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There’s been a lot of knitting but not much posting about it recently. I have been distracted by the ease with which images are shared on Instagram. Fortunately, I have been reading some blogs which is how I came to be the lucky winner in knitthellout’s 600th post! The celebratory giveaway was for one of her patterns plus a skein of Bulletproof Sock by Sweet Georgia Yarns. Cassy’s just released a new sock pattern, Chevrolicious, which had come up in my Ravelry highlights feed, in this yarn. It looks like such a perfect combination that I chose this pattern and I’m more than delighted to have won! What a lovely surprise for a Sunday morning.
Sunday continued well. We’ve been having a bit of a non-winter here in Sydney. The weather’s been lovely, spring is certainly (almost) here. I’ve just finished this jumper and wore it out yesterday into the Botanic Gardens. Sitting out of the sun I was glad of its warmth. I’m really pleased with the amount of ease. It has just the right amount of casual sloppiness to it.
It’s After the Rain by Heidi Kirrmaier, knitted top-down in the round. The stripes are 6-round stripes and the shaping happens every 9 or 12 rounds which really makes counting easy. I knitted a lot of this while watching the Olympics.
There’s some waist shaping which really stops a loose-fitting jumper from becoming just a baggy sack.
I struggled a bit with my colour changes. I tried jogless stripes by picking up the first stitch from the round below when I was on the second round but it looked a bit bulky. In the end when I started a new stripe, I pulled the last stitch tight from that colour below so that it almost disappeared and then knitted the new stripe.
I also tried to tighten up the SSK, left-leaning decreases too. I can never get these to be as neat as their right-leaning counterparts.
Otherwise, I’m really happy with this jumper. The shaping and fit are good and I’d definitely use the pattern again.
The first item to be knitted was a white cardigan. White cardigans may not be very practical but doesn’t every newborn need a white cardigan? I think so. I chose a traditional classy looking cardigan, a French design, but just to be on the safe side knitted the 3 months size rather than newborn. This cardigan was knitted in Patons Australia Big Baby 4-ply, a very soft machine-washable blend of acrylic and nylon.
After that I made a red jumper. Red is good for boys and girls. The pattern I chose is actually labelled as being ‘boys’ sweaters and vest’ but I think textured sweaters are unisex. The pattern is a Sirdar one (there are lots of Sirdar paper patterns available as PDFs on Patternfish) and as such, traditionally written: knitted in pieces and seamed. I didn’t fancy seaming such a little knit in Dk/8-ply weight so I knitted in the round to the armholes then to and fro for the front and back. I did a three-needle-bind-off for the seamed shoulder and finished the one with button flaps as in the pattern. I picked up stitches around the armholes for the sleeves and worked short rows for the sleeve caps. For this jumper I used Australian machine washable wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills. It’s lovely and soft, quite plump, perhaps slightly thicker than many 8-ply / DK yarns.
The third garment I made (well small clothes are just so lovely to knit) was a stripey cardigan in green and white. I used more of the Patons Australia Big Baby, holding the yarn double to replicate DK thickness. Strangely enough, the DK version of this yarn is not nearly as soft as the 4-ply. Once again I didn’t follow the pattern exactly. I didn’t slip the edge stitches as I prefer picking up stitches for button bands in the ratio of 3 for 4 stitches. To turn the cardigan into an outfit I also made a striped hat but with thinner stripes.
I seem to have a thing about stripes. I was taken with Jenjoyce Design’s 
Here are the knitterly details. This pattern is well written. I’d never done an i-cord cast on before but the pattern includes clear instructions for this as well as the matching i-cord cast off. I don’t appreciate having to go to the internet for links to any unfamiliar techniques. if I’m sitting down with my knitting, I’d like to knit! The pattern also indicates where to include additional stripes or knit fewer to adjust the length. I did in fact knit the extra stripes suggested for a longer body. This top is knit from 4-ply/fingering weight yarn on slightly larger needles, which makes for a lightweight spring and summer garment.
Three weeks and three days after my second cast on (yes, there were hurdles right from the start!) I finished. I have never knitted a jumper this quickly before. I probably shouldn’t ever attempt to do it again either!
