More Surprise Jackets ...

... because I like them! Here is the one I made previously - now with buttons and edging.

I went to Germany for a week and took the Surprise Jacket pattern plus needles and some yarn. 

Well, I did spend many, many hours on the overnight coach and I do like the pattern - so much that I ended up buying more yarn and finishing 4 more jackets!

I tried the suggested I-cord edging - my first time ever. On one jacket I did the I-cord edging all the way around the edge, on two others just around the neckline. It certainly makes for a neater finish.

That will be enough for now. Now, what shall be my next project ...??

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Surprise Jacket - the finished object!

Three days later, and here it is - the finished surprise jacket.

I had a million ends to darn in, but it was worth it. All I need to do now is decide on the right buttons. The front edge has button holes worked in on both sides - so it can be used for a boy or a girl. Very versatile!

I enjoyed knitting this jacket.

It felt a little like 'knitting by faith alone' - because the shape of the piece as it grows makes no sense at all ... until you finish it and join the correct seams together!

However, the pattern isn't too difficult at all. It is one of those, which simply needs to be followed to the letter - without stopping to think how and why!

I am away for a week, and I will take enough yarn for another jacket (or two)

Elizabeth Zimmermann's Surprise Jacket

I have joined this KAL (Knit-along) at Ravelry to try myself at the Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

It is knitted in one piece and turns out to be the strangest of shapes ... but with just closing two seams it turns into a baby jacket. (Or so I have been assured - I am not quite there yet myself ...)

I am using my cotton stash. I love how the colours blend into each other.

Mother's Day posy

I finished the posy brooch, which I have knitted for my mother on Mother's Day (which, in Germany, is celebrated on the second Sunday in May)

It is quite pretty, although it was a bit fiddly to make, and it took me ages to gather the energy and patience to finish it off!

The pattern is available free and can be found here.

April Stash Bust

Thanks to Crafty Green Poet I have come across the April Stash Bust.

For somebody who has a whole wardrobe full of yarn stash, a stash bust sounds like a great idea!

Only last week did I send my sock yarn remnants (see above) to a fellow knitter in Ravelry's p/hop group. 

Plumbum is going to make this blanket and pledges to donate money to Medecins Sans Fontieres (Doctors Without Borders) for every batch of sock remnants she receives for her project.

Read more about the April Stash Bust here. 

Rabbitty comfort blankets

I finished four of these comfort blankets. They are knitted from double strands of DK cotton mix.

Although I have made them in more unusual colours in the past I tend to prefer them in the traditional baby blue and pink. Call me old-fashioned ...

Colour Block blanket

I finished Lion brand's Colour Block blanket last night, and I am quite pleased with the outcome.

It's already parceled up, ready to be sent off to Algerian Action tomorrow, together with three jumpers and some sweets for the Eid project 2010. 

Needless to say, I have already started another project - but that's for another day ...