Saturday, April 4, 2009

Autumn is the Time to Start Knitting in Australia!


You know that autumn (fall) has arrived in Australia when you see balls of soft, brightly coloured yarn and knitting needles beginning to appear in the discount stores.

It was about this time last year that my daughter saw some nice pink and white yarn on sale and asked if I would knit her a sweater. So, I bought the yarn and looked on the Internet for a free pattern.

I wanted something that was quick and easy to knit, as I didn't want to concentrate too much while knitting and relaxing in front of the TV. I decided on this free pattern for a random stripes pullover knitted only in stocking stitch (knit one row, purl one row).

We changed the pattern a little - instead of stripes of three rows for each colour, we decided to alternate wider pink stripes of six rows per stripe with narrower white stripes of three row per stripe.

What I like about this pattern is that it is very adaptable. You could use up all of your left-over yarn and make a rainbow striped sweater for a little girl or boy, or you could knit the whole sweater in just one colour.

A year on, I'm close to finishing this sweater! I just have to finish the second sleeve and sew the whole thing up. I'll post a photo of it when it's finished. Hopefully, it will be ready for my daughter to wear when the weather gets colder...and, yes, it does get cold enough to wear a sweater in the autumn and winter in Sydney, Australia!

Budget details: I bought four balls of yarn from a discount store for a total of A$8 (and I will probably have at least one and a half balls left over). Two sets of knitting needles cost A$4, so the total cost of knitting this jumper was just A$12! That's about US$8.50 or 5.75 UK pounds.

Going back to this year, I was tempted to buy some new yarn for a new knitting project but, at the moment, I'm not sure what I'll make. I'll have a look on the Internet for a free pattern and then buy the correct amount of yarn.

If you live in Australia, take a look in your local discount store for yarn at great prices at this time of year. If you knit throughout the year, now is definitely the best time to stock up!

6 comments:

Sandy said...

Pretty, anxious to see the end product. Hope you made it larger than she needed since it's been a year in the making. I might book mark that pattern and it to my stack. I have a huge stash of yarn and rarely buy it with a specific project in mind. I buy colors and yarn types that I know will be good for multiple projects, and then when the yarn speaks to me (as it does constantly), I know what to make with it.

Sandy
http://stitchinglifetogether.today.com/

Roz said...

Hi Sandy

Thanks for visiting and commenting. Fortunately, I made it in a larger size and I have held the front and back up to her and it is fine - phew! I just need to finish it ASAP!!!

It's a nice pattern - I've enjoying knitting such a nice, straightforward sweater.

I used to buy lots of yarn on impulse but did not get around to using lots of it and had to give it all away when I left the UK. Now I am restricting myself to only buying yarn on a per-project basis!

It sounds like you finish projects a lot more quickly than I do, so I'm sure your stash comes in useful!

Best wishes,

Roz

Sher said...

Hi Roz,
Knitting is so relaxing!!! I've tried knitting, but didn't do so good...and my Grandma also taught me to crochet. It's so nice in the evening to have something like that to work on!!! :0)

Good luck with your sweater--I'm looking forward to seeing it when it's done!!!

Have a great day,
Sher :0)

Roz said...

Hi Sher,

Yes, knitting is very relaxing! I started off with very simple things like scarves, went onto more complicated patterns, and now I'm back to more simple designs, due to lack of time! I never really got the hang of crochet.

Thanks for your good wishes - I really have to get the jumper finished as quickly as possible as the weather has got a lot colder today!!

Hope you had a good wine-tasting weekend! I'll visit your blogs later to catch up,

Roz

Unknown said...

Now you're talking! I love to knit and it doesn't matter to me if I never actually finish a project - the repetitive movements are like meditation.

Roz said...

Hi Deborah

I know exactly what you mean about finishing a project being less important than the knitting itself! I left behind several unfinished projects when we left the UK! My daughter would be very upset if I didn't finish this one, though!

Thanks for visiting and commenting,

Roz

 
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