Behind the Design of the Snowy Penguin Vest

Snowy Penguin Sweater Vest Knitting Pattern - $6.00 

When I met with Save the Children to discuss Make the World Better with a Sweater Day (December 12!!  Don't forget!) the timing worked out perfectly with the release of Lucky's Snowy Penguin Vest. The pattern is available for purchase on Ravelry, and I will be donating half of the earnings on this pattern to Save the Children through the end of December 2014.

Snowy Penguin Sweater Vest $6.00 

The Snowy Penguin Vest is a whimsical colorwork vest featuring tons of colorwork penguins and snowflakes. This was intended to be my son’s “ugly” holiday sweater, but I don’t think there is anything ugly about it!

• Finished size unblocked – 9.25” wide, 12” hem to shoulder. The sample is on a ~20 lb 12 month old, Lucky. The vest is fitted on Lucky with room to stretch further.
• Yarn: 1 ball Cascade 220 Superwash (C1 Color 817; white) and 1 ball of Cascade 220 Superwash Quatro (C2 Color 1954; purple). Sample used 56 g, ~125 yards white; 51 g, ~115 yards purple.
• Skills: stranded colorwork following a chart, knitting in the round on circular and double pointed needles, knitting increases and decreases, picking up stitches.
• Notions: stitch marker to note beginning of round, waste yarn or stitch holder, yarn needles, blocking mats and pins (optional).

Snowy Penguin Vest Knitting Pattern © 2014 ChemKnits (www.ChemKnits.com) This pattern has been purchased for your personal or charity use. You are not to copy or distribute this pattern without the permission of the publisher, ChemKnits.

Behind the Design

I really wanted to design Lucky an "ugly" holiday sweater for his first Christmas, but given that he was only 2 months old when we went to Boston for the holidays this was a bit ambitious.  I had no way to predict what size he'd be!  I've loved putting vests on Lucky over the summer, and as soon as I  finished the Owl Cable Vest I knew that I needed to finally design a colorwork pattern.

I started looking through all of the charts I had designed for my family's Christmas stockings, but nothing really seemed right.  The scale of the dinosaurs was a bit too big.  What could I make smaller so I could incorporate many of them into a toddler sized vest?  I was also waffling on the color, but then when I saw the multi-toned Cascade 220 Quatro Superwash I was inspired by the shades of purple.  Purple... purple... purple penguins!  My penguin charts went through multiple iterations before I arrived at the adult versions, but I just kept sketching in excel until I had something I was happy with.

I started by checking my gauge with Cascade 220 superwash on size 5 knitting needles.  On plain stockinette, I got 22 sts/4".  Over colorwork, my gauge ended up being 24 sts/4", something that I wish I had taken into account when I started designing.

I cast on and was so excited that I had to share a teaser on Facebook.

I kept comparing this vest to the size and fit of Lucky's Owl Cable vest.  I wanted the size to be similar but despite working with the same size needles and worsted weight yarn, this vest is about 0.5" thinner than the owl vest and much less stretchy because of the colorwork floats.   I hope that Lucky can at least FIT into the sample!

I couldn't help trying the sample onto Lucky while I was knitting.  He is such a good sport!  It fits pretty fantastic right now (October), but I'm afraid about how it will fit come time for Christmas in December.  I did put thick board book int he fron tand hte floats weren't pulling badly, so maybe there is some hope.  (The vest that I made without colowork is much more forgiving for different sizes.)

Just before the arm holes

I made sure to take a lot of pictures during the construction.  I like to have intermediate pictures from different steps because it helps me when I make a garment again in the future.   It is pretty fun to watch my little toddler toddle around while still attached to my balls of yarn.

Did I make the front pieces long enough?  I did!, phew!  

Before the shoulder join. 

Trying the vest on Lucky served another purpose.  By checking the size against his proportion, I was able to modify the charts while he was knitting to try to get the desired fit.

RS of the shoulder join

WS of the shoulder join 

After 4 days of knitting I finished the body of the sweater.  Lucky will be waking up from a nap at any moment and I can't wait to try it on him to see how it fits without the last bit of ribbing!   This is also a perfect time to get started weaving in the million of loose ends that I have on this vest.

The sweater is in one piece!

After joined the shoulder pieces together, I took a deep breath. The last time I made a vest I had an issue picking up stitches for the neck and shoulders.  I didn't have to worry, I got a great distribution of stitches the first time around.

