I’m a gonna git this pattern down on paper, this time for sure! Pattern: draft-update I’m using LaTeX knitting packages to set the pattern up. And I need to knit more prototypes!
I’m having fun with this. Huge needles. My mother asked what was the biggest thing I had knitted, as so many of my projects are tiny. She had passed on to me a semi-finished jacket in Patons Jet, Wool & Alpaca, 30% Alpaca, 70% Wool. I started sewing it up, but it turned out with puffy shoulders, so I ended up frogging the lot. So, now I’m working on my first jacket for myself!
Using my Crazy Trio sock needles, and I started off fudging the cables, but ended up using a cable needle. 64 sts around. The trellis pattern is Basic Lattice from Knitting Fool
This winter I have chillblains on my right hand so settled on making emergency mittens. So far it seems to help. Pattern: Spirogyra
As a break from sock knitting, I used up some balls of merino wool superwash (8ply) in this Ganomy Hat. The balls were leftovers from my mother - less than a whole ball of each colour. I’ve always found it a bit of a gamble as to how many stitches to cast on. The shaping kinda eats up the width. This was with 100sts and fit a four year old.
I cast on 88 sts, planning to make a sock. I was going by the instructions that came with my Addi Crazy Trios. The wool is a special sock wool from Germany, 75% wool, 25% nylon. Here’s the beginning: The pattern is one I had used for a purple pair of socks in DK wool. The pattern seemed to disappear in the finer, darker wool.
I cast on 60sts for these socks. The rainbow is sock wool Jawoll Twin, Lang Yarns (75% wool, 25% nylon). The green is an old Paton’s Azalea, 100% Pure New Wool, Patonised for maximum resistance to shrinkage and pilling. And here’s the lace pattern: I gleaned it from Traditional Knitting Patterns by James Gibb, page 110. It was in the German section. I used my Addi Crazy Trios. I still have to measure them so I can say what size they are.
Bendigo Woollen Mills had some cheap acrylic self striping yarn when we visited. It was a tough decision. Buy one ball of something really nice, or four balls of self striping cheap stuff. They had three colourways: magenta-orange-green-blue, yellow-orange-pink-grey purple-pink There was a break in the yarn on the second sock which mucked up the stripes. The stripes matched up much better with the yellow yarn.
Trying to figure out what sized needles I used. I think I used 3.75mm for the cuffs and then 4mm for the rest of the sock. I used 48sts and this lace pattern: Here’s the beginning:
Picot edge at the end - I think the rest was according to the pattern. Great little pattern.
I made the American Girl size and the Mini American Girl size. Both were a bit on the large size.
08-10-20183.5mm needle seems right. 3.0mm worked out a bit small.
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03-09-2018With an Italian paw design - asked the recipient to choose the embellishment and yarn. So quick - on to make another! 03-09-2018I made another for a smaller daughter - the pattern really suits variegated yarn with short colour changes.
I was running out of yarn and couldn’t find something to match, so ended up decreasing and turning it into a mundane beanie.
Copying something I saw on the internet, this one with a 4 st i-cord in green cotton thread. Some of my resident chaos elves like to split headphone cords. Some years ago I wrapped a split cord with embroidery cotton, which was tedious, but lasted pretty well. See how i-cord compares.
I cast on 34 sts and did K2P2 rib, with one K4 thrown in for the centre back of the sock, then reduced to K3 centre back after 1 inch, and then K2 for half an inch. It’s an acrylic baby yarn, soft and lasts forever. I can’t remember when I cast on, but vaguely uneasy about adapting the pattern, but it’s worked out alright. Not my favourite, but passable. The cuff sat in a box for many months - I was very happy to find it again, as they are my favourite dpns.
Saw someone knitting two socks on one circular, so had to give it a go. I think it was easier than using two circulars. Finished fingerlessly because my almost 2 year old kept wanting to try them on.
