Daughterly News

Last month I travelled to visit with my daughter and son-in-law in North Carolina which was a lot of fun, wish I could have stayed longer.

It was only for a few days so I brought only two projects to work on. A baby blanket and the second Bayerische sock.

On the way there on the plane I put a ball of yarn in the seat back in front of me and naturally walked off the plane without it so I couldn't work any more on that project. When I picked up the Bayerische sock I remember too late that one of the needles had broken, since I forgot about that I hadn't brought any extra needles in that size.

Now I was project-less.

Not to worry - daughter took me to three local yarn shops. At one I bought a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn which the shop owner wound for me and I was back in business. By the time I got home I had almost finished the first Pomotamus sock. I really like the Malabrigo sock yarn - very nice to work with and the colorway is pretty too.

My daughter learned to crochet within the past year and likes to do amigurumi.

She designed and worked this dragon up herself - isn't it adorable?

For Mother's Day she made this sheep for me - it is just too cute.....

A few weeks ago I started a pink baby sweater with this pattern from Garnstudio......just as I was closing in on finishing the sweater my daughter and son-in-law called to let us know that we'd become grandparents next January - yay! Double yay for someone to wear the sweater (ok, I know it could be a boy, I'll just have to make a blue sweater too).

Ariel Socks - Updated

The Ariel Sock Pattern is now available on Knit Picks through their Independent Designer Program.

This pattern has been updated with a redesigned toe - I think it looks much better.

This is the fourth time I have knit this sock design and it is fun every time, these socks really seem to knit quickly and fit very well (Stacey at Knit Picks tried them on for a photo for this blog post and told me that they fit her perfectly).  I really liked the new Knit Picks Stroll Tonal yarn.

Ariel Socks are worked cuff to toe, instructions are given for double pointed needles, and the stitch patterns for the panels on the front and back are charted but the two charts are very easy to follow as there are only 7 patterned rows/23 stitches/very few symbols.

 

Check it out on Knit Picks or in my Ravelry Store.

A few more things..

Twisted Stitch Socks
I love the look of twisted stitches (knit through the back loop); that really makes the pattern stand out.


Ordered this book from Knitpicks:

The stitches look best if all rows are twisted so an object knit flat would have to have stitches that were 'purl through the back loop' and that can be awkward, so it would be easier to work twisted stitches in a project done in the round i.e. hats, socks, mitts, etc.
I am looking forward to playing with some of the stitch patterns in this book for a pair socks soon.

In the meantime I knit this sock design using two similar type of stitch patterns from other books in my library. Loved the feel of the yarn, not crazy about the pooling but I do like the colors. It is really difficult to take a decent photo of your own feet!!

Yarn: 

Twinkle Toes by Chameleon Colorworks Dyeworks & Fiber Studio; Merino/Tencel, 1 skein, 100g equal 360 yards, Color: Peacock

Pattern:

My own design

Son In Law Socks

Finished the second sock, although these look like argyle they are actually fair isle.

Remind me not to knit with three colors on the same row again.

Here's David showing off his new socks:

Life is better with good lighting.......

Last week I bought the cutest little "Mini Ott Light" at Tuesday Morning.

It is so much easier to knit in the evening with the bright light that this provides, should be easier to knit dark colors - I'd like to make a black shawl one of these days.

Gnocchi Scarf

The other day at Kirkwood Knittery, Susie was working on the cutest scarf made from Gnocchi by Lana Grossa.  

It reminds of cattails and looks like cotton balls when knit up.

This is the simplest and quickest project, it is nothing but garter stitch.

You knit the chain between the puffs.

You would think it would have been easy but I can make things so hard 

I cast on too many times to count:

Didn't see any option but to use a backwards-e cast on.

Very bulky stuff, first needle I tried (size 9) too small to keep control.

Also I am a continental knitter but found that it was easier to work this 'yarn' by throwing with from my right hand. Frog.

Change to Size 11 Denise needles, cast on and knit a few rows. Too tight.  Frog.

 Settle on Size 10.5 Denise needles, cast on and knit a few rows.

