Wednesday 21 July 2010

Mini Chic

We seem to be having a bit of a baby boom here in Cambridge. Practically everyone I know (or am related to) is either pregnant or with a newborn...so when I had an idea for a cute little cardigan with a lacy yoke I thought to myself....why not try out a mini version first?

See how cute and tiny she is?
This turned out to be a good idea as I must have knit the initial sample about 7 times with several different yarns, trying to get the dimensions, fit and style right. The garments I've designed in the past have been one-offs, knit on the fly so that you can eye up the result and adjust as you go. This is all well and good but doesn't make for easily replicable pattern writing, especially when you want to produce multiple sizes. It is important to me in all of my patterns that the instructions are clear and logical, inutitive where possible.

In the end this turned out just as I had hoped - so undeniably cute and with a little chic thrown in for good measure. Having knit the first sample (the grey), and knowing that my instructions were correct, the second was a breeze. My models were complete darlings. Well, Nathalie at 3 weeks old and 8lbs was not really going anywhere, but it was a struggle to photograph her with her eyes open. Genevieve on the other hand had to be chased around the garden by my husband, taking snap after snap, trying to get some usable images. He must have taken a 100 photos!


My original idea was actually for an adult cardigan and so I'm working on the design for that now. I hope to be able to make it available in August.