The Magic of Color and Embellishments

 

Babies are the essential blank canvas. Their interests, personalities and preferences have yet to be decided and therefore they make the best-looking models to showcase your own fashion sense. Knitting also provides a similar backdrop, especially a piece of knitting worked in stockinette stitch. It is essentially a canvas ready to be decorated at your

Babies are the essential blank canvas. Their interests, personalities and preferences have yet to be decided and therefore they make the best-looking models to showcase your own fashion sense. Knitting also provides a similar backdrop, especially a piece of knitting worked in stockinette stitch. It is essentially a canvas ready to be decorated at your whim, as simple or as elaborate as one chooses. This onesie collection gives the knitter the best of both worlds: options to personalize a wee one’s wardrobe down to the tiniest details while giving the knitter the chance to practice their knitting skills, and expertise on a tiny canvas before branching out onto larger, more time consuming projects. 

The Importance of Color

Oftentimes color is one of the first elements that draws you into a piece, whether it be artwork, clothes or yarn. Color combinations abound, and stripes are one of the easiest ways to jazz up your knitting. The striped onesie is the perfect solution for gift-giving when you don’t know the gender of the intended recipient or you just want to offer something out of the box and away from the traditional pink/blue pastel variety. Big Bad

Wool, the yarn this collection is knit in, offers a fantastic palette for all your baby and children knitting needs. The yarn is easy to care for (either hand wash or machine wash in cold water on the gentle cycle and simply lay flat to dry) and is super colorful, offering a variety of color pairings. The striped sample piece is this collection is knit in Water and Stop, a modern color combination in the Aqua/Red family.

This particular color combination is an excellent choice if you are looking to stray from traditional baby colors and want something more modern and hip. However, if you want to go a girly-girl route, there are plenty of pinks and purples to choose from. Or, go with a seasonal theme and look for greens, blues or even a grey.

The stripes are skinny, making it easy to change colors by simply carrying the non-working yarn up the side and twisting it under the working yarn to avoid holes. The color change occurs in the back, making it less noticeable and obvious. There are many techniques that you can use to help hide the color change, or to help it blend in with your knitting (like the joggless join), but in this piece, the color change works in the pattern to make it blend in to the piece without having to work on a particular color-changing technique. 

Endearing Embellishments

Little boys look dapper in ties and bowties and all it takes is a little extra stitching to secure them. Whipstitching on an embellishment means that you have the freedom to decide how to personalize your knitting until the very last second, even after the piece is completed. It’s super easy to pick a color you like in order to knit the body of the onesie and then decide on an embellishment and color later on down the road. This also lends itself to an opportunity for picking a color palette of your choosing and then customizing when appropriate. The body of the onesie can be knit in a base color of your liking and then the embellishment of your choice can be added in any matching color at a later time. Are ties not your thing? There are plenty of options out there for other things to add to the front of your onesie (or even a plain stockinette sweater you’ve knit for a youngster or someone young at heart). Find a flat pattern and adapt the knitting to fit on your particular canvas. The possibilities for personalization are as endless as your imagination (and then some). 

Details, details!

Little details make a huge difference in the overall appearance of the finished piece. The

Necklace Onesie for girls takes the pattern one step further by placing a ruffle along the leg edges. If you wanted to add the ruffle to your striped onesie, that would work as well, especially if you worked it up in bolder colors and then added a more girly element to the finished piece in a ruffle. It’s a simple way to add just a touch of something without much struggle.

The necklace is made out of simple bobbles that are sewn together and then sewn on to the finished, blocked piece. Again, you could be creative and sew the bobbles together to make your own designs or shapes. How about a double strand of pearls or a fish made out of bobbles blowing bubbles? Baby pieces are so easy to experiment on because they are so much tinier than their adult counterparts, and when you have to rip back to correct something, it doesn’t seem to matter much as you are quickly finished anyways.

I encourage you to use this opportunity to explore your knitting skills and to branch out and try new things. At the worst, you’ll have a box of items for all your baby shower gifting needs (which will be much more appreciated than another pack of receiving blankets) and at the best, not only will you be known for the most creative gifts, but your knitting skills will double and you will go on to successfully personalize your own knits that everyone will admire.