Baby Surprise Jacket III : Jewel Tones

Last week, I finally got down to the long-procrastinated task of cleaning my craft closet. It was really a mess, especially since the older kids have recently gained access to my paper supplies and scissors. But most of the mess was my own and it took me a while to put everything to order. I got two bags full of leftover yarns with the clean-up and decided to use up some of it before starting anything else. What is better than a Baby Surprise Jacket for small amount of leftover yarns. I have already made two such jackets in the past. (Blogged here and here).

For this one, I used the warmer colors and it turned out far better than I had hoped. It is a good size too, with 4 mm needles and DK weight yarns. I keep forget how knitting stripes with so many colors means frequently tangled balls and a lot of weaving of ends when the knitting is done. But it was so worth it for the final cardigan and some extra space in my closet.

 

 Then of course, I had to knit a matching hat too. I have a feeling, it is a bit smallish and not very anatomically fitting, but the pattern was easy and it got done in a day.

Baby Overalls and Sweater

 I interrupt the MOS (Month of Sewing) postings to bring you a couple of knitting projects. I have discovered that my hands grow very restless if idle for long and what better to keep them busy then a couple of baby knits, while watching hours of ICC World Cup Cricket. (An awful waste of time, I know, but it was hard not to be drawn into the craze).

 So, first I knit up this pair of brown overalls. The pattern is simple and nice, though I added some rounds in the Hip and Rise portion to increase its depth. The yarn is the leftover from my Sylvie coat.

  Next, I got a pink yarn to go with the brown and knit up a stripped pullover. I improvised with this one. It is knit bottom up in rounds and is completely seamless, the underarms holes closed with Kitchener st.

 

I have enough of both yarns left over for a hat. Any suggestions for a cute one??

Stashbuster Baby Vest

I used yet more leftover sock yarns to make this little baby vest. (I have run out of these leftovers now...well almost :) ) This was my first steeking project. The yarn being superwash, I had to use the sewing machine to reinforce the steeks and to cover up the raw edges with bias tape. I can see how steeking can be most useful for fair-isle sweaters, but it sure was a lot of work for a tiny baby vest. But then, it was the perfect project to try out a new technique.

Stashbuster Spirals

 This is an excellent pattern to use up the leftover sock yarns. I used up four different yarns to knit up this pair of socks for my son.

 

I knit these top-down. The stripes are so addictive, I had a hard time putting down these socks and so these got done pretty fast. And the fun I had knitting these, has made me cast on another pair, using some more sock yarn leftovers. This time, I will be trying another pattern.