Category Archives: Child

Summer Dress

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When the sun is blazing hot and temperatures are soaring, the last thing you want to do is knit with wool. The obvious choice would be cotton. And when your dear friend announces there is a new addition to her family, you grab that opportunity and cast on for a summer dress.

The pattern is Muti Dress by Tagia Hilliard and is super fun to knit. The yoke keeps you interested and get done quickly. Then comes the full skirt, which can get monotonous and slow you down.

I used fingering weight cotton yarn and used up all of 100 gms of it. I ran out of yarn and had to skip one repeat of lace on the skirt border. I wish I had more yarn, as this dress turned out just a bit shorter.

I had these cute pencil buttons in my stash since ages and never got the opportunity to use them. I find the perfect project in this. Flowery buttons would have suited the girly dress better, but I went with pencils any way.

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New Pattern: Felber

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Just in time before the spring arrives, here is another pattern release from my side. Felber is a circular yoke sweater with asymmetric cable on the yoke. The name Felber means bent, twisted to indicate the suppleness and I find it apt for the cables used in this sweater. It is worked top-down in the round, so no pesky seams to stitch up.

I used a new yarn (new to me) Jill Drape Makes Stuff Hudson – Made in USA. The yarn is soft and yummy and oh the colors are so rich and vibrant. I requested for a brown color which will suit a boy’s sweater. Jill picked out this one and I must say, I couldn’t have picked anything better. The yarn is so well plied, the cables just pop.

Felber is available at a promotional price of $3 until Mar 10, after which it will be listed at its full price of $5.

Ravelry Pattern: Felber by Anjali M.
Yarn Suggested: Jill Draper Makes Stuff; Hudson – Made in USA
Needle Size: US #6 4 mm for the body

New Pattern: Warrior Sweater

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Every boy goes through a phase where he admires soldiers and warriors and aspires to be one. My son is in one such phase and naturally, he requested me to make a chest armor for him. I play with yarn, not metal, so I convinced him to settle for a “sweater chest armor”.

The dense, textured body of the sweater protects your little one from cold and wind. Sleeves are plain stockinette and the elbow patch using the same textured stitch adds a bit of style and interest. The sweater is worked from the top down, using raglan sleeves. Body and sleeves are worked in the round. The texture stitch is a easy to memorize and knit. The aran weight yarn makes the sweater cozy and quick to knit.

Warrior Sweater is available at a promotional price of $3 until Feb 10, after which it will be listed at its full price of $5.

Ravelry Pattern: Warrior Sweater by Anjali M.
Yarn Suggested: Cascade Eco+
Needle Size: US #9 5.5 mm for the body

Just Chill

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I have been a lurker on the Contiguous Sleeves group on Ravelry since a long time. I was introduced to this technique by Elena Nodel when I test knitted her Tomboy Vest. Since then, I wanted to knit more sweaters made with this technique, but as it always happens, never had the time. When Just Chill was put out for testing, which uses a combo of saddle shoulders with contiguous sleeves, I utilized this great opportunity to learn this technique better. Of course the handsome sweater was a factor too.

Just Chill is seamless and knit top down. The two toned look, combined with the saddle shoulders make this sweater very handsome and masculine. The pattern is beginner friendly, with clear instructions. The only tricky part for a beginner could be the attached I-cord for the buttonbands. Well, what is the fun in knitting a sweater which doesn’t offer any challenge.

I chose Knit Picks Shine Worsted in Platinum and Willow. I even had perfect buttons to go with it. Love the wooden look of the buttons. I am racking my brain to recall where I bought this, but it is drawing a blank.

This sweater is headed to Ahmedabad to meet its recipient, Vihaan, a handsome little nephew of mine. He is the latest addition to my huge, extended family and this is my welcome gift to him. My cousin lost her first baby just before she was due for delivery, so this baby is so much more special for her and for us all. Here is wishing Vihaan a long and fruitful life in this world.

New Pattern: Just Hatched Blanket

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I used a simple, textured stitch pattern for Just Hatched Cardigan. I loved the simplicity of this stitch so much that I decided to use it in a blanket. I initially thought of using this as an all over stitch pattern, but I liked it better when I paired it with stockinette. The obvious choice was to have panels of stockinette and texture, but I wanted something different.  Then I zeroed in on making this a center-out blanket with alternate panels of stockinette and texture.

The pattern is written for sport, DK, worsted and Aran weight yarn. The pattern recommends needle  sizes for all yarn weights, but you can use any needle size which gives you the fabric you like. Center-out knitting means you can customize the size easily

Ravelry Pattern: Just Hatched Blanket
Yarn Suggested: Knit Picks Brava Worsted in Canary
Needle Size: US #6 4 mm

 

New Pattern: Dyvest

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Dyvest is a unisex vest with an attractive cable stitch pattern down the front. The Y-shaped staghorn cable divides into a similar half-staghorn stitch on either side of the V-neck, hence the name Dyvest.

