Silk Garden Mitts

I knit these as a Christmas gift for my sister. She never reads my blog so no worries about spoiling the surprise.

Pattern: Fingerless Mitts

Yarn: Noro Silk Garden

Embellishments: Silk ribbon, Turquoise Jasper, Rose Quartz and Amethyst.

River of Gold

AKA Vinyasa by Susan Pandorf.

I've been lusting after Susan's patterns for a while but being fairly new to lace knitting, and being prone to mistake making, I hesitated trying one of her patterns.

Vinyasa is a very easy pattern. Her directions are clear and the pattern is easily memorized. Of course that doesn't mean I haven't made any mistakes nor did I have to frog it and start all over, twice. But that's just me.

I would like it if she would include the pattern repeat in the specs. Otherwise, it's perfection.

BTW Vinyasa is my very favorite yoga style to practice and to teach.

Whisper Cardi

Finished my 'Whisper Cardigan'. It was an easy, straightforward knit, with no seaming!!! I like it so much I may have to knit another.

I really love the DIC 'Starry' yarn. It was soft to knit with, didn't split and I love how the subtle color variation adds texture and interest.


I embellished it with a lovely turquoise and sterling pin made by me and a sweet little vintage enameled pin.

Possibilities Aplenty

What am I doing with this yarn that I purchased from the Loopy Ewe a while ago?











I've got a good start on the 'Whisper Cardigan' from IK Spring '09.












Potentially perfect for the 'Pansy Golightly', the 'Lace Ribbon Scarf' from Knitty.

I'm a bit stumped on how to use 'Butter Peeps'. Maybe a pattern from one of the etsy shops I have in my favs.












I love this rose lariat from Timaryart's shop.
















I've really been wanting to try one of Caffaknitted's patterns.
What do you think?

A Sock is Born

I've finished the first 'Monkey' sock.

It's a little big on me but fortunately it fits DD perfectly.


Cookie's patterns look like they are all sized for medium sized feet. I'll have to figure out how to make them smaller or sadly I won't have any socks knit with her patterns.

Bouncey Beret

This beret pattern was a quick knit. My gauge swatch was a little tight, 3.75 to 4 stitches per inch rather than the specified 3.5, which was ok with me. The pattern photo made the hat look like it was a generous size. Even with this slightly tighter gauge mine turned out fairly big. I like the hat, but I think I'd like it better just a bit smaller. I'm planning on knitting another and will use either smaller needles or cast on fewer stitches.

Pattern Error
I found one error in the pattern.

For the final row 9 sts remain, you are told to cut the yarn, leaving an 18" tail and then to seam the hat. It doesn't tell you what to do with those live 9 stitches that are still on the knitting needle.
Leave the stitches on the knitting needle, cut your yarn (I cut it 24" and had just enough length).
Thread the end of the cut yarn through a tapestry needle. Draw the threaded needle through the 9 live stitches, dropping them off the knitting needle and gently tighten, closing the hole.
Now sew down the seam to the ribbed brim.

The yarn is absolutely yummy. I used 'Rustic' by Cascade Yarns. It was new at my LYS.
It's wonderfully soft and I love the subtle variegation.

New Technique: Knit One Below
Used in the above pattern.



Insert R needle into the K stitch below the live stitch on the L needle.



Wrap yarn knitwise around R needle.



Draw yarn through the K stitch and pull newly formed stitch plus the live stitch off the L needle.



Viola, new stitch formed.

I was a little hesitant to pull the live stitch off with the stitch knitted below, but it really works. Almost like magic :)
This technique creates a raised, somewhat elongated stitch and resembles ribbing in its look. The resulting fabric however is not as tight and elastic as ribbing. It just has an interesting texture.

No Shrinking Violet

The 'Big Ivy Scarf' pattern knits up into one hefty scarf. It was the cover pattern for the Fall 2008 issue of Knitscene and I loved it the moment I saw it.

I've been wanting to knit something with stranded colorwork and this pattern was perfect, small sections of colorwork interspersed with an open meshwork pattern. I had so much fun knitting this I was actually a little sorry when I finished it.

I couldn't find the Asian Trends yarn specified in the pattern. So, I substituted Berroco's Ultra Alpaca. The main color is actually a brighter gold shade. I just couldn't get the colors to photograph well.

Eenie Meenie

What project should I choose next?
I'm finishing several knitted projects and contemplating my next.

Something small?

The 'Enchanting Fur Hat' in Exquisite Little Knits.




The 'Multidirectional Diagonal Scarf' or 'Dayflower Lace Scarf' I found on Ravelry.




Or, the gorgeous but I-may-pull-my-hair-out-over-it, 'Nantucket Jacket' in the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits.

