Caps

A bunch of baby hats I made to send to Westport and thence to be carried to Washington to demonstrate the knitting community's support of initiatives to save newborns in underserved countries. I like knitting the caps and I like the idea of keeping babies warm. I am less certain they will carry much weight on Capitol Hill.

Hello, Mr. Sock

Voila, my first sock! The basic sock from Lion Brand magic stripes, it comes out fairly attractive, more comfortable than I would have thought, even though I grafted the toe in the wrong direction. Go figure. But it is lonely waiting for its mate to be made. I want to pick out the toe and re-graft it properly.

It is unshaped, and made with a heel flap. But the wool stretches to fit nicely and is warm and pleasant to wear. I made it on size 2 Clover bamboo dpns. Clumsy. I cast on the second sock using two circulars, but the rhythm isn't as good as with dpns. Some day....

Huzzah!

Looks familiar, but this time, speedier!

Went to a baby shower. More a friendly acquaintance than a friend, I decided to knit a sweater at the last minute. Pulled out my friend the 5 hour baby sweater pattern with zeal and determination: can it take anywhere close to 5 hours to complete? I found baby blue Red Heart in a box downstairs. Soft acrylic yarn, soft and smooth, with a little sheen and not at all squeaky. I must say, there were sections that were fuzzy and irregular, but the yarn held together without splitting much. I think I like Caron's Simply Soft better. That was the pink sweater. Decided to avoid having to think about buttonholes (to say nothing of the sewing on of buttons) to save time - got to follow the pattern as written. I wasn't sure if it was too girly, in spite of the baby blue, lighter than it photographed. I took two rows of trim off the bottom. Knitting the sleeves flat and seaming them is neater and easier - the underarm seams look better, too.

I sat with my friend Sharon for two hours and completed the yoke. I then stayed up till 2 AM and finished both sleeves and most of the bottom. We're up to 6 hours here. Sleepy and my fingers unwilling to continue, I went to sleep. This morning, I completed the garter stitch hem and sewed up the sleeves and wove in the ends. Okay! Only 7 hours, not so shabby.

I wrapped it in tissue paper, added a card and left for the baby shower, much pleased with myself. It was duly received with much more acclaim than its quick and dirty origins deserved. The only handmade item at the shower, oohs and aahs aplenty. A handy thing to have, this 5 hour baby sweater.