owls

There can't be many knitters out there, at least those who frequent Ravelry, who haven't heard of Kate Davies' infamous owls jumper. There was even a bit of a furore recently when a certain department store appeared to have copied the design.
Several of my friends had already knitted the pattern, and last year I decided it was about time I had my own version.
I chose Jarol Sweet Briar Chunky, mainly because that is what my friend Rachel had used for hers, in a silver grey colour. The whole knit is more or less seamless, with the body knit in the round and the sleeve stitches picked up and also knit in the round.

The knit took hardly any time at all, but it was a bit of a learning curve for me as a fairly inexperienced knitter. The magic loop sleeves have a very tight column of stitches where I overcompensated at one of the ends by pulling the yarn too tightly. I messed up one section of the short row shaping, leaving a bit of a hole. The cast off neck edge is a little tight. And the less said about the underarm graft the better!

However, for all it's faults, I'm not displeased with how the jumper turned out in the end. It's a little bit tight on me, probably because I failed to check my tension adequately and I know I have a tendency to knit a little tightly, and also because I'm carrying about 10lbs more than I would like since having little J (as these photos testify!). But I love the shaping, and the owls, and the fact that its the first seamless knit I have ever completed!

I'm currently sewing in a vast amount if ends on J's little jacket, and then I just need to sew the arms to the body and it will be done. I'm a little concerned its not going to fit him though - its in the 6-12 month size and although J is not yet 8 months he has been in 9-12 month clothes since January. I might have to squeeze him into it for just a few wears...

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