The Purl Bee is a craft blog created for you by Purl Soho where we publish ideas for you to knit, crochet, sew, stitch and more! You can view our projects below.
This project began with Elizabeth Zimmermann's wonderful Baby Surprise Jacket. I was fascinated by the project the first time I saw it, but it took some time before I actually got around to making it. The amazing thing about it is that it is knit all in one piece. It is so sweet to look at and so fun to knit! Here is EZ's drawing from the original 1968 newsletter, reprinted in The Opinionated Knitter:
For this special project I chose Jade Sapphire 2-ply Cashmere because it is delicate and unbelievably soft. Instead of using one strand, I chose one strand of Cousin Coral and one strand of Little Girl Pink. This yarn is so incredible. I love the way the colors blend together in each stitch.
I made these pants out of the same yarn as my Baby Surprise Jacket. The pattern for the pants is from my book, Last-Minute Knitted Gifts. The pattern is very much inspired by the knitting style of Elizabeth Zimmermann, they're knitted completely in the round, and they get finished with an i-cord drawstring. In the book the pants are made out of Rowan's Denim Yarn which shrinks 10% lengthwise when you wash and dry it, so I made these a little shorter than the pattern recommends. --Joelle
Wednesday, September 27, 2006