Mittenses with Kittenses

Whilst I’ve been a bit of a selfish knitter the past few months, a gift project or two has snuck into my knitting schedule.

I’m particularly happy with this particular gift project, a collaboration with Bells (but of course!) for our buddy Shazmina Bendi, who is currently living in the brrr-chilly UK, and who had to leave her beloved cat, Princess Meena behind in Australia.

Yes, mittenses with kittenses!

Details
Pattern: Cat Mittens by Jorid Linvik. A fab pattern, with lots of pictures and a matching hat as well (which we didn’t knit!). Very easy to follow although I did have to number the chart rows to help me keep track of where I was up to. I did the right mitten and Bells did the left one!

Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug in Salty Dog (blue) and Oyster Blush (browny/grey)- a very nice pairing, if I do say so myself. And we only used, between us, about 30-40g of each colour, so there’s plenty leftover for the matching hat, or another project. I was amazed at how little yarn the mittens used!
Sticks: I really wasn’t sure what size sticks to use, as others on Ravelry who’ve made this pattern with this yarn using sticks ranging from 2.25mm to 3.25mm! So in the end, we opted for 2.75mm. I think if I were to make these again, with a similar yarn, I’d use at least 3mm sticks, as they were quite snug, even on my relatively small hands. Having never made (or worn) mittens before, I’m not sure whether it’s desirable for mittens to be snug or a bit loose etc, so I hope these are practical as well as pretty!
Time: I don’t know why, but fair isle seems to go faster than regular knitting! I did the main part of the mitten in about a week, but then let them sit without a thumb for some time. And boy did I hate knitting the thumb. Don’t know why, as it wasn’t hard, but it was just fiddly. I suspect I won’t be knitting gloves any time soon! 19 October 2009 – 18 November 2009.

Happy Birthday Shazmina!!

Loppem

I finally managed to sew the buttons on Loppem, which I finished about a month ago, and organise husby to do a photo shoot for me. Fortunately it was a nice breezy day so I didn’t feel totally ridiculous and/or hot wearing a worsted weight cardigan/vest thingy in the sun!

Details

Pattern: Loppem, by Norah Gaughan, from her Norah Gaughan Collection volume 3. Lots of errors in the pattern so make sure you print out the errata before you start! But other than that, it’s an easy pattern and knit all in one piece, which, while it seems slow, at least means you have no seaming at the end. And it’s bottom up, so the rows get nice and short towards the end!

Yarn: Naturally Sensation, a wool/angora blend, in the most gorgeous red. Of course, this colour is now discontinued. And only 6 skeins!! I can hardly believe it. I’ve got 2 skeins leftover. And I thought I’d be running close to the wire on the yardage. I wish I’d known, because I would have made it longer. As it was, I made it longer than the pattern specified by nearly 2 inches. If I could do it again, I’d add at least 2 or 3 more inches again to the bottom.

Sticks: 5mm KP Harmony options

Time: 29 September – 15 November 2009

What I learnt: Check the chart when doing cables! I ended up doing an extra cable crossing on one of the cables (but fortunately on both the left and the right side) so I had to make a feature of it – by alternating the actual cable pattern with my modified cable pattern. It worked out fine, I think!

To be perfectly honest, I’m not entirely sure this is the right garment for me. A round yoke with a relatively high neckline does not do wonders for my bust…but I think it’ll be a good layering garment, even if I just wear it around the house! But the colour, oh my I love the colour!

FO Friday: Peapod cardigan

As promised, an actual finished Finished Object! (oh well, except for the buttons … I may end up using these but I think I’ll have a look in the city next week to see if I can find some alternatives – these are a good size, but I think might be too white).

Details

Pattern: Peapod Cardigan by Kate Gilbert – this was an internet only download from the Summer 2006 edition of Interweave Knits – thank goodness I downloaded it when it was available, as IK’s subsequent withdrawal of the pattern from their website caused great uproar on Ravelry. A very easy pattern, with the body all knit in one piece (to the armholes) and the arms separately. I’ve made it in the 3 month size, good for the baby’s first winter.

