Sir Lolo Bean

It occurred to me as I started knitting Nettle Knits' castle cardi, that nearly everything I have ever knit for Logan has been too small for him to wear longer than a week! It's true! Shocking isn't it? So this time, I was determined to make him a little cotton sweater he could wear on cool spring and summer evenings and perhaps even early fall.


So I took out the biggish yarn and the largish needles and added extra length to the body and sleeves and managed to knit the 12 month size with plenty of extra ease for my Lolo bear... and my friends, I finally did it!!!


It might be hard to tell from the pictures, but the sleeves are rolled up! And the body has lots of growing space. Even the neckline has some room to spare! This Sir Lancelot of mine is ready to brave the cool summer winds in royal style ;0)


The pattern for this castle cardi (don't you just love the crenelated collar?) is from Nettle Knits and is very well written. Though I think there may be errata in the picking-up-for-the-collar department, but I was so sleepy by the time I got to it that the problem might very well be with my brain and not the pattern!


I knit the 12 month size and did knit the collar over 62 stitches, but I had to pick up 4 stitches on either side of the garter bands and 8 stitches over each of the sleeves to get to that number.

As much as I love this pattern though, what makes this sweater for me though is the yarn. I used Rowan All Seasons Cotton and I must say, I think it is my favourite sweater yarn ever! It is so soft and breathable and I've noticed that I am always extra cuddly with Stephen and the boys when they wear their sweaters knit with this stuff.

It is aran weight which I think is a great weight for kids stuff as it speeds up the knitting but isn't so bulky that it's hard to design with. It is also hard wearing and very easy to care for. And as a nice little bonus, you can get amazing deals on this stuff from places like Cucumber Patch or Janette's Rare yarns (see links in my sidebar) that are often clearing discontinued colours. Both shops are in the UK but ship incredibly quickly (I'm talking less than a week to get to Canada) and for very cheap. I've bought several 10 ball packages of this yarn for $20 each. You just can't beat that price...even though the colour selection (for the sale stuff anyway) is often less than scintillating.

Happy knitting!