This beautiful classic cardigan knitted in a dot texture pattern was found in Patons Dreamtime 4ply book 1271. It is for my grandson Theodore and with these chilly winter mornings I am sure it will get a lot of wear. I have used once again some lovely luxury wool yarn from Bendigo Woollen Mills. This is their 4 ply Baby Blue shade no 0306. It was knitted with 2.75mm and 3.25 mm needles and used one 200g ball for the 9 month size.
0 Comments
I have just finished this beautiful cabled jumper for John. The cables feature on the front and back and the sleeves are in stocking stitch. This is a Bendigo Woollen Mills pattern PT 8224. The garment is knitted with 8 ply yarn with a tension of 22 sts and 30 rows to 10 cms using 4.00 mm needles.
I used the Bendigo Woollen Mills Classic 8 ply yarn in a colour called Mineral Mix. This is a pure merino wool that is machine washable. This is the photo from the website and also I include one of my finished jumper with the Mineral Mix yarn. I recently finished a lovely garter rib v neck sweater for grandson Theodore. It is from Patons Dreamtime 4 ply book 1271. The garter rib is very easy, just a K3, P3 repeat on every row. It gives a nice ribbed effect and the colour contrast on cuffs and lower edges is very attractive.
Just an update on this as someone has requested details about how the lower body and cuffs were done. Well this couldn't be simpler. Using the main colour knit 2 rows, then using the contrasting colour knit 2 rows. Alternate 2 rows of each colour for as long as you like. In this instance the alternating colours were kept to the lower parts of the body and the sleeves. I have always liked the lovely effect that brioche knitting creates. I discovered this design in an old Mon Tricot knitting dictionary.
It incorporates a few brioche stitches in a background of reverse stockinette. The brioche stitches pop to the surface giving a very textual design. In this example the brioche stitches are formed using K1B (below). The pattern is a two row repeat. Cast on a multiple of 11 + 4. I added some edge stitches to prevent the stockinette rolling. Row 1: *P4 (K1B, p1) 3 times, K1B* p4 Row 2: *K4, P1 (K1B, p1) 3 times* K4 Very effective and easy to do and memorise. I have not seen this in any design work so quite an interesting find. I will experiment some more and play round with changing the background. Here are just a few rows of my knitting and you can see you get a nice slight scalloped edge when incorporating some rows of garter stitch before beginning the pattern. The wrong side of the work is very acceptable and looks better than the photo suggests. I found a pattern that called for knitting two strands of 4 ply yarn together. For this project I used Bendigo Woollen Mills 4 ply yarn in a baby mint green and contrasting white. This yarn is beautiful to knit and the 2 strands give a very soft but full loft that is different from using a regular 8 ply yarn. Just lovely for baby knits.
The outfit consists of a jumper worked in two contrasting colours and some leggings worked in a single colour. This was a delightful combination and produced a very pleasing result. The pattern is available from Patons Book 5000. A matching hat, bootees and teddy are also included in the design. I am sure many of you who are seasoned knitters and producers of lovely hand made projects, lose track over time of just what you have made 10 or 20 years ago. I made a wonderful discovery recently of a crocheted, embroidered baby top that I made in 1978 for my son Joseph. Now we had given away many bags of baby clothes long ago and when this was discovered it truly was a gift from the past. I had no idea it was there. Let me give you a little background...
We have an extensive area under our house and lots of stuff just ends up there when it's too good to throw out, but no longer in use. This little cavern hides many a gem, including our ever expanding wine cellar. Also we have the accumulation of school things and other paraphernalia belonging to our four children, just waiting for them to one day collect. Now one afternoon while sorting out our wine cellar and adding new bottles from a recent vineyard tour around South Australia, I happened to open up a long closed, adjoining cupboard which was dusty and full of toys. Out pops this doll dressed in a little gem I worked in 1978. Lime green with a contrasting yellow trim. So seventies, yet still so beautifully fresh and showing little wear. This was worked in a quality yarn, a Sirdar double knit 6 ply, a pure wool in the sought after colour of the day. I had embroidered it with my sons's initials, JP for Joseph Peter. What an absolutely magical find! I rummaged through all my books from that era because I was an avid fan of the the French knitting series, Mon Tricot, that was the rage in Australia back then. Yes I have located the pattern. It was in MJLA No 11. The pattern was on page 12 and titled " Crochet for Beginners" This edition had a particular emphasis on layettes for babies. This will be perfect for our new grandson Theodore Francis. I include a photo of my original work. Once again, an old fashioned knit from a Patons Book number 392: "Those Beautiful Days in Feathersoft". This book features some 3 ply projects originally envisaged using the Patons Feathersoft Bri Nylon yarn. Now long out of production.
