A Baby Surprise

I was really excited to try out the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann. I saw so many neat pictures of it and thought it would be great fun. I even bought the dvd so I could have the variations. Then I knitted it, finally, and found that the real surprise was how boring it was. All that garter stitch. I didn't think I would ever finish it! It was supposed to be a sweater for my grandson, but I never felt motivated to sew up the sleeves so it just sat in a pile. Of course, he has now outgrown it, however, it is going to a good home. My mom needed a baby gift and so I did finish it. I used Beatrix Potter buttons and it did look pretty cute. I'm thinking that I might give the pattern one more try, but next time, I'll use a heavier yarn and maybe throw in some stripes. Notice I said I "might" give it another try! I used Sirdar's Magic Stripes which is now discontinued. It's a dk weight and does wash nicely.


I also made another soaker for Marty. He's getting so big that I moved up to a medium. Small would have been the more logical choice, but since he can't even fit his chubby legs in the hole of some of the other soakers, I thought I'd just skip ahead. This is the punk knitters pattern. I had to add a few stitches to make the pattern divisible by 12, but it was only 4 stitches so it isn't even noticeable. I also added the leg cuffs. It was a quick knit as most soakers are. I'll be curious to see how the fit compares to the others I've made. This one was knit with my old standby, Cascade 220 which is still on sale at Webs until the end of this month.

I've also noticed on Ravelry that quite a few knitters have made soakers out of Noro Kureyon. I came across this in my stash and thought I would give it a try. I just can't believe that it will soften up enough for a baby, but they all say it does. It's so scratchy. I love the colors but I'm not crazy about knitting with it. The trick is going to be not having the yellow stripes end up across the bum. My daughter-in-law doesn't like me to use yellow or light orange for soakers. I'm trying to think how to put this delicately, but it makes it hard to tell if they are "soiled". There is a little yellow in this skein, but it's mostly shades of green with a little purple. I'll just keep my fingers crossed that it works out! He should be able to wear lots of different colored t-shirts with it.