A Child's Cabled Hooded Jacket - My Next Project

Deciding what to knit next is very exciting and can never be rushed. There are so many patterns and wonderful yarns available that a choice is never easy. However, despite always searching online for new patterns and yarn to add to my collection, I am showing restraint for the rest of the year (smile) and will choose from the pile of patterns I all ready have and yarn from my stash.

This is my next project: a lovely cabled jacket in double knitting (8 ply). The pattern is from the UK Hand Knitting Association and I will be using King Cole Pricewise Double Knitting in a lovely shade of blue (#143 Surf).

Picot-edged Child's Bolero

I love how this little girl's bolero turned out, especially the picot edging which was so simple to do. The yarn used was King Cole's Pricewise Double Knitting in shade #378 Fallow, 100 gm balls of 290 metres each and 100% acrylic. Not as soft as I would have liked, but still soft enough for baby garments.

The pattern used was also from King Cole: pattern #2980. Stocking stitch with decorative holes, it was simple and quick to knit. Being a loose knitter, to get the correct tension I changed the needle sizes to 3.75 mm (9) and 3.00 mm (11).

Sewing up the garment was difficult as it tended to curl. So I decided to block, something I very rarely do. It solved the problem and allowed me to neatly sew the sleeve and side seams without a struggle. For those of you not familiar with blocking: you wet the garment or pieces, remove the excess water and pin flat. I blocked the bolero pieces on a thick towel using long glass-headed dressmakers' pins and left it to dry overnight.

Sorry, not a great image, but I think good enough for you to get the idea of blocking. Blocking is a great technique and is gaining in popularity. Read about it here.