Lion-Neck

It's not very often, in fact I can't remember ever buying a knitting book and wanting to make pretty much every pattern in it, until my copy of Custom Knits arrived from the Book Depository last week. OK, I say pretty much because I can't see the City Cape Poncho happening for me at this time, but hey, who knows ... I've been known to change my mind before ... :D

To decide which pattern to start with first, I did a quick stash check and found that I had 10 balls of Moda Vera Shiver (the same yarn that I just used for my Super Birthday Sweater) ... yep, I bought a heap a while back when Spotlight were selling it off for a dollar a ball!

So after checking out what my fellow Ravellers were saying and knitting, I cast on for the Lion-Neck Cardigan on page 43. (Really, what did any of us do before Ravelry? .. love it, love it!)

This pattern was fast! I was listening to audio books on Librivox (the perfect multitasking ... knitting and reading), and completed this jacket in two mystery novels, A Strange Disappearance by Anna Katharine Green (1880) and The Agony Column by Earl Derr Biggers(1916) :)

If I make this again, and I think that I will be, I'll omit the sleeve shaping completely, to make the fitting look more like the one on the model :)

I can't decide yet whether or not to use the ties ... ?

The Super Birthday Sweater

I can't begin to tell you how much I love this Super Birthday Sweater from Blue Alvarez! It's the first top down pattern that I've seen that divides the neck edge cast on stitches into quarters as apposed to thirds ... it kinda put me off making it for a while, thinking that it might sit funny when it was on, but I've gotta say that it's totally awesome :) Fits great, sits great, was as easy as, and best of all .. I followed the pattern without changing anything ;D (well, other than omitting the middle stripe!) ... oh, and it's a freebie :)

I used 9 balls of Moda Vera Shiver from Spotlight, (some of which I frogged from a previous sweater) and size 7mm needles. It was really fast to make, beautifully written, and has inspired me to try more top downs with the quarter divisions ... love it :)

Girly things

.... so here is the reason that I've been a slack blogger of late ... a brand new grandbaby :) ... pretty good reason don't you think ;D

It's been good to make some girly things, there are so many awesome things to make (notice her cool 'itty bitty baby dress' from this post) ... I love it!

I would have liked to be making tiny knitted cardies and hats, but unfortunately, long sleeved woolens are not of much use for an aussie summer baby, but I did love this Confection Shrug pattern. It's a bit big, but totally cute (and practical :))

And thanks to Kate Atherley for this super-easy training sock pattern. The socks were my first venture into cuff-down, heel-flapped socks. It was so easy to follow, and came out so good, that I'm looking forward to making some adult sized ones ... thanks Kate :)

... and then some sewing :) .... on an op shopping trip a while back I bought some upholstery fabric samples for $5 with the thought of making a quilt ... I loved the colours and designs but decided that the furnishing fabric might feel a bit rough, so instead, we now have a very sturdy, reversible play mat for the new little miss :)

KCWC Days 5, 6 and 7

I have really enjoyed my week of making kids clothes :)

...my end of week round up is this toddler hoody and baby cardi

Another Kwiksew pattern for the hoody, this time from Sewing for Toddlers. I don't have an actual copy of the book, but the pattern insert was in the babies issue from the op shop (it was good getting an unexpected bonus, feel bad that somebody may have the toddler book without the pattern sheet though!).

...and the cardigan was once again, the 5-hour sweater that I made here ... cut my knitting down this time by not doing the sleeves, but think the 5 hours would have still been a push (didn't think to time it!) :)

Flinders Sweater Vest

I had some balls of Sean Sheep Flinders yarn in my stash from a Big W sale way back, so I thought I would try a top down sweater vest for myself. As I was knitting, the yarn had a really nice, soft silky feel to it ... but ... as soon as the knitting was finished, it started to go baggy and feel kinda lifeless :( I'm not too sure how it's going to bear up to being washed (think I do sort of know the answer though!), which is a real shame because I love the way that it turned out ... and... I'd already started another one the same in pink (I might have to wash the grey one before I decide whether or not to finish the other) ... oh well, it did give me chance to work out a cool sweater vest pattern (and it did only cost me 50c a ball :D)

So for future reference, and a different yarn, here are the specs:

4.5mm circular needle

3 balls of Sean Seep Flinders ... maybe?!

