Spacecrafty

365 02/02/2007: baby coat

Originally uploaded by jamjarring.

Just trying to get back in the habit of, you know, updating.

This is the Debbie Bliss Donkey Jacket, from the Baby Knits book.

First off, I like the Debbie Bliss products, the end result of the patterns, but the patterns themselves? I think they’re pretty bad. They’re poorly written, unclear and frequently make you do things the longer and more awkward way around. This pattern (which is for a girl -my father assures me that gunmetal grey is fine for a girl, even a newborn, and the mother wears blues and greys more than pinks anyway) was adapted in the following ways.

The sleeves were knit in the round, rather than flat and sewn up. This is because I am lazy and want to avoid as much extra work as possible.

The hood was shaped using shortrows, rather than casting off at the beginning of rows. This is because I am lazy and want to avoid as much work as possible (three needle bind off or grafting is easier than sewing).

The shoulders, where the pattern says to cast off, and then sew the tops together? Three needle bind off, because I am lazy and… well, you get the idea.

The lining (which is basically the outer jacket knit on smaller needles) was not sewn on to outer layer. Instead, I used poppers to join it where it needed it (hood, the button-side of the front, one at the back), so that it could be taken off. The idea is that when the weather warms up and the baby gets bigger, they can take out the lining and still use the jacket.

Baby clothes are so much quicker to make than normal clothes, especially when they’re knit on aran weight yarn. I do like the cashmerino yarn, and I do like the end result of the pattern, so I’d give a cautious recommendation to the book, but with a pretty hefty qualifier that the patterns aren’t written well and there are no schematics.