These patterns work beautifully in any 3 ply yarn and I am sure would also work well in 4 ply. They include cardigans, a jumper and and dresses, jackets, singlets, hats, bootees etc in the layette style that babies in earlier years were attired. No. 5 pattern Cardigan has a textured garter wave design that creates a light, but warm stretchy rib that works from the newborn stage right through the first few months. In the photo below it is the mint green cardigan bottom left. I used a lemon yellow Patons pure wool 3 ply from my stash. Sorry I don't have a photo, it disappeared from my phone. For the last few months I have been getting stuck into the knitting as we await our 7th grandchild. A beautiful heirloom favourite is the christening shawl or baby shawl.
There are many captivating designs available but one I have loved is called Bubbles and is a Patons pattern. It is now available in Patons Book 5000 where it is worked with a 4 ply yarn. It has previously been available in the Heirloom collection of Baby Rugs and shawls Book 2105 and prior to that I remember seeing it in a book of my grandmothers. So it has been around for a long time. This timeless piece is a unique circular design worked from the centre out and I believe that this factor plus its economic use of yarn has made it a perennial favourite. The bubbles are formed by the yarn overs, which create a hole and this is interspersed with garter stitch making a frothy finish which is easy to knit in terms of the basic stitches needed. There are however long rows of 400+ stitches and you need to work on a circular needle. While you are not knitting in the round, the single seam required to form this shawl into a perfect circle takes some time care and patience. Looking at the references to the pattern I see it can be worked in 2, 3 or 4 ply yarn. I have done this project twice. The first time was using a 3 ply pure wool Patons yarn and this time round I am using Bendigo Woollen Mills 4 ply pure wool. Spectacular result. I just love it. The most difficult thing for me was getting a photo of the whole circle, so I have included a shot from the internet which is the first one you see below. Mine follows, unblocked, but lace edges steam pressed. Ribbing stitches never fail to impress when you want a stretchy fabric and good looks on both sides. They are ideal for scarves and cowls where you see both sides of the work. Reversibility is very desirable and ribbed stitches of all kinds have this feature.
An old fashioned and seldom seen rib pattern these days is one called the Twin Rib Stitch. It is worked in multiples of 6 stitches and is just a 2 row repeat. I like working the different pattern in the second row as it provides a bit of relief from the monotony of all rows the same. It looks a bit like the mistake stitch rib and I think it would work up very nicely in a chunky yarn as well. Anyway here is the pattern: Row 1: *K3, P3* Row 2: *K1, P1* If you'd like really neat edges then just add 2 more stitches. Slip the first stitch purlwise of each row and purl the last stitch to give a nice smooth edge. Ideal for a scarf. Another highly textured pattern can be created with some slipped stitches. It gives a lovely basket weave effect on one side and a slight honeycomb diamond pattern on the reverse.
The pattern is worked over 8 rows. I found it courtesy of knitca.com where it doesn't have a name so I've called it the Basketweave Stitch The trick with this one is to be very loose when carrying the yarn behind or in front with the 3 slipped stitches. Row 1 (right side): *p2, k1*, to last 2 sts, p2. Row 2 (wrong side): *k2, p1*, to last 2 sts, k2. Row 3 (right side): p1, *sl 3 wyif, p1, k1, p1*, to last 4 sts, sl 3 wyif, p1. Row 4 (wrong side): k1, sl 3 wyib, *k1, p1, k1, sl 3 wyib*, to last st, k1. Row 5 (right side): *p2, k1*, to last 2 sts, p2. Row 6 (wrong side): *k2, p1*, to last 2 sts, k2. Row 7 (right side): p1, *p1, k1, p1, sl 3 wyif*, to last 4 sts, p1, k1, p2. Row 8 (wrong side): k2, p1, k1, *sl 3 wyib, k1, p1, k1*, to last st, k1. |
AuthorGrandmother and knitter from the land down under of fine merino wool. Archives
July 2021
Categories
All
|