My Knitting Escapades
Thaynes Canyon Cowl is named after a canyon which connects to Millcreek Canyon outside of Salt Lake City. At the beginning of the trail, most people head right to the Salt Lake City overlook trail. But going left on the trail takes hikers to the less traveled Thaynes Canyon, a beautiful hike on a mostly tree-covered trail. The free knitting pattern is below:
Cowl or neck warmer made in a simple 2 x 2 ribbing with about 100 grams of yarn
You know that look, right? That look someone gives your handknit sweater, wishing they had one too. Well, recently while back in Indiana, my mom gave my sweater that look. Ok, I get the hint. It’s high time I knit something large and meaningful for her, not just socks or a scarf. I owe it to her. I mean, she kept three of us kids in mittens (her specialty) and hats while we were young. I’ll never forget that variegated red, white, and blue yarn, probably Red Heart, and the mittens that could work on either hand. If we lost one, she would dig into her stash of already-knit mittens. No more cold hands. (Although, for the life of me, I can’t see how Red Heart yarn would keep anything warm!)
So, Mom, this one’s for you, and it’s my pleasure!
It’s going to be a cardigan–I had to talk her into a cardigan. Its going to be a little longer–I had to talk her into that too. I think she knows cardigans are more trouble, and longer sweaters take more yarn. It’s ok, Mom. It’ll make up for all those mittens we lost!
I am not a fan of the garter-stitch button and buttonhole band. They need to be seriously blocked so they are the same length as the sweater. What pattern am I using? I’m just kind of winging it. Who knows? Maybe I’ll write it up someday, like I did my Olympic sweater. And speaking of my Olympic sweater, I still need to finish the back, as in, stitch on those 2 moose and 1 Christmas tree (see photo below).
More info tomorrow–or look on Ravelry for “Around Sochi” pattern!
I went to the cell phone store “just to look” at iPhones and walked out with one–haha, the joke’s on me! And of course the geek guys tried to sell me cases, skins, covers, etc. They tried to scare me by talking incessantly about how easily iPhone screens break, but I held out and only spent $15 on an iPhone cover. But because of that, my big fear is dropping this thing! So I decided to knit a little case to at least cushion a fall. Here’s what I did:
Materials
Size 4 (US) Double Pointed Needles and some worsted weight yarn (I used Noro Silver Thaw), tapestry needle, button, thread, and scissors.
Pattern Notes
iPhone case is knit from the bottom up with a rectangular flap, a buttonhole and button. You should be familiar with some knitting terms to complete this pattern.
Cast on
Cast on 36 stitches using Judy’s Magic Cast On. Google it, and watch the YouTube video.
Body
Mark the beginning of the row and knit as a tube in the round stopping when the depth of the tube is one row taller than the iPhone itself. My case is 5.25″ tall.
Flap
Bind off first 18 stitches. Then work the remaining stitches back and forth in stockinette stitch (knit 1 row, purl 1 row) to make the flap as follows: Row 1: K; Rows 2, 4, 6, 8, and 10: P.
Row 3: Sl1, SSK, K12, K2tog, K1
Row 5: Sl1, SSK, K10, K2tog, K1l
Row 7: Sl1, SSK, K8, K2tog, K1
Row 9: Sl1, SSK, K6, K2tog, K1
Row 11: Sl1, SSK, K4, K2tog, K1
Make Buttonhole
Row 12: P 3, bind off 2, P3
Row 13: Sl1, SSK, cast on 2, K2tog, K1
Row 14: P all stitches
Row 15: Sl1, SSK, K2tog, K1
Row 16: Bind off all stitches.
Finishing
Tuck in all ends with tapestry needle and sew on cute button in appropriate place. Enjoy!
Since we’re just coming out of “Finish It In February” month, I feel motivated to get busy working on my original design, “Nine Patch Mitered Square Afghan.”
