knitted: Surplice Baby Jacket
Surplice Baby Jacket
by Elizabeth Zimmermann
pattern found in Vogue Knitting, Spring/Summer 2007 or
Knit One, Knit All
Ravelry Project Page
I struggle to read garter stitch. It took me a while to learn that attaching a small note “this is the front” was not silly and would greatly help me remember on which side to do required shaping.
I think many knitters see EZ’s Baby Surprise Jacket as the piece to knit to show that you are a committed Knitter who can do more than scarves. It took me quite a few tries to get it right. When I knitted one in 2008, I relied heavily on a worksheet listing row numbers and stitch counts.
I wish I had tried this pattern instead. I owned it when I knitted the BSJ.
I apparently was not ready for it. I guess it’s similar to the Doris Lessing quote, and one should not knit a pattern outside of its right time for you.
I don’t think my garter stitch reading skills have improved a large amount since 2008. I just now have no qualms marking which side is the side on which I do decreases and on which side I rest.
This project went smoothly and has less bits that fold up onto each other and so I think it is an easier knit. I get it so much that I’m pawing through my stash to find the right yarn to try my way again through a BSJ. This time without the cheat sheets.
Note: If you use a BSJ cheat sheet I do not think of you as a poor Knitter. I have set a personal challenge to knit a BSJ by only EZ’s pithy instructions and a few scrawled notes-to-self.