American Girl Doll Sweater

I will be writing a pattern for the American Girl Doll Sweater. When I knit the sweater, I used Jaeger's 4 Ply Matchmaker which is no longer available.

I have spent some time this morning doing research on the possible replacements. I want to knit the sweater over again, and make any necessary changes in the pattern to accommodate the new yarn.

Here are my choices so far. (Ignore the colors.) I hope you will give me some feedback and if you have a suggestion I would really appreciate it.

Debbie Bliss Rialto 4 ply:



PLUS: very close in terms of gauge, machine washable, good stitch definition
MINUS: Limited color choice

Rowan 4 ply Scottish Tweed:



PLUS: Great color choices, interesting texture (but will it be too much?)
MINUS: Hand wash


Berroco Ultra Alpaca Fine:



PLUS: Machine washable, readily available, nice heathers
MINUS: A little finer gauge, will the fuzz hide the pattern?

Knitpicks Palette:



PLUS: Great Color choices, nice stitch definition, great price point
MINUS: a little too fine maybe, handwash

So what do you think?

Little Knitting...and American Girl Doll Sweater

Little knitting, as in knitting little things, has great merit. It is quick, and uses very little yarn. Instant knitting gratification! One of my favorite forms of "little knitting" is knitting for Little Miss SockPixie's American Girl Dolls.



This little sweater was inspired by a vintage pattern from the 1950s for young girls.
I like its simplicity and the delicate lace pattern along the front sides of the cardigan.



I love knitting doll sweaters with fine yarns. I had a ball left over of Matchmaker 4ply by Jaeger, in a perfect vintage garnet color.

I fiddled a bit, in particular with the button band. I wanted something that would sit flat, and not pull, so I chose a folded edge, knitted as you go, with a separating slipped stitch to create a clean fold. Picking the buttons was fun too. I wanted them to be really small to match the scale of the doll better.



This was fun! And the best part of it all, is that Little Miss SockPixie loves it! Let me know if you would like me to offer it as a pattern? (I would change the recommended yarn as Matchmaker is discontinued.)

Swatching

I worked on Mr. SockPixie's Moth Mittens last night, and then I knit a swatch with my newly spun red Shetland roving...Yum...I thought knitting the yarn would be bliss, and it definitely is.



My yarn is a little finer than the yarn called for in the pattern, and so I will be making some adjustments, but that's just part of the fun, isn't it?

I am off to finish the mittens. I might just be able to put in a few minutes of knitting before I teach French Conversation in the Brookline adult ed tonight. Tonight we are discussing campaign financing in France! There is nothing like the calming effect of knitting before discussing a hot topic like campaign financing!

Plying Brings Me One Step Closer to Knitting

I just finished plying the first skein of the red Shetland roving for the Floral Vest. I chose a simple worsted 2 ply .



I think the color is even more striking in its final form, the heathery tones just glow.

Knitting the vest is going to be pure bliss!

Spinning Progress

I finished Mr. SockPixie's first Moth Mittens, and started the second one last night.
Mr. SockPixie tried the first one on and it was a perfect fit!

Today will be for spinning. I am determined to make progress on the spinning of the red Shetland roving for the Indian Floral Vest.

One bobbin filled, many more to go!



Are you spinning with a special project in mind? I would love to hear about it.

Fairisle Moth Mittens

Yesterday, the children wanted to go to their favorite hangout, the bookstore, after we were done with school. (We are homeschoolers). Even though, my spinning wheel is a Louet Victoria, and I could just have packed it up and taken it to the bookstore to continue spinnning the roving for the Floral Vest, I decided not to, and instead chose the easy thing.

I picked 2 skeins of contrasting wool yarn, a blue and a green (rather masculine colors), with the idea of knitting mittens while at the bookstore.

During our last visit at the bookstore, a couple days ago, I had looked at the book, All New Homespun Handknit by Amy Clarke Moore and really liked some of the projects in it.



As soon as we got to the bookstore, I bought the book, and started working on the Moth Mittens.

I decided the mittens would be for Mr. SockPixie.

To make the mittens a little more masculine, I opted for a less adorned cuff. Just a two color K2 P2 rib would do for my rugged guy!



I kept the rest of the pattern as directed, except for the inside of the hand where I only knit the plain pattern without the central swirl.



I am almost done with the first mitten, just a few more rounds before the decreases!



If you bought the book, or have made these mittens leave me a comment and if you have a blog, I will go see yours.

Sweetheart Baby Slippers (free knitting pattern)

I was going to have the pattern for the Sweetheart baby slippers as a pdf, but my computer had to be completely reinstalled, and the software is not back on yet, so I will just post it to the blog.



Materials:

-Left over worsted weight handspun or commercial worsted weight yarn in 2 contrasting colors. (approx. 1 oz for light color, and 1/2 oz for the contrast or dark color).(I used left over handspun Romney).
-Set of US 5 dpts
-Darning needle

Gauge:

6 stitches per inch in garter stitch on US 5

Instructions:

Make 2 hearts using the dark color(DC).
Cast on 21 stitches.
R1: K9, Sl 1, K2TOG, PSSO, K6, K2TOG, TURN.
R2: Sl 1, K13, K2TOG, TURN.
R3: Sl 1, K5, Sl 1, K2TOG, PSSO, K3, K2TOG, TURN.
R4: Sl 1, K7, K2TOG, TURN.
R5: Sl 1, K2, Sl 1, K2TOG, PSSO, K1, K2TOG, TURN.
R6: Sl 1, K3, K2TOG, TURN.
Repeat R6 until there are 5 stitches left. BO loosely.



Continue as follows to knit the 2 slippers.
With the main color, in my case the lighter one (LC), pick up and knit 20 stitches. You will start picking up at the point where you ended your bind off, you will pick up 10 stitches down the first side of the heart on needle 1, and then 10 stitches back up the other side on needle 2, stopping at the point where you started your bind off, leaving the bound off stitches unused. On needle 3, cast on 20 stitches using the knitted cast on.

Join the round, start with a purl row, then knit in garter stitch until you have six ridges (6 ridges = 12 rows).(To get garter stitch while knitting in the round, you will knit one row, then purl the next).

Break LC, now using DC, purl 1 row.
Next row: K5, K2TOG, K1, K2TOG, K2TOG, K1, K2TOG, K10, K2TOG, K1, K2TOG, K2TOG, K1, K2TOG, K5.
Purl 1 row.
Next row: K5, K2TOG, K2, K2TOG, K10, K2TOG, K2, K2TOG, K5.
Purl 1 row.
Next row: K4, K2TOG, K2, K2TOG, K8, K2TOG, K2, K2TOG, K4.
Purl 1 row.
Next row: K3, K2TOG, K2, K2TOG, K6, K2TOG, K2, K2TOG, K3. (20 stitches)
Purl next 5 stitches.

Use a 3 needle bind off to close the sole of the slipper.
Place 10 stitches on one needle and 10 on another needle. The needles will be on each side of the point of the heart. Using a third needle, bind off loosely. Turn the slipper inside out. The wrong side is now the right side. Weave in all ends.



With LC, starting at the center of the back of the slipper, pick up and knit 2 stitches at the edge of the slipper, *BO 1, pick up 1*. Repeat along the foot opening until you are back where you started ending with BO of the last 2 stitches. Weave in ends.


Happy knitting!