17sts to 24rows to 10cm

Aussie size 8/10 (32/34")

Cast on 62 stitches

K1 place marker (pm) k15 pm k30 pm k15 pm k1

Purl 1 row

Knit increasing either side of marker

Purl

Repeat last 2 rows until there are 9/31/46/31/9 stitches ending with a purl row

Knit to 1 stitch before marker, increase in next stitch

Cast off 30 stitches

Knit back stitches to 1 stitch before marker, increase in next stitch

Cast off 30 stitches,

Knit to end

From here, work with 3 separate balls of yarn

Purl first set of stitches, rejoin yarn and purl second set of stitches, rejoin yarn and purl third set of stitches

Knit, increasing at armhole edge as before until there are 11/50/11 stitches

Purl row

Increase at front edge as well as armhole edge on every knit row until there are 21/60/21 stitches

Now increase at front edge on every row as well as armhole edge every knit row until there are 25 stitches

Cast on 10 stitches, work to end and join fronts

Knit in the round without increasing until work measures 11cm from underarm

Knit 21 pm k20 pm k42 pm k20 pm, knit to end of round

Knit to 2 stitches before marker k2 together, knit to marker, pass marker and ssk (slip 2 stitches purl-wise onto right hand needle, insert left needle into front of stitches and knit them together) repeat the k2tog and ssk at the next 2 markers, knit to end of round

Knit 10 rounds and then a decrease round

Repeat last 11 rounds 3 more times

Knit 2 purl 2 rib for about 4 rows

Cast off

Rejoin yarn to neck edge, and pick up 108 stitches and work 4 rounds in k2 p2 rib

Cast off

Rejoin yarn to sleeve edges, and pick up 58 stitches and work 4 rounds in k2 p2 rib

Cast off

Stephanie's Boobholder

I needed a warm cardi or jacket to wear out last saturday night ... it was only saturday morning that I realised I didn't have anything in my wardrobe to match the rest of my outfit. I had some stash yarn that was the right colour and was thick enough to knit up fast, but even so, I thought it was abit much to think that I could complete it in an afternoon! (but of course, I had to give it a shot :D) ... so, armed with my 2 balls of Katia Himalaya, Stephanie Japel's Boobholder pattern, a cup of tea (several actually!), and some old Taggart re-runs on TV, I set about knitting :D

Ta-daa! ... five, non-stop knitting hours later, it was finished (I even had a perfect button in my stash!). I wore it on saturday night, over a black long sleeved skivvy ... it fits great and feels great, and kept me nice and toasty warm on a cold Adelaide night :)

(The only changes that I made to Stephanie's pattern were to eliminate the puffy sleeves, and to decide, by trying it on, when to divide for the body and sleeves)

Sweater vest weather

I thought that it was about time to make some more winter warmies :)

....so... my first attempt at a sweater vest for the littley of the family came out 'a tad' too big, lol (I think that it can be
packed away until at least next year...forward planning don't ya know ;D). I took the measurements from my 16 month old grandson's shop-bought vest, did all of the calculations, and used the instructions from Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top. It was a really easy, seamless knit, think my mistake was not allowing for the huge amount of ease in stocking stitched knits ... ah well, least I know that for next time :)

For the second attempt, I used my Knitware software to be sure of a better fit ... success!...it does fit better, but it also has hilariously funny armholes that make him look like he's wearing shoulder pads :D

...and just to finish off the green-ensemble...a pair of Sucky Thumbs from Marianne's awesome pattern (fast, easy, and they fit! ... thanks Marianne :))

Engineered in reverse!

So....I don't know whether to feel a bit good because I managed to copy an awesome baby's jacket from Big W's latest winter range,

or whether I should feel a bit bad for 'stealing' their idea ... (there is a bit of redemption in the fact that the yarn I used was bought from their store!?!) ... anyhow, imitation being the greatest form of flattery and all that, my daughter asked if I could make her a jacket similar to this one in the new Big W catalogue ... (sorry for the blurriness). I already had all of the yarn except the orange in my stash, so after viewing it in the shop, I went home and set about knitting :)

There were some things that I hadn't

tried before ... the knitted on hood with the back 'seam' increases, the zip and placket, and the curved diagonal pockets. I'm really happy with how they all turned out, other than the hood is a little too pixie like (something that I can work on next time). I made this 'test' jacket in a small size (about 6 months), and have now started a bigger one to fit my grandson, who

will be about 18 months when the colder weather arrives in Adelaide. I love what I've learnt along the way, and now have plans to tweek the next jacket to get it just right :)

