Monthly Archives: April 2023

Inspiration: Daniel Tiger

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It’s been… a long time since I did one of these posts. Mostly because I haven’t had time to sit down and watch anything interesting on TV, much less do the digging to find pattern resources.

Then it occurred to me, there’s a show that I watch all the time that heavily features a famous sweater. (I’m logging way more time watching this show than I really care to admit, if I’m being honest.)

It’s grr-ific, tiger-tastic, and literally the only show that my 2-year-old will watch. It’s Daniel Tiger’s Neighborhood!

Do I enjoy watching Daniel Tiger? Not particularly. Is it a great show for 2-year-olds? Definitely. Do I still use the “teaching songs” with my big kid when I’m trying to get them to stop hitting their brother/put on their shoes/not freak out when something goes wrong? Absolutely. Do the songs work? Sometimes.

Anyway, look at Daniel’s cute little red sweater:

It’s a cute little zip-up red hoodie with drawstrings and pockets. I think it’s supposed to be a raglan sleeve, but it’s hard to say, with it being a cartoon and all. But with a little searching I found a couple options.

First is the Rainbow Child cardigan by Rebecca Newman. This pattern looks super flexible (and cute!) and could easily be adapted into a DT sweater.

The R&R Hoodie by Tanis Lavallee would be perfect, with almost no changes! And it comes in a range of sizes. It’s at a pretty small gauge, though, so that might not be quite as cozy as Daniel’s sweater.

But after all that looking, I realized that I should have just searched “Daniel Tiger Sweater,” because of course someone has designed the perfect Daniel Tiger sweater. It’s called the Neighborhood Sweater by Analisa Gedge. It’s adorable, screen-perfect (or at least as screen-perfect as you can get with a cartoon.

Now, if I actually make DT sweaters for my kids, what’s the likelihood that they’ll still be watching the show when the sweaters were done?

A Roll of the Dice

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I started working on the second sleeve, and, well, I almost immediately ran out of yarn. I had managed to delude myself into thinking that I had enough yarn to make it through the sleeve. But, no matter how much I wanted it to be true, I had barely made it through the cuff when I was left with this much yarn:

So, I ran back to Webs and ordered another skein. I was excited when the package showed up yesterday, but then I suddenly realized- I had no idea if it was going to match. The color on the website vs. the actual color was so wildly different, it suddenly occurred to me that the new and old yarn might not match at all.

I crossed my fingers, held my breath, and opened the package.

And thank all the Knitting Gods! Not only did the color match- the new yarn was actually the same dye lot as the stuff I ordered months ago. I certainly lucked out!

Now all I have to do is… finish the sweater!

Did you ever luck out (or not) with a dye lot?

Halfway across the island

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Woo! It’s starting to look more like a sweater! It’s going to need a nice blocking (and assembly) to really see how it looks, but I’m feeling more optimistic that this will be done before my toddler is in high school.

Anyway, here’s the sweater all laid out. Obviously, I haven’t sewed it up yet, but it’s getting there. Despite my best/worst attempts at math, the proportions look more or less correct. And I just love the “little old man” aesthetic for my slow-moving, cheerful, and thoughtful little guy.

One funny thing that happened though, is that the sleeves are literally wider than the body pieces. It’s an oversized sweater with generous sleeves, so it’s not that surprising, but still, when they’re laid out like that… it looks a little funny.

Now I just have to make the other sleeve… and sew it together… and block it. I’m basically done, right?

Are you working on any long-term projects?

Onto the Sleeves

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I’ll be honest. When I went to photograph this sleeve this morning, I was a little disappointed. I thought that I had completed more than I have. It’s really not much more than a cuff right now, but oh well. At least it’s a nice cuff.

It’s just been so nice and sunny and warm (ish… it’s still hovering around 50, but I’ll take what I can get), I’ve just not been in the mood to knit like I do in the winter.

Still, I’m making progress. I’ve cast on for the cuff and am increasing 1 stitch at the beginning and end of every other RS row. So far, I think it’s going well, but of course I’ve got quite a way to go before I know for sure that the sleeve is the right size. (I probably won’t know for sure until I block it out, honestly.)

But I’m still cruising along. I’m just crossing my fingers that it still fits my kid next winter, since I seem to have missed the cold-weather window.

How often do you miss the season for your WIPs?