So that’s where the power of the internet comes in. Through Ravelry I found a bunch of various color combos that others have knitted, as well as links to stores that sell little kits made up with exactly enough yarn of each color to make the sweater (otherwise you’d need seven full balls, something around $160 for a baby sweater- ugh!). And the person at the first store I called, Carri at Coldwater Collaborative, was amazing! She got all excited about helping me develop a deeper/stronger color palette that had browns and greens as a base, and it seems like the minute we got off the phone she wound up the balls and mailed it off – because I got it yesterday (and Monday was a mail holiday!).

I don’t have all the colors with me to show (will do that soon), and this is a terrible picture, but here’s the start of the Tulip Sweater ala Carri.

It started on July 24, when I won Jackie’s contest to get a Ravelry invite.  I was on the waiting list, about number 1700 in queue, when she posted a contest whereby if you donated to Doctors Without Borders you’d get an entry into the drawing for the invite.  And, wouldn’t you know it, I won!  I never win anything – and this was, to me, a major prize.  So I immediately started doing what one does in Ravelry – uploading photos, inventorying my needles, picking out patterns for my queue, photgraphing my stash (well, the last hasn’t gotten very far, but I’m trying!).

It’s an amazing resource and also really addictive – I spent nearly an hour this morning looking for a sweater pattern to use up yarn I have in my stash.  Last week I spent a huge hunk of time flipping through stole/scarf patterns.

From Ravelry I’ve already downloaded and used a few patterns, including the utterly adorable Spur-of-the-moment Baby Hat.  You can work this hat for any kid in any yarn -  just figure out (from a gauge swatch) the number of stitches per inch you get, then figure out how big the kid’s head is (circumference in inches), then multiply your gauge by their head measurement – add 2-3 inches if you want it loose – and voila, you’ve got the rough number of stitches you need to fit the head.  Now adjust so that your number is divisible by 8 (I recommend adding stitches rather than taking away) – and you’ve got the number to cast on.

(This concept of determining how many stitches to cast on works for nearly any in-the-round bottom-up hat pattern.  As long as you have a number divisible by 8, you can decrease (near the top of the hat) starting with 8 stitches per section (k6, k2tog*), knit one round plain, then decrease with 7 stitches per section (k5, k2tog*), knit one round plain, etc.  until you have only a few stitches at the top that you draw the yarn through to close.)

If you’re not yet on Ravelry, sign up for an invite now – they are still beta testing but rumor has it they’ll be opening up to the public soon.  And come find me there – I’m ‘stephanies’ on Ravelry.  Looking forward to connecting with you!

With all of the hype surrounding the iphone, it’s no surprise that someone came up with a pattern to knit one. The only real question is– how come we didn’t come up with it first?

KNIT AN IPHONE INSTRUCTIONS