Wednesday, September 4, 2013

Yarn Along - Hitchhiker

I finished my Hitchhiker a few days ago and am rather pleased with the way it turned out.  I'm sure it's going to get lots of use this winter.


I knit it on 4 mm needles with thicker yarn than the pattern suggested and ended up with only 37 'teeth' due to running out of yarn, but it's still plenty big enough.  Great thing about a scarf is that it doesn't really have to fit, as such.  Which is more than can be said for sweaters.

I cast on Tino's  Fire Truck Sweater according to the pattern for age 6 but it came out very very wide.  So I downsized by .5 mm but it still looked too big.  So now I'm making an age 4 (he'll be 5 in October) and still using .5 mm smaller needles.  I think it will fit him just right now.  If it comes out too big he won't wear it and I figured there's no point it sitting in a draw waiting for him to grow into it, chances are his fire truck obsession will have worn off by then!

On my Kindle I'm reading Last Child In The Woods.  I'm only on chapter 1 and what an eye opener it is.  As expected  computers, television, mobile phones etc are given as  reasons why children are spending less and less time outside, but another reason, that fortunately we don't experience here, is  that children are not being 'permitted' to play out side.  It's not so much the parents who sanction kids play but it's groups such as 'home owners associations' who are increasingly regulating outside play to the extent that it no longer resembles play.  Climbing trees, spontanious ball games and other such classic forms of 'unstructued' entertainment are NO NO in a growing number of places!!  Well I didn't see that one coming.  I'm eager to find out what the rest of the reasons are.
My wee lads have also been getting creative these past few days.  My mother-in-law turned 70 on saturday and with a little help from us big people, they made her this little keep sake

Here they are hard at work.  I'm so proud of them, not only for making this but for keeping 'mum' about the surprise party we organized for her with all her brothers and sister, children and grand children.

Linking up with Ginny today for Yarn Along

19 comments:

  1. Love the scarf Emma, stripes are always a hit in our house :) x

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  2. Your shawl is just beautiful, and your photos really show it off well. The yarn colors are so pretty.

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  3. Your Hitchhiker looks fantastic and I can see it getting a lot of wear this winter.
    Happy birthday to your moteher inlaw, the gift your babies made is really lovely.

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  4. I love your Hitchhiker! It's so pretty. I have heard that book is great. Compare how many kids would be outside when we were younger as opposed to now?

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  5. What an amazing job you did- love this scarf in every way.

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  6. I love your Hitchiker, the colors look amazing. X

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  7. What a great kid project! I'll have to remember this.

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  8. Thanks for visiting my blog. I love, love, love your Hitchhiker. The colors are beautiful. Isn't it great when your kids want to craft also. The hoop they made is adorable.

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  9. YOur Hitchhiker is so beautiful, I have had this tagged in my Ravelry Library for a long time and have yet to make it. Interesting book you are reading. I know when my kids were little they had unstructured play right around my house, but I wouldn't let them stray very far because I was so nervous about someone taking them, I just felt like they needed to be near me, not like when I was growing up and we could go anywhere.
    Hugs,
    Meredith

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  10. Hitchhiker LOVE! Tell me tell me pleeease, what yarn did you use? It's very pretty. :)

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    1. HI Arwen, it's Adriafil Knitcol % virgin wool superwash, that a bough on holiday in the UK. Thanks for your comment.

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  11. I love your Hitchhiker. I think that is going into my ravelry queue! I knew there was a reason why I didn't like homeowners associations and that one was just added to my list. Why on earth would you not let kids play outside. I remember being outside all day long and only coming in for dinner. Craziness!

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  12. Gorgeous scarf! Would love to know what yarn you used. The colors are fabulous! :) Happy knitting!

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  13. Hi Stephanie, Thanks for visiting. The yarn is Adriafil Knitcol % Virgin Wool Superwash.

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  14. Just love your hitchhiker. I have knit a few of Martina Behm's patterns but not this one. Think it will move higher up my list. Great colours.

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  15. Another hitchhiker finished at the yarn along... mine has so far to go, but I'm inspired! I just love the colorway you used! Andrew Pudewa (IEW writing program) has a terrific lecture based on this book and it's quite convicting! Thankfully, our children have spent very little time attached to screens of any type (unlike their parents who both grew up with the tube...). Have a great weekend!

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  17. YOUR shawl is amazing. JUSt wonderful. I love it

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