Call me silly, but I happen to think that the floats from the inside of the garment look really pretty.  Didn't I do a nice, even job?  Sometimes the WS of my colorowork projects looks so messy.  If my work hadn't been so even the vest would have had more stretch...  Oh well.

I soaked the vest for 30 min before laying it flat to block.  I did not use any pins, just subtle blocking to make things lay better.  The overall size didn't change with blocking, it just neatened up my work.  Before I soaked the vest, I couldn't help by post another sneak peak on Facebook.  Can you tell it is a penguin now that you know?

As soon as the vest was done I did a mini-photoshoot of Lucky inside my apartment.  There is very little natural light in my unit, so I wasn't thrilled with how the photos came out.  (Not to mention that it is so hard to keep Lucky standing still to snap a picture, even with a nice camera!)  Thankfully we ended up having a 70 degree day in Chicago in October, so I was able to move the shoot outside and get Lucky running around.  

Snowy Penguin Sweater Vest Knitting Pattern - $6.00

The only problem with this plan is that I couldn't really capture his attention, the leaves were very exciting!  This shoot ended up being joyful both for selling the Snowy Penguin Vest Knitting Pattern and as a mother to have some wonderful images of my little Lucky.  

I would love to give you a peak inside my design notebook to see my sketches of the vest, but you will have to wait because there is an additional surprise!  If you really can't wait, check out the ChemKnits Designs Pattern Store on Ravelry.  

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December 12 is National Sweater Day.  Make the World Better with a Sweater by wearing your most festive sweater and Donating $5 to Save the Children.  Don't forget to spread the word to get your friends and family involved!  Donations may be made by texting SWEATER to 20222; online at www.SavetheChildren.org; or mailed to Save the Children, 501 Kings Hwy E, Fairfield, Connecticut 06825.

Pins and Needles Challenge and Giveaway: Make the World Better with a Sweater

Will you take the Pins and Needles Challenge with me?   December 12 is "Make the World Better with a Sweater Day" and Save the Children has challenged me to complete a sweater project by that day.  I will be updating you with my progress over the next month, but today I have to decide what sweater project I want to make.  Today I will share with you 12 free amazing sweater projects that will help you join me in the Pins and Needles Challenge, the first look at a new sweater design by ChemKnits AND an exciting give away from Save the Children.

Wear your most festive sweater on December 12 and Make the World Better with a Sweater
Photo Credit: Save the Children

Save the Children is a non-profit organization that supports children.  Their mission is "to give children in the United States and around the world what every child deserves -- a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and care when disaster strikes."  Save the Children responds in emergencies to provide for children and teaches communities how they can support their children through health and education.  89.4% of donations go directly to program services.  As a mother, I believe that all children deserve "a healthy start, the opportunity to learn and protection from harm."  I am honored to support Save The Children and take the Pins and Needles Challenge.  Keith, Lucky, Indy and I pledge to wear our sweaters on December 12 for Make the World Better with a Sweater Day and pledge to make a donation to Save the Children.


12 Free Sweater Project Suggestions for the Pins and Needles Challenge - All of the patterns are free, but you might need to create a free account with the website to download the PDF.  

With the holidays approaching, not everyone has time to knit a whole sweater.  I am trying to decide between 12 fantastic free patterns

1. Perfect Fit Pet Sweater Generator.  Pets come in all shapes and sizes. Knit your furry companion a sweater using the 
2. Phone Sweater - Everything is cozier in a sweater!  This adorable phone cozy with cables and a shawl collar will show some great sweater spirit.  
3. Phone-y Turtleneck Sweater (Crochet) - I didn't want to leave my crochet friends out of the picture - Here is a little sweater phone cozy. 
4. Sweater Garland - Make one mini sweater for an ornament or make a bunch for a festive garland to decorate your home.  There are dozens of free mini sweater patterns out there, including the BU Sweater Ornament and UT Sweater Ornament by ChemKnits!  
5. Miniature Sweater Ornament (Crochet) - You can make a crochet sweater garland, too!  
6. Penguin Sweater - There was once a call to make sweaters for penguins affected by an oil spill.  At a later date a charity collected excess knit penguin sweaters to sell in a fundraiser on penguin stuffed animals.  Either way, how many people can say they've clothed a penguin?
7. Sheep in Sheep's Clothing - I think there is something witty about knitting a sweater for a sheep.  This is an adorable toy pattern where the sheep is wearing a darling little sweater.  Plus it is a perfect use for any left over sock yarn you might have in your stash!  
8. The Beer Sweater - Knit a sweater cozy for your beer bottle, complete with arms!  
9. Sweater Blanket - Do you need some extra snuggles this winter?  Here is a pattern for a hand knit blanket with arm and neck holes.  Super cozy!  
10. Sweater Greeting Card - This is a darling little project. Make a few to let your friends know about Make the World Better with a Sweater Day!  There is a sweater dress greeting card version from another designer.  
11. Flax - A list of sweaters to knit should include an actual sweater, right?  I chose Flax because it is simple to knit (seamless and top down) and comes highly recommended as a first sweater projects.  There is even a tutorial!  It can fit every member of your family and comes in sizes Newborn to 4XL.  
12. Christmas Sweaters - These holiday sweaters were part of 2013's Jumper Day for Save the Children.  Your sweater doesn't have to be "ugly" to be a holiday sweater!  

