Tag Archives: Knit

Enter the Entrelac Zone (and some Luscious Progress)

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I took a face your Fears challenge to learn Entrelac.  Which if you are unfamiliar with its a style of knitting that turns out looking like a basket weave texture that you get by picking up and binding off (by knitting combining two stitches into one in pattern) which is unlike counterpanes where you make each unit separate and then assemble.  On the whole most patterns seem to stick with smaller blocks and just knit along for texture, but there are a few items that are really unique out there like the Forest Path Stole which combines blocks of lacy texture.

Most people start out with a nice simple scarf… but I am not most people so I went with… the Nyan Cowl.

Technically I have not finished the Nyan Cowl as I mean to finish the poptart as a nice little pocket for toting around something small, such as your ipod or secret pocket of poptarts or whatever, so that and the finishing touch of affixing the tail to the front need to be done.   I am debating if I should write up this guy as a pattern since he is a bit cute if I do say so myself.

Since I wasn’t quite 100% on how seriously I should have actually approached the challenge, I also decided that I’d start a small baby blanket with the still large quantity of baby yarns I have been gifted in my stash so here is the early preview:

Something a bit more traditional than the Nyan

Something a bit more traditional than the Nyan

I also have some updates on my Luscious Sweater since my earlier post of just yarn.  I have cast on the main section, found a couple of errors in the pattern (detailed in the Rav link) and I am now working my way up and over the shoulder from the V-neck base marker.  These photos are earlier than that, but they give an alright impression of how the fabric of the knit is coming together.

Early progress of the "wrong" side showing the edge and the main stitches twined together

Early progress of the “wrong” side showing the edge and the main stitches twined together

Right side up, front bottom edge of the sweater

Right side up, front bottom edge of the sweater

I am actually on about the 4th ball of the main color (out of 13) and so knitting along there are 3 balls attached to the project (Each edge in the contrast and the main color) to which I am thinking someone needs to invent some stackable snap-together yarn bowls.  Think on that just a bit… you get to where you need to twist you just snap them apart, twine them the right way and re-snap them together.

Progress Updates, Future Yarn projects and a little bit more

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Firstly let me start out by saying… I have been knitting things since March… just they have been very little things… or not done yet things.

Little things like this cute doily out of crochet thread on needles I never remember the size of because my needle gauge tool only goes to the first 0.  (You’d think a single 0 would be enough, but apparently the world is not prepared for negative numbers in needle sizing.):

Pattern is called Auge

Pattern is called Auge

This is not your granny’s doily though…. This baby is not soon to be draped over an armchair or under the candy dish. This is your first cup of coffee or glass of water by your bed… because that’s just how big it is.

That's no doily! That's a coaster!

That’s no doily! That’s a coaster!

I have also been working on my double knit scarf and I’m a bit further along than these photos as I am now nearly done with flake number six.

Delicate White flakes against a dark green background.

Side A: Delicate White flakes against a dark green background.

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Side B: Powerful Green flakes on a snowy white background

So I think with my current progress I am at least past the hump of the middle of a scarf project.

Now I must confess I have still not gotten any further on my bird needlework project and every time I’m up in the library room with my sewing I remind myself I really ought to finish it up.

But in the mean time…. I did say I was going to make two sweaters this year, one for Ben and one for myself.  And I’m only half done with that project… so I took the next step and… couldn’t narrow it down past two designs I really liked.  One is called Spoke, and the other is called Luscious.  Well I figured the easiest method since they took two different kind of yarns was to browse through my various yarn options and see if I couldn’t have the yarn decide.  (Each take a different yarn weight)

Well the yarn decided alright…. it decided I was making two sweaters!

A Future Spoke Sweater! (and a side of conductive thread for gloves)

A Future Spoke Sweater!
(and a side of conductive thread for gloves)

Future Luscious. The heathered color on the left is the main body color, with the darker as the trim.

Future Luscious. The heathered color on the left is the main body color, with the darker as the trim.

