Baby Tulip Cardigan

I have been hard at work on this new knitting pattern, which I am calling Baby Tulip Cardigan. It has taken a lot of thought, and knitting. Cardigans just seem the best sort of garment for a baby, with none of that squeezing over the head of a jumper. The tulips are smaller than those on my Tulip Hat, but knitted in a very similar way. Each flower uses two separate lengths of yarn - one for the leaves and one for the flower, which are not carried between the flowers on the reverse of the work. I love the look of the raised flowers, but put them only on the front of the cardigan, as I felt they might be a bit bumpy on the back for a lying or sitting baby.

The pattern comes with instructions for four sizes (0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months and 9-12 months). I have written sized patterns before, but this one was slightly more complicated, as the flowers had to be placed on each version. (The pattern contains a lot of brackets, and I hope will be fairly straightforward to follow.)

 

 

I have knitted Size 1, 2 and 4 - each one in a different DK wool that I had in my stash. Some of the places where I sell suggest that you will do better by recommending a specific brand of yarn, but I thought knitting with different yarns was a good way to test the pattern. The cardigan only takes 70g to 120g of main shade wool, depending on the size you knit, plus small amounts for the flowers, so it really is a good way to use up some yarn left over from another project. I used Stylecraft Sweet Dreams for Size 1, some North Ronaldsay DK for Size 2, and some Rowan Designer DK which I think came from my sister for Size 4. (Just looked this up, and apparantly it was discontinued in the 1980's, so that has been in my stash for a while!)

 

I like them all, and am rather fond of Size 4 - with each flower being a different colour, and the different coloured buttons at the front. Spent a lot of time in a haberdashery picking these out.

  

 

 

But what now to do with all these baby garments. I don't seem to know anyone with a baby, so apart from no baby models, I have ended up putting my samples in my Etsy Shop, along with my sample Tulip Hats.

The pattern is available on Ravelry, Etsy and LoveKnitting.

My resolve was to design more knitting this year, although I have been a little distracted by printing, walking, and now the gardening year is beginning! I have quite a few more ideas brewing, so time to start my next design.

Baby Car Cardigan and Hat

 

I have been making a cardigan and hat for one of my workmates, who is expecting a baby with his partner in October. He loves cars, so I decided to add a bit to this cardigan and hat set. The pattern I used is on Ravely as Cardigan and Pompom Hat by Sirdar.

I did find the pattern a little confusing, as the front sections are cast off, and then stitches are picked up, and a yoke is knitted. It does seem it would have been better to have put the stitches on holders, as done for the back and arms. If I knit again this is what I would do.

 

I enjoyed adding the car, which my daughter helped me design with a grid. We have gone for sporty (with a fin), but not racing car. The wheels are embroidered on afterwards with two rings of chain stitch, as I thought it would be easier to make good circles this way. Wish the car on the back was a bit higher up. I also added a checkered flag to the rib on the hat, and sort of wish I had done this to the cardigan as well. Too late now. The wool I used is some lovely soft merino in DK from Blacker Yarns, and oddments for the cars. I had fun looking for car buttons, which I found on Etsy. 

Although the baby is not due for a week or two I think I am pretty safe posting these pictures, as I am sure he does not spend the weekends looking a craft blogs.

 

Ridgeway Gansey Cardigan and Hoveton Sweater

 

Last time my daughter was home I managed to persuade her to do some modelling for two new patterns and project kits, which are now available from my work at Blacker Yarns. She really liked both garments, and I had to explain to her that they had to go back to work. Both are designed by Rita Taylor, and you can find other designs by her on Ravelry and Lovecrafts. You can follow links to The Ridgeway Gansey Cardigan, and the Hoveton Sweater to find the project kits at Blacker Yarns. What I think appeals about both patterns is that there is some fancy work, but also a bit of straight stocking stitch. Best of both worlds!

 

Granny Square Cardigan

Finally the granny square jacket for my daughter is made, and she has left for her course studying fashion in Brighton. I wrote previously about when I started making the squares for the granny chique look. It was a close thing getting it finished, with me running in ends up to the night before she left. Will it get worn? I'm not sure, although she is planning to join the surf club, and I can imagine her sitting on the beach in it after a swim. I would really quite like one for myself, maybe in more muted colours, but will take a break from crochet for a while.

