Knit for Connor month: Lillen Pantses

Even though this is the second project I've posted in my Knit for Connor month, it was actually the first completed.  It just took me a while to put in the elastic (as usual, it's the final touch that makes the garment useful and wearable that takes me forever!).

I recently bought the MillaMia book The Close Knit Gang.  It's a fab little pattern book for toddlers, with really cute and stylish garments mostly sized up to about 5 yo.  I chose the Lillen Pant(ses) pattern first, as I thought it would be a really good way to use this yarn - from stash - woo hoo!

Details:
Pattern:  Lillen Bottoms 12-18 mo size, from The Close Knit Gang.  These are really cute little pantses, knit flat in two identical pieces.

Yarn:  The MillaMia yarn (which is lovely, by the way) is really a sport/5ply yarn.  But since I am trying to knit from the stash, and my stock of sport weight yarn is fairly limited, I thought I'd use this skein of Wollmeise 100%, in one of the club colours, Saami.  It's a colour that really screams out to be used for kids, I think, given the primary colours!  I even swatched, to check whether I'd need to knit a size (or more) up to make up for gauge differences.  I was surprised to find I got gauge with the suggested needles, even though the WM is really a fingering/4ply weight.  I used about 115g of the 150+g skein.

What was really interesting was that even though the two pieces are knitted the same, one piece pooled and flashed substantially more than the other! (it is actually much more obvious in the photo than in real life, although once you have seen the photo, you can't unsee it in real life!)

I am also glad the WM is machine washable!

Sticks:  3mm and 3.25mm KnitPicks Options.
Time:  25 July 2011 - 12 August 2011. 

Modifications:  The pattern has a ribbed waistband. I didn't really think it would stay up very well, especially with a crawling baby (Connor hadn't yet started walking when I started these!).  So I did a stocking stitch turned band (with provisional cast on) to act as a casing, so I could put elastic in.

I also did garter stitch on the "hem" of the pantses, rather than moss stitch - only because the moss stitch fights too much with the varigation of the yarn.  If I was making these in a plain yarn, I would probably do the moss stitch.  I would also make them a bit longer!  I made these to the pattern length, but I think they could be a little bit longer.  Just a wee bit, mind!

I'm quite happy with these!  Gotta love a child who is too small to reject the handknits! (hopefully he will never reject the handknits, heh!)