Oh Danny Boy

What will this season's best dressed baby of the Western Isles* be wearing?

Why, nothing less than a hand crafted top to toe outfit in shades of mountain top snow and sea loch green.

Danny's outfit has been knitted, it has been washed, it has been blocked, it has been pom-pommed and it has been entrusted to the Royal Mail. By special delivery.

Here it is in all its glory:


That will be one toasty warm little boy when it arrives on Monday. In the interest of giving you an 'action' shot I am clearly lacking a small baby to dress up but after an exhaustive search of the toy box:



we found a puppy with a future in modelling!

The pattern is the b13-5 from Drops (ravelry link) which uses an alpaca yarn that I've never heard of, so I substituted my old favourite, Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. It may be a little harder to get a consistent fairisle tension with such a smooth yarn but it makes up for it in being soft and luxurious and machine washable.

The original pattern knits to a gauge on the lighter end of DK using 2.5mm and 3mm needles. I knit socks with 4ply on 2.5mm needles but gave it a whirl anyway. The jacket is a couple of centimetres smaller in girth than the one in the pattern and I went up to 3mm and 3.5mm for the rest of the outfit. I still wasn't getting the gauge specified but it is plenty big enough and larger would have given a very loose fabric which isn't what you want to keep out the chill.

In terms of other mods:

Hat - I knit to the pattern on the larger needles.
Jacket - On the sleeves I made an unintentional design feature by measuring from the end of the cuff not the turn up and the sleeves were knit until I think they looked right, they are shorter than the pattern specified but I think it looks better that way given that babies bend their arms. The buttonholes are spaced as per the pattern but if I were ever to knit them again I wouldn't leave so much space before the first button.
Mittens - knit to the pattern - rather than use a new strand each time to do the colourwork in the round I used a longer piece and started round one in the middle - it saved on ends.
Bootees - knit to the pattern on 3mm needles.
Trousers - Knit on the bigger needles with all of the ribbing requested on the waist and a little less ribbing on the ankles. The braces are hiding their most cunning feature which is that they are a bit longer than you see and have another button on the end so that you can do a variety of lengths as Danny grows, first crossed at the back and then straight over the shoulder.

Here endeth the baby knitting for the moment. The next baby that required knitwear is not due until after Christmas so I have some time to breathe!

*The Western Isles is the west coast of Scotland where this little laddie is lucky enough to live.