My Handpainted Baby Surprise Jacket

I wanted my first BSJ to be really special. I recently had started hand-dyeing my own yarn and knew this was the right choice for a BSJ.

I used vegetable dyes for the colors. Red, Blue, and Green dye applied by a syringe as the 435 yds of natural Cascade Ecological Wool yarn was layed out in a long coil. I heat set it in the HOT San Joaquin Valley sun for 4 hrs. The yarn took the dye well and rinsed clear the first time. It airdried wound it into center pull cakes.

The jacket was made on size 8 Suzanne's needles, it knitted up to fit a 1 to 2 year old. I added ribbed cuffs and the collar since I had enough yarn to do so and I had extra for any repairs.
I enjoyed this knitting so much that I'm dyeing more yarn this summer just to knit Baby Surprise Jackets in the fall.
These two pictures were taken outdoors and the colors appear brighter. The truer colors are represented in the second photo from the top.

I just coudln't find buttons that I felt went well. I finally settled on pansy flower buttons, but foudn them after the jacket was photographed. This was a shower gift to a precious friend's first Granddaughter, Kendall. Mohairmama :)