Tomten and BSJ

This one took a long time. I kept stopping to make baby stuff for pregnant people. The buttons are from Yarn Diva in Hillsdale, NJ and the buttons matched perfectly.

I made it to match Griffin's (Sophia is my friend's neice and Griffin is my friend's son)

This one was for Grif...

The two are made of Jarbo Garn yarn.

My co worker, Mrs. B, who I adore is preparing for another grandbaby (number 3) so I started a baby surprise for that child.

Latest Zimmer-madness

Griffin's Snowy Tv Screen Tomten with Spiral Eye Monkey Buttons out of Jarbo Garn






Baby Sophia B.'s Baby Surprise out of Bernet CottonTots w/ Butterfly Buttons

Modular Tomten Jacket

My first Modular Tomten Jacket, a shop model for The Yarnery in St. Paul, Minn., knit with Briggs & Little Heritage yarn. Read more about it here.

Me with the displayed Tomten and wearing my newly completed Seamless Hybrid Sweater in Cestari yarn, also by Elizabeth Zimmermann.

And a Tomten is born!

I started it September 2007 and finished it June 2008. My blog

Pat's Tomten

My friend saw my tomtens my blog and wanted to make one for her granddaughter and I helped her with it. She is almost done and I'm so proud of her.

Tomten #3

I have been working on this Tomten since September. Started and finished many other projects and the poor little Tomten just sat in my knitting basket waiting to be finished.

Tomtens #1 and #2 are on my blog Knitting with my Mothers Hands

My First Ever EZ Project

Hi there, my name is Karen and I live in Glasgow, Scotland. I've been reading the posts in this blog for ages without joining in but now I have my Tomten to share. It was knitted for my toddler nephew and he loves it- just as much as I enjoyed knitting it. Details are on my fledgling blog. I plan to knit more of EZ's patterns but I'm not sure what to try next. The BSJ is tempting but I don't have the pattern so maybe I'll try a seamless sweater from Knitting Without Tears. The great thing is that the books are so well written and enjoyable to read and I'm sure this website will inspire me to knit more EZ soon.

Tomten Feinds

Two from mom...




and one from me…

Mary's Tomten

I just finished a tomten for my 9-year-old daughter in Malabrigo - I sewed the buttons on last night and this morning she wore it to school! I loved the project and the yarn, and will probably cast on pretty soon for a second one. I want to try one with a collar rather than a hood, and with applied i-cord for trim. For this sweater, I followed the instructions in Opinionated Knitter (short rows, picking up the underarm stitches, etc.). Details and more photos are on my blog.

A question about lighting

I can't wait to start my first tomten jacket for my little guy (17 months.) I will start it over Christmas, with worsted-weight wool my mom dyed specially for it. (Any advice? This will be my first EZ project, except for the Moebius Strip. I have the original KWT book.)

But first- - - The lighting in my living room is terrible! Has anyone ever used one of those "natural spectrum" compact flourescent lamps from Gaiam catalogue? Or an Ott light? What would you recommend, especially for a family with aging, tired eyes but not a ton of money to spend?

You are all so inspirational! Thanks!

Connecticut Tomten

I just finished a tomten for my three-year-old son. I've called it the Connecticut Tomten because all the sheep that contributed the yarn are from Connecticut--the blue is Farmhouse Yarn's Bessie in Slate, and the brown is Twist of Fate's worsted (undyed, from a wonderfully colored sheep, in my opinion).

I went with a zipper, my very first in any knitted item, so I learned something new. I wouldn't say I'm eager to repeat the whole zipper thing, but at least I know I can do it. I added a patch pocket by picking up stitches along the bottom ridge, knitting up, then sewing up the sides. I slightly modified the sleeves--more details on mods, needles, etc., as well as more pictures, are on my blog.

Nicholas and I are both pleased.

Infant Tomten in Use

Here is our one-month old granddaughter modeling her pink cotton tomten. I was surprised at how well it fit her (at 11 pounds) and also how much stretch there is for room to grow.

I found out I put the top button way too high (see second picture -- it's level with her mouth, on the right). I forgot babies don't have necks! So I just snipped that button off, and since I used I-cord hidden buttonholds, no harm done.

Also, I should have either made smaller buttonholes or used bigger buttons. (See how the buttons have worked loose in the second picture.) It will be easy to fix with a stitch or two to shorten the buttonholes, but we live 1000 miles away so our daughter will have to do it!

(Her legs aren't really blue -- not sure why the color turned out that way.)

My first TomTen.

Worked in a Cheviot and silk blend handspun, using 150g for the main and a co-ordinating Shetland wool yarn for the trim. The yarn is a DK, giving a gauge of 20sts to 10cm/4".

Instead of adding a zip, I crocheted a button band in DC (US - SC) and added buttonholes using the same principle that EZ employs in the BSJ.

