Striped jumper Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino 4)
The striped jumper (from Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino book 4) is now finished. As those of you who saw the earlier post on this jumper will know, I started it several months ago but stalled on the collar. And it is only down to the helpful advice coming in through the comments on that post that I ever got round to finishing it. Certainly it is not due to the poor customer service from Debbie Bliss as my email of 23 September has still not been answered (and to be fair I was warned it may take up to 21 days for an answer to appear – but then again how fair is that to the knitter who has paid more than £20 plus more for the pattern for the wool for the jumper?). Her sizes also seem to come up a bit small and size 2-3 years will not be fitting the grandson for very long.
Striped jumper (Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino 4)
Even with help, the collar was challenging for a novice knitter. The first time I cast off I realised my stitches were much too tight for a collar that has to fold over and spread itself softly over the jumper. I undid this and cast off with very very loose stitches. This was better but not totally satisfactory. (I have just received a comment on my previous jumper blog from Lydia Over Here – i.e. in Australia with advice on how to do this better. Thanks Lydia. But shouldn’t the pattern have suggested this?)
Striped jumper (Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino 4)
Then I spent quite a lot of time getting the buttonholes right (scouring youtube to learn how to do y2rn). Completed button holes called for 2 good looking buttons and these I found in my button box at home but, wouldn’t you know it, I left them on the kitchen work top in the rush to leave home to catch the train here on Monday. Tuesday I trekked into John Lewis, Oxford Circus where, with a disappointing selection, I settled for ones that were ok but not great. I promptly lost these at daughter No 1’s. However, it seemed I didn’t need them as the collar fitted fine without them and would have probably strangled the boy if I’d added them anyway. I have just sewed up the button holes, but have this niggling feeling that when I get home, I might well knit another button hole-less collar (and incorporate Lydia Over Here’s stretchy cast in the process) because I’m somewhat offended by the sewn up button holes spoiling the line of the rib…. Grrrrrr.
Striped jumper (Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino book 4)
Striped jumper (Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino book 4)
Striped jumper (Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino book 4)
Striped jumper (Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino book 4)
Striped jumper (Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino book 4)
I do, however, really like this pattern and may well make a much bigger size for later on. Now, it’s back to the Fair Isle.
16 Comments
It looks great and am sure it’s warm and cozy. I have found that patterns provided by yarn companies are usually lacking in good clear instructions. Sometimes they provide more “suggestions” on how to do something, and are not for novice knitters. I highly recommend that you join ravelry there is such a wealth of information and resources right at your fingertips. There are many independent designers in the knitting community that I feel do a much better job of writing patterns then say DB, Patons, Leisure Arts, etc. Well done!
What you say is very interesting and it’s true that I would never have finished this jumper from the instructions in the pattern book alone. Comments left on my blog have been a knitting life line and rescued a half finished jumper from being abandoned.
I will join Ravelry – no one has a bad thing to say about it.
It does look good, and I’m sure will be much loved, but it sounds as though the pattern designer needs to have more test knitters!
Yes, Rachel – and more diagrams too.
Mary, I love your little jumper and full marks for persevering against all the odds. I worked in a knitting shop for a while and know only too well how frustrated new knitters can become. Most patterns do not take into account a novice knitter’s dilemma, especially in the language used and techniques involved.
Ravelry has been a great source of information and a revolution in knitting knowledge has swept through. There are forums on Ravelry for new knitters where they discuss patterns, problems, yarns etc etc and thereby increase the skills required. Whilst Debbie Bliss does indeed have some beautiful patterns they are not necessarily written for a beginner. A shawl collar is a challenge for a newbie and you have done brilliantly!! Your little grandson looks so cosy and warm and very sweet….. wrapped up in stitches each one knitted and throughout about by you.
I wish I was there to help….. Have a lovely weekend…. Best as ever Lydia
Ooops! Each stitch knitted and thought about by you…. (computer changed my words).
Happens to me all the time – and when the print is small it’s easy not to notice straightaway.
It is a smashing little jumper – great for playing in the park without the bother of needing a scarf.