Yarn: Bella Baby Layette, an 80/20 bamboo/wool blend yarn from the stash (huzzah!). I used 2.5 x 50g balls. The green is slightly too pastelly I think (and doesn’t show up properly in these photos in any event), but this cardigan simply must be made using green yarn, and this is what I had! It’s a bit splitty, the yarn, but feels nice and washes up well. And apparently is machine washable!

Sticks: 3.75mm Addi circulars – I don’t pull out the Addi’s very often, but I was using my 3.75mm KP tips on other things, and I really hate taking them off a project (even though I know that’s what they are meant for!).

Time: 25 August 2009 – 30 October 2009. I started this project when I was in my 9th week – according to a baby growth website, at that time the baby would have been about the size of a peapod. So it was meant to be. Not to mention the leaf pattern – you all know I’m a sucker for a knitted leaf pattern!

FO Friday: Chevron Tote

Ok, well I’m sort of cheating with this one, as it isn’t quite finished…but I need your advice on handles, which we’ll get to shortly… . I had hoped to have it completely done by today but I kept putting off the actual felting part of the project – I was a bit scared about how it would go, since I have a front loader washing machine, which makes the felting that one bit more unpredictable, as it’s harder to check on progress.

Anyhoodle, let’s delay no longer! Here we are pre-felted:

And with small red moleskine knitting diary for scale:

Details
Pattern: Felted Chevron Tote by Leslie Ann Bestor, from Interweave Crochet Winter 2007. A very easy crochet pattern which uses only dc (sc for the Americans) and chain. Big yarn, big hook, a lot of chevroning back and forth, but easy peasy.

Here is post-felting – again with moleskine for scale:

Yarn: Cleckheaton Vintage Hues, shade 1273, 7x50g balls. This is an EXCELLENT yarn for felting (phew!!). Of course, it’s discontinued now … sigh. I’d never knit a garment from it (the colours are too wild!!) but for a felted bag done in chevron stripes, I don’t think you can find a more perfect yarn. I LOVE the way it crocheted up and the way it felted!

Hook: 7mm – lovely carved wooden hook from Lincraft (of all places!). No idea if this gave me gauge as hello! felted bag! gauge not really that relevant. I did start with a 6.5mm hook though, and found that was a bit tight for the yarn, so basically just use the size hook that feels right for the fabric.

Time: 3 June 2009 – probably tomorrow (after your feedback…)

Modifications: I made the initial chevron part about 10cm/4″ longer than the pattern specified (ie 98cm/38.5″ in total) – I didn’t think it would hurt if the bag ended up bigger than the pattern specs, it’s a bag after all! And more size would give me more felting leeway anyway. This also meant the base had to be correspondingly longer, and slightly wider too. I also added a couple of rows of dc around the top to allow for a turned inside hem (as I’m planning to line the bag as well).

Now, for your views. I bought two sets of handles for this bag at the Craft fair in June – I just couldn’t decide which would be best. And I still can’t (although I do have a slight favourite). So can you help me?

Should I have:

A: Cane handles – my aesthetic favourite, although they are a less practical choice than

B: Longer (p)leather handles – the colour match is pretty good and they would be more practical, but … I just don’t think they look as good as A!!

What do you think (and why!)

FO Friday

So I figure to get through this month of blogging every day, I might need some regular posts. So I’ll start with FO Friday. Of course, this means I have to, you know, finish stuff every week … so hopefully that’ll happen too!

Fortunately, for today’s first FO Friday, I have something I whipped up a little earlier (well, ok, I finished it the other day). Just in time for spring’s warmer (ie not sock wearing) weather, I present my favourite ever sock pattern (so nice I’ve made it twice!), the embossed leaves socks!

