Johns - 20 to Make: Knitted Fruit

First published in Great Britain 2011 Search Press Limited
Wellwood, North Farm Road,
Tunbridge Wells, Kent TN2 3DR Text copyright Susie Johns 2011 Photographs by Debbie Patterson at Search Press Studios Photographs and design copyright Search Press Ltd 2011 All rights reserved. No part of this book, text, photographs or illustrations may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means by print, photoprint, microfilm, microfiche, photocopier, internet or in any way known or as yet unknown, or stored in a retrieval system, without written permission obtained beforehand from Search Press. Print ISBN: 978-1-84448-540-6 EPUB ISBN: 978-1-78126-026-5 Kindle ISBN: 978-1-78126-081-4 PDF ISBN: 978-1-78126-135-4 The Publishers and author can accept no responsibility for any consequences arising from the information, advice or instructions given in this publication.

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Contents

Introduction These knitted fruits some familiar, some quite exotic, depending on where in the world you come from are fun to make and a great way to use up oddments of yarn. Like all novelty knitted items, they make great gifts: a single fruit attached to a key ring, perhaps, or a selection arranged in a bowl or basket. They would also be ideal for children (apart from the blackberries, which include small beads) as long as you sew the components together very securely.

Most fruits tend to be round in shape and many of the patterns are designed to be knitted in the round on a set of four double-pointed needles. If this seems rather daunting, start with the simpler designs the banana and the rhubarb, for example before moving on to the round fruits. Because most of the projects are small, they are relatively quick to knit, though you should allow extra time for the making up and sewing in of yarn ends. Where round shapes are knitted on two needles, you will need to stitch edges together neatly and it is worth learning how to graft a seam as this produces the tidiest result. Fruit Basket With needles, yarn and basic knitting stitches, you can create a cornucopia of colourful fruits.

Materials and techniques Tensions (or gauges) for the projects are not given: just aim for a firm, close-knit fabric that will hold its shape and not allow the stuffing to poke through.

You will see that the needle sizes given in the patterns are smaller than you might expect. But you may decide to use a larger or smaller needle than the one stated in the pattern, depending on whether you are a tight or a loose knitter, to produce the desired effect. The projects are mostly made from double knitting (DK) yarn, though some of the smaller items use four-ply. As a general rule, I prefer to use natural fibres in my knitting projects, particularly pure wool, cashmere, cotton and silk but in some cases I have had to use acrylic yarns and various blends in order to source suitable fruity colours. The amounts given in the patterns assume that you are buying yarn and so are stated in balls but before you go shopping for yarns, experiment with any oddments you may already have. Search your yarn stash for shades of yellow, green, orange, red, plum, purple and peach, as well as some white and brown and you should have enough to make a start.

If you need to buy only a small amount of a certain colour, tapestry yarns are a good choice as they are sold in small skeins and are available in a wider choice of colours than most knitting yarns.

Pear Materials: 1 ball DK cotton yarn pale green Polyester fibrefill Tapestry needle Needles: Set of four 3.25mm (UK 10; US 3) double-pointed knitting needles Instructions: Pear (make 1) With size 3.25mm (UK 10; US 3) double-pointed knitting needles and pale green yarn, cast on 12 sts and divide between three needles. Round 1: k.

Round 2: inc1 in each st [24 sts]. Round 3: k. Round 4: (inc1, k1) 12 times [36 sts]. Rounds 57: k. Round 8: (inc1, k2) 12 times [48 sts]. Rounds 920: k.