Surprise!

Surprise! I loved the bootees so much, that I've finally decided to take the Baby Surprise plunge. I have 3 skeins of Elsbeth Lavold Cotton Patiné that I'm lukewarm about, so I figure that's a good test run. If nothing else it'll work for an over-the-jammies extra layer at home.

I'm knitting on 5s and getting 5.5 stitches to the inch, which is exactly halfway between the gauge cited for "baby" size (6 stitches) and "1 year and more" size (5 stitches). The Mole is 6 months old, so halfway should do it. If not, he'll grow into it. And cotton will work year-round. I've incorporated the extra arm stitches into the cast on, and plan on picking up and knitting down to extend the sleeves to full length. I have to say the 3/4 length sleeves on the Baby Surplice we have are a very practical length, but if I get this right I'm going to want to make another one knit tightly with wool as a jacket, and I'll want longer sleeves.

The yarn is fine, not so splitty. Soft enough. The color is fine. It feels a little weird in garter, so we'll have to see how it drapes and wears.

Oh, and for everyone who asked: the bootees pattern is from The Opinionated Knitter, page 108. I cast on 43 instead of 51, picked up 10 on each side, and only did 3 "ridges" of plain garter before the toe decreases. My gauge was 4.25/inch using worsted weight yarn, and they fit perfectly.