This week Kelley put the finishing touches on her Baby Surprise Jacket by Elizabeth Zimmerman! It's an easy knit that is almost entirely garter stitch aside from the center double decrease. The "surprise" is how the sleeves come together in the end! You can read all about starting the jacket in last week's article. 

Seaming the Baby Surprise Shoulders - Applied i-Cord

Kelley tried two versions of the Applied i-Cord to seam the shoulders on her Baby Surprise Jacket. In the video above, she demonstrates how to do this seaming method with just two stitches for the i-Cord. She compares it to the other shoulder where she did three stitches (pictured above). 

Where to Place the Buttons

When placing button holes for a baby jacket, you place left side holes for a boy and right side for a girl. Kelley's sweater is universal so she knit it to be used for a boy or a girl. She made hers in a blue color with button placement for a girl. A quick hack for button placement - use a non-stretch paper and fold into equal sections for the number of buttons. Put marks on each fold then line the paper up to the sweater and place a locking stitch marker for each button.\

Color Striping Tips

Since the baby surprise sweater is knit entirely in one piece, you don't have to worry about matching up the stripes on multiple sweater pieces or sections! Because the yarn Kelley used had long color changes, if she wanted a new color she would switch from knitting from the outside of the ball to the inside. 

Are you going to knit the Baby Surprise Jacket?