Tot Toppers

Wonderful Wednesday #2: Eliot Hoodie

Photography by Kickstand Studio

It is the second Wednesday in October which means that all is Wonderful and I have a new pattern to share. Please welcome Eliot Hoodie into the Tot Toppers line.

I like all my patterns. I love almost all of them. But honestly, from the very conception of this design, I was thinking to myself that I might just have a new favorite.

All my boys have had their own namesake patterns. Jesse’s was created very early on for Tot Toppers and I still adore it; Oliver wears it now and its such a great fit for our weather here in SC, which is very mild. Charlie’s became a pretty big hit very quickly and ended up with a spinoff. Oliver’s was two pieces from the very beginning (this and this) and has also gotten a lot of actual wear in our household thanks to the short sleeve options and my die hard love of chevrons. And now here I am, after recently celebrating my sweet baby’s first birthday, posting about the last official namesake design! These boys will of course continue to inspire my designs, it’s just that I’m not going to go crazy with using their names over and over again :)

This design represents more emotion for me than I usually express. If you’ve been around for a couple of years, you may be aware that I experienced a very difficult pregnancy with Eliot which I mentioned here and detailed here. About midway through my pregnancy I was diagnosed with Placenta Accreta and after delivery, it turned out that things had gone a bit further and I actually had Placenta Increta, which is a condition where the placenta attaches to the muscle of the uterus instead of just the uterine lining. This complication necessitated a planned 34 week delivery of little Eliot, a hysterectomy during delivery, 10 units of blood transfusions for me, and about 2 weeks in the NICU for Eliot during which time he had be on CPAP for 8 days and resuscitated once. During my postpartum checkup, my doctor told me that while she was performing the hysterectomy, my uterus crumbled in her hands. I still shiver when I think about that; had I experienced any contractions before they delivered my little boy, it would likely have led to such massive blood loss and trauma that neither of us would be here today.

And here is where I will bring it back to the knitting! This design is complex. It is very different from most of my patterns which I like to describe as “simply adorable” (keyword simply) and they are aimed to work for beginner-intermediate knitters. A few things here and there (like Sweet ‘n Sour Apple Hat, Gramps Cardigan, Morning Coffee) have kicked it up a notch, but Eliot, I think, is really another level. The pattern is designed to challenge the experienced knitter. In the end, should you stay the course and work your way through it, I believe you will output a masterpiece. I was terrified throughout most of my pregnancy, and well into the first month of Eliot’s life, but he was worth all the literal blood, sweat, and tears.

I want to thank Lisa Batton for knitting a second sample of this design for Oliver to show off. He clearly had a lot of fun wearing it, and was a much more cooperative model than Eliot was on this particular day. (I forgot to give E the memo that this was HIS design and he needed to put forth all his efforts!) I can honestly say to you, Lisa, that you helped to take a lot of pressure off of the photo shoot! I am not sure what I would have done that day had I to rely solely on Eliot-the-eater-of-dirt.

You’ll knit this cardigan from the bottom-up and you do need to be comfortable working from multiple charts simultaneously throughout the entire project. The decreases are similar to Gramps in that you will need to continue your cabling pattern as you work them. I suggest crossing your cables before performing your decrease, and I offer a new (free) tutorial for this technique that I published last month. However, this is purely personal preference and as I mention in the video, the real key is consistency in your decreasing method. After you shape the yoke, the hood is worked seamlessly from the neckline up and features continued cabling. Finally, you top the whole thing off with a tassel and there you go.

For now, this design offers sizing from Newborn to age 4. I generally like to go even higher in my sizing, but the complexity of the cable charts involved here just made it obvious to me that everyone would be much better off if the next sizes up were provided in a different pattern entirely. I assure you that older boys WILL, within a few months from now, have their own Eliot Hoodie opportunity, but its not contained within these four pages.

Pattern Information
Finished Chest: 18 (19.75, 20.75, 22.5)(24, 26.25)”
Finished Length: 8 (9.5, 10.75, 12)(13, 14)”
Size: Newborn (6 months, 12 months, 18 months)(2, 4)
Gauge: 20 sts and 32 rows per 4” in stockinette on larger needles; 24-st Chart D Panel measures just under 3.5” on larger needles
Yarn: 320 (420, 500, 600)(720, 850) yards worsted weight yarn
Tools: Size 5 (3.75 mm) and size 6 (4 mm) circular needles and set of 5 DPNs in each size, stitch markers, cable needle
Notions: 4(4, 5, 5)(6, 6) 1” buttons

A couple housekeeping notes: I posted a new incentive in my Ravelry Group yesterday about project and photo sharing. Take a look here and see how you can earn yourself a freebie pattern! Also, the hat KAL is underway in the Knitting for Boys Ravelry group. There is still time to join us and get some hats underway for your crew this fall, or for upcoming holiday gifting. Prizes will be handed out as well.

I hope Wonderful Wednesday #2 suited you, if you missed the first WW release, check it out here. My thoughts and prayers go out to all the brave women I have gotten to know in the past couple of years that are Accreta Survivors or currently in the slow waiting game between diagnosis and delivery. I pray that you all will have the right care in place and the support you need.