I apologise for the lack of activity on this blog in 2011, I can’t believe it’s been almost a month since my last post. I’ve just returned from a fortnight in the UK on holiday with my husband and babies. It was the boys’ first visit to their ancestral home (they are British citizens despite having been born in Singapore). We spent most of our time visiting family and friends and introducing the boys to everyone. Luckily they are very easy going and offered winning smiles to all the right people, so our trip went really well.
It was also the boys first experience with cold weather – they hadn’t ever even worn trousers before this trip let alone layers! This of course provided me with a great opportunity to knit something for them. I decided to knit the Ella Funt cardigan by Pamela Wynne (Ravelry link).
The pattern is straight-forward and was easy to follow. I knit it from my stash of Debbie Bliss baby cashmerino – it didn’t require a lot of yarn so the stash hasn’t been depleted by much, but hey it’s a start.
I followed the pattern exactly, I’d picked it largely because of the elephants, but I like the fact that there is a blank chart included so that you can create any pattern for the yoke you like. If we lived somewhere colder I would definitely make a second version of this cardigan and perhaps be a bit more creative. It’s interesting to see that most people on Ravelry have also stuck with the elephants.
As Ella Funt has shown, I am very much a follow the pattern kind of person. However, I’ve been knitting for long enough now and definitely should be able to deviate and come up with something a little more unique. This is my resolution for 2011, well let’s call it a goal – I don’t really do resolutions. I think the problem is that I like to knit whilst doing other things, mainly watching TV and winding down once the babies are asleep.
I recently bought Lucinda Guy’s book Knitting Motifs for Babies and Kids – it’s a great source book full of wonderful little motifs to include in knitting. These could provide my jumping off point for customising knits. The question as always is what to knit for baby boys living in Singapore – the answer should probably be start to build up a stash of items for our eventual return to the UK. Of course, I can sew them some clothes while we are here – in theory, I’ve never actually made clothes – but knitting is the natural accompaniment to watching a film or television. I’m lost and a little bored without any knitting.
So my goal for 2011 – get creative!
The Magpie 