Urged on to try this by benedicta. It’s all her fault. Taking the plunge and see how the fancy celtic cables work out. Starting with some ribbing to line up with the cables to make more a scarf thing rather than the provisional cast on and grafting to make a cowl. Lucy Hague’s website is great, and there’s a free coupon for signing up for her mailing list. I can’t decide which pattern to get so starting with this freebie first.
Pink mystery yarn - cotton I think - maybe not the best for winter warmth, but pretty. Miss Five has been using socks on her hands, saying we need to buy gloves or mittens, so hopefully I can knit these quickly.
Only cast on 88 sts as that was all that would fit the needles - plus I was intending it for my little girl, but ends up fitting me too. Very quick as you never get to the end of the row, just turn and keep going. I think the wool was thicker than Aran, so may have influenced the size for stitch count ratio.
co 32sts k1p1 rib 14 rounds divide in half for heel
First sock knitted in one evening, but could do with being a little longer. Still plenty of yarn left, so hoping to make as many as I can. 05-05-2018First sock missing, but second sock completed. Will mark the project as completed for now and consider whether to cast on a third sock as planned.
I chain stitched the “B” - or slip-stitch as I used a hook. Also added a chin strap as per request of Bunny Boy. Also extended the back of the helmet as far as the supply of blue yarn would allow. Nice and stretchy - it fits just about everyone from 4 to 14 years. Many requests to make more.
I really like how this looks - hope it works out. It’s a mystery baby yarn. It’s not as soft as regular baby wool, so wondering if it’s a bit woolly - probably at least part acrylic. 17-12-2017So, I ended up ripping back the first attempt at a button band. The pattern says to pick up 124 stitches and I had only managed 117. Also, as the button band was in K1P1 rib, I assumed it warranted the smaller needles.
My doll was a bit bigger than the AG mini dolls that the pattern was written for. I added one more increase row and made the skirt much longer. I’m pretty chuffed with the result. Also ade 3 buttonholes instead of the 2 in the pattern. The buttons are a bit fiddly to do up, so I think this means the dress will stay on the doll :)
Followed the patter recommendation to follow the pattern first, then make variations later. I learned that AG mini dolls are very small - only 6” tall. The little doll I was aiming to clothe was a bit bigger than that. I was very pleased with how it turned out. The pattern said it was a bit light on details and relied on the knitter to fill in. The bit I changed was the number of buttonholes.
The hole for the hair is too small for all the hair. Next time I’ll make that opening stretchy, or button up? It’s hard to tell what would use the silly yarn best - spreading it out with nice plain yarn helps.
It’s cold so my thoughts turn sockwards. Use up odd acrylic yarn and make some comfy foot warmers. Maybe with the stripes I’ll have enough to make two socks that almost match. Update July 2021: I finally made the matching sock! Cast on 40sts. K1P1 rib for about 12 rounds in green. K3P1 rib for 2 rounds each in blue, red then green for a total of 3 colour cycles.
27-11-2017My daughter found the shrug made a good bonnet for her lamb - asked me why it had these two things sticking out. I had to take a photo and show her how it was meant to be worn. Another plus is that when I told her I was planning to make one her size too, she was suitably enthusiastic about the prospect. I’d better cast that on soon!
I’ve got the body done, but lost confidence - the pattern calls for finer work for the head and my head yarn is the same gauge as the body.
10-11-2016scovolino di pipe is italian for Pipe Cleaner - only figured this out halfway through the tail, so mine is isn’t as stiff as designed. A very cute star. Now to figure out how far I want to go with this crocheted Nativity scene idea…
started with 8 dc into a magic loop, increasing to 68 sts, then alternating dc and tr rounds the half trebles for the brim.
Pattern from Stitch 11.com Just used the apricot yarn for the last round. Only needed a little. Still had a bit left over from two balls of the Karola too. I’m impressed how well it fits!
From a book of miniature lace knits by Gloria Penning from the Springwood Hospital Fete. Suncatcher 34. Errata! cast on 8 sts (not 6!)
This time used a thin springy yarn - might be nylon?
There are some different colour changes, and I made the fins a little smaller, but otherwise followed the pattern. The yarn I used was a bit thick for the needles and the gauge, and being cotton seems to stretch out of shape easily.
