Tattoos of memories

No, there isn’t another baby coming here. (The thought makes me want to faint!) I’ve knit another Baby Surprise Jacket, the classic pattern by knitting genius Elizabeth Zimmermann.

Here it is off the needles:
A big blob of a thing

And after a fold and seaming the shoulders, here is the finished jacket:
A sweet little baby sweater

Amazing, isn’t it? The style might not be to everyone’s taste, but the pattern is such genius. I honestly think that every knitter should make at least one, just to experience the crazy things you can do with knitting.

The yarn is Araucania Ulmo Multi in the enchantingly named colourway 709. It took about 320 yards, and I figure it is about a 6-9 month size, possibly bigger. I did the increases as yo,k1,yo just to be different. And the buttons are “Counting Sheep” from Dress It Up.

Buttons, garter stitch, and yarn over holes.

The pattern itself is available in several places. You can order the ABC Surprise Jacket (adult, baby, child) pattern directly from Schoolhouse Press for US$12+shipping (in my opinion this is the best version of the pattern since it has line by line directions rather than the “pithy” directions in the other sources). The pattern for just the baby version can be found in the books Opinionated Knitter and The Knitter’s Almanac, among other places.

Now that I’ve knit the Baby Surprise Jacket twice, I’m not sure I would knit it again. It is really cool to turn a knitted blob into a little sweater, but the miles of garter stitch are just plain boring! 😉

I may not be able to knit thanks to a sore hand and a bad elbow, and I can still wind up yarn for future projects!

I have to wind all my hanked (or skeined, depending on the term you prefer to use) yarn myself. While I’m lucky enough to live in London, a city with several excellent and well-known yarn shops, I don’t do a lot of shopping at them because none have a particular good selection of non-wooly yarn. And, a few don’t even offer to wind your purchases for you. So, I’ve got the Amish-style swift that my dad built for me, and an adequate ball winder from Knit Picks, and every few months I grit my teeth and wind up some yarn.


My handmade swift (Thanks, Dad!)

So, why would you want a shop to wind yarn for you? Well:

• You don’t have a swift and ball winder of your own.


• It is over 1,000 metres and you do have a life. 😉


• You want to get started on your project right away.

There are, however, many advantages to winding your own yarn. Such as:

• You can’t always return yarn that has been wounding into a cake, even if it was done by the store. So, keep your yarn in a hank/skein if you think you might want to return it.


• It is easier to trade or sell your yarn if it is still in a hank.


• The shop could wind the yarn more tightly than you like, and it could bounce back after being washed, shrinking your project.


• Yarn is easier to store in a hank, depending on your storage system.


• Yarn cakes can trap moisture and smells much more readily than hanks. They also make cozier homes for bugs. Yuck!


• You can check the ball for knots, weak spots, and strange colour changes as you wind it. This will allow you to be prepared for what might be coming, and also allow you to splice out bad spots.

One thing to watch for when winding your own cakes is tension. A yarn cake is wound too tight if it feels very firm when you give it squeeze. It should bounce back.


Balls of yarn ready to go… when I can knit again.

What about centre-pull vs. working from the outside? As a non-wooly, I always work from the outside of a cake or ball of yarn. Non-wooly yarn (especially 100% cotton, bamboo-heavy blends, and silk) tend to collapse if you work from the inside. The yarns are slicker than wool. They don’t have the little hairs that wooly yarns have, and those hairs are what helps those yarn cakes stay together well when working from the inside. If you don’t like the idea of your yarn rolling around on the floor when you work from the outside, consider setting the yarn in a small bag or on your lap. (To be honest, my yarn almost never escapes from me.) And when you work from the outside, you can use the centre of the cake for storing your label!

One last thing about yarn swifts. They come in a few different varieties, and can range from reasonably priced to very expensive (just like ball winders). Knit Picks even puts theirs on sale once in a while. But, you can make your own.

Happy Yule! Happy Winter Solstice! Welcome back Sun!

I was able to finish up Baby Man’s Yule gift in time. It is Planet June's Stegosaurus. I used Bernat Satin, and made a few changes because my gauge is a wee bit tighter than June's, even when using one size large hook.


Stegosaurus by Planet June

It was better received by Caden Bryce than I expected. He doesn’t really care for soft toys, but he has given this one a couple of hugs and driven it around in the bulldozer he got as a gift on Saturday from my cousin and his wife. I’m hoping to crochet Planet June’s Tortoise for him for his birthday.

I also finished up my first Pyroclastic Sock. It turned out quite well, even though I had to take a few guesses as to how the pattern on the top of the foot was supposed to change. It is a bit different than the standard sock architecture, being based on Elizabeth Zimmerman/Meg Swanson’s Arch-Shaped Stockings. I love how the bottom of the sock hugs my foot, and I am so looking forward to wearing these. I’ve already cast on the second sock.



Christmas knitting is done, as is all the holiday crocheting. The gifts have been washed and the last one is is almost done drying. One thing needs to have the sweater lint remover thing run over it, but it still looks pretty good. I’m hoping to tackle my wrapping tomorrow, and then relax until it is time to put the turkey in on Christmas Day. After that, well, stitching again! And who knows what else.