Following Trends: Jaywalkers

I had this really original idea of making Jaywalkers in a self striping yarn.



So this is about the billionth pair of Jaywalkers, so I don't feel bad that there aren't many pictures.

This is a Christmas present for my mother-in-law, who received them last weekend. Not that they weren't done by January 1st, but because I wanted to deliver them in person, because I was afraid they wouldn't fit. These socks had very little stretch, so I wouldn't make them as a gift unless I had a model handy. As it was, I had a stand-in at knitting group with the same size shoe who was gracious enough to try them on multiple times (thanks Jen!).

Unfortunately I don't have a stand-in for the gloves I'm making my Dad for last Christmas. They're still in progress because I can only work on them when he's around to try them on to make sure the finger tips are all the right size. Well, he'll probably have a nice pair of think wool gloves for June in Florida.

Baby Kimono

This is what I really did over Thanksgiving.



I really like this pattern. The whole concept is pretty cool. It's worked in one piece, starting at the bottom of the back, increase for the sleeves, bind off for the neck, work the left front and then the right front separately.

The yarn is Peaches n' Cream Baby Ombre. I was using size 4 needles, but I still couldn't get gauge, and I didn't want to go any smaller, so I had to adjust the pattern. I also compensated for shrinking in the wash. That's right, not only did I swatch, I washed my swatch and even used the measured gauge. **Big pat on the back**. I think this was inspired by the class with Lily Chin, as well as the knowledge that cotton can be unpredictable.



I used a seed stitch border around the edges, and two pieces of icord for closure. The idea for the icord was to make a little bow, but I didn't make it nearly long enough, and the cord was too thick to make it the right size for such a small garment. If I could do this again I'd either use a button or some ribbon as the closure, perhaps a row of eyelets kind of like a belt.



The baby is a little girl, and I gave her daddy the sweater this week. It was such a great feeling. This is the first baby gift I've ever made. I love giving gifts, especially when they're well received, which it was in this case.


With that done, I've started the Jaywalkers for my MIL's Christmas gift. Twice now. The first time I completely messed up the short row toe (I"m doing them toe-up), and it took me until I had the whole foot done to realize that they were huge. So, I'm trying a different hold, still continental but wrapping the yarn a few more times around the finger. It seems to be working.


In the non-knitting world, the other day and I went to the Cummer, the Fine Art and Garden museum here in town. After walking through the exhibits inside, we took a stroll in the gardens outside. It was a gorgeous day (there were people painting), and they're gorgeous gardens.





The rest of the photos can be found on my flickr page, with the tag "Museum".