So, I have decided that I will make a holiday sweater, EVEN IF it will definitely not be done by Christmas. I have decided to make a sweater about the Gavle goat, specifically commemorating the picturesque burning of the goat in 2005 by Santa and a gingerbread man with flaming crossbows. BECAUSE HOW CAN I RESIST?
Just to keep track of the things I want to do on this sweater, I'm going to make a checklist.
My thinking on this is that it will be some kind of basic sweater pattern--either crocheted or knitted. Crocheting would be faster and would provide more holes in the sweater for design purposes, and I did dig up a couple of crochet patterns...but I'm not sure if they'll be TOO holey. So we'll see. Because I am not super good at fair isle stuff, I think I will make designs that will be sewn onto the sweater later.
On the back of the sweater....well, I think this is gonna need an explanation. So I have written up an explanation of the goat, complete with "before and after" pics. I have some of that paper where you can print it out and then iron it onto fabric around still (left over from this project), and then I think I will iron it onto some fabric and then hand or machine sew the fabric onto the back of the sweater.
On the front of the sweater...I'm debating knitting/crocheting a Santa and gingerbread man, or possibly felting them because I know someone who is making felted ornament-type things this year and they looked adorable. She said she was using cookie cutters and having a hard time finding tiny ones, and then I proceeded to find some tiny ones, so...that's an option. I also found some pasable flat knitted patterns that might work too? It may depend on the sizing of how these things come out, as the cookie cutters are about maybe 1.5 inches high or so. The goat needs to be pretty big by comparison.
I can't find much in the way of goats that are online...I found one stuffed goat pattern but it doesn't look quite right...I think I may have to just make up my own, somehow. I've decided to make one as a present/ornament thing for the friend that I was going on to this project about in great detail--as well as her Swedish-speaking mom-- and she was all, "Don't use straw, that'll be too messy." True, though I wish I could just get one of the little goats from IKEA and attach it on. I can't find any I can get ahold of IRL, though.
The fire will be felted on. I think I will need to knit a feltable backdrop for the piece and then sew on or felt the decorations to it, since I could not find enough feltable yarn in a holiday color at ye olde Joann's at the time of shopping.
Oh, and I've got a tiny 20-light set of LED lights I can sew in, with a battery pack! That is very exciting, as well as quietly obnoxious and not nearly as sheddy as sewing on bells that make everyone want to stab you, or sequins, the bane of fabric everywhere.
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