knitted dolphin (?)

[jwgh]

I started work on a small knitted project on Wednesday and finished it tonight while watching Babylon 5. The pattern is from Kath Dalmeny's World of Knitted Toys. I made it for my niece, who is due to be born in a week or so.







I'm a little unhappy with the pattern, but maybe that's just because I'm tired. It just seems like it doesn't really look like what the pictures in the book look like. On the other hand, it's still pretty cute, and even if it's not entirely dolphin-like it's certainly aquatic.

Anyway, back to Babylon 5! Then back to bed. (Still recovering from the cold/cough that kept me out of work yesterday, unfortunately.)

Comments

[mmcirvin.livejournal.com]

It looks like a manatee.

[jwgh]

Hmm, yes. It also looks a bit like a dugong, so by the transitive property it looks like a mermaid.

[twillis.livejournal.com]

It's cute, whatever it is.

I have that book as well. The designs are very cute, but I'm kind of bugged that there's so much sewing. Seems like you could do a lot her stuff in the round and use proper shaping.

In fact, seeing as I have jury duty next week, maybe that's what I'll experiment with adapting one of the patterns to that. Hmmm.

Assuming I have knitting needles that won't set off the metal detector.

Though I suppose a more practical project would be knitting a seat cushion for the horrible benches they make us wait in.

[jwgh]

I agree, generally -- a lot of design books seem to be allergic to knitting things in the round. Sometimes it's more understandable than others, but I have a bunch of hat patterns that are worked on straight needles and then sewn up the back for no apparent reason. (The car hat I finished recently is supposed to be made that way, but to hell with that.)

In this case it's a little more understandable, because there does need to be an opening somewhere so you can stuff the animal, but I think if I made it again I'd do it in the round and either stuff it as I go or switch to back-and-forth long just long enough to leave a good hole.

The end.

[kerri9494.livejournal.com]

I bought this pattern because a) it was SO FREAKIN COOL, and 2) it said that a BEGINNER could do it. If you can yarn over and knit two together, you can do this. Well, guess what! I can yarn over, and I can knit two together, and I couldn't even figure out how to start!

So I gave the pattern to my mother, who had a long drive this weekend, and so would do some of it on the drive. She said it's one of the worst patterns she's ever worked with -- but at least she was able to figure out what it was supposed to do by using some combination of the words, the pictures, and the Force. She's almost finished with one of the shoes, and it is ADORABLE. I can't wait can't wait can't wait.

[jwgh]

The unicorn pattern I used to make the penicorns had some pretty confusing bits, too -- I think this may be a problem generally with patterns you get online. The sneakers slippers pattern looks a lot more fiddly than the unicorn so I'm not surprised that it's even more confusing.

(note for twillis: the unicorn pattern also had the aversion to using DPNs that we discussed above.)

I think experienced knitters are expected to already have an idea of how the things are going to go together, and I usually do, but that doesn't make it less annoying. Spend some extra paper and show us exactly how it's supposed to work!

[kerri9494.livejournal.com]

I think it's really cute. I don't know what it was spoz to look like, but it looks enough like a dolphin to me. :-)