Knitting for the conservative Australian male is not for the faint hearted knitter. This venture can also be complicated by certain people who complain vigorously that most things itch.
Despite these challenges, I claim success. This has been worn quite a few times already.
The pattern is (mostly) from
Sirdar's Baby Bamboo too, book 346, which despite the title and the beautiful infant on the front ,includes patterns up to a generous size 7 years.
The sizes are in fact so generous, that for my (admittedly slim) 12 year old son, I needed only to change the length of the jumper (body and sleeves) from the size 7 to have a jumper that is a relaxed fit in all directions.
I did intend to make the sleeves to fit when the cuff was folded back, in an attempt to gain some longevity from the jumper, but the yarn relaxed a little with wear, so I am hoping some growth comes along to correct this minor fitting issue.
For a boy's jumper, this was fun to knit. The cable is only on the front as written, but by adapting the pattern to knit in the round from the bottom up, this cable is enough to keep things interesting up to the armscye, and I added a bit of cable to the upper back for additional knitting pleasure. I tried to introduce a little cable to the sleeve to prevent knitting doldrums, but this was "too fancy" according to the recipient.
I used the
Baby Bamboo yarn for the jumper, this being rated completely non itchy by the boy, and coming in a wide variety of colours. This one is 150, Denim Dungaree, which sounds suitably boyish. The last colour I used for him was called "Coo", which is not something I mentioned to him when we were discussing colour options.
The yarn is tried and true at our house, being just warm enough for Queensland Spring and Autumn evenings, and machine washable (on delicate wool wash).
