In honor of EZ’s Brithday: Baby Surprise Jacket KAL

August 30, 2010| Lindy| 0 Comments | 4:51 pm

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Elizabeth Zimmerman’s 100th birthday was August 9. One of our expert knitters in the Nebraska Knit & Crochet Guild (NKCG) started a knit-a-long (KAL) of the “Baby Surprise Jacket” in honor of EZ’s birthday. I had never done this baby sweater pattern, so I joined in the KAL.

It turned into on of those obsession driven projects. You know the ones — where you become so intrigued by how the pattern is unfolding that you simply.cannot.put.it.down. Yup, your fingers just itch to knit and your brain refuses to think about anything else — especially mundane things like laundry, cooking and other housework. That’s what this little project became.

You see, the BSJ is knit entirely of garter stitch and involves a series of increases, decreases and center double decreases to make your knitting go at right angles. It is knit in a single piece — and the fascinating thing is that it turns into a sweater without the normal sweater type shaping that you usually do. As I knit this project, I kept marveling at the ingenuity of the designer — how in the heck had she figured this out? It’s a combination of understanding geometry and the shaping required for a baby sweater — and EZ was someone who took theoretical concepts like right angles and turned them into pragmatic knitted garments. Perhaps a few pictures will help.

When you finish knitting the pattern — you end up with an oddly shaped piece of garter stitch fabric that looks like this:

As you can see, I knit this with two different yarns to create stripes. Now, when you fold the edges together, this striped fabric turns into this:

A jacket. That’s the surprise — it actually turns into a little sweater jacket with nifty right angle striping on the front and horizontal striping on the back. And — there are only two seams to sew! Just two — the sleeves at the top. The button band is done as part of the bottom of the knitted piece, so you just add buttons and you are finished. (I’m still looking for buttons, so I don’t have a photo of the finished jacket.)

Now, the written pattern is somewhat confusing at first. There are several resources available to help sort out the sketchy instructions given in both the Knitter’s Almanac and Knitting Workshop. However, the biggest question I had was “if I knit this at a gauge of 6 stitches per inch, what size is my jacket?” EZ just tells you it will fit an infant if you knit at that gauge and if you knit it at a gauge of 5 stitches per inch, you will get a bigger jacket that will fit a larger child about 1 year old. This is this question that seems to cause knitters the most problems.

I knit this BSJ using Dale of Norway Baby Ull, which is a fingering weight wool yarn and my gauge was 6 spi. The jacket measures 15.25 inches across the chest, just at the point where the underarm is. Looking at a standard body measurements chart for baby sizes, This jacket is a 0-3 months size.

Now this sizing issue really bugged me — so I had to figure out the sizing for different gauges and correlate them to actual baby sizes. (Yes, I am a geek.) After studying the pattern, I discovered that the chest measurement is at the point in the pattern where you are knitting 90 stitches. (90 divided by 6 equals 15). So, using this point of reference, I have calculated roughly what the corresponding size will be if the BSJ is knitted at gauges of 5.5 spi, 5 spi, & 4.5 spi. I put this into a table to help others who might be bugged by this question:

Gauge	Chest Measurement	Size
6 spi	15-16 in.	0-3 mos
5.5 spi	16-17 in.	3-6 mos
5 spi	18 in.	12 mos.
4.5 spi	20 in	18 mos.

References:
Pattern: Ez’s instructions for the Baby Surprise Jacket can be found in Knitter’s Almanac or Knitting Workshop and/or it can be purchased from Schoolhouse Press.

Row Counter: A handy tool for keeping track while knitting the BSJ can be found here: http://www.box.net/shared/eugvsfb3lt

Video: There is a six-part video series on the BSJ, here is the link to the First Episode.

Ravelry Knitters — there is also a Rav Group for the BSJ.

1 thought on “In honor of EZ’s Brithday: Baby Surprise Jacket KAL”

Amanda says:

August 31, 2010 at 5:53 am

Wow. You’re done with yours. I’m still on Row 18. I’ll probably get to it this weekend when family is here. It’s a good chatty knitting project!

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How to Knit a Helpful Swatch – Part 1 GaugeHow to Knit a Helpful Swatch – Part 1 Gauge

First, a definition: A Helpful Swatch is a swatch that gives you, the knitter, information that helps you in the planning, preparation and construction of your knitting project. It tells you a number of things that are essential for successful completion, among them:

Your stitch and row gauge with the yarn and needles you have selected for your project
The type of fabric produced with your yarn and your gauge.
What happens when the yarn is washed and dried.
What adjustments are needed to make a garment that fits the way you want it
How a given stitch pattern looks when knitted using your selected yarn.

