What I made, by Sharon

As I've mentioned here before, I knit for a charity called AKWAK (Ausies Knitting for War Affected Kids). They ship warm woolies off to Syrian refugees. Here's a video of some of the 2022 distribution. In December and January we are doing a knit-a-long to knit a set, so I used up my left over 8-ply yarns to knit a hat, cowl, jumper and mittens. I'm a bit disturbed by the variety of striping patterns I used, but this will definitly keep a 3 year old warm as well as cute, and that's the point. Well, that and that I now only have a few grams of 8-ply scraps. My next set will be made of sock yarn scraps held triple, and Iam in absolutely no danger of running out of those! 

On Saturday we were invited to a house party in Healesville to celebrate Bee's birthday, so we decided to do our long run in the country. There is a rail-trail near there, so we caught a train to the beginning  and then ran 20 kilometres, from Lilydale to Woori-Yallock.  It was perfect - the weather was very cool, but there was no wind and the sun was shining.  I had sent a kitting project ahead, along with clean clothes, but I didn't get any done. We hung oat, and ate and drank and celebrated Bee. I also formally gave her the jumper I had been knitting for her. Here are some better photos: I think she liked it! Then on Sunday we slept in (oh the joy) cleaned the house and did all those tasks it takes to keep life going (watering the plants, clothes washing all that stuff). Then we went to the movies and saw Black Widow. i don't know why, but we rarely go to the movies. Shows, live comedy and musicals, all the time. We haven't been to the movies since 2019 ...

I recently stumbled across Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surplice Jumper, and look how cute it is: Unfortunately, Schoolhouse Press doesn't actually sell the pattern - not even in an e-book with other patterns. So, I had to pretend it was 1990 (or 1970) and borrow it! Luckily Sonia had a copy of the very charming Knit One Knit All she could lend me. It's been a long time since I knit a pattern that is only available in a paper book! The cardigan is fairly simple. It would have only taken me three days, but I didn't read the instructions properly - for the Baby Surprise Jacket, Elizabeth has you put in two markers and increase on either side of them. for this you put in two markers and increase one each side of each marker. The pattern is clear, I just misread it. If (when) I make it again I'll make the sleeve extensions in ribbing, or on a smaller needle because they do flare a little. I'll also probably use I-Cord through the bottom eyelets, I wasn't sure whe...

This is my 13th Baby Surprise Jacket . it's a pattern written for 5-ply (sport weight), but I have always knit it in 4-ply (sock weight) because that's what I have around, and I usually knit jumpers to welcome my friends newborn babies'.   I mentioned earlier that I was going to knit 10 hats for charity and KOGO put out a call for baby jumpers, and specified that they should not be premie sized. So I decided to hold two strands together and use 4mm needles.  It's certainly not small. In fact, weighing in at 270 grams, and being quite large, I would really describe it as a toddler jacket.  The buttons are left over from my 2012 trip to Liberty of London . All in all I love knitting this little jumper, and it never fails to look good, no matter what yarn I use for it. This is my 4th of the promised 10 projects, so it's going to plan quite nicely.

I started a jumper for Leon on Sunday two weeks ago, and finished it the very next week. It's the Seamless Saddle Shoulder by Elizabeth Zimmermann. Look at that shoulder detail!     I think one of the reasons it knit up so fast (putting aside the fact that we are not allowed the leave the house, of course) is the yarn. Field of Dreams is a collab between the Purl Box and Great Ocean Road Woollen Mills. The yarn is a mix of Polworth, Linen and Alpaca, and it is milled locally in Victoria. It is so nice having an increasing number of truly local yarns available. I ordered online, so I didn't see the true beauty of the colour until it arrived. And once I saw the fabric I was hooked, which is how I knit a man's jumper in a week. The only other notable thing about it is I used Wolly Wormhead's alternate cable cast on and I love it. It looks like a tubular cast on, without all the issues I have with tubular cast ons being tight. I also...

