Baby Sophisticate

And there you have it! The Matilda bear modeling the sophisticated sweater in the libary reading Shakespeare!

 Just a few more buttons needed for this sophisticated baby sweater. The baby who wears this one should definitely be sipping tea in the library reading Shakespeare!  Baby Sophisticate, by Linden Down. A free pattern on Ravelry. Knit from 3 skeins Mission Falls merino wool (sadly, discontinued) with size 8 needles. This one is knit from the top down, raglan style. The sleeves are put on holders, then the body is finished. Sleeves are knit downward in the round. I shortened the body and sleeve length a tad.

 The shawl collar is picked up along with the button band. Short rows are added to shape the collar. The method of binding off was the "sewn bind off". I show this method on one of my previous posts. Very distinguished looking, eh? I like the look of it with the silvery buttons.

It's blocking now on a towel to help even out the stitches some. Blocking has a way of working its wonders. I imagine this baby will be very smart, whoever it will be.

Ribbed Bolero!

Ribbed Lace Bolero by Kelly Maher. A free pattern on Ravelry. Used two skeins of Cotton Ease in taupe. Size needles: 8 and 10.

It is done! Not blocked, but done! A few glitches -a boo boo in the lace, I am hoping to be able to tweak on it and then block. And shown hanging on a hanger. Not quite the same as on a real body...

I learned a new technique. The Elizabeth Zimmerman sewn bind off. This is to mirror the cast on edge and to provide a stretchy bind off. I watched a good U-Tube tutorial to get the hang of it. Here is my version. After last row of ribbing, leave 4 x the width of your piece in a tail of yarn and then thread it through a tapestry needle. Insert into the front of first two stitches purlwise and pull your yarn through.

Then insert needle knitwise into first stitch and pull through to the back.

Then slip that first stitch off the left needle.

Voila! You have cast off one. Now continue to do this all the way to the end.

Once you have gotten to the end, you are left with one loop. Just thread through it and weave in the end into your side seam. Your finished piece before seaming:

Mattress stitch the top and bottom ribbed edges together on the side edge for 3 1/4" to make your armholes.

After seaming it looks sort of like this:

Weave in your ends and try on. You can decide which ribbed edge you like the best for your collar. You can wear it either way. Instructions say you may sew down your collar to keep in place. It is cute! I wore it up to Lake Samish and it was nice for the cool evening air.