the blue blog archives: pret-a-laver

The little white smock cardigan is all knit and ready for washing. I substituted Rowan Denim for the original Sublime Soya Cotton, so I have to go through the extra step of pre-washing the pieces before seaming them up. Washing them all together before seaming (along with some extra yarn for the seaming) gets them to do that shrinking thing that denim does all at once, so there's no surprises later on. The only surprise is how much the pieces actually do shrink. I didn't adjust the pattern at all, figuring that the smallest size (2 yrs), after shrinking, should work for my 1 year-old wee one. But this denim thing is not an exact science. Oh, I suppose I could have knit a swatch and measured and washed and remeasured it, but have you really ever seen me do anything like that? I like surprises. Plus, in my years of knitting, I've found positive thinking to be just as reliable as making a gaggle of gauge swatches. So, here goes....

posted by alison at 10:49 am | in a wardrobe for wee one

Comments

You just gave me an idea - I have a bunch of Denim - it'll make an adorable jumper/sun dress for Baby M. Don't know why I didn't think of it before. The current one is Wildflower which I like a lot even with it's high acrylic content (49%). Love the sleeve detail on that cardi!

Posted by: Donna at April 29, 2008 12:05 PM

You sure get a lot done! How do you do it? I need to figure out how to finish my projects quickly:) Your projects are so great-it is fun to read your blog.

Posted by: Jeanie at April 29, 2008 12:20 PM

Aren't the sleeves the best, Donna?! That's what got me in the first place. Love those sleeves!

And I love denim for little kid stuff! So durable and washable. I'm excited about wee one having something white that she can actually wear without me freaking out about it getting dirty. Check out Miss Bea's Seaside for cute denim patterns. Terrific book!

Posted by: ALISON at April 29, 2008 12:20 PM

"I've found positive thinking to be just as reliable as making a gaggle of gauge swatches."

I think I've found my new mantra.

Posted by: Suzanne V. (Yarnhog) at April 29, 2008 12:21 PM

A new post title:
"The power of positive thinking!"
(Maybe for the post-laver post. Hmm, that sounds odd, but you know what I mean."

Posted by: Cathy-Cate at April 29, 2008 12:51 PM

A new post title:
"The power of positive thinking!"
(Maybe for the post-laver post. Hmm, that sounds odd, but you know what I mean.)

Posted by: Cathy-Cate at April 29, 2008 12:51 PM

it's going to be adorable, for sure! love that little purl detail on the fronts.

Posted by: gleek at April 29, 2008 3:50 PM

If I remember correctly, there was a diagonals afghan that you knit that you, went to all the trouble of measuring and calculating (ooooh my head still hurts), and told me that you pre-shrunk the pieces first. Some of us would have just thrown the thing together and hoped for the best. I think Cathy-Cate was one. For the record, I think that was an awful lot of work for a blanket that's going to be around 3 kids.

I think there should be an award for anybody that can do as much as you do.

Cathy-Cate, what about "The Power of Positive Knitting" or better yet "The Power of Positive Tinking"?

Posted by: Anita at April 29, 2008 11:18 PM

Ooh it looks adorable!

Posted by: Jennifer at April 30, 2008 7:02 AM

I'm with you on the swatching thing! It seems I've made a lot of things that I swatched for and they didn't turn out right. I've made just as many things that I didn't swatch for and they were beautiful. Why bother?

Posted by: Katherine at April 30, 2008 8:22 AM

What a darling sweater. The knitting world is waiting eagerly to see wee one model it. :-)

Posted by: Sarah-Hope at April 30, 2008 12:09 PM