It really did take a lot of work making it. I had the idea to try and make the squares look a bit like a stained glass window, but after joining a few by just sewing together with black wool, I realised that they really needed a black crochet edge. Also that gave it a much baggier look. The sleeves, neck and button bands, and bottom rib are knitted. My crochet skills really weren't up to improvising those parts. 

So feeling a bit sad at the moment, but hoping she will have lots of exciting times.

Quiet Moments Cardigan

You may have noticed a lack of knitting posts, which is because I have been making myself a cardigan. Made from Quiet Moments Jacket from Drops Design, and I used Drops Flora wool (colour 04). I have used this wool before, and it is a mix of alpaca and wool. It was bought from Woolwarehouse, and was very reasonable.

I am a slow knitter, so this has really taken me a while. It is knitted from the top down, and I had three starts on the yoke. I nearly gave up, but then my husband spurred me on, by saying how can you not be able to knit something when you design your own pattern. So I gave it another go, and although I know there are one or two faults if you look closely, the leafs around the top is my favourite part of the pattern.

I didn't completely follow the pattern when it came to the cuffs, and ribbing.  The pattern has a tapered wider cuff, but I thought these would be a bit annoying. Once I started the cuffs I realised I had to make them quite deep for the arms to be long enough, so then decided to make the ribbing around the bottom the same depth. So the cardigan is much longer than on the pattern, but I like a bottom warmer. 

The only thing that I didn't like on this pattern was that for some of the increases and decreases, it just says increase x amount of stitches evenly across your row.  I can see this is simpler for the pattern writer when you have different sizes, but I didn't like having to do the sums, and then decide what to do if it didn't work out exactly. Too much maths!

 

I still only used 6 x 50g balls of wool, which is 50g less than the pattern recommends, despite it being so much longer. Can't work out why, but perhaps a leafy hat is in order for my 2 leftover balls of wool.

Still lots of time to join in Ginx Woolly Linx Party for May.

 

Windy Day Baby Cardigan

 

One more photo of the latest version of my Windy Day Baby Cardigan. This cardigan was for my colleague's grandaughter, who is now back at home after some time in hospital. Looking pretty as a picture.

There are more details of the wool I used and a link to the pattern here.

Back in London now, and at my job in school. Pleased that I am booked for the vaccine tomorrow.

 

Just a reminder that there is still loads of time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for March. I would love to see what you have been working on.

 

Windy Day Cardigan - Baby Marble

I have been busy making just one more Windy Day Baby Cardigan from my new pattern. I am so pleased with how this one has turned out. It is in the largest size, 6-9 months. The wool is James C. Brett Baby Marble DK. It was fun to knit and see the colours change, and I think because the pattern is all garter stitch and fairly plain, it suits a pretty wool like this. I am very much looking forward to giving this cardigan to its new owner soon.

And just to mention the buttons, which are the reason it has taken me so long to get this cardigan to the finish. They are some more of my homemade applewood buttons. I am going to try and do some real close up photos in a separate post, but these buttons will be in a new section of my Etsy shop soon.

 

Just a reminder that there is still loads of time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for March. I would love to see what you have been working on.

 

 

 
 

Windy Day Baby Cardigan

 

I've been hinting for a little while that I've been working on a garment, and I am at last ready to publish my new baby cardigan pattern. For quite a while I had the idea to knit a cardigan in just one piece, really with the idea of minimising the sewing up, which a lot of people seem to really hate.

 

It has taken quite a while to get this pattern done, but it finally written up in 3 sizes (0-3 months, 3-6 months, and 6-9 months). I really wanted to write my pattern this time with the instructions for each size in brackets, but some how I couldn't manage this, so each size is written out separately, so you get a lot of pages in your pattern. The other complication is that the wrap over is different for boy/girl. Instead of writing these out separately, which would have made the pattern even longer, there are instructions for shaping, and at the end of each size instructions on which rows to make your buttonholes for either a boy or girl.

For some of my test knits I was in London, with my button supplies, but for the one above I had the added problem of no buttons available. When you can only go out for essential shopping, it does make you wonder about the definition of essential. So with a bit of help from my husband the buttons you can see above were handmade from some applewood. I am in the process of making some more of these for my shop, and will write about this more in another post.