The photo in the pattern showed a 3st garter stitch cuff on the sleeves, but this wasn’t included in the pattern, but it was easy enough to add it in. I haven’t blocked the jacket yet - it would be good to have done that before sewing up, but it’s only a barbie jacket.
30-04-2016I’m going from the photos as it seems clear enough without having to translate the Finnish. I’ve just chained enough to go round my daughter’s head, but on second thoughts looks like I should count to see that the number of chain is divisible by 9 - but I can fudge it when I get there.
I finished with a sideways knitted border to avoid a tight cast off edge. I was offline and couldn’t find the right pattern in my pattern books, so ad-libbed a sort of scalloped edge with some more triangular points in there too as I experimented to get a nice shape.
16-12-2015the first thumb cast off was a bit tight - need some sort of stretchier bind off there. 24-12-2015Second thumb I used a bind off from Knitter Almanac, the one with a darning needle and lots of loops. Also knitted in the turned up parts for the picot edge - fiddly but worthwhile.
16-12-2015It wasn’t a great fit for this particular doll. It sort of needs a smaller neckline but larger body. Maybe casting on 38 sts and making the body more A-line or lacey? It was a great way to use up scraps of yarn
Had to start with K1P1 rib, even though the pattern doesn’t. I’m going for 60 sts around on 4 dpns. Wish me luck! Second sock I accidentally went with 64sts - just thought I had done a different size, then made the heel as for the 60sts size, then realised the mistake and kept going. Still a fair bit of yarn left from the skein.
cast on 16 sts in the round K1P1 rib for 6-7 rounds divide fir heel 4 rows: sl 1 K to end, sl1 P to end turn heel sl1, K4, k2tog, turn sl1, K2, k2tog, turn sl1 K to end, start picking up 3 instep stitches, plus a stitch next to the next needle keep k1p1 rib going for the top of the foot decrease every 2nd round as usual Plain stocking stitch for the toe, decrease at 4 points every 2nd round until 8 sts, then weave stitches together.
I forgot to embroider the mouth, but the eye kinda takes up the whole head. I guess my yellow yarn being a little on the thin side may have had something to do with it. Still, I think it will do. I might try adding a mouth then the ends of the black yarn can add a few more strands to the hair.
ch 4, join loop, 9 dc into loop, 2dc into each dc, 1dc, 2dc next round, keep dc-ing till it’s a hemisphere. Then the chains, Then the lid part - bottom up or top down? Too small for toys, too floppy for ornaments, I think this one is back to the drawing board.
I made this up as I went along, so each Banana is a little different.
This was mostly ad-libbing. I started by knitting a regular size sock as per pattern, but got jumbled up when it came to divide for the heel. I’m used to using half the stitches for the heel, but the pattern wanted a bit more than half, but I was already a few rows into doing it my way by then, so kept going. Then put the big sock on my toddler’s foot to figure out how many stitches to cast on for her.
I made this one up as I went along, but mislaid my notes. The lid was knitted bottom up. It was sold in my Etsy shop and got some lovely feedback for it. I’ll be knitting more in the future, but not exactly like this one.
Not the best shape - I will have another go, but I’ll type up these notes so at least I have something written down.
At first I didn’t quite get the “inc in the same st but in previous row” and tried just a regular inc, but ended up ripping back and starting again and it’s looking good. I’m wondering if a chain cast on would work better for all the little cast ons - I used a backward loop and the edge looks a bit loose, but it’s probably all going to be hidden by picking up stitches for the collar anyway.
Generic yellow acrylic. I keep losing hats faster than I can make them. By the end of the hat I was all inspired to get back into knitting thuribles. But I lost the work in progress, but I found my notes, so hopefully will get back into it soon! Plain roll brim hat with i-cord finish.
From generic acrylic and a little rainbow pom pom yarn. I thought the points would help, and thought I had 91 stitches so could make 13 points of 7 sts each. Turned out I only had 89 sts, so there’s a little 5 st point, which came in handy for keeping track of the beginning of the round.
