January 2015 – Anna Testadoro

Posted on 28 January 2015 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO: Etsy Order: Cardigan

Yet another order from my regular customer via Etsy, another cardigan for her son. This one was knitted last year February and I used this DROPS pattern.

My customer picked the colour, and I love the light blue and I used DROPS Eskimo, which is lovely, soft yarn that calls for 8mm needles. Hence it knits up very, very quickly.

I love the buttons too, they were from my stash, but originally from TextileGarden.

The moss stitch pattern works really well with DROPS Eskimo and comes out really, really well.

I somehow ended up with a double moss stitch in the middle at the back, but I don’t think anyone would spot it unless I point it out, what do you think?

Posted on 26 January 2015 by Anna

FO: Etsy Order: Adult Cardigan

The customer that ordered loads of things for her son also ordered a cardigan for herself. It’s funny actually, this is the cardigan I knitted for a very good friend of mine (I still have to post about it) only a month before this customer ordered the exact same one.

It’s this DROPS pattern, which looks great. I knitted this one with the double moss stitch for the sleeves, the collar and the front bands.

I used DROPS Alaska yarn for it and ordered these buttons from TextileGarden specifically for it.

I have to say again how much I love the DROPS patterns, especially as most of the patterns try and keep sewing up to an absolute minimum. This was the case with this one as well, there was only minimal sewing up under the sleeves.

And the collar with the double moss stitch looks lovely too. My customer really loved the cardigan and told me that it keeps her warm and cosy.

Posted on 23 January 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Etsy Order: Toddler Cardigan

Yet another order via Etsy from the same customer as the two jumpsuits. This time a cardigan for her son.

It’s a really straightforward pattern, but the way it’s knitted and the yarn that’s used (DROPS Delight), give the finished piece a great effect. The dark blue and the light blue make some beautiful stripes. The fact that it’s just knitted in garter stitch also makes it a very fast knit.

And the back looks beautiful too. It’s funny because I haven’t really used the DROPS Delight yarn since, although I have jumper lined up for a good friend of mine using DROPS BIG Delight, so we’ll see what that will look like when it’s finished.

I used some buttons from my stash that work really well with the blue yarn and finish off the cardigan beautifully.

And my customer sent me some pictures of her son wearing the cardigan, doesn’t he look very handsome?

Posted on 21 January 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Intarsia Jumpsuit

The lady that ordered a few things from me via Etsy had previously ordered a jumpsuit from me back in 2012. She loved it so much on her son, see picture below, that she ordered another one in a larger size.

When I first knitted this jumpsuit I was a bit unsure, as I’d never knitted any intarsia before, but I actually really enjoyed it and loved how it ended up looking.

Of course, it’s a DROPS pattern. Regular readers of this blog will know that I love them!

The pattern does take a while to knit as it calls for DROPS Alpaca yarn and 2.5mm needles, so you can imagine how long one of these takes for a 3 year old!

I find when I’m knitting with such small needles that my knitting is not quite as neat as when I’m knitting with thicker yarn and bigger needles, but it still looks good nonetheless.

It’s the same colour combination that I used before, although the blue seems just a little bit lighter. And would you look at how beautiful the intarsia looks with these two colours.

I haven’t got a picture of the handsome boy wearing it, but I am sure he looks as cute as he did in his first one.

Posted on 19 January 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Wavy Blanket (with a Baby)

This was the last project I finished in 2014. It’s for a fellow childminder and friend who had a gorgeous little boy, Leon, last Thursday.

I used DROPS Muskat to knit this pattern. And before I even started I had a question for the designer Laura Aylor and she responded within 2 or 3 minutes clarifying my question, what amazing service!

I doubled the stitches as I wanted to make sure it was the right width, which actually turned it into a massive blanket. It means that the stripes are going vertical rather than horizontal, but I actually think it worked out really well.

My friend wanted rainbow colours, so I picked these primary colour with the white wave going through.

I added a crochet border using all the colours that I used in the blanket.

I didn’t realise how big the blanket actually was until I took it off my needles…although I had wondered why it was taking me so long :-).

I LOVE how this turned out, the colours go so really well together and the wave just makes it so pretty. It’s an easy pattern to learn, but the shortened rows mean that one of the stripes actually took a while due to having to go back and forth.

And my friend loves it, she’s already had loads of compliments on the blanket.

And would you look at this gorgeous little boy wrapped in this amazing blanket!

Posted on 18 January 201519 January 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

Weekend Bits

Posted on 16 January 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Etsy Order: Onesie

In March 2013 I got an order via Etsy from a lady that had ordered a few items from me before. She ordered this jumpsuit from me in 2012.

This is a fantastic pattern that I was able to adjust quite easily to fit a size 3-4 years. I used DROPS Baby Merino, which is a lovely yarn to knit with.

The length of this onesie is adjustable and because it is knitted in rib it looks way too long, but it’s super stretchy. The order specified that she wanted stripes and she also requested these colours, and I love the end effect.

I believe it fit her son, and she said she loved it.

Overall a lovely little onesie that I would love to knit again, but haven’t yet.

Posted on 15 January 2015 by Anna — 2 Comments

FO: Another Bolero

I knitted one final bolero for milliemanu last year. I posted about the other nine here.

I know I wrote about my dislike for the pattern in my previous post, but I’ve actually gotten used to the pattern. This is probably because I have now knitted it 10 times and because I have amended it to make it flow better.

In the original pattern for example the ribbing for the back and two front pieces is done individually on each of the pieces. Instead I sew it up and then do the ribbing. In my opinion it actually makes it look much better.

Not sure what happened to the colour on this picture, but the blue is more like the two above.

And I still do love the yarn that I use, the DROPS BabyAlpacaSilk. It’s a joy to knit with. I use double strands, so I have to pay attention to picking up both whilst knitting, but it just ends up being an amazingly soft and luxurious finished object.

The ribbing on the sleeves and the bottom has the added picot-esque edging, which took me a while to figure out initially, but now I love it!

Posted on 14 January 2015 by Anna — 1 Comment

WIP Wednesday

I am currently working on these socks for the daughter of one of Luke’s previous playgroup teachers.

I am using this amazing Japanese yarn, which is lovely to work with and my friend gave me two skeins. I am hoping it will be enough.
On a separate not, Luke and I got the most amazing parcel from Melissa over at Knitting Sandwich today.
Some scrumptious yarn for me and a very cool personalised slingshot with ‘pom poms’ as Luke put it.

Thanks so much Melissa!!!!

Posted on 13 January 2015 by Anna — 1 Comment

FO’s: Another 17 Vests

Back in July I posted about the 19 vests I knitted for milliemanu last year. Well this year I knitted another 17 vests for her, it’s the same pattern as last year, but she picked some other colour combinations, as you will see now.

Vest One