Dropped Stitches in Lotus

Simple was the way to go.

After numerous attempts at other stitch patterns, I finally gave up and settled for a simple drop stitch scarf to show off the Noro Lotus.

Because I was knitting with 2 skeins of yarn, one with a rather abrupt color change (there was a knot about a third of the way into the skein), I decided to alternate knitting every two rows from each skein, carrying the wan on up as I knit along - The result was slightly broken color transitions, but beautiful none the less.

Yarn: Noro Lotus, 2 skeins
Needles: US13
Pattern: None, but I'll write it out below if anyone else wants to knit one :D

Finished Size: 7" x approximately 4-inches.

Pattern:
Loosely cast-on 10 stitches with one skein of yarn.

Knit 1 row

Attach the 2nd skein of yarn, and knit 2 rows.

(Row 1) Switch yarn, picking up the new yarn towards the back of your work. K1, *YO, K1*.
(Row 2) Knit all "main" stitches, dropping all yarn overs.

(Rows 3 & 4) Switch yarn, Knit 2 rows.
(Rows 5 & 6) Switch yarn, Knit 2 rows.

(Row 7) Switch yarn, K1, *YO twice, K1*
(Row 8) Knit all "main" stitches, dropping all yarn overs.

(Rows 9 & 10) Switch yarn, Knit 2 rows.
(Rows 11& 12) Switch yarn, Knit 2 rows.

Repeat these 12 rows for as long as you want or until you are close to running out of yarn.

If you have a thing for symmetry, you'll want to end your scarf with the following sequence:
(Row 1) Switch yarn, picking up the new yarn towards the back of your work. K1, *YO, K1*.
(Row 2) Knit all "main" stitches, dropping all yarn overs.

(Rows 3 & 4) Switch yarn, Knit 2 rows.
(Row 5) Switch yarn, Knit 1 row
Bind off all stitches loosely.


I must have lucked out because after I bound off, this was all the yarn I had left! It came out perfectly though because I was wanting to make the most out of those two skeins, and I don't think I could have asked for a closer margin.

Looking for a close-up of the scarf?
I'm happy to oblige :D

Cat paws included for scale ;) (actually, my cat refused to let me get a photo of the scarf on the floor without being in the photo - she's like that with knits...if they are on the couch, they're fine - if they are on the floor, they are apparently hers.)

Blue Bamboo Baudelaires

Lace and cables and socks. I never thought I'd be one for "girly" socks, but I do seem to be hooked when it comes to handknit ones :)

Pattern: Baudelaire from Knitty
Yarn: Regia Bamboo Color - 1063
Amount: Quite possibly only one ball, I was working with what I had left over from my Swallowtail
Needles: US1

Comments: First, lets go for a closeup of the lace and cables, shall we?

*sigh* I am really mostly happy with how these turned out - they were wonderfully satisfying to knit - the lace pattern was an easy one (for me anyhow) to remember. Pattern modifications? Why yes, always, thank you very much - what fun is it if I'm going to knit if I can't add a little something of my own?

As far as modifications go, this one was fairly minor - I made the right and left socks mirror images of each other - meaning the cables are mirror each other when the socks are worn. I love them this way - I think if I had them marching in the same direction on both socks, I'd feel lopsided...but that's just me. The other change I made was to do the heel with a slip stitch for the flap. I had originally cast on for these socks in a size M and turned the heel complete with stockinette heel flaps, but found that my gauge must have been off as the socks were decidedly loose - after ripping them back, these finished ones are size S and they fit perfectly.

I was really pleased with how my heel came out - no holes, not even when I rejoined the instep :) I must be getting the hang of this sock knitting business. My only quibble with these socks is that I have a hard time getting them over my heels. This is apparently a fairly standard quibble with toe up socks, though I did not notice it with any of my previous pairs of socks (all knit toe up). It may just be this particular lace pattern combined with a certain eagerness to be done that may have had me starting the gusset a few rows earlier than may have been prudent...



...regardless, I think they are quite lovely, and I'm going to enjoy wearing them.

More Singles

A full day of spinning results in three full bobbins...11 ounces and almost 800 yards worth of lovely yarn with a slight sheen.

Fiber Content: 50-50 Fine Wool & Soysilk - I purchased the fiber dyed, but then decided to add some additional color to it by overdying prior to spinning. I'm calling it Tropical Sea because it reminds me of the bright yet blue-overtoned colors of a tropical reef.


Specific yardage on each skein will soon be available as I'm planning on listing these at the shop. I'm hoping to have them listed by the beginning of May.

