pro·duc·tion  | prō’ dƏk shƏn |  the action of making or manufacturing from components or raw materials

With Christmas nearing, I feel as though I am in knitting production mode!  I always seem to decide very late in the game what I would like to knit for Christmas gifts.  I really have to work on the whole "planning ahead" thing when it comes to my knitting!

I may not have posted much in the last 6 weeks, but I have been busy.  I have knitted:

A sweater for Anthony (larger size than shown here!)

A sweater for Jacob

(He likes cardigans.)

4 pairs of slippers (2 more to go)

2 ascots

(I haven't taken a picture of mine,

but this is what they look like)

I'm working on an evening bag right now out of pretty sparkly yarn that uses a clasped purse frame at the top.  The knitting part was easy.  Making a lining and figuring out how to attach it to the frame is proving to be a bit of a challenge.  The pattern instructions were oh-so-helpful:  "Trace knitted bag to make a lining pattern.  Sew lining.  Sew knitted bag onto lining.  Attach to purse frame."  I have a feeling this will take a few attempts!  Finding the purse frame proved to be quite the challenge and after a couple of weeks of searching and calling, I ended up ordering from an online craft outlet that carries purse fittings.  It came directly from China -- oddly enough in about 5 days form ordering!

I have a few other things in the works, but can't divulge them just yet.  The recipients may read this!!

Less The Life-Size

 min i a ture    | ˈmi-nē-ə-ˌchu̇r, |  n.   a replica of something of a much smaller size than normal.

Every year I give a Christmas ornament to my grandsons.  This started years ago with my nieces and nephews, so it only seemed natural that I should do this for my grandchildren, too.  I can't believe I must admit this, but I have NEVER given a knitted ornament that I made!  Well, I've corrected that this year.  I've been knitting ...

  Mini Christmas Stocking Ornaments

(click to go to a printable pattern)

They are fast (it takes me about an hour and half, start to finish) and fun and cute!  And, especially for my Minnesota sister who hates knitting in the round on dpns, these socks are knitted flat with a seam along the bottom of the foot and back of the cuff.   The possibilities for variation are endless -- incorporate Fair Isle or intarsia patterns, use interesting pattern stitches or stripes.  You can even vary the size simply by changing the yarn and needles.

The base pattern uses a lightweight (weight 3) yarn and US size 4 needles.  The finished sock is about 5" long.

I also did a few smaller stockings using sock yarn with US size 2 and 3 needles.  

I plan to "fill" the stockings with a small toy or a candy cane.  

Working in the miniature inspired me to try something else in a small scale.  This was fun, but ... seriously ... winding tiny balls of yarn is HARD -- not to mention knitting on toothpicks! 

Have some fun trying to work in the miniature.  -K

access |ˈakˌses|  n.  the action or process of obtaining or retrieving information stored in a computer's memory.




I've been doing some upgrades, fixes and changes to this blog -- mostly "behind the scenes" kind of stuff.   I found out my blog has been getting a lot of "hits" from Ravelry.  And with those hits come comments.  A consistent comment has been a request to have the patterns in a printable document format.

After consideration of a number of ways to achieve this, I've settled on using Google Documents.  The slow process of converting the patterns to Google Docs has begun.  As they are done, I'm inserting a connecting link and taking out the text of the pattern.  This will save a lot of space, while making it easier for anyone to print out the patterns.

I hope to have the rest of the patterns converted over the next few weeks.

Re-calculating

cal·cu·late | kal’ kye lāt |     v.   1. To ascertain by computation; reckon:  2. To make an estimate of; evaluate:  3. To make for a deliberate purpose; design:

Summer is over and with the return of fall, I return to my knitting.  I always think I'll knit just as much through the summer, but that never actually happens.  Gardening and baseball and barbeques all distract me. 

One thing I did do, however, was to revise my pattern for the Toddler Neck-Down Pullover .  It came to my attention that my numbers didn't add up right.  I re-calculated and revised the numbers; then I added instructions for two more sizes.  The pattern now ranges from 12 months to 5T.  I have knitted each of the new sizes (4T and 5T) to test them and they fit accurately.

So to end my summer sabbatical from blogging, I offer the new and improved pattern!

TODDLER NECK-DOWN PULLOVER

(click to link to the pattern in a printable Google Doc.)

It's all in how you build it ...

construction |kənˈstrək sh ən|  n.  the style or method used in the building of something


  I've been on the lookout for years for the perfect slipper pattern.  I'm not picky.  Okay, maybe I am.
      
