Odd-ball
Here is one of the most unusual things I have ever knit. Celestine, a dodecahedron designed by my all-time favourite designer, Norah Gaughan.
It’s a gift for a friend’s one-year old. I didn’t want to make another small hat or sweater, so I dug out some Cascade Fixation from my stash and knit this up as a toy. I used just over a ball of the blue and hardly any at all of the white. I used size 5 dpns. It started out small and easy:
then grew to twice its size:
it soon took on a recognizable shape:
but proceeded to sprout somewhat alarmingly in all directions:
until it was tamed, stuffed with cotton rags and firmly disciplined:
Now it looks rather well-fed and content,
even though it definitely has an aspect of the weird, what-in-the-world-is-this anyway, about it.
The original pattern was meant to be a small tree-ornament, but as you can see, the Cascade, the cloth stuffing and the loose gauge have enabled it to evolve into a rather squishy ball. I confess I was mighty excited up to about Point # 6, but the small circumference and continuous picking up of stitches made it a bit fiddly, and the last point, which you have to pick up the stitches for, and knit, with the stuffing inside threatening to escape, was a bit cumbersome. Still, it makes for an unusual toy, and a knitted item that, like all of Gaughan’s creations, teaches you a lot about shape and construction. Let’s hope the little boy enjoys playing with it!
