Voila!

Well, it really is a little sweater! But first the “blob.”

See the indent in the lower right? That is the front neck and it gets rotated up.

Here’s the back view.

Surprisingly, one error in marking increases and decreases fixed all the problems in the first try. https://knitnkwilt.wordpress.com/2020/08/03/the-skeptics-win-the-first-round/?preview=true

In the previous post I’d mentioned changing color on the wrong side so I got the divided line where it would show on the right side. And I wondered if I could make it look intentional. I think I did.

And here it is, all ends woven in and shoulder seams sewn. This design is for a baby with strong taste, who doesn’t want to dress like a baby.

The Complete Surprise book does more than clarify instructions. There are photographs explaining stitches and charts to help with design. It is so thoroughly explained that the end result is no longer much of a surprise. And if you like line-by-line instructions, they are there too.

It offers variations in size and feature. It explains the geometry and sizing. So I think I’ll make me one.

Let’s see. I am to cast on the desired width + 6 times the arm width times gauge. I guess I can’t avoid knitting a swatch.

Advertisement

The Skeptics Win the First Round

So the Baby Surprise Jacket (begun here) didn’t turn out to be a pleasant surprise. But the “blob” is completed.

And though it doesn’t end up a usable jacket, the jacket potential is there.

I knew knitting when I couldn’t make gauge was risky. The pattern hadn’t indicated a row gauge, so I didn’t know if it would turn out proportionally larger. One way to see is to try.

And I was not surprised to see the sleeves end up different lengths. Early on I could see a possible problem: I was decreasing stitches in the left sleeve but the second decrease came in the area before the right sleeve. I looked for errata, but didn’t find any. I looked at posts on Ravelry but that issue wasn’t mentioned.

I reread the directions but couldn’t see any way to read it other than the way I had.

Pictures of finished jackets show short sleeves, so the left one is closer to correct. But it is too small at the shoulder. And the left front corner was nowhere near correct. So simply changing where I did the right decrease wasn’t going to solve it.

EZ’s directions are cryptic. Meg Swenson’s elaborations are also cryptic. There may be another book where they get clarified.

So next move is to buy the right size yarn and to explore other EZ books. But that won’t be this summer because the goal for this year is using up yarn scraps, not buying new yarn. So don’t hold your breath.

A Hat and a New Plan

I tried another approach to hat design. This time I tried one stripe pattern that would go with two colors.

The blue yarn determined the distance before stripes began and size of stripes because it was in several small balls.

And the hat versions.

While I was knitting this one I remembered Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket. It has always fascinated me, and I saw one finished once in a knitting group. I found the book.

And it seemed I had enough yarn.

Well maybe not enough. I am almost halfway and have used more than half. Directions said 3 oz. Shetland wool. I assumed it was worsted, and I have 5oz. I went down to size 6 needles and still was one stitch short of gauge. There is no way I could knit any denser. I decided to give it a try.

The surprise is that after knitting a one piece blob, with a few folds and two seams it turns into a sweater. Like I said, I have seen a finished one that indeed looked like a sweater. I did not get to see the the folding process. We’ll see.