**Whoops. While I did indeed have them listed at the beginning of May, I apparently forgot to activate these beauties in the shop. They are there and active now :) Note: I'm linking to the DK weight skeins, though there is also 1 skein in sport weight also.

Newspaper

Spun especially for a special person's birthday...these colors are her favorites :)
I named it after the children's riddle: what's black and white and "red" all over?

It's a bunch of mixed wools, spun up single ply though it has fantastic barber poling and almost looks plied because I held the colors of roving parallel to one another. Unfortunately, I forgot to grab the yardage and weight - from memory I think it came out to be a light-worsted in thickness and there was plenty of it :D

I have to admit this is one of the few truely finished objects for the year so far, though it certainly isn't for lack of trying!

Eyelet Lace

This scarf was knit as a holiday gift, it's a nice long somewhat narrow scarf from handspun vebena batts! The pattern was simple, and unfortunately it no longer appears to be online any longer. And of course, I knit it so long ago I don't recall what the dimensions of the finished scarf was (and of course it's winged off to its new home), nor do I recall what size needles I used. Anyhow, It's warm when wrapped several times around the neck, but open enough to stretch and cover a longer season.

If you're wondering what the yarn looked like before it was knit, click here!

I was very happy to hear the response of the recipient :) she's very happy with it indeed!

Red for the Bride

A good friend of mine is getting hitched, and I decided I needed to make her a little something to celebrate the occasion. Why Red, you ask? Well, I'm Chinese. Red is a color for good fortune and happiness - and no wedding would be complete without a little red. The above is probably the best representation of the color - the other photos are a little off in their color and I had a hard time correcting them.

The Details?

Yarn: it's more Southwest Trading Co Bamboo. The same stuff I used on my Shetland Triangle Shawl. Almost 2 balls.

Needles: US6

Pattern: Cinnabar, from the December 2006 Magknits

Finished Size: Approximately 10-inches wide, by 80-inches long (oops. It's a bit longer than I had anticipated - it grew about a foot and a half in the blocking process)

Comments: A neat pattern, it's garter stitch based, so it's reversible! It incorporates these mock cables with a little bit of openwork and dropped stitches of the Seafoam stitch. The total scarf took a little longer than the two recent shawls - I think I had it finished in perhaps a week to a week and a half. I wasn't originally planning on blocking the scarf, but the edges of the scarf were definitely not straight. The blocking really made the pattern (especially the mock cables) much more distinct. This may not be required for some yarns, but you'll have to decide for yourself :) The pattern was quick to "memorize" and I only had to quickly glance at the charts to jog my memory once I had gotten into the flow of the knitting. It is a beautiful scarf, and the bride really liked it, as did numerous other women at the wedding!

Incidentally, the designer has made a matching hat pattern available for purchase!

Chaparral Socks

Gift socks...and incidentally, the first socks I've knit to give away, and also the first I've knit in my own DK yarn. I sure hope they fit! (and they do, so says the recipient :) *whew* what a relief!)


Pattern from All Tangled Up
Yarn: Spritely Goods Sprite (superwash merino!) in Chaparral
Needles: US3

Comments: A much faster way to knit socks (compared to my usual fingering weight socks) and the pattern seems to have a fair bit of give, to more easily accomodate any mistakes on behalf of the knitter who may or may not have access to the intended feet.

I'm even more excited over this pair of socks because it's the first full garment I've actually knit up in my own yarn...and now that I've seen it knit, I've got more visions for this colorway - I think it will do well with lace patterns too as the colors are so harmonious :)

Shetland Triangle Shawl

a little flashy, sorry bout that!
I didn't think I'd ever be one of those shawl-a-week knitters, but here's the 2nd one and in less time even than the Swallowtail. I've been hoping to get some photos in natural light, but my hours aren't cooperating with me, so I've done up an all-indoor shoot instead.

Anyhow, the details!

Pattern: Shetland Triangle Shawl, by Evelyn Clark. Found in the book: Wrap Style

Yarn Used: Bamboo by Southwest Trading Company, in Red. Probably worth noting, this is the "older" version of bamboo - the newer feels much softer. This is a yarn of "chain" construction, rather than a traditional twist construction. ~1.25 balls or so...

Needles: US9

Comments/Commentary - because you know I have some ;) Don't worry, I'll intersperse it with pretty photos!