(In my enthusiasm to get the jacket finished, I forgot to write down all of the construction notes, but this is what I remember of the basics: I used 8ply yarn on size 4mm needles, knitted it top down from the neck edge starting with 54 sts, divided into 24 for the back, 12 for each front and 3 for each sleeve. I increased until there were 52 for the back, 26 for the fronts and 31 for the sleeves. Each colour bar has either 2 or 4 rows of reversed stocking stitch. The body from the underarm is 26 rows, and the same for the sleeves. The pocket started at the top with 8 sts, increasing 1st at rows 7,11,13,15,16,17,18,19,20, then worked straight for about 8 rows. The neck stitches were picked up for the hood, with a stitch marker in the centre back, and then an increase stitch either side of this on every other row, until the hood was the correct width (my first attempt was pretty bad, or actually pretty good if it was being made as a Christmas Elf costume! My second attempt was slightly better ... but not heaps ;D)

... sketchy details I know, but hopefully enough to get some more made :D)

Still de-stashing

...yes, the de-stashification process is still going strong :-) It has been hard to stop myself from adding to my supplies (I came very close to caving in at Spotlight this morning!)... buuut... so far, so good :-D
It took me a while to figure out what to make with my two lonely balls of Sean Sheep Armytage. It's too scratchy for baby things, and far too prone to accidentally felting for a teething, drooly bub (although it would have made an awesome looking earflap hat!), so in the end I settled on my old faithful,' go to when in a knitting funk pattern', the One Skein Wonder. I followed the pattern without modification, phew!!, and it pretty much saw all of my two balls :-)

I made a few pairs of toe-up socks. The white pair here were made with some old 'no label' acrylic, and the pink ones were Lincraft Cosy 8 ply wool. They're basically the same sock, 8 ply yarn with 4mm needles. Turkish cast on (12 sts) increasing to about 24 (or whenever the sock fits snuggly over your toes), work straight in any stitch (on my lace pair, I did plain stocking stitch on half the stitches, for the sole). I tried a Short row heel this time, instead of the Afterthought one, and really surprised myself with how easy it was, although I do need to practice it more to eliminate the little holes on either side. After the heel it was just ribbing on all stitches until I was happy with how they felt on :-) I found this elastic bind off, which made a heap of difference to getting the socks on and off!
....and finally, I attacked my fabric stash, and started making random quilt blocks...not sure what I'm making with them yet, but I'm pretty sure that a baby quilt will be following shortly ;-D

Just using what I've got ...

...seriously, I need to stop buying yarn and fabric! I do know that I have tried this before, but this time I'm going to try really, really hard!! I have got so much stuff that it's gonna take me forever to use it! I'm on a definite mission to drastically de-stash - use what I've got as far as possible without going to the shops. I guess the only exception will be to buy buttons and things to finish off items, but I will try my hardest to make do :-) (I'm slightly worried that Big W will do one of their annual yarn sell-offs soon to make room for the summer stock, and if that is the case, I'm not sure that I can resist buying 50c balls of yarn!!!... but, we will see) :-D


...so, to start me off, I made a couple of things from my stash :-) The sweater actually started off as a Bad Penny, but after wearing my other one for a while, realised that I didn't like the wool so close to my neck ... too itchy, so I frogged and used the yarn to make this basic top down, scooped out neck version instead (this time I just made the pattern up as I went along). I still love the Bad Penny pattern, but just not with the Sean Sheep Armytage that I was using. I thought that I only had 5 balls of yarn, so I just knitted down until I ran out (I then found another ball in my stash, after it was finished, but by then, I couldn't be bothered to lengthen it. I just tend to tug at it now if it rides up :-D) The bag was made with some fabric oddments that I got from a local sheeting seconds outlet (Talking Textiles at Christie's Beach) ... at the time, I think I got 10 various sized pieces for $1. Not bad, a bag for $2! The free pattern is here. The only thing I will change on it next time, will be to place the internal pockets nearer to the bottom of the bag. Other than that, it's perfect ... comfy to carry, great size, especially since South Australia banned all plastic check out bags from supermarkets. My everyday bag now has to be big enough to fit in my small shopping bags and my Woolworths roll up ones ... oh, and I quite often have a nappy, bottle and dummy to carry as well :-D

Quickie Mini Mitts

I wanted some baby mittens to match the hat that I made a couple of weeks ago ... I tried about 4 or 5 different patterns, but none turned out how I wanted them to look ... so I thought I would try taking the parts of each pattern that I liked, do some knitting pattern fusion, and this is what I came up with :-)

Quickie Mini Mitts

This pattern fits about a six month old, but with it being a top down pattern, it's really easy to adapt to whatever size you want (just continue the increases until it's the right width, and then just keep trying them on until the length is correct).

