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Last week I was working on a little something for a little person.
Over the weekend I finished it. This is Bonnet by Elizabeth Zimmermann, the companion hat to her Baby Surprise Jacket. The yarn is a 100% Superwash Merino base used for the Sweet Bunting Cardigan Kit, colors Clematis and Baltic Blue. Currently this yarn is only available in the Sweet Bunting Kit.
I was thoroughly entertained while knitting this little hat. It has many of the same characteristics as the Baby Surprise. There are twists and turns along the way. This is one of those patterns where you're best off blindly following the instructions. If you stop and think for too long, you might get lost.
In the end it all worked out. The striping came together nicely at the back of the hat. I couldn't have planned it any better.
And I'm thrilled with the little button.
A perfect color match found on a late in the day, last minute stop at Gather Here. This was a great diversion from the other projects at hand. Now it's time to get back to work.
One of my goals this week was to catch up on things that I let slide during the spring. At the top of my list was to take a long overdue inventory of my undyed yarn. It's a boring job, but it's really important to know what I have to work with when I'm getting ready for a big event. I thought I had everything accounted for but decided to check one more closet.
I'm so glad I did. Look what I found.
A big bag of undyed merino/bamboo yarn. I had completely forgotten about this yarn. Finding it was a nice reward for all the time spent on counting and organizing. I can't wait to start dyeing it.
Speaking of organizing my website has been updated to include the Sweet Bunting Cardigan Kit. You'll find it listed after the Dipped Infinity Scarf Kit.
I'm always looking at color combinations. Some work better than others. This purple with bright green is my color inspiration for the week.
Iris waiting to unfold.
I'm often bouncing back and forth between planning and production. It takes time and effort to organize and coordinate the events where I'm vending. And it takes time and effort to wind, dye and label the yarn.
Even though I have a planning list that is screaming for my attention, this past weekend I was clearly in production mode. I'm gearing up for another event, so there was a healthy amount of dyeing.
And to keep things lively I decided to push for another booth sample. I finished the pieces.
Body.
Sleeves.
I-cord ties.
All the pieces were assembled.
Sweet Bunting Cardigan, the booth sample. Last night I had a productive knit night. Sweet Bunting is finished except for weaving in a few ends. After blocking it will be good to go.
The sweater is just one piece of this project. Next up is assembling the kits that go with the sample. Production continues. It looks like that planning list will have to wait a bit longer.
A few months ago I learned that not one, but two friends were having babies - babies with very close due dates. To a knitter new baby translates into new baby sweater. It's been a while since anyone in my family or circle of friends has had a baby, so I was excited with the prospect of knitting a couple of baby sweaters. I had plenty of advance notice. I would knit these sweaters and have time to spare.
I didn't give it much thought because I had so much time. I knew from experience that it didn't take long to knit a baby sweater. As we moved from winter to spring, from April to May my husband reminded me about the sweaters. The babies are going to be here soon, I was warned. I should note that one of the parents is a close friend of his, so he has a vested interest in this sweater project.
I started the process of looking at patterns for baby sweaters. I have made so many baby sweaters over the years that my collection of patterns is quite extensive, but I wanted something new. Something fresh. Then I had the bright idea that while I was at it, I might as well dye the yarn for the sweaters. These baby sweaters were going to be beyond special.
I picked a pattern and started playing around with colors. With so many options it was hard to choose. I finally settled on this combination for one of the sweaters.
The pattern is Sweet Bunting Cardigan by Laura Chau. The yarn is 100% superwash merino. Both the yarn line and the colorways are currently unnamed.
This design has charming details.
A seed stitch band along the bottom edge.
And around the neckline.
To make it interesting there's a bit of colorwork.
Little flags along the yoke.
The contrasting color continues.
I-cord ties for closure.
As so often happens one thing leads to another, and this project has taken on a life of its own. It dawned on me that I could offer this sweater as a kit - and that's what I'm doing. This sweater kit will be available in four different sizes, each with three different color combinations. That means I still have two sweaters to knit - one for the second baby, the other for a booth sample. And there's still time to spare. Neither of the babies has been born. Yet.