For the Pins and Needles Challenge, I will be knitting one of these 12 patterns by Make the World Better with a Sweater Day on December 12, which one do you think I should do?

Lucky's Snowy Penguin Sweater Vest

When I met with Save the Children to learn about the Pins and Needles Challenge, I had just finished the sample for Lucky's Snowy Penguin Sweater Vest Knitting Pattern.  This is my favorite design ever, and I am thrilled to share this with you today as part of the Pins and Needles Challenge. This pattern is now available on Ravelry, and I will be donating half of the earnings on this pattern to Save the Children through the end of December 2014.

Lucky is all ready to Make the World Better with a Sweater on December 12 in his Snowy Penguin Vest designed by ChemKnits.  

Make the World Better with a Sweater Give Away

ChemKnits is hosting her first big give away!  I will be giving away a $50 WEBS gift card, provided by Save the Children, to the most spirited participate in Make the World Better with a Sweater Day!  How do you enter?  On December 12, wear your most festive sweater for Make the World Better with a Sweater Day and donate $5 to Save the Children (suggested amount).  Share a picture of your festive look on the ChemKnits Facebook Page with the comment "I donated to Save the Children for Make the World Better with a #Sweater Day" and tag yourself.  Don't forget to spread the word and encourage your friends and family to participate, too!  I will select the most spirited photo on the ChemKnits Facebook Page as the winner on December 13.  If you are selected, PM me with your email and postal address and Save the Children will send you a $50 WEBS gift card.  By sharing a photo on the ChemKnits Facebook page, you are consenting to me sharing the picture here on ChemKnits.com.  While handmade sweaters rock, you do not have to have created your festive sweater yourself.  Use your creativity to show your spirit in supporting Save the Children.  

Any sweater can become festive with some sparkles!
Photo Credit: Dan Burn-Fort for Save the Children

You can increase your entry's holiday spirit by spreading the word on social media.  Show me what you've knit (or crocheted) for the Pins and Needles Challenge.  Share your photo with pride to spread the word of Make the World Better with a #Sweater Day and that you donated to Save the Children on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.    Make sure to tag @chemknits and @savethechildren on Instagram and @chemknitsblog and @SaveTheChildren on Twitter.

You are never too young to Make the World Better with a Sweater! 
Photo Credit: Susan Warner for Save the Children

I hope that you will join me in supporting Save the Children on December 12 for Make the World Better with a Sweater Day.  Will you take the Pins and Needles Challenge with me?

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December 12 is National Sweater Day.  Make the World Better with a Sweater by wearing your most festive sweater and Donating $5 to Save the Children.  Don't forget to spread the word to get your friends and family involved!  Donations may be made by texting SWEATER to 20222; online at www.SavetheChildren.org; or mailed to Save the Children, 501 Kings Hwy E, Fairfield, Connecticut 06825.

Toy Design with MochiMochi Land at Vogue Knitting Live Chicago

Two weeks ago I had the most amazing time at Vogue Knitting Live, Chicago!  I did so much in the three days at this conference that I will divide my experience into four separate posts.   I will slowly take you through my weekend, starting on Friday morning with a "Design Your Own Knitted Toy" workshop taught by Anna Hrachovec of Mochimochi Land.  Anna is a Chicago based knitter who focuses on toy design, from the realistic mini creations to fantastically alive computers and couches.  She has published 4 books and multiple ebooks through her website, Mochimochi Land.

When Anna was creating her first toy, she put on the eyes and then thought "Oh, this is amazing!  You are alive!" and she was hooked.  8 years later she has published multiple books and is a name many in the knitting community know and recognize (even if we may have to ask her how to pronounce her last name!)

I showed up to class with a few of my friends in my pocket.

