Entwined: Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Done Right

Knitting can be infectious. We know that. Take a look at all the various sock clubs, knit-alongs (aka KALs), and trends in what people are knitting. Someone knits something cute, blogs about it, and all of a sudden, you’ve got a whole host of people knitting that object and sharing their progress and problems in this huge online knitting community.

One of the things I have seen around the blogosphere a lot lately, and been infected with myself, is Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Baby Surprise Jacket (BJS). Just Google “Baby Surprise Jacket” and you’ll see how many of us are hooked on this ingenious design. You can find her guidelines in both The Opinionated Knitter and Knitting Workshop for this amorphous blob of garter stitch that seems to magically, with only a few well-placed folds, become a handsome little baby cardigan.

I first saw some pictures of it just a few weeks ago, after I had finished the 36 mitered squares for my mitered square baby blanket—I have to admit, I was initially drawn to the BJS because of the use of miters. Immediately, I set to drawing it out and puzzling out how it was constructed. After a little online research, including visiting a site devoted to knitting Elizabeth Zimmerman patterns, http://zimmermaniacs.blogspot.com/, and the BSJ page of KnitWiki, http://www.knitting-and.com/wiki/Baby_Surprise_Jacket, I had it sketched out and was committed to making one myself.

I chose a variegated yarn for my own BJS: something purple and turquoise, favorite colors of the mom-to-be for whom I was knitting. It only uses 300–400 yards, so it is easy to find something in a reasonable price range that will work beautifully. Stash yarns would work wonderfully, too, since you can easily make a striped BJS. The knitting is pretty straightforward (all garter stitch), so you have plenty if opportunity to be creative and play with color and texture.

EZ’s directions, while feeling a little like I was blindly being led down a path whose end I was a little unsure of, were clear and concise. You just cast on and go, decreasing where she tells you, increasing where she tells you. It was a little like turning a sock heel for the first time – just follow the directions, and even though they may not make sense at the time, it works out. Your cast-on row becomes the back neck and sleeves, and after a series of well-placed decreases, increases, buttonholes and bind-offs, just sew up the seams on the tops of the sleeves and you are done! I also added a simple row of single crochet around the neck edge to give it a more “finished” look, and cute fishy buttons.

Once I noodled out how I thought it would work on paper as well as the actual knitting up of my own little cardi following her directives, I still continue to be in complete wonderment of how she figured it out in the first place. Genius. I’m already planning my next one for some unsuspecting, unborn baby.