Baby Sweaters

I have a second grandchild due to be born in less than a month. I know. I don’t look a day over 35 but to tell the truth, today is my 49th birthday so I am certainly old enough to have grandchildren. I sigh sometimes when I think about it. Especially since the ones at home are only 13 (next week) and 10. It’s crazy.

Anyway, I should probably make something for baby Cooper/Thatcher/Henry/theothernameunderconsiderationthat ican’tremember. And the due date is March 14th so I’m kind of running out of time. So I looked at the baby cardigan options on Ravelry. It needs to be somewhat fashionable because the baby’s mom is very stylish. She always looks like she just stepped out of the J. Crew catalogue so I expect this kid will be just as snappy.

I narrowed the sweater choices down to just a few and then I started spinning. The fiber I chose is a Falkland/Silk Blend from Southern Cross Fibers in a colorway called Patina. I will be honest. There is a lot of orange, pink and red in my fiber stash and so the boy-like choices were few.

This one is good I think.

I wanted the sweater to be more stripey than marley and since the two 4 ounce bits I had didn’t match up in the color changes I decided to chain ply the singles.

I did a gauge swatch to see if the yarn would work with my first choice pattern. It’s iffy. The pattern is the Baby Sophisticate sweater designed by Linden Down.  The pattern calls for 4.5 stitches per inch (18 stitches/4 inches). I did a swatch on size 3.75mm needles and got 20 stitches per inch first. I changed to a size 3.5mm needle and the gauge is now about 19 stitches in 4 inches. I even did a bit of the swatch with a 3.25 needle. I got gauge but it was really uncomfortable. Honestly, I like the fabric that is made with the 3.75mm needle best so I am going to make the 3 month size with the size 5 us needle. The sweater will be a bit bigger than the measurements say in the pattern but he’ll grow into it, right? I will also say that I am a very loose knitter so most people would need a size 4mm or 4.5mm needle for this pattern and this yarn.

I will get to casting on maybe tomorrow while I’m hanging out at the spa for my birthday.

So last week I promised to give away some books. There were lots of commenters who wanted the Stephenie Gaustad book. I used a random name picker thingy and put everyone’s name in and here’s who won! Carolyn, Roxanne, and Connie! I’ll send you emails immediately to get your addresses and shipping info. Thanks for playing. I should have giveaways more often. it makes me feel loved:-)