by Amy Simpson
On Christmas morning 2020, I opened this absolute beauty of a calendar and thought it was the most creative and brilliant idea ever. It has a different pattern each month, ranging from cardigans to napkin rings to cuddly rabbits, a whole variety and things I often wouldn’t think to make. I love that it gives me different skills to learn and new things to make that I wouldn’t usually try. The Calendar is by Au Bout Du Pre, and you can find them on Ravelry: Designs by Au bout du pré or Instagram. 🙂
The Calendar is beautifully made and such a unique idea, the patterns I’ve knitted so far have been interesting, fun and easy to follow. At the half way point (well, just over half way), I wanted to do a “round up” of the 7 months so far, the patterns, my thoughts and of course the finish product for each month.
January
January’s project was a huge sized cardigan. I took the opportunity to order some of the Knit Craft “Hug it Out” yarn – Super Chunky by Hobbycraft. (I mean I went completely crazy and ordered WAY too much). This was a project I wouldn’t have chosen myself, but I love it. It was such a fun make and I LOVED the Knit Craft yarn I choose – it is super soft! The arms were super fun, even though some people commented that they look like the Michelin man!!! It’s a perfect comfy winter cardigan and I really enjoyed snuggling down with it on winter nights.
Here is the finished product… overall really pleased with this make. It was also a challenge as it was my first ever wearable garment.
February
So February’s pattern was much simpler and a “quick knit”, which was a nice change from the challenge of January’s cardigan. I choose a variegated green/blue coloured yarn ( I have no idea where it’s from as I have lost the ball band) and a plain grey yarn – Woman’s Institute DK from Hobbycraft in Grey. I choose these colours to match my sofa and living/dining room décor. These napkins rings were fun and quick and a really enjoyable knit. I think I might make some more in Christmas colours for the Christmas table.
March
March was a pair of super cosy slippers knitted in garter stitch. Now, I love a simple garter stitch knit and I find it the perfect relaxing knit to knit while watching something on the telly. For these reasons March was my favourite so far. I choose the Knit and Purl Ombre Yarn in the colour Meadow from Aldi to make these slippers. I wanted a yarn that would self stripe to make a unique pair of slippers, which is why I choose this one. I loved this pattern, love how simple it is and I always love making pom poms so this was a great project for me! Love how this yarn knits up and love the natural green colours. My favourite part is how the pom poms look different.
April
So, April’s pattern was baby cardigan in moss stitch and I choose to use the James C Brett Baby Twinkle Prints DK in shade 24. Anybody that knows me will know I love anything pink and sparkly, so I was drawn to this yarn when I saw it at Angela’s Treasures yarn shop in Sherwood, Nottingham.
As you can tell by these highlights from my Instagram stories, I really like the way the moss stitch looks from this pattern. I found this pattern a little tricky and even though I love the stitch and the yarn, I didn’t like the way the sleeves looked on my finished project. I think I must have made an error in the sewing of the sleeves, as mine look different to the photo on the pattern, however I went with it and my soft toy Stitch looks great in his finished cardigan!!!
May
So, up to now, March was my favourite, however, this Elephant rattle was the pattern that became my new favourite for May’s knit. I love making toys the best and this elephant for April was super cute. I choose this Wilko’s yarn; Wilko Cream Mix Cake Yarn 100g which was cheap, but knits up so well – I was pleasantly surprised.
This pattern is simple stocking stitch and is simple to read. I choose to stick to one colour instead of doing the strips, but I think it still looks pretty effective.
June
June’s project was another simple yet fun one – Moccasins. I had to google what a Moccasin was, but it turns out it’s basically a slipper type shoe. I decided to knit my life long fluffy best friend – Emily the teddy some new shoes and did the tiniest size (3 months) to fit her tiny little paws. I choose to use my favourite colour pink, using two shades from the cover gift of a recent copy of Let’s Get Crafting Knitting and Crochet magazine.
The pattern was so enjoyable, I love little quick knits like this. The stitches were simple but effective and this was a great knit to take to work and work on in my lunch breaks.
Emily the teddy loved her new shoes and I like how they look with the two different colours and the tassels.
July
Marking month 7, is July’s project, a chunky bag. This was completely different to anything I would choose to knit, but I enjoyed it. This pattern used 2 strands of yarn at the same time, something I’ve never done before. I choose to use this baby chunky yarn by Knit and Purl from Aldi which was so soft. I enjoyed two strands at the same time and think this was a fun knit and something different that I wouldn’t usually choose. I love the finished product, although not sure it would be sturdy enough to use. However, I think I might sew a lining for the inside so I can put stuff in it without it falling through.
So that is the first 7 months of my Au bout du pré Knitting Calendar project and I have really enjoyed the challenge so far. My favourite thing is that I get to knit things that I would never normally choose to knit. I am excited to knit the patterns for the remaining months of the year and plan to do another blog to round up the last 5 months and an overview of the whole calendar. My favourite so far is May’s Elephant Rattle and I definitely want to make some more of February’s Napkin Rings.
Happy Knitting 🙂
Amy