Another seamless coat

Seamless coat in aran

This seamless coat idea seems to be nothing new. Rummaging around on the web and I found another pattern for a seamless coat, this time on Ravelry.com by Linden Down and entitled Baby Sophisticate. I have knitted a seamless coat before, complete with a hood and a double-breasted reversible button back, but this one was much similar to make with a shawl collar and just a basic button band.

Seamless is wonderful

Last year I knitted an adult's aran cardigan and had some wool left over. It was only one ball but the ball was 400g so that should be plenty to knit a cardigan for a 0-3 month baby.

The principal of seamless is wonderful because I hate sewing these things up. These 'seams' are created with shapings and dividing the stitches for the sleeves and fronts and back, leaving the sleeves to one side and rejoining the yarn to create the body. The sleeves are then knitted in the round on double-pointed needles like tubes. Genius!!

This version is available for sale now in my ebay shop via the following link: http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Light-blue-aran-baby-cardigan-0-3-months-/331052176113?pt=UK_Baby_Jumpers&hash=item4d143f52f1

From small beginnings ...

Logo designed by kuching-sama.com

For this to truly be the Story of Layette Knitting, it has to start two years ago. I found myself without a permanent job, working as a supply teacher. By October 2011, the work was not exactly pouring in so I decided to have a go at making a business out of something had been a life long hobby - knitting. 

Each year in the village there is a flower show which has a horticultural section and a handicraft section, the latter of these is judged by ladies from the Women's Institute and they expect a very high standard. This was my training ground to achieve a standard of knitting and finishing that I felt would be acceptable by others.  I first entered the competition in 1999 and won the handicraft trophy. Flushed with success, I continued to enter for many years afterwards and won the trophy again several times during that period.

Marble wrap neck jumper

Knitting had been a passion for me for many years, especially while my children were small as I was able to make them unique items of clothing for a fraction of the store price. I enjoy knitting small items of clothing because they can be completed within a few days or a week at most. Obviously this is very much time dependent, something I had plenty of in October 2011. The business plan was starting to take form with the idea of clothes for babies and so Layette Knitting seemed to be the most appropriate name. Starting with just a few items to sell, eBay was definitely the right place to open my online shop. It gave the opportunity to sell all over the world and with Paypal accept payments in other currencies. Fantastic!! 

It wasn't long before the idea of designing and producing patterns popped into my head. I needed easy to follow patterns which I could knit up whilst watching the tv of an evening and my Easy to Knit blanket patterns were born. These have enjoyed greater success than my knitted items with buyers coming back for more. The secret to these success has been the simplicity of the pattern, usually containing only four rows of pattern repeated for as long as required. Brilliant!! 

Whilst my shop hasn't made me into a millionaire yet, it has given me a sense of self worth which was rapidly diminishing during that time in 2011. Two years on and still going strong. I have sold items all over the world.  I have ventured out into spinning and dyeing my own yarn. Whilst these two ideas are very creative and exciting, they are still a long way off being good enough to be included in my shop. 

For anyone thinking about going into business for yourself and sharing your passion for a hobby, if you can do it online, go for it! The world is waiting for you!!

To view my ebay shop you can use the following link: www.stores.ebay.co.uk/layetteknitting

A big seller

Cricket jumper

I have found that there is a market for these on my Layette Knitting ebay store. Knitted without any buttons (hoorah) and with a v-neck jumper, this 'cricket' jumper design is my BIG seller for the summer. Literally as fast as I can make them, they are snapped up. I have toyed with the idea of using different colours to represent various teams but this green goes very well with the cream of the jumper and so is popular enough.

Green contrast

Knitted in double knit, this jumper is not too thick for small babies, making this jumper a brilliant addition to a new baby's layette. I have found that I can knit the entire jumper from one 100g ball of wool, plus some green for the contrast. This is great as it helps to keep the costs down. I have sold these in my ebay store for around £9 for 0-6 months.

To see what is currently available from my ebay store, check out www.stores.ebay.co.uk/layetteknitting

The seamless coat! Ta da!!

Knitted coat in Cygnet chunky

In my continuing quest for unusual patterns, this one has crossed my path. It is a virtually seamless knitted coat designed by Lisa Chemery, worked in chunky yarn. I chose Cygnet Chunky in shade 365 turquoise. The pattern starts at the top of the hood and works downwards. OK. I’ve done that before. Then you increase to create two sleeves, two fronts and a back. The sleeves are then worked on double pointed needles, something which I learnt to do on a workshop. Marvellous!! Once the body and sleeves are complete, you then pick up and create a woven basket collar and front band. I am really pleased with the final result which I have finished with 4 wooden tree buttons.

Seamless increasing

All the increasing from the hood down creates the seamless coat. Brilliant! Have I told you how much I hate sewing these things together. As long as you are consistent with the increasing, you are assured a perfect seam. I am already feeling the urge to make another one.

Front band

The real challenge turned out to be the front band which is a main feature of this coat. Knitted in woven basket stitch, something I thought I knew how to do, I did find myself having to undo 4 rows after watching an instructional video on youtube on how to do this properly. Finished with 4 wooden tree buttons, I think the final result is well worth the challenge.

It is now available for sale in my ebay shop via the following link:  http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/Knitted-baby-hooded-coat-12-18-months-in-Cygnet-Chunky-/331020980580?hash=item4d12635164

Its funny how when you knit something for the second time, it goes even better than the first time.And then following showing this on facebook, I have received a commission to create another coat in red in size 3-4 years. It took a week to make and was well received by the customer this morning.

Back to knitting layette sizes though.

To view more items available through my ebay shop, follow this link: www.stores.ebay.co.uk/layetteknitting