August 18, 2005

Project details: Flowery Cardigan and matching diaper cover with flower on the po-po, or "Cardigan Kimono et Culotte" patterns 6 and 7 from Phildar's Layette Spring/Summer 2005 using Phil Eponge. I knit the size for six months, and only had to get one more skein of white Phil Eponge for the culotte. The colors I bought to work the flower and stripes on the Flowery Cardigan were more than enough to work the flower on the culotte.

[FOOTNOTE: There is an error in the French version of the written instructions of pattern 7. For the "demi-devant droit", third line of first paragraph: "37 m. coloris CAMELIA" should read "37 m. du diagramme".]

Finishing details: Lemme see...I used long-tail cast-on for all pieces. There's lots of intarsia, so bobbins were my best friends. I steam-blocked all pieces. Due to the funky fluffiness of the yarn and practically zero stitch definition of the fabric, I sewed all seams together using my sewing machine. The front bands on the culotte, however, were knit separately and joined using free-loop backstitch. [See what I wrote about free-loop backstitch here.] All in all, I loved knitting this ensemble! I'm sending it this week to one of my newborn nieces.

But that's not all! Oh no. I was on a roll and because I don't play favorites with my siblings, I knit a hooded cotton jacket that reminds me of watermelon with its watermelon colors:




Project details: Flowery Hooded Jacket, or "Paletot" pattern 4 from Phildar's Layette Spring/Summer 2005, using Phildar Aviso. The pattern also calls for Phil Eponge to knit a decorative flower for the zipper, and I will be using the leftovers from the Flowery Cardigan to do that. (I hope to find time to do that this weekend*. I want to send off this gift off to my other newborn niece pronto!)

What else? I short-rowed the shoulders and seamed them together using three-needle bind-off. All other seams were joined using mattress stitch, with the exception of the hood, whose back seam was joined using backstitch. I decided to add on a few extra centimeters to the length of the jacket, so I special-ordered a zipper 28 cm in length from my local mercerie. And you know what? After all the zippers I've sewn in by now, this one was so easy to put in I tap-danced while I did it. [See a zipper slideshow here.] Zippered jackets for everyone!

* I'm leaving tonight for another long weekend in the country. See you next week with some new projects! (Me? Multi-task with, like, five projects on the needles? Nah. We never get startitis and we never multi-task, oh no we don't. Hee hee!)

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