I ♥ Buttercup

When I first looked at the pattern, I loved it and wanted to make it. When I was working on it, I loved how the heart motifs kept it interesting but still simple enough to do. Towards the end, though, it started to get rather blah… But now that it’s done and I see Annette wearing it, I’m in love all over again. Here’s why…

Oh, and I ♥ Annette too!

Pattern: “Design F” in Sirdar Book 282 — The Snuggly Book of Baby & Toddler Knits
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Wool Cotton, just under 7 balls.
Needles: 3.25mm for most of it, 2.5mm for the button bands.

Modifications: I used a different yarn and smaller needles than recommended in the pattern, but I still made the 2 year old size because based on my gauge and the pattern’s measurements it looked like it would still fit Annette (Annette is quite small for her age). And it does! The other change that I made was to make the sleeve cuffs a bit wider than in pattern, because I don’t tend to like tight cuffs. Other than that, I pretty much followed the pattern the way it was written.

A word about the construction. I wrote before about the button bands. The pattern says that the button bands were to be knitted on smaller needles separately from the front pieces, and then seamed. Meg suggested that constructing it that way would add some stability to the structure of the garment. And, having done it and seeing the result, I totally agree. I really like the way the button bands look sturdier (I guess due to tighter gauge with the smaller needles), and they do seem to make the fronts more stable and not floppy.

The other new thing in the construction, for me, was that the collar was knitted separately too and then seamed to the main body and to the top of the button bands. I guess this is because of the shape of the collar (kind of like sailor’s collar). Attaching the collar was a killer! Seaming the collar around the neck was allright, but I was stuck at attaching the collar to the top of the button bands. You see, the collar is moss stitch (seed stitch) and the button bands are also moss stitch, and I don’t know how to make a smooth graft between the tops of moss stitch together 🙁 I searched the internet and books, but couldn’t find anything. So I just used kitchener stitch. It didn’t make as smooth a join as I like, but it will do I guess. (If you look closely at the buttons close-up above, you might be able to notice some wonkiness. So, don’t look to closely! 🙂 ) If you know a good way to graft moss stitch, let me know, okay? I’m not going to redo this one, but probably would be good to know for the future.