Guess I'm at that age where mostly everyone I know is either getting married or having babies. Some friends of mine are expecting a little bundle of joy in October and had a baby shower last weekend - so I did what I do best and made the little bubba something from yarn!
I was talking to another friend (the mum of the little girl I made the last cardigan for) and she said a baby cardigan for them would be perfect especially as it'll be a winter baby.
I decided that I wanted to knit a seed (moss) stitch cardigan with ribbed edges and a hood. So, you know, not really that specific at all. I spent quite a few hours looking for patterns all over the place but to no avail. But alas, whilst browsing Ravelry I came across a raglan baby cardigan in seed stitch, ribbed edges and a hood. I couldn't believe my luck! I purchased that pattern in a heartbeat!
There I was, all excited that I was going to make this amazing cardigan and started reading through the pattern and saw...Circular needles...what?!...knitting in the round with double pointed needles (DPN's)...whaaatttt?! I've only ever knitted on single points :/
I saw this as a challenge and I couldn't avoid these things forever, especially if I am to become the knitting extraordinaire that I want to be. I went out a bought me some bamboo circulars and DPN's and got to work. Again, I used Rowan All-Seasons Cotton as it's easier to take care of especially where babies are concerned. I cast on, then got into my head that I was knitting the body in the round with the circulars and got into a major panic. How could I join 30 stitches across a 80cm circular?! I decided to email the lovely lady who designed the pattern and she cleared things up for me instantly. Eventually it would be 108 stitches long; the circular is used just to hold all the stitches and not to knit in the round. Phew!
Then came the sleeves, DPN's and knitting in the round. Whenever I've seen pictures of socks being knitted and seen all those DPN's, I'd get scared. Plain scared. It looked so complicated! Thank goodness for YouTube. Is it bad that that it taught me how to knit in the round?! Well, I am glad to say it was no where nearly as scary as it looks, and actually pretty enjoyed it!
Anyways, two weeks later, ta da! I finished the cardigan on the morning of the baby shower so I cut that one really fine! The parents-to-be loved it. I can't wait to see the little one wearing it when he/she is born :)
