Blue Toddler Jacket with wooden buttons

For some reason I thought making this jacket would be easy, as I was using the basic hexagon jacket principle. But it turns out the hexagon shape is not well suited to a one year old and I had to alter the pattern to fit. This is one of a pair of jackets I've been planning to make for a while now, to give to two babies whose birthdays fall on the same day, this Saturday. Here's a link to this project on Ravelry, which has a link to the blog that explains the pattern.

blue toddler jacket with wooden buttons

There was a moment when I thought these just weren't going to work. But it was a puzzle that needed solving, and I kept at it until I worked it out. At one point I was planning to make this one a double breasted jacket, with one side much wider than the other so it overlapped. Perhaps it could have two rows of buttons, I thought. At that time, I was also thinking to make this a two-toned jacket, with one side blue and the other green. Luckily my husband's opinion proved useful and honest, as he told me the two colours and the uneven shape 'looked funny'. This was just the kind of honest opinion I needed, so I pulled it apart and made it even, and all blue.

jacket in progress, working out a pattern

By the time I had two even sides both in blue, I was planning to finish with a green edge. I had coffee with my friends Tanya and Hazel yesterday, and they didn't like that idea, Hazel said because the green I had was not quite the right shade. So it was going to be all blue! Then we went to Lincraft and picked out some buttons.

I just hope this jacket fits nicely and ends up getting used. I used 8ply wool from the Bendigo Woollen Mill with a 5mm hook. It took me hours spread over the week while I fiddled around with it to work out the pattern, but if I was to make another one, now I know what I'm doing, my guess is it would take me about 3 or 4 hours. Maybe I will make a green one the same for Thomas?