Happy Birthday Elizabeth!

The reason this little passage is funny to me is because THE SAME EXACT THING happened to me. I’m not sure if Coleman’s is very well known here in the States, but I happen to have an Irish mother-in-law with a fondness for mustard and we usually have a little jar of it in the fridge. The mustard is very spicy, and for most folks must be consumed in moderation.

My parents were visiting one time, and we were having sandwiches. Naturally, Gerald got the mustard out and as my Dad put together his sandwich, he slathered a large amount of Coleman’s on the bread. Gerald warned him, “That mustard is very spicy.” My Dad may have mumbled acknowledgment, but sat down to eat his sandwich anyway. After his first bite, his face got red and his eyes were watering, and he finally acknowledged, “Boy, that’s hot.”

I didn’t think it was possible, but today I have become even more fond of EZ.

An unrelated picture, just to prove that we have snow. Again. All the woollies are getting a big workout this year!

The dates for the pictures are below each one.

Just learning to walk. January 14, 2007 (original post)

Still zipped (from the “Zipped, Unzipping, Unzipped” Series) September 11, 2007

How big is Maggie? SOOO BIG. (post about the mittens) December 3, 2007

Tire swinging. April 7, 2008

Big snow, with Tomten (you can see the hood) under the coat for warmth. January 20, 2009

Still fits. January 9, 2010

What a sweater! It’s part of Maggie’s life, and a dear part of my memories. She hasn’t worn it much over the past year, but I’m pleased to see it still fits. It desperately needs some zipper attention. When I put the zipper in, more than two years ago, I had not yet developed my patience for finishing.  If I were to fix the zipper, I think I would take it all the way out and start over.  Do it right this time. Maybe even get a better zipper.

I wonder, will it fit in another year? I hope it will. Good old Tomten.

Boy Sweater, August 2006

Pirate Sweater, January 2007

Wallasaurus, February-March 2007

Wallaby Meets Vest, June 2007

Skull Cable Vest (he never wore it), November 2007

And, the sixth:

Striped Kid Sweater, July 2009

I’m feeling a fair amount of nostalgia looking back over these pictures. Jerry has grown up so much and it has happened in the blink of an eye. The sweaters are getting bigger and they take longer to knit, and I really can’t believe I have a 7 year old boy getting ready for second grade.

The pattern: Seamless Shirt-Yoke Sweater by Elizabeth Zimmermann from Knitting Without Tears. Ravelry lists this pattern as being from Knitting Workshop, but I used KWT, where it briefly appears.

The yarn: Brown Sheep Nature Spun Sport. I have the urge to go buy tons and tons of this yarn. Knitting with it makes me want to only knit with it forever and ever (brief dalliances with yarns like Noro or Ultra Alpaca are expected, naturally). Unfortunately, due to low demand, my LYS has stopped stocking this yarn. I’m going to open a yarn store that stocks ONLY sport weight, woolen spun wool in a dizzying range of colors.

The gauge: 6 sts per inch. On a US 4 needle. The fabric is light – surprisingly light – for such a big sweater.

The pricetag: The whole sweater weighs 238 grams; less than 5 balls of yarn. At $3.50 per ball, you do the math. The cost of making this sweater is damn cheap, and the result is much nicer than anything you’d find in a store (the knitter says, humbly).

More pictures?

]]> http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/2009/07/26/my-boy/feed/ 10 http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/2009/05/04/on-to-the-next/ http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/2009/05/04/on-to-the-next/#comments Tue, 05 May 2009 00:13:36 +0000 Mandy http://www.myzigzagstitch.com/?p=609

I’ve started another child’s seamless sweater, this time with yoke, but still for the same class at Gate City Yarns (Custom Pullover for your Kid). Beginning with a sleeve is an attempt to trick myself into thinking that the knitting is going quickly, but I think it doesn’t work.

I’m working from another Spun Out pattern. This time Spun Out 4 – Child’s Yoke Sweater, but this pattern has appeared many places, for adults or any size if you’re an EPSer. I’m going to use the original charts from EZ – it makes me feel connected to the past in a way that is very comforting.

I started the cuffs with a peak of each color that will appear in the yoke design. This is less of a “feature” and more of a way for me to see what the colors are like together. I like it.

The yarn – sigh – is Rowan Felted Tweed and it’s pure bliss. Rowan is usually out of my price range, but these large balls go a long way and the quality is worth the extra cost. And the colors!

