Category: My Knitting Designs

A look at each of my designs from start to finish.

Little to Show For

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I’ve been knitting several hours every day. Yet, I feel like I am not making any progress on my Big Dipper Scarf. I am convinced that after I knit several rows someone comes behind me and rips out the very same rows. It’s downright wicked behavior. If I catch who’s doing it, I’m going to draw and quarter them!


So, I need some quilting advice.

I was so proud of myself for attaching the binding fabric.

OK, I’ll admit it: I cheated. I went to Wal-mart and bought the pre-made quilting binding strips. It matched my quilt fabric perfectly and it saved me from having to make binding strips. I was sold! I attached it the same way I would have it the strips were home-made. I left the binding folded in half, lined up the open ends with the quilt edge and stitched with a 1/4 seam.

What is the problem you ask? Well, as you can see there is not enough fabric to wrap over the 1/4 seam and attach to the back. I don’t know what to do. Do I rip it all out? What is the proper way to attach it?

Onto the good news of the day:

  • I sold my 1st pattern on The Knitting Vault.

  • I am now listed as a designer on Ravelry. I have only added information on my Lucky Drawstring Purse and my Vase Cozy. I hope to add more patterns next week.

  • My entire weekend is going to be spent watching baseball. I am attending the Phillies games on both Saturday and Sunday.

  • Naturally Spun sent me a picture of the Christmas Yarn. You see it here laid out to dry. The dye has set and it will be ready to spin soon. The amazing part of the spinning process is that she will be doing all of it on a drop spindle! I told her that she had the patience of a saint.

Pretty Yarn Pictures

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Tracie had wished me lots of yarn for my birthday. Her dedication of then calling my MIL to have her send the wished yarn is really touching. How else do you explain the box I yarn I opened yesterday from my MIL?

Can you tell what yarn it is?

I think a closer pic is in order.

5 skeins of Manos del Uruguay! Woo!

Included with the yarn were 2 books from Jil Eaton. After a year of Hubby insisting that I could NOT under any circumstances dress Jake in clothes, he’s starting to cave. He saw the pic of the Cabled Sweater design in Jil’s Top Dog Knits and thought it would be a fun way to showcase one of my cable designs. I can’t wait to complete the 4 projects that are on the needles now so I can start on Jake’s 1st sweater. 1st of many, if I get my way! And about that 4th project, I can’t wait to tell you about it.

To recap:
Project #1: Mystery Project
Project #2: Big Dipper Scarf
Project #3: AWHF Shawl

So, what is Project #4? …………………………………. A Christmas Tree Skirt!

3 types of yarn will be used in the skirt:

  • 100% wool in plain white
  • SinFlex by London Yarns in Partita (sparkly green)
  • Hand-dyed & Hand-spun natural fibers from Naturally Spun

Here is a pic of the recently dyed yarn. Isn’t it lovely?

For more pictures and an explanation of the dyeing procedure, please visit Naturally Spun’s Blog.

I’ll post more pictures of Naturally Spun’s yarn once she starts spinning it.

In Search for Needles

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There are no yarn stores in Pottstown. So, when I have a needle crisis, I have to hope that Michael’s or Walmart or JoAnn’s stores carry the size I need. You might think that I would never have a needle crisis. When I first learned how to knit, both my mother-in-law and my aunt gifted to me almost their entire needle collections. I have double pointed needles in sizes 0 to 6 plus a few more in larger sizes. I have a slew of stright needles ranging in sizes from 0 to 15 in both 10 and 14 inch lengths. Then, there is the assortment of circular needles in my favorite sizes. Of course, I have duplicates. I even bought myself an interchangable circular needle kit from Michael’s a few years ago so I would never have to buy needles again. So, yes, I have needles.

I started my AWFH shawl on straight 10-inch needles in size 1. During the Cooperstown trip, I graduated to stright 14-inch needles. By the end of the trip, it was getting difficult to crowd all the stitches onto the needles. So, when we got back home, I went searching for a cirular needle in size 1. I checked my interchangeable kit first only to realize that the smallest needle in the kit is a 2. I dug through the rest of my stash. I have circular needles in size 0 and size 2, but no 1. Surely, I missed it. I dug through my stash again only to come up empty. I went to the three stores listed above. Despite the sock knitting craze, none of the stores carried circular needles below a size 3. Thankfully, Ewe and I came to the rescue!

Not only did Ewe and I have circular needles in size 1, but they had them in 4 different sizes. What a great selection! I picked up the longest size they had, 40 inches. Here is my shawl on the new needles with much room to grow upon.

