Baby Surprise Jacket: The Beginning

Those of you who weren't totally put off by the abbreviated from-the-Iphone posts yesterday saw the beginnings of my first Baby Surprise Jacket.  This is a classic Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern that I've had on my to-do list forever, but somehow never started.  So I was excited when I found out that my wonderful Local Yarn Store, In The Making, was going to do a class on the pattern.  As a working Mom, it's a rare event when I have the luxury of a Saturday morning to hang out with knitters and knit.  The class was really a treat!  Two hours passed in what felt like about 10 minutes.

We've been sent home with an understanding of how to do the first part of the pattern, which is essentially a fascinating exercise in geometry.  I'm about 12 rows in and have just finished a row of increases and decreases (really, you have to love the demonic brilliance of Elizabeth's knitting knowledge, even the Judge is fascinated by it).  The decreases continue for about 10 more rows before you begin to increase out the other end.  I'm told I will end up with an incomprehensible piece of knitting, which, with the addition of a couple of folds in just the right places and two simple seams will become, voila, a cute little new baby sweater.

Here is my start.

I'm using some of my own yarn, the Juliet 2-ply superwash merino for socks, which should be perfect for an easy care baby sweater.  I actually had some Koigu set aside, that I'm planning on still using for my second one (I love this pattern so far!), but at the last minute I decided to use this yarn — it's a brand new colorway called Rebecca's Kitchen and I wanted to see how it would knit up as something other than a sock.  The nighttime in our living room picture doesn't display the colors very well, but they're really delightful.  I'm hoping this will be a baby present for a girlfriend who is having a little girl towards the end of summer.

Finally, one last snow picture.  Our intrepid Maine Coon Cat, Harry, the Adventurer, just in from an early morning foray out into the snow (which is now melted).  Apparently Maine Coons, among there other idiosyncracies, like water.  Harry and Hermione played outside all morning.