FO: EZ's baby surprise jacket v2 - worsted weight

Here is v2 of Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket. This version is knit in worsted weight yarns and made a much larger jacket than the previous one. I estimate this to be a 2T/3T, as it is just a smidge too small for my 4T-wearing 2.5 y.o. (she sure is taller than her sisters were at her age).

And what a great left-overs project! Much like my zig zag pram blanket, I rounded up misc. balls of worsted weight yarns and cast on for a colorful adventure. I kept my palate in the blue zone, sticking mostly to green, blue and purple yarns. But I took a little hint from my adventures in quilting and threw in one accent color. I used up a bit of a kettle-dyed manos del uruguay yarn - a yarn that was from one of the first hats I ever knit. I am so glad I did - it breaks up the colors just enough to give it some life.

The striping pattern is entirely random - I didn't follow a pattern or sequence. I'm on the hunt for buttons too, but it will have to wait until I have a recipient in mind.

It is quite likely that these balls of yarn would never have seen the light of day again, were it not for my stash challenge. They would have languished in the back of a crate somewhere and unearthed at some point in the distant future. Each ball was too small to do anything with on it's own, each 100% wool, and with new projects (and new yarns) constantly on the horizon I just never would have been interested in being creative with my left-overs. It just wasn't in my knitting nature.

But, designing and knitting this sweater was sort of like what I do when I am faced with a cupboard that is seemingly bare, and there are a mere 30 minutes until dinner. I make do. I get creative. And I fall in love the result. This is a can of tomatoes, with sliced brats, a head of broccoli, garlic, and chickpeas, all poured over pasta, kind of sweater.



















The other thing that is cool about this sweater is the construction. You actually knit the whole thing in one semi-flat piece. Then with some strategic folding and seaming along the arms it magically turns into a sweater. Genius I tell you. Genius.