I knit a sweater for my new baby

Recently I got a new itty-bitty 11-inch macbook air. I pretty much ran my last laptop into the ground. I actually typed many of the letters right off the keys, and that spinning rainbow wheel and I spent far too much time together in the past year.

I thought it might be nice to cloak such a high-tech baby in some low-tech handmade.

I’ve never felted anything before. It always seemed too much of a gamble: you knit something far huger than what you need, only to have to shrink it, crossing your fingers that the size comes out right. But I’ve always admired the laptop cases in Alterknits, so I thought I’d give one a shot. A very scientific shot.

I had to adapt the pattern because these air laptops are smaller in size and wafer-thin (and so don’t need a gusset), and I wanted my case to close. I knitted a 4″ swatch and felted it. I measured how much it shrunk, both widthwise and lengthwise. I figured each ratio of shrinkage and applied it to the final measurements I hoped for. And then I promptly forgot that to make the stripes come out vertical, you have to knit the case sideways, meaning that I’d mixed up my ratios when I cast on, and I had to start over.

Anyone who says that you never use algebra in real life has never tried to plan a felted project.

Guess what? Algebra works. The fit is perfect.

(details on ravelry)

I did do some actual baby knitting as well. Cashmere socks for a friend’s new baby. Doesn’t every baby deserve cashmere socks? (Although I don’t have a pair of cashmere socks.) This pattern came from More Last Minute Knitted Gifts, a real drool-inducer of a book.

I’m also knitting this pattern from the same book, the Big Lace Scarf, on size 17 needles. Lace on 17s? Crazy! But fast. And cozy.

It was funny to be knitting the tiny socks and the gonzo scarf at the same time. Sort of like knitting in Wonderland, growing larger and smaller.

After slogging through a single project for months, it seems I am on a knitting binge.

This was the sloggy project, and I love it so much it was worth it. I’m calling it my Look At Me! cardigan because the color and the pattern can’t help but call attention to themselves. The pattern is the Que Sera cardigan, a free pattern from Knitty.

I promised to knit Chris an Icelandic sweater, but while waiting for the (real! Icelandic!) wool to arrive, I’m distracting myself with this.

It’s the Simple Yet Effective Shawl. I’m making it in a smaller, kerchief size. And since those jelly belly colors aren’t gaudy enough, I’m planning to add bobbles to the edges. (But I promise not to wear it with the Look At Me! cardigan. I have my limits.)

More ravelry links here.

Oh, and we actually do have a new baby around here.

Meet Sorrel. I’d knit him some socks, but he already has some very sweet white ones.