I have been stalking my local Sainsbury’s for 2 days now, hoping to find the latest issue of Simply Knitting. And here it finally is!
Can you spot the little boy’s jumper on the top left?
Here on the summary page? Yes, the Jurassic Parklife jumper. Cute, isn’t it? And I’m not saying that because IT IS MY FIRST EVER PUBLISHED PATTERN! Sorry for shouting, but that’s how I’ve been feeling for the last few months.
Now a little back story. I dreamed of this little jumper about a year ago. At the time, I was designing stuff for my own use. I thought about how it would be cool to publish patterns, but I had no clue how this could be done. Fast forward a few months, and I find myself in the position of working for Simply Knitting as a freelance technical editor. Being in contact with the team there, I pitched my idea to Deb. I think it took maybe 24h for her to come back with a “we love it, we want it!” email.
My first yarn suggestion for this pattern was Spud & Chloe Fine, but it was a little bit expensive for the target audience, so instead, we chose Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino as it came in just the right colours. Any 4-ply / sport weight that you can knit at the right tension will work just fine. I think Bergere de France Ideal yarn works out about the same tension.
It’s been hardwork, but I am so pleased with the end result. Exactly as I had imagined it. And the way it is laid out in the magazine is just perfect. I love love the new design for the magazine, by the way. Massive improvements!
The pattern covers 5 sizes, from birth to 6 years old. It is a short jumper, so if your little one is tall, I encourage you to make it longer (just work more brown stocking stitch before starting the colourful stripes). I chose bright colours for the sample, but it would also look lovely in more toned down colours. Why no try in various shades of greys? Or other neutrals? Or a gradient of blues? And there’s nothing stopping you making it pink and purple. Little girls too love dinosaurs! As long as you’ve got a good contrast between the 2 colours used for the colourwork, then it’ll be just fine!
I would like to thank you Jen, Deb and Sarah for all the help and support, and for believing in me too! I’m looking forwards to many more (hopefully!) published patterns.
And now, I just have to figure out how to add this pattern to my designs on Ravelry. Ideas, anyone?
That’s so cute! Harry loves dinosaurs, and I love knitting with DB Cashmerino, so think it might have to go on his Christmas list!
It doesn’t look like anyone’s set up the Simply Knitting issue yet – I don’t know how to do that, but someone normally does it fairly quickly. Once the issue exists, just add the design as a contribution as normal, and put Simply Knitting 86 as the source.
Are hooked up as a designer on Ravelry yet? You need to do that first. Then go to Contributions in your notebook section and there’s an option to “add a pattern I designed”. There are several other routes, but that’s the easiest one to describe. :) Good luck and give me a shout if you get lost. :)