I recently finished the Baby Surprise Jacket in Artyarn's Supermerino. The pattern was written by Elizabeth Zimmerman and must be one of the most popular knitting patterns of the 20th, and now 21st, century. It's knit flat with lots of increasing and decreasing and some picking up of stitches, and just when you think it's the oddest looking thing you've ever knit it becomes a jacket.
There're no sizes. Zimmerman suggests fingering weight yarn for a newborn and DK for a 1-year old. I chose the worsted weight Supermerino and knit it on a 6 instead of the usual 7. I used almost all of three skeins. My nephew is only 7 weeks old, but I'm taking it to him tonight to see how it fits.
Now that I pay more attention to babies, I know there's a broad range of sizes and growth rates, so it's hard to know what size sweaters to make. I think the next time someone I know tells me they're pregnant, I'll just pick a yarn I like and knit them a Baby Surprise Jacket. It'll surely fit at some point!
