Usually I would put the featured image right at the end of the post, but not today.
LOOK!
It was already cute without any planets, but I am so delighted with the end result. I followed the pattern for the dancing T Rex sweater, without the colourwork, as I recalled it being a good pattern and a good fit.
I chose the yarn because I thought it was like stars/planets/nebulae (sp?) – all brightly coloured flecks against the blackness of space. It’s King Cole Big Value Tweed and I’ve linked to Little Wool Shop on eBay, which is where I got it. It was reasonably soft to start with, but after two soaks with hair conditioner it’s really cuddly.
The recipient is a four year old who likes space, so I went searching for space jumpers. I found quite a few patterns – most notably the Rocket Sweater by Amarinalevin (Etsy link). Go and have a look at their shop, there are some incredible patterns.
There was nothing that truly spoke to me – I wanted it to be our solar system, and have a level of accuracy. I took inspiration from a couple of ideas, and then used duplicate stitch and scraps of yarn to pop all the lovely wee planets on there, in order from Mercury to Pluto.
I did the placement by eye, not by measuring tape, and while I think it shows, I’m not undoing any of them. It’s not as if I can get it to scale. That would be a hell of a size of jumper.
Did you learn a planets mnemonic at school? Tell me if you did so I can see if it’s the same as mine! Especially tell me if you went to school after Pluto was downgraded.
You will know how I felt about sewing in the ends on the back without me having to tell you. It was absolutely worth the effort.
As you can tell, I’m enthralled by my own work. Is there any better feeling?
I’ve added this post to the Unraveled Wednesday linkup, with thanks to Kat for hosting.
The Crafty Yarnster 