The yarn and gauge don't really matter either ... I used Moda Vera Harmony with size 5mm needles, which knitted up to 18 stitches and 24 rows.

Using Emily Ocker's cast on, cast on 8 stitches.
Knit 1 round.
Knit front and back into every stitch.
Knit 1 round.
Kfb, k6, kfb, kfb, k6, kfb.
Knit 1 round.
Kfb, k8, kfb, kfb, k8, kfb (24 sts)
Continue knitting around on these stitches for about another 13 rows (I used the magic loop method).
K1, yarn forward, k2tog across the next row (eyelet row).
Knit 4 rounds.
Purl 1 round.
Knit 1 round.
Purl 1 round.
Knit 1 round.
Cast off.
Make two wrist ties to thread through the eyelets, and one long connecting cord to attach both mitts. I found that the easiest and neatest way, was to do a simple crochet chain, but an i-cord or ribbon would do the same :-)
(Emily Ocker's cast on is awesome ... I've been trying to get my head around it for ages, ever since I read about it from Elizabeth Zimmermann ... I just couldn't figure it out from Elizabeth's instructions, so googled it, and came up with the above link ... really it's heaps easy and really effective ... I also found a version used for starting crochet circles, which is pretty much the same thing ... it's called the Magic Adjustable Ring)

Some quick knitting

After being asked by Paula over on Ravelry if I could give crew neck instructions for my Baby eyelet cardi pattern, this is what I came up with. (I've made no allowance for buttonholes, as I think I'm just going to add one or two rows of double crochet around all of the edges). Cast on 44 stitches. With stitch markers, separate stitches into 10 for each front, 2 for each sleeve, and 20 for the back. Work in stocking stitch, increasing one stitch either side of the markers on every knit row until you have 22 stitches for each front, 26 for the sleeves, and 44 for the back. The cardi can then be completed the same as the original version :-)

My other quick bit of knitting this week, was my new i-pod cosy...this really was the quickest project ever, taking just a scrap of 8 ply yarn, a 4mm circular needle, and about half an hour of knitting time :-)
Using the double knitting method, cast on 14 stitches. Knit until your i-pod is nice'n cosy, then remove the stitches from the needle, and reposition them so that you can knit them in the round. After doing 3 or 4 rounds of ribbing, cast off...no seaming or finishing is needed! These new generation i-pods look like they would be heaps easy to scratch, so after declining the advice of the sales guy to purchase an expensive (and ugly) silicone sleeve, we came home and made our own....of course :-D

Lincraft Blossom (Blossom Tee)

...so here's the way that it usually goes...I see discounted yarn and buy as much as I can afford, or carry, or both!!! (but of course, that's just a given for all yarnies, right?). My next step is usually to take it home, drool over it, plan a million things to make with it, and then put it into storage bins for future use (:-D)...but, this time I was on a mission to use what I bought straight away :-)

Lincraft had a discount bin next to the check-out with their own brand Blossom for 24 cents a ball (24c!!). By the time that I spotted it, there was a very lonely, sad looking, 3 balls left. A trip back there a couple of days later found another 2 balls :-)
I didn't know if it would make a full length top, or whether I would have to stop at cropped, but making it top down, meant that I could just keep going until the yarn ran out.
I made it to fit a woman's size 34" at a gauge of 13sts to 22 rows over 4", on size 5mm needles.



BODY
Starting from the top, cast on 42 stitches
Knit 1 row
Purl row, placing stitch markers after stitch 1, 11, 31 and 41
Knit row, increasing (knit into front and back of stitch) both sides of the markers
Purl row
Continue the last 2 rows until there are 15 stitches for each front, 38 stitches for each sleeve, and 48 stitches for the back, ending with a purl row
Increase into 1st stitch, knit to marker, place sleeve stitches on spare needle, knit to next marker, put sleeve stitches onto another spare needle, knit to end, increasing into last stitch (place stitch markers at both underarm seams)
Work 8 rows, increasing 1 stitch at both ends of every row
Start to knit in rounds starting at centre front - knit to first marker (use this marker as your beginning of round)
Knit 9 rounds
Knit round, knitting 2 together at each side of markers (decrease round)
Knit 3 rounds
Decrease round
Repeat last 4 rounds 4 times more (72 sts)
Knit 15 rounds
Knit round, increasing at each side of markers (increase round)
Knit 3 rounds
Repeat last 4 rounds 4 times
Changing to size 4.5mm needles, knit 1 purl 1 rib for about 12 rounds
Cast off

SLEEVES
Place sleeve stitches back on a size 4.5mm needle and pick up 2 stitches at the underarm (40 sts) place a marker in the middle of the 2 extra stitches
Knit 1 row
Rib 3 rows
Cast off

NECK
Starting at one of the back raglan placements, pick up and knit 102 stitches evenly around neck opening
Rib 3 rows
Cast off



Ta-Da!! ... straight from Lincraft to my wardrobe, without having a stop-over at my stash pile...!!

