Baby Kimono and Piping Competition

Saturday was the pipeband competition. The weather was beautiful, which is always a bonus because these events are held outside. Our band didn't do as well as we have in previous competitions this summer but we got 3rd place and prize money, so that part is good. The downside is that we were only competing against 4 bands in our grade level. In other words, we beat just one band but since it is one of our close friendly rivals, that was good. Thirs place was better than being last. I knitted a teddy bear while we were waiting between the competition and massed bands.

A piping friend just called me to ask if I could pipe at a wedding on Saturday. She is not able to do the gig due to bursitis. Since I do not have anything going on that day, I am happy to do it. I like to play funerals better than weddings because there is less pressure. At funerals people are just so happy to find a piper at a moment's notice. Brides want everything perfect and they have no idea what perfect means with piping. They want specific tunes that cannot be translated to pipes. The reason is that there are only 9 notes on pipes and a lot of embellishments. The embellishments have names like "birl", "taorluath", "doublings". The embellishments make the music interesting. One of the reasons people hear Amazing Grace so often on the pipes is that it is easily translated on our scale. It is also probably the most popular hymn and one everybody knows. For this wedding I am going to pipe the bride down the aisle and back. Then a friend will join me for the reception so he and I will play together while guests are arriving.

I finished a toddler sweater that will be a gift and will post on that later. I also knitted up the "Heartbreakingly Cute Kimono" from Mason Dixon Knitting. http://www.masondixonknitting.com/ For a baby gift this is about as easy and quick as it gets. The yarn is Bernat Cottontots 100% cotton. It was a dream to work with. These ombre yarns are seductive. They definitely entice me to "do one more row".

The kimono is a gift for a friend who is having a baby at the end of September. I have enough yarn left over to knit a hat or booties, but probably not both. I'm leaning towards booties.

This is a photo of the sweater before any sewing up is done. Interesting, isn't it?

Here it is laid out for sewing up. Two nice seams is all it needs now. The pattern calls for gros-grain ribbon ties on the side. I love garter stitch, especially for babies.