Project: Maddy's Jacket
Made for: baby Lawrence
Pattern: Peach Blossom Baby Jacket by Looking Glass Knits
New Skills: Raglan, first jacket, DPNs
You may notice that the sleeves looks a little off: the jacket is actually knit in twisted stockingette, whereas the sleeves are regular stockingette. It wasn't done on purpose -- this project helped me realize that I've been wrapping the yarn the wrong way on the purl sts, so it has been twisting. I knew something was up! Some fellow self-taught leftie knitters on lj helped me figure out what I was doing wrong. I still think it looks cute, but wish the sleeves matched!
The pattern said that this could all be done on straights, but there was no way I could pick up the sleeve stitches -- so it forced me to learn how to use DPNs a little sooner than I'd planned to.
Otherwise, the pattern was excellent and I really love the finished product. I wanted something that was not too cutesy or traditional to match the parents' personalities.
I started knitting this before the gender of the baby was known and used some blue acrylic* I've had for a while, and picked up some lovely soft yellow to compliment it. I think it would look sweet on either gender, but baby ended up being a girl so I picked up some yellow buttons to finish it off. She definitely won't fit into it for a little while, but I'm excited to see how it looks on her
It's not perfect, but I think it is pretty adorable for my first sweater.
*NOTE baby clothes and blankets generally should not be knit with acrylic. They are traditionally knit with wool because it burns very reluctantly, and is self-extinguishing (the flame will go out when taken away from the source of fire). Acrylic, on the other hand, could melt into a baby's skin. Of course, you hope your baby won't be surrounded by flames, but remember that he/she has no way to move away from them. I only used acrylic because this is a jacket, not sleep wear, so she won't be unattended while wearing it. I also let the parents know, and they were glad to hear that it is machine-washable!
2 comments:
The jacket is gorgeous! I especially like the button-holes. And your knitting is very even, hard to believe it's your first jacket!!!
I had similar problem with knitting the basic purl and knit stitches in slightly different manner, although I am not a lefty ;)
BTW thanks for the info about acrylic. I am planning on knitting some baby stuff and I'll make sure to use natural fibers.
Thanks, ccc! Acrylic is easy is use for bb wear because it is inexpensive and washable, but it's important to keep in mind that natural fibers are best.
Happy knitting!
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