Swatchless

This past weekend the Cantabile Men and Women’s choirs went on tour to Burlington Vermont and Eastman Quebec, which meant a LOT of time spent singing, and a LOT of time on a bus.  Its funny, when packing for this trip the first thing I thought of was what knitting to bring.

I decided that a new knitting project would be needed to keep my fingers and brain busy during the long bus ride.

Some Assembly Required

This is a fiddly project.  I made it more fiddly by attempting it with sock yarn (Sisu) and size 2.5mm needles.  I was not sure how this would work as bus knitting–it could have been a disaster.  I recommend bringing a baggie to put the finished parts in, and using 5 needles rather than 4.  I remembered at the last minute to bring a darning needle, and stuffing.

It was great fun watching the parts take shape.  The pattern is very well written, and the pictures are extremely helpful to the construction of the many tiny pieces.

Once completed, this little guy started having fun on the trip….he specially liked breakfast time…  (this next picture is dedicated to the W.A.F.F.L.E.S. First Lego League Team.  I was thinking of you this weekend as you were watching the World Festival!)

LEGO WAFFLES

The original pattern results in a guy that is 10 inches tall.  My lego guy, knit in finer yarn, is about 5 inches tall.  And, with a significant amount of balancing, he’ll stand up!

with a 1 litre juice box

I arrived back home to notice that some other things had grown in my absence.

My radishes: growing tall, reaching for the sunshine

Before

After

My pigeons: now they are getting grey feathers and their eyes are open.

Before

After

Thanks to all the twitter knitters out there for your great pattern suggestions.

The popular patterns were:

The Fae Folk Hat [Ravelink]

image source: ravelry.com

and Ishbel [Ravelink]

image source: ravelry.com

but….I am not in the mood for something fiddly like lace right now.  I seem to be in the mood for something totally different and fiddly in another way entirely.

image source: ravelry.com

This is a pattern called “Some Assembly Required” [Ravelink]

As soon as I read the pattern blurb, I knew it was PERFECT for me!

“Warning! Some Assembly Required is extreme knitting! This is not suitable for beginners. Please review the techniques list before purchase. The pattern may be hard, but it will be worth it.

Some Assembly Required is a pattern that will enable you to make an adorable toy that can be taken apart and put together again. The head, torso, and legs are independent pieces, so you could make multiple pieces in different colors and they would be interchangeable.”

I’m not sure WHEN I’ll get the chance to knit this….maybe a paralympic knitting project?  I am comforted by the fact that it is in smallish pieces, so I will feel the thrill of accomplishment many times as the project grows.

Thanks again to yarn piggy from flying pig knits for giving me the pattern!