The Shetland Triangle Shawl was super speedy to knit - I think I had this one off the needles in a total of 5 days - I tended to knit on it in the evenings while watching TV. The pattern was quickly memorized, and it's nupp free ;) As with all lace, the magic appeared in the blocking - the freshly bound off shawl looked tiny - as in barely large enough to stick out from underneath my cat, had she decided to sit on it. Once blocked, the shawl stretched to a full 70 inches across the top and about 28 inches down to the center point. I felt like I had stretched it as far as it would go in the blocking process, but once dry, it seems like there's even more stretch to be had (I suspect it may have something to do with the yarn and how it may have "swollen" during the soaking process)

I opted for the full completion of the final pattern, and as I have issues binding off loosely enough to form those lovely scallopy edges, I used the same bind off as called for in the Swallowtail Shawl, and it didn't disappoint. I've plenty of points to keep me pleased :)

The only "issue" I encountered was with my yarn, rather than with the pattern - because of its chain like construction, the yarn can "unravel" if it splits - there were several sections of "thinner" yarn where it had partially unraveled or unchained itself in one ball of the yarn - I didn't have any issues at all in the 2nd ball. I stabilized as I went along, by knotting off the thinner sections, though I must have missed on section as it showed itself quite spectacularly during the blocking process. The good news is that the yarn didn't actually break, and I was able to stabilize that section by drawing up the slack and knotting it off to prevent further unraveling of the yarn.

I'm loving this shawl, and because it's knit from bamboo, I think it will make a good year-round piece :)

Swallowtail Shawl

The Swallow Tail Shawl, from the fall 2006 Interweave Knits is now complete :) It knit up super fast in just over a week's time. If you're wondering why it looks so large, it's because it is probably the same dimensions as "full sized" shawls, measuring about 68 inches across the top and 30 inches down to the point. No pattern modifications were done other than to use a different yarn (and of course larger needles).

Yarn: Regia Bamboo Color (1063)
Amount: Approximately two and a quarter balls.
Needles: US7

Comments: The pattern is a breeze to follow, and I found I had it memorized fairly quickly - I wound up not placing stitch markers between the pattern repeats mostly because I got tired of having to shift them around - I've apparently come a long way in my knitting as I find it much easier to "read" my knitting, even in lace form, and I was able to correct mistakes often within a couple of rows without having to tink or rip back - the most common mistakes I made were omitting a yarn over or forgetting to pass the slipped stitch over.

As the case seems to be with all lace projects, the magic is indeed in the blocking. The shawl was so squinched up (as lace often is) before blocking, I was amazed at how large it wound up blocking to. Before heading into the Nupps and the Lily of the Valley sections, I was trying to decide if extra budding lace was required - thank goodness I decided not :)


Speaking of Nupps, I've decided that I love love them. A pain to execute, but they sure give the shawl that extra bit of interest. I knitted my shawl using Denise interchangeable needles - the points on the needles aren't the pointiest, but I managed to do all my nupping without having to resort to slipping stitches hither and yon onto other needles or clear all the way back to the cable - the trick, I think, was to make sure to form the nupp loosely so that on the purl row it wasn't too difficult to capture all five stitches for the purl-5-together. I will admit to breathing a huge sigh of relief once the nupping was done and I was able to move onto the border.


Unfortunately I couldn't get a good shot of the full shawl indicating what the yarn looks like - photographing shawls prove to be much more difficult than I anticipated! Outdoors, things were lit very brightly, yet harshly and with too much contrast - so I resorted to a small indoor shot near a window of the shawl folded up.

Faery Meathead

Knit for the 2006 Meathead Along which had the specific instructions of embellishing to my own liking above the left ear.

Since I have had flowers on the brain of late, and the shape of the hat reminded me of the Elven armour in Lord of the Rings, I decided to embellish it fit for a Faery Queen.


I'm pleased to present Tatiana, a Meathead Hat embellished with hand crochet flowers and curving vine (incidentally, the vine is fixed on the hat, though the flowers can be added or subtracted or shuffled around at will). If I was a faery queen, this is a hat I'd want to wear, as it is a perpetual reminder of spring.


Yarn: Reclaimed handspun super bulky from a sweater, embellished with hand crochet flower pins made from crochet cotton.

Needles: US15

Pattern: by Larissa, to be included in her new book!

Comments: Supereasy, superquick knit. A very welcome break from my current knitting madness :)

Wanna see more Meatheads? Check out the Flickr Collection!

Pushing up Flowers

I spent the weekend working as a flowermaking factory :)

Yarns range from old leftovers (again!) of CottonEase, to Plymouth Encore, to bits of handspun yarn to crochet cotton in various sizes...oh, there are some needle felted ones too (more than the lone single in this photo) made from merino wool, of course.

