band had buttonholes all the way around so that it can be buttoned with the ends close together in the back or barely overlapping in the front, allowing for a wide size range. It is very boyish, in its blue and brown. My SIL likes the more muted colors and is expecting within the next month. This little sweater is knit in Elann’s Esprit which is cotton and also contains some elastic to help keep its shape. I’m sure they’ll machine wash it, but I’m hoping she’ll be willing to keep it out of the dryer.
On the whole, I’m pretty easy going, even with hand knits: if a person loses or ruins a piece, it was theirs to do so. I don’t get really upset, when it doesn’t go well and still do knit for the person as long as they at least like what I gave. On the other hand, I always love to hear that an item I made is worn often and cared for lovingly. I expect this one will fall some where in the middle. Yarn choice came into this equation quite well. I do expect the cotton/elastic combination to wear well, even if put into the heat of the clothes drier. The label says to hand wash and lay flat to dry. I know that elastics last longer when taken care of like this, but doubt that I’d go to that much effort for a mostly cotton sweater. I’m sure they’ll get months of use out of it and that it will keep him warm and cozy.
In other news, I ordered the yarn to knit Arietta about a week ago. I received it and cast on immediately. After finishing the ribbing and a bit of the chart, I decided that the colors I had chosen were not quite working. The dark brown and the blue are too dark to go with all the other colors. So, earlier this week, I ordered a lighter blue and another shade of tan that I expected to be between the 2 colors shown. You might be able to tell where this is heading...When I received the new shipment, yesterday, the light brown looks like a different dye lot of the same one shown here! They won't work together because the difference is too slight. Today, I ordered again, but this time chose pink. I was always a little sad that they designer didn't have that color in there with all the other lovelies! :) The second photo is of the colors that I have as of yesterday.

4 comments:

hakucho said...

Your Baby Surplice Jacket came out great. Wonderful job. Arietta - That's quite a project you're going to be staring soon. Lots of good luck...will be waiting to see more as you make progress with it.

happy knitting :)

Shelly said...

Can't wait to see Arietta. I was stunned to see the colors you chose, I have the same colors on my Meadowspun 85/15 angora/merino (personal stash, this isn't a shameless plug). For a contrast color I dyed a bluish red, that probably doesn't make any sense. It's the color of the tops of onions or alliums, kind of an intense purplish pink. Anyway, can't wait to see what you make!

Shelly said...

Hey Danielle, you've been awarded the Make My Day Award, details on my blog. Have a great day!

Quail Hill Knits said...

I see that while I was on hiatus, you knit socks, socks, and moresocks. How did you avoid second sock syndrome? Seriously, they are all just beautiful.