KNITTINGDAD

moblog

2007-08-27T07:44:00.001-07:00

2ND COMPLETION

2007-05-06T17:43:00.000-07:00

A jumper for Billy, new son of our friends Steve and Ruth in Crewe. I started knitting on the day he was born and he's now a little over 3 weeks, so let's hope it fits him! I enjoyed knitting this and only went wrong twice (coincidentally in roughly the same place on each sleeve) - in retrospect I would have picked something with a more varied pattern, this got a bit monotonous towards the end, but I'm happy with how it looks. Had problems sewing the parts together - I think my edges are a bit ragged, and it's impossible to see what the sewing looks like from the inside.

PROUD DAUGHTER

2007-04-21T02:23:00.000-07:00

Jasmine asked if she could wear it to school as soon as it was finished. Fortunately it just fits her! I deliberately chose a unisex design so it can be passed down through the ranks. I couldn't have persevered if I was knitting something that wasn't going to be worn or used, it's the whole point. My Mam spent most of her life knitting, and I think I'm just carrying on the tradition. She did try teaching me to knit once, but gave up saying that I'd never have the required patience. Personally, I think that was a coverup for the fact that she didn't have the patience to teach me!

FIRST COMPLETED KNIT

2007-04-14T02:55:00.000-07:00

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...