October 20, 2013

Luca Bear Baby Sweaters

Luca Bear's First Hand Knit Sweater

Exciting news! We're having a baby! We are expecting Luca Bear (that's his name...well, his actual middle name is Herbert, after a family member, but we call him Luca Bear) in early January of 2014. As soon as we knew he was a "he", I began knitting and crocheting!

I've only knit one sweater before, and that was for me. My sweater was made using a custom pattern that I created by taking various measurements of my body. Since I can't do that with Luca Bear, I searched for a simple, yet attractive, pattern that wasn't too complicated. Finding one that was knit on circular needles proved very hard to find.

I ended up using a pattern in Natural Nursery Knits by Erika Knight. I highly recommend this book and this pattern. The sweater is knit in sections. First you knit the back section; then the front section; and then the sleeves. Once they are complete you stitch the pieces together using a tapestry needle. To make the collar, you pick up stitches and knit back and forth for a few rows. That's it! Sounds a little easier in my summary than it actually was.

Once you get the hang of the pattern I'm sure you will want to knit another one. I've already begun Luca's second hand knit sweater. This time I'm mixing colors. So far, the second time around is much easier since I already have knowledge of how the pattern works and how the separately knit pieces fit together.


The beginning of the Back Panel of Luca Bear's Second Hand Knit Sweater.