The perfect slipper is knit with bulky yarn so it's nice and cushy on my feet.  The perfect slipper comes up to my ankle, but isn't a "boot" style.  The perfect slipper has a bit of style ... you know ... something a little distinctive.


By  pure chance I think I've finally found it!  On her last visit here, I was showing my mom all the things you can find on Ravelry.com.  As an example of how to search for patterns I used the word "slippers" in the search box and we started scrolling through results.  The Norwegian House Slipper just jumped out at me.  There were a number of patterns for this type of slipper so I chose one and downloaded it.


Incredibly fast and simple to knit, I thought "Wow ... this could be it!"  Then I tried to follow the instructions for sewing it together.  "Oh No!  Not so easy!"  With mom reading step-by-step instructions while I sewed, we managed to get the slipper completed.  I slipped it on and fell in love with its fit immediately!


Over the next few weeks I investigated some of the other patterns with alternate construction methods.  Between them all, I more or less figured out my own method of sewing the slippers together.  I've already completed 5 pairs.  This may be my new 'inbetween-projects' project!  Aren't these cute?

So I offer my version of 

The Norwegian House Slipper  

(Click to go to the printable pattern in a Google Doc.)

Building Blocks

blocking  |’bläki ng |  n.  a finishing process in which knitted fabric is moistened (either by water or steam), then shaped to final measurements. Blocking ensures even stitches and helps to flatten out any curled edges.



I've come to the conclusion that the most successful completion of a knitted piece is entirely dependant on how you do the finishing steps.  The finishing steps have to include blocking.  Case in point:  I had decided to knit this sweater using my hand-dyed wool -- with some variations, but still the basic sweater.   

If you look closely you can see it was poorly finished -- ripples and pulling at the edges.  But I thought the basic pattern had some merit.  I used a variation on traditional ribbing and decided to knit the front ribbed bands right as part of the body -- vertical ribbing instead of horizontal.  I also "boxed" out the body a bit because I was aiming for a 'swing jacket' look.  I eliminated the second band of ribbing on the sleeves (I thought that made it look dated) and lengthened the sleeves a bit.  And last, I decided against 3 big buttons and did a double button band. 

But the most important thing I did was carefully block all of the pieces before sewing them together -- no rippled sleeves or edges for this project!  My blocking board is actually just a cardboard cutting board that I covered in clear Contact Paper.  Because it has a 1-inch grid all over I can block the pieces to the exact sizes needed.  So I can make sure that both sleeves are the same, both fronts are the same, etc.  To block my knitting I submerse the pieces in water, then gently roll them in a towel to remove the excess water.  Next I simply pin them to my blocking board (using lots and lots of pins to avoid stretching edges) and leave it for a few days to dry.  The result is flat, even knitted pieces that are easy to sew together.

At the end of the day, I'm very happy with my hand-dyed wool swing jacket.  I started with this:

And I ended up with this:

I'm happy and I have a nice spring/summer sweater.

spring   |spri ng |  v.  originate or arise from;  n.  the season after winter and before summer.

I realize that summer is a mere 5 days away, but given our cool wet weather, I think we'll be in "spring" for a while yet.  The thing about spring rain is that it makes eveything fresh and clean.  And after the brown of winter it's a welcome change.  Maybe that's why we "spring clean" and purge after the build-up of the winter.

Speaking of spring cleaning and purging, I am confronted with a dilemna.   I was looking in my yarn stash the other day and realized that my stash is rather large.  Realistically, I should not need to purchase yarn for at least two years ... like that will happen!  So, I thought perhaps it is time for a "purge" of my stash.  This is just a glimpse of my stash:

I will admit (with some embarrassment) that there is also a LARGE rubbermaid tub full of yarn from The Craft Shoppe and another box full of Phentex and the bag full of white worsted weight yarn and ... well ... you get the picture. 

My favorite local quilt shop holds a fabric and craft supply stash sale every year over the Canada Day weekend.  You bag up  fabric and yarn and drop it off for a one-day sale.  The proceeds from the stash sale all go to a local women's shelter.  Since this is a good cause I thought maybe I should purge and bag up some yarn to donate to the sale. 

That brought up a whole new issue:  how do I decide what to cull form my stash?  The thing about yarn is that even small or single balls are useful.  What do I do?  Maybe if any of you are needing some yarn for your stash you could let me know, then it would be your problem!  I'm open to suggestions.  For now, I'll just keep knitting.... 

