Tag: Knitting Projects

  • Element Bag

    I recently experimented with a pattern for a gift bag, which is really a very simple project. I used pearl cotton, gauge 5 and gauge 12, to create the bag. Starting with yellow for East and Air, I then used red for South and Fire, (both yellow and red are the gauge 5), then navy blue for West and Water, and finally green for North and Earth. For the i-cord, I used indigo and violet, both gauge 12, held together to make it thicker. Take a look:

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    You can see the difference in yarn thickness between the 5 and 12 sizes. I used a Size 3 (US) set of double-pointed needles to make the bag (and plan to switch away from my usually beloved bamboo and purchase some steel ones; anything smaller than Size 5 (US) is too bendy in the bamboo and wood).

    For the next bag, I plan to use only the size 5 thread; I found the size 12 too thin and the resultant fabric too flimsy for what I wanted. I could double up on the 12, but that would use twice as much yarn and I don\’t need that thickness for warmth or durability, just appearance.

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    This is a top view of the finished bag, with all colors visible but the i-cord untied. The finished bag clocked in around four inches tall.

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    This is the finished bag. The pattern I used calls for a 3 needle bind off, which I did use; I also like stepped decreases though did not use that for this bag. They give a more rounded finish.

  • Update on Opera Gloves – Design Challenges

    In designing my opera gloves, I am using a couple resources. The first is the stitch dictionary by Barbara Walker, A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

    Additionally, I did a web search for a few different opera glove designs, but found nothing exactly to my liking. What I want is a glove pattern that goes up the forearm and over the elbow, ending in a ruffle. The fingers will be partial, so it will be a ‘fingerless’ glove, but I do want actual fingers rather than a flat line across the knuckles.

    I found it a lot harder to do the swatch with the two lace patterns I’d picked out. I wanted to use one panel that’s a lace rib stitch, two lines, and one as a center panel that’s sixteen rows. It turned out to be too easy to drop stitches on the larger lace pattern, when trying to track both it and the circular knitting. I fiddled and struggled for a while and then realized, if I was having this much trouble on the swatch, I’d hate doing the gloves. I switched to the simpler two row repeat and voila!

    One thing I did change, in the pattern, is that it’s a K1 * yo… etc. Well, at first, I did the K1 at the beginning of the round, but not each new needle (I’m knitting on three needles). That was pulling too wide at the joins between the needles, so I decided heck with it, I’d add a K1 on each needle change and it made the pattern much neater. Also, since the pattern is written for flat knitting, I had to reverse row 2 (which is the wrong side row), but luckily it’s just either K or P stitches, no complicated stitchcraft. It’s run to work.

    I don’t have pictures yet, but when I finish the swatch I’ll post another update.

  • Opera Gloves

    So, I joined Weight Watchers. I decided to make milestones for the celebrations, and I’m celebrating my first 5%! I’m so excited. I purchased two skeins of Sock Ease™ yarn from Lion Brand in “Red Hots.” It’s beautiful!

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    I will say it\’s more orange than I was thinking it would be (which isn\’t bad, just surprised me). It\’s very Autumnal in flavor and I think will look really nice with summer-tanned skin (not that I tan a whole heckuva lot, but hey).

    I’m going to make a pair of opera gloves that are fingerless. I’m thinking I’ll have partial fingers go to about the middle knuckle, then have the glove go all the way up to cover the elbow and end in some pretty ruffles. I’m just swatching right now, but I’ll post more as the design comes together in my head.

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    These are double-pointed needles from Brittany, size US2 (2.75 MM). I want to like them, but I find them too bendy and broke one while making a sock. I\’m going to get some Crystal Palace (first I\’ll swatch with my CP 3\’s and see how it looks, I may just use them). I am also planning to try some metal needles for the really small sizes, 4 and below, because the natural ones just seem to be too fragile when they\’re that thin.

  • Fuzzy Shawl

    My lovely sister in law gave me yarn for Christmas (which is a little like giving crack to an addict, but there you go). Two of the balls are this really fuzzy tribble stuff that have a variegated black and grey colorway with little silver sparkles. It’s fun stuff. I decided to make a triangle shawl with it, since it’s a little scratchy, that way I can wear it over other clothing.

    Here’s the progress so far. I’m going to have to switch to circular needles shortly, since I’m running out of room on these. As you can see from the tip, I was adding four stitches every other row – a make one on each edge and a yarn over in the middle once the lace pattern started. I decided to leave off the make one, so I don’t run out of depth (since I only have the two balls). It makes a pleasing sort of rounded heart edge on the point that I like.

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    This detail picture shows the lacy bit, which is a little silly with such a textured yarn but I like it. Bonus points if you can spot the error!

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  • The Story Shawl

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    My husband and I went on an Outward Bound Dogsledding expedition in 2006. When we got back, I went shopping with a friend of mine in Wisconsin and found some incredible silk and mohair yarn that looked like sunrise on snow. Still under the influence of the Boundary Waters and our experiences there, I set to work on a shawl that would tell our story.

    The border is eight stitches, one for each person in the party. I chose a seed stitch to symbolize life and growing. Just like in a garden, people can come together and learn to support each other in the same space but not taking the other’s light or nutrients. We form symbiotic relationships.

    I added a row of lace yarn-overs, the holes symbolizing the fact that when we came together, we weren’t a team. We were eight separate individuals, but not one unit. We separated into two teams of four; three students with an instructor. One day the students were with the dogsled, one day they were skiing. The instructors had a two-day cycle, two days on the sled, two days on skis. I chose a basketweave pattern of K4, P4, four rows each, every so often going for eight rows to symbolize the instructors.

