Adventures in Knitting – Clown Barf & Colourwork
I realise it’s AGES since I updated you on any knitting, though I have been plugging away quietly in the background. I’ve finished a couple of other things but they need to be photographed and I’ve got a few more projects that should be coming off the needles in the next few weeks.
In the meantime though, this was an incredibly fun and satisfying knit, though I’m somewhat embarrassed by the outcome – tasteful it most certainly is not, though the Minx utterly adores it.
The pattern is Bobinsky (Ravelry link) which essentially knits up in three parts. The yoke and sleeves are knitted in the round in a variegated sock yarn (the Minx chose the ‘clown barf’ colourway, ShibuiKnits in Zinnia). Then the body is knitted in stranded colourwork using the variegated yarn and a contrasting plain colour (the variegation of the yarn makes this look much more complex than it really is) and finally a plain stocking stitch frill is added to the bottom in the contrast yarn (ShibuiKnits Blossom).
I hugely enjoyed knitting this – it was the first time I’ve done colourwork and was pleased that I mastered knitting holding the colours in each hand and knitting both English and Continental style (thanks to this video). It ended up being quite easy and it’s definitely inspired me to do more colourwork in future.
My only caveat if you want to make this, is to make sure that the contrast yarn contrasts strongly with ALL the colours in the variegated yarn. In this case the pale pink doesn’t contrast very well at all with the pale yellow of the variegated leading to some slightly strange effects in the body. But it works well enough and my ‘client’ has been wearing it non-stop.
Yea a knitting post! I hope to be able to do a garment someday - currently still only working on accessories. I think it looks great and your model is really beautiful!
Posted by: deesigner | 24 July 2010 at 05:42 AM
Beautiful colors and design! I haven't done a garment yet either if you don't count hats and scarves. I'd love to make a sweater like this one. My granddaughter would love it.
Posted by: Joan | 24 July 2010 at 02:51 PM
love your girl's expression. hope she enjoys her new pullover. it's beautiful!
Posted by: lou | 26 July 2010 at 04:17 PM
For those of you who haven't made a garment yet - you should make that your next project! It's no more difficult, just takes a bit more patience. If you've got a friendly baby to knit for, so much the better. Baby clothes let you learn all the basics of garment construction but are very quick to knit (and babies don't care about mistakes). That's how I learned anyway.
Posted by: Paola | 27 July 2010 at 06:21 PM
a straight line would be my first project :-))
Posted by: lou | 28 July 2010 at 03:09 PM
Lou, that's how most people start. It's called a scarf :) (though I would suggest starting with a dishcloth, it's less tedious...)
Posted by: Paola | 28 July 2010 at 06:08 PM