It's funny, I'm still working from home, and I'm getting done what I need to to, but I feel scattered and not all that productive. On the other hand, my knitting productivity is out of control! I  started the weekend with a pair of Elizabeth Zimmerman May Mitered Mittens for my mother. They are much more loosely knit than I would have done gloves, but we live in Melbourne, not Antarctica, so they should be enough.  This was a really fun pattern, and I see more of these in my future. Then on Monday I made a Woolly Wormhead Classic Beanie  for Kieran.  On Tuesday I made a bigger version of the same hat for Raph: I love them. Quick, fun (look at the crown) and very classic. I made them in Bendigo Woollen Mills Luxury , and it reminded me of what a lovely (and economical) yarn this is. On Wednesday I diverted from hats to make a teeny weeny hot water bottle cover. You may remember last year I tried to order mini hot water bottles an...

I started knitting Elizabeth Zimmerman's  February Baby Leggings for Tara's baby shower - also because they were the February Stranded in Oz club pattern and they looked like  a lot of fun.   Which they were - and super quick to knit. Three days, start to finish. I reduced the depth of the waist by a little bit, since they look really deep, and some people commented that they were designed to fit old fashioned cloth nappies. I don't know. I always figure if they fit this (my smaller bear) they will fit a newborn. But newborns probably have longer legs. Sometimes I think I should get a more human biologically accurate model. Anyway, they were such fun, I'm now planning a me size version - charmingly called " nether garments " by Mrs Zimmerman.  I called Tara to confirm that her baby shower was (obviously) cancelled and to have a catch up, she told be that she also has gestational diabetes .  I thought I might make a jumper wi...

And today I have three finished objects! Normally I like to write about these things as I go, but I didn't get these blocked until last night, and here they are, dry and ready to write about.   This Baby Surprise Jacket might be the cutest thing I have ever made. Every time I finish a BSJ I think it's the best ever. This is number 11 and I love it. It's such a precious knit. The main colour was dyed by a friend of mine, and I think it is perfectly offset by the browns.  Leon's Winter Set 2020 Hat: I'm really happy with how this came out. The crown shaping was worrying me, since I can never picture in my mind how it is going to look, but this worked out really well.  The mitts came out well too. I based them on a basic (and free) Drops pattern . By co-incidence, both the hat and the mitts came out with 3 repeats of the arrow pattern. I've just started the matching scarf, which will have between 33 and 50 repeats of the arrow pattern. Luckily it...

We got back last night, and I need to unpack and stuff, but I'm prioritising other things, so we went for a run this morning, and now I'm drinking tea and updating my online life. Brisbane was great, sunny and warm. We were lucky to be there during the Brisbane festival, so there were lots of shows and free jazz and a great vibe, but even without that it's a fun city. Loads of craft breweries and good food and dogs in pubs. Because of what I'd like to call good planing, but was mainly good luck, both Leon and i were reading Boy swallows Universe   by Trent Dalton, a book which is book fantastic in it's own right and set in Brisbane, which is always fun.  There was amazing wildlife in the centre of town, including birds and adorable lizards. I like lizards.  All the while I was knit, knit knitting away on Leon's jumper. The Elizabeth Zimmermann saddle shoulder pattern was great, my gauge swatch didn't lie, the Field of Dreams yarn was beautiful, a...

I finished the two Baby Surprise Jackets I was knitting and sewed the buttons on, washed and blocked them, bought a card and a mailing envelope.  Now Leon just needs to get an address, and these can go off the there recipients. I really like how the button choice came out on both of these. I'm very happy with both of them. Like I always say, it's pretty hard to mess up a Baby Surprise Jacket . Interestingly, despite both being knit on the exact same needle (3.25mm Chiagoo),  one came out noticeably larger than the other.  Really, one of my most favourite knitting things in the whole world is pairing a solid with a self striping, whether it is for baby jumpers or socks. One of my other favourite tings is taking photos of baby jumpers on my teddy bears:  As a bonus to this post, here's a pictures of the a previous baby jumper (not a BSJ) that I knit, with the actual baby in it.