...and for my next trick....

The mystery project is complete! I received an email the other day that made the completion of this project necessary. Don't babies know they're supposed to wait for their sweaters to be completed?

That's right! I made Elizabeth Zimmerman's Baby Surprise Jacket! I just love this little thing. Once I finished the rectangle, I amused myself for at least thirty minutes, folding and refolding it into a tiny sweater. I gave the rectangle to my boyfriend and challenged him to make a sweater. He got it dissapointingly quickly. Maybe I shouldn't have told him it was meant to be a sweater. This pattern, I think, is a testament to the genius of Elizabeth Zimmerman, and has shown me the way. I've got to buy all of her books right now. I've been seeing a lot of another cardigan of hers, most recently on Tipper's blog, that is so sweet. I just wish someone I know would have a girl.

This pattern was one of the more challenging I have completed, mostly because the "pattern" is more of a guideline. I'm sure someone with more knitting experience than I would have an easier time with it, but I had to make a spreadsheet to keep track (on the advice of Ellen). Once I had the spreadsheet, the project was a breeze. I used about 1.25 skeins of Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sport in Flames, and US5 needles. I mattress stitched the seams together, as I was at a loss how to invisibly seam multi-directional garter stitch. This was my most successful go at mattress stitch, and I have officially added it to my seaming repertoire. I casted on for some wee booties last night to match the sweater. No further information on mitten #2, it is still in yarn form.

As an aside: on my monitor at home, these pictures look good, but when I look at pictures at work (on my break, sheesh!), I notice they look darker. How do they look to you?