Surprise!

Tonight I finished the Elizabeth Zimmerman baby surprise jacket. There were a few surprises in this jacket, with the greatest being how much yarn it took! I started with two skeins of Berroco's cotton twist, which I purchased for a song during the cotton sale at Clever Ewe. The colorway is lingonberry. I quickly realized this would be nowhere near enough yarn, although I swear the shopowner told me two skeins would do it. So, at the Michigan Fiber Festival I found a periwinkle color I thought would stripe nicely with the lingonberry. Still not enough! I stopped at my LYS, Friends of Wool, next. They had neither of the two colors I was already working with. Instead, they had a wine color that was part of the Lingonberry. I figured it would work out because this would be the button band. I was right about the color, but wrong about how much. I finished the first skein about 4 rows short of completing the pattern. After another 1/4 skein, the sweater was complete. It was still completed for less than $25 despite all of the extra yarn purchases.

Here's the token photo that everyone takes of this project. See how it just looks like a deflated manta ray?



Fold in the sleeves and fold up the buttonband. Presto Chango! It's a baby jacket....well, more like a toddler, but you get the drift.



Now I just need to sew the shoulder/arm seams and find some buttons.

"Quiet, I'm hunting squirrels."