I'm really having fun knitting basic hats and adding a charted design with duplicate stitch. This time it's an Autobot symbol hat that I created for my son. He loves Transformers! He was quite happy that I finished his hat now that winter is approaching.
I've included the chart I used below in case anyone else wants to create an Autobot hat. I'll probably type up the simple hat pattern soon I've been using for these hats so that others can create these hats, too.
I had previously knit a Colts hat for my brother last year. Now that he has a son, I wanted to knit him a hat, too. Since a 12 month old's hat would be way too small for the original chart, I decided to go back to the drawing board and design a smaller horseshoe.
I knit this hat in the round, and used duplicate stitch to add the smaller horseshoe just like I did with the original hat. Since the hat is a gift, I tried it on my daughter's head to make sure it fit properly. I think it turned out well, so I've included this littler charted horseshoe, too.
| Fronts | |
 |  |
| Back | |
 | |
| Right Sleeve | |
 |  |
| Left Sleeve | |
 |  |
I finally finished my first freeform garment--a cropped sweater for my infant daughter Keira in size 12 months. It should fit her in a few months when she turns 1. I started the sweater before Keira was born, took a break from it, and then went full-speed ahead until I finished it.
I drew out a template for the sleeves, fronts, and back based on a knitting schematic so I'd get the correct sizing. I had to make the sweater a little wider and the sleeves a little shorter in the end to make sure it would fit my daughter. It was easy to do since all I did was add some freeform bits to the width of the sides in front and back after I had already sewn the sleeves on. That widened the body and shortened the sleeves at the same time. After seaming up the sides, I added a sc border to the sleeves and sweater edge, which added a nice finishing touch. It also gave me an opportunity to add a buttonhole for a button I had in my stash.
I'd say I gravitate towards the circular shapes, shells, and garter stitch shapes the most in my freeform, probably because they're easy, quick, and look good. I also love to throw in bullions here and there, too. I tend to overthink the color and texture blending while freeforming, which slows me down, so it's good that I can at least make up some motifs quickly once I finally decide on the yarn to use.
I'll have to post more pictures of it being worn once my daughter is big enough for it.
The sweater took longer to complete in the finishing stage, too. I ripped out the colloar and redid the back neckline because I didn't like how it dipped in the back. It made the back piece look shorter than the front even though they were the same length. If I were ever to make this sweater again, I would not place the middle back section on a stitch holder until I were finished with all the shoulder shaping. After that was said and done, I noticed that my buttons were placed too low, so I fixed them.
Here are the sweater variations:
I'm glad I perservered and finished this even with all the setbacks and changes. It definitely was a labor of love, and Keira should be able to fit into it soon.
In the meantime I managed to make another Economical Baby Blanket. I just need to add the birth information and will take a picture of it. If I get around to it, I'll post instructions for how to add the edging to the blanket along with the modified edging pattern.
There are so many other patterns I want to try out for Keira before she gets too big. The problem is that I don't have time to knit them all. I probably will need to get out the calculator and resize the patterns for a larger size and/or use bulkier yarn for the project to get a larger size. A lot of the baby patterns use fine guage yarn, so I substituting sport or worsted weight yarn will proabably do the trick. It's a good thing I have a large stash!