Details:

Pattern: Embossed Leaves socks by Mona Schmidt, from Interweave Knits Winter 2005 and also Interweave’s Favourite Socks book – buy this book, you won’t regret it!

I am a total sucker for a knitted leaf. Pretty much anything with a knitted leaf on it and I’m there! Not everything mind, but just about! I simply love the ability to create one thing (a leaf) out of something completely different (knitting), and still make a practical, beautiful item (socks!).

Yarn: It was so good the first time, I figured I wouldn’t mess with the recipe. Koigu KPM, 2 skeins of mossy olive green (col 231/0204). Love! I have seen these socks knit in other colours, but because I am literal, I do think they must be knitted in green! (although I do accept another autumnal colour may be appropriate as a second choice!)

Sticks: The cuff is 1×1 twisted rib, which can run a bit tight, so I used 3mm sticks for the cuff, changing to 2.75mm for the main part of the sock. This is probably a bit loose for Koigu, really, but important to ensure fit!

Time: 2 June 2009 – 25 September 2009. To be fair to these socks, they actually are a quick knit. I just had a bit of a break between sock #1 and sock #2 to work on other things.

Modifications/What I learnt: No modifications. I even tried the weird cast on prescribed for the sock, and found it didn’t work – ie I couldn’t get the sock over my ankle. Instead of ripping, I figured I’d try undoing the cast on, and doing a sewn bind off. To my utter surprise, when I undid the first cast on row, I ended up with a tubular cast on edging, which is probably what was intended, but not described properly (in my opinion) in the sock cast on instructions.

(I don’t know why, but my camera ate the colour out of this photo…)

For the second sock, I did a different tubular cast on, and it worked perfectly! A lovely stretchy edge which fits over my ankle easily. Very clever and I will definitely use it again. If I can remember which one it was! (No, I can, it’s the one where you cast on half the number of stitches using waste yarn, then do yo’s between every stitch on the first row with the regular yarn, then do a bunch of rows where you slip every second stitch, you all know the one I mean, right? Right?)

I especially love the toe in this pattern, as the purl stitches and decreases continue the lines of the last set of leaves to finish them in the toe. So clever!

And finishing these socks means that I can get out my, um, MAY personal sock club package…well, what’s a few months between friends?!

Rose Buds

While I’m working up the courage to darn those socks, I thought I’d share a secret project I’ve been working on the past couple of months, which has now been gifted and so can be shared.

Earlier this year I signed up for the Knitting Inspirations sock club – 4 packages of lovely Handmaiden/Fleece Artist sock yarn, with an original pattern and other goodies, spread over 12 months.

When the first package arrived in June, I was so glad I’d signed up – omg the yarn was just so gorgeous, both in colour and composition (the much lauded MCN! Merino Cashmere Nylon…mmmm delicious!) (and not black, this is just a dark photo – a lovely burgundy wine colour). Since Someone Special had a birthday coming up, I knew what I had to do!

Details:

Yarn: Handmaiden Casbah in wine, 1x115g skein. OMG this is gorgeous gorgeous yarn. So soft and lovely to knit with (and I hear, lovely to wear!). And I can tell you, it survives being unknotted in an epic four hour straight detangling session after a disastrous attempt at winding it (the less said about that whole affair the better!)

Pattern: The pattern was designed by Ann Lim, one half of Knitting Inspirations – a lovely easy toe up pattern with an eye of partridge heel flap/gusset. You can continue the rosebud pattern on both sides of the leg once the heel flap is done, but I chose to do the back of the leg in stocking stitch – a bit like a reverse mullet – party in the front, business in the back! Ann has now released the pattern for sale on Ravelry if you’d like to make your very own!

Sticks: 2.5mm KP Options fixed circulars, for magic loop technique – this pattern is perfect for magic looping, as the pattern is symmetrical and easy to divide over two needles.

Time: For various reasons, these were not finished in time for the birthday girl (lucky it was only half the gift!) – started 21 June 2009, finished 21 August 2009.

