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Friday 11 February 2011

Knitting a name


The idea for knitted letters spelling my granddaughter's name came to me when I was shopping one weekend and saw these letters in Tiger


A little imagination was required, and a small fret saw, to remove the odd extra appendage and get the spelling right.  What I really love with projects like this is thinking about what I need to do to produce the right effect.  I chose lovely Wendy Supreme DK cotton, in pretty colours with a lovely sheen.

Originally I was going to knit tubes with a giant 'knitting dolly' but that was not going to work on anything other than the 'S' and 'I' (I know there isn't an 'I' here but that's coming).  In the end I decided to knit pieces in roughly the shape as the letters and wrap them round the wooden forms.  So I set off and cast on, knitting in roughly the right direction increasing and decreasing to get the slants right and making gussets and slits to fit round places like the bar of the A.  Where I needed to increase on the front of the letter I kept it neat in the 'fully fashioned' style.



Having the S in mirror image was not a deliberate mistake, it was a real mistake!  I looked and looked again, turning my head to one side, and still could not see what I had done wrong.  After DS1 had pointed out the error of my ways, I just had to undo (does anyone know why this is called frogging - is it a bloggy term?) and turn it around.  I padded the letters lightly with polyester wadding and fixed the knitted covers at the back just by overlapping and stitching.  The joy of something as flexible as knitted fabric is as long as it is roughly the right shape it can be made to fit by stretching gently and plumping it out with light padding. 




The little knitted flowers, heart, star and butterfly come from Knitted Edgings & Trims by Lesley Stanfield.  I have stitched little plastic rings on the back of each letter to hang them on the wall.



Enjoy your weekend everyone

xx

C

11 comments:

kim said...

The letters are so effective, clever you. I would never have thought of doing something like this, I'm sure your grandaughter will love it.
florrie x

spinndiva said...

Oh how cute! What a great idea that was!!! I love the little decorations you made for the letters. I think the butterfly and the rose are my favorites! :)

B.

What I Created Next said...

That is absolutely beautiful. What a thoughtful present to make. I think the term 'frogging' comes from the fact that you are ripping the stitches back (ie. ribbet, the sound a frog makes)

Jessicah said...

These are gorgeous! Thanks for sharing your step by step process. I really love the rose too.

silverpebble said...

These knitted letters are genius! You would sell so many in an etsy shop!

Jane said...

That's so pretty, Catherine. I don't frog either, I hadn't heard the term until I started reading blogs.

Aussie Maria said...

Hi just found your blog while surfing the net. What a beautiful project, the A must have been difficult to work. I love the little add-ons - so sweet
Frogging - when undoing projects comes from "Ribbit - Rip It" is the sound a frog makes - well that's the story line anyway :-)

Anonymous said...

Lovely stuff

Lizzie said...

This is knitting as art!

Florence Knapp (Flossie Teacakes) said...

Oh Catherine - they're beautiful. x

Knitrageous said...

Just ran across your blog. Love the knitted name! What a great gift!