EZ's Surplice Baby Jacket

This was a project that I put down for some reason and as usual had no notes along with it for me to remember what it was or where I was in the pattern. I usually leave the pattern with a knitting work in progress but not this time. Thank goodness for Ravelry as I was able to find the pattern for it just by typing in "cross over cardigan" under baby patterns. That's how I found out that the pattern was in the Spring/Summer 2007 Vogue magazine which luckily I still had and it was easy to figure out that I had cast on for the larger version of this and where I was in the pattern. That's where the easy part ended for me. I've never knit one of Elizabeth Zimmerman's origami-like patterns and I really got confused at one point. My mind clearly does not work like Elizabeth Zimmerman's. Sad, too, because we share the same first name and even one of my grandmother's maiden last name was Zimmerman. You would think that would give me an edge, right?
So, I asked Aiga, aka Sockpr0n on Ravelry for help and she was fantastic and generous of her time. Like so many others, I added on to the original sleeve length. I knit mine in stockinette and then used a picot bind off to make it more "girly". I knit with Atacama 100% alpaca in color 515. I liked the yarn but probably should have used a more easy to care for yarn to make my daughter's life a bit easier. This will fit my 2 year old Granddaughter, Mia and then hopefully later her sister, Annabel.
The interesting thing about this pattern is that there are buttonholes literally all along the bottom, making the fit adjustable. However, I don't think I'll knit this one again. It made me realize that I'm just not that crazy about garter stitch garments and also that I really prefer solid or near solid colorways. It also made me realize that I'm not much interested in knitting EZ's Baby Surprise Sweater. Both are garments knit mysteriously in one piece and then fold to become an actual sweater. If you are interested in either of these patterns, Meg Swansen has it for sale at her Schoolhouse Press site.

Interestingly, I asked my British Son in Law's mother, who has knitted all her life, if she knew who Elizabeth Zimmerman was and she had never heard of her.

And about the name, Zimmerman. Once upon a time I was a office/ranch manager at an Ostrich Farm and the owner was German. Not American German but his home was actually in Germany. I told him one day about my Grandmother's maiden name being Von Zimmerman and I will never forget his reply. "IMPOSSIBLE! " Von" implies aristocracy, he said. And "Zimmerman" means carpenter man. There is no aristocrat carpenter man". Of course my boss's last name also had the prefix, "Von". I guess he told me. Ahhhh, that was an interesting job experience.
It really was.