My First Ever EZ Project

Hi there, my name is Karen and I live in Glasgow, Scotland. I've been reading the posts in this blog for ages without joining in but now I have my Tomten to share. It was knitted for my toddler nephew and he loves it- just as much as I enjoyed knitting it. Details are on my fledgling blog. I plan to knit more of EZ's patterns but I'm not sure what to try next. The BSJ is tempting but I don't have the pattern so maybe I'll try a seamless sweater from Knitting Without Tears. The great thing is that the books are so well written and enjoyable to read and I'm sure this website will inspire me to knit more EZ soon.

Tomten Feinds

Two from mom...




and one from me…

Finished BSJ

I'm not sure why, but this took much longer than I anticipated. I really lost interest once it was seamed up and all that was left to do was the border! I do really like the colors, though - they remind me of the beach. This is worsted weight Patons Decor with Plymouth Encore for the trim. Details and more photos are on my blog: here are finished photos and here and here are progress photos.

Lost in Louisville

Are there any Zimmermaniacs in Louisville, Kentucky, USA? I could use a little local knitting help with my tomten!

February Baby Sweater

Another February Baby Sweater sees the light of day. I will have to give this pattern a rest now for a wee while as I have so many other projects on the go, but it definitely won't be the last one I knit. There are so many possibilities with this pattern and the next time I knit it, I'm going to make one for a slightly larger child, just to prove that I've understood the concept of the increases!

One day I may even make one for myself, in which case I could imagine it may be a good idea to taper the sleeves slightly, or they would be way to wide.

My next EZ project is to knit an aran. In fact, I am planning to knit two! I have bought some cheap yarn for my first attempt to get the sizing right and something slightly better for the second go. I can't wait to get started, as I love cables! I have decided to knit along with the Ravelry group that are knitting their way through the "Knitter's Almanac", but I started with the February Project, as I had a new niece in January and just coulnd't wait until February to knit for her.

More pictures and details of materials used etc. can be found on my blog and on Ravelry, where I'm known as teeweewonders.

Rorschach Sweater

Here's a Rorschach Sweater from Knitter's Almanac. Knitted in Nature Spun worsted weight in aran and black on size 8 circulars.

Front:


Back:


I'd love to see other versions of this if any of you Zimmermaniac have made this! Details of the trials and tribulations of this are on my blog

Smockulus Majoris (EZ Yoke Sweater)

It doesn't look it at first glance, but somewhere buried deep in this design is a yoke sweater using EPS, and the yoke decrease rate EZ recommends for children. I used Malabrigo on US #7 needles, casting on K + 30% for the full skirt, then decreasing by 30% right before the mock cable ribbing section at the raised waist.

For the sleeves I followed EZ's advice of making the cuff ribbing longer by half than feels necessary, and increased all at once to 70 stitches.

To see more pictures and details, check out my blog entry on this project. Thank you for looking!

Jen

Hat

I'm determined to work my way through the Knitting Workshop DVD/book to improve my basic skills. Here's the first project--details are on my blog.

BSJ2

After my first baby surprise jacket I knew I had to make another one, it is simply too much fun. So another one was cast-on, this time for a baby to be born during Australia's autumn. I used Socks That Rock heavyweight in Ms la Rock on 4 mm needles. It was very very nice to work with this yarn!

Since I thought that the only problem with the BSJ are the short arm-lengths, this time round I elongated them. I knitted for each arm a piece of 7 ridges and I put the increases which normally come after 6 ridges in these pieces. Then I cast on the middle stitches for the back in between them and continued in the normal pattern. This gives a nice arm-length and is not that hard to do. The only worry I had: do I have enough yarn... It turned out that I had but to have 3 yards as left-over is not much.


I was lucky with the buttons, we have a real haberdashy shop in my town and the have a real excellent selection of buttons. I love these little ones, very nice I think for children items.

I guess if another opportunity comes around I will make another BSJ. In fact my daughter has kindly asked for one for her "build a bear" rabbit and I have a lot of sock yarn left-overs. It just might be that opportunity.....

Fair Isle Sweater

This is my second fair isle sweater from the Opinionated Knitter. It is also my first project to successfully incorporate crocheted steeks. This sweater looks great with jeans or a skirt - very versatile.



Pattern: Opinionated Knitter
Yarn: Nature Spun Sport Weight
Needles: size 4 circulars

Here is a close up of the buttons - which I like very much. The buttonholes and picked up ribbing turned out as well. I had to rip it out once because it flared a bit the way I had done it the first time. The second time turned out better at a radio of 2 stitches to every 3 rows.



I have made several EZ projects and am currently working on the Gaffer's Gansey. There are pics of a few more EZ projects on my blog at www.knitsaliving.blogspot.com.

Mary's Tomten

I just finished a tomten for my 9-year-old daughter in Malabrigo - I sewed the buttons on last night and this morning she wore it to school! I loved the project and the yarn, and will probably cast on pretty soon for a second one. I want to try one with a collar rather than a hood, and with applied i-cord for trim. For this sweater, I followed the instructions in Opinionated Knitter (short rows, picking up the underarm stitches, etc.). Details and more photos are on my blog.

A Tale of Two Sweaters

Although I finished knitting both of these two baby sweaters by Elizabeth Zimmermann in December, it took me a while to get around to blocking them. Before I pulled them out last month for those few final rows last month, though, they had been snoozing in the knitting basket for months.

