rhubarb pie liza

I am a sucker for anything vintage, or anything with 'vintage' in the title. Kristen Rengren's Vintage Baby Knits, however, had never really charmed me.

I would actually say that I never liked the Liza Sideways Sacque, in all it's bright yellow and white reminding me of a broken egg, until I saw Alicia Paulson's version which she named Lemon Meringue Liza. Well, there you go - with some thoughtful colour choices and some modifications it could be a real success.

The Vital Statistics
Pattern: Liza Sideways Sacque from Kristen Rengren's Vintage Baby Knits. A sacque is apparently an open cardigan and I would strongly recommend against the profusion of ribbon shown in the book version for fastening it at the neck. Not baby safe.
Size: 12 to 18 months.
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock Solid in Manzanita, one skein and Grignasco Bambi in shade 416.
Needles: 2.5, 2.75 and 3.25mm.
Start to finish: 12 January to 7 February 2011 - not bad. The friend's baby for whom I made this was hinting at a premature arrival so I really had to get working on it. She was actually born at 37 weeks, all safe and sound. (You can tell that you knit too much when your first response to news of a baby's imminent arrival is 'but I haven't finished knitting for her yet'. I didn't say it out loud.)
Stash/recycle content: That Grignasco Bambi came from Australia - simultaneous shudder and hooray. It's a fabulous yarn, wonderful texture and lovely to work with. I previously crocheted a cute little baby hat from it. The Lorna's Laces I bought recently to complete my In the Pink stole. It was, of course, a different dyelot and anther reason why that project got scrapped. Also a lovely yarn to work with. I still have my two original skeins and one more in this dyelot. And the button was salvaged from a cardigan that miss bear once wore. (I did, however, purchase yarn for this project that I didn't end up using so I'm guessing that it would rate as stash neutral).

Comments: Oh how I love items made with fingering-weight yarn/4ply; yes, it's onerous to knit and takes ages but they are so lovely when finished. I modified the yoke on this design after reading that others who have knit it found the neckline too wide (without the ribbons - sensible). Details are on Ravelry (or if you don't use that, I can email them to you).

Verdict: I am so delighted with this garment. Seeing Alicia Paulson's version really opened my eyes to how a change in colours and styling could make such a huge difference. Yellow is not my favourite colour so it's hard for me to look closely at anything made from it but I'm really glad that I did. I think that the trick here is to choose two colours that are ... I'm not sure what the correct terms are ... close in value (?); that is, don't contrast too harshly.