I’m sure I’ve been knitting a lot more again recently, but somehow I keep managing to forget to take photos of things, and though I’ve continued reading various blogs, I’ve not had much inclination towards actually writing anything. Actually, that also has a lot to do with life being very busy (though, when is it not!?) at the moment with rehearsals and kids and househunting (and all the stress wrapped up in that) etc. I knew that buying/selling/moving house is reckoned to be one of the most stressful things you can go through in life. Our first house purchase was fairly straightforward, but this move just seems ridiculously stressful and uncertain, and beset by problems of all types, and we haven’t even got to the packing stage yet!
April seems to have turned into birthday central in the last couple of years. My youngest Pickle, my niece and my mum, as well as various friends and children of friends all seem to have their birthdays within just a few days of each other. My niece requested some clothes for her doll, so when I mooted the idea of knitting a little something, my mum helpfully provided me with a bag full of assorted yarn and knitting needles while I was staying with her during the holidays. Fortunately I had my preferred circulars with me, so I had a go at winging it on a little jumper, inspired my a doll’s cardigan my mum found for me. Unfortunately, my estimation for how big to make the neck hole was a little off (dolls have BIG heads!) and I got rather frustrated and I left off before making sleeves for it, instead making it into a little tank top type thing with button down shoulders. It was more than a little dodgy, but hey, button practise is good for kids, so mum claimed it for use by her childcare children.
On returning home, I got a little more accurate information on the size of the doll, and then rooted around Ravelry for a suitable pattern, which turned out very much better! Apologies for the terrible quality phone-photo, but it turned out rather sweet.
Pattern: Sweater from Snickerdoodle by Kristen Rettig
The pattern was good and easy to follow. I made the mistake of slipping stitches at the start of rows for the first few rows, which distorted the front edge a little, but you can’t notice it much when the buttons are done up, and my nearly 4 year old niece won’t mind anyway! The buttons were chosen by Pumpkin. I really liked the top-down seamless construction, and want to try it again on a bigger garment at some point. It was a very quick knit and has been safely packaged off to my niece today.
I’ve got a couple more things on the go at the moment; a pair of fingerless gloves for the hubby (which may or may not get done til the weather gets colder again!) and another baby ripple blanket which I’ll hopefully get finished very soon.
Jack of all Crafts 