So much stashed yarn, so many queued patterns. Which one to choose? Maybe I'll just make a run to my LYS (local yarn shop) and buy something new ;)

Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers

I finally finished the 'Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers' from Stitch N' Bitch Nation.

It was an easy pattern to follow but, as I mentioned before, it does have some errors. So be sure to check these out before you start knitting.

The cable pattern is simple. Managing a cable needle and 4 double pointed needles made me feel like I was all thumbs;)

If you are new to knitting cables I would recommend you look at the 'Cable and Bobble Headband' in the Winter 2006 Interweave Knits. This was my first cable project and I found it very newbie friendly.

Waterlily Top

Waterlily Knitted Top

I loved knitting this top. It is knit from the bottom up on circular needles which means no side seams. Hurray! I've gotten much better at seaming my hand-knits but it's so gratifying to have a finished piece once the knitting is complete.

Well, almost finished.

There are two small seams at the tops of the shoulders. And one teeny tiny other thing.

Invisible or Provisional Cast-On
It was quite an easy pattern to follow. The only problem I had was with the invisible (provisional) cast-on edge. I had no problem following the invisible cast-on instructions provided at the back of the magazine. The problem came when it was time for me to finish the bottom edge. I just couldn't see my 'live' knit stitches. LYS (local yarn shop) genius to the rescue! She helped me find and place the stitches correctly on my knitting needle and sat with me while I finished that lovely little ruffled edge.

For future reference, my LYS angel told me to follow the instructions for the crocheted cast-on edge found in Sally Melville's book 'The Knitting Experience: Book One: The Knit Stitch'. I haven't checked out these instructions yet, but I will definitely look at them the next time a pattern calls for an invisible cast-on.

This pattern can be found in Interweave Knits, Spring 2006 issue.

Colinette Love
When I saw the yarn I used in this pattern it was love at first sight. I actually saw it in an ad in a Interweave Knits magazine a year before this pattern was published and decided I just had to have it. I tracked it down at my LYS. This is Colinette's Giotto yarn. A yummy hand-painted ribbon yarn. This particular color is called 'Popsicle'. Perfect, no!? I actually had it in my stash when the Spring 2006 issue came out. And even more amazing, I found it without too much searching.

I try to buy what I need (ok, want) at my LYS, but they don't always have the yarn I am after. I have found a wonderful on-line shop that carries a large selection of Colinette yarn. Flying Fingers Yarn Shop has a great selection of Colinette as well as other wonderful yarns.

I also purchased Giotto in the color 'Monet'. This is the color used in the Waterlily top pictured in the issue of Interweave Knits. I can certainly see the inspiration for the name of the pattern. The 'Monet' colorway definitely reminds me of Monet's painting. I haven't decided what I will do with this color of Giotto, maybe another waterlily top.

Color My World

Color Coding Knitting Pattern Charts
I like to color code knitting pattern charts. Some of the symbols used are so similar that I find I have to look very closely, double and triple checking, to make sure I am looking at the right symbol. This slows me way down!
By coloring the symbols with distinctly different colors it is much easier and quicker for me to see what it is I am doing.



Color Coding Knitting Stitch Markers
I like to use left over scraps of yarn as markers. I choose very different colors here too. In this case, one color marks the beginning of the round and the other marks where I am making increases in the pattern.

Work It

Reading a Knitting Pattern
After I buy that new 'just gotta have it' knitting book or magazine, I always make a photo copy of the pattern I'm working on.
Why?

I find it so much easier when the pattern lies flat and I'm not constantly trying to keep the book or magazine open.

Easier to transport. A few pages take up much less space in my knitting bag than an entire book or magazine.

I confess! I'm a bit of a perfectionist. I like to keep my books and magazines in good condition. My photocopy can get pretty ragged.
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I love sticky notes! 'Say it again.' I love sticky notes!

For patterns with charts I like to use them to mark my place so I know which row I am working in the chart. After I finish knitting a row I move the sticky note up the chart so it underlines the next row I need to work.
I prefer sticky notes to other methods because I find them less cumbersome. They stay in place and I can write little notes to myself to help me remember what I am doing in the pattern. And, if I lose one, there are plenty more on the pad:)

Knit Armwarmers

Beginning to Knit
I was so excited to get started on these 'Hurry Up Spring Armwarmers' from Stitch 'n Bitch Nation that I broke my #1 cardinal rule of knitting. Always check the pattern for errors BEFORE starting to knit. Oops, I didn't and oops it did.
I spotted the error after I'd knit it. I tried to fix it without frogging all of the work I'd done so far, but to no avail. After this false start I'm now well on my way.

Moral: Always check the web for errata before beginning to knit. I've found pretty much every commercially published book and magazine has corrections published on the web.
See http://www.knithappens.com/oops.shtml for pattern corrections for
Stitch 'n Bitch Nation
Stitch 'n Bitch
Stitch 'n Bitch Crochet