And because I am human and have no will power when confronted with skeins and skeins of beautiful yarn, I came home with a little something extra.

Claudia
Hand Painted Yarns by Claudia & Co.
Boucle in 78% Mohair, 13% Wool, and 9% Nylon
Color is Red Wagon
200 grams = 432 yards

I plan to pair this yarn with the yellow and orange yarn I have in my stash. Though truth be told, I have no idea what the end product is going to be. I’ll whip up some swatches and see if the yarn can’t talk.

Knitting on the way to Cooperstown

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Yesterday, I was giddy to tell you about my vacation to Cooperstown. What I failed to mention is all the knitting I got done in the car.

The AWHF Shawl is approximately 25% completed!

The pattern is easy to memorize, making it a great portable project. The only trouble is every 4-6 rows you have to stop and slide the beads further down the cone. If it hadn’t been for this mind-numbing yet necessary step, I would have completed twice as much. C’est la vie.

A closer pic:

Quilt Progress and Vase Cozie backwards progress

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Saturday, I spent the afternoon finishing up the Vase Cozie I am making for the EtsyFAST’s July Challenge. Then, not only did I manage to seam the cozie together inside out, but I also realized that I made it several inches too short. So, I’m back to the halfway point. It seems as if I didn’t accomplish anything. Although, I have learned another valuable lesson: it takes more yardage to cover curved areas when making a snug cozie. So, don’t look for the cozie in my Etsy store today. It’s not there. It’s still on the needles.

Saturday night, I went with my husband to see a live MMA show by BoDog fight in Trenton, New Jersey. No, he didn’t drag me to see it. I really like to watch the shows with him (so long as there isn’t any blood involved). We watch, UFC, BoDog, and IFC at home all the time. This was our first time watching a live show. The fight card listed 9 fights. There ended up being 10 fights. Some were amazing, such as the Women’s Title and the Lightweight fight of Masvidal vs. Edwards. Masvidal ended up spraining/breaking (?) his ankle in an amazing kick to Edward’s head – dropping Edward’s to the ground. Which leads me to my 1st of 2 complaints: no instant replay. The 2nd complaint: it was way too long of a show. We got there at 7:30 pm and didn’t leave until 1:30 am.

I woke up normal time on Sunday, since Jake won’t let me sleep in. He has tags on his collar that jingle. So, the trick is to walk heavily on his feet, jingling his tags, until somebody gets up – normally me. He’s lucky he’s so cute!

Sunday I spent the afternoon quilting. Here is what I accomplished:

Lots of ironing! Plus, the 28 blocks are halfway completed. The squares are just as they look – awfully small at only 1 inch. It has made piecing them together a bit of a pain, but the sewing goes quicker. Once the blocks are completely done, I’ll move onto the triangles. I’m only slightly nervous about that step.

More knitting news: I cast on for the mystery project and for the AWHF Shawl. I am nervous about my measurements for the mystery project. I measured the gauge several times before ripping it out to get the estimate yardage needed for the whole project. I am now having a anxiety attack about the gauge. I think I am going to knit the gauge back up, wash it, and block it just so I can double check my measurements. The last thing I want to do is knit the whole project only to realize that my measurements were off ever so slightly. The shawl is going much better. I’ll post a picture later this week of my progress.

Happy Knitting, All!

Stringing Beads and EtsyFAST July Challenge

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I don’t know how many beads I strung last night, but here’s hoping I strung enough. I don’t think I realized how tedious a simple, little task could be. I even tried to bribe my husband into it. He just laughed at my pain. Although in his defense, he did bring me a glass of port.

The good news: I am ready to cast on and begin the Alpacas at White Horse Farm shawl. I suppose it was worth it. Well, two hours of stringing beads does seem a steep toll, but the memory is already fading as I write this. Why I might even trick myself and become excited the next time I have to string beads, assuming that I don’t try it for another year.

Once I had all the beading I could take, which in fact ended sooner than it ought to have with the alpaca wool objecting & snapping to the strain of so many beads being yanked onto it, I started the EtsyFAST’s July Challenge. This month the challenge allows much more artistic freedom than last month’s challenge (Create an ACEO). The only guildelines are for EtsyFAST members to submit merchandise with a Flower & Garden theme. I decided to make a vase cozie.

