Recovering my 3D knit mojo
Once upon a time, there was a mother who would knit anything for her daughter. The toddler loved hats and all kinds of animals. When the mother discovered The Knitted Farmyard by Hannelore Wernhard, she resolutely created its landscape rug and a variety of tiny animals that required hardly any knitting but plenty of fiddly finishing. The toddler loved playing with each of the knitted animals. She and her friends would take the animals all over the house, in the stroller and around town. Before the mother knew it, hours of laboriously fashioned little animals had completely disappeared, thereby extinguishing all desire to ever create anything three dimensional again.
With very little exception, 3D knitted toys did not pop into this mother’s knitting radar (or onto her needles) for a very long time. Last summer, as I watched a knitter create an ornament in the form of a box of Hobb’s popcorn, the kernel of knitting curiosity cracked that moldy resolution to avoid knitted toys. The flame sparked brightly when my sister requested not one but THREE knitted wild animals from Sarah Keen’s Knitted Wild Animals. Another toddler who may just love animals in my future? Can I refuse? No way! I don’t want to miss this chance.
So soon I shall knit another giraffe, an elephant and a panda. I’m warming up with other 3D knit projects this winter.
I finished one of two Parlour cat by Sarah Elizabeth Kellner, in memory of our dear gatto di lusso. No face yet, but it looks quite convincing when placed on the chair. Can’t wait to make the next one.
Celestine is a 12 pointed star designed by Norah Gaughan. Easy to knit in sport weight yarn, this pattern could be a traveling project… except for the double pointed needles. However, TV knitting is completely appropriate.
If If keep this up, a knit cornucopia with accompanying knit vegetables may be in my future. But will the 3D knit mojo last that long?