After knitting the Twinkle Twinkle Blanket which I recently finished, I was left with 74g of Drops baby merino yarn, just enough to make a Newborn Vertebrae to go with the blanket.
The photo above shows the amount of yarn I had to play with, all the scrappy ends. The Baby Vertebrae is knit in a 4 ply, or fingering weight yarn, and requires about 200 metres, however, Drops baby merino is a heavier weight 4 ply yarn, more of a sport weight than a fingering, having only 175 metres per 50g. Also, as I didn't have the size of needles suggested, I decided to go up a size, so it was really touch and go whether or not I'd have enough yarn to complete this project.
This is a pattern by Kelly Van Niekerk and it can be downloaded free on Ravelry. It's a lovely little cardigan for a newborn baby as there are no fiddly buttons to bother with. More of a shrug, it's a frontless cardigan to keep baby's arms and back warm.
It's knit in the Light Beige colourway so it's neutral and perfect for a boy or girl.
The pattern is very easy to follow and it knits up in no time at all. The only problem I found, and this is nothing to do with the pattern, was the laddering on the arms. This happens when using double pointed needles at the place where you change from one needle to the next. It's quite a conundrum really as I knit socks on double pointed needles with no problem at all, however, no matter how hard I tried I couldn't prevent the ladders. I tried all different ways and I'm now convinced that it's down to the yarn being used. I shall definitely have to take a note in future when knitting in the round if ladders occur and what yarn I'm using. I don't think it looks too bad though and I doubt it will be noticeable when a baby's arm is in the sleeve.
All in all I'm quite happy with how it's turned out and I did manage to complete it without running out of yarn. Just!
I've decided to abandon my crafting rotation again for a while. It made a change starting a project and working on it exclusively until completion. It does take more time to get something finished when you're working on a number of things all at once, and though I enjoy doing that and it saves me from getting bored with a project, sometimes you just want to see a finish.
It's great to use all the bits of yarn left over, I keep mine for a blanket, the thicker is for a knitted one the thinner yarns for granny squares. I am full steam ahead to finish my cross stitch.
ReplyDeleteI've never heard of one of those cardigans before, so I've learned something.
ReplyDeleteBriony
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Lovely cardigan and a great way to use up your left over yarn. I agree, it's lovely to start a new project but then others get put to one side and you don't see finishes, I always used to work on one thing but it's very tempting to start new things when you see them on line.
ReplyDeletegreat way to use up leftovers and that's a lovely cardigan.
ReplyDeleteIt's a lovely cardigan although I haven't seen one like that before and such a good idea for a newborn baby.
ReplyDeleteIt's really cute & so versatile. I work on a number of things and like you some take a while & others that need finishing get done, quite often because of a deadline, as in a gift that is needed. Take care, stay safe & hugs.
ReplyDeleteThat's simply lovely.xxx
ReplyDeleteCute sweater.💖
ReplyDeleteI've never heard the term newborn vertebrae before but the garment looks great and a very useful addition to baby's wardrobe. That's interesting about the laddering too, perhaps it shows up more due to the neutral colour although it's not very noticeable.
ReplyDeleteThank you!!!!! I will knit one of these! Great post
ReplyDeleteThat looks a lovely cardigan.
ReplyDeleteAll the best Jan
Only a knitter would see the title of this post and know your talking about a sweater :) It's lovely! I too go through phases of knitting on lots of things and switching to monogamous knitting to get things finished up. We are the bosses of your crafting, after all ;)
ReplyDeleteThis is a new one on me Jo but what a great idea it looks lovely, thank goodness you had enough yarn to complete it. I wouldn't worry about the laddering it's hardly noticeable and is much better than having a seam. xx
ReplyDeleteLovely shrug, look likes it was a bit squeaky with so little yarn left. xcx
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