My Knitting Escapades
Not tight enough to be a beanie, yet not loose enough to be a slouch, Diamondweave Hat delivers highly textured diamonds that float over background purl stitches. As you know, “textured” means you’ll be moving a lot of stitches around, so be prepared. But the payoff is a beautifully patterned hat that has depth and drama.
I recently bought an iPod Nano to take some tunes with me wherever I go. Wanting to protect my investment, I quickly made a little pocket for it to slip into. My 3rd graders loved it, and now I think I am going to start a knitting club at school for them.
MATERIALS:
One set of size 5 double point needles
Worsted weight yarn
Tapestry Needle
Gauge: 6 stitches per inch; row gauge is not important
Pattern
Using the magic cast on (you can see a youtube video to help you), cast on 24 stitches. Put 12 stitches on one needle (“Needle 1”), and put 6 stitches each on two more needles (“Needles 2 and 3”).
Round 1: Knit (it”ll be tight, but be patient!)
Round 2: Increase 1 stitch at beginning and end of Needle 1. Increase at beginning of Needle 2, and again at the end of Needle 3.(28 total stitches)
Round 3: Knit
Round 4: Repeat Row 2 (total 32 stitches)
BODY OF POCKET:
Continue knitting in the round until about 1/4″ of your iPod is sticking out, checking to see if your iPod fits.
Decrease Row: Decrease one stitch at the beginning and end of Needle 1. Decrease at the beginning of Needle 2 and again at Needle 2. This decrease row should help your Nano stay in its pocket.
Bind off loosely and weave in the loose ends.
ENJOY!
Since it’s summer here in the northern hemisphere my projects are all for the warmer weather. For this week I’ll share about this sweet little tank in a book from the library called “Mesh Layering Tank” from Veronik Avery’s Knitting 24/7. Even though library books are free to borrow, it usually costs me something because I decide to knit something from the book. And that requires a trip to the yarn shop.
So off to Blazing Needles I went to get some yarn. I thought I’d walk there to save gas and be green. And I’ve always wanted to be within walking distance of a yarn store. Walking there was a savory experience down a few tree-lined streets, beautiful! About Blazing Needles, they don’t have just yarn, they have sumptuous stacks and hooks filled with fabulous fiber. And they’re nice. Oh, and they enjoy selling yarn! But that’s not hard, since most women (and guy-knitters too!) walk in to buy yarn. It’s akin to taking candy from a newborn. I’ve worked in a yarn store…I know this for a fact (large retail smile on my face right now)!
Here’s a photo…this cursed English Mesh Lace stitch has me in a tizzy in some rows, since I want to always put a yarnover after a decrease. It would help if I weren’t watching every FIFA World Cup match and being too into football/futbol/soccer (chose your word there to make yourself feel better) to pay attention to my knitting.
I’m so tired of this happening at the end of dude socks:
“This” being that I run out of yarn as I’m ready to knit the toe of the second sock. This is not the first odd toe that I’ve knit. I only started running out of yarn after the guys I knit for cried out for longer socks! AND I’m even using a yarn that has generous yardage (Cascade Heritage Quatro–437 yards/400 meters, color way: Brown Bear).
So being smarter than the average brown bear, I came up with a pattern that uses different yarns for a short cuff, heel, and toe. I’m calling this free sock pattern Longfellow Socks.
Oh, and I always have my knitting with me, even at (close to) the top of Angels Landing in Zion National Park. I couldn’t justify risking my life and ending my knitting career in order to hold on to chains for the last part of the hike! This park is magnificent! You should come visit!
Happy knitting, wherever you may be! And here’s to longer socks!
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’ll admit it. I’m a stash and project hostage. Through the process of moving I saw my accumulation of yarn. The quantity of that yarn stash was paltry by some standards, but it was just too much. (As I teach my students who are learning English, that word “too” followed by a quantity word is never a good thing, e.g. I ate too much, Its too far away, etc.) I questioned myself: Why do you have so much? What are you missing out on by already having a lot?
By having that stash, I’ve missed out on yarn trends that I really wanted to try. Like knitting something, anything with Kauni Effektgarn, any new lux fiber, something in Spud & Chloe, a little Madelinetosh number, anything and everything! I’ve passed up simply because of all that yarn that used to be in my basement. I mean, how can I justify spending more? I hope you can feel how long this guilt has gone on, I mean, some of this yarn has been out for a decade!
So I gave away and sold lots of that bondage in those cute little fiber balls. I still have 2 smallish tubs full (yes, that kind of full, the kind where you almost have to sit on the box lid!), but it’s still only 2 tubs. In the meantime, I’ll continue to finish and knit, and when I do, I’m going to participate fully in trends and fibers, classes and shops.
Sorry to wax so philosophical here for two posts in a row. Let’s get unserious now. Here are a few UFOs that I’m motivated to finish with accompanying captions below the photo:
Socks for my brother who, strangely, wears out the toes! Just search for my basic ribbed sock pattern.
The knitting is done on this nine patch mitered square blanket, but I have about 5 squares worth of weaving in those darn loose ends!
I don’t want to knit gloves…what was I thinking? Too much fussy-work on the fingers. So I’m making a change to:
MITTENS! Once I decided to change from gloves to mittens, I was suddenly motivated to finish these.
And last, but certainly not least:
Yes, the famous moose hats. It takes about 1.5 hours to duplicate stitch each moose on the hat…x 4 moose = 6 hours just of duplicate stitch! My son better not wash this, or it’s curtains for him!
Now I’ve pared down my UFOs. What about you?
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!
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