A Finished Baby Surprise Jacket, Breeze, and Shawls

I was very happy to finish the Baby Surprise Jacket. I'm one who is not fond of seaming but the seaming of this project was not bad at all. I did become a little annoyed with having to weave in ends from the color changes. I'm guessing that's one of the reasons I shy away from color work.

I still haven't decided if I'm going to felt the sweater or not. Until I decide I won't be blocking the sweater or adding buttons.




Specs:

Pattern - Baby Surprse Jacket, by Elizabeth Zimmermann, found in Knitting Workshop, the Opinionated Knitter, and there is a DVD devoted to this pattern

Yarn - Paton Classic Wool in three different shades of Denim. I believe I have enough left to knit another BSJ.

Modifications - None, though I may add a collar later

Began - End of June

Finished - Early September

Recipient - I knit this out of interest in seeing the jacket magic happen. Currently, there is no intended recipient.

Notes - The pattern is written in a chatty fashion so sometimes I wasn't sure if I was following the pattern correctly. I performed my increases in a manner that I don't like and when I knit this pattern again I will change the way they were done.

Satisfaction - I'm pretty satisfied. I'm planning to knit the pattern again at some point. I feel more comfortable with the pattern and EZ's writing style. I bought a skein of Sockotta to make a light weight BSJ for a newborn or a doll. Now I'd want to try to tackle some of EZ's other items as well as writing a personal pattern based upon measurements but will probably wait until I have a few more items knit to use as a reference.



Meanwhile, I've cast-on for the Breeze footies at least 10 times. I keep doing something wrong. Either I drop a stitch, split the yarn, or knit the wrong row of the pattern. I think I'm back on track now. Photos will be posted...eventually.

Until I'm sure I won't have to rip again, I'll probably hold off on pictures. In the meantime, here's a photo of the first error which happened because my row gauge changed. I had a heel flap that was almost twice the size it needed to be because I failed to measure the thing and blindly knit the specified number of rows.



Maureen of Batty for Yarn asked about how I liked the Panda Cotton. Wholeheartedly, I love it! It's so very soft. Unfortunately, it incredibly splitty. The plies don't stay together well at all. The knitted swatch feels wonderful, though. Because the yarn is so soft, I'm a little concerned about durability but I'm told bamboo is strong fiber. I'm looking forward to finishing these footies!

Coming up are the Icarus Shawl and the Feather and Fan Comfort Shawl.

I've been wanting to knit a shawl for way too long and now is the time to just start. I have to choose the yarn for the Icarus Shawl. I have some Jaggerspun Zephyr in a few colors and I'll choose soon. I thought I had decided but, finicky lady that I am, I changed my mind.

For the FF Comfort Shawl, I decided to knit it in Cotton-Ease for ease of care. I want a worsted weight yarn for a thicker shawl as my office is always freezing. I also wanted something washable and to be able let my son who has ultra sensitive skin use it as a blanket on car rides.

On the home front, we had a birthday gathering for my son and once again we're swimming in cake.