Kiss My Knits!

Let’s sum up Tracy Chapman’s “Toys To Knit,” shall we?

No gauge given on patterns. Garments can come out badly sized.

Example: these are supposed to be pants, not hip waders.

Poorly phrased instructions lead to confusion on garment construction.

Example: armhole that was apparently supposed to be a neckhole.

No diagrams or detailed pics of finished items to show how to assemble.

Example: elephant man head.

Summary. Pretty pictures do not a good pattern book make. Avoid! Avoid!

Hats up for: New Zealand, New Zealand, and New Zealand.

I can’t believe I scheduled a Dragonrealms event during Heroes last night. I just completely forgot it was on. Fortunately, it’s available for download, but I always prefer to watch these things on TV. Well, the DR event was certainly fun, so I’ll say it was worth it.

Emily has been bringing me her doll periodically over the last few days and reminding me that she needs clothes, which I am working on. Last night she revealed that she can neither play with nor name this doll until she has clothes. I guess she needs to know the doll’s fashion sense before she can determine the name.

I’ve made two pieces for the pants. They’ll be seamed up most of the length to make two tubes, then joined near the top to make the seat and waist. The pattern calls for some elastic to be sewn in. The ribbing at the top is working fine for the panties the doll’s got, so we’ll see if the elastic is necessary for the pants. The yarn is the same brand as the doll, Dale Baby Ull, but held doubled. These will be some thick pants.

I started to seam it up last night, but it wasn’t as neat as I would like. I have a larger project coming up that will require seaming, so I decided to use these clothes as practice, and go ahead and block the pieces and do it properly. So now they’re wetted and pinned and waiting to dry.

I’m going to use the time to finish up a project for the grandchild of someone I know. It’s been 80% finished for more than a week, there’s no reason to let it languish.

Besides – I’ve got Heroes to watch!

Bunny!

Pattern: “Lovable Toys” rabbit on page 104 of Last Minute Knitted Gifts.
Materials: Blue Sky Alpaca Sport held doubled for body, Valeria di Roma angora held double for inside of ears, polyfiberfill for stuffing, cotton embroidery floss for face.
Needles: 2 #6 circs

The bunny has reached its new owner, the lovely little girl in ‘s home, so now I can post it.

In spite of the name “Last Minute Knitted Gifts” this was not done last-minute. In the book, it’s under the “six to eight hour” category, along with a full-sized silk camisole and a cabled purse. I don’t know what kind of happy pills the designer takes to be able to knock these projects out “last minute.” This was, however, a good stashbuster since I already had the angora and a ball of the alpaca in my stash. I would have sworn I had two balls of alpaca, but I did have to snag another one at Charlotte Yarn when I was just at the neck.

I lengthened the legs and body a little, but really it’s pretty much according to pattern. I started out with very nice mattress seaming, then suddenly realized that half the niftiness of having a hand-knitted gift is that you can tell it’s hand-knitted. After that, I was a little more casual with the finishing.

This was the first time I’ve really embroidered, and it was fun. Fun enough, in fact, that I think I’m going to incorporate more embroidery in my work when possible. Special bonus: my mom is good with embroidery, so there’s my reference source.

This was an enjoyable project, even if there was a larger amount of finishing than I’m used to. All those bits had to be sewn together. The finished project was worth it, though, I think. I’m given to understand that the recipient is happily chewing on the ears. Mmmm! Angoriffic!


Bon apetit, Calla!