    At one point in the middle of knitting, when I had about a hundred stitches on the needles, I decided to try an alternate basketweave stitch that I found in a book, thinking it was the “right” way to do it.

    It looked totally wrong.

    Faced with the decision of unknitting three rows of over a hundred stitches, it occurred to me that this was a perfect metaphor for the middle portion of an expedition. You know your mates well enough to identify their quirks and likes, and well enough for little frictions to pop up. After all, you’re adults enclosed in a vast and threatening wilderness with these other individuals for hours at a time.

    It was exactly right.

    I left the stitches in and completed the shawl. Eight rows from the end I dropped the yarn-overs, symbolizing that by the time we arrived back at Home Place, we were a team.

    The bind-off is done in a sewing needle bind-off that took about six hours to complete. Incredibly detailed, it nonetheless creates a soft, supple edge that doesn’t look at all like a bound-off edge. It’s springy and slender and adds to the beauty of the garment.

    This is one of the most expensive and time consuming projects I’ve designed and I share it with you so you can see what can be done with two sticks, some yarn, and an idea.

  • Fingerless Gloves

    I came across a wonderful pattern for fingerless gloves in a book by Melanie Falick, Weekend Knitting. Here it is from her website with some images you can browse:

    http://www.melaniefalickbooks.com/weekend-knitting-gallery/

    I used some bulky wool from Knitpicks, in a lovely dusky rose color. I got them from a class I took a couple years ago, so these gloves are a good thing to use when you have stash and no project.

    My hands are larger than the model, though, so I cast on 30. The first one I knit I used the directions for the thumb and didn’t check before I bound off; it turns out to be too tight. I apparently have really muscular hands. (We won’t say fat, will we?) The other one I used six stitches and it fits just fine.

    This first shot is of the gloves flat on the table. They’re not very attractive this way, surprisingly, though you can see the garter rib stitch very well.

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    For this second shot, I used one hand with the camera and wore the glove on my right hand, which is coincidentally the glove where I modified the thumb.

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    I really like the purl bind off. It’s simple but pretty and makes a nice line of stitches that match the cast on. I will definitely be making these again. If I make them longer, to go up to the elbow, I’ll need to modify them to fit over the muscles in my forearm (here is where your gauge swatch will come in handy). (Shush. Of COURSE you gauge swatch.)

  • Knitting Ballz

    This is from Handknit Holidays, by Melanie Falick – which if you don\’t have it, is an excellent book. They\’re really easy to do, actually. Easy practice for circular knitting.

    Figure 1: This was the first one I made. I stuffed it with yarn bits. I need to buy some batting! (Because I can\’t finish the rest of the balls I\’ve made, but don\’t tell anyone…) This is made with some cool overdyed yarn that we had for a community project last year (2007), with some navy acryllic that I had gotten at a garage sale (it\’s really awful and scratchy, but you can\’t tell on the ball).

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    Figure 2: This is another ball using the same yarn but a different pattern. I call it Windowpane, but I don\’t know if it has another name. It\’s a slip stitch pattern using two colors, a MC (navy) and CC (the overdye). Knitting in stockinette, 2 rows MC, 2 rows CC – but with the CC, knit 1, then slip 1, etc. (If you\’re knitting flat, then on the row back you\’d purl and slip.) Carry the color not in use up the side of the knitting. If knitting in the round, it helps to have a stitch marker to show the beginning of the round.

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    Figure 3: This is done with some of the acryllic I got at that garage sale. It\’s really awful stuff, perfect for ornaments. It\’s got a stitch pattern that didn\’t work out very well, I tried to do some striping and such. The loops are crocheted chain stitch; but you could just as easily to a 2 stitch i-cord.

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    Figure 4: And the piece de resistance: do NOT use ugly goldenrod acryllic on the large ball. You can\’t really tell it very well here, but I tried to use my hand to show perspective – this is the 5 inch ball. It\’s horribly ugly. I did more patterning with it, using garter rows on the bottom and seed stitch in the center.

    It was cute, though. When I finished it, I was on the train. I looked up at one point and realized I had an audience. (The train was packed for evening commute.) So I set it on my lap and stuffed it. The looks on the faces around me when they realized what it was made me laugh. Never underestimate the power of handicrafts to break the ice. NOBODY on the train in Chicago talks to each other, it\’s just \”not done.\” But I had five or six people all interacting with me over this horrible, ugly, scratchy ball. It\’s kind of growing on me; my ugly duckling ball of doom.
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  • Project Design – Berocco Silk and Lion Brand Incredible

    I was naughty and found two yarns last week that I bought on impulse (meaning, with no specific project in mind). The irony is that I think I may make something with them both together.

    Berocco Ultra Silk is 20% Silk (Soie), 40% Rayon (Viscose), and 40% Nylon (Polyamide). It is soft and springy and reminds me a lot of jersey fabric.

    Lion Brand Incredible is 100% nylon, but has a crunchiness reminiscent of silk. It calls for size 15 US needles, but I did my swatch with 7 US (4.5mm).

    I\’m thinking a shrug or vest would look nice, with the Incredible as a border and the Ultra Silk as panels down the center, maybe with a textural pattern like vines and leaves. I\’m just in the swatching stage right now, so we\’ll have to see.

    Here are the swatches:

    Figure 1: Berocco Ultra Silk
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    Figure 2: Lion Brand Incredible
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