Inspiration Redux

A business partner and his wife recently had a baby boy. They brought him by the office and The Spouse got a chance to hold him and oooh and ahh like people tend to do. He also picked that time to pimp out my knitting skills. :)



The blue yarns have been in the back of my mind for years now. They were originally wound together with a green with the intent of being turned into a mermaid tale. When that failed to pan out the way I wanted it went back into the closet.



Every time a toy needs to be made or a boy is born I go back to this yarn. Every time something watery floats into my mind I think of this yarn. It needed to be used so I unwound the ball (what a mess!) and started on some shorties.



The waistband started off in the green but it didn't look so nice on it's own. It was complimented so much in the ball but not so much otherwise. Taking it out also tweaked my plans of stripes. I didn't have enough of the lighter blue to pull it off.

This is where Inspiration Redux hit. The blues are very much water colors (if you get your water from a box of Crayola). As I knit I knew something nautical was in the mix. Not knowing what exactly made it so that the design would need to be duplicate stitched on. Hard to chart a design when that design is lacking. :)



I considered fish and whales mostly. I took them to Knitting Night on Thursday and got the opinions of others. Someone suggested a sailboat and the idea stuck. I wanted some fish in there under the waves but in the end I, and everyone else, decided it looked best on it's own.



I stuck an anchor on front to add a bit more cutesy factor to them. I'm rather pleased with how these turned out. I hope the intended people like them as much as I do.

Stats:
Pattern: Picky Pants- Shorts
Yarn: Random Acrylic- dark blue, turquoise, black, burgandy, and offwhite
Needles: 7's for the waist, 8's for the body
Smaller details: 2x2 waistband, twisted drawstring (more rope like and more fitting for the nautical theme), garter stitch cuff, 2 1/4 inch inseam (not sure where the 1/4 came from).

This was definitely a project where I had set out with my own ideas and had the yarn completely change them. Surely I can't be the only one. Leave a comment and tell me about a time when Inspiration became Inspiration Redux for you.