Quick Baby Gift

It is nearing the end of May and I realized that I have a baby gift due in June. So I ran off to Ravelry to find a quick gift for a girl. I thought about trying Blossom which is a wrap dress by Melissa Wastney but for some reason the sizing wasn't coming out right. It seemed very small even though I used bigger yarn and a bigger needle and used the largest size the pattern had. Though I didn't go through the whole pattern, it said it was knit in one piece and I only CO 72 sts for the bottom. I will probably try that pattern again when I have more time to think about the pattern and make the necessary adjustments. As for now, I just wanted to do a mindless project that I could complete easily with the hopes that it would be useful. I decided on a seamless kimono by Jacki Kelly which I got off Ravelry and it turned out to be very simple. I added ruffled sleeves and a ruffled edge on the bottom only because I didn't feel like doing a garter stitch edging. I really need to expand my horizons and get a book on edgings. I had eyed a book at my LCS but I didn't buy it. I hadn't figured on needing it. But now I am changing my tune. The Kimono was easy enough that I just wrote down some notes from the pattern and went to work. I am not so sure about the ruffles, I have never done ruffles before so they might have turned out more "ruffley" than I had intended but overall I guess it is okay. The only problem I had with the pattern was I had one too many eyelet holes for the I cord. I used Bernat Soy Naturals in Celery and Rice. I did two toned because I ran out of yarn and I got them on clearance.

Another FO

FO seems almost vulgar to use but I have completed my Starsky Jr finally. It sat on the back burner for quite some time. This took less than 4 skeins of Bernat softee chunky which was a thicker yarn than the project called for. I didn't do any adjustments to the pattern to compensate. Overall it worked. If I were to do it again I would make the neckline deeper in the back because the collar comes up too close and I have to situate the sweater just right to make it look right. I think my seaming skills could use some help but that's only because the shoulders weren't quite right. I made one mod and that was to not make the sleeves folded up. I made them a bit long so DD would have room to grow. The length was fine. The actual color of the sweater, though you wouldn't know from the pictures, is navy blue...or dark blue as the yarn label says. I have only buttons left to find and sew on to it but other than that it is complete. Hooray! I have a pattern to write up for Austin and then start on my design project for a jacket. I'm really excited about the jacket. I have in mind what I am going to do and I just need to find yarn and then do it. I have not written my own patterns before so this will be interesting. But thanks to the wonderful peeps at Ravelry I will have willing volunteers to test it out to see if my mind is completely wonky. As far a the Starsky Jr project went, it was fairly simple considering the fact that it was only my second sweater to date. It was also my first attempt at blocking and I think it went horribly. I don't think I took the time to really understand the concept of blocking because we were on our way out of town. I think I'll need more practice. But at the very least...it's done.