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!
