Sunday, November 23, 2008

We are the Dinosaurs

My grandson, Jack, just turned 5 and for his birthday, his parents decided on a dinosaur theme, so what's a grandma to do, except knit something with a dinosaur on it! Jack loves orange and I just happened to have some in my stash. A few years ago, I made another sweater for him out of Plymouth's Stone Cotton, which has now been discontinued. I really liked this yarn. It washes well and because it has a little acrylic in it, it can go into the dryer as well without shrinking. When I found out they weren't making it anymore, I started buying it whenever I came across any, so not only did I have the orange, I also had a few other colors. This sweater was based on a pattern by eweCanknit. This is a great line of intarsia patterns which can be found here. The sweaters are so basic so I just used their measurements. This dinosaur is from an old Leisure Arts pamphlet that I found on the ebay. I was contemplating charting my own T-rex, but this one was perfect.

Jack has a little brother who just happens to wear the same size even though he's only 3. Micah was a big help, as he very patiently let me try Jack's sweater on him as I was progressing with it, to check for length, etc. It's only fitting that his patience should be rewarded with a sweater of his own. His favorite dinosaur is the anklyosaurus. Try finding a chart for that one! I had no choice but to chart it myself. If you've ever seen a picture of this dinosaur, he's truly homely. Very spikey. I used some purl stitches to try and make him a little bumpy. I'm not so sure he's as recognizable as the T-rex, but Micah knew him, so that's all that mattered!


Since both Jack and Micah were getting dinosaurs, I couldn't leave out the baby. Marty ended up with the stegosaurus. You might recognize him from the bib pattern. I just tweaked him a little bit to fit on the sweater. Because I wanted the sweater to be easy to get on and off, I put a placket in the back, just like the turtle sweater.

I found these little stegosaurus buttons which fit in with the dinosaur theme nicely. Don't you think?
Three cute sweaters all from the stash. If only they had actually made a dent in it. I still have some red, just enough to make a fourth sweater. Maybe the boys would like a little sister? Hmmm, I wonder if there were ever any cute dinosaurs?

3 comments:

  1. OMG....You have outdone yourself this time!!! So cute - all of them! And, you save that red yarn. A brontosaurus with a bow on (her) neck would be just perfect for a little girl. I'd head for a Flintstone book to find a cute picture. I am not very creative on my own!

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  2. Some have described Mahakala omnogovae as cute.

    http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2007/09/070906-dinosaurs-birds.html

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  3. I just LOVE your dinosaurs!!! Beautifuly done!

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