kids' stuff

I finished the Child's Placket Neck Pullover this weekend. I completed the majority of it while otherwise doing jack squat on Sunday. I knit the 6-12 month size and used a little more than one skein of Reynolds Signature on size 6 needles. This will be gifted to a friend who will be having her first baby in April. They don't know whether it will be a boy or a girl so, of course, I went with what I thought was a neutral pattern and color. But no pastels, here. I like my babies in bright colors! (And when I say "my" babies, I mean "your" babies.) The sweater is knit bottom-up, so I grafted stitches for the first time, under the arms. I had heard horror stories about grafting, but it wasn't too bad. Although I had my nose in the Vogue Knitting reference book for every stitch. I've always thought this was a cute pattern, and I was happy to get the chance to finally try it. Not that I'm lacking in the Pregnant Friends Department...

I also began working on the baby sweater from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitter's Almanac. I'm using Karabella Aurora 8 in a deep magenta, since this sweater will be for a baby girl. I re-started a couple times because I was indecisive about my needle size, but I'm definitely ahead of schedule on this project, too. The baby girl isn't due until May.

And as every older sibling knows, when you get saddled with a little brother or sister, you totally deserve a present. So I ordered the felted fox kit from Crafty Alien. I never had the urge to knit a toy until I saw her "Backyard Critters" on Craftster. They are unreasonably cute. And felted! It's been quite a while since I felted something. I can't wait to start on the fox for the big brother of the new baby sister!