Sunday, January 12, 2014

EXTERMINATE!! EXTERMINATE!!

So the surprise project I've been working on has been (as many of you guessed correctly) this ...


A Dalek from the Dr. Who series ... those annoying cute little robots that fly around saying "Exterminate! ExtermiNATE!".  And despite the fact that these robots are finally destroyed forever, they always seem to crop up again somewhere down the line.  I don't believe the human race will ever be rid of them :[
 
 
This little guy, thankfully, is harmless ... unless he's going to kill you with cuteness ;)
 
I found the pattern here on Ravelry, and ever since I found it a couple of years ago, my son has been asking me to knit one for him.  I was intimidated by this pattern for a long time, but have gained some confidence in knitting since then, and felt I was capable of tackling it at long last.
 
There were a few things to learn on this.  Even casting on was something new for me with the provisional cast-on.  Then right away I had to learn how to knit the bobbles.  A quick search on google came up with all kinds of variations of bobbles.  There are instructions with the pattern too, but I wanted to see the knitting on video first.  You certainly get a lot of practice knitting the bobbles since there are 52 of them!  It took me an hour to knit one row with the bobbles in it ... 14 bobbles in a row. 
 
 
The next thing I learned was the jogless stripe.  This keeps the stripes running relatively straight around your piece, rather than having that annoying "step" up to the next row.
 
 
One thing I had real difficulty with was purling in the round on douple-pointed needles for the head.  I ended up with a "ladder" at each spot where you transfer from one needle to the next.  I don't have this trouble with the knit stitch, just the purl stitch.  I googled that problem, and although there are a lot of people with the same difficulty, and only a couple of solutions, none of the solutions worked for me.  I still ended up with a ladder.  Most annoying.  I would gladly accept any ideas anyone might have.
 
So after purling and ripping out the entire head three times, and trying three different methods to combat the problem, I finally gave up and knit all around the head in stockingnette stitch instead.  That's the only change I made to the body of the pattern.  Looking at everyone else's photos of this same project, it seems no one had the same trouble, so I don't know what I was doing wrong there.  I might not have worried too much about it, but the Dalek is stuffed and the stuffing would have shown through the ladders.  I think it still looks good, just not what was intended by the pattern. 
 
 
The only other change I made was to the gun blaster.  I knit that in double-strand yarn I-cord rather than making a tube.  I checked with photos of the Daleks on a Dalek webpage and felt it looked in proper proportion (and it was easier to knit).
 
Another technique I learned was the Kitchener Stitch on the bottom of the piece.  It was really easy to do, and there's only a 20-stitch join across the bottom, so not tedious at all.  I was actually dreading doing the bottom because I couldn't make sense of knitting this in the round and it ending up flat across rather than a tube ... but I just kept on knitting and it worked out perfectly with all the decreases.
 
 
This was a lot of work for me.  I still feel I'm in the learning process of knitting, and seeing all of these unfamiliar techniques made me fairly unsure to start it.  But I'm glad I worked through it all and made the pattern up just as it was written (apart from the head, and I really did try to correct that).  It stands exactly 12-inches high.  I used Lion Brand 100% acrylic on size 4.5 needles.
 
This is my son's belated Christmas gift (he only got the yarn & the pattern wrapped up), so he's happy it's finished up now too.
 
 
Go forth and exterminate little Dalek!
 
 
Thanks for stopping by!
 
Wendy
 
http://www.gsheller.com/2014/01/yarn-along-160.html
 

33 comments:

  1. Wendy....this is sooo cute! I've never heard of these little robots but they are adorable and good for you for finishing it. I would have never tackled such a project for my knitting skills are not that great yet. I think I will stick to scarves and dishcloths for now!
    xx Shari

    ReplyDelete
  2. Holy Moly,Wendy! It's fabulous!
    If ever you knit a Cyberman....please warn me ...those things scare the beejeebers out of me!
    Jane x

    ReplyDelete
  3. He came out awesome! I love it. Your son is going to be thrilled. I am not much of a Doctor fan but my husband likes it. I gave him a shirt with a Dalek wearing a green apron like he works in Starbucks, and he's serving coffee and saying "Caffeinate! Caffeinate!" He wears it all the time. He loves coffee too, so it was a perfect shirt for him. :)

    ReplyDelete
  4. Looks great, can I order one for my BIL?? I hate doing bobbles. There is no real secret to not having ladders when using dp needles. Just practice and try knitting the first stitch or two on the new needle a little tighter. Most of the time the ladders work themselves out (on socks).

    ReplyDelete
  5. WOW WENDY!!!! This is fabulous. I am amazed at what you produce with your knitting, and this is just great. I am sure that your son must have been delighted, especially having had to wait for him. I hope that the dalek doesn't escape and exterminate the world!! Well done for tackling all those complications too! xx

    ReplyDelete
  6. Its brilliant! A great design, I'm not surprised your son loves it.

