Sea Baby

I’ve had two skeins of Blue Sky Alpacas Dyed Cotton in my stash for a couple years now.  I bought it at a going out of business sale before I knew that 300 yards of worsted weight yarn isn’t a great amount for things, and cotton isn’t a great fiber for scarves when you live where it gets wet.  But I also bought it because I had been considering using it for a sweater and buying one skein seemed sillier and at 40% off I was lucky to get two skeins in the same color and dye lot.  Luckily if you look around and have friends popping out babies like crazy (this is year two of knowing at least half a dozen pregnant women) you can find baby sweaters that don’t take much yarn.  But you have to be quick since getting a sweater out of less than 300 yards of worsted means knitting a smaller size and smaller sizes, I have heard, are notorious for being worn once before they are outgrown.  Those growing babies, the nerve of them 🙂

Anyways.  I came across this Debbie Bliss baby jacket pattern on Ravelry and it seemed like just the thing for a quick knit (and a swatchless knit for the lazy). I decided to make the 3-6 month size which called for 400 yards of aran weight yarn. I thought worst comes to worst I buy a coordinating skein of BSA dyed cotton for the ribbing but my LYS knit night pals suggested waiting until I get to the ribbing as (IIRC) Debbie Bliss patterns can be overly cautious with the yardage requirements.  I’m glad I waited to purchase that 3rd skein, because I still have 33 grams left (of course the sweater weighs in at 162 grams so either might be up to 5 grams off measurement).

I didn’t bother swatching (according to my Rav notes I did, but I think it wasn’t for this project), since the 3 month size starts with a cast-on of 48 stitches, and just decided if it looked off I’d rip it. The knitting was quick for me, this took me about 3 weeks (we will ignore the fact that it has been over a month for posting and I’ve yet to sew on the snaps). And at 28 cm wide and 25 cm from waist to shoulder it is within the realm of the pattern’s measurements (25.5 cm at chest and 25 cm length).  I still haven’t measured it to check my gauge, but that number would be fairly useless since I’ve already forgotten which needle I used (it was a US 7, but was it KP nickle or Bryspun? wait, a WIP picture saved the day, I used my KP Options nickle needle).  16 1/2 stitches for every 4″ (24 rows for every 4″) of course this gauge measurement was taken the lazy method (the sweater still hasn’t been washed) and I just set the tape on the sweater and started counting, no precise needles in place or anything.  Anyway, this was a fun quick knit in soft and luscious yarn (a tad expensive, but not bad for a 2 skein project) and hopefully I’ll soon figure out which wee one will best fit in the sweater.