Friday, November 30, 2007

Beginnings of Knitted Farmyard

You can just begin to see the pond to the left and the start of the cornfields above. Under that is one of the meadows and one shrub so far!
Here is the start of the cut cornfields.
Hopefully, this is what my finished project will look like!

If you haven't gotten your copy of The Knitted Farmyard by Hannelore Wernhard yet, go! Right now! Go get one! This is one of the best books ever!!! The actual playmat of mine is going to measure about 3 feet by 4 feet, so that is why it is taking SO long! Kent has volunteered to do some yarn cutting for me (more service hours earned for him) ... this will be a big help because it really slows me down to have to stop and cut more yarn. Once I've got my rhythm going of picking up yarn, latching it in and picking up another piece, it's like that ad on TV about the person who pays by check or cash instead of the Visa card! Everything comes to a screeching halt! Anyhow, I'm making myself work on the rug canvas first ... once that's completed I'll start on the houses and the people.

Another fantastic project I'm about to begin has the same ideas ... it's Knitted Gardens by Jan Messent. I LOVE this book, too. Her gardens are a bit smaller and the knitted areas are glued to cardboard. Both are good ideas and I will probably end up combining the two.

Meanwhile, I'm still working on my monk wine bag. I'm just going to have to experiment with increasing for the hood when I get to the top. Keep your fingers crossed for me!

Also, I'm still finishing Father Christmas and will post a photo soon. However, if anyone is interested in working the pattern, I found a fabulous blog that has incredible directions for making legs which really work out for Father Christmas, too. Take a look at MochiMochiland. I wish I had found this earlier!


7 comments:

Heather said...

Happy Birthday Maggie!
The farm yard will be awesome!

Anonymous said...

Wow, that knitted farmyard looks so cool! I bet it's going to take a while, though. o_o

This comment is also being used for my ITIS 1210 class, since one of the projects was to write a blog comment. LOL

My UNCC Username is: cmwheele@uncc.edu

Love,

Colette :)

Anonymous said...

This farmyard is great. I can't wait to see the finished project.

Annemarie

Gryphon said...

What patience you must have to start with the ground in such an orderly manner! I just got this book and immediately whipped up a chicken. Fun stuff, but I doubt i'll ever get through all the ground, etc.!

Anonymous said...

Hello Maggie,

I am currently working on the knitted farmyard too but involving the whole family as a kind of "Generation Rug" for my daughter (20mths). I hope to complete by christmas 2009. I have absolutely no experience with knitting and wool, so its taking its time.

Now for a quick question, do you know what size needles to use (UK sizes), my grandmother who is an experienced knitter, knitted with UK10 - the pony and when finished it was about 4inches tall by 8 inches long!!! So something as gone terribly wrong! She also said it looks like a pig not a pony - Oh Dear! Before she gives up all together, please can you offer any help, it would be greatly appreciated.

Kind regards
Hayley

Nean the Bean said...

Hello, Hayley. I do believe that your grandmother is using the right size needle. I haven't made any of the animals or people yet, but the book recommends size 3.0 mm needles, which I've seen on a conversion chart to be size UK 11 (It looks like 3.25 mm is more like UK10)... but since the patterns all call for what I think is dk-weight yarn, size UK10 or UK11 would seem appropriate. I do think the animals are going to be small-ish. Here's something you could try, if you didn't mind experimenting ... use a worsted-weight or heavier yarn and bigger needles, like size 4.0, 4.5 or 5 mm needles (like a size UK 8 or 7 or 6) ... and see if this works. Did your grandmother do the "skin" pattern and sew it up or did she use the pattern for the cow (which the author says is easier)? Maybe trying the other pattern would be better? I hope I have been a help! How big do you want your finished animals to be? Write soon!

Anonymous said...

Hi Maggie, I will pass the info. on but my G/M said that she followed the pattern to the letter. She did the pony pattern not the cow. She seems to think that the pattern is wrong! Surely not .. I just want the animals to look in proportion to the rug and small enough for small hands to hold.

I will pass on your info. to her and see if she is willing to experiment!

Thanks for the advice.
Kind regards
Hayley