Baby Surprise KAL starts tomorrow!

Tomorrow is big for three reasons:

It's Mayday,

I will be driving on the busiest highway in North America (thank you Carol for pointing that out) with my original driving instructor in my own car, and

It's the start of the Baby Surprise Jacket knitalong!

Here is the yarn I'm going to be casting on as soon as my hands stop shaking post-driving lesson:


It may be a mistake, using this Tanis Fiber Arts Aran-weight yarn ('Stormy'). The pattern calls for 5 or 6 stitches per inch, and I am getting 4, according to the gauge swatch I knit last year with needles whose size I didn't bother to note at the time, but which have produced a significantly snug enough fabric to make me not want to go down another two.

Apparently fewer stitches per inch will not ruin the proportions but merely produce a larger jacket; possibly in this case fit for a five-year-old.

I do actually have a baby in mind for this project - a little boy who will be about 6 months along when the weather starts to get nippy enough again to need a jacket. But I don't want to make a 6 month size; I want something he can wear when he's toddling and getting into the dirt and needing his sweater washed a lot (it's superwash wool.)

So maybe this is a good choice after all - a good dark blue that hides the inevitable stains, and can be brightened up with buttons. I know, I know, I can stripe it, but I'm reluctant to add to my tails-running-in-of task. And I don't really think the blue in that swatch up there is enough of a contrast to make that worth while, do you?

Bonus thought: if it takes me a year to finish it, it will still fit him, even though it will be rather late to go giving a new-baby gift.

But back to business. If you want to join in on the knitalong, feel free to join us at Ravelry, code name Knitting and Tea and Cookies. Or just watch me flail along right here!