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My Waaayyy Cute Sweater Jacket and A Note About Sizing.

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This is one of the projects currently on the needles here at knitting.craftgossip.com

It’s from Sandra, The Knitting Magazine, Dec. 03. (pretty bad scan, the magazine is close to totalled). I ran into a snag, as the pattern is supposedly written for a size 12/14. Not so much, unless over in Austria, their sizes differ markedly from ours. I guess the lesson here is pay attention not only to sizing but measurements. So after trying it on and finding it way too small (probably a size 6 I would guess) I decided to add a 2×2 rib panel on either side of the front, between the design squares and the fur yarn border. We’ll see how that plays out, I just finished the bands this morning.

This was a quick knit, enjoyable and easy, not boring but not too intensive either, I used Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, which I adore!

Now to find the perfect closure! Any ideas?

A note came across my desk about adopting a puppy or kitten for a Christmas present. I love critters, I’d have a houseful if I could get away with it, (hubby would not be happy), but I would love to encourage you, if you’re thinking along those lines, to visit either the local kennels or a rescue center. These animals are probably not the cute puppies and kittens, but they desperately need loving homes. Another option, you know all of those leftover swatches, squares and unfinished afghans, or the yarn you can’t stand to knit with that you don’t want to throw away? Why not whip up a blanket and donate it to your local animal shelter.

Off my soapbox now, off to knit some more, spin some more, and cuddle with Bu-Dawgh, my 60 lb lap dog shar-pei/spaniel thing. He has wrinkles! Lots of them! And he’s cute!

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A Shawlette with a Ton of Design Options

There’s a lot to like about the Eloise Bandana from Katryn Seeburger. This cute little colorwork triangle can be worked as a bandana or kerchief size or a bigger shawlette. 

It’s worked in two colors of fingering weight yarn so you can use whatever yarn you have in your stash and just make it as big as you can (since it is worked from the bottom up). 

You can see the two sizes from the photo, and also two colorwork options: strawberries and lily of the valley. 

But that’s not all the choices you have. In fact, there are 34 different charts you can choose from to knit onto your project. Some of the options include happy faces, a lobster, a pumpkin, a snail and a butterfly. There are cherries, peaches, tomatoes and radishes.

There’s even a blank square you can use to draw your own little design if you want to use something else. Or keep it blank and make it a plain checkerboard design. 

And while both of these shawls use the same icons throughout, you could also use different designs throughout if you want. Say a fall version with a bat, pumpkin, leaf and acorn, or a summer beach theme with sailboat, fish, lobster and a bird? I keep suggesting four different icons because the larger size has four rows of squares, but the smaller has three, so you could do stripes of the same icon or alternate a couple of different ones, whatever you like. 

Look through the finished projects on the Ravelry project page to see lots of different options, from rows to individual icons. There are also some projects that are smaller than the suggested size to make a smaller bandana. You could also keep going a make a bigger shawl working increases in the same way as you have been going. 

Check out all the details and grab a copy of the pattern on Ravelry. 

[Photo: Katryn Seeburger]