Just like Father's; Part III, Wee Jumper

The sleeves are a little different to the body but it still a fine warm spring jumper for running in the park!

Just like Father's; Part II, Wee tank top

There is a special kind of brainstorm that pushes this knitter along mightily, that is when I'm not sure if I will have enough yarn for a project. As I knit toward an estimated target my heart races and the pace of needle clicking creeps up. A feeling creeps up from behind even faster than that, that I haven't enough to finish. The longer I carry on hoping the more adrenaline swills about and I fly along the rows knowing it may be in vain.

Today I hadn't enough and the truth dawned on me, slowly grinding my industry to a halt. By halfway up the sleeve of the wee jumper I got the sinking feeling strongly. I took the piece to the kitchen scales and balanced the sleeve against the yarn I had left. So I knew for sure, not enough yarn for two long sleeves. There is no more of this yarn, what I have is not enough. I frogged half a days knitting and return to the planning zone. David assures me that men don't wear short sleeved jumpers so let's see...a vest? 

Most guys are not the right age to carry it off, see http://sadetsyboyfriends.tumblr.com/

I'm going to join the side and shoulder seams, then put a 1x1 rib around the armholes to pull in some of the dropped shoulder fabric snugly to his oxters. What is left of the wool can make a matching husky collar to keep the wind out. The deep moss ribbing will make a smashing insulating body warmer for winter trips. No sleeves mean the thing will stay dry when the boy guddles in water.  *sigh*

Next task, sewing in a squillion joins between all those frayed ends to prevent further wasted effort. It only takes one hole to wreck a fabric. I'll have to put more thought into which joining method to use for each project. Some fabrics can take knitting in of a new length of yarn (knitting a few stitches with the end of the first thread and the start of the next), but sheer finishes like stocking stitch or symmetrical motifs like ribs could look lumpy. Mary Thomas gives a method of grafting in one of her books that I should try where you cut half of the strands from a few inches shy of each end of yarn and knit with the two other halves twisted together, for a few stitches. For this vest I 'll use a reef knot and a needle for weaving.

This knitter neatly avoids an uncomfortable knot in a sock.

Adage for the day; I knit because I like it, so I will not care about time wasting mistakes.

Check it out: http://stitchesofviolet.blogspot.com/2008_03_01_archive.html sock wool grafting, 8th March.

Fish 'n' Chips Babies

Fish ‘n’ Chips Babies need you
Newborn babies, many suffering from AIDS are being called ‘Fish ‘n’ Chip Babies because many are sent home wrapped in newspaper for warmth- They need your help.
In order to assist these tiny babies we are asking you to knit a small jumper which will* be sent to Africa to keep tiny children warm. Average knitters can finish a jumper in an evening- It’s an easy pattern.
Special Instructions: NO BABY PASTELS OR WHITE as these may never be washed. Bright colours are best or a mixture of stripes.

Baby knitted jumper
Double knitting wool (8ply)
Size 6 (5mm) needles for tight knitters
size7 (4.5mm) needles for loose knitters
Cast on 44 stitches
Work 18 rows in K2 P2 rib
Work 30 rows in stocking stitch
Cast on 12 more stitches at the beginning of the next two rows and change to K2 P2 rib for sleeves
Rib 22 more rows
Next row: rib21, cast off 26 stitches, rib 21 stitches
Next row: Rib21, cast on 26 stitches, rib 21 stitches
Work 22 rows in K2, P2 rib
Cast off 12 stitches at the beginning of the next two rows
Work 30 rows stocking stitch
Work 18 rows K2, P2 rib.
Cast off

This pattern apparently circulates informally among charitable knitters in the UK. I hope they won't mind me publishing it here but I want to share it.
Read all about it at Knit-a-square here; http://www.knit-a-square.com/easy-knitting-pattern.html


Read more about this inspirational idea at http://www.stuff.co.nz/southland-times/news/4513132/Friends-knitting-for-babies

Blue Floyd, Nautiloid

My friend Claire found this great pattern by Beth Skwarecki while looking for trilobite designs. It's really good fun to try out a novel thing like this spiral knitting so I launched into paleo-knitting. A cornucopia of Cephalopod fun then began with Blue Floyd the Nautiloid and Yellow Floyd. Just *giggle* no pink or any kind of skin tone for the uncircumcised outer shell, and especially no livid purple or crimson faces....! 

