21 September 2007

FO: Totoro Hoodie...

Done with the "deadline" knitting and the package has been sent off just in time!



Pattern: None. Used instructions for ears from Hello Yarn's Totoro Bonnet.
Yarn: Debbie Bliss Pure Cotton-Blue (4 balls), Ecru (0.5 ball), and a bit of Beige
Needles: US7/4.5mm and US8/5mm circs and US7/4.5mm DPNs for the ears.
Time: About a week.
Other: Fits 6-12 months old; 10 inch zipper in off white.

Notes:

I originally wanted to make a grey Totoro hoodie but couldn't find any cotton yarn in the right color. Crazy skin allergies run in the family so I decided to stick with 100% cotton until we knew for sure if the baby could handle an animal fiber. The knitting was easier than I expected. I thought I'd run into trouble with the fronts because I had to knit the color sections separately and seam them together, which meant calculating the raglan shaping for the white part and factoring in the seam stitches.

The hood was pretty basic. I picked up stitches as if I were knitting a collar, increased evenly throughout one row, and continued knitting for about eight inches. Then I divided the stitches over two needles and grafted the top of the hood together. I did a bit of short row shaping in the center just before the end of the hood to make the back rounded instead of pointy. I opted not to put a face on the hood because the shape of the hood makes the placement difficult.

The zipper was not as painful to install as I'd expected. In fact, it's by far my best zipper installation. I can hardly sew to save my life but everything just worked out this time. The center /\ even matched up perfectly.



This is probably one of my favorite things I've knit so far although I think I've exceeded my cuteness quota for the year. =)

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