Tin Can Knits

Finally! After what seems like an age, I’ve cast this little jumper off my WIP list and into being – just in time to get some wear in this final month of winter.

p1150685 — Mr Mini Wardrobe doing a spot of modelling. He’s styled it with his favourite ‘dogs on the bus T-shirt’ and pull-on denim joggers. I sometimes wish I could have his wardrobe.

[Note: I’ve made the decision not to share identifiable pictures of my son online, so although his face would definitely enhance these pictures, I’ve deliberately cropped it out here.]

It’s a petrol blue colour, which I love, and which my littlest man seems to like too. I wanted to steer clear of the colours you see all over the shops like navy, scarlet and charcoal grey and knit something I couldn’t have bought. The yarn is Rico essentials soft merino aran superwash in colour 025, which is soft, not itchy, just about machine washable and suitably snuggly.

p1150690 — I like the garter stitch panel detailing that runs across the shoulders and down the sleeves, although he says he prefers the stocking stitch pattern on the body!

The pattern is the (free) Flax sweater from Tin Can Knits in age 4-6, since Mr Mini Wardrobe is a very tall 3 1/2. This is a pattern that gets a LOT of love on Ravelry. Ah Ravelry, how I love perusing the endless possibilities you offer. But how easily I forget that virtually every other member is a more experienced knitter than me… Which is probably why it took me so long to finish this jumper. I chose the pattern because it’s graded ‘easy’, and suggested as an ideal first sweater project, and also because I wanted to have a go at knitting on circular needles. I just neglected to practise anything other than a swatch on circular needles or double-pointed needles (DPNs) first…

p1150674 — It’s knitted top-down, in the round, and those increases that form a raglan sleeve shape at the shoulders were the fun bit.

Circulars I found OK once I got going, but it took two surgeries with my Mum (who lives 160 miles away!) before I worked out how to use DPNs successfully. And after I’d frogged the first sleeve eight times I couldn’t face doing it for a ninth, so it’s a bit wonky in places. I’m calling it characterful. By the time I got to the second sleeve, something had clicked, so that’s come out much neater and more even. If you’re a fellow beginner, this pattern also includes ssk decreases, kfb increases, 1×1 rib, pick up and knit, a backwards loop cast on, and some fiddling around with stitch markers to keep track of the garter panel.

I blocked it before I took these pictures and the fit is not bad, as you can see. Like his Dad, he has narrow shoulders, so the almost-boat-neck design means it’s a little too wide in that area. I added an inch to the body length to make sure it wouldn’t be too short, and (given how long it took me to knit), I think this was a good idea.

p1150668

Now I’ve got the hang of it, I’m tempted to cast on another one straight away for my son in the next size up, and also the version in 4-ply yarn (Flax Light) for me. But realistically, I should probably try a different sweater pattern where the width of the neckline/shoulders wouldn’t be so critical to the fit.

I’ll have a rummage around on Ravelry, of course, but can you recommend any simple sweater knitting patterns I could try next – for children or for adults? And should I ditch DPNs and learn the magic loop method instead?

I’ll readily admit that I love learning new things (at my own pace, when I feel like it!). I sometimes lack the patience to keep practising long enough to make them perfect, but I’m trying to be better at that.

And what better time to learn something new than when you’re on holiday? I spent last week relaxing on the coast of the lovely Llyn Peninsula in North Wales. (I say relaxing, but my two-year old son doesn’t actually stop from 6am until 7pm, so it’s all relative…)

Image of an empty sandy beach with a headland in the background. — You can’t complain about the crowds in North Wales.

There definitely wasn’t room in the car for my sewing machine, so I took my latest knitting project instead. There was neither TV reception nor an internet connection in our cottage, so once Mr Wardrobe and I had completed the regulation almost-impossible jigsaw I broke out the yarn.

I’m using the children’s Flax sweater pattern from Tin Can Knits, which looked ambitious but not impossible. If it turns out really well the pattern includes adult sizes so I could make one for me too.

I’m only a quarter of the way through but so far it’s shaping up well and I’ve enjoyed learning new skills including: using circular needles, swatching in the round, stockinette stitch, the kfb increase and lots more knitting pattern terminology. (Eat your heart out, Albus Dumbledore.) All standard fare for more experienced knitters, but each one has been a learning curve for me.

To complete this project I still need to learn how to put stitches on hold on waste yarn, how to knit on double-pointed needles, something called the ‘backwards loop cast-on method’, and how to block my knitting. I’ll be finished in about a year, then!

Do you like learning new skills, or do you purposely avoid techniques you’ve never tried before?

Tin Can Knits

Knitted Flax jumper

Learning new knitting skills