This morning, on my List of things to do, I wrote “cast on sleeve 2″ so I’m going to get to that right now. I also wrote “pattern” on my list, which refers to putting the finishing touches on the I Heart You sweater pattern. If you’re waiting around for that, you will be able to get it this week. And that’s a promise!

I feel like a knitting Superwoman, because it turned out just exactly how I envisioned it.  Perfect in (nearly) every way.

I hesitate to point out the imperfect things, but I will for posterity.  The sleeves could use about 8 more sts at the top.  They are very snug, and I need to manhandle them to get her arms through.

The other thing is that I don’t think she’s really keen on that turtleneck.  Unfortunately for her, it’s not about what she thinks.  It’s about what I think and I think it’s awesome.

On to the perfect things.

I had an intense level of patience with this knit.  I ripped it back in various spots four (five, maybe?) times; I’m proud of myself for sticking with it for all that knitting, ripping, reknitting, reripping.  I really wanted to see this little thing through to completion.

The colors!  I love the bright hearts, and I love how the color changes produce wide stripes.  I hadn’t expected that.  Funny thing about the colors – the yarn store only stocks these bright hues.  I bought one of each (and a bunch of heather brown) and went to town.

The fit is slim, but long enough that maybe she’ll wear it next year?  With the tight sleeves, maybe not.  Kids have big bellies and teeny tiny arms.  I’m hopeful.

Sometimes yoke sweaters pucker, and although I accept that (see October sweater – slight puckering) I was really pleased that the puckers are non-existent here.  I wish I had a better idea of why the yoke is so flat.  Perhaps because the first decrease is placed so soon after joining?  I will be experimenting with this idea.

I am writing the pattern; other folks are loving this sweater as much as I do.  The pattern will include sleeves that aren’t too snug, but I’m not doing anything about that turtleneck.  It is much too cool.  I’m considering including adult sizes.  Any interest in that?

Check it on Ravelry (my project).
Queue it on Ravelry (the pattern page, for when it’s ready).

(Just a thought on that pic of Maggie running.  I love it more than most any picture I have taken of her, ever.  It’s funny, because you can’t see her face.  But I think it’s because it really, really shows my true Maggie: running, exuberant, messy hair.  I heart you, baby.)

At first I thought it would be a vest, but then I started knitting sleeves.  It was strange how I just started knitting them without really thinking it all through.

But it’s all coming along nicely.  I don’t have a firm plan for the yoke decreases.  I have joined the sleeves in and I’m knitting one stripe of navy blue hearts before I make any decisions.  I’ve done a fair bit of knitting then unraveling, knitting then unraveling, ad nauseum.  I am fully prepared to knit the yoke to completion then unraveling it to make it right.

I’ve got Spun Out #4 – Child’s Yoke Sweater from Schoolhouse Press as a guide.  Did you know that all those Spun Out designs are only $1 (besides the BSJ, which is understandable).  What a deal!  I ordered a bunch of them a few weeks ago and I think maybe I should order the rest.

This yoke obsession that I’m feeling is inspired by two things.  One, I’m going to teach a class on how to knit a “custom pullover for your kid” at my LYS, so I need to make sure I’m on the ball with these EZ patterns.  And two, surely you’ve seen the new design  Paper Dolls by Kate at Needled.  First the owls, and now paper dolls?  I am super excited to see what she does next.

That’s where I am now, knitting straight before any big decreasing decisions.  The rain outside pretty much guarantees that there will be yoke action today.  Yay!

Following is an in-depth look at how I did it and everything you need to know to make one, too.

Things You Should Know

• You must have a copy of the pattern to follow along.  The Baby Surprise Jacket is available in The Opinionated Knitter, Knitting Workshop, a couple of back issues of Knitter’s and as a $3 single pattern leaflet from Schoolhouse Press.  You have no reason not to own your own copy. [Ravelry]
• It would be very helpful if you have already knit a regular BSJ without modifications.
• I have a hunch that two- and three-year-olds have the same chest circumference as sweet little infant babies.  Mine did, maybe yours do, too.  That’s good here because then the key numbers in the pattern don’t change.
• Like EZ says, slip the first stitch of every row.  I do it knit-wise, though I have never been quite sure this was correct.
• I eliminated the sleeve increases, and instead began with 18 additional stitches when I cast on.  This is explained briefly in The Opinionated Knitter on page 106.
• Overall there are very few changes to the original pattern, but the little tweaks I’ll discuss below make all the difference in the toddlerization process.  Keep your headlights on.
• Gauge: 19 sts = 4″ over garter stitch.  With the sport weight yarn I used [Hello Yarn Fat Sock, Marzipan, 2 skeins] this gauge produces a stretcy, loose and nearly lightweight material.