As if that wasn’t enough yarn… I got a nice reminder that I had Jimmy Beans Bucks from some yarn I bought when working on Debora.   So I did what any good knitter would and bought a beautiful skein of lace weight yarn.

I am leaning towards the Frozen Leaves Shawl with this, but it means a full charted pattern.

I am leaning towards the Frozen Leaves Shawl with this, but it means a full charted pattern.

And that brings us to the end of the updates and progress… and you are wondering what exactly I meant by a little bit more.  Well…. I was contacted recently by someone that is getting ready to cast on a Debora blanket!  And to me… well that’s pretty awesome!   If you’ve ever watched Howl’s Moving Castle, then you will know what I mean when I say that’s the “I like your spark!” compliment.

So Meta – Sweater Edition

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This post is a bit later than I wanted, but I’m blaming Portland, OR since that’s where I was when I finished this project.

So this year I decided it was time to try some more advanced knittings… things that aren’t flat or simple socks/hats were high on my list.  Things like, a sweater for Ben and one for myself. So naturally I went looking for a sweater design for Ben that I felt would be challenging yet within my skill basis and lo and behold…. it was named Ben.

That’s right… I knit a Ben for my Ben so he can be Ben in his Ben.   And I took pictures today (using a phone owned by Ben no less):

Yo Dawg! I heard you like Ben!

Yo Dawg! I heard you like Ben!

Now part way through this sweater knitting plan I had heard there was some sort of sweater knitting curse in which a person knitting for their significant other before they are wed would end the relationship before the sweater was done.  I unwisely laughed at this with Ben and from that point he kind of approached the whole sweater project with some trepidation… but I’m happy to report, we survived the sweater curse!

IMG_20130308_095810

So here’s a Ben in a Ben taken on a phone owned by Ben, in front of photos taken by Ben.

The sleeves are a bit long if you dont’ roll the cuffs, but they are symmetrical and it does fit.

So next up… I’m deciding which sweater I want to knit for myself.

If A Bird in the Hand is worth 2 in the Bush, How much for 14 birds in the hand?

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So last Christmas when I wrapped up Debora, I tied on my tiny version of the Bird in a Tree bird.  I’d made up one per the directions and he was very cute… but in the spirit of wondering if one could knit something up in size 5 embroidery floss I knit up the small version.

Full size and original tiny red bird for comparison.

Full size and original tiny red bird for comparison.

Tiny red was very cute, and the seed beads worked pretty nicely for eyes, which spared me the french knots… which is one of my least favorite embroidery stitches.  Red bird was a bit of a success… and so I accepted the challenge of knitting over a dozen more… which leads us back to… 14 birds in the hand:

The rough equivalent of 28 bush birds.... which isn't even the record for Pine Siskins at my feeder this past spring.

The rough equivalent of 28 in the bush birds…. which isn’t even the record for Pine Siskins at my feeder this past spring.

All of these birds were knit up on some of my smallest double pointed needles from a multipack of what I thought I might need at some point doing lacy socks or something.  Which I believe is the size 00 needles.  All I know is the whole time I was knitting I was worried I would end up bending them into new and unusual shapes. (Which only happened that one time!)  The floss was ok, but didn’t have much give, so if you dropped a stitch or messed up, it was pretty much a frog and redo process.

Now… in case you were wondering how small these guys REALLY are…

That's a US nickel for size comparison

That’s a US nickel for size comparison

Egg Cartons - aka Bird Organizers

Egg Cartons – aka Bird Organizers

 

What to expect in 2013

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Well last year I set myself the goal of one Christmas stocking a month from January to October and it went pretty well.  I sold a few of the stockings, and hopefully someone will take advantage of this coupon code “InWithTheNew” and save themselves 25% on those I have left in the etsy shop!

So this year  I thought it might be good to set myself some of those crafty goals again… so here’s what I know I want to do in 2013:

I’ve accepted a commission on 18 itty bitty red birds for one of my aunts Christmas Trees.  The pattern is available on ravelry, my only difference is that instead of yarn I used size 5 DMC floss on what I think are my size 00 knitting needles (I swear I thought I was going to bend those things as I was going along!)