Patterns: none - they were made up as I was going along.

And no, they aren't all for me. I'm churning out flower accessories for sale at a craft fair :D

Short and Sweet

I'm in love with texture and really needed a break from my latest knitting opus...This skinny scarf proved to be just the perfect entertaining sidetrack.

Closeup? Certainly ;)


I especially enjoyed myself because it's knit from my own Spritely Goods Sprite yarn! (in the Chaparral colorway, in case you are wondering) I happened to have just a smidge (about 1.6 ounces) of yarn leftover from a different project, and I couldn't figure out what to turn it into...well, Inspiration struck and it turned into this cute skinny and nicely textured scarf.


My other half argued that it wasn't long enough to be a scarf appropriate for an adult and I set out to prove that it would indeed work just fine - I scrounged up a hand crocheted flower pin that matched perfectly, wrapped it (the scarf, not the flower ;) ) around my neck, affixed the pin, and voila! Perfect for keeping the chill away without adding a bunch of bulk.

Pattern: Stitch pattern adapted from Sheep in the City's So Called Scarf (I really need to get one of those stitch pattern reference books)

Needles: US 9

Knitted Running/Workout Accessories

With running comes sweat. I never did understand headbands or wristbands until I took up running. I still don't' wear a headband when I run - I usually opt for a hat, because it does better at keeping the sun out of my eyes.

When I was running slower (yeah, I'm still slow, but hey, I've trimmed 2+ minutes off my average pace since starting!) it was no big thing to wipe sweat off my forehead or away from my eyes by bending over slightly and using my sleeve - or the tail of my shirt. Unfortunately, it's gotten to the point where it affects my stride now, and I worried about tripping and damaging myself. Normal wristbands wouldn't do because I wear glasses, and trying to maneuver a wristband around my glasses just wasn't working...

So I have the following - a "better" wristband! I actually wear two - one on my left hand, as illustrated below around my thumb (no, I don't need the watch to hold it in place - the reason I made the cuff so wide is because I hated having my sweat drenched watch sticking on my skin). I wear the one on my right hand around my index finger - it's a little easier to get around my glasses that way.


In case you're wondering, it's Cascade Fixation knit on US2 needles. Because Fixation is mostly cotton, it certainly absorbs sweat well, though it takes a while to dry - I thought about knitting em out of wool, but I didn't think they'd be very absorbent if I did that.

It's like two pairs for the effort of one!

Say hello to my Leftover Nasturtiums...they're like two pair in one when worn with the right shoes or pants!

Pattern from Kirsten at Through the Loops

Yarn: Leftovers - Black Purl Lornas Laces Shepherd Sock (from when I knit my Jaywalkers) And black and white Dale of Norway Baby Ull (from my first fair isle project)

Knit: both pair at the same time on one US1 circular needle

Comments: In order to entertain myself for the bottom portion of the knitting, I did indeed stripe my socks opposite each other on purpose - and yes, I'm addicted to the Fibonacci sequence. It's not my fault. It's the Nerd in me.

The pattern is well written, and the only recommendations I have are to read carefully and split your stitches correctly from the get go so you don't have to move them around as I did - this isn't critical if you knit only one sock at a time, but if you magic loop a pair of socks, it caused a moment of being stumped before coming up with a solution. Also, at the end, I vaguely recall the setup for the toe decreases on the top of the socks to be off with the number of K stitches between the initial setup decreases. Oh, for the toe, don't panic if you can't decrease in pairs to wind up with 12 stitches remaining on each needle - you started with an odd number of stitches on each needle, so you'll wind up with an odd number when you get to that point...I actually got carried away and grafted the toe when I had 13 stitches on each needle (how's that for my pattern reading skills?) but it worked out perfectly with my stripes that way :)

A Sock Experiment for Socktoberfest

Ever seen knitted things and figure "I can knit that - and way better too!"? I'm constantly doing that with sweaters these days - and certainly no silly iPod sock was going to be worth the money, especially when I could knit my own custom one and learn a thing or two while doing it...

Since I'm still waiting for a certain 2nd Gen nano case to be released, I figured I'd make myself an iPod sock for the interim. For this "sock," I wanted to give double knitting a try - I wanted a double thick layer of "sock" to protect the nano (since I'm not terribly good about being very delicate with things in my bag/purse) - and that way I could also see if I would like to attempt the extreme knitting sock technique as described in the recent Knitty (in case you're wondering, I think I've decided it's not for me - it's much faster for me to knit 2 socks on magic loop).

