It all started with patches...

Two years ago, I had this idea of designing a very classic child's pullover that would feature knitted elbow patches. Then, I had this idea of designing a matching cardigan version of the pullover. Dream in Color was so kind in providing yarn support for these designs... two years ago. Is it that a normal length of time for a designer to self-publish? Nope.

What can I say? I got distracted by other designs both professionally published and self-published. All along, those sweater ideas were in the back of my mind and then finally last summer, it hit me. Why not do a mini collection? You know, maybe 4-5 designs all about ganseys. I have long loved the look of gansey sweaters, plus is anything cuter than a 3 year old in a little gansey? So cute!

 

 And so the Gansey Kids collection was born. It quickly snowballed into 10 designs, but the initial two were the Patches Pullover and the Patches Cardigan.

Timeless. Classic. Wearable. Comfortable.

 

 

Let's start with the Patches Pullover. This garment has the truest gansey shape: knit in the round from the bottom up, straight shaping (or should I say shapeless?), underarm gussets, drop shoulders with shoulder straps, buttoned collar, faux seam along the sides.  Let's not forget about the adorable elbow patches! This sweater allows the knitter to knit the classic gansey construction without the distraction of textured stitch patterns.

 

The Patches Cardigan has a similar construction to the Patches Pullover: knit from the bottom up (flat- it is a cardigan after all!), straight shaping, underarm gussets, drop shoulders, faux seam along the sides. How cute are those sheepy buttons? I found them at the Yarn Gallery in West Reading, Pennsylvania (a shop you must visit if you are in the area).

 
The Patches Cardigan features seed stitch elbow patches and the Patches Pullover features stockinette stitch elbow patches. Guess what! BOTH patterns include directions for BOTH kinds of patches.

I knew from the very first time I sketched out this design that Dream in Color's Classy yarn was perfect. Classy is one of my favorite worsted weight yarns for children's garments. It is one I often recommend to my knitting class students when teaching at Harps & Thistle's Yarn Imporium. It can handle the rough and tough play of children and still look beautiful (thanks to those gorgeous colorways!) after many washes in the washing machine. Oh yes! Classy is MACHINE WASHABLE! It is my go-to yarn for sweater-knitting for my children.

And guess what, friends? I happen to have a skein of Dream in Color's Classy FOR ONE OF YOU! That's right! One lucky winner will receive a skein of Classy in Punky Fuschia colorway. That is 250 yards of 100% superwash merino wool... just... for... you.

What's the catch? All you have to do is hop on over to Ravelry and favorite the Patches Pullover AND Patches Cardigan. Then come back to this post and comment which you'd prefer to make first- the pullover or the cardi. Be sure to let me know your Rav name (so I can see all those lovely hearts and have a way of contacting you for the win)!  Feel free to favorite as many patterns as you like and purchase your Gansey Kids collection too.

I will randomly select a winner on Sunday August 21, 2016. You only have ONE week! So start "hearting" those patterns!