February Finished.

February was wonderfully productive, I’m delighted to say. I feel like 2019 has brought me back my design mojo, which was waning a little at the end of 2018.

Clockwise from top left (click links for patterns, where available):

  1. My Dolly Socks, in wool and cashmere superwash – the perfect prettiness for Spring.
  2. My first pair of gloves, knitted exclusively for me. I haven’t bothered with the pattern as they were my first pair, but I’m already looking forward to designing some beauties, now that I have these ones under my belt. Motto? Feel the fear and do it anyway 😉
  3. Aphrodite’s new jumper: the Juno’s Friend Jumper. And apparently we’re to expect a late blast of snow in a few days’ time, so that will come in handy. My beloved husband tells me I need to make her a pink spotty one next. Watch this space…
  4. My Lilac and Lime Bobble Socks, in a not-at-all lilac and lime colourway, which I love to bits with my Duckfeet.
  5. My husband’s woodland jumper, already tried and tested in the woods, and the pattern for which I have yet to write up, but WILL. I promise <3

I’m already excited to see what March will bring.

Happy knitting, lovelies! <3

Oh, a couple more, then…

Aphrodite has been wearing her sweater since yesterday. It’s not especially cold, but she seems rather taken with it and objects when I try to take it off.

So today I coaxed her to a spot in the house with a little more light, so you could see it in all its glory. Or her. See her in all her glory.

I give you Aphy, in her Juno’s Friend Jumper.

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A Canine Round-Up and Introducing…

… Aphrodite’s Jumper (also known as The Juno’s Friend Jumper).

I thought it might be time for a round-up of all the little jumpers I have so far designed for the hairier 4-legged people in our family. It’s been a while since I did, and the woolly family has grown since then, so let’s gallop down Memory Lane with a quick refresher of the story so far. (I’ll add links to the patterns in case you fancy a go yourself).

It started with the Juno Jumper. Don’t let her looks fool you – she’s a) a princess and b) feisty as all hell. But butter wouldn’t melt in this shot, huh?

juno-jumper

Then I was asked by Loveknitting to design and knit some little sweaters for Simon Cowell’s pups for a Christmas ITV special, which is where the Yorkie Christmas Jumper came in. (Have the pic of the man ‘imself, just to maximise my 15 seconds of fame 😉 )

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And then, of course, I felt that Juno also needed a Christmas sweater, and the Juno Christmas Jumper was conceived.

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And look, I’d kind of got the bug, ok? But I had guilt. After all, Juno isn’t our only furbaby. We have an enormous, gentle, but seriously-terribly-not-very-bright chocolate Lab called Aphrodite, or Aphy for short.

As a speedy aside, I recall one visit to the vet when I mentioned her, ahem, shall we say, slight deficit in the brains department? And the vet said “Yes. That’s chocolate labs, for you: heads full of fluffy pink balls”. At which point I decided it was best to just accept that she would never be graceful, would always fall over her own feet, would never learn that Juno doesn’t ever want to be her best friend, and that anything edible in the house that wasn’t under lock and key would be consumed. And some things that aren’t edible, too. Like Jenga. Most expensive dog chews I ever bought…

But I digress! It was Aphy’s turn, and she got The Lab Coat. Complete with buttons because I was worried about small holes and gangly legs:

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And… because I had some of the yarn left, and because I felt a bit matchy-matchy, Juno needed one, too. But in reverse, of course. So… And Juno Too!

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AND FINALLY!

Since the original one – the Juno Jumper right at the top – has proved to be my best-selling pattern so far and is the simplest of them all, I thought it was time a bigger version, modified for bigger legs and chests, was available. And the Juno’s Friend Jumper is now published. This one is made in Paintbox wool-mix super-chunky.
Me: What colour do you think will best suit Aphy? I’ve already used a lovely yellow…
Husband: Orange.
I think we can all agree, we’re not going to lose her in the dark! 🙂

 

 

 

So: if you share pictures of your Alice in Knittingland dog sweaters on instagram or Facebook  (links at the top) and tag me or the sweaters – e.g. #thejunojumper –  they will appear in my stories and go into my highlights. I just LOVE seeing your furry friends in their new threads.

Happy knitting, lovelies <3

PS If you are interested in receiving all the patterns, tutorials or ebooks I create as soon as they are created, you might consider becoming a Patron. You can find more information over here. Aphrodite’s Juno’s Friend Jumper pattern is already there and available for download as soon as you sign up, and here is a sneak peak at two patterns which will be appearing there in the very near future:

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Aphrodite

* Drumroll please *

Aphrodite has a new jumper.

All will be revealed once I’ve taken some rather more glamorous shots of her somewhere a  bit prettier, so watch this space…

But for now, have a picture of Aphrodite in Paintbox Wool-Mix Chunky, in Seville Orange (you’ll need 2 – 3 balls, if you’re thinking of buying in anticipation of the pattern release 😉 )

The rather larger, lanky-leg friendly version of the Juno Jumper is just around the corner <3

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A dog is for Christmas 

….