Still seems loose, maybe I should twist the stitches. Frog.

 Cast on, knit a few rows with twisted stitches, still not right. Frog.

 Cast on and knit a few rows regular.

Looks weird along the side edges, puffs sitting vertically v. horizontally across the row.

Don't remember Suzie's looking this. Frog.

 Look up this yarn on Ravelry. See 8 similar projects. One is by my friend Anita who noted that she slipped the first stitch of every row.  Cast on and knit slipping the first stitch - should I slip knitwise or purlwise? Try a few rows both ways. Decide on purlwise. Frog.

Cast on and knit about 8". Hold it up to check my progress. Slipped stitches are tighter than the other stitches causing the scarf to bow/arc at the bottom edge. Frog.

Decide that life would be easier if I'd ever learn to put KISS into practice (keep it simple, stupid). Keep it simple: Cast on 8 stitches with backwards 'e' method. Knit 8 sts. Turn. Knit 8 sts. Turn.  Finally - success! Well, success until I reach the bind off....

Regular bind off, too tight, frog the bind off

 What would work? Needs to be loose like Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.

Couldn't remember exactly how that went and I was too lazy to look it up.

Decided that my bind off needs backwards 'e' 's to be similar to the cast on.

Here is what I came up with:

  *Knit one.
  Create a backwards 'e' stitch with the chain between the next two puffs.
  Pass the knit over the 'e'.
  Knit the next stitch.
  Pass the 'e' over.**
  Repeat from * to ** to the last stitch.
  Bind off previous stitch and draw the tail through the last stitch.

Final step: Sew (with matching thread and needle) in all the ends.

Voila - Finished!!

Fall Finished Objects

Beaded Scarf

This was a fun project, nice yarn, pretty colors, easy pattern:

Very Pretty Yarn:

Swiss Mountain (65% Cashmere/35% Silk) by Handmaiden from Loopy Ewe.

Beads:

Size 8 from Ladybug Beads.

Pattern:

Center portion of Waves of Grain by Rosemary Hill available free at Knitty, Fall 2008.

Recipient:

Lovely daughter.

Twisted Candle Flame Cardigan

As I wrote in a previous post My friend Gerta lent me her copy of "Omas Strickgeheimnisse" and I was enchanted with the stitch pattern "Tulpen mit verschrankten Maschen".   Not sure what that translates to but I'm calling this Twisted Candle Flame Sweater:

Yarn:

Adrienne Vittadini Alexa,

100% cotton tape yarn, worsted weight;

16 skeins, 50g and 100 yards per skein,

purchased at Kirkwood Knittery.

Stitch Pattern:

Twisted Candle Flame from Omas Strickgeheimnisse.

Buttons:

From Joann's.

Designer:

Me

Cute Baby Sweater

I saw this cute ball of yarn at The Weaving Dept. at Myers House - tucked inside the ball are darling little buttons and two sweater patterns (cardigan and pullover).  It isn't the greatest yarn (lots of thick and thin) but it turned out cute, it's machine washable and was quick to do - now we just need someone in my family to have a baby who can wear it!

Yarn/Pattern/Buttons:

Cotton Kisses by Plymouth Yarn Companypurchased at

The Weaving Dept at Myers House.

One skein, 200g, 396 yards

Stitch Pattern:

Made it up.

Recipient:

To be determined.

Sock in Progress?

I love the glitter sock yarn from Berroco and bought a skein in pink/green/orange.  

Of course after many swatches I couldn't settle on stitch pattern.

In the meantime I ordered some Gloss sock yarn in Black from Knitpicks.

I thought it would be nice to have some black handknit socks - what was I thinking?

Very hard to see to work on black yarn. Need to try some better lighting.

It occurred to me that I could combine these two yarns and came up with this. Finished the first sock but it is loose at the ankle even though done on 64 stitches with Size 1 U.S. needles; the Gloss sock yarn is a bit on the heavy side.

This may end up in the frog pond.

More to follow soon...............

Poor Neglected Blog

....it was a busy summer; that's my excuse for neglecting this blog for so long.

