Thursday, June 5, 2008

Baby Surprise Jackets . . . Again!

OK, it is summer in Florida . . . . really, really, really humid and hot. So that means knitting little things that don't have to lay in your lap. Which is why I've become addicted to experimenting with Elizabeth Zimmerman's BSJ pattern. You'd think this would get boring, but no . . . it seems like there are endless options for color, pattern, and size.

It is interesting that 200 yards of any kind of yarn (sock, DK, worsted) will make the jacket on almost any size needles (4, 6, 8 and 10). If you add longer cuffs and a collar, it takes a little more.


These two are probably newborn to 3 to 6 month size (notice the nice tomatoes in my raised bed garden!) The yellow/green one is knit with Plymouth Yarn's Dream Baby (DK on size 6 needles). Boy, is that soft yarn! The multicolored sweater is knit with sock yarn on size 4 needles.







This one fits a one year old. It was knit with Plymouth Encore worsted yarn on size 8 needles.

The pink one was knit with the same yarn on size 10 needles and I think it will fit 18 months to 2 years, but I haven't found any stray toddlers to model it, so I can't confirm that size. It is a little bit bigger than the one above though.


One of the really fun things about these sweaters is that the buttons you choose can really make the sweater so cute.










I've made notes to supplement the BSJ pattern and am happy to share them with anyone. You'll still have to buy the pattern from Schoolhouse Press for the complete instructions. Anyway, if you haven't knit one of these fun baby/toddler sweaters, I guarantee that you will fall in love with the pattern once you try it. Just send me an email if you'd like my notes. There is additional information on helpful links for this pattern here.