My First February Baby Sweater

This is my first February Baby Sweater, but it’s certainly not the last. In fact, the second one is more than half done. I thought three skeins would be enough for two sweaters, but no, it’s pretty clear it won’t be.

This was a fun knit, although I had some confusion where the pithy pattern says to start the sleeves “at 4-1/2 inches”. At first I thought this must mean, 4-1/2 inches from starting the lace pattern, but no, it means 4-1/2 inches from the beginning. I added a little length to the body and arms (about 1”) since this worsted weight yarn is giving me a larger size than a lighter yarn would. I’m adding even a bit more in the second sweater.



I love this pattern and would make it again in the future. I especially love the buttons (from JoAnn’s), which in real life match the sweater more closely than in this picture.



The yarn is mostly cotton with some merino. I liked it better than knitting with 100% cotton, which tends to hurt my hands. I didn't like it as much as knitting with all wool, though, but this baby lives in St. Louis. Although cotton was the "obvious" choice, I tend to think most every fiber is improved by blending it with wool, but that's just my personal bias. Wool wicks, you know. My LYS owner, Warren, said a yarn rep had told him she was much cooler on a vacation in Italy in cotton/wool blends than in all cotton.



I shamelessly procrastinated on wrapping and shipping this sweater so that I could show it off at knit night.



The next one is well under way.

Details: Cascade Sierra (worsted weight), more than 1-1/2 skeins, size 7 KnitPicks Options metal circs.

Size: I don't really know. EZ famously says, "Babies come in a variety of sizes." I just hope that at some point the size of the baby and the size of the sweater match up.

Pattern: "Baby Sweater on Two Needles", commonly known as the "February Baby Sweater", from Elizabeth Zimmerman's "Knitter's Almanac".

Modifications: Knit sleeves in the round and picked up the underarm stitches when re-joining the body, for a completely seamless sweater. There are no buttonholes, the buttons just cover metal snaps.

All future baby girls coming into my life just may receive this sweater.