It’s taken me quite a few knits to realize this, but I’ve decided it’s best to knit REALLY big for babies and children. Like 1-2 sizes bigger than you think your child will be when the sweater is complete!
First of all, life can throw a wrench in the best laid plans, and leave you with a 3/4 complete knit which no longer fits your child. And second, after pouring 10-20 hours of care and attention into a sweater, I want to see my little one wearing it every third day for the next 2 years or so! Hahaha but really… this is how I think about hand knits for Max now that I’m over the initial excitement of TINY baby knits.
The latest delicious item that’s flown off my needles and onto the snotty little darling is North Shore. I was very strongly compelled to knit this by my sweater knitting friend Rosie (all about her and her sweaters here), who has just completed her own North Shore.
North Shore Project Details: (Ravelry project page here)
Pattern: North Shore Pattern $7 – download the pattern now (or get the Pacific Knits ebook)
Sizing: I knit the 2-4 year size for Max, who is only 16 months old!
Yarn: DK weight – I used Rowan Tweed in ‘askrigg’ for the MC, with the following CCs: Queensland Collection Kathmandu DK, Rowan Tweed in ‘wensley’, Malabrigo Merino Worsted in ‘lettuce’, and Bigwigs Angora in ‘chalk’
Needles: I used US#5 / 3.75mm and US#7 / 4.5mm
Gauge: 22 sts / 4” in stockinette stitch
Notions: stitch marker, darning needle
I decided to use Rowan Tweed, a really lovely single-ply tweed that comes in great colours, and I am quite confident will hold up well. It took some deliberation (by which I mean knitting half way through the yoke pattern then ripping it out… twice) before I settled on the final colour palette. EVEN when knitting their own designs, designers don’t always get colours and yarn choices right the first time! In the end, my Christmassy concept of white trees on a red background was turfed, and I settled on a palette very similar to the original sample.
Knits that remind me of home
North Shore is a design is from our second book, Pacific Knits. Written shortly after my move to Edinburgh, it was inspired more than a little by a great nostalgia for my home on Vancouver Island, and my years spent in Vancouver. While I’m settled here for the long term, I definitely want Max to learn about the Pacific coast part of his heritage.
Ocean, trees, mountains: these are the basic building blocks of the pacific coast of Canada. Vancouver’s north shore has all of the above, from kayaking along sandy beaches, hiking through steep verdant woods, to ski traverses over the glaciers and icefields of the Coast Mountains. We love our west-coast landscape!
This darling jumper is just half of a Master Plan… I’m scheming about making a matching sweater for me, perhaps in the lovely new Dovestone DK by Baa Ram Ewe? I picked up some skeins at Yarndale, and I got a colour card too… I just worry that I might need to order one of each colour to really ‘nail’ the colourwork yoke…
Well I’m absolutely ecstatic with how this little sweater turned out. Who knows if I’ll manage to knit one for myself before Max turns 5 and grows out of his… but a girl can dream!
Intimidated by colourwork?
If you’d love to knit North Shore, but haven’t tried stranded colourwork before, we’ve got some tutorials (and great free patterns) for you! Take a look at the free Clayoquot and I Heart Rainbows hats, either would make an easy first colourwork project. Grab a friend and tackle it together… click below to share this post!
Once you’ve done a hat, you’ll be all ready to cast on for a sweater… honest!
Colourwork from TCK:
November 17, 2015 @ 11:06 am
such a beautiful sweater, and on such a little charmer! Love it.
November 14, 2015 @ 1:35 pm
Nice! We have a Max in our family, too!
November 13, 2015 @ 12:33 am
I’ve just completed a hoodie for my 7 month old… size: 18 months. They’ll grow into big things eventually!
November 12, 2015 @ 4:54 pm
I really love your final color choices…it is tempting me!