It was also the best summer ever in St. Louis for gorgeous weather.

Most of our summers are excessively hot, humid and miserable.

This year there was only one week in June that was miserable.

Other than that week the rest of the summer we have had the most gorgeous tolerable summer weather anyone can remember.

So to pick up where I left off.......our daughter was married on July 11, 2009:

 

They are so cute together! I think they both look so very young.

It's hard to fathom that we have a married daughter.

Her husband is a U.S. Marine and returned to duty in Iraq shortly after the wedding,

so our daughter continues to live with us until he returns to the States (could be October).

She has started her own blog and is working on making jewelry (including stitch markers!) and fimo clay characters (trying to convince her to do buttons!)

My friend Fran is not only a knitter but a spinner and weaver.

She wove this lovely dishtowel and dishcloth for me: 

My friend Barb is an amazing knitter, quilter, embroider.
For my birthday last week she made this darling tote bag for me,
it even has my name embroidered on it:

It's a very cool turnabout to have hand-crafted objects made for me!

Finally finished the second entrelac sock.  But there was not enough yarn to finish the toe so I substituted a plain off white sock yarn which is why the toes look different color-wise than the rest of the foot.

This sweater is really comfortable, I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

It hangs better on me than my mannequin since she is way smaller than I am.

The yarn is Southwest Optimum DK purchased from Flying Fingers.  It is so soft
and drapey that it feels more like cashmere than 100% wool.

I began at the bottom and by the time I had knitted to the waistline I had tired of
knitting the German Herringbone stitch pattern (First Treasury of Knitting Patterns
by Barbara Walker) even though it is one of my favorites.

So I chose a coordinating stitch pattern and worked the bodice in two pieces:

left wrist to center back/front and right wrist to center back/front, joining at the center back.

This meant that unblocked there were little poofs of stitches at center back, but they blocked out flat (yay!)

The bodice stitch pattern is Reverse Fern Stitch (Charted Knitting Designs; a Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns, also by Barbara Walker

I started a lace sweater design using stitch patterns from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush, and cashmere laceweight yarn from Colourmart, but so far only one sleeve is complete:

I saw these these darling slippers here on Ravelry. 

The pattern is written in several languages (including English) and was actually quite easy.

The heel is worked first, then stitches are cast on for the foot and the rest is worked in round ending at the toe.

The pattern begins by casting on at the top of the heel section, working decreases to the center of the heel, then increases to the bottom of the heel, and finally seaming the heel along the sides before casting on additional stitches for the foot.

I worked it a bit differently casting on at the base of the heel and working increases
in the round.

I was a little disappointed that the gray yarn in the kit is several shades lighter than what is pictured above, therefore the fair isle detail does not show as well since there is not enough contrast between the two yarn colors.

There are often projects that are unsuccessful which I have not included in this blog.

Last spring I did a tank top that was just awful and now I can't find it so I'm not sure if I ripped it out and hid the yarn or simply trashed it.

Now here's another work in progress tank top and I'm not sure if I want to finish it or not.  I would need to rework the bottom of the skirt for a few inches.  The yarn is bamboo that I bought from the mark down bin at Kirkwood Knittery.  There were several skeins of  turqoise and two skeins of multi blue/white color.  The crossover portion is inspired by a design that was in Knitter's magazine.  The top is knit in a slip stitch rib and the skirt is the 'wrong' side of Half-fisherman's Rib.

This sock is for my favorite son-in-law, David.
Hopefully he will like them.
Hopefully they will fit.
Hopefully I am motivated to knit the second sock.

The yarn is by Universal Yarns purchased at Kirkwood Knittery.

My friend Gerta shared this book with me, which is written in German.  I'm in love with several stitch patterns from this book, especially a version of the candle flame pattern done in twisted stitches.

In my stash I had 16 skeins of Alexa (a tape yarn by Adrienne Vittadini).  This Twisted Candle Flame sweater is my current work in progress.  I've completed the fronts and the back and have begun the sleeves.

And that concludes the synopsis of MakeOne's 2009 summer knitting......