It measures just short of 50.5cm/20" around the chest when closed, so should be perfect for a Baba's first winter (due date next march)

More information and more photos can be found here.

I like the pattern, and it was an ideal knit for me whilst having a break from other work, but I think I prefer the BSJ.... infact, there's another BSJ finished and blocking right now...

New tomten, stash-busting striped raglan

Here are two more from my ongoing EZ binge. The first is a tomten in green heathered Cascade 220 with Dale Freestyle Stripes, blue alpaca i-cord, and my first full length zipper. The second is from two years ago, and it's my stash-busting raglan. It was not only my first EPS sweater, but the only sweater I have ever made without a trip to the yarn store. I made it entirely from leftover yarn, hence the stripes. It is my only thrifty sweater.

Hi All

I'm a new Zimmermaniac, but not new to knitting a EZ patterns. Earlier this year I made my twins sweaters, a (modified) February baby sweater and a hood less Tomten.
Here are some pics taken today, they have held up pretty well. I used Bernat Cotton tots on the Tomten, and Knitpicks shine sport for the February sweater.



Now I'm working on another Tomten. This one is in TLC Cotton Plus on Size 8 needles, it's for Son #1.



Blog: http://knitology.blogspot.com/
Flickr: http://www.flickr.com/photos/lulu_c/

Tomten Jacket

Hello Zimmermania...here's my first post:

I completed a Tomten Jacket using dream in color for my daughter. The yarn has a great squish to it and looks wonderful in the simple garter stitch. The pattern is beyond clever. I did a little sizing up but next time will just use a bigger gauge.

Learning with Two Tomtens

These are my first attempts at Tomten sweaters, and I enjoyed them very much.

I made the variegated sweater first, in a 2-4 year old size, so I could see what I was doing. I used acrylic worsted weight because of wool allergies in our family.

I liked the colorful effect, and I put the green stripe in because it's the baby's cousin's favorite color. :-) I used a blue zipper and sewed it in by hand from the front, as EZ says to do.

The colors are redder than the picture shows.

One challenge was that I counted the rows wrong for the hood and had to rip back and begin that part again. Another challenge was getting the right color red for the I-cord -- it took three tries (and two ripping-outs) before I finally got what I liked (and I've lost the wrapper so I can't tell you what it is).

While knitting this jacket I learned garter stitch weaving, sewn casting off, and I-cord. It was invaluable to have the DVD "A Knitting Glossary" to look at again and again -- and again!

Yarn - Caron Simply Soft, Embroidery Print - 3 skeins, 208 yards/skein
Needles - size 6 circular, bamboo
Zipper - 14" separating zipper

* * * * * * * * * *

Then I made the little pink tomten, in infant size. I started with cheap acrylic yarn which split and looked dreadful, so I got new all-cotton fingering yarn and started over. I'm glad I made the larger tomten first, as this size was much harder to keep track of what I was doing.

I used a contrast row of purling on stockinette at the sleeve joins, and I liked the effect. I got brave and used I-cord buttonholes, which were fun to do.

One worry was how this would launder. I wanted it to be machine washable and dryable, so (after I'd knit the tomten) I knit a test swatch to launder. It came through just fine. Whew! I think the stitches tightened up a bit, but I had knit them a bit larger on purpose for just this reason.

Yarn - Dalegarn "Stork," 100% cotton - 4 balls, 195 yds/ball
Needles - size 3 circular, Addi
Buttons - from Wal-Mart! (the cute little rose design doesn't show in the picture)

Blue Tomten

I’ve finished a super EZ Tomten. My favorite part about knitting her patterns is that you are given so much freedom in what you can do. Stripes, pockets, hood, buttons...the options and combinations are endless. And I never had more than 112 stitches on my needles at any given time! Fantasticly super fast knit!

More pictures, specs and details on my blog.

Tomten questions!

I have been lurking for quite awhile and just now joined. I want to make a Tomten jacket for my 18 month old great-nephew. I have EZ's Knitting Workshop for the pattern, but she doesn't tell what size needles to use or how much yarn to use. I would like to use a cotton blend yarn like Brown Sheep's Cotton Fleece. Any suggestions will be appreciated!!!

Sally

Finished!

May I present to you - my yellow modular Tomten!

I love this pattern, it's absolutely brilliant! I love it so much that I want to knit one for myself!

I have to find a suitable zip or, alternatively, knit a border for buttons and button holes. I altered the sleeves slightly and knitted them on double pointed needles, to break up the plain yellow colour.

I've left a few more pictures on my blog. The picture quality isn't great, as I took the pictures with my mobile phone.

I'm really pleased with how the Tomten turned out and now have to make up my mind whether I allow myself to knit another Tomten or whether I start rippling...