Free pattern - Baby eyelet cardi

After finding out that our new grandbaby-to-be is going to be a boy (can you see this beaming smile on my face?!!), I decided to design and make him this cardi. I made the green one first as a test run, and changed what I didn't like about it on the blue...(which was basically just the neckline). This pattern is written for the new and improved blue version :-)

2 50g balls of Patons Zhivago Baby
4mm circular needle
4 stitch markers
Gauge: 19sts x 25 rows = 10cm
Size: newborn
K=knit
PM=place marker
Increase=knit into front and back of same stitch
M1=make one stitch by working (K1, yarn forward) at beginning of row, and (yarn forward, K1) at the end of row
Decrease=K2together


Starting at neck edge, cast on 26 stitches.
Row 1: K1, PM, K2, PM, K 20, PM, K2, PM, k1
Row 2: Purl
Row 3: Knit row, increasing 1 stitch at each side of markers
Row 4: Purl
Row 5: Knit row, M1 at both ends of row, as well as increasing at each side of markers
Repeat rows 4 and 5 until there are 24 stitches for each front, 26 stitches for each sleeve, and 44 stitches for the back, ending with a purl row.
Putting sleeve stitches on a spare needle as you come to them, K24 stitches from 1st front, cast on 3 stitches (for the body underarms), K44 stitches from back,cast on 3 stitches, K24 stitches from 2nd front (98 stitches)
Start eyelet pattern:
Row 1: Purl
Row 2: K2*Yarn forward K2together K1. Repeat from * to end
Row 3: Purl
Row 4: Knit
Repeat the last 4 rows until there are 8 eyelet pattern repeats, finishing with row 4
Cast off loosely
Turn up at the last eyelet row and stitch to inside, to form the picot edge
Return one set of sleeve stitches to the needle (I worked my sleeves seamless, using a circular needle and the magic loop method, but they could just as easily be worked on double pointed needles, or straight needles and seamed later)
Rejoin yarn and either cast on 4 stitches, or pick them up from the stitches cast on for the body underarms. Place a marker in the middle of these 4 stitches to denote the beginning of the row. (30 stitches)
Working in Stocking Stitch, decrease 1 stitch either side of the marker on every 10th row, 3 times
Work 3 rows
Work 1 row of eyelets (Yarn forward, K2together K1)
Work 2 rows
Cast off loosely
Turn up sleeve at eyelet row and stitch into place on the inside
Work 2nd sleeve to match
Sew on buttons to correspond with eyelet rows. Depending on the baby's size, the cardi can be buttoned using any of the eyelets as buttonholes.

... Love to see piccies if anybody uses the pattern ... :-)

**instructions for a crew neck version of this cardi have been added here**

My Six Hour Baby Sweater

I know that technically, this is the pattern for the Five Hour Baby Sweater, and although I tried extra hard to knit faster....I just couldn't do it in the five ;-) It's really easy to knit, and I love all of the different variations of it....this one was intended to be the holey yoke version (same as the holes around the bottom). I realised my mistake when I was nearly finished the yoke. Thinking that it looked pretty cute the way that it was, I decided to leave it. To achieve the holes, what I should have done on rows 9, 13, 17, 21, and 25, was to pick up the horizontal loop and knit into the front of it...my knitter's brain told me to knit into the back (for neatness)!!... I'll try the other version next time I knit it, and I should probably make it bigger as well...this one is tiny and by my guess, it should probably fit our new Grandbaby for....oooh, at least a week!! ;-D

I kept track of my progress, so that I could time how long it took....these photos were taken after every hour of knitting....









These are the specs:

Pattern: Five hour baby sweater

Yarn: Magnum Soft, one 100g ball of white (I loved this yarn...really soft and springy)


Needles: 4mm circular

Changes to pattern: I added 3 buttonholes as per these instructions, and I undid the ribbed cuffs and did 4 rows of garter stitch instead (the garter stitch made the cuffs bigger, and were, I thought, more in keeping with the other garter edges)


I really loved knitting this, and it will definately be my new 'go to' quick baby pressie knitting pattern :-)