Kids have been asking to spend their pocket money on lego from Hong Kong ebay sellers. I try steering them away from mass-produced plastic toys, and end up with a pile of things to show them the joys of toy making. Ears - crocheted onto the head - 1 slip stitich, 3 dc(UK terminology here, sc for US) working towards the middle of the top of the head, then turn, 1 ch, 2dc, turn 1 ch 1dc, fasten off.
I got thinking about thurible patterns again while laying awake at night. I had just knitted a roll brim yellow hat, finishing off with a length of i-cord which reminded me of my last knitted thurible. I thought if the lid of the thurible could have a rolled edge, it could be pulled down over a bowl shaped base, as long as the edge of the bowl was firm enough.
Using some home dyed wool, a bit thicker than regular DK, so I guess that makes it worsted. Finished the head and realised there wouldn’t be enough for completing the pattern properly, so suggested Windpower could have a go at finishing it off as a comical gecko caricature. Very nice pattern - will try it again with a better supply of yarn. Also, couldn’t find any safety eyes, so using buttons instead.
Basic baby socks. Casting on 40 sts and seeing how it goes. 1x1 Ribbing, continuing down the top of the foot. The pattern is here: link text The yellow sock is really cute, but way too small for my toddler, so I went to my bag and found a cuff in purple, 36sts around in double knit and kept going with that into a sock. And that fit, so I made another.
I love this pattern. The yarn is very … hmmm … idiomatic. Should work though. Now I find the wool is “hand wash” - i.e. will felt. Must practise detachment from the things of this world anyway… Still a great pattern to knit.
This is actually take two. The first attempt was enormous and I ran out of yarn before getting to the point. Frogged and restarted smaller. Which turned out quite small. But that’s where having small people around can be handy. This time I did the decreases at the halfway points and no increases. When I got down to 4 sts I continued with i-cord.
I’ve cast on 352 stitches, which is about the limit of what my circular needles can handle. Also 1 round K before the K2tog rounds One day wonder, but I started decreasing for the top too early, but it will be fine. I did go back the next day and rip back the top and knit in an extra inch before decreasing again, and I am happier now.
Cable cast on 77 sts on a small circular needle. Knit Run out of yarn, change colour and knit some more. Repeat last step as you like. (K9, K2 tog) to end K next round (K8, K2 tog) to end K next round (K7, K2 tog) you get the idea? You need to change to double points, or do the magic loop thing along the way… until you get down to K2 tog to end, then break and gather up stitches tightly, weave in loose ends.
Emily Ocker cast on. The title is 6 points, so I’m only doing 6 pattern repeats, rather than the 8 repeats in the pattern (so I’m knitting through the instruction and then repeating 5 times after the first one, if that makes sense) In the last round of the pattern, it has a group of K5 and K4 and I think they should both be K4.
Can’t quite keep to the pattern as usual, but see how it goes.
All the way through knitting I was sure it was going to be too big, but I persisted. She’ll grow into it. And then I put it on her head and it’s fine! Elizabeth is nearly 2 months old here. I began the crown shaping at 4” instead of the 4.5” from the pattern. The other difference is the yarn is a little thinner than the pattern, but I wanted a lacier bonnet.
Very cute. Very happy with the faces. A few departures from the pattern, but I’ll definitely have another go.
Very quick to knit. Very popular with my children. I love how the arms are knitted in. Knitted circularly all the making up is tying off the last stitches at the top, putting on the face, then whip stitch across the cast on stitches. With a little foresight you can use the two ends of the yarn used to knit the piece to stick out as antennae - that way they can’t be pulled out.
A bag of assorted acrylic and novelty yarn. Time to make little colourful odd things.
Having a baby at Christmas is sweet, but brings ever after the joy of keeping a birthday at a busy time. Modifications - face - made a light brown background for the eyes in duplicate stitch and used black knots for the eyes. Embroidered nostrils and mouth with two strands of two ply yarn (black cashmere). Also used 3 stitch i-cord for the tail. And swapped legs for arms to give more monkey-ish proportions.