    ReplyDelete
  7. As the ninth Doctor would say - 'Fantastic!'
    Love your Dalek - you are so talented - fabulous for challenging yourself and persevering!
    So cool Wendy - well done!
    Ali x

    ReplyDelete
  8. Wow well done Wendy, I love Dr Who and even though they the Daleks have been eliminated I don't believe it for one second, I think we will wake up one day and find they have taken over Earth haha That is a whole lot of complicated knitting you have done there, you must have a lot of patience a true labour of love I bet your son'e delighted. As for the laddering I always get it too and usually end up correcting it by weaving up the ladder, hard to explain but it does make it look better at the end. :)

    ReplyDelete
  9. Oh so cute!

    What a good Mommy! Going through all this, for a gift for your son.

    Son... Appreciate your Mother!

    ReplyDelete
  10. It's brilliant ... and will be treasured I'm sure ... Bee xx

    ReplyDelete
  11. Totally awesome!!!!!!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  12. Well, you do know there are some of us in the human race who do not watch the show and I have never heard of a dalek! I think it is cute but it is even more awesome that you were able to learn some new knitting techniques. I don't think I could master this project as a new knitter. Can't wait to see what else you are going to knit!

    ReplyDelete
  13. Oh!!! I do love this so much Wendy! He is absolutely adorable! I can only imagine how long this took you with all of the details on him! A job well done!!! And happy week to you friend! Nicole xoxo

    ReplyDelete
  14. Such a fun project, Wendy! I am sure your son will have a blast with it :-)

    ReplyDelete
  15. As soon as I saw yout title of your post on my Blog roll, I knew EXACTLY what you were talking about!!!
    My son and I are HUGE Dr. Who fans and these are the cutest things, if a dalek can be cute!!
    I sobbed like a fool at Matt Smith 's last episode!! But I am so curious as to what type of Dr. Peter Capoldi will be, aren't you???
    Hugs,
    Deb

    ReplyDelete
  16. Fabulous - so unusual!
    Liz @ Shortbread & Ginger

    ReplyDelete
  17. Well, I've never watched Dr. Who but your little creature sure turned out great. I think I probably would have given up. Never, ever do I get a new pattern right the first time. But you persevered. Good for you! I'm sure your son was happy to finally get it. :) Best wishes, Tammy

    ReplyDelete
  18. Wow Wendy he's FAB! Looks like you've learned everything there is to know about knitting in one project - you must feel super experienced now and I bet your son will treasure him for a long time. Thanks so much for the encouraging comments on old dolly - I still haven't dared to venture forth yet! Have a great week x Jane

    ReplyDelete
  19. Hi Wendy,

    I'm not familiar with Doctor Who, although I have heard of it, of course. In any case, your dalek is delightful and after reading about all the fancy needlework that was needed, I commend you for your patience and persistence and talent!

    Have a wonderful week!

    xo
    Poppy

    ReplyDelete
  20. Wendy,
    I agree with Poppy, your are indeed one talented, creative and patient knitting guru! Applause for it all and for this darling little guy!
    Happy Hugs,
    Jemma

    ReplyDelete
  21. Lovely and so cute,excellent work!!!
    Greetings...

    ReplyDelete
  22. Jan. 14

    Re: Your comment in my post, on local springs... I love it that you used to find little springs, in the woods. What a precious memory.

    Most of our springs are those awful tasting ones. But there are a couple, which people know of, and get their drinking water from, all year long. :-)

    Tessa~

    ReplyDelete
  23. Oh my goodness....that is precious! I sure can't knit that well but you did GREAT! And it's FUN! Maybe it wouldn't be as hard now to do a second one. Happy knitting my friend! I need to get busy! Hugs!

    ReplyDelete
  24. You've done such a great job on him Wendy!

    ReplyDelete
  25. I am always so impressed with your skills as a craftsperson. My hubby who is a Doctor Who fan would love this!

    ReplyDelete
  26. This is just plain wonderful and too fun! I'm in total agreement with Jane and Chris' comment above...don't knit a Cyberman! ;)

    ReplyDelete
  27. Hi Wendy! Wow, you are a much braver soul than I... my knitting skills are nowhere near your level yet! It turned out great and just think, you learned some more stitches as well! Must feel great to finally get this little guy finished!
    Hugs and stay warm my sweet blogging sister!
    Beth P

    ReplyDelete
  28. Love it!!! Those bobbles area royal pain (to me at least) but your dalek turned out beautifully. :)

    ReplyDelete
  29. Hes fabulous! Have you ever tried magic loop instead of using double pointed needles? I'll never use anything else again, I love magic loop so much for knitting small circular projects.

    ReplyDelete
  30. This is brilliant Wendy!!! Did you see the one I made Daniel a few weeks ago? He's a massive Dr Who fan too. It was crocheted though (I was intimidated by the knitted patters) but yours looks SO much better, more intricate and your knitting is perfect. IIt will be a treasure forever! Mel x

    ReplyDelete
  31. Wendy... wow! Oh my.. I just can't find the words! I. LOVE. IT. Hazel x

    ReplyDelete
  32. Woohoo! It looks great. And good on you for tackling all of those knitting challenges along the way! I've just been learning how to knit bobbles too...I couldn't wrap my mind around the pattern, but once I did I wondered where I was getting hung up in the first place. Yay for learning new skills!

    ReplyDelete

Thanks so much for leaving a comment, it's nice to know when you've stopped by! :)

Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...
Related Posts Plugin for WordPress, Blogger...