Baby Surprise Jacket Sweater

I have knitted a lot of baby items, but seldom took photos of them. (Note: If you receive a handmade gift for your baby, it would be really nice and much appreciated if you were to send a photo of your baby wearing/using it to the person who made it. The knitter might have been weaving in the last ends in the car on her way to the baby shower.)

I showed you some hats for premature babies I knit one Lent:
Today I am remembering the Baby Surprise Jacket (BSJ), also known as the Baby Surprise Sweater. I lost count of how many of these I knitted. Plymouth Encore, a machine washable and machine dryable worsted weight yarn that is 75% acrylic and 25% wool, comes in solid and variegated colorways. (Why do some designers create patterns for cashmere garments for real live babies?)
So, about this BSJ sweater. It was designed by Elizabeth Zimmermann many years ago, and the pattern as well as a DVD that provides instructions for the sweater as well as many variations are available from her daughter's shop, Schoolhouse Press. It is knit all in one piece, and for a while, you wonder how you went so terribly wrong. Here's how it looks after it's knit but not sewn up:

And then when sewn up:

Oh and for this one I made a matching cap:

And here is one more:

And that same sweater on a friend's baby (Thanks, Kitty, for sending me the photo):

As Elizabeth Zimmermann wrote,
"Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises."


Blessings and peace...