Two Finishes for the Post of One!

In a previous post, I mentioned that I was working on something, and that it was seasonally relevant, but not a turkey. I posted this picture:

I'm pleased to say that the project is now finished, and now for the big reveal:


Dixon the Duck

The seasonal relevance? College (American) Football, of course! Let me explain... Mr. Tall's biggest flaw is that he is a fan of the USC Trojans (boo! hiss!). The downside to this is that he watches the games whenever they're broadcast here in the UK and they are his team of preference when he's playing NCAA '07 Football on his PlayStation. The big problem with this, of course, is that the Trojans are just one of those teams that always seem to win and do well (boo! hiss!).

So... Dixon the Duck. With all the USC Trojan game watching and PlayStation playing going on around the house, I needed a little something of my own for some sanity. Enter Dixon, named after the UO Quarterback, who has sadly been injured.

The pattern for the duck comes out of Fiona McTague's irresistible book,
Knitted Toys, which is definitely worth a look at as there are a lot of great patterns and the pictures are superb. The sweater was adapted from The Incredible, Custom-Fit Raglan Sweater, and the "O" was charted out from the school's official logo and knit using intarsia in the round.

To get the sweater just right, I knit all duck pieces, and did all the finishing, save poor Dixon's head. I decided it was best to keep Dixon un-capitated until I had finished the sweater, and so he sat and waited patiently.

Un-capitated Dixon

I'm quite glad that he's finished, despite the sagging bowl hopes for Oregon, we'll cheer the team on anyways!

Dixon

Details:
Start-End: September 21 - November 23, 2007
Pattern: "Duck" from Knitted Toys: 21 Easy-to-Knit Patterns for Irresistible Soft Toys by Fiona McTague
Yarn: King Cole Merino Blend DK
Needles: KnitPicks Options US 4/3.5 mm
Other: I knit the head and sleeves in the round, and the legs and feet connected in one piece. If I knit this again, I would try to knit the body and head in one piece to avoid some of the seaming up.

Oregon Sweater

Start-End: September 27-November 23, 2007
Pattern: The Incredible, Custom-fit Raglan Sweater by Pamela Costello
Yarn: Palette Yarns #018 (DK) in green and scraps of King Cole Merino DK for the "O"
Needles:KnitPicks Options US 4/3.5 mm
Other: I tried the intarsia-in-the-round technique found here. It worked well enough for this purpose, but it's quite noticeable on the back of the sweater, where I started/ended the rounds. I'm not entirely sure if it's because of my error or the fact that intarsia-in-the-round just isn't meant to be.