Baby Surprise Jacket

Elizabeth Zimmermann designed this very clever pattern. For years I have seen different knitter's finished sweaters on their blogs and Ravelry and always wanted to try it. Dave and I went to our local library where I checked out Knitting Workshop under his name and cranked one out in about 2 weeks. Mrs. Zimmermann has some wonderful designs but I have to admit/complain that sometimes her patterns are hard to follow. I finished it alright but the entire time I was wondering if I was following the directions correctly. Part of the charm of this pattern is that there are only 2 seams and the entire thing is knit in one piece. Could you tell from the picture on the left that there was a sweater lurking in that mass of knitted fabric? Once the edges were matched and folded, a sweater emerged.

I used Kudo yarn by Plymouth for this pattern. It is a single ply cotton/rayon/silk blend and a heavy DK/light worsted weight in my opinion. The knitted examples of this sweater I've seen online were very crisp and straight and boxy. I think the yarn I used made mine a little more floppy and not as perpendicular. It still looks OK and is wonderfully soft and drapey for a baby, but I think maybe a consistent and crisper yarn would have made knitting this a little easier. All the increases and decreases for shaping are made on either side of a marked stitch and it was hard to keep track of that marked stitch at times because of the yarn. And of course now that I know what to expect from this pattern, I would totally make another one. I have a grey colorway of this same yarn that would make a nice boy sweater. I used 1 1/4 skeins of this yarn for the sweater. There is a child and adult version of this sweater in The Opinionated Knitter that I'd be interested in trying.

My sister is pregnant with a baby girl and I gave her the finished sweater last weekend when we were home together. She chose pink bunny buttons for the sweater and asked for a pair of booties that would match AND fit at the same time as the sweater so I knit a pair from 60 Quick Baby Knits from the remainder of the yarn. I just love this pattern and how the yarn gradually changes color. These might be a little big to go with the sweater but then again I've never been able to size clothes/people up by looking at them. I was glad to find a use for this yarn. I bought it in Rochester years ago intending to use it for socks or hats because of the cotton content but it really has no recoil to hold up to ribbing.

I had one day off this week because this is my weekend to work, but on my day off I made refried beans. Years ago my friend Michelle showed me how to make them from scratch starting with dried beans and I prefer black beans to pinto beans. They are so much better than anything you get in a can and so easy and inexpensive. I had soaked them overnight and thought they looked so pretty and were very appropriate while I was on a purple theme.