A smaller doily, with no photo, yet. Using thin blue fluffy stuff, believed to be wool. In my impatience I missed a few plain rows in the beginning, so might be supposed to be a bit fuller in the middle. Also crochet cast off with 4, 3, 4, 3 loops rather than the patterns 4, 3, 4, 4 loops. Probably a typo there.
A Sunday Morning staying home and a library book. Only hitch was the crochet instructions in the front of the book didn’t quite match up with the terminology in the patterns. The “how to crochet” part was something of a hybrid between UK and US terms. The rest standard US. Spent quite a while slip stitching the body (following instructions for sc), until I tried US sc or UK dc and then it started taking shape.
Looking for a pattern with a five petalled rose. Also pining for a hat I knitted and can’t find anymore - happens a lot around here. We dropped by Bendigo Woollen Mills on the way to the Christus rex Pilgrimage and bought lots of bits from the remnants baskets. I have about 137g of Russet Rustic 8ply (I think). Hopefully it will cover most of the hat. There’s also some green in case I run out.
Almost finished these socks, but can’t remember when I started them. I have been knitting them for a while, thinking I had a sock pattern in the knitting bag if I needed to refer to it, but now I actually read the pattern, it is totally different. I’m knitting top down and the pattern is for a universal toe up sock from Knitty. I did muck up the pattern earlier - decreasing too much at the instep for the first sock, which made it too tight for me, so made a short foot so it would fit son #3.
The right sock followed the formula. The left sock made a sort of gusset for the heel. They both work. Also used a sideways garter stitch cast off as the only stretchy one I could get my brain around at the time. Just reading Tertullian’s On Women’s Apparel and this bit jumped out: It had escaped Him, when He was bidding the universe to come into being, to issue a command for (the production of) purple and scarlet sheep!
Here’s a mystery knit - no pictures, only a diagram to go from. The idea is to have something to make an oval mantilla to wear on my head for Mass. It looks like it will be too small - but that’s okay, it will be quicker to knit that way. Finding weird things with the pattern as I go. It has you pick up stitches after row 96, but it makes more sense to finish on a K row 97 and pick up the right way round.
I was going to make the hat, but Mega Strength boy wanted to use his own hand dyed yarn for the crown and it is a bit thicker and fuzzier than the nice crepe used for the edge. The edging is great by itself and if I do make a hat from his wool then I’m sure we can put them together. The pattern is very satisfying. I’ve put up my graph on my blog.
The earlier dinosaur was lost, so a new one was born.
Some years ago my boys were wreaking havoc with improvised thuribles made from those wooden roll along toys on sticks. I came up with crocheted thuribles. This year, sitting about the fire after dark, we were tossing about ideas for a name for an etsy shop. The Cuddly Thurible was embraced as a great idea. Now I just have to make the thing.
Pardon me for posting old work, but seeing this little brown circle again, I’m more happy with how it turned out. I used this strange brown stuff that came on a rather weighty cylinder. It was stiff and odd, but has washed soft and hangs nicely. I think it actually predates my previously named “First Doily”, but being knit on 2 needles with short rows it didn’t seem to count as a “proper” knitted doily.
Not sure how this will go, but handy to have things to wear on one’s head. It was a quick knit. A handy hat to have for holding back wet hair after a shower. The yarn seems too bulky though for a lacy snood sort of effect.
Of course now I realise maybe the soft patonyle would have been better for the main part with the slightly thicker magic stripes for the parts needing reinforcing, but you just go with it and see how it goes. Its only socks after all. And now they’re finished, sure enough the patonyle feels kinda thin compared to the magic stripe, but they’re my socks and I can wear them. They still fall down though.
Using up woolly bits. Patrick loves these slippers so I need to make up quite a few so he’ll leave a pair unstretched for Bernard.
