Zoomin'

I just can't get over how quickly you can knit up a garment if it's sized for someone, say...3-6 months in age. This baby cardi is literally flying off the needles. I just started it 10 days ago, and I've already finished the back and left front, while the right front is 4.25 inches along (that's a little less than 11 cm for those of you progressive enough to be on the metric system). Here's a picture of the completed pieces, and one of the front piece in progress.

























































I consider myself a relatively intelligent woman, so it's frankly shocking how I can be so surprised by this speedy knitting of baby garments. I mean, quickly measuring across my shoulders from top of joint to top of joint, I get about 15 inches. This baby cardi measures approximately 10.5 inches from edge to edge. When you consider that this cardi is unseamed and it has a drop shoulder, it's safe to say that the baby cardi is knit for someone with shoulders less than half as wide as mine. That seems too big for a wee tot, but I'm closely matching the pattern gauge of 5 stitches per inch.

Hmm...after mentioning gauge, I suddenly seem to have an idea about the speediness of this baby knitting. I'm like that: sometimes I reason through things by talking out loud (in this case typing out loud) rather than internalizing the progression of thoughts. I'm knitting 5 stitches per inch on size US 7 needles. The equivalent gauge for an adult garment would be about 2+ stitches per inch on size US 13 or 15 needles. Thinking back, I did make one shrug that was about this gauge, and it did go quickly: the Bold and Bulky Mini Cardi from Stephanie Japel's Fitted Knits.

So I guess the lesson is that as long as I want a really bulky adult garment, I can turn out a sweater in a relatively short time. Maybe I'd better just stick to baby garments right now.