Cut and Shut Gilet

I feel like I haven't had time to stop and think recently, let alone keep you all updated with my many UFOs. Between preparing stock for our upcoming Christmas markets, tweaking my knitting book, work and babies, life has been very busy indeed. And it seems that people keep asking me to do little bits of knitting for them, which never end up being very little at all!

Admittedly, I do tend to bring this on myself, which is where I begin today's post...

A while ago, whilst out shopping with a very good friend, we saw a fabulous cable-knit gilet. It was love at first sight. She picked one up, tried it on and couldn't resist. Really, this is where the story should have ended: with my friend skipping merrily down the street, bag swinging in hand. However, me and my big mouth, I uttered, "I could knit you a gilet like that, using better quality wool and at a fraction of the price." Clearly my subconscious was up for a challenge but had neglected to check my diary. My friend agreed enthusiastically (who can blame her? It's nice that she has confidence in my knitting ability, at least) so I set off to Boyes to buy some Aran yarn with the highest wool content available.

The hardest part of all this was deciding on the actual pattern. I am more than capable of creating a pattern from scratch, but sometimes I feel there is no point reinventing the wheel. Consequently, I looked at a few jumper, cardigan and waistcoat patterns in my knitting library and did a cut and shut job of amalgamating a few. This is most helpful because it gives you needle sizes, stitch numbers and basic measurements to start off with. I then added the basic cables and a strip for the toggles/button holes.

At the moment, the gilet is half finished, but I'm pleased where it is going. If she's really, really lucky, she might even get it before the winter is over :)

More Woollen Friends

After our success with Mini Alexander and Mini Richard, I've had a bit of a spell of creating woollen likenesses.

Back in August, a man approached me at a music festival while I was knitting and asked if I could make an Audrey Hepburn for his wife, who is a big fan. I, of course, obliged, using the pattern in the 'Knitted Icons' book (Meldrum, C&B, 2007). Now, I think this book looks fantastic, which is what led to me impulsively purchasing it. However, I think the patterns are a bit hit and miss - some of the directions aren't particularly clear and the patterns for clothes don't fit especially well if you are faithful to them. But with a bit of tweaking, you can produce some super celebrity friends, and the Audrey Hepburn I ended up creating was fantastic.

I was then asked by a very dear folk-musician friend of mine to knit a mini version of him for his next album cover. Brilliant! More than happy to help, I got knitting straight away to make the basic doll with trademark curly hair. Here he is chilling on my bookshelf amongst his musical peers:

The thread hanging from his foot is to tie in with the theme of 'loose ends' on the album itself. I then knitted a little waistcoat and made a felt guitar for him to hold.

Once the album is finished, I'll post a photo of the artwork as well as links to the website.

Anyone else fancy seeing themselves in yarn?!