I like to knit loosely so started on 2.75 mm dpns; less wear and tear on finger joints in the long run I think. This made a nice tight fabric for a firm stuffing with no stuffing showing through. I chose 3.5mm needles for  Noro Silk Garden chunky, and made another bigger species Big Lloyd. I'm not sure the rough texture is authentically nautiloid, but they make cute multicoloured toys and you never know with fossils what the things looked like. That got me thinking about all the Molluscs I knew and Cephalopods; slugs snails squid octopuses and all the coiled shells and fossil species. I knitted some trilobites (from another of Beth's patterns) for them to eat and so began the weird feeling of a diorama coming on... but that's another story.

Nautilus catching a crab

I used very little stuffing compared to the shell part or the head of Beth's Nautie and so the head was not round. 6 stitches were picked up onto each of 3 dpns from the fourth row of purl heads from the cast off edge of the shell rather than knitting a separate face. I think the yarn I used for the head is a wee bit thinner than that used for the shells and so the head began to look like a squid. Instead of sewing up the last six stitches I split them and worked the first two I-cord tentacles. 

Blue Floyd and Yellow Floyd without eyes

I arranged the tentacles in a ring surrounding a fluffy beak made of cut ends from the beginning of the I-cord. While knitting the tentacles I picked three stitches onto a needle, knit one row, knit the first stitch of the next row then knit the next two stitches and the first stitch of the third row with both the yarn and the tail. This makes a basal bulb like the attachment of a swimming limb out of three fat stitches. It also secures the tail. The ends are each threaded onto a needle, pushed into the stuffing and then pulled out at the same central spot and snipped.

The eyes are a challenge, perhaps googly eyes?  

squid eye

octopus eye

I could  make some more unusual eyes as these are underwater hunters and there were many many species back in the day. Modern Nautiloids have a pin-hole camera type eye.

nautilus eye

ammonite maw

Maybe eyes on tentacles? 

Instead of M1 in one round, then coil the shell in the next, I just picked up a stitch from under both legs of a shell stitch each time, doing my curl and increase at the same time. The four rounds then make an easy satisfying rhythm;  knit stuff, knit knit, knit curl and out comes this beautiful Fibonacci shape A. Perhaps I could curl around a bit further for a more ammonite shape B, but the outside may need more stitches than the inside; that might make for lumpy coiling. Short rows would spoil the long spiral lines of the piece. A raised slip-stitch on the outside of the shell or a vertical cable motif could give an ammonite style central ridge pattern so long as I can keep the column dead centre by increasing in pairs either side of the midline. 

A. Fibonacci Nautiloid B. Coil Ammonite.

 

Will this improve the whole effect or is that faint diagonal caused by the increase cute? I don't think I'll go as far as using Fair-Isle stranding to make those fabulous suture patterns, even the stripy colour changes given in the pattern were a bit fiddly for me in 3 stitch I-cord. 

Check it out; Nautie the Nautiloid  http://knitty.com/ISSUEspring06/PATTnautie.html 

                     The Crochet Reef  http://www.ted.com/talks/margaret_wertheim_crochets_the_coral_reef.html

Everything about trilobites http://www.trilobites.info/
Knitting Cephalopods etc http://www.threadbanger.com/post/15834/weekly-diy-roundup-knit-and-crochet-cephalopods-and-tentacles

Just like Father's; Part I, Wee Jumper

 This looks like a nice pattern for a jolly wee jumper, big ribs and dropped sleeves...easy and relaxing?
 Hmm a husky collar. Could it be done with these 6 1/2 oz of frogged wool from the thrift shop? It says 7oz...Oooh...sky blue with a fluffy white garter stitch collar if there's not enough? Yes let's try.

 This is a beautiful old fashioned reversible fabric in what I’m calling a deep moss rib, that is one column of purl stitches, one of garter stitch then one of knit stitches. It has a lovely calming purl knit knit rhythm on both sides making a vertical ‘seed stitch and ribbing’ which stretches width wise for a snug jumper.
 This recycled wool is lovely and soft and the kink in the yarn looks ‘nice barmy’, that is all waffly and cosy with the ribbing.
BUT 
Sadly when ripping this back really carefully and neatly, it’s last owner tied wee knots over most of the worn bits I didn’t know about… I will have zillions of ends to weave in as I keep having to knot the yarn for a few inches over another bald patch. ! had to throw away a beautiful cabled sweater once because I had to try felting the wool for a join in my palms didn't I. It was great fun but the joins could not take the strain of the cable panel and I ended up watching those ladders run……
Adage for today, always tidy up loose ends and joins carefully.

Check it out; Deep Moss Ribbing; really scrunchy.
Cast on a multiple of 3 stitches,
#1 (P1,K2)
#2 (K2,P1)
Front finished very quickly but I can't count or something as the shoulders seem different heights... Must froggit and balance them up before doing the back and sleeves. So I'm having a wee break to knit a nautiloid or two.

viewed 0 times