 

What colour is your yarn?

dye |dī|  n.  a natural or synthetic substance used to add a color to or change the color of something.  v. ( dyed, dyeing ):  add a color to or change the color of (something) by soaking it in a solution impregnated with a dye 

Hand-dyed yarn is gorgeous.  It has so many layers and subtle nuances of colour.  And it's remarkably easy to do, so while my mother was here visiting, I decided we should dye some wool. 

It was a 3-day process but definitely fun to watch the wool transform into colourful balls.  And, as I mentioned in an earlier blog, the yarn winder is too much fun.  My mom loved using it and I think a yarn winder might find its way into her crafting cupboard! 

Do You Believe in Magic?

magic  |'ma-jik|  n.  mysterious trick or quality that makes somthing seem removed from everyday life, esp in a way that gives delight.

My last post with the pattern for a Baby Cocoon brought up a question from my Minnesota sister:  "I don't like to knit with double-pointed needles.  Could this be knitted flat, then joined with a seam?"  I replied, "Of course!  Just be aware that the seam will run down the front of the project."


That got me thinking about the number of great ... and wonderfully seamless ... patterns she's missing out on.  I 've knit "in the round" using  circular needles, double-point needles, 2 circular needles at the same time,  AND using the Magic Loop method.  Given that it is by far the easiest method of knitting small circles on 2 needles, I thought I would share a video that clearly demonstrates the Magic Loop method.  I don't mind knitting with double-points, but sometimes this is just so much easier and faster.



I hope this opens up a whole new array of patterns for those who have an aversion to knitting with double-points! 

Challenge:  cast on 30 stitches and knit a 4-inch tube using the Magic Loop method.

Keep your needles clicking and clacking!

Snug as a bug ...

co - coon  |ke 'koon| n.  something that envelops or surrounds, esp. in a protective or comforting way.

While searching around for something to knit for the new grandson, I came across patterns for "Pea Pods" -- knit sacks to cuddle your newborn baby in.  I loved the concept so embarked on trying out one of the patterns.  I quickly decided the first pattern would not be as "cozy" as I thought.  So I tried another pattern.  This time it was apparent this was really designed for preemies.  Not what I needed!

What to do?  Design one myself!  It took a few tries and some jigging here and there, but I came up with a very quick, very cozy, very easy pattern.  Here it is:

Quick & Cozy Baby Cocoon

(click to go to the printable pattern in a Google Doc.)

Happy baby gift knitting!

Get a clew

clew |kloō|.  noun.   a ball of yarn
skein |skān|.  noun.  a length of thread or yarn, loosely coiled


Have I mentioned how much I like my yarn winder?  I love the way it makes a "clew" of yarn that has a flat bottom and top so it doesn't roll away.  And because it makes centre-pull balls I don't have to go fishing around to find that hidden inside end to start the project with.  It almost makes me want to rewind every skein of yarn into a clew before using it ...


So next time someone tells you to "get a clue"  why not go yarn shopping.

Knitosis

knitosis:  [nit - o`- sis]  n. a condition that causes knitting enthusiasts to begin planning a new project before completing the work in progress.


I suffer from knitosis.  My sweater is almost completed.  I have half of the second sleeve to knit, the collar to knit and sewing the pieces together.  As my needles click and clack my mind wanders to what I'll do next.  Not surprisingly,  my brain is swimming in ideas.  With a new baby soon to make an appearance, I can't help  but have itchy fingers for knitting baby items.  


I recently found a "snugly" pattern for babies.  Basically it's a sack to slip the baby into to keep them warm.  It's such a basic pattern that it lends itself to all kinds of variation.  The body of the sack is done in stockinette stitch ... but it could easily be done in any number of stitch patterns .. and I have a book called  The Knitting Stitch Bible ... and I have already marked three stitch patterns that would work nicely ... and ....  Oh, how I wish I knew if this was a girl or a boy so I could contemplate colours, too.  


I've also found a cute little dress pattern that would be FUN to knit, but I think Lin is destined to birth to boys.  Admittedly her boys are adorable and another one would be just fine.  So, if boys are the norm, I have a nice pattern for a knitted sleeper.  I made one for Anthony and after Anthony and Jacob it's looking a bit worse for wear.  (I made it in white.  Oops!)  Maybe I should knit a new sleeper.


Oh ... so many ideas ... so little time.  Literally.  The baby is due in only 5 weeks, so I'll have to get going soon.  


Re: knitosis,  to quote Christoper Walken:  I got a fever.  And the only prescription is more [yarn!!].

Ribbit, Ribbit ...