All the comments I’ve had have been so helpful, it’s been wonderful. Many thanks for your contributions, Lydia.
I will be joining Ravelry soon.
Nice to see and read about the knitting project, but really… that child is beautiful. He’s a heart-stopper.
Lovely thing to say, Katie. He is a lovely child and a pleasure to be with.
It’s absolutely beautifully knitted, Mary, and will surely be treasured by the family. Even if it only fits your beautiful grandson for a short while, perhaps it will be needed by some other little one in the future? Another heirloom garment.
Yes, really looking forward to your Fair Isle project. I had a few hours FI lesson at a wool shop last year which was worth it if only for being taught the knack of holding and weaving wool on the wrong side for a neater, smoother finish.
About three years ago, at a stunning Kaffe Fassett exhibition at The Museum of Fashion, I remember the audible gasps of horror of two women next to me as they glimpsed several hundred multi-coloured woollen strands hanging free on the inside of the very first garment Kaffe had made. He tells the story of being so captivated by the beautiful colours of wool in a mill in Scotland, he bought many of them as well as knitting needles. He then after asked a lady on a train from Scotland to teach him how to knit. I thought the unwoven strands in his first knitted garment told their own story.
Penny, it is so liberating to hear what you have to say about Kaffe Fassett and his unwoven strands. His work has always been exhilarating as to colour and pattern and has I’m sure made many people be a bit bolder in their knitting/tapestry/patchwork that they would have been before he burst in upon our senses. Needlework classes at my school were just the opposite of liberating and I learnt very little – I remember one girl being made to undo her tacking because the stitches were too small!!! I still have to fight off the urge to make a garment as neat on the inside as on the out. So, very good to hear about Kaffe (Ido just worry about the threads being tickly, though…..)
My first Fair Isle is not too ambitious, so don’t get too excited. Holding the wool in the best way is an art that need much practice – I seem to manage for a few stitches and then sink back to semi chaos. Classes sound an excellent idea.
Your adorable photos make me want to knit this jumper immediately. All I need is a small child to wear it.
I belong to Ravelry but feel like a wallflower at a Ball – so many dazzling knitters talking to each other that I never quite have the nerve to join in. I used to love reading the TechKnitting blog but she has paused while she writes a book and the index although comprehensive is a little crazy.
I never had time to knit when my own children were little – and anyway there was a great granny who did more than enough. However, I’m really enjoying knitting now and I’m sure you will too Alice when little ones come your way.
I’m going to join Ravelry tonight but at the moment, I teeter on the edge, anxious there will be so much to distract me I’ll forget about everything else!
Like you Mary, I am stuck with this pattern at the collar level, I have been in and out of knitting shops with no success. Please can you or anyone help me so I can complete the jumper.
Sorry not to have replied sooner. I shall have another look at the pattern today and see if I can help you. I have now made the pattern twice and all I can say was that the second time was no trouble at all. The first time did indeed drive me crazy and I only managed it after spending an afternoon on Loop’s* sofa as I followed the kindly shop assistants’ instructions. I don’t suppose you live anywhere near Islington or are likely to have a day in London? (*Sorry, don’t seem to be able to link to Loop’s website at the moment.) I’ll be back in touch.
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[…] The blue/mauve jumper was for a 2-3 year old and though quite generously sized, it didn’t look as if it would fit the small person next winter. As he is quite well off for jumpers at the moment, I started this stripey one for a 4-5 year old for his Christmas present, with the hope it cold be tucked away for a few months. Daughter No 2 would now like me to make another in this size but in just one colour – navy. I shall be glad for some straightforward knitting in one colour. Although it seemed a good idea to use up all the odd half balls of wool I’ve accumulated, I never reckoned on how long it would take to deal with the loose ends. I thought for a while that I’d leave them free but then fretted about how ticklish that would be. I have recently researched ways of knitting the ends in as you go, so next time stripes come my way I shall be prepared. I omitted the buttons on the collar (whose button holes I sewed up last time) a, once again, they didn’t seem necessary […]