This tree soon to be populated with a flock of red birds

This tree soon to be populated with a flock of red birds

I’d also like to tackle my first sweaters.  I want to make one for myself and one for Ben.  For him, I’ve picked out my pattern… and its aptly named… Ben!

I'm gonna make a Ben for my Ben so he can Ben in his Ben!

I’m gonna make a Ben for my Ben so he can be Ben in his Ben!

On the Quilting front, I’ve picked fabric and cut for my first square on the grand King sized Quilt I want to make for our bed:

I picked up a couple of these Jelly Rolls at the Labor Day Sale and then did the math on downscaling some star blocks to fit the roll cuts

I picked up a couple of these Jelly Rolls at the Labor Day Sale and then did the math on downscaling some star blocks to fit the roll cuts

This is my first Block cut and just starting to piece.

This is my first Block cut and just starting to piece.

Because its going to be so big, my plan is to piece it and then take a class and quilt it on a long arm machine at one of the local(ish) quilt shops!   If you want to follow along, just as in prior cases… there is an album started for this one.

And lastly, but certainly not least… I want to start making gloves and mittens in a similar style to last years stockings.   Which means lots of fiddling until I find what works best in that arena.

So… Wish me luck!

Did I give you this hat? (& first mittens)

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Today I took a break from house work and finished up a Christmas gift and finished the second of my first pair of mittens.  I’ve known since I found the pattern just what yarn I wanted to use to try out making mittens.  It was this sage and white that would be kind on me, and was a nice soft wear.  I’d had the ball saved up for awhile… from when I made this hat and was learning about cabling and decreases:

A Beanie or Tuque… depending on where you live.

Now I know I gave someone I know this hat… but for the life of me I can’t remember whom specifically, it was either Calvin, or Al, or Mary or Dad.  So if any of you are reading this…. I have some mittens!

Kittenless Mittens

Now, to start with I didn’t find dpns in size 4 at the local hardware shop… (yes I live in a town of the size and age where you can purchase knitting needles from the hardware store) so I did pick up some size 3, which is slightly smaller and knit the smallest size.  Turns out… These mittens seem a bit bigger in a few places so my next pair will need a different pattern… ah well! But they do have the advantage of being ambidextrous.

At some point some enterprising homemaker devised the one fool proof method for ensuring that a kid wouldn’t ever lose their mittens.   No it wasn’t the elastic with clips on both ends, that turn frigid cold and packed with snow at the most inconvenient of times.  It was the long rope cord connecting mitten A to mitten B.

Almost as old as that, is the pattern I used to make my first mittens.  Apparently this is a pattern from Eleanor Roosevelt’s knitting patterns, and you can find it at knitty.com. 

Anyway… if I did give you that hat and you’d like the mittens, let me know.  And if you want a cord linking your mittens together… I have just a little bit more of that yarn!

September: So much to do…. how about some leaves and berries?

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So September has just flown by, and unfortunately the memory card to the good camera is having issues and so I need to get a new one… so this means rather poor quality photos this post.

My design this month was more traditional in nature although the implementation felt a little masochistic… which sometimes family holidays are that way aren’t they?

Leaves and Berries

I started with an attempt at a three color braided by cabling look for my cuff, and ended with a braided hanging loop.  Braiding is not a problem… but working three skeins of yarn and remember which is cable over and cable under and how to space.. that was a bit of gymnastics:

Cuff and hanging loop… they look similar but are done very differently.

When I got down to the heel I thought how nice it was to bring those colors back down the sock a bit more… so I went with a heel of alternating red and green.  This wasn’t too bad at all in my opinion, though it was a bit interesting as I started to turn the heel.

Heel detail.

And I finished it off with my new favorite thing to knit… some leaves with some berries.  Leaves are surprisingly easy to do, and while I did flirt with trying to make some more holly shaped leaves, or a wreath of leaves, I didn’t feel like this was the best project for them.  (So now I have some pre-knit spare leaves in my yarn stash.)