No. Wait. Life.

A dog is for life.

But since Christmas is nearly upon us, how about she gets to join in with the festivities?

Juno, our  little Jack Russell princess, remember? The one who pokes her nose out of the door as a barometer? Then swivels on her heel (so to speak) and hides behind the sofa if conditions are less than perfect?

Well, in an effort to drag her from her grump and into the great outdoors…

… she has a new Christmas jumper.

If you have a petite pooch of your own, who feels the cold and needs some festive cheer, you can find the pattern on the Loveknitting.com blog over here (and it’s free till 18th December)

Now… back to the Christmas knitting !

(And yes, I gave her the biscuit 😂)

Dog jumpers – the story

Would you believe, I have FOUR to choose from now?

I find it hard to resist, not because I think animals look cute in clothing (though, obviously, I do) but because on a far more practical level, it gets pretty  blooming cold up here in the North of England when winter rolls around.

Juno, our little Jack Russell Princess:

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Well, she gets a bit chilly out there. She’s teeny, wiry, fierce as a T-Rex… but chilly. Her natural state is curled up in a beam of sunlight. Sometimes, I am led to suspect she believes herself a cat. She pokes her nose outside the door and, if it’s too cold, wet, snowy, a flat refusal usually follows: a swift 180, nose in the air, and a trot back to the sofa.

So, in an attempt to coax her dainty paws into the fresh air, I designed her a little sweater, little knowing how popular it would prove to be. I’ve had so much lovely feedback telling me how much people have loved making it. The Juno Jumper was born (click here for link to pattern):

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Hot on the heels of her little sweater, I was thrilled to be asked to design some Christmas sweaters for Simon Cowell’s Yorkies for ITV’s Text Santa (click here for a link to the pattern):

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But… you know? I started to feel a bit guilty. Juno is not, after all, an only dog. She has a much bigger and (to her) unbearably, overwhelmingly cheerful enforced companion, Aphrodite:

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OK, OK, she’s MUCH bigger now, but loooook. Man. Her tag looks like an enormous medallion!

It was time Aphy got a jumper too.  She provided a goodly challenge though. She has the most ridiculously long and gangly legs. There is no way on God’s green earth we’re hooking those babies through leg holes. So…. some woolly engineering was called for. Buttons, and flaps, and ribbing. Oooh, it was fun! And look – here it is! (click here for link to pattern):

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Oh, but THEN…. I thought wouldn’t it be gorgeous to have a mini one of these, perhaps reversing the colours, for Juno…? How unutterably adorable would that be, on our wintry walks? So….

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(click here for link to pattern).

You will not believe what’s coming next… I’m giggling as I type.

Off to clack some needles!

Chunky FTW! (a free pattern)

I have made (it’s official) the chunkiest hat in the WHOLE WIDE WORLD.

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I wanted to make a hat for my Beloved. He feels the cold a bit more than he used to, and of all the hats I have made, none is quite right.

I have a micro-stash of the chunkiest wool on the planet. Well…. it’s not. But it’s very chunky and it’s in my possession, and frankly, anything that needs knitting up on 15mm needles is pretty goshdarned chunky in my humble.

I’ve uploaded quite a few patterns for sale recently, so I thought I’d give the readers of my blog this piece of squishiness as a token of my appreciation.

Here’s what you need.
(Click the name at the top for a printable download)

The Chunk

2 x 100g balls Drops Polaris
15mm circular needles
A tapestry needle for weaving in ends
A large pompom maker (it’s so much less fiddly than all that faffing around with cardboard doughnuts!)

Method:
(This makes an adult-sized hat, which fits my 15 year old son rather too well. I may have to hide it).

Cast on 36 stitches and place marker for the beginning of the round.

Knit 1 Purl 1 rib for 14 rows. This gives a really chunky squishy turn-up around the base of your hat.

Knit 5 rows.

Make your decreases as follows:

[Knit 5, K2tog] around. (36 remaining)

[Knit 4, K2tog] around. (30)

[Knit 3, K2tog] around. (24)

[Knit 2, K2tog] around. (18)

[Knit1, K2tog] around. (12)

K2tog around. (6)

K2tog around. (3)

Cut the tail long enough to thread through the last 3 stitches, pull tight and weave in.

Make a large pompom, leaving the ends long enough to thread through the top of the hat and tie in a tight double knot underneath, inside the top of the hat.

Weave in all ends.

Ta-dah!

Enjoy keeping warm <3

In the meantime, if you’re looking for other patterns, you can now find these ones both in my Etsy shop and on the loveknitting.com website:

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The Ponchette pattern can be found here.
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The Juno Jumper pattern can be found here.
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The Ssssidney Snake pattern can be found here.
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The Snuggly Slippers pattern can be found here.
CJ16
The Simon Cowell Yorkie Christmas Jumper pattern can be found here.

 

PS I have always wanted a really chunky hat. Apparently, this one is a bit ‘too girly’ for my beloved. Imagine my chagrin… 😉