Saturday, May 22, 2010

We enter into it, it enters into us

white cardie

This is the Cabled raglan baby sweater by Rebecca L Daniels.

I had just finished talking to my friend, very pregnant at the time, about how I was going to wait til a while after the baby was born before I would knit something to suit him or her. Then a 200g ball of Bendigo 4ply cotton in white landed in my lap (you know who you are, thank you!). And it seemed perfect for something for a newborn (as well as a perfectly bad idea for the toddlers in my life). This is the softest, lightest cotton I have ever felt. It was almost like knitting with baby wool. And this kid lives in a warmer place than here, so cotton is ideal.

Even though the pattern is written for DK (8ply) yarn, I saw comments from others who have knit the pattern that it came out quite big. I made the smallest size, and while I didn't measure the finished product, I don't think it was far off the measurements given for that size (3-6 months). It should be fine for a newborn.

I made a couple of small adjustments: I made the two cables mirrored - in the pattern they both go the same way - and I made a crochet loop for the button, instead of putting a press stud to fasten it, with a button just for show. I like the button offset to the side - it seems to go with the 'eccentric cable' (that's what it's called in the pattern). But I think maybe I should have put a press stud on the other side of the collar - I'm worried it might sag on that side. Too late now.

If you look closely at the photo you may see that I got an unintended spiral effect on the sleeves. I tend to keep moving a couple of stitches around the double pointed needles every few rounds, to avoid ladders. Unfortunately with such a soft yarn, I must have pulled the first stitch on each needle a bit too tight. The spirals are the tighter stitches, with their position moving around the tube each few rounds. I wasn't too happy with this, but not unhappy enough to redo it. (I was trying to get the package sent before the baby arrived, though that didn't happen). I think it should smooth out with a few washes.

7 comments:

Alwen said...

The knitting looks so sculptural in all white. I love all that texture, makes me want to stick my hand into the monitor and feel it.

Anonymous said...

oh i wouldnt even have noticed the spiralling thing. what a gorgeous little number!

amy said...

What a beautiful sweater! Really lovely.

I wouldn't have noticed the spiralling, either. Funny, I find that with most yarns I don't get ladders at all, but with some select others, nothing I do prevents them. I've decided it must be something about those individual yarns and not me.

2paw said...

It's lovely and I appreciate the effort in mirroring the cables. That makes me very happy. I wouldn't have noticed the spiralling either!!

Bron said...

oooh - this is really pretty Liv!
I love little baby cardis - I'll have to add this to my must knit list =)

twitchy fingers said...

Go symetrical cables, go! Love it all the more for the symetry.

Donna Lee said...

I like the white. It looks soft and I want to touch it. I wouldn't have noticed the spirals either. Don't show them to anyone!