Celebrating a new baby girl

This week a new nearly 9-lb niece was added to our family. She will probably be the last niece as she is 24 years younger than the oldest cousin. I had already made the Baby Surprise and baby surplice, but I found the Tulip cardigan kit that the Yarn Harlot blogs about in my lys. I couldn't resist, now that I know the baby is a girl. I bought it.

After I got home, I realized that the pattern lists multiple sizes, but I didn't know if the yarn would be enough for a 12 month size. I figure a 6-mos size will fit a 9 lb newborn for about a minute. I looked on ravelry, I called the lys, they were kind enough to email Dream in Color. The answer is they measure out the same amount of yarn for the 6 and 12 mos sizes. I am glad the answer is yes, because I started the 12 mo size even before I got the answer. If I run out of yarn I will buy more yarn for the bands and ties.

Holly on ravelry was so generous as to offer me her scraps of yarn. She also let me know about a cap that had been designed to coordinate with the sweater. Here is the link

I find the brown color to be such a surprising choice for the mix, but it makes it. One of the ways a kit gets you to try new things.

Bedsock or Footie?

What would be the best qualities for bedsocks? These are for my mother-in-law who is allergic to wool. First they need to be soft and comfy. Cotton Fixation is the perfect choice for yarn. I don't have much experience with it, but after a bit of getting used to I like it. It goes fast after the finer yarns I have been using. At first it felt a bit sloppy, I don't think I would do stranded knitting with it, but that could be my beginner's colorwork technique.

Second, they would be cheerful. I used a technique I call spiral striping. I don't know the official name. I started with one color. Halfway round I attached a second. Then I knit one color until I came to the start of the next continuously. I made solid heels and toes for interest. I love the look of eye of partridge heel. Although here you can see what I mean by "sloppy", the stitch definition isn't as good in fixation.

Third, don't cut off the blood circulation. I made a knitted hem. It seems better than ribbing that pulls in. Also the stretchiness of the fixation is good here.

The colors in the picture are not true. No matter how I struggled, the purple heel and toe look blue in the picture. I tried white backround, wood background, interior light, cloudy daylight.

Looking around Ravelry, I just found a tutorial on the spiral stripe technique. I am using only 2 colors so it works really simply. Because one of the yarns is variegated and one solid, it looks more complicated than it is. Here is the link: Spiral Stripe tutorial
Used Tootsies Footsies pattern as a reference.