I did get most of this done in time for the May birthday. Only the arms and tail took a bit longer. White angora for the tummy. Main yarn was a great blend of all things fluffy called Cat. Ball band has gone awol and memory hopeless. Black is strongly suspected to be wool crepe. Based on the crochet Meer Cat pattern printed of the internet somewhere years ago. Improvising my own knit conversion took something like faith to keep going.
This is my third knitted dishcloth. The first two were made in that initial enthusiasm for all things knitted. This one for when the first two are growing threadbare and grey. I’ve got a great idea for corners though - CO 3, K 6 rows (3 ridges) & pickup 3 bumps down one side. K3 yo K3. K. K3 yo K1 yo K3. K. and so on. Maybe next time. Or maybe someone has though of that detail already.
Mystery ball of yarn, cast on till the circular needle is covered, knit till it looks fair enough, decrease at 8 points every second round or so, a couple of rows i-cord on 4 sts, and VOILA a very cute hat!
Kinda raced with the beginning. Read “4sts” and i-cord and kept going. So its sort of half the size. Also stuffed with yarn ends rather than stuffing. Colours blue, yellow, black and gold which hopefully makes a 64 ohm resistor for my Dad’s 64th birthday. Yay.
I have tried a two needle doily before, but this is my first doily done in the round. Mercerised cotton cone - plenty of it to experiment with. Instead of the prescribed crochet cast off I’m doing a sideways knitted border called Neat Trim that I jotted down from some library book.
The old Parasaurolophus hat has gone missing so the cold weather prompted a replacement. The dark blue wool is a superwash crepe wool which tends to flop, so it seems less parasaurolophish than the old hat which was probably all acrylic. Keeps your ears warm. I followed the directions for this one - 4sts/inch. It looks comfortably big on the boys and snug on the grown-ups. The little bobble on the end is cute - but the colour scheme on this one seems so sensible.
Finished in time for the birthday - except for one arm, but that way he’s mostly ‘armless. Update - Dec 08 - new arm complete and limbs all reattached plus orange chain stitch stripe down the back in orange acrylic. It’s funny how the straight acrylic is wearing out so quick compared to the wool blend.
Fun to knit. Zig zag pattern to make the edges interesting. Just remember you need an odd number of pattern repeats for the zigs and zags to match up in the round and upside down. Next time I’ll use a more special yarn.
This came about last year when I mentioned I was giving up knitting for Lent - I know, terrible idea, but with a new baby I couldn’t fast so I had to do something - well, Fr asked if I could knit him an afghan. I looked incredulous - I haven’t knit anything bigger than a baby jumper - but he suggested a scarf. I don’t know if he was joking, but I guess I’ll find out when I give him this.
I finished a jumper (sweater for those in the US) using this pattern and this yarn and was so happy with it I cast on for a medium buttoning cardigan next size up. The boys are really happy with it. Having pockets is popular right now. A very plain design, the knit-purl patterns aren’t a big success, the little twist stitch bumps are okay.
Cheap yarn from an op shop - 60% wool 40% nylon - I thought it would be good for socks. We shall see. Top down with reversible cables in the 2x2 cuff. I’m not adhering strictly to the pattern, but its that sort of pattern that encourages you to experiment.
I was hoping this one would fit me with the extra repeat, but in this house its sure to fit someone. Bigger needles next time!
I used a mystery yarn - probably acrylic - hoping to get the hang of it to make another better one in the future, but now I’ve lost my copy of Knitter’s Almanac so on to other things. Dear son loves it as it looks like the crest of one of his favourite dinosaurs.
This yarn needed something suitably impressive to use it for. I found this pattern on Catherine Devine’s blog So much time, not enough patterns. Betty had some machine knitted jumpers (sweaters) and cardigans in her beautiful handspun with horn buttons and this is kinda working out a bit like those. I knitted a stripe in the lining to stretch out the brown wool then decided to write some morse code - remember reading that idea long ago.
Lots of garter stitch, but the sideways knitting keeps it interesting. The head worked out too small - the instructions say to knit as tight as possible so I used needles 3 sizes smaller than the main body. Next time I’ll just go 2 sizes down.