Shorties revised

Shorties revised, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

These are the finished product. Cristin taught me how to make the twisted drawstring, so I didn't have to do an i-cord. For my next pair, I plan to thread the drawstring higher up on the waistband so there isn't such a big amount of ribbing going up Ivy's waist. I will also make the rise 18 inches instead of 20, and a wider, gusseted crotch. The pattern only calls for 4 stitches in the crotch!?! I think I did 8 anyway, but that combined with the inseam isn't wide enough to cover the diaper when her legs are spread-eagled.

I hope to refine this pattern a bit and make a few to sell through my friend Katie's cloth diapering website http://woollybugs.com.

Soaker shorts, first draft

Soaker shorts, first draft, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Knit with Lamb's Pride fisherman's wool, which I dyed afterwards with orange kool aid, yielding a cheeto effect that I wasn't going for. I used the aubrey doodlepants pattern version 3.0 and just shortened the legs. I used size 5 for the waistband (12 rows) and knit the rest on size 8.

I had pre-measured Ivy for the rise, but she won't be still. I thought she needed about 17.5 or 18 inches. Just to double check, I took the soaker off the needles when I got to that point, put it on her, and decided it needed a few more inches. I believe I knit till the rise was about 20 inches, which is definitely too much, but I guess she can grow into them. They're wearable and will work next summer too.

Another problem I had was that the legs were far too long. I ripped them out and ended up doing two rows of seed stitch. They are still long enough to fold up, but don't look bad unfolded.

Newborn curly purly soaker

Newborn curly purly soaker, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This is knit using Cascade 220 with hand dyed kool aid Fisherman's wool cuffs (strawberry lemonade flavor).
Knit on dpns size 2, 4, and 6. Cuffs in size 2 with a k2togtbl bind off. For a very special baby who is due quite soon. I can't wait to gift this!

I had some problems with the short row placement. I realized after I'd done 2 out of 3 of them that according to the pattern, I had put them on the front side of the soaker instead of the back. The advice from my fellow wool soaker knitters was that the sides were interchangeable, and certainly from the looks of the finished product, there is no clearly designated front or back. Hopefully for a newborn diaper, short rows aren't even necessary. Pre-folds aren't going to be giving her a lot of junk in the trunk.

Just for the record, that curly purly pattern is vaguely worded when it comes to short rows. I did it the way I always do it, but that was backwards for this pattern.

Another shot of the flat cat

IMG_0730.JPG, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

So I have learned some new things about the finer points of gauge swatches, or as Lucy calls them, tension squares. I could improve my technique, apparently, as you can see from my anouk pinafore and the Miss Dashwood hat. Much as I try to blame the pattern designers, it is likely my very own fault. I thought I was getting gauge, but I probably wasn't. Specifically, I wasn't making my squares large enough, I wasn't measuring them in the middle, and I wasn't washing them prior to measuring.

Cats

IMG_0729.JPG, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here is Tia Louise with the flat cat I knit for Ivy. I don't understand the instructions for the ears, even though I've made one before. The pattern says to stitch in between two markers, but I don't get what they mean. When I make one big stitch and pull tight, like I did last time, the ears are shaped weird. So I'm going to get help from Cristin, who has knit countless flat cats. Hence, the long tail of yarn hanging down the side. Ivy loves it, too.

Uh, oh. Mama made my dress too big!

IMG_0651.JPG, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

Here is the infamous anouk pinafore. I don't think she'll be wearing it until she's walking. It's really cute, and the yarn is so soft. Click on the photo to see more shots of it at my flickr account.

Damn you, Miss Daswhood!

Miss Dashwood, originally uploaded by Ladymama.

This is a hat I busted my butt working on back in October. The pattern is from knitty.com, the yarn is a soft cashmerino aran by debbie bliss, and I thought it would be so nice for sunny winter days at the park. Maybe it will be, WHEN SHE'S FIVE. This freakin' hat turned out enormous. I have no idea why. It has no structure at all- completely floppy, and if I put the brim so that you can see her eyes, it looks like Ivy has cascading purple hair. You'd think I might have noticed while I was making it that it was working up quite large, but no. I did not. I lie awake at night fantasizing about shaking the pattern designer by the lapels, asking her where I went wrong, and why the pattern I followed exactly looks so perfect on her baby and not mine! http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEwinter04/PATTmissdashwood.html