Ready?

Change #1 Provisionally cast on the specified number of stitches using a smooth yarn.  I did this by casting on (long tail, as usual) with cotton yarn, knitting a row, then joining in the sweater yarn and starting immediately with row 1 of the pattern.  Cotton is important for the cast-on if you’re using wool for the sweater, so that the provisional stitches are easier to free later on.

Solid green yarn above is the provisional cast-on.

Now knit the pattern as normal, through decreases and increases until you get to the point in the pattern that says “…work on center 90 sts. only, for 10 ridges…”

Change #2 This section of the pattern determines body length and for a toddler you’ll want it a bit longer.  I knit the center section for 14 ridges.

After picking up stitches along the edges of the section just completed continue again as written except for:

Change #3 Make the sweater slightly wider by knitting more ridges before the buttonholes.  I did nine ridges before the buttonholes and two after.  NB: I only made buttonholes on one side, but that is neither here nor there, and makes very little difference in the end.

Now for the fun part.  Or the tedious part, if that’s how you wish to look at it.  I thought of it as fun because without all the tedium you just have a pile of knitted garter stitch that doesn’t look like anything.  Although come to think of it that doesn’t sound too bad.  Moving on.

The order of things to follow, in brief.

• Cast off live stitches.
• Put all provisionally cast on stitches on threads until you are ready to knit them.
• Lengthen sleeves.
• Join tops of sleeves to back and seam.  Simultaneously.
• Bind off remaining stitches.

Here’s how I did it.

From the right side, and using a needle one size smaller than you used for the body, cast off using the i-cord cast-off method using three stitches (I used the one described on pg. 55 of The Opinionated Knitter).  Begin at the neck edge, continue down the front edge, around the back bottom edge, up the opposite edge, around the neck to where the sleeve joins the back.  Here, I’ll show you.

The star shows where to begin and the arrow shows the direction of the knitting (not that I needed to explain that to you, smart knitter that you are).  When you get to the end, leave the last three i-cord stitches on a holder.  Like this (except put them on an actual holder, not a needle, because the needle will indubitably fall out).

Now the time has come to liberate those cast-on stitches from so long ago.  Put the stitches from both ends of the cast-on row — the stitches before the first line of decreases and after the second line of decreases — onto separate holders.  That is where you’ll lengthen the sleeves.  The center stitches go on their own holder.

To lengthen the sleeve, join in the yarn on one end section and knit back and forth until the sleeve is the desired length.  I added thirteen ridges and probably could have done a few more.  Do not bind off.  Repeat on the other sleeve.

Oh, please don’t look so confused.  We’re getting there now.

You are ready to join the top of the sleeve to the back using a three-needle i-cord cast-off.  Count the number of stitches on the sleeve top (excluding cuff), then put a matching number of back stitches on a needle ready to join.  Begin at the star…

…and perform the magical trick known as the three-needle i-cord cast-off down the top edge until you reach the cuff.  Go back to regular i-cording around the cuff edge until all the stitches are cast-off.  Finish off the i-cord then sew it neatly where it meets the corner.  So far so good.

How beautiful is that seam?  And no sewing needle required!

But back to business.  Do the same for the second sleeve, but this time start at the cuff, i-cord cast-off around, then join the top sleeve stitches to an equal number of back stitches with the the three-needle i-cord cast-off.    You will also i-cord around the second half of the neck to join up with the beginning of these i-cord escapades. Thusly:

We’re nearly there now.  All that’s left to i-cord is the remaining live stitches at the back of the neck.

Ta-da!

Some Other Notes

• When you i-cord cast-off around an outside corner, add a row of i-cord that doesn’t connect.  This helps keeps those corners neat and square.
• If you have remembered to slip the first stitch of each row, it will be so much easier to do all the i-cording.  If you have forgotten, well there’s not much to do.  Use a tiny needle to pick up the stitches, maybe?  That might work.  Try not to forget the slipping.

I had such fun making this sweater and wrestling with the finishing details.  Please enjoy this little unvention of mine and let me know if you try it, have any trouble with the instructions or have any suggestions.  I bet if you toddlerize your own BSJ, you’ll probably do some unventing of your own along the way.  Yippee!

One last picture for good measure.
OH!  I almost forgot.  There’s one little “mistake” that I know you won’t believe me when I say I did it on purpose.  I did.  If you find the mistake you may award yourself 15 Cool Points.  Good luck.