Mar 12

Where’s My Cow?

By AnnK 12 Comments

Please note that the pattern parts for ‘Where’s My Cow?’ have now been deleted from my website. The full pattern will shortly be available to purchase.

Maybe I am getting addicted to this KAL thing?  I have definitely been having withdrawal symptoms since the Lanthir Lamath KAL finished, feeling pangs of longing to have people once again knitting and chatting about one of my designs. So I am very grateful to my dear sister Marie for saying weeks ago that I absolutely had to plan another. She even, very graciously,  suggested a type of garment and a theme. Well, what I mean is that she told me I should design a baby romper. And I am very glad that she did! ;0)

In June our brother and his wife are expecting their first child. Michael communicated this happy news by telling us that it was time to get knitting, knowing that we would immediately grasp the reason why. It was such wonderful news, following a period of deep grief following my father’s death, and has given us all such hope for new joy ahead. Since then Mum has already knitted a blanket for her next grandchild (she already has 10!)!

So, ‘Where’s My Cow?’ is my way of combining three urgent needs; my practical need to prepare a gift for my future niece or nephew; my creative need to design; and my social need for the buzz of a new KAL. The theme of the ensuing garment comes from the brilliant work of British author Terry Pratchett. In his Discworld novels ‘Where’s My Cow?’ features as a childrens’ picture book, the focus of many happy hours spent between Sam Vimes and his son, also called Sam Vimes. Terry has in fact produced the picture book itself for fans of his work, and several folk who have decided to join the KAL have already decided to gift the book with the romper to the lucky child for whom they are knitting. You can learn more about the book here.

I got excited designing this garment when, at an early stage in the process, I worked out a way of creating integral piping in the main body. I had already decided to use a piped edging, applied i-cord, as a trim for the legs and sleeves. Due to the increasing immediately above these edges I felt that this was the best choice of finish for them. I also knew I wanted the edging in a contrast colour as this makes for such a funky look. However, I felt that the body also needed to carry some of this contrast colour in order to balance the edgings, and piping seemed most appropriate for this as it matches applied i-cord so perfectly. Alas, other than sewn on i-cord I’ve never come across a knitted vertical piping method before, and I definitely didn’t want to do that. So I needed to know; is there a way to work i-cord in the middle of a row or round of knitting? Can it be done in a contrast colour? After just a few minutes of experiment I found that it can indeed be done, and is in fact remarkably easy.

Because i-cord uses very little yarn I recommend that you wind your contrast colour yarn for this project into small centre-pull balls. This way you can pin them to the garment to keep them tidy while you knit. For the integral pipings you’ll need two balls of approximately  7 - 10 metres / 8 - 11 yards each, and two balls of approximately 2 - 3 metres / 3 - 4 yards each. Start with the larger two balls for the leg pipings (one for each leg). This piping will continue up the main body in next week’s portion of the pattern. For the applied i-cord edgings use the leftover yarn (i.e. what’s left in the original skein after making the centre-pull balls). 

Of course, having prepared your yarn balls you’ll then need the pattern to be able to start the project. Enjoy!! :0)

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