In addition, you can use your swatch to test out different techniques such as decreases or increases that you might want to use during construction. Full disclosure here: You’ll need to knit more than one swatch to get a helpful swatch. This is why most experienced knitters will tell you that you should buy an extra skein of yarn just for swatching.

One of the first issues new knitters encounter when doing a swatch is not knitting a big enough swatch — they tend to cast on only enough to knit a 4 inch square. In most cases, this isn’t big enough to provide helpful information. So, how big does a swatch need to be? The short answer is: Big enough to get a good sense of how the project will knit up. Elizabeth Zimmerman wrote that “a hat is a good swatch” – which is true if you are planning to knit your sweater in the round. Some knitters use a sleeve as their swatch, others knit a swatch that is at least 6 inches wide by 6 inches high. I would say that the 6 X 6 swatch is a good starting point – but you made need to make one that is even wider.

GAUGE: Here’s one inescapable truth about yarn, needles, and gauge: “Your Mileage May Vary”. Meaning that gauge is a very personal thing – it’s yours and yours alone. It is a measurement of the fabric YOU produce when you knit. So doing a swatch to identify your gauge is important to your success.

Before you start your first swatch you need to decide what size needle works best for the project. Yarn labels usually have a recommended needle size and gauge listed. Some manufacturers state a range on the label, others use a symbol to indicate the recommended gauge. Either way, this is just the starting point. A pattern may also include information about the yarn, needles and gauge the designer used to create the pattern. Both sources provide you with a starting point for selecting the size needle you need to use to obtain the knitted fabric you want to make.

Here are the steps I follow to make a Gauge Swatch:

Select 3 sizes of needles – if the recommended needle size on the yarn label is a US 7, I use a US 6, US 7, and US 8 for this swatch.
Cast on enough stitches on the smallest needle size for a width of at least 6 inches. (To estimate the number of stitches to cast on, I use the recommended gauge on the yarn label. For example, the label states 20 stitches in 4 inches, that’s 5 stitches per inch, so I’d cast on 30 stitches for 6 inches.). Knit in stockinette stitch for at least 3-4 inches ending with a right side (knit) row.
Knit the wrong side row to indicate where the change in needle size occurs.
Change to the US 7 and knit in stockinette stitch for another 3-4 inches.
Repeat steps 3 & 4 with the US 8. Bind off loosely. (You can also just put the live stitches on waste yarn).
Take stitch and row gauge measurements for all needle sizes and make note of these before blocking per step 7.
Block this swatch using the care instructions on the yarn label.
Once the swatch is dry, take stitch and row gauge measurements for each needle size and write them down in your project notes. These are your “finished gauges”.
Select the needle size by looking at the fabric produced by each size needle. Which one gives you the best fabric? Do you like the stitch definition? Do you like the way it drapes and feels? Is one better than the other two? It’s your choice – but this helps you select the needle that works best with you and your choice of yarn.

Measuring the Swatch for Gauge:

Stitch gauge is expressed as “number of stitches in number of inches (or centimeters)”. You may see this as “20 sts/4 in (10cm) or 5 sts/in. To determine your stitch gauge you need to count the number of stitches in a horizontally measured row of stitches. This measurement should be taken using a ruler and marking the starting point and ending point away from the edges.

Row gauge is expressed as “number of rows in number of inches (or centimeters)”. You may see this as “28 rows/4 in( 10cm) or 7 rows/inch. To determine your row gauge you need to count the number of rows in a vertically measured column of stitches. Again, the measurement needs to be taken using a ruler and away from the top and bottom edges of the swatch.

Note that it is not necessary to measure just 4 inches horizontally or vertically. If you measure more than 4 inches, you may get a more accurate gauge because it will give you a better average – yes – gauge is actually the average number of stitches or rows per inch. And, math is required to determine gauge.

There are any number of YouTube videos available on measuring gauge swatches to determine stitch and row gauge. I recommend the following ones for more detailed explanation:

Making an Accurate Gauge Swatch (Suzanne Bryan)

Me asuring for Gauge (Arenda Holladay)

How to Knit a Helpful Swatch – Part 2 Stitch PatternsHow to Knit a Helpful Swatch – Part 2 Stitch Patterns

In my previous post, I discussed how to make a preliminary swatch to select the size needle that gives you a fabric that you like and then how to knit a gauge swatch. The gauge swatch is measured to give you your stitch gauge (stiches per inch) and your row gauge (rows per inch).

