Little Blue

Another productive day in the Powell Knitting Factory. I just finished another baby sweater. I knit this one basically to test a pattern I have created...just making sure the other sizes in the pattern work as they should.  I also reworked the faux fur around the hood as the last time I knit this, there was too much fur in the baby's face, and anything a baby feels tickling its face, it will try and eat. Not always good!

Today was cold, rainy, and windy. About 42 degrees during the day and we had a few bouts of hail too. The sun peeked out for all of about 5 seconds once today which was a good reminder that it's still out there. This huge storm has latched on to New Zealand for the last 3 or 4 days. But all indications are it's on its way out.

Rainy day by the Avon River

Wet autumn leaves

So, a good day to catch up on knitting projects. I put the buttons on the above sweater. Lining them up...

Marking the placement...

I tried a couple of different ways of making loops, including i-cord and crocheted, but finally came up with an idea I got from 'The Knitter's Handbook' by Montse Stanley. There weren't instructions per se, just one illustration of what it was supposed to look like and a bit of text. But I finally figured it out and I'm happy with the results. It's hard to describe but basically you use something called a 'buttonhole' stitch -- which essentially is blanket stitch without the spaces inbetween --  wrapping around a couple of loops of yarn that formed the base of the loop.

Here's what the finished loop looks like:

Very nice looking in my humble opinion.