I have a habit of getting into a crafting rut – making the same thing, over and over (case in point – my love of the in threes baby cardigan). Every now and again, I go out on a limb. The latest limb was knitting cables.

Looking for a winter woolly knit for a new baby boy, I decided to bite the bullet and try out Ravelry’s most popular knitted pattern – the Milo by Georgie Hallam (Granny’s Favourite is also a Georgie Hallam knit).

Ever seen one of these? I certainly hadn’t.

I went to my local yarn shop and asked for a cable needle. This was the last thing I expected to buy! Thank goodness the ladies are lovely and helpful. Despite my fears, it actually turns out that cables aren’t that hard. I played around with my tension a bit and ended up pretty happy with the results. If you’re thinking of giving it a go, I found this clip on YouTube helpful.

Even though Milo is a pattern for DK (8 ply) yarn I didn’t have any on hand so I decided to wing it and use some of my Bendigo Woollen Mills Harvest 10 ply (Calico) instead. I did a swatch and thought I’d worked out my gauge. Hmm.

Let’s just say it was an interesting experiment. My first attempt ended up larger than I would have liked (I was aiming for a 3-6 month size, but it ended up matching the measurements for the 18 month size).

We’ll keep it in the cupboard for Hugo next year. I quite like the Aran braid cable.

I started again, knitting the newborn size but aiming for a vest to fit a six month old. I chose the oxox cable for my second attempt, just to mix things up a bit (you know I live on the wild side…).

Here are my knitting notes, just in case you’re interested in knitting a Milo in 10 ply: after casting on for the newborn size, I cast off for sleeves when the stitch count was 30/25/30/25. I cast on 8 for under arms, and repeated the knit/purl 3 times for a total of 8 rows, increasing 10 in the next round. I started the cable set up after 18 stitches, but I should have done so after 20/22 stitches. The vest’s chest measurement is 18 inches. I knitted to the length specified for the 6 month size.

All in all, I’m happy. Hugo’s a fairly small boy – he’s about the size of the average 8 month old so I’m pretty sure it will fit its recipient nicely.

It was nice to get some photos of Hugo smiling this afternoon. The poor boy has been sick with a throat infection and we’ve all had a rather miserable week as a result. He hasn’t been eating or sleeping. It has been tough. I’ve been pretty ready to hand in my Mummy licence and collapse in a heap. I think we’re coming to the end of this rough stretch though – the antibiotics have kicked in and he’s back to eating.

Do you fall into crafting ruts too? What’s your latest one? How do you break out of them? I’d love to hear your thoughts.

PS: Don’t forget to enter my tutu giveaway. The more, the merrier!