Ethan's Hat On

You may remember this hat. It is knit with 2 strands of sock yarn. One of the 2 was the green that I couldn't locate for the Devan Sweater. It was in this hat on this baby's head. I was very pleased to see him wearing it and enjoying it (back in December). Here he is, happily displaying his head. It's the grown-ups who keep seeming to misplace it--and his nose, his eyes, his teeth, various other parts, and his mamma.

It's putting on the jacket and leaving that he isn't thrilled about.

Hee Hee Hee

This one goes to Nancy from work's first grandchild born Sunday at 1 a.m. It's a girl. Ava.

The hat and sweater together only used one ball of Lana Grossa Something or Other Sock yarn. The collar and cuffs are out of Paton's Kroy Socks, which I find that I like very much. I used a free top-down pattern from the web to get the number of stitches to cast on and where to put the markers. I knit quite a bit before I decided that it really was too big. Then I ripped and started over. Originally I know I cast on 90. I went down to 78 and that was just right, except maybe I'd change the sleeve stitches from 8 to 10. I had trouble with the collar. It just wouldn't lay right. So I snipped a stitch, pulled the old one off, and reknit it from the neckline using a two by two by two basket pattern. The original was stockinette with a wide garter border. I used size 2 needles. Gauge? Maybe 8 per inch; I don't know exactly, but the sweater came out as about a 6 month size. I will make this again. In fact, that's why I put the needle size and number of cast on stitches in this post.

Baby Set Finito

Yarn: Socks that Rock medium weight in the color, Downpour; about 1.75 skeins--I don't know what happened with the color in the photo. There is no greenish cast to this yarn. Sorry about that. The color is correct in the pictures from 2 posts back.

Size: I was shooting for 6 months to 1 year. Most people think it looks big. The baby is due in October and I figure he will be big. His dad is well over 6 feet tall and strong like ox.

Needles: 2.75 mm/US 2, combination of circular and dpns

Sweater Pattern: Combination of Joelle Hoverson's Placket Sweater from Last Minute Knitted Gifts and Elizabeth Zimmermann's percentage system. I used the measurements and the decreases for the raglan from Hoverson. I was proud of how I managed the placket. I picked up 5 stitches from between the 6 stitches at the edge and held them to the back. I knitted a couple rows in stockinette for a smooth placket bottom before I switched to garter. The waist band rib is a 2x2 garter rib (row 1:k2,p2; row 2; knit). The sleeve cuffs are 2x2 simple ribbing and I extended this toward the elbow by adding more and more plain rows between ribbing rows. I added a couple of long short rows in the upper back a la EZ.

Hat Pattern: Jewel by Sock Pixie. Thanks to S. Pixie's excellent instructions, I actually managed to count the decreases correctly without stitch markers. I used 11 little mitered squares. Again, I probably made the hat too big. What can I say? I'm surprised there aren't more of these in the Ravelry gallery. This hat has a beautiful shape though I had trouble laying it out for the photo. The mitered squares will flatter many types of yarn. I'd make one for myself if I wore hats that squish a person's hair. The pattern is such that even though it is written at 7 stitches per inch, I think it would work with any yarn up to worsted so long as you knit the strip of mitered squares until you reach the desired head circumference, pick up the stitches in a multiple of 10 and make a reasonable guess as to the length to knit before beginning the crown shaping. Kudos to Sock Pixie on this elegant design. It is elegant in both the scientific and artistic senses.

Sock Pattern: None. Worked toe-up on 32 stitches. Short row heels from memory. I'm getting better at short row heels. Seiding should be proud. She helped me learn. Of course it's easier on 16 stitches than on 30 or 36.

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All in all this has been a great knit. I am glad I finished the sweater 3 times because I can be satisfied with the end result knowing that I've explored my limitations and the characteristics of the yarn and pattern. Tomorrow is the shower. I'll go to my lbs (local bookstore) and pick up a sweet little storybook of some kind to throw in the box and I'm good to go! I hope there will be good food at the shower. No matter what, I expect cake, but if the mom to be's mother is involved, I am looking forward to a Polish food extravaganza.