Anyhow, this "sock" is indeed reversible, has a flap built in to secure the nano inside *and* a space to allow me to connect my earphones to the nano thru the sock!

Super easy to make, I made mine out of sport weight scraps of Misti Alpaca Sport (mmm alpaca) knitting on US4s in 2x2 rib for a nice snug fit. Striping is in my favorite sequence - hooray! Fibbonacci!
'

Crafty and Clean!

My house smells very very clean. Thanks to all the hand felting of soaps I've recently done! In order to felt the soaps down, you have to get em wet - and then set em out to dry - each of the soaps above is a different scent, and I did multiples of each of them over the course of several days...you can imagine how the house must have smelled what with all that lather being worked up to make the felt! :) Want one for your own or to give away for a gift? They're available in the shop!

If you make some on your own, I do not recommend trying to speed things up by doing em in the washing machine - or you might have visions of some super sudsy overflowing laundry machine nightmare gracing your wash room. These are all handfelted individually for a reason!

More Mixed Wool!

I've been in a spinning mood of late and have also taken to handblending at the wheel. I did a couple more gift skeins recently:


This one is called Autumn Waterfall...and it has muted greens, reds, blues and purples.


This one is Autumn Waterfall Too - it's basically Autumn Waterfall singles plied with Black to give it a slightly different characteristic - both in color and feel since this is a nicely balanced 2-ply it's nice and fat :D


Finally, I've also completed an art yarn - I'd forgotten how much fun it can be to spin them up - this one is called Harvest Berries and it's available in the shop.

Pine Forest!

Now that the weather is cooling down, I've been spinning again :)

I spun up a ginormous skein of browns, greens sand blues for Kiki's Birthday and decided I really liked that color combo, so I hauled out my wheel and cranked out two more skeins - these two are up at the Shop if you care to make them your own!

Kiri en Fuego

Well, Fuego was the yarn anyhow - it looks more like an Agua inspired Kiri what with the blues - or perhaps Cielo - the deep blue with light blue reminds me of the crisp intense blue desert skies with wispy clouds.

Anyhow, the details:

Pattern from Polly at All Tangled Up

Yarn: Skacel Fuego - 80% mohair, 20% wool - 3 balls with ~25g remaining.

Needles: US15 (wahoo!)

Comments: a super fast knit, mostly because I adjusted the needles upward to accommodate the relatively fatter yarn. The original yarn called for in the pattern is Kidsilk Haze...of which I have none (I do, however, have one precious ball of doucer et soie but I have no idea what it wants to be yet). Anyhow, this lace pattern was fairly easy for me to commit to memory, though I did forget a yarnover here or there on occasion, resulting in my having to tink back to get it - luckily I never did have to resort to putting the shawl in the freezer to find out if ripping *frozen* mohair is any easier than ripping mohair of the non-frozen variety.

This shawl measures almost six feet across now that it has been blocked, and it seems to be just the thing to take the nip out of the over zealous air conditioning. There was a minor moment of indecision when I tried to figure out if I had enough yarn do do one more pattern repeat row and then go into the edging - some quick math told me not, and I'm pleased to say I was right - I only have 25g of yarn remaining. The only thing I was not able to accomplish was the dramatic points/scalloping as in the pattern, I think it's because I bound off too tightly - the good news is I bound off with equal tension all the way round, so I have a nice clean edge.

Regarding the yarn, it was easy enough to work with, though I do note that my shawl sheds a little bit - so if I am foolish enough to wear on certain garments, someone may wind up asking me if I'd dyed my cat blue.

A Scarf for the Blues

Remember that yarn?? (handspun mixed wools plied with a commercial chenille) Well, I wasn't very happy with it, and couldn't for the life of me figure out what on earth to do with it.

I had enough for a scarf if I could figure out how to get a loose enough stitch to allow it to have a fair amount of length...but how to manage it? I wanted a scarf with a respectable width and length...but I wanted something that was easy to work up and not require too much thinking for the knitting....Dropped stitches stepped in to give me the width and length that I was looking for:

A Clapotis inspired scarf :)

Pattern from Knitty

Needles: US 13

Yarn: handspun, honestly I don't even recall the yardage or the weight.

Comments: as a scarf, with bulky yarn and big needles, this project knit up fast and the dropping and unraveling of the stitches provided a welcome break from the mindless stockinette stitching. When unblocked, it seemed to have some curling and puffing issues. I blocked this by doing a full wet soak - I was able to lay it out flat with no pins to hold it in place to get it to block flat.