A Tomten is a small Swedish elf who does good deeds. Sweet little Alex should fill those shoes.
Alex and happy mom Kim. Alex is drowning in the jacket! (Sorry for the horrid light in this pic.)
Wee ones should be blessed with wooly-goodness. Friends Matt and Kim are the proud (and tired) parents of Alex, now 7 weeks old. I hand delivered this gift to proud mom and dad. It is HUGE next to him being a generous 2 year-old size. However, babies sprout and before we know it he’ll outgrow the jacket.
Tomten Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman (Ravelry it HERE)
Mods: Many. Gauge is 3.5 SPI. Original is at 5 SPI for a 6 month old size. Being completely modular, using multiples of 8 I cast on 80. Split for the arms with 10 for the front, 20 bound off armhole, 20 for the back, 20 bound off and 10. Body had 20 garter ridges with one short row to prevent jacket creep-up-syndrome. Hood was grafted at the top. (A lesson in patience.) Picked up 31 stitched for the sleeves, knit for an 8.5″ sleeve. Joined sleeves to body using 3-needle BO (not grafting, just couldn’t get it to look presentable. Single crochet around edges with crocheted button loops. Wood buttons.
Yarn: Cascade 220 and Nature Spun worsted held double.
Needles: 9
Here, you can see the shape of the hood. (Or “pood,” as my mom told me I used to call them.)
If you’ve never knitted an E.Z. pattern, run, don’t walk to Schoolhouse Press and check out her books and leaflets. A genius she was, empowering the knitter to use logic, math and design to personalize basic patterns. She’s taught me much! There’s an adult version of this floating around. I think it would fun to make from left over worsted weight yarn that tends to fill one’s stash.
The Knitting Nurse 