Suss Cotton – The Lyf So Short

Happy Valentine’s Day everyone!

Here we have the “Clothespin Bag” in progress, from p. 48 of Debbie Bliss’s book The Knitter’s Year. The yarn I’ve chosen is Knit One Crochet Too Cotonade, color 832, “light moss.” It’s a sturdy, worsted-weight 100% cotton with a second, much thinner cotton thread intertwined with the main strand; this intertwining creates a kind of nubby “zig zag” effect that looks great with a simply textured stitch like this one.

By the way — just between you, me and the lamppost — Cotonade is exactly the same yarn as Cascade Luna and Suss Cotton. The latter is absolutely interchangeable with Cotonade; they even use some of the same color names. Off the record, on the QT, and very hush-hush…

The knitted pattern basically alternates between one row of seed stitch and one row of stockinette, so this is great, mindless zen knitting. There’s some minor shaping at the beginning and end of the piece to create the concave edges.

And here’s a close-up:

I’m making great progress and I expect to have this one done with time to spare.

As a follow-up to my previous posts about catching up on knitting for the family, I present these slightly murky photos of the kimono jacket I made for my new first-cousin-once-removed, Brooke Ellen Same-Last-Name-as-Yours-Truly. She was born last December 28th, but last weekend’s wedding was the first chance I got to see her father since her birth so I gave it to him then. Here’s a super-cute picture of my cousin, his son, and Brooke when she was just born.

Pardon the poor quality of the photos. I took them on my cell phone while propping up the jacket on a suitcase in the back of my car.

I used ivory Suss Cotton for the main color and trimmed it with a single crochet edging in willow Suss Cotton. I love sage green for baby clothes. The original Kristin Spurkland pattern, from the Summer 2005 Interweave Knits “Baby Gifts” section, didn’t call for any edging, but I really think it adds the perfect finish. Here’s a detailed look at the matching sage green ribbon closure:

The ribbon is a simple grosgrain with an ivory dashed stripe woven through the middle. This was a very simple pattern to follow (all garter stitch and all in one piece!) with very little seaming. Highly recommended for those of us knitters who dislike sewing.

Update, June 2009: an online version of “Baby Kimono” by Kristin Spurkland is available through Knitting Daily as part of their “7 Free Baby Knitting Patterns.”