What I learnt: Be careful when winding – make sure you have separated the strands of the skein correctly before putting it on the swift. And don’t get impatient when you have to wind by hand. And if you do have to detangle, be very patient and have lots of soothing cups of tea and chocolate on hand. Oh, and don’t knit the foot too long or you’ll have to rip it back after you finish the WHOLE heel section and redo it. Le sigh.

But despite these issues (all of my own making!) I think these are a lovely pair of socks.

Happy belated birthday Bells!

See, I can still finish things!

Even amongst all that casting on during the WOW madness, I managed to finish something too.

Of course, it helped that I had a birthday deadline…

Best of all, the 10yo birthday girl loved it! Which was pretty much a gimme, as purple is her favourite colour.

Details

Pattern: Swinging Ribbon Bag (Ravlink) by Candi Jensen from her book Hooked on Crochet. I modified the pattern by doing a single shoulder strap (it was going to be a cross-body strap but I may have run out of time to do that…) and by adding a flap and button closure. And I didn’t sew ribbon around the inside edge or the strap, although I do think that is a lovely finishing touch.

This is a very easy pattern – it’s just dc all the way (sc for our US friends) and the texture is made by doing one dc in the front loop, and the next in the back, and repeat! It’s amazing what a difference this made to the look of the stitch!

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Cathay col 12012, 2.5 x 50g balls – from the stash! Hurrah! And one button – also from stash!

Hook: 4.5mm hook (lucky I wrote this down in my notebook, because I couldn’t for the life of me remember even though I only finished it a couple of weeks ago)

Time: 26 August 2009 – 5 September 2009. Love a lovely quick crochet project!

If you are looking for a crochet book with a variety of patterns, I really recommend Hooked on Crochet. It’s got a great range of things, most of which are relatively easy, including garments, bags, accessories and trims. It’s even got the good old crochet bikini (which, yes, I have made…not for me though!!) In fact, now that I think about it, this is the book I think I’ve made the most patterns from of any of my books, knitting and crochet. It is a US book, so uses the US terminology, but once you are over that small hurdle, it’s easy running (or crocheting) from there. I’d make the crochet skirt pattern from it in a flash…actually, maybe that’s what I should do instead of the entrelac skirt…hmmmm, food for thought!

The Grand Plan

As promised a few days ago, I’ve got a Grand Plan. I shall reveal it shortly, but have to get a few things out of the way first…

1. Keeping Track

Believe it or not, dear readers, this month no new yarn came into my house!! I think that might be a first for the entire period I’ve been Keeping Track!!

And I knitted up 11 x 50g balls so I’ve finally made a very small dent (ok, a minor scratch, or perhaps even a paper cut) in my stash!

I do believe that is cause for celebration!

In: 0 x 50g balls!!

Out: 11 x 50g balls

YTD: 128.5 x 50g balls

2. Gift knitting and a long standing WIP completed!

August was all about the gift knits. I finished 6 gift knits this month, and have almost finished a 7th and started an 8th.

The thing I’m most happy about is that I have finally finished something I think (I can’t even recall for sure) that I started in May 2006 (yep, you heard right, 2006!). Just in time for my niece’s birthday! (She was not even born when I started this. Or even thought about! I can’t remember who I was planning on giving this too when I started it, but it’s sure come in handy this week!)

Details:

Pattern: Demin Pinafore by Erika Knight from Simple Knits for Little Cherubs. The second, and last, time I’ve made this. The main reason it’s hung around unfinished for so long is all the sewing down of the picot edges – ugh! Cute, but ugh! If I was tempted by this pattern again, I think I’d do simple garter edges!!

Yarn: Rowan Denim. Very cool 8ply/dk weight cotton yarn that fades and shrinks like your favourite jeans (well, the shrinkage is only the first time you wash it!). I really like this yarn. It can be a bit tough on the hands, but the finished product is worth it!

Sticks: Um, I think 4mm. I’m not even sure any more!