At this point, you might think you are ready to cast on and begin knitting your sweater – BUT….

Are you planning on using some type of ribbing for the bottom, cuffs and neckline of the garment? Are you planning on using a certain textured stitch pattern, a lace pattern or cables in your sweater? Will you be combining two or more stitch patterns in the body of the sweater? If the answer to any of these questions is “yes”, then you need to do more swatching.

Swatches with Borders: Have you ever knit something with a definite edge made by knitting either garter stitch or seed stitch and then found that the edges curl? The reason this happens is usually due to a difference in gauge between the stitch pattern used for the border and the stitch pattern used for the body. Thus, if you are knitting piece with a border that is different than the body of the piece, knitting a swatch with the borders on it provides you with an opportunity to make adjustments to minimize or eliminate the problem. Suzanne Bryan has a nice video on this that you may find helpful, here’s the link:

Short Rows in Garter or Seed Stitch Border

Note: I don’t recommend using garter stitch borders on gauge swatches even though others do. The border tends to distort the swatch and may affect the accuracy of your measurements.

Swatches of Ribbing: Ribbing by nature tends to “pull in”. Which means that 30 stitches of ribbing will have a smaller width than 30 stitches of stockinette stitch. How much of a difference can be quite significant and affect the way the garment fits around the hips and neck as well as around the wrists on a long sleeve. Also, some knitters find that their ribbing stitches appear larger than their stockinette stitches due to changes in tension. One solution for this is to use a smaller needle when ribbing – but if you do that you may need to have more stitches to get the right width of fabric for a proper fit. Knitting a swatch with your selected ribbing pattern followed by a transition to the stitch being used for the body of the sweater will provide you with the information you need to decide what you want to do. You might want to knit separate swatches with different ribbing patterns to select which ribbing you prefer to use in your garment. (You don’t have to use the same ribbing that the designer did for the pattern if you don’t want to…just saying.)

Swatches of Stitch Patterns:

In this post, stitch patterns refer to textured pattern stitches, lace patterns, cable patterns, etc. Basically any grouping of stitches that combine to make a pattern from the variations in stitches used.

I think making a swatch of the stitch patterns used in a written pattern provides a great deal of useful information about how the finished garment will look and feel – and fit! It’s also good practice before doing it as part of your finished item.

Keep in mind that most written patterns only give gauge in stockinette stitch and while that tells you what the designer’s gauge is – it does not tell you how the gauge changes in the stitch pattern(s) used in knitting the garment. If you find a written pattern that states the gauge of the stitch pattern – great. But does your gauge match that? Swatching is the only way you will know.

If you are only using one stitch pattern, then knitting a swatch with two or more pattern repeats will help you figure out how the pattern affects the width and length of the garment and what adjustment you might need to make to obtain the correct size of garment you want. If you combine it with your ribbing, you will see how the ribbing affects the transition to the main fabric of the garment.

If you are combining more than one stitch pattern within the main fabric of a garment, I recommend doing individual swatches for each stitch pattern to use as a gauge swatches.

Then to see what happens when the stitch patterns are combined, you should do a swatch large enough to include all of the stitch patterns used in the order you plan to use them. This may end up being a very large swatch – even enough stitches for the back of your garment. This type of swatch will provide you with a lot of helpful information and give you insight into what adjustments you might need to make for a great fitting garment. More on this in a later post.

Knitted striped socks

I finished my striped socks yesterday morning. I am pleased with how they turned out. I used a self-striping yarn from Patons Yarns and it was fascinating to see the stripes evolve as the socks knit up.

I did not really use a pattern for these socks. There are literally thousands of free sock patterns available on the internet, but you really don’t need them if you understand the basics of knitting socks. I started with a gauge swatch and used my foot measurements to determine the number of stitches I needed. The “how to” of this seems to be enough for a separate post, so I will place that in my queue for future topics.

I choose to do a picot hem at the top of the cuff, a 3 by 1 rib for the cuff and instep, a slipped stitched heel flap with a square heel turn. My mentors for these socks were Nancy Bush – I consulted her book “Knitting on the Road” for advice on the square heel and Cat Bordhi, whose book “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles” contains a wealth of information on how to knit socks.

Knitting socks on two circular needles

I used the two socks on two circular needles for this pair of socks. I prefer to knit socks two at a time, because when you’ve finished, you have a pair of socks and don’t have to go back and knit that second sock. You can knit socks two at a time using either two circulars – as shown here in my photo – Or you can use the magic loop technique. I started another pair of socks last night using this technique – so I’ll post about them later.