First, the Tomten jacket, knit on 9's with Raspberry Lamb's Pride:



I like these wooden buttons for it. What do you think? (They are not yet sewn on.) Their are hidden buttonholes in the i-cord edging.



Next, the Baby Surprise, knit on 5's with Jamieson & Smith 2 Ply Jumper Yarn. What fun to watch this piece of origami turn into this little sweater!



These are the buttons I picked out--but they really are too big for the holes and too snagging to use with yarn this small. Off to the button store sometime soon. What a shame. Love the buttons even if I can't actually use them on this project....



* * *

Hm... Suddenly there is a lot more room in the knitting bag.... What shall I cast on?

--The Purloined Letter

Bohus Yoke Pullover

I finished this sweater about a month ago, but haven't been able to show it off to y'all until now because I've been having weird problems with Blogger. But now that Blogger's playing nice, I'm proud to show off my Bohus Yoke Pullover (which was originally inspired by a post I saw here, when someone was showing off a Bohus Yoke Pullover of their own):

Pattern: My own, inspired by Spun Out #5 (the "Bohus Yoke Pullover") and the EPS. The yoke pattern was made up as I knit.
Yarn: Patons Classic Merino Wool, in a variety of colors.
Needles: size 5 and 7 Denise interchangeables, with size 5 and 7 Clover bamboo dpns for the sleeves.
Time to knit: Nov. 2nd - Dec. 14th 2007.

Here's a closeup of the yoke patterning:

I'm so very proud of this sweater! I blogged the whole process from start to finish here.

February Sweater and Hat

I just finished my second February baby sweater, this time with a matching hat.



Sorry about the funny color. It's really a lovely peach. The yarn is Dale of Norway Dalegarn Falk, which is a dk weight. I got about 5.5 stitches per inch using size 3 needles, so the sweater came out at newborn to 6 month size, I'd guess. I did the hat with a few rows of garter stitch and then the gull lace pattern, and decreased using a vertical double decrease (sl2tog knitwise, k1, psso) within every other repeat to continue the lace in pattern as far as possible.

And these buttons! Aren't they wonderful?

Smockulus (EZ February Baby Sweater)

Having no more babies but loving EZ's February Baby Sweater from Knitters Almanac, I decided to make one using worsted weight Malabrigo. I added one more increase row to the garter stitch round to avoid having to cast on new stitches for the sleeves and underarms, and joined the knitting to make it a pullover. After separating the sleeve stitches from the body, I did a few inches of mock cable at the raised waist, then increased the stitch count by about a 3rd to create a full skirt (the smock effect. The last few inches of smock and the sleeve cuffs are in old shale, for added interest. Okay, so this may not look all that much like the sweater design that inspired it, but I'd like to think EZ would have approved!


There are a few more pics of Smockulus Minoris on my blog. My next project will be a Smockulus Majoris, for Olive's big sis!

Flickr: Photos from kids6787

Flickr: Photos from kids6787

more info on round the bend

To give a little more information about this design - it was originally published in the September 1990 Wool Gathering, but then republished as one of Meg's designs in her little book, Handknitting with Meg Swansen(with each design also being available in a video).

Each half of the jacket is knit in one piece from the cuff to the shoulder, around the front and up the back all the way to the back of the neck using techniques that have you join the front to the back and the shoulder to the top of the back as you knit along the body. The second half is knitted, mirroring the first half and then both halves are joined up the back with attached I-cord. The only sewing involved in the entire garment is when you sew the buttons on! :)

It is much more involved than EZ's Ribwarmer vest, but it uses the same technique of turning corners with short rows.

The book is still in print, but the original wool used in the design, a heavyweight Jamieson & Smith Shetland that Meg called Highland Wool but J&S called Embo, is no longer being produced. I think you could easily substitute the Chunky Shetland from Jamieson's (not the same as Jamieson & Smith). Jamieson's yarns are available in the U.S. through Simply Shetland.

And as Schoolhouse Press moves toward DVDs instead of videos, this is one of the videos that hasn't yet been made available in DVD. Maybe Meg will consider making it available if there's an renewed interest in the design. :)
(I tried to post this days ago but couldn't get it to go through!)

an EZ and MS design collaboration

Meg Swansen credits her mom with collaborating on this design, the Round the Bend Jacket. I see lots of her mom's influence, but I think Meg's own genius came up with many of the techniques that make this garment so amazing. This is the second RtheB that I've knitted, and I'm still in awe of the thing! What a feat of design! :)

Very Warm Hats

I whipped out two very warm hats using Berroco Ultra Alpaca. The recipients (my dad and son) preferred a roomy fit, so I increased the number of stitches cast on to 98 (instead of 91). I love the fact that they are reversible and they look so professional when done.

These hats provoked some intra-family jealosy and now I need to knit a third for my husband!

Tree Topper!

Here's our tree topper. I made Elizabeth Zimmermann's Christmas Fiddle Faddle stars using Malabrigo held double on size 13s. I made two stars and sewed them together, leaving an opening at the bottom. I stuffed the points with a little wool roving to make it puffy. more details about my crazy yarn tree on my blog.
Happy New Year, everyone!

bsj by 11yo dd

my daughter made this bsj for her 3yo sis. i couldn't help at all, never having made a bsj myself. she used fisherman's yarn and scrap yarns from the stash. she followed ez's instructions; her gauge was 4spi.

she was worried that it might not fit right; it looks fine, even if the sleeves *could* be longer.