Baby Jasmine lace cardigan

Today I can show you the little jasmine lace cardi all finished and I'm really thinking this might be nice adult size:-) But then I always think that of children's clothes! But I may tinker with the idea and see how it translates on a larger scale. But back to the photos!

Jasmine cardi on a little flowery spring dress. Even though it is a newborn size and a bit smaller than the lily bolero, it still fits with this 0-3mths dress. I must say I think I like this even better than Lily (Shhh, don't tell anyone:-))

And from the back, it looks like a little jumper/sweater - another idea! In fact, this would be a simple way to knit a jumper in the round and much quicker without all those seams. Although I managed to graft the shoulders, sew all the seams properly and sew on all the lace edgings, I still think they are a bit ugly and if I can make things seamless, it looks more aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I do understand that seams are meant to give more stability to a garment and I might well change my mind on an adult sized top but really there isn't that much here to stabilise:-) Maybe that's why the seams seem more bulky - they're out of proportion with the tiny sizing.

I kept to the given picot edging for the neckline and buttonhole band although it does have too much of a garter stitch feel for me. Well, it does at least tie in with the garter lace edging so it balances texturally but I think I should have thought out a smoother alternative to balance better with the wavy edging. (grumble, grumble....;-) You live and learn!

It does look better on the front though and I like the little pearly white flower-shaped buttons. For some reason, purple buttons just didn't work. Maybe purple overkill and it needed a bit of contrast to make it zing? Or maybe I don't have enough buttons to play around with:-)) Does that sound like a valid justification to get some more buttons? You know me and buttons -  I never have enough!

So, baby jasmine lace cardi all done. Now maybe it needs some little matching booties?!  - with some ribbon detailing running through a small lace edging? :-))

Baby Jasmine

Gosh, this last week has flown by! The sun came out and the gardening started and that was it! Woosh! Week gone! But, I have been squeezing in some knitting in the evenings so I do have a little progress to show you.

This is the baby Jasmine cardigan designed by Louisa Harding. The yarn is the lavendar Sirdar Snuggly DK so its very soft to the touch. So far I've knitted the stocking stitch parts and added the lace border to the main section. I'm still knitting the lace border for the sleeves and then I can attach them and finish with a decorative edging around the front edge and neckline with buttons as a fastening. It is so small though - very dinky:-) Even smaller than the lacy lily bolero.

I have made a few alterations with this pattern. I changed the lacy edging pattern as it just had too much garter stitch for my tastes. ( I think it has something to do with too much texture next to all that smooth stocking stitch;-) I substituted a lovely wavy lace design instead and although it doesn't look as if it has as much length as the original as you are knitting, it does stretch out when you block it.  I really wanted to get a little flare to the edging to mimic a little dress shape so I deliberately knitted the border longer to compensate. I sewed it up using a 1:1 stitch ratio - a straight edge would probably need more like a 1:2 - 1 stitch from the lace edge to 2 sts from the body (roughly!)

So far, I've finished one sleeve and should finish the other tonight. If I'm on the ball, I may even get the sleeves sewn onto the body too, ready for the neckline edging tomorrow. Then buttons and finished! Then I think I'll move away from lace and think about colour and stripes! A stripey dress? or a little jumper/sweater? I found a lovely pattern for some stripey dungarees too! I don't think it gave a newborn size though so maybe keep that one in reserve for a few months!

Thinking about using this self striping sock yarn - nice and bright isn't it? This is a bamboo mix so it's lovely and soft to the touch, perfect for that baby softness. It may not be quite so stripey on bigger items like a baby dress though but I'll test it out to see. Still no news on the baby front so I still have a little time left, although it can't be that much longer now, eh sis?:-)

Back soon with some lovely stripey goodness - if I don't get hijacked by the garden again!