Friday, January 11, 2008

Wool Soakers

After I finished all of the baby UFOs last weekend, I cast on for my first hybrid rib soaker. We are planning to cloth diaper, so how could I not knit some cute woolen diaper covers? I had originally planned to sew a bunch of woolen covers, but between not being able to find wool jersey fabric and not being very comfortable with the sewing machine yet, I have put that idea on hold. So instead, I purchased the Hybrid Rib Soaker pattern from Little Turtle Knits right after Christmas when they were having a pattern sale.

Pattern: Hybrid Rib Soaker, by Little Turtle Knits in size newborn night weight.

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in color Emerald Blue. I only used 38 g of the skein (about 82 yards) so I should easily be able to make another. I ordered the yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool.

Needles: I used a size US 5 addi turbo 16" circulars for the ribbing, a US 7 inox express 16" circulars for the rest and a size G crochet hook.

Okay, I cast on for this project and finished it less than 24 hours later. It probably took me 6 hours to knit which included learning how to do short rows with wraps, brushing up on the kitchener stitch and learning how to do single crochet.

So what did I do next? I cast on another soaker of course! I decided that the 1x1 ribbing at the waist on the first soaker could have been a bit tighter, so I dropped down to a size 4 for that part. I also decided to save myself a couple of ends to weave in when dealing with the leg gussets. When it was time to single crochet around the leg openings, I started with the first stitch of the leg gusset. That way when I finished crocheting, I could simply do one more single crochet to join the circle and use that stitch as my first picked up stitch of the leg gusset. This worked perfectly.

This time I made a size small and newborn out of a single skein of Malabrigo. I still have 16 grams leftover too, so I might have been able to make a larger size. That is good to know...

Pattern: Hybrid Rib Soaker, by Little Turtle Knits in size newborn & small night weight.

Yarn: Malabrigo worsted in color Citrus. The newborn size used 34 g (about 74 yards) of the skein and the small used 42 g (about 91 yards) . I ordered the yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool.

Needles: I used a size US 4 addi turbo 16" circulars for the 1x1 ribbing at the waist, a US 5 addi turbo 16" circulars for the rest of the ribbing and the leg gussets, a US 7 inox express 16" circulars for the rest and a size G crochet hook.

Since I only ordered 2 skeins of Malabrigo from Jimmy Beans, I had to check out the Yarn Barn to see what they had in stock. I bought two more color ways of Malabrigo and this super soft Berroco Jasper yarn. It is self-striping so I thought that would be fun for a change. I think the yarn is as soft as Malabrigo, but considering the yardage it is definitely more pricey. After knitting the size small citrus soaker, I figured I could eek a size small out of one skein of the Jasper. So I cast on again.

Pattern: Hybrid Rib Soaker, by Little Turtle Knits in size small night weight.

Yarn: Berroco Jasper in Blue Bahia. I used 92 g (about 90 yards) of the skein . I bought the yarn from Jimmy Beans Wool.

Needles: I used a size US 4 addi turbo 16" circulars for the 1x1 ribbing at the waist, a US 5 addi turbo 16" circulars for the rest of the ribbing and the leg gussets, a US 7 inox express 16" circulars for the rest and a size G crochet hook.

So that's it. Five days, four soakers and still no baby. I am obviously addicted to knitting these guys. I think the genius of the pattern is that as soon as you might start to get bored with one part, it's time to switch it up. 1x1 ribbing getting you down? No worries, it's time to start stockinette in the round. I love to watch the way the variegated yarn falls in this section. Will it pool? Will it stripe? Or will it blend beautifully like the first soaker did? I think I could be happy knitting these for months.

My knitting bag has the rest of the emerald skein of Malabrigo and the two new skeins of Malabrigo as well as the pattern and all the needles I'll need ready to go to the hospital. I plan to continue to churn these out until the baby arrives or I get bored. I think the baby might come first though.

3 comments:

Theresa said...

They're lovely! Not that I think knitting more would be bad, but I hope that babe comes soon and you aren't stuck knitting 12 more soakers, LOL!

Oleksandr said...

Hi there!
I like kniting too
I am working on compiler for kniting machines. So kniting for you should be like a hobby

Unknown said...

Hi! Beautiful work! I purchased the same pattern and finished my first soaker all the way up to the leg holes. I was stymied by the part about picking up 4 stitches at the bottom of the leg and transferring those to the knitting needle... It seemed weird that it should only be 4. But now that I see yours, I think I get it-- they're just little sticky-outies, not an all-around trim. So, thanks! Happy knitting!