leapfrog

attention, those of you who knit for small persons!

if you do not already know about it, it's time for you to check out petite purls, an online knitting magazine featuring items for and of interest to children. it's 100% free, and i must say--it. is. awesome. this magazine is the love child of my friend allegra, and her friend brandy--their model is much like that of knitty.com, with more of a focus on natural fibers and knitting green for your little ones. they've attracted a ton of attention from the knitting community, and for good reason. their patterns are great, from great designers, and so far, very reliable. highly recommend.

i don't have nearly the time to knit that i wish i did, but i do manage a thing or two here and there. and i actually managed to get these little pants (rav link here) finished before the squeaker was too big to wear them. in fact, i made them ages ago, but have neglected to post about them till now because i FINALLY managed to get some decent pictures of him wearing them. this may not come as a shock to most of you, but it's rather difficult to get good pictures of a moving baby!

i bought some AWESOME blue sky alpacas dyed cotton especially for these at the salty sheep (still my favorite yarn store). the yarn is a joy to work with and oh so soft. i also find that i am a lover of the worsted weight yarn in general. when you don't have a ton of time, you want what you knit to MOVE, and even i can see my progress when i am knitting with worsted. i would most certainly use this yarn again, and you should, too.

the pattern is leapfrog, from annika barranti--very well-written and easy to follow. i am in LOVE with the braided cable down the sides! i love that it doesn't look feminine at ALL. patterns for boys are so much harder to find than those for girls. i think these pants actually ARE gender-neutral. the only change i will make if/when i knit these again is that i will add a little shaping to the bottom of the leg so that it flares just the tiniest bit. the straightness of the leg makes them fit just a little more like leggings than i would prefer, so i think that a little increase here and there might alleviate that issue. other than that, however--perfection!