My tiny baby Nate isn’t so tiny anymore, and he’s outgrowing clothes left and right.  I tend to get sticker shock when I shop for baby clothes, and there’s no worse offender than the commercially made knit sweater – I just can’t stomach paying so much for a piece of clothing that will only last him a month or three.

Baby knits are satisfying to me for a number of reasons.  First, I get to stash bust like a crazy person.  The finished garment is small, small enough to only require 3-5 skeins of whatever I have lying around.  If I see an accidental grouping of eye-catching colors in the bottom of a yarn bin, they may end up in a teeny sweater.

Second, the actual knitting is fast.  As long as I keep focused, I can churn out a sweater in just a couple of days and get it right onto a (little) body.  Success!

Finally, and somewhat shamefully, the fit doesn’t have to be as accurate as for me.  Babies don’t necessarily need set-in sleeves or short row shaping, and oversized knits are pretty charming too.  I secretly love making a sweater for a few months in the future and then unceremoniously stuffing Nate into it.  So cozy!  So warm!

Oh, buttery-soft Billow, I’ve been waiting for you for ages.

I’ve had the prototype skein of Billow on my desk for months, and it’s easily the most-petted yarn sample in my office. It’s soft yet sturdy, knits up quickly, and makes you look like The Fanciest Knitter in the World when all you’re actually doing is miles of stockinette.

This line is a completely new concept for Knit Picks – the 8-ply thick-and-thin structure gives you a yarn that knits up into a slightly slubby, richly textured fabric.  We wanted to show off that texture to best effect, and consequently Billow was a challenge regarding color selection. We wanted to come up with softly saturated colors that came together unexpectedly in a fresh palette, and we also were trying to include a good range of neutrals (both browns and greys) in order to make the line more versatile.  It’s a great mix of colors, and they work together in surprising ways but can also stand on their own in solid-color projects.

I have all sorts of knitting projects hanging out in the shadows these days. I’ve gotten into the habit of picking up my Hue Shift Afghan
and knitting a few rows, then setting it down to work an inch or so on a
pair of socks and then I get some tea and pick up my second Foreign Corresponden’ts Scarf and fiddle around with that until I get bored. Wash, rinse, repeat. There’s
really no end in sight for any of these projects, and that’s ok, but I
was definitely craving a short project that I could start and finish in
one day. I found this Flamingo pattern by Susan B Anderson and decided to give it a whirl.