It is halfway completed. I will be submitting both the finished product and the knitting pattern via my Etsy store. Although I haven’t finished writing up the pattern (much is being written as I knit – my favorite way to design), I am fairly confident that the pattern’s recommended skill level will be at Easy. The technique used to knit the cozie, woven ribbing, and the shaping required for it to fit the vase snugly will keep it from being at the beginner’s level. I hope to have everything completed by Monday of next week.

Revision to AWHF Shawl

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What a difference one stitch makes in a design.

I altered all the Yarn Overs in the Alpacas at White Horse Farm shawl to Double Yarn Overs.

Original Design:

Altered design with the Double Yarn Overs (minus the beadwork):

Note that the new version was done in a darker yarn. I didn’t want to waste anymore of the alpaca wool that will be used to knit the shawl.

You’ll have to use your imagination, but suppose the original version has the lace work of the new version. Would it look better?

Alpacas at White Horse Farm Shawl Idea #1

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Remember how excited I was about the Barbie shawl? The Barbie shawl was going to be knit up into an adult version, right?

Wrong. It’s been frogged. It was miserable to knit. It was difficult to keep track of where I was. I couldn’t imagine trying to write a pattern for it. The chart would have been hundreds of lines long with changes on every line. So I made an executive decision and into the frog pile it went.

Onto hopefully better ideas.

Here are pictures of my latest shawl design. This will not end up in the frog pile for complexity, that’s for sure. It may find its way there for a million other reasons, but not that.

Pros of this shawl:

  • Easy pattern: only 2 stitch patterns to learn
  • Repeating pattern: just add more ‘v’ sections as the shawl gets wider
  • Quick to knit
  • Simple, yet elegant: can go from the office to the local tavern
  • Uses beads

Cons of this shawl:

  • Design may be too easy, which in effect may render it boring
  • Not your typical, fancy shawl … again, the word boring comes to mind
  • Uses beads (some people aren’t comfortable using beads in their knitting)

So what is the verdict?

Off to the frog pile or into my list of KIP (Knits in Progress)s?

What do you think? Constructive criticism wanted!

Progress Made on List of KIPs

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My Current List of KIPs (Knits in Progress):
  1. Alpaca Shawl
  2. Purse for CAL-KAL
  3. 6th Block in Ode to Quilting afghan
  4. Mystery project submitted to Knitter’s magazine
  5. EtsyFAST’s July Challenge

Guess which one I worked on over the weekend.

None of the above.

Instead, I started a new project!

I couldn’t resist the new yarn I got in my Stitch n Pitch grab bag. The Frizzato yarn looked so lovely and so lonely sitting in the basket next to my knitting chair. It whispered in my ear that it wanted to be made into a scarf. I listed all the projects I had to finish, but it didn’t care, persisting that it had to be knit into a scarf now … in the middle of summer. I caved to its sweet talking.

I am glad that I did. Frizzato was right. It does look good as a scarf. You see it here paired up with Reynold’s Blossom yarn in white.

It wasn’t my intention to give it a patriotic flair. It just turned out that way. But, it seems right with July 4th right around the corner.

Angled Nesting Squares Block, 5th in Ode to Quilting series

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The 5th block in the Ode to Quilting afghan:

This block is very similar to the “Nesting Squares Block”. The only difference is that I made fewer squares (only 2) and turned the squares at a 90 degree angle. To make the block a 12″ square again, I knit 4 right-sided triangles.

Pattern for Angled Nesting Squares Block:

Recommended Knitting skill level: Easy

Yarn: Lion’s Wool by Lion Brand or substitute any wool yarn from your stash that meets the below gauge specifications.
1. Color A = Rose
2. Color B = Autumn Sunset, divided into 2 balls
3. Color C = Sage

Needles: Lion’s Wool recommends size 8 (I used size 5)

Gauge: 4 stitches and 6 rows is 1 inch in Stocking Stitch

Stocking Stitch Pattern: Knit all stitches on the RS; Purl all stitches on the WS

Knitting Instructions:
In Color A, cast on 19 sts.
Row 1 (RS): K3, (P1, K1) 6 times, P1, K3.
Row 2 (WS) and all even rows: Knit the K stitches and Purl the P stitches.
Row 3: K4, (P1, K1) 5 times, P1, K4.
Row 5: K5, (P1, K1) 4 times, P1, K5.
Row 7: K6, (P1, K1) 3 times, P1, K6.
Row 9: K7, (P1, K1) 2 times, P1, K7.
Row 11: K8, P1, K1, P1, K8.
Row 13: K9, P1, K9.
Row 15: Repeat row 11.
Row 17: Repeat row 9.
Row 19: Repeat row 7.
Row 21: Repeat row 5.
Row 23: Repeat row 3.
Row 25: Repeat row 1.
Row 27: Bind off.

