Boy did I heave a sigh of relief when I finally finished these jumpers for my daughter and son-in-law. My machine knitting days are way in the distant past, and I have had to renew my skills and re-learn techniques long forgotten. I have never made so many mistakes in my life, and never taken back so much knitting, or re-started so many times. I was convinced there was a mischievous pixie causing all the problems. I would be knitting away and suddenly the yarn had jumped out of its slot and everything fell to the floor! I had found the fair-isle patterns on the web and I should have adapted them to make the colour changes easier, As it was I had loads of cut threads, and therefore lots of sewings to do to neaten them off. A colour would finish on one side, then need to come in again two rows later on the opposite side! I lost count how many times I had to take back a row because I had forgotten to change the colour, or I had knitted the wrong colour.
However, I like the finished look - one female, one male, with the colours and moose reversed. I drafted the pattern myself, but wished I had taken the time and trouble to do set in sleeves, rather than the drop sleeve which makes the style a bit bulky under the arms.
As my granddaughter is only just over a year old, the fair-isle design I used for the adults would have looked too big, so I chose a smaller one and finished the fair-isle just before the arms. Putting on a jumper for a squirming youngster is hard enough at the best of times, but trying to avoid the looped threads on the inside of the jumper was key to making the top and sleeves stocking stitch. I hate having to do shoulder fastenings for small jumpers, so decided to try a V-neck for a change. The navy jumper was oh so quick to knit after the adult and fair-isle, even with the raglan sleeve shapings. I produced an applique motif on some interfacing and sewed the 'patch' onto the front for that festive look. The design is from
JuJu and stitch out perfect. Hand sewing the big jumper had taken ages, so I retrieved my
Hague Linker from the cupboard and asked Hubby to service and repair it for me as it was no longer stitching properly due to cogs and the handle slipping.
I also ordered new pins and a ring gauge, but managed without as they had arrived too late. (they will come in later). I had forgotten how essential the Linker is for attaching ribbing to V-necks, much less difficult than on the knitting machine where you have to knit two odd sized lengths.
The final little jumper for my granddaughter was a simple white raglan with a single motif. I found the tree as a free cross stitch pattern on the web, and drew it onto a mylar sheet. I could have done with a nice glittery star for the top, but had to settle for a fabric rose which was all I had to hand. These jumpers are boxed and ready for collection by the postman tomorrow. My knitting machine is all packed away again now, and the sewing machine back in its place. I do plan to design and knit myself a long jacket - and will use the same Yeoman yarn I used for these jumpers as it knitted really well.
