Big Digger

November 2013

I was bought this pattern book last Christmas, so I thought it was about time to make something from it!

This sweater was the main reason I asked Santa for the book - our surname is Digwood, and so we get nicknamed "Diggers" fairly often. And my son is properly obsessed with diggers just at the moment, in the way only a toddler knows how. In fact sometimes we go down to a nearby building site to watch the diggers working on some new houses. Often, they flash their lights at him (at least, I think it's him they're flashing at, and not me…)

Anyway, given my new-found familiarity with construction vehicles, I can confidently testify that they are usually yellow, not the red used in the original pattern. This would bug me, hence my choice of colours. I also worked the yoke stripes in garter stitch, and added a button to the neckline. Even so, using an ordinary cast off left me a neckline too narrow to fit over his massive head, but ripping back and using a decrease cast off instead fixed that.

There's a lot of finishing with this one - it's knitted flat, so needs seaming and then some of the detail is embroidered on. I roped my Mum in to doing the embroidery for me, although George couldn't resist picking at the French knots when he first wore this, and so it's gone to her house for a little holiday while they get sewn down more securely.

Reading up on ravelry about this made me think it would be sensible to add length and loose some width, so I did. I'll try to remember to come back to post my finished measurements when I get the jumper back, but I'm pretty happy with the way it fits at the moment, and I think it will probably last through winter 2013/14.

George seems quite happy with it too. He's getting a bit picky about his clothes, but this is a hit so far. Also, I love this picture, because to me it looks as if he's got his fingers crossed because he's hoping the digger might come to life or something!

Pattern: Big Digger by Lucinda Guy from Handknits for Kids
Yarn: Hayfield Bonus dk / Patons fab dk
Colour: 971 Navy and 0838 Grey / 2305 Yellow and 962 White
Amount: 1.5 skeins of navy and less than one skein of the other colours
On ravelry: here

Winterberry

November 2013

A very good friend of mine is due to have a baby in December. Having had a November baby myself, it brought back to me how chilly, dark and lonely some of those night-time feeds seemed. And so I have made her this, to warm her up and to remind her that I will be thinking of her. 

I've never made a project which I coveted to this extent. My photos can't quite capture quite what a pretty, neat, satisfying object this is, but it was all I could do to stop myself from casting on another one immediately to keep.

One reason this works so well is that the yarn and the hot water bottle are a similar colour (you can just about see the top of the hot water bottle peeking out in the picture below). Had they been different, I think it would probably have shown through. For my own future reference, I found an excellent place to buy rubber and non-rubber hot water bottles of all colours here.

A grey one along similar lines but with the spider chart from here might work well, if I ever get around to making something like this for my sister, so watch this space.

Pattern: Winterberry by gluecksfisch from gluecksfisch.com
Yarn: Cascade 220
Colour: 9568
Amount: Less than one skein
On ravelry: here

Sourpatch

November 2013

This Christmas I'm making presents for a brother and sister for whom I have never knitted before. For him, there is Daniel's pirate mashup, and that turned out far better than I had ever expected. I almost felt like it was an impossible act to follow, but all the same I'm quite pleased which this Sourpatch, for her.

This was designed to be made from cotton, and worn as a summer top, but I think it would be equally useful in the winter with a long sleeved top underneath, and besides, I'm trying to run down the acrylic side of my stash, so that is what I used.

It was a very quick and satisfying project with virtually no finishing, and a freebie pattern, which is always nice. The only modification I made was to omit the increase round after the yoke was finished. The recipient is quite a small girl, and it would have come out much too big otherwise.

Pattern: Sourpatch by Corrina Fergusonrom from Petite Purls, Issue 5 Summer 2010
Yarn: Hayfield Bonus dk, King Cole Big Value dk and Patons Fab dk
Colour: 884 (purple), 11 (green), 2358 Iris (blue), 2305 (yellow) and 2323 (red)
Amount: Less than one skein of each
On ravelry: here

Frost on Leaves

October 2013

Hats are so difficult to photograph!

Test knit for Midori Hirose via the Testing Pool group, which was a great excuse to make something for myself and yet feel like I wasn't being entirely selfish at the same time. I often seem to miss out on any patterns up for testing which appeal to me, so I was very pleased to be able to have a go at this one.

Beautiful pattern, and great fun to knit. This is made using two colour brioche stitch. I hadn't tried brioche stitch before, but you soon get the hang of it. It's not a difficult pattern, it just takes a little while to work out what's going on.

I spent ages trying to decide which two of the 6 shades of felted tweed in my stash to use. These seemed most in fitting with the idea of frost on leaves though.

If I make this again, I might think about going down a needle size, as my brioche was quite loose, and the cap would also look great a little bit smaller. I think I'll still get a lot of wear out of this version, though! I just need to figure out how to make myself some matching mittens. Maybe I could adapt these...

I'm keeping the link from the original testing thread here because it had a couple of useful links and tips regarding some of the techniques used in this pattern.

Pattern: Frost on Leaves by Midori Hirose / Cake Knit Midori
Yarn: Rowan Felted Tweed dk
Colour: 165 Scree (Pale Blue) and 133 Midnight (Dark Blue)
Amount: Less than one skein of each
On ravelry: here