Sunday, December 30, 2007

Grrr

Isn't this washcloth fucking adorable?!

I found it while looking through patterns on Ravlery 'cause I had been to Walmart and bought a bunch of worsted weight cotton yarn. The skiens were only $1.27 each so i couldn't pass it up and figured I could make something out of them. I figured maybe I could make a couple of toys. I searched around Ravelry via the knifly yarn search engine to see what other people were using similar yarn for and found that the majority seem to be making dishcloths and washcloths. Grrr was so adorable that I had to make one.

I made this other dishcloth (or washcloth - I haven't decided what to use it for) by just knitting up a square using a knit/purl stitch pattern from a sock book. I actually made this one before I made Grrr. I really love the way the color striped.

Now, I'm making the Ballband discloth (or washcloth) and then I'm going to make another Grrr. He'll be red this time and I'll name him Jubal Early.

Patterns:
Grrr
Ballband

Thursday, December 27, 2007

Yarn, yarn, yarn!

I've been wanting to buy yarn that is not acrylic or an acrylic blend to make some gloves and/or socks with some kind of stranding design. I've seen a few on ravelry.com that I like a lot but they called for either dk, sport or sock yarn.

Now, I'm not sure how well I'll like knitting with teeny tiny needles (read: anything under size 5). I am so impatient and feel like knitting with those skinny needles will take forever! I didn't want to spend a lot of money on some thinner yarn in case I didn't like working with it. I would hate to have spent $15 for a hank of yarn that would end up sitting around. I decided I would check out online sellers because the local yarn stores (LYS) would probably not have much of a discount, if any. And, while I'm all for supporting local businesses, I still didn't want spend too much on something I may not like working with.

Coincidentally, a friend gave me a knitting book for my birthday, and inside there was a coupon for free shipping from yarn.com so I decided to check out the site. They have a yearly clearance sale going on right now and I found some 100% wool dk weight yarn on clearance for only $1.49 a skein! There was another multi-colored sock yarn that I really liked that was only about $2.99 a skein, but by the time I ordered today it was all gone! *sigh*

So, I'm waiting for my stash of yarn to arrive soon and then I think I'll try to make the "We Call Them Pirates" hat... or maybe something else.

Wednesday, December 26, 2007

Hat with ear flaps

I founds some awesome bulky yarn on clearance for 99 cents a skien (regularly $7.00!) and I liked it for a hat for myself. Finally I was going to do something I would keep!

I searched around and found this pattern. I decided to make it but without the stranding pattern since the multi colored yarn I bought didn't seem like it would lend itself to showing off a nice pattern.

I ended up reducing the amount of stitches in the hat because it was huge on me, and I'm pretty happy about the way it turned out.

The only problem I had was the whole casting on with the earflaps on the needle. The pattern didn't explain how to cast onto my right needle after having knitted the earflap stitches onto my needle. I finally figured out that I had to do a backward loop cast on, so it all worked out but I was pretty frustrated there for a while until then.

I also ended up moving the earflaps a little closer toward the back so that they would center on my ears. I did that 'cause of a tip I read on Ravelry and it worked out a much better fit.

Now, I'm trying to decide what kind of cord I want. I think I'm going to attach and knit a couple of 3 stitch i-cords long enough to tie them together under my chin.

Pattern: Nordic Earflap Hat
Yarn: Yarn Been Mosaic Twist, Color: Tangy Clay
Needles: #9US circular and dpns

Saturday, December 22, 2007

The boring hat without a frog


On Dec 21st I decided I had to make a hat for my best friend's girlfriend. I searched around but couldn't find exactly what I wanted so I worked up my own pattern. Then I decided that I wanted to add a little accent to it by purling a pattern to resemble a frog. I worked up the chart and knitted the hat.

But, when I was done, I really looked at it and realized that you couldn't tell there was supposed to be anything there. The texture of the yarn didn't lend itself to the pattern, plus, I think that just purling really wouldn't do the trick, at least with this size needles. *sigh* Live and learn.


See what I mean? It just looks like a blob of purled stitches (forgot to take a picture before I undid the top) and it really didn't look good at all. Instead of undoing the whole thing, I decided that I would "repair" the area with the blob/frog. I undid the top of the hat, moved the stitches onto circular needles and stitch holders and then, column by column, I undid the stitches and then using a crochet hook, I re-knit them all as knit stitches. Took me about an hour or so to do that. Then, I started in on the decreases and worked on finishing the hat.


Now, I've finished up the boring hat without a frog and it doesn't look too bad. It did come out a little bigger than I anticipated but it still fits pretty good.


