First breath of spring

A photo of the first plum blossoms.

And another bit of spring. A friend in the neighborhood is due to have a little girl this next week. Newborn size, Lorna's Laces Daffodil, US#2 long-tail co 40, US#1 14 r k2p2 rib, purl 1 r, k2p2 rib 12 r (longer if you prefer -- I wanted the foldover cuff to cover the transition), k2p2 for 26 st, m1pwbelow. Turn sock inside out. Turn work and knit tongue, k13, m1below. Turn, p14. Continue in stockinette until 17 rows from base of ribbing, ending RS. Pick up 14 st, k14. Marker at back of heel if needed. K14, pick up 14, k14 across tongue, k28 [70]. Knit around until 9 r from pu, or so. Work decreases at toe and heel every other round, with 4 st between. I did [66, 54, 42, 30] and in the round following [30] decreased the four toe and four heel stitches as ssk, k2t [26]. Graft. Easily graded up by lengthening tongue and picking up a few more stitches, and in larger sizes increase the circumference of the cuff. However, keep in mind that tiny feet really are small and often half the length is the ankle/cuff. Older tiny feet become 1/3 ankle and 2/3 tongue in length. These are 3.5" long relaxed and stretch easily (LL gives softly) to 3.75", which is the classic 0-6 month size.

I'm hoping to get something fun knit for her big brother, too. Perhaps a knitted box influenced by David Chatt's divine beadwork...
KAL swatches. Double moss filler, 18 sts/4" with US#5's and PHW, but DD and I like the hand and will probably just tweak the FLAK to suit. Still not pleased with the various cast-ons I've tried for CIT, I think because the twisted rib distorts the line. More yet to try!