Some ChemKnits Critters:  Flying Ladybug Amigurumi, Bumble Bee Plushie, Toy Dragon Fly, Caterpillar Plushie and Butterfly finger puppet.  

I like knitting toys because they make me smile.  Anna pointed out in her short lecture that many people start designing while making toys because there are many opportunities for you to make choices that you might not be comfortable making when making a garment you are going to wear.  Anna has designed many teeny toys and she really has been able to capture their essence and reduce them to their basic elements (as was her goal).

After Anna's inspirations lecture I realized that I really need to keep up with my pinterest inspiration board.  I have a (private) board that I used when trying to work on some specific designs but I'm realizing that I need to just hold onto images that inspire me.  I don't want to force my inspiration, my best work comes from when I see something and then get an idea that I just can't shake.  Even if something doesn't give me an idea right away, I should still collect images of things that excite me.

Anna's biggest design tip was to sketch, sketch, sketch.  By her own admission, she is "not an illustrator" but the sketching process will help you figure out what you want to create.  From your sketches you break them down into the basic elements - what pieces do you need to make?  What are the basic shapes and how can you create them?  Sometimes you need to go to the needles to work things out, but you can figure out a lot as you work on the sketches.  It helps to look at illustrations and clip art especially when you are trying to capture the essence of a creature while still making sure it is recognizable.

In addition to discussing shaping and inspiration, I became inspired by a number of Anna's designs.  My notes from class are interrupted with excelamations like "Skunk! Teeny skunk!"  And now that I'm writing this post I CANNOT FIND THE SKUNK!  It must be similar to the teeny fox pattern with different colors.  I'll have to see if I can make this happen since I love the fox anyway.  I fell in love with Farfalla, a flying narwhale.  Anna also shared Rachel Borello Carroll's Cabled snowman.  I was delighted by the feeling that this snowman was wearing a sweater because he was cold.

Once we went through some different types of shaping, we took some time to sketch out our designs.  We got up one at a time to share our designs with the rest of the class on a big pad of paper and to discuss how we might shape things.  Can you tell which design is mine?

Spoiler alert, here it is!  I am still in the sketching phase to figure out exactly how I want this toys face to be constructed.  Plus I need to do some shopping for some novelty yarn to really do him justice.  I need to get cracking because Anna wants us to email her our progress in a few weeks.  I think I'll start casting on to see where I get shape wise.  Wish me luck!  

I can't draw.  It really isn't a bird, I promise!  

I ran into Anna again in the marketplace where she had an incredible twig art display.  There were many vignettes on the hanging twigs but this mini set up was my favorite:

I proudly wore my Mochimochi Land button the rest of the weekend.  The little gnome is still on my jacket!  (I switched up the shawl I wore each day to the conference and I wanted to keep the little guy around so I switched him to my zipper pull.)  

I feel so inspired after this class.  I've finished up a sketch for a top secret project I'm working on (I was working on it in class when I should have been finalizing the project I was going to present!)  I have my Indy head to work on and a few other sketches in my notebook.  I hope to be sharing some of these with you guys early next year.  

Guess what, Anna talked about our class on the Mochimochi Land blog!  

No Button Clawed Feet for Halloween

Halloween is this week (at the time of writing this post) and I have purchased an adorable Dinosaur costume for Lucky from Carter's.  I wasn't planning on doing anything handmade for this costume (I have a whole photoshoot planned), but then I realized that his feet were missing something special to go along with the costume.  What can I whip up on a Wednesday afternoon when Halloween is on Friday?

Then I discovered the Knit No Button Baby Booties pattern on Ravelry.  The shaping looked simple enough for me to whip up with some adjustments for Lucky's foot.  The companion crochet pattern (Crochet No Button Baby Booties) has a size chart with dimensions for what you would need to do for different feet sizes.  While the construction of the crochet bootie is a little different, I think that I should be able to combine the two instructions to make something that will fit Lucky's foot.  

Since I wasn't going to fiddle with gauge, I decided to just pick a needle and go with it.  I haven't used my straight needles in AGES so I went over and after some deliberation I selected a size 10.  This is within the recommended range for Brava Bulky yarn in peapod, and I don't need the fabric to be particularly dense.  

According to the chart from the crochet pattern, I want to make a rectangle that is 1.75" wide by 10.75" long for a size 4 (9-12 month) bootie.  I cast on 8 sts which gave me a width of about 2" (I had intended to do 10 as directed but I guess I forgot.  I didn't notice until I was joining them together!  ).  as I was knitting, I compared the knitting to Lucky's shoe.  In the end, I ended up knitting for 9" which ended up being 41 rows.  This is VERY stretchy so hopefully it will fit on his foot.  I hope that the height is enough, but I should be able to check the first one when Lucky wakes up from his nap.  