In Color B, cast on 36 sts. Work in stocking stitch for 14 rows. Row 15 (RS): K10. Join new ball of yarn. Holding both strands of yarn (from the new and old balls), K1. With the strand from the new ball of yarn, bind off 14 sts. K11. Working both sides at once, continue in stocking stitch until 40 rows have been completed since the beginning. Row 41 (RS): K11. Cast on 14 sts at beginning of left-hand side of block. Holding both strands of yarn together, K the 1st of the cast-on sts. Switch to only one strand of yarn, K the remaining cast-on stitches. K11. Work in stocking stitch for 13 more rows (54 rows since beginning). Bind off all sts.

In Color C, make two triangles.
Triangles: Cast on 26 stitches. Knit three rows in stocking stitch.
Row 4(WS): P3tog, Purl to end.
Knit two more rows in stocking stitch.
Row 7(RS): K5, P12, K4, SK2P.
Row 8: Knit the K stitches and Purl the P stitches.
Row 9: K5, P11, K6.
Row 10: P3tog, P4, K10, P5.
Row 11: K5, P10, K5.
Row 12: P6, K9, P5.
Row 13: K5, P8, K4, SK2P.
Row 14: P5, K8, P5.
Row 15: K5, P7, K6.
Row 16: P3tog, P4, K6, P5.
Row 17: K5, P6, K5.
Row 18: P6, K5, P5.
Row 19: K5, P4, K4, SK2P.
Row 20: P5, K4, P5.
Row 21: K5, P3, K6.
Row 22: P3tog, P4, K2, P5.
Row 23: K5, P2, K5.
Row 24: P6, K1, P5.
Row 25: K9, SK2P.
Row 26-27: StSt the 10 stitches.
Row 28: P3tog, P to end.
Row 29-30: StSt the 8 stitches.
Row 31: K5, SK2P.
Row 32-33: StSt the 6 stitches.
Row 34: P3tog, P to end.
Row 35-36: StSt the 4 stitches.
Bind off.

In Color C, make two mirror-image triangles.
Mirror Image: Cast on 26 stitches. Knit three rows in stocking stitch.
Row 4(WS): P23, P3tog.
Knit two more rows in stocking stitch.
Row 7: K3tog, K4, P12, K5.
Row 8: Knit the K stitches and Purl the P stitches.
Row 9: K6, P11, K5.
Row 10: P5, K10, P4, P3tog.
Row 11: K5, P10, K5.
Row 12: P5, K9, P6.
Row 13: K3tog, K4, P8, K5.
Row 14: P5, K8, P5.
Row 15: K6, P7, K5.
Row 16: P5, K6, P4, P3tog.
Row 17: K5, P6, K5.
Row 18: P5, K5, P6.
Row 19: K3tog, K4, P4, K5.
Row 20: P5, K4, P5.
Row 21: K6, P3, K5.
Row 22: P5, K2, P4, P3tog.
Row 23: K5, P2, K5.
Row 24: P5, K1, P6.
Row 25: K3tog, K to end.
Row 26-27: StSt the 10 sts.
Row 28: P7, P3tog.
Row 29-30: StSt the 8 sts.
Row 31: K3tog, K to end.
Row 32-33: StSt the 6 sts.
Row 34: P3, P3tog.
Row 35-36: StSt the 4 sts.
Bind off.

Abbreviations:
P3tog: Purl 3 stitches together
SK2P: Slide 1 stitch. K2 together. Pass slipped stitch over K2tog stitch.
K2tog: Knit 2 stitches together.
K3tog: Knit 3 stitches together.
StSt: Knit in Stocking Stitch pattern

Finishing Instructions:
Place the Color A square inside the Color B square. Using safety pins, match the corners of the Color A square with the inside corners of the Color B square. Starting on the right side and using the mattress stitch, weave the two sides together. Next, weave the top of the A square to the cast-on row of the B square. Continue around in this fashion until the entire A square is weaved together with the B square.

Turn the AB square 90 degrees. Place the triangles on each side of the AB square. Be sure that the triangles are situated so that the stocking stitch runs parallel to the outside of the block. In other words, your block should look similar to the picture on the left.

Use safety pins to hold the triangles in place while you seam the them to the AB square.

Finally, seams the points of the triangles together.

Weave in any loose ends.