Yep. That’s right. I’m on about Kerry Lord’s lovely work yet again – and following on the success of Edward’s Menagerie and Edward’s Menagerie Birds, Kerry from Toft has brought out her most fun and creative book yet.
Edward’s Imaginarium, also known as Ed’s Flipbook, is refreshingly unique and absolutely brimming with fun. It uses a series of different pattern options for heads, arms, and feet – all of which start with the basic head and body pattern, which is similar to what we’ve come across before in Birds – that you can mix and match in a flipbook style to create a monster of your own.
As soon as I picked it up I knew I wanted my first project to be a monster for my friend Sam’s kiddo, Ernie – and I also knew I wanted to go large. So, I nipped over to the ever brilliant Knit Nottingham on my lunchbreak to grab some chunky yarn in a whole bunch of colours to give me a starting point. Then, I got sketching.
In the instructions for how to use the book, Kerry encourages you to grab your pencils and sketch out how you’d like your creature to look. And while there are lots of ready-made patterns you can follow in the gallery at the back, what I love about this book is that it really encourages you to be creative and adapt patterns to fit your ideas.
I’m usually super conservative and terrified of straying from a pattern, but with this I crept out of my comfort zone and soon found myself sketching, colouring, and creating a little monster pal all my own!
I used H:2, A:10 and F:11 with a version of the three-round stripe; I followed it as normal for the body, but then stuck with my main colour for roughly 8 rows on the arms and legs before going into the stripe (as I didn’t want him to look like he was wearing a stripey onesie!). I also added a tail for a little extra sass.
I’m so chuffed with how this little cutie turned out. The instructions were terrifically easy to follow, and it was so satisfying how quickly the chunky chap worked up in the weightier yarn. And while it was already great bringing something I’d dreamt up to life, it was even better seeing how pleased Ernie was with his present.
I think I’m going to cast on a knitting project next, but I can’t wait to make another little monster. Thanks, Kerry and Toft, for yet another brilliant book!
Hook, Knit and Stitch 