======
My Boring Hat

Size: Adult (22")

Supplies needed:
- 1 skien of Bulky Yarn [I used about 1/2 of a 6 oz/185 yd skien of Lion Brand Homespun in Apple Green]
- US #9 dpns (if they are 7" dpns, make sure you have a set of 5 'cause all the stitches wont fit on just 3 dpns)
- US #9 circular needles, 16" cable (you can do the hat just on dpns, but the circular makes it so much easier!)
- Stitch markers
- Yarn/tapestry needle

Gauge: 7 stitches = 2 inches

Abbreviations:
k = knit stitch
ssk = slip, slip, knit (right-leaning decrease)
pm = place marker

NOTE: I knit combined, so if you don't, instead of ssk, work a k2tog=knit 2 together or whatever will result in a right-leaning decrease. Visit KnittingHelp.com for a better explanation about what a right-leaning decrease is.

Directions:
- Cast on 81 stitches and join in the round by knitting the first stitch and the last stitch together (It makes a better join... really! or if you are a join-master, just knit 80 stitches and join as you usually would.) Pm to mark the start of your rows.
- Knit 8 rows of the rib of your choice (you can do 2k & 2p all the way around, or 3k & 1p, or garter stitch, or whatever tickles your fancy) for the edge of the hat.
- K every round until your hat measures about 5 1/2" from the bottom, including the ribbing.
- *k 14, ssk, pm*, repeat from * to * until the end of the row. (You should have 5 markers on your needles, including your original marker. You should also now have 75 stitches)
- Decrease Row: *k until 2 stitches before the marker, ssk, slip marker*, repeat from * to * until end of row. (You will be decreasing 5 stitches on each round.)
- Continue repeating the Decrease Row for 12 more rows, until you have 10 stitches left on your needles, moving your hat to the dpns when they can no longer be worked on the circular needles.
- Cut yarn leaving about a 6 inch length. Using the yarn needle, thread the yarn through those last 10 stitches and pull tight. Push the yarn needle through the little center hole and then weave the rest of the yarn into the hat.
========

I really hope my best friend's girlfriend likes the hat! And since I have so much yarn left over, I've decided I'll make her some boring mittens to go along with her hat. I'll post when I've made them.

A few days later, I showed the hat to my mom and she loved it! So, I decided that I had to make her one too. Started it last night and should be done today.

eta: They liked the hats! yay!

Friday, December 21, 2007

My New Knitting Blog

So, I've been thinking about how to use this blog and I finally know!! I'm making this my Official Knitting Blog!

I've suddenly rediscovered my love of knitting and just this month of December, I've finished about 9 projects (wristwarmers, hats, gloves and a scarf).

I made a pair of wrist warmers with some grey yarn I've had for about 8 years and loved them 'cause I happened to see mention of wrist warmers during some random surfing. So, I made another pair...then I made my first pair of socks...and I'm looking for more stuff to make.

I learned how to crochet and then to knit while i lived in Mexico during my teens. I crocheted doilies and other things that were all the rage at the time. Then I got into knitting. I did a few things, but never finished any big project. I found that knitting smaller things made me happy because I could actually finish them fairly quickly. So, I made baby booties and barbie clothes. I also learned how to knit on a manual, mechanical knitting machine. I actually made a mini-dress. um...not something i would wear these days though! I visited a real yarn store for the first time on Dec 2, 2007 and I loved it! So many yarns types! So many colors! My only real experience had been using Red Heart acrylic yarn. Also, I've just learned that I knit combined - although none of my stitches come out twisted - and I have to knit any ssk/k2tog the opposite to get the right result.

[ NOTE: I'm going to be posting all my current knitting stuff here, backdating to the dates I posted them originally. I'll get this bad boy organized eventually!]

Wednesday, December 5, 2007

My first pair of socks! Go me!

I knitted my first pair of socks!

I know! They *do* look huge! I followed Silver's Sock Class basic sock guide, using the instructions for the smallest size. But since I used larger needles and worsted weight yarn, I did expect them to come out bigger than the directions called for.

But you know what? Turns out they fit my feet, but without any real stretch. I'm a size 8 in shoes, so I suspect they will fit someone with larger feet much better.


On the toes, though, one came out more angled than the other. Here's more of a close up. The more angled one has better reductions. The more round toe has badly done reductions on one side. I had worked on the sock on the right first, before I realized (per the helpful members of a knitting community on LiveJournal.com) that i seem to knit combined. Although i have to say that while combined seems to be identified by the fact that the knit stitches end up with their right leg begind the needle, and the purls end up with their right leg in front on the needle, I don't do that. All of my stitches come out with the right leg behind the needle. (Which is still apparently the opposite of the majority whose right leg comes out in front of the needle.) I hope that made sense.




...and here they are on my feet.

knitted on US #8 dpns
yarn: red heart super saver acrylic
yarncolor: camouflage

Now I want to knit more socks!