Ravelry Pattern: Dyvest by Anjali M.
Yarn Suggested: Bessie May Nettle in Coal colorway
[Aran/10 Ply; 70% Wool; 30% Plant Fiber; 87 yards/50 gms]
Needle Size: US #6 4 mm

The staghorn and half-staghorn are simple to knit with just 3 rows of cable and plain wrong side rows. Both cables are charted and written instructions are also provided.


The vest is knit bottom-up in round  until the armholes and then the fronts and back are knit flat. The shoulders are joined using three needle bind-off. Armbands and neckbands are knit after picking up stitches.

Gauge:
16 sts x 22 rows = 4″ in Stockinette Stitch
20 sts x 20 rows = 3.5″ in Staghorn Cable stitch pattern

Sizing:
Finished Chest Measurement:
17.5 [19.5, 21.5, 23.5] [25.5, 27.5, 29.5] inches
Vest is intended to be worn with 1-2″ of positive ease.

I knit the prototype using Bessie May Nettle, which is a blend of wool and plant fiber. This is the first time I worked with a plant fiber and I was blown away by the stitch definition – the cables are neat and crisp. I had to work on the fronts a dozen times, so I can vouch for ‘froggability’ of the yarn too, boys is it sturdy. With the main color as dark grey and the light grey heather, Coal colorway is an excellent choice for men’s and boys’ knits.

New Pattern: Entropy Vest

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I am so excited that my Entropy Vest is published as part of Petite Purls Issue 14.  I have always admired the patterns published in Petite Purls, so I am very happy to have a pattern of mine published by them.

Entropy Vest is a take on the classic argyle vest. With its off-center argyle motifs, the vest tries to bring in a disorder in the otherwise ordered universe, hence the name Entropy. The vest is knit bottom-up in the round until the armholes, and the fronts and backs are worked flat separately. The argyle work is just 20 rows, so this is ideal for a beginner colorwork knitter.

Sizes: 4 [6, 8, 10, 12] years
Chest sizes:  23½[25, 26½, 28, 29½] inches

Ravelry Pattern: Entropy Vest
Yarn Suggested: Cascade 220 (Worsted)
Needle Size: US #5 3.75 mm for the body

New Patterns: Punto Cowl & Hat

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I am very happy to announce the release of Punto Cowl & Hat patterns which are released as part of Malabrigo Quickies. From Malabrigo Yarns website: Quickies are small, fast projects which require only one or two skeins of yarn. You could knit a small cowl and a hat in one skein each of MC and CC yarn. These patterns can be bought individually or as an ebook.

While I love variegated yarns,  I don’t like how muddy they look when used with cables or lace. I am not a big fan of pooling in stockinette stitch either, so the obvious step was to pair it with a plain yarn and make something colorful with it. Punto stitch pattern (as I would like to call it) is knit with one yarn per row (no carrying the other yarn) and the colorful CC yarn shows up as little specks or dots against the MC yarn.

Punto Cowl comes in 3 sizes. Small: 20 inches wide, a snug fit around your neck, Medium: 28 inches wide, a loose, comfortable fit around your neck and Long: 44 inches wide, where the cowl can be worn doubled up. All sizes are 8 inches high. Width and height can be easily modified by working more repeats of the stitch pattern.

Punto Hat comes in 4 sizes. S [M, L, XL]: 18 [20, 22, 24] inches. These are the finished sizes. Choose the size which give you no ease or an inch of negative ease.

Punto Hat
Punto Cowl

Punto ebook
Yarns Suggested: Malabrigo Merino Worsted in Natural Colorway
Malabrigo Seleccion Privada in Code B Colorway
Needle Size: US #6 4 mm

New Pattern: Tara Shrug

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I am so excited that my Tara Shrug is published as part of Knit Now October Issue.  I worked on this design almost 6 months back and just when I was ready to self-publish it, I saw the call from Knit Now and they were looking for quick knits. Since then I have been patiently waiting so that I could show this pattern off.

Photo Credit: Knit Now

Tara shrug is a great last minute gift for the little star in your life. The lace is simple and easy to memorize with all wrong side rows being ‘resting rows’. The shrug is knit flat as a rectangle in the openwork diamond lace pattern. After working the sleeves ribbing, the shrug is seamed at both ends to make sleeves. The body ribbing is knit in round.

Sizes: 2 (4, 6, 8, 10)
Chest sizes: 20 (22, 24, 26, 28) inches

The shrug is intended to be worn with 1-2” of negative ease as the lace section stretches when worn.

Photo Credit: Knit Now

 

Ravelry Pattern: Tara Shrug
Yarn Suggested: Fyberspates Scrumptious 4ply
Needle Size: US #3 3.25 mm for the body

 

New Pattern: Texo Pullover

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Texo (Latin word Texo for ‘weave, twine together’) is a take on the traditional crewneck pullover with a cabled pouch added for extra warmth for the hands. The cabled pouch adds interest and texture to the otherwise plain pullover. The i-cord edges on the pouch give it a neat finishing touch. The top-down seamless construction makes this an ideal pullover to try it on as you go and also to modify the body and sleeves length.

Ravelry Pattern: Texo Pullover by Anjali M.
Yarn Suggested: Knit Picks Swish DK
Needle Size: US #5 3.75 mm for the body
US #7 4.5 mm for the cable pouch