Wanna See the Cutest Thing Ever?

It's my latest FO: a halter job for my neice, who is turning 1 in a couple of months. Yes, yes, I know. Even though I tsk, tsk as I walk by the racks of slutty, skanky club clothes that stores carry for toddlers, I have made my precious, darling neice a halter top to encourage her to take up a career as a Hooter's waitress, or perhaps a pole dancer. But I just couldn't help myself, this pattern is just so darn cute! So, here it is:

Stats:

Pattern: Katja from Spring 2006 issue of knitty (one of the surprises). Even though my neice is only 10 months, I made the 2 yr. size based upon her measurements.

Needles: I used Size 7 Inox circular needles - the grey ones. I got gauge on Addi Naturals but promptly misplaced them, so I subbed in these. Therefore, it came out two inches too big. Good thing babies grow like weeds! The yarn was seriously dragging on the Naturals, so these worked out a lot better.

Yarn: Classic Elite Flash in Hot Tropic (2 skeins plus a tiny bit of a third to bind off). This is a triple-ply mercerized cotton yarn with purple, hot pink and orange strands. Very nice stuff. I highly recommend working with this yarn, particularly for children's garments.

Date Started: June 15, 2006

Date Completed: June 18, 2006

Changes/Alterations: This pattern is written flat, but I converted it to be knitted in the round, which caused very few problems, except one caused my mental midgetry. Hey, sometimes when you're chatting at Rebecca's and it says to purl three rows, you do it! Never mind that it means then to do garter stitch instead. In the round, these things make a difference! I like to think I was intentially changing the pattern to make it my own.

Overall thoughts: This is a great pattern (definitely do it in the round, though) and it turned out really cute. I can't wait to see it on her.

I actually finished a sweater for me yesterday as well that I wore to Rebecca's - my Blueberry Cap Sleeve Top. I thought about taking pictures in the morning, but my hair was a mess and by the time I'd fixed it, I was already late so I thought I'd take them later, but as Classic Elite Bamboo is want to do, it grew about 4 inches in width, at least, throughout the day and looked like a tent dress by evening. Hopefully a trip through the washer and dryer should return it to its original shape.