Knitted in Rico Baby Classic dk Light Grey

 

You could knit this cardigan with any double knit wool, but I would recommend using Rico Baby Classic dk, or James C. Brett Baby Marble. I have almost finished another cardigan in the second wool, and will post a few pictures in a day or so. 

On some of my samples I have added a bit of embroidery on the neckline. This isn't included in the pattern, but there are tips on my blog on how to use some simple embroidery stitches on your knitting.

So the pattern for the Windy Day Baby Cardigan will be available on ravelry, Etsy and LoveKnitting later today. Fortunately a have had quite a few baby births among my friends and family, so all these cardigans have found homes. 

 

Just a reminder that there is still plenty of time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for February. I would love to see what you have been working on.

 
 

 

Christmas Cardigan

I have a bit of catching up to do, and can finally show the project that I have been working on for some time. I had some light grey wool left over from my son's cardigan, which I made last year, so decided to knit a very similar cardigan for my husband. So I bought some more darker grey Aran-weight Drops Alaska, and here he is modelling his present. He is standing outside our rather ramshackle, but very beautiful barn.

The pattern I used was call "The Boyfriend Cardigan" by Erica Knight, bought from John Lewis. It is actually a woman's cardigan pattern, but I reversed the bands. I kniited one size bigger than the cardigan made for my son. 

But I now have a bit of the dark grey left over. Should I use that for stripes on another cardigan. This could just go on and on ..... 

Just a reminder that there is still a little bit of time left to join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for January. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month.

Cardigan ... Finished at Last

I thought about calling this post "The Reluctant Model", as you can probably tell that my son was not over keen to have me take his photograph. Although he has said I can post them on my blog. (Mind you, I am usually not very keen on having my own photograph taken, so I do know how he feels.)

I prefer the photographs taken above, even though they don't show the cardigan very well. I knew if I started faffing about the cardigan I might lose my model completely, so here are some taken outside, which show the garment off better. 

I'm rather pleased with my improvised stripes on the sleeves, although in the end I had wool left over. So I didn't need to do them, but I think they have added something to the garment - the college preppy look.

The pattern I used was call "The Boyfriend Cardigan" by Erica Knight, bought from John Lewis. It is actually a woman's cardigan pattern, but I reversed the bands. It fits my son very well, as he is tall but very skinny. The grey Aran-weight wool is Drops Alaska and was bought online from Wool Warehouse. It seemed good value for 100% wool at £1.80 for a 50g ball, and by clicking about a bit I managed to find a discount code. (I bought 18 balls, but have 2 left over.) 

I was tempted into buying some sock wool, as spending over £30 put me into free postage. So expect some more family knitting here soon.  

I'm also rather pleased with how the toggles look, instead of buttons, bought from Fabricland.

I know this is not great, but it did capture the feel of most of the photos that I took but haven't used.

Just a reminder that there is still plenty of time join in my Ginx Woolly Linx party for January. Click on the photo above or at the top of the page to find the party. I would love to see what you have been working on this month

"A Christmas Pickle"

Has anyone else got themselves in a Christmas knitting pickle. Taken on too much, and not got it done in time. I've mentioned a few times that I'm knitting a garment, which is in fact a cardigan for my son. It's taken a bit of planning, as he doesn't like anything too flamboyant. I am not completely sure he will wear it. I know that handknitted cardigans are probably not the coolest thing, but he might, as he is not particularly into fashion. 

So I am in a pickle in two ways. Firstly, as you can see, it will not be done for Christmas. The back and two fronts are done, but I am still on the sleeves. Second problem is that I think I am not going to have enough wool. So I have decided to try and solve this problem in two ways. I'm knitting both arms at the same time, and the new plan is to have some stripes of other colours around the elbows. (Does anyone knit arms like this? I have heard that some people knit socks this way.) He is at university, and perhaps this will give him a preppy look. I think this might work out, but will keep you updated, and perhaps eventually I can get my son to model the finished garment. Not sure he will, as he is a shy young man.

And I just thought I would finish off with a few of the knitted ornament that are on my tree this year, made from my own patterns. Christmas Tree, Sand Dollar and Scallop Shell.  

These come out every year, but I may have to think of a few more ideas for next year, as the dog had a bit of a session on some of my other decorations. These are the broken ones on her bed. She had got some knitted ones off the tree, but they seem to have survived. So perhaps she is the "Christmas Pickle"!

Happy Christmas to you all!