Wednesday, February 20, 2008
Had a nice time at the baby shower on yesterday! Lots of food (I shall not eat another delicious creme puff again!), surprisingly interesting games (who woulda thought), and of course great baby gifts!
Everyone said......AAAAAAAAAAAAWWWW at the same time! :o)
Pattern: Baby Bolero, One Skein, by Leigh Radford
Size: Newbornish....(targeted for 0-3 months)
Baby Peyton was a preemie and came 2 months earlier than expected, so she is a little behind on the growth curve right now. Which was at first a little hard to gauge what size to knit for her. She is 4 months old weighing about 12lbs and with a sigh of relief she could fit the bolero!
I would say this has about a 2 month wear time before it no longer fits her! Haha!
Mission accomplished as it will be warmer outside by then and she will be ready for a seasonal wardrobe change :o)
Time: 1 day, as I was on a little time crunch! :o) Not considering my self-imposed knitting pressure, this is also a quick knit! Hey I work better under pressure! ;op
This gift was originally supposed to be knitted up back in October, but as I mentioned Baby Peyton threw us off and came early so there was a delay in celebrating her arrival. Which bought me more knitting time...but ur uh um as you can see I didn't take advantage of that! :op Haha!
Needles: Harmony US8, I never changed needle sizes as recommended by the pattern. This pattern ask you to go up in size for the ribbing (most ask you to go one size down). My ribbing typically ends up being bigger on the same needle. So no need to change in my opinion.
Yarn: Moda Dea Silk 'n Wool Blend, 1 ball in the color: Wasabi (I love the name that was selected for this yarn!)
Cost: 6 bucks for the yarn, priceless for the time! ;op
What I learned:
Let me just say right now that there is a lot to be said about taking your time out to READ a pattern before starting....
You know the marvelous magic of Ravelry put me back on track when I actually went back and did my pattern research (I normally do it before I start a pattern) on how other wonderful Ravelrers did this pattern.
This served as a reminder how I need to continue combing thru pattern notes on Ravelry before starting a pattern. You really do learn a lot from those who actually take the time to add notes! THANK YOU to those who do!!
Ravelry is only as good as the knitters' who enter the information. But overall The Big R is a fabulous "Go-To" wealth of knowledge database.
So enough of my "Jones-ing" on Ravelry ;op
The main thing I learned was researching provisional/invisible cast-on methods. And realized I did not like the one recommended by the pattern as it was not the easiest to remove. I think I will try the crochet one next time so that it will just "pop pop pop" off!
Also, picking up stitches for the entire border, which was not as painful as I thought it would be! ;op I don't know if I am just tolerating it better, a smaller circumference or feeling more comfortable about it.
Baby knits are really a good chance for me to practice my "big girl" garment skills (i.e. ensure I make selvage stitches, changing color borders, etc.)
Modifications: Again thanks to Ravelry I was able to discover to do a three needle bind off on the shoulders, and magic looped the sleeves to make my knitting experience easier, faster, and less painful with not a bunch of seaming (ugh).
I knitted the body just a tad bit longer (about 2") than recommended to add just a little bit of length.
There is a really tiny errata for this pattern regarding the 13 stitches on the neckline, but if you didn't know about it you would definitely catch it.
As I already mentioned I avoided a lot of seaming with the three needle bind off for the shoulders and picking up the arms to knit in the round. This also made the sleeves less bulky
As recommended by fellow Ravelers I picked up 40 stitches around the armhole then decreased at the underarm ‘seam’/underarm two sts (SSK, K1, K2tog) every 4 rows 4 times (32 sts), then knitted plain until sleeve was about 4” and end at the wrist with a k2/p2 rib for 3 rows (didn't change the needle size like the pattern said), BO in ribbing of course.
For the border of the bolero only picked up 140 stitches, and it was recommended to pick up 164....Doh!
However, it still worked out after a light blocking the border was tamed and laid down just fine! 'Cause you know I wasn't going back to pick-up again! LOL :oD
Verdict: I actually plan to knit this again for another baby package I need to get ready. It was easy to crank out and served its purpose in conserving yarn usage, but as of right now this is not my favorite baby knit. There was a lot of looking back and forth (as well as fiddling around) at the pattern to stay on track, and I would just rather be on knit 'cruise control' to be considered a fantastic easy baby knit.
And of course I had to put my little stamp on it! :o)
I also had a little inkling to make matching booties! 
~ Project Details ~
Pattern: Perfect Baby Booties by Ava B.
I LUV these booties! They really are perfect!!
Size: Mmmh....I guess newbornish? As you all probably already know this as you adjust the needle size, you also adjust the bootie size. These fit Baby Peyton too!
Time: Quick as well...but then again aren't most baby patterns?!?
Needles: US2 - I had to really go down considerably on needles (IMO) for this one, as my 1st attempt.....
Looked like big foot!!! I swear that bootie could be a sock for me LOL
On the first bootie, I am not sure if it was my yarn that was too thick for the intended needle size or just me knitting too loose...*shrugs* just glad I got it to work out second time around! Haha!
Crochet hook: G (doubled yarn to make a SC string - but would not recommend doubling)
Yarn: Moda Dea Silk 'n Wool Blend - Wasabi; remainders of the bolero yarn....but that didn't work out so well because............
This is what I had leftover while working on bootie #2
Cost: N/A...but have to get another ball of yarn to finish up bootie #2...ugh!
They thought it was hilarious that I had to give them an "I.O.U." Haha! ;op
What I learned: To buy enough yarn! Haha!
Modifications: Shortened the ankle ribbing and added the color change
Verdict: By gosh I think I finally found it!!
This is indeed my "Go-To" bootie pattern! LUV it!! And it will always be in my back pocket for easy access to knit up quickly!
Knitted flat in about 52 rows or so, and then you have a perfect bootie! Can't beat that!
Well my little friend wanted me to close out this post! :o) 
Have a great remainder of the week!
Keep up the good work!
I want to hear if it was worth the dang creampuffs honey, heck with the cutest baby bolero ever! :)
LOL of the needles with the bootie!!!
And I am totally stealing your Go0To baby gift idea : )
Nice work, Stacey.
The booties are the perfect extra touch! :)
*dead* @ the IOU!
:)