Knot Knecessarily Known Knitting

Because I've taught the Baby Surprise Jacket several times, I've worked up several of them in different yarns and with slightly different details. This striped example requires about four skeins of Trendsetter Tonalita. Note that Tonalita is a variegated yarn that does not have a pattern repeat -- the color changes are completely random. The color changes are also several feet apart instead of just a few inches, but not the many yards apart of Kureyon, Karaoke, Paintbox, or Mini Mochi. On this pattern, the color will change about every-other row. You can see that the stripes on the left side of the picture are more solid, while the stripes on the right side are more broken. This occurs because of how odd-colored blips poke through in purl bumps. I am to the point of trying things out on BSJ just for the sake of seeing what happens. For a change of pace, I used a Debbie New's double increase instead of the make 1 left and right Elizabeth Zimmermann recommends. I a...

I do a fair bit of my own designing, so I'm particular about whose patterns I knit. This pattern is called the "Bamboo Kimono" and it comes from Two Sticks and a String by Kerry Ferguson. The copyright is 1999 from Fiber Studio Press. I happened upon it in one of the not-quite-local yarn shops. This is one of the few pattern books -- rather than technique books -- I've bought and it has lots of beautiful designs. At some point, I'd also like to knit the "Puzzlemaker Jacket." And a note about the sizing in this book -- most of these patterns are for bigger people. I dropped down several needle sizes to change the gauge so that the Bamboo Kimono would fit me. Ms. Ferguson's original is a 52-inch chest -- about 20 inches more than what I need. As with Judy's Grandmother's Baby Sweater, the Bamboo Kimono was originally designed to be knit all in the same color. Once again, I acquired a supply of Knit One Crochet Too Paintbox color #08 Painted Des...