What we're making: Nadia

Ever wanted to know what your favourite staff members are up to outside of This Is Knit? Well, you guessed it: we are knitting or crocheting most of the time. We thought you might like a little view into what we are up too, as most of our projects never make it up on Ravelry before they are gifted away or worn never to be taken off again. So over to Nadia! Long ago I used to be a scientist. This is most definitely something you should know, so when I was asked to write a blog post, I said I would with lots of enthusiasm and head nods. When faced with a blank page, well, you stick to what you know.

Experiments in knitting

Aim:

To knit the Baby Kimono by Elizabeth Jarvis

Apparatus:

2 balls of Sirdar Baby Bamboo Snuggly DK in taupe shade 170.

1 Pair of 4.5mm Needles (I used 4.5mm circular)

2 Heart Shaped wooden buttons from This Is Knit.

1 sewing up needle

Method:

This little kimono is worked flat and then seamed with simple straightforward instructions of K2tog or m1 for shaping.

Results:

Taa Daa!!

Discussion:

I’ve learned a few things from this little project. This is the second baby kimono that I have made but is definitely the winner and it’s because of the yarn, not the pattern. The baby bamboo was a dream to work with but a nightmare to seam. You would think the fact that I work in TIK and that I warn people on a weekly basis that bamboo is hard to seam that this would somehow impact on my needle size decision...yup I’m quite frankly an idiot!

Now considering the fact that bamboo is a slippery little sucker you would think I would choose a 4mm or 3.75mm needle to knit this but nope. I didn’t swatch (I know, but who swatches for a child’s garment, right? They are going to fit eventually ahem) so when I washed the sweater it bloomed into a beautifully soft sleek fabric that I loved, until I had to seam. In the end my needle size left weaving in the ends and matching the decreasing quite difficult but with careful unpicking and re-sewing it turned out fab!! I would definitely recommend using locking stitch markers or safety pins to pin out the blocked garment before sewing and if your inner voice is screaming at you to get more but you can’t get your bum off the couch and up the stairs to get them, well expect to pay the consequences :/

I followed this pattern quite closely and I did lengthen the sleeves a little so that I could roll them up or down to get more growth out of the kimono as the buttons are movable and you make button holes on the inside of the sweater too so it’s designed to grow with babies. I also love that the two balls and buttons came in under €11, which is amazing for how expensive this looks in person.

Previously I knit this Baby Kimono by Joji (also a free pattern) which is knit in garter stitch and all in one piece from the top down and I loved the fact that when I cast off I was done with only one or 2 ends to weave in. My perfect combination of a kimono pattern would be a stocking stitch top down all in one piece and there are in fact 6 pages of Ravelry patterns to choose from. I love how I only came to this realisation after I knitted both patterns.

Conclusion:

I can’t stress how much I love this yarn, it's fantastic and a perfect choice for babies if you're looking for an alternative to wool and cotton. This pattern is well written with no mistakes so it shouldn’t invoke the knitter rage (you know what I’m talking about) and makes a sweet little heirloom. Just please swatch with bamboo and save yourself my headache of seaming. Also this little guy earned me two Winter Ravellenics Medals from Bobicus himself! Woo!