Posted by xuli on 2006-09-10 11:35:29
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If your sister-in-law is into cotton and wool, and has the patience to hand-wash baby clothes, I highly recommend Debbie Bliss Cotton Cashmere yarn or Rowan Wool Cotton for baby clothes. I made sweaters for my nephew from both of those yarns, and they worked perfectly (plus they come in nice, baby-appropriate but not pastel colors). But my sister is willing to hand wash.
I think 100% cotton could be fine for a baby sweater, if you use a nice one. And if you use a pattern that won't require too much blocking, as you mentioned. The thing is, cotton is heavier than wool, but with such a small garment it won't make much of a difference.
I don't think there's much of a difference between cardigans and pullovers -- my practically-newborn nephew wears a lot of pullover t-shirts and onesies and things. The thing to watch out for, more than pullover vs. cardigan tops, is the issue of pants -- lots of baby knit pant patterns I've found have no plackets to open the bottom for diapter changes! Not good!
The only other advice I have about making baby sweaters is to think carefully about when the baby would be born and under-estimate sizes! I don't know where baby clothes companies get the sizing information they get, but when I was buying clothes for my nephew I bought things assuming that the "0-3 months", "6-9 months", etc. sizing would correspond to his actual age when he wore the garment, so I knitted him sweaters for 3-6 months since he was born in July in the hot and humid south. I was wrong. He is totally getting to wear clothes for 9 months now, at 11 weeks old! Sadly, the adorable little green Rowan Wool Cotton sweater I made him to wear in the fall, with cute little duck buttons, will probably be worn only once or twice in that brief window of time between when it's cool enough to wear it and before he outgrows it ... but he's the first niece/nephew, and I have three other siblings besides his mom, so it'll get used by other nieces/nephews eventually.
Here are two other free baby patterns I really like. (I made the "Daisy" cardigan without embroidery but with cute buttons in Cotton Cashmere and it's so cute, and is luckily still several sizes too big for him ... my sister and I tried it on him and decided he looked like Orko from He-Man in it, so we call it his Orko sweater. The other pattern I haven't made yet.)
Posted by RobertaN on 2006-08-19 00:18:31
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I don't have problem with purling either. I learned to knit in October last year and everybody said I am natural knitter. My first project, a scarf, was in garter stitch and came out perfect. Then I made one scarf in stockinet stitch and another one in rib stitch, just to practice different stiches, and they look grate. Since then I have made few more scarfs, couple of hats, sweater for my son, sweater for my dog, summer top for me. Right now I am knitting another summer top for me.
I made beautiful scarf for my husband in very interesting stitch. It is very easy to knit. Maybe someone wants to try it. It would be grate present for Christmas.
Cast on 21 sts. Work in pattern st as follows:
Row 1: (WS) *K1, p1; repeat from * to last st, end k1.
Row 2: Knit.
Repeat these 2 rows until there is just enough yarn left for binding off (about 1 yard , ending with Row 1. Bind off all sts loosely as if to knit. Weave in ends.
The scarf should be 7" by 50". Knitting needles size 11. The pattern calls for cashmere yarn, but you know how expencive cashmere yarns are, so I just used soft bulky yarn.
I knit with aluminium needles. My first pair was size 10 aluminium needles, and for every project I would buy whatever size the pattern calls for. It is true that the stitches can slide off sometimes. I own one pair of plastic needles and I like them better, but it would be too costly now to replace all the aluminium needles that I already have. I have never tried knitting with wooden needles but I have heard that the bamboo needles are the best.
Posted by ChristineRenee on 2005-10-09 23:38:32
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In Chicago the best thrift store for quality of stuff is definitely the Brown Elephant (benefits an AIDS clinic called Howard Brown). But for price nothing beats the Unique thrift stores on Mondays when everything is half price. (But be prepared for mass chaos and super long lines.)
My most recent great find was a dingy white cashmere sweater that I frogged, dyed with kool-aid and made 4 really nice scarves out of. They're going to be Christmas gifts. I never could have afforded to buy that much cashmere yarn at a fancy yarn store. I think the sweater cost me $2.