Time: Sometime in May 2006. Finished August 30 2009. Oh dear!

So a long time WIP finally onto the FO list. In fact, this month I have steady shrank the WIP list. I mean, it’s still a long list, but not nearly as long as before!! A couple more reasons to celebrate!

All these causes for celebration have lead me to this point:

3. The Grand Plan

As a little reward to myself after having such a good month on many fronts, I’ve decided that this first week of September is going to be all about me! And new stuff!

I’m going to cast on a new project every day for the next seven days! A whole week of new projects! And not only that, but they are all going to be done in the Wollmeise! I’ve been so lucky hitting updates lately, and I’ve felt like I can’t start anything new because of the gift knit deadlines and the amount of WIPS, but now I’m throwing caution to the wind!

If anyone wants to join me in The Grand Plan (whether it be Wollmeise or not, it’s really all about the new projects!) then please do! I’d LOVE for others to be as irresponsible as me!

Let the Week of Wollmeise begin!

Thanks Brenda…

This post is brought to you courtesy of Brenda Dayne and her podcast, Cast On. Without her, I would never have created this most gorgeous garment.

I remember listening to episode 71 (I really had to search to find the right one!) walking home from the train after work. It was hot, so must have been in late January or sometime in February. Brenda was talking about this pattern, from Rowan 44, and it sounded fantastic. But I’d gotten my copy of Rowan 44 already and I couldn’t for the life of me remember it. When I got home, I immediately looked it up and wondered to myself how I could have overlooked it!

Well, there were a couple of reasons – the embroidery (which I’m generally not a fan of, on adult knitwear) and the sleeve length. Of course, someone on Ravelry had already solved both of those issues!

(Special thanks also to Bells who was my yarn mule, collecting the yarn for me from Cassidy’s in Canberra, to Margarita, my stylist and photographer and Lee for the lovely location!)

Details

Pattern: Bruegel by Sarah Hatton, from Rowan 44. This is a gorgeous magazine, it’s Rowan’s 30th anniversary edition, and even if you never knit from it, it’s great eye candy! I do plan at least one more garment from it – a 4ply/fingering weight cardigan! Will be waiting a little while for that one! As for the pattern itself, it is excellent. Easy to follow, gorgeous cabling, and a new-to-me technique, smocked ribbing (which is a bit of a pain in the butt to do, but it is SO EFFECTIVE! I love it!).

I also love the collar and the edging on the collar/front pieces – 5 stitches of reverse stocking stitch – which of course curl, to give the appearance of a straight edge – it’s hard to describe but is a very neat solution to the stocking stitch curl problem without being clunky like a garter or moss/seed stitch edging can be.

Yarn: Rowan Kid Classic – the called-for yarn for the pattern. I cannot recommend this yarn highly enough. It’s a 70/26/4 lambswool/kid mohair/nylon blend, aran/10ply weight, and as light as a feather! Creates a beautiful fabric, warm without being heavy, with a light halo and beautiful stitch definition. Oh, and great yardage for an aran weight – 140m/153yds per 50g. I would absolutely use this yarn again. Oh, and I used just under 10 balls for the cardigan – slightly more than the pattern called for, due to my modifications.

Sticks: 4.5mm for the ribbed smocking, 5mm for everything else. I used KP Options (mostly because I thought metal sticks would be far easier to see with the dark yarn!).

What I learned: Smocked ribbing – basically you knit the ribbing (2x2x2 knit/purl/knit) onto a cable needle or dpn, wrap the yarn around the stitches on the cable needle/dpn twice, then slip the stitches on your right needle. It’s fiddly, but very cool! Also, when seaming the smocked ribbing, you can smock the edge ribs from each side edge as you seam, making it appear truly seamless. The pattern doesn’t give any instructions on this seaming detail, so I felt pretty darn clever that I worked it out myself!

