I love Anzula yarn, especially the worsted weight For Better or Worsted (80% superwash merino, 10% cashmere, 10% nylon), so I look for any excuse to buy a skein – this sweater was the perfect excuse! Although, to be honest, I had to buy two skeins – I was so close to finishing with one, it was really frustrating, and I think if I’d been knitting the 0-6 month size, I probably would have made it. But, I opted for the 6-12 month size, and after experimenting with several different yarns in my stash as contrasting lapels/button bands, I decided that it just wasn’t going to be the look I wanted unless I used the same yarn all the way through.
I knit the Baby Sophisticate pattern on US 7s – one size down from the recommended needles, because the yarn is recommended for US 4s – 7s, and as a lighter-weight worsted, I thought that knit on US 8s might result in too loose and floppy of a fabric. I chose color Navy – so hard to choose from all of the wonderful colors! One of the many things I love about Anzula is how there is just the right amount of tonal variation – it’s still a solid-colored yarn, but with just enough variation to give it interest and depth.
My biggest challenge was finding the right buttons. At first, I ordered bicycle buttons because the recipient’s father is an avid biker. The Esty site said that the buttons were custom-made and would take 3-4 week “from order to delivery,” but I figured they would still come in time. Unfortunately, more than five weeks have passed, and I haven’t even received a shipment notification – to me, this is just too long to wait for buttons! I then ordered some hand-made ceramic buttons from this site – even though they shipped from Canada, I received them very quickly, but unfortunately the colors just weren’t a good match (always a risk when ordering online). They’re beautiful though, and I’ll keep them for another project.
In the end, I selected wooden buttons from my button jar – they work fine, although I really like the hand-crafted ceramic buttons better. And, since I had almost an entire extra skein of yarn, I knitted up a quick matching hat from this pattern. I love knitting baby clothes – an entire gift set, knit in less than a weekend!
