Something That Made Me Smile

The little things really count, don't they?

"Happy Green" Pattern Notes

Yeesh! This year has been tough. Between designs not yet released and gifts for people who read my blog, I haven't felt free to share my FO's with you, and that's just not fun. So it is with great joy that I bring you the pattern notes for "Happy Green," the baby sweater that I made for my friend Jen's baby to be.

Happy Green in her native environment - the bench outside my temporary "cottage" home. Click here to zoom in.

Gansey Layette aka "Happy Green"
Interweave Knits, Winter 02-03, designed by Veronik Avery
Knit with almost 4 skeins (98 yards/90 meters/skein) of Karabella Aurora 8(100% Merino) in Parsley (716) on Clover Bamboo 24" circulars and DPNs in size US6 (4.0mm), in a gauge of about 5 sts per inch in Stst.

Size: smallest.

The Pattern:
This is my favorite baby sweater pattern. As a rule, I don't knit a sweater more than once unless it's my own design, but I like this one so much that I've made it three times (here it is in white on my niece Sophie, which reminds me I need to complete those pattern notes!), and considered up-sizing it for myself. This is especially impressive since I've never made it in the recommended gauge or in the same gauge any of those times. (Nor have I managed to take great notes, so that if I did do it in the same gauge I wouldn't have to do the math all over again.) It's true love, I tell you.

If I had to pick two all-time favorite designers, they would be Veronik Avery and Norah Gaughan, because they both use unique construction to stunning (yet wearable) effect. This little gansey is no exception. Veronik has you knit the sweater all in one piece to the armholes, which are made by picking up stitches and knitting down to the cuffs in the round. She uses short rows along the neckline to create a lovely scoop and then employs a sewn bind-off all around the neck and the cuffs. Between these techniques and the lovely garter rib detailing, the gansey is a veritable sampler for the intermediate knitter, and a fun ride for the experienced knitter as well. It's probably only suitable for the intrepid beginner, but if you've got a few projects under your belt and are dying to make it, you'll definitely pick up some knitting know-how along the way. Plus it makes an absolutely smashing gift.

Aren't the buttons lovely? Courtesy of the Great Wall of Buttons, visited on our Michael Levine trip.

Modifications:
The only modification that I made was the gauge. This is one of those patterns that is great "as is". It's very well-written, too.

Impressions of Karabella's Aurora 8:
This is a workhorse of a yarn. It comes in beautiful colors, knits up at a nice gauge, feels soft and lovely to the touch and displays beautiful stitch definition. I would highly recommend it for ganseys, arans, and ribbed sweaters. The solid colors are fabulous, but the slightly heathered colors, like the one I chose, are really special. My photography really doesn't adequately display the rich depth of a piece worked in such a beautiful heather. Oh yeah, here come those two wonderful words again: machine washable

Possible substitute yarns:
A cheap alternative to Aurora 8 that springs to mind is Peruvian Collection Highland Wool, a very nice yarn in its own right. Still, it's not merino. If your budget allows it, always go merino.

Tips for Making the Gansey Layette:
Do the short rowing when your mind is fresh and you have a lot of time to devote. You will need to "reverse shaping" and that can be an ugly thing to bend your mind around if you are already tired or don't have the necessary time block. If you re-gauge - write it all down for next time!

Did you see this little number? My pal Dan at the Knit Cafe always adds an extra button and yarn to a gift - seems like a great idea.

Girl's Weekend with Knitting

I have a very tight group of girlfriends from college, and although we have gotten very spread out geographically over the years (Chicago, Cleveland, DC, North Carolina and LA), we make a point of getting together each year for a long weekend to hang out and craft (we are four knitters and one quilter). This year we met up in Cleveland twice, and we spent this past weekend haning out and celebrating the immanent birth of my friend Jen's baby. I made her Veronik Avery's Gansey Layette (my favorite baby sweater pattern to date) to mark the occasion, or as it was renamed by friend Crystal at the Knit Cafe, Happy Green:

The mom to be opening her gansey - Jen doesn't wear her hair like that - it's the "baby" bow from the gift!

Laura made Jen a beautiful version of the Kimono from this past summer's Interweave Knits. I love the way the contrasting trim makes the sweater look elegant:

Here's Cora admiring Laura's handiwork.

In addition to the wonderful baby knits, we showed up to the shower in style in Laura's handknits (I brought Clementine, but Cleveland surprised us with beautifully warm weather and there was no way I was making it in merino!):

Jen and Julia sporting Laura's Cable Eight Top

Jen and Laura sporting her own Fiery Bolero

It was a great weekend, full of fabulous FOs. Stay tuned for more pictures of the Happy Green ensemble, pattern notes for Happy Green and a freebie pattern of the "Sprout" Hat.