Check it out here: http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nine-patch-mitered-square-afghan
I am going to make this 4 squares tall and 6 squares long. It’s going to be more of a throw or a lap afghan. I really like how it’s mixed media (sort of), because it’s knitted, but it looks like a quilt!
I think my outdoor gear closet has reached scarf saturation. So my solution? Knit cowls! I just finished this one, a free pattern for you! And I have another on the needles, using someone else’s pattern along with sock yarn that’s just too gorgeous to put on my feet. To knit this, you should know how to read a knitting chart, be able to work ribbing, and be able to work 2 strands of yarn at once. But if you’re new to any of this, I’m sure you can look up videos on youtube to help you
So, enjoy the pattern and give yourself a new neck accessory. (Sorry about the not-so-awesome photos. My photographer-daughter-blogger just moved away and I’ m stuck photographing my own stuff and I hate photos in front of a mirror. Please bear with me!)
Oh to float across the ice like skaters from the past! I love ice skating. I grew up on a lake where the neighbor kids took turns shoveling in the evenings so the hockey rink would be free from snow. There’s nothing like invigorating cold to wake up the senses during the darker days of winter. But staying comfortable is a must! Keep yourself warm at the ice skating rink with a modified tam hat with spiral cables from top to bottom. Imagine doing figure eights and scratch spins in style! Using just one skein (200 or so yards) of worsted weight yarn, you can whip this beret up in a few evenings. Doesn’t every knitter have an odd skein of worsted lying around? Pattern comes in two adult sizes (S/M, and L). You can purchase it in my Ravelry Store: Nancy Wilson designer
And, I still ice skate occasionally, even though I’m not a kid anymore!
My knitting life hasn’t been great lately. I have been knitting a bit, but not as much as I want to. With my job being pretty all-consuming right now, I work all day and come home and sit on the couch trying to finish what I didn’t have time to do at work. UGH! I just want some needles in my hands! Feelin’ sorry for me yet? I hope so, but enough of that.
I do get hungry at work, and I wove a little lunch basket last year, but it has ended up being just too small for all the lunch I need to take to work (I’m hungry!). Enter thoughts about a market bag I wanted to knit. But why not just turn it into a lunch bag? Done! Leftover yarn from my “Look Twice” sweater, and it’s recycled yarn to boot, like being recycled twice!
So here’s a free pattern for you. Please be a somewhat experienced knitter who knows terms like “kitchener” stitch, i-cord, etc. Hey, its a free pattern!
I’ve been eyeing some stray skeins of bulky yarn in my stash. What to do with them? Hmmmm…how about a scarf, a crazy sort of scarf in garter stitch where I change yarn every row? That sounds scrappy! So here’s a scrappy end to end scarf called Jackson Prairie Scarf:
Scarf Size: 72” long and 6½” wide
When we moved back to Indiana, we bought 3.5 acres of a cornfield and built a house. An entire chunk of land around there was a treeless area where farmers planted crops. The township was called “Jackson” and the area north of “Sand Hill,” east of the Pigeon River Wildlife Area. A local historian worked at my school as the librarian. His uncle had a farm south of Sand Hill. He said that Native Americans used to keep this area as grazing for wildlife, so deer would be easy to see and track. That’s Jackson Prairie!
(p.s. The hat is an entirely different story. Changing yarn every row means it’s impossible to knit in the round, making not only a seamed hat, but a hat that has many ends to work in. I didn’t write a pattern for that one!)
Buggy carries so many meanings here in Northern Indiana. We have a lot of Amish people, so we see lots of “buggies” here on the roads. Like anywhere, we have plenty of crazy people, so we call them “buggy.” AND since it’s getting colder, many little buggies are trying to sneak into any place warm to hibernate for the winter. Buggy.
Here’s a hat, however, which is meant for Cute Little Buggies. I’m hoping you have some of those in your life and you knit up some of these hats for little people on your Christmas lists.
My little model was not cooperating since she was very sleepy and grouchy, so I opted to put the hat on a couple of bowls in a small light box. Hey, it’s a free pattern!
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