... that's what a frog says, right?  Well, in the knitting world, frogs say "rip it, rip it." And that's the reason knitters use the term "frogging" as they merrily unravel their hours worth of knitting. Okay, it's not always a particularly fun thing to do but we've all done it at some time. 

I recently posted on my Facebook a status report that said:  "What to do ... what to do ... the yarn in real life does NOT look as nice as the picture on the pattern. Do I abandon the project to choose new yarn?"  And resounding comments were "new yarn".

This is what I'm making:

I thought the colours were fairly striking, so off I went to buy the EXACT yarn the pattern called for.  Let's just say the picture in the pattern did not have true tones because in real life, this is what it looked like:

A bit garish for my taste.  So on the advice of  ... uh, EVERYONE, I "frogged" all of my work, returned the unused balls of yarn and picked out some new colours.  This is what I chose:

Colourful, yet more subtle and easy on the eyes!  It's knitting fairly fast even though it's on smaller needles.  I've already finished the back and the left front.  It's amazing how much knitting one can get done when glued to the TV every night watching Olympics events!

You tell me:  did I make the right decision?

New things and ideas

I've started a new project and I've learned a new variation on ribbing.  This pattern called for a modified ribbing  of:  Row 1-Knit across; Row 2-K1, P1 across. I think it looks nice, but even nicer is the way it feels.  It has nice body and stretch without pinching in as much as a regular ribbing.  (The modified ribbing is the red stiped part):

I have also discovered the perfect project caddy for knitting at home!   I was looking around at Michael's to find a new knitting bag and by pure chance had a look at scrapbooking caddies.  They looked great and seemed to have what I was looking for and I was right!  This is the one I bought:

There are lots of side pockets for my knitting accessories (row counter, stitch markers, tape measure, etc...).  The center pouch runs the full length of the bag and nicely stores the work in progress (or, in my case, my AddieTurbo Click System.)  There are lots of different scrapbooking caddies -- some larger, some smaller -- I chose a medium size.  This one is about 13" long , 10" wide and 8" high ... a nice compact size to keep my project organized.

The last "new" thing for me in the past few weeks was acquiring and then putting to use a yarn winder.  With the help of the owner at my favorite local yarn shop (http://www.makeoneyarns.com/) I finally got the wool I dyed last fall wound into a usable centre-pull ball.  Now I just have to decide what I'll make with it.  This wool is sport weight.

So that's my "new" discoveries.  This new sweater project will probably take a while, but it's really interesting so I won't mind.  Keep those needles clacking!

Voila!

I did it!  The sweater is finished!  The boucle yarn got downright tedious ... especially when I realized I made an error about 24 rows back and had to rip it out.  Boucle does not take to unravelling -- at all!  What a bother.  But it's done and on it way to T.O.  Yay!

I put a shirt under it to show that it's a cropped sweater jacket with 3/4 sleeves.  I'm happy with the way it turned out.

Now I'm filling in the gap between projects trying out some pattern stitches.  And, as always, that's done in the form of a dishcloth.  So here's a new discloth pattern.  This stitch gives a very nice texture for a dishcloth.

Bamboo Stitch Discloth

Materials: 

1 skein worsted weight cotton yarn  (I used Bernat Cot'n Corn)

Size 8 Knitting Needles

Note:  this is actually a variation of the classic Bamboo Stitch

Cast on 42 stitches.

Knit 4 rows.

Row 1:  K3, *YO, K2, pass YO over K2, repeat from* to last 3 stitches, K3

Row 2:  Knit across

Repeat these 2 rows 24 atimes, or to desired length.

End by knitting 4 rows.
Bind off.

Obey Speed Signs

click clack click clack click clack ....


That's the sound of my knitting needles working on that sweater I need to finish.  I am not breaking any speed records on  this one!


Speaking of "speed knitting" -- here's some incentive to get us practising for the stitch-n-pitch opening pitch knit-off.

post-holiday hangover

With the rush of getting Christmas projects completed and wrapped and delivered, it's time to turn back to that sweater I meant to complete for Christmas.  I will finish it in the next 3 weeks.  I must finish it in the next 3 weeks if I want it on time for a birthday!    I'm knitting it with a boucle yarn. 

The yarn gives the project a nice nubbly tweedy effect which suits the trendy vintage style of the sweater.  But does anyone else get frustrated by knitting with boucle yarn?  It just doesn't slide easily along the needle and it's so easy to catch little stray fibers. 


I'm working on the front plackets right now.  Then all I have to do is attach them and knit the collar.  The end is in sight!  Oh yeah ... still have to find just the right buttons ...