The goal for the length of the bottom of the foot is 4.5".  This is consistent with the bottom of his shoe, so I think I'll want to be right below that so I can get a tight fit.  If the shoe is too big, I can alway add a draw string to keep the costume on.  The fabric is stretchy, so I did 17 rows (4") and then the decreases (K2tog twice then SSK twice) and bound off.  

I pinned the shoe before sewing the bottom closed.  I made sure to do it loosely so it would be stretchy.  

I made sure to secure the second foot in the opposite direction.  I finished both booties during an afternoon nap.  Talk about a fast project!  

So they fit his feet... but don't stay on very well.  With socks it is even harder to keep them on his feet.  I might need to add a tie to get them to stay on.  It was really hard to photograph them on Lucky with my phone, but I think that would have been the case if they had stayed on well.  

Now that the booties were done it was time to turn them into claws.  From photographing them above I learned that I wanted to add the details just below where the join on the front occurred so the claws will be on the front of the foot.  I made 3 french knots on the front of each bootie to create the claws.  

Finally, to help prevent the slip a bit, I used some white puffy paint on the bottom of each shoe.  The puff paint helps a little, but with the slippers slipping off of the foot I'm not sure how much good it is acutally doing.  

I still have to solve how I am going to keep them on his feet, but that is something I can figure out on Halloween.

I really love when there is a project I can complete entirely out of my stash!  This is why it is worthwhile to hold onto so much yarn, right?  

Turtle Butt Cake Smash

I debated for a long time what to make Lucky to wear for his birthday photoshoot and smash cake session.  I practiced a crochet diaper cover, but in the end I really like how his turtle butt fit, even at 11 months.  The problem was that the original turtle butt's colors just weren't perfect for his birthday party color scheme.  What could I do but make another?

I had already purchased Brava Bulky in Peapod (CC) and Celestial (MC) for cake smash. I should have purchased worsted weight yarn for this project, but I thought I was going to make another crochet diaper cover and I wanted the yarn to be a bit thicker. I’ll just have to check my gauge and maybe I’ll make one size smaller of this pattern (Check out Turtle Butt on Ravelry) for the cake smash outfit.  

I swatched on size 5 needles first and got 14 sts/3".  It is a little big, but given that the size Small fit Lucky at 16 weeks and still fits him now I think that it will work out if a new small is a tiny bit too big.  (Worst case scenario I make a third one.  Gulp!)  I used size 4 needles for the fibbing and size 5 needles for the main body of the soaker.  Since I'm knitting in 100% acrylic, I know that this won't actually have any diaper soaking abilities, but I wanted it to be the look of the outfit, rather than a function.  Plus after rolling around in cake I would want to be able to toss this in a washing machine!  

I did not measure the row guage but I hadn't measured it on the previous version.  Thankfully I have it to compare to.  After 3 rows of ribbing (including cast on) I am at half an inch on the new soaker.  I had 4 rows + cast on to get to the same height.  I will try to keep the sizing the same, so I will be removing some rows as I go on with this project.  Wish me luck on this series of modifications.

I had to reduce the number of rows in the ribbing (5 rounds before eyelet, 4 rounds after) to kepe the sizing on par with the first turtle butt I made.  When it came to the hexagons, it was much closer to the gauge I needed.  I thought that I might do 5 slip stitch rounds instead of 6, but I am going to do it as written.  This makes things MUCH easier when it comes to keeping track of where I am in the pattern.  (I did some knitting backwards to see how much 6 finished rounds would measure up, I didn't completely wing this.)

This is the second time I've done a garter graft.  The first time was... you've guessed it!  THe first time I did this pattern.  I couldn't remember how to do it so I'm grateful for the step by step instructions in the pattern (page 3 if you're cuirous.)  

The sizing is SUPER close.  Phew!  

At this point Lucky was awake so I needed to try the diaper cover on him.  He was very interested in the long strands of yarn that were attached to the project still.  

After trying it on Lucky, I'm a little concerned about the fit.  However after making one of the legs (picked up 46 sts) I see that it is cinched up a bit.  Hopefully the final fit will be perfect for my lucky Lucky boy!  

What do you think, did we use this for Lucky's birthday?  Of course!  It fit perfectly and he looked great.