More Knitting for Kids

Evie turned two this year.  I was hoping to knit a poncho for her birthday and, while searching for yarns, I came across a knitted child’s Pinwheel Sweater* in the window of Natural Stitches and instantly fell in love with it.  It seemed like the perfect little sweater for our transition from winter to spring.  I was looking for a washable, lightweight yarn for the project and settled on Berrocco Vintage.  I have never been a fan of Berroco yarn, but that is probably because all the freebies and giveaways I’ve gotten over the years seem to contain some kind of novelty yarn from Berroco.  Vintage is a blend of acrylic and wool with a little nylon giving it a nice, soft, and light feel in a yarn that is washable.  Each skein is 100 grams with many great colors to choose from.

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I had nearly 100 grams of yarn leftover from the sweater and decided to knit a scarf for the scarf stash.  I had always wanted to try illusion knitting and already had a pattern in my Ravelry favorites, so I thought I’d give it a try.  Illusion knitting is much easier than I would have expected.  Two alternate yarn rows are knit in either raised, purl stitches or recessed, knit stitches, or a combination of knit and purls in the same row, so that, when looked at from an angle, the purls stand out and your pattern appears.  How appropriate, then, that Alice Bell designed a disappearing cat pattern and named it Wonderland Socks.  For the scarf, the cat pattern was a bit difficult to see and make out.  Perhaps because I was using a heavier yarn and the pattern traveled a farther distance.  The cat and it’s curly tail only filled about 1/3 of the scarf, so I decided to make this one for my niece Sara and do her name in the illusion knitting.  I think the thick letters are much better for the scarf and I’m sure she’ll be thrilled to see her name hidden in the scarf.

*Shelly Mackie’s Pinwheel Sweater pattern is available for free by logging in to Elann.com