This is my first completed project, and not without its problems. The pattern was rubbish - misleading in places, sections missing, and parts that made no sense whatsoever, and this from a magazine which states that a complete beginner should be able to use the free circular needle and get started with no prior knowledge. I'm just lucky that I have a wife with a degree in knitwear technology who was able to help me improvise around the inadequacies of the pattern and somehow get the thing completed! It should have had a hoodie-style pocket on the front, which I knitted up in accordance with the pattern, but it soon became apparent that it was way too small for even the tiniest pair of hands, so I unwound and started again minus the pocket. According to the measurements I was following the pattern for a 2 year old, even though I was knitting for my 7 year old. Where the neckhole splits, there was only pattern for one side, had to make up the other side as I went along.The hood doesn't fit - probably as a 7 year old's head is bigger than that of a 2 year old. I knitted up the optional sleeves only to find they didn't fit the armholes, and by this time I was ready to build a funeral pyre in the back garden, on which to throw the knitting and the magazine.
However, with my wife's help we got it finished, minus pocket and sleeves, and I am not disheartened. It was a good steep learning curve, and as a friend has just had a new baby I'm going straight into my second project...
6 comments:
Well done you!
WEll done for persevering - looks very impressive - my hubby tried to knit (if you can't beat em join em effort) and ended up with more stitches than he started with AND the scarf he was attempting was full of holes. He gave up in frustration (but at least he tried!). Your first effort looks really excellent. And altering the pattern to suit is called designing :-p
Hey congratulations on your first knit! Love the stripes.
My husband refuses flatly to even pick up the needles, so I am very impressed :)
Thanks people, nice to get some positive comments! Tutley, I agree with your altering is designing comment but a knitting pattern is like a recipe - something that a novice should be able to follow to the letter and a more experienced cook can improvise upon and hopefully improve. For this to work all the vital ingredients and processes need to be in place first, and in this case they weren't. I was lucky that I had an experienced knitter with me to help me through it, or I may well have just given up in frustration and never picked up another pair of needles. As it is, a friend having a baby spurred me straight on to my next project which I shall blog presently.
Congratulations on completing your first knitting project - your daughter looks very happy. Three cheers for teamwork, and an extra cheer for your dogged perserverance.
www.2hot2knit.blogspot.com
Brillinat :)a great first knit
One of my pet hates are badly written patterns but as you do more knitting you learn to adapt patterns to your own needs which is precisley what you have done here with a little help ; well done :)
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