Leaves and berries!

I can’t say as I’m super thrilled with this one, but it is a whole stocking and it was a bit more to learn and try than some of the others so I’m putting it in the win column.

What you haven’t seen is a nearly complete third quilt, which will be a gift…. a cross stitch gift I have about 1/2 done… and my counterpane project I am designing and building. I am now on pane #3.  The first pane took quite some time as I was designing, the second pane I was writing out the pattern and now I’m knitting from the pattern to make sure I got it right.

I am also slowly but surely working on getting my etsy shop ready for a relauch with all these stockings.  After all something needs to feed my yarn habit!

Shawl we get this over with? – And some philosophy

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So you know that shawl I posted from my stash just the other day… well yesterday and this  morning… I finished it!

Fanned out and on display

This shawl has been in my stash for a very long time… it had two of the half fans that form the top border on stitch holders and just hanging out because I ran out of yarn.  It was the first modular design piece I decided to try.  Since it was a learn to do it project… I used stash yarn that I picked up… likely from the clearance section of the yarn shop, and didn’t have enough as it turns out.  So I ended up finishing it with a later not-quite match.

Here you can see where the new color row fits in with the old color

Now…. the philosophy ramble…. (skip to the end if you want the pattern link).

I don’t tend to worry about gauges when I’m testing out something to see if I can do it.  I don’t plan nearly as much as I probably should… but since I am in more of the beginner stage of knitting, I don’t think that is a bad thing.  I could see where this would be an issue later on when I want to make a sweater, or to get the right fit on socks and gloves, but for learning the principals of stitches and patterns on scarves and blankets  it really doesn’t matter.  If what I want to know is… can I figure out how to SSK/cable/double-knit something… it does not bother me in the slightest if its 30 inches instead of 36, or vise-versa.  No one else but me has any idea how its supposed to turn out anyway.

Sure, I could follow the recommended yarn brand, which would have cost me about $60, and it would probably be worth it… but the whole time I’d have started the project I’d be fretting about cutting up that beautiful and expensive yarn.  Or I can test out a pattern and not worry about the yarn for about $10 on the same project.

If you are learning and you see a pattern you like and want to try, don’t fret over having “Super-silk-cashmere-yarn-of-Amazeballs™” just bust open your yarn stash and get to work with what you have!  Learn something new… and find what you love.

And with that… here’s the pattern.

Stashed Away!

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So my baby afghan spree has revealed a few items that are still floating about in my stash…

Such as this baby sized chunky afghan that finished off a couple skeins of patriotic red, white and blues on some giant needles…

Soft and Thick Patriotic Flavor

And this angelic little preemie/doll size of a hourglass eyelet stitch.  I really like this stitch because even the wrong side looks pretty nice!

Front side, with a simple crochet edging.

Backside. Looks like a fancy basketweave.

And then there is this shawl I am finally going to look at finishing… because I finally found a yarn I think will go well with where I ran out of the last batch…

Fan shawl

So now its off to see if I can finish the fans this month before I have to get started on a September Stocking, finish my snowflakes quilt and various other crafty projects!

Baby Afghans, take 3 for August

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So, a while back, I obtained some yarn from another knitters stash… and I am a fan of trying new stitches and finding ways to use up the yarn stash… so this one, the solid blue and the yellow are yarn that’s probably as old as I am (based on the yellow skein’s wrapper) so its well past time it got a new life.

This pattern makes a nice dimensional stitch.

I knitted it up until I nearly ran out of the dark blue… and I still have some light blue and yellow to play with!  But its at least baby afghan size, so there is that.

After some blocking, laid out on my library/sewing table

 

Perhaps I shall have to make up some hats or booties or something…. As a bonus, this pattern made a fun picture to use as my cell phone wallpaper.

Rows almost look like diamonds

The colors remind me of a dress I used to own, with a denim bodice and a yellow floral long skirt… I loved that dress.

Pattern available on Ravelry.