Oh, and as you already know, I learnt it’s important to count correctly when splitting off the collar stitches from the front piece. Sigh…what was that about feeling clever…

Modifications: I omitted the embroidery – for me, the garment has enough lovely features without adding more. And I also omitted the sleeve turn up – in the original pattern, the sleeves end around the elbow, and the smocked ribbing part is turned up. It didn’t make sense to me to have an aran weight cardigan with elbow length sleeves, with double thickness around the arm, so I made the stocking stitch portion of the sleeves longer, and I did the smocking on the right side of the sleeve, rather than the wrong side (as you would if you were turning it up).

I’m much happier with this style of sleeve, which is about bracelet length!

Time: As my Tour de France 2009 project – I did all the knitting (well, except the reknitting of the right collar/top of front) during the tour – 4 July – 25 July – but then didn’t actually seam it until this week – so finished 25 August 2009.

I just love it! Now if only it would get cold enough again for me to wear it this year!

Three more off the list…

Three more of this month’s knitted gifts were presented over the course of last week, so can now make their debut here.

First up:

Pattern: Turn a Square beanie by Jared Flood. Very easy pattern (and free!) and very effective!

Yarn: 1 x 50g ball Noro Silk Garden col 47 and 1 x 50g skein of Naturally Harmony 10ply in col 804. The Naturally Harmony is the perfect yarn to match with the Noro SG – the colour matched well (in fact, it’s almost the exact same shade of grey used in the Noro) and the perfect texture. And it’s lovely to knit with! The 2 balls of yarn were enough for both hats, if you swap the main colour and contrast colour for the second one.

(see, you can hardly even see the first two Noro stripes because of the matching greys!!)

Sticks: 4mm KP fixed circulars for the ribbing, 4.5mm KP fixed circs and then bamboo dpns for the body of the hat.

What I learned: Jogless stripes! Finally! I’ve tried the technique which has you pick up the stitch from the row below and knit with the new colour but it’s never worked for me. But the summer IK had a nice tutorial article on jogless stripe methods – I used the slip stitch method (you slip the first stitch in the new colour on the next row). It does pull slightly, as you are slipping the same stitch all the way up (but not on every row) but it works out fine for this width of stripes.

Time: I did both hats in 4 days! 6 August 2009 – 9 August 2009. Love an easy, effective, stocking stitch pattern!

The mainly grey hat was given to a friend for his 40th birthday and the mainly Noro hat was for my brother’s 50th birthday.

Next:

Pattern: No, not a weird octopussy thing, but Jonna by Norah Gaughan, from Norah Gaughan book 1. Any easy ribbed scarf with a modern twist – pointed rather than flat short ends, and balls (or bubbles as NG calls them!) instead of pompoms or fringing. I thought this would be a good option for a just turned 40yo friend (yes, the wife of the grey hat recipient!!)

Yarn: Lovely Sublime Cashmere Merino Silk dk, 4 x 50g balls in colour 0007. I actually meant to buy this yarn but in aran weight but somehow didn’t…not that it really made a difference. It’s such a lovely yarn to knit with, and (I hope) to wear. A real pleasure to knit. It did grow a lot on blocking (full wet block) – the scarf grew from about 190cm to about 225cm, so it ended up a little longer than I’d anticipated, but I think it works well – with the balls, I don’t think you want the scarf to be too short.

(thanks to husby for his excellent modelling!)

Sticks: 4.5mm rosewood straights. I don’t bring out the straight sticks very much, but when the yarn is this nice, and it’s a narrowish scarf, it was the right time. Lovely sticks. I used 4.5mm bamboo dpns for the balls, which in the pattern are somewhat bizarrely are knit flat and seamed. Pah to that, I say. I knit them in the round. Yes, it was slightly fiddly doing the decreases down to i-cord, but worth it to avoid the seaming!

Time: 15 July – 21 August 2009. I gave myself plenty of time to knit this one!

Three more gift knits down, only a couple more to go, and then my big reward – I have a grand plan, which I’ll tell you more about later!