Hello! A friend, who happens to be an EXCELLENT knitter, recently pointed out to me that I've been slacking on my blog lately. This message was exactly the kick in the butt I needed to get back blogging. It was sweet of her to use the word "slacking" because the right word would be neglecting. And before you ask, no, I didn't forget I had a blog, but simply was neglecting it. I've even had a lot to write about! Today I'm going to go back in time to July to talk about knitting Spud from Spud & Chloe at the Farm.
Now, back in July I did a post about starting to knit Spud. You can find that post here: Spud! At that point I had just started Spud and was working on his body. I've now completed Spud and let me say that I love him!
The body was actually the slowest part of the knit, especially with doing all those twisted loops to create his wool. I was pretty motivated to finish his body so that I could be done with those twisted loops. I might have even said things such as "I don't know if I would knit this again....!" However, now that some time as passed since I knit him, I can say that I would definitely knit him again.
In my Ravelry notes I wrote that I cast on for the body on 7/13 and finished the body on 7/24 - that's only 11 days! The rest of the body really flew by - the head, the legs, the ears, the hair, and the tail. I think I finished knitting all 4 legs in about an hour or so. Oh! And he has a bow tie & collar! The hair and bow tie really made him, if you ask me. The only part I left out was the leash.
For this project I tried out the Knitter's Pride Karbonz double pointed needles. I've previously knit with the Karbonz straight needles and circulars, both of which I loved. The double pointed needles did not disappoint. They might actually be my favorite double pointed needles. The only problem I had with them is that the tip of the needle is very sharp. Now, a sharp needle isn't really a problem and normally that's my preference. It was when I was knitting the body of Spud that I specifically had a problem. I think that I was knitting on the tighter side and it was a little difficult to knit the decreases - the knit 2 together stitches. And by a little difficult I mean somewhat painful because the needle is that sharp. However, I did survive injury free and it wouldn't prevent me from buying another pair of these needles.
This knit along also served as a great lesson in gauge. In the photo below, three were knit with Spud & Chloe Sweater on size US 4 needles. The littlest sheep was knit using Spud & Chloe fine. We all do truly have our own unique tension (gauge) that we knit at :o)
Ravelry Project Page: Spud!
Needles: US 4 (3.5 mm) double pointed needles (Knitter's Pride Karbonz)
Yarn: Spud & Chloe Sweater in Ice Cream, Toast, & Turquoise
Approx. time frame: 7/13 to 8/20 - Note that it didn't take that long to actually knit; I'd estimate the total knitting time at less than a week if you worked on in throughout the week.
