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 sweaterYarn: Magnum Soft, one 100g ball of white (I loved this yarn...really soft and springy)
Needles: 4mm circularChanges 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 :-)
......ok, so this blog title was supposed to be sung like this! ... aaahhh, Slade in the early 70's ... how cool is that ;-D....it has, however, got nothing to do with this blog post, other than the fact that I had the urge to sing Baby, baby, baby!, Noddy Holder style at the top of my voice :-D
The reason why?......OMG,we're going to be Grandparents! (once again, insert said song here!!!)....if vividly remembering early 70's glam rock didn't age me, then the grandma bit sure did :-)
I started knitting already.... I couldn't help myself! I used this free pattern for the white one, and the Simple Baby Cap #2 from Itty Bitty Hats for the yellow. I used an unknown 8 ply for the first one (the ball band was missing), and Shepherd Cuddles4Me for the other (I love this yarn...it has a really nice squishy feel to it). I had a second trip to Big W to buy some more for a matching jacket...can't wait to start it :-)
Tracy, thank you so much for the blog award!...I'm really happy that you read my blog :-D
(Sorry that it took me so long to reply!)
...another pair of easy, easy socks :-) They really are just a magic looped tube with a bit of tweaking on the toe and heel
Yarn: Just over one ball of Panda Zoomy (I used 115g)
Gauge: 12st x 19rows = 10cm on size 7mm needles
Using the Turkish Cast On, make 8 wraps of the needle (16 stitches in total, 8 for each side), then increase each side, every other round, until there are 14 stitches on each side. Continue knitting without shaping for about 20 rows, and then work half of the stitches on waste yarn for an Afterthought heel.
Finish the sock with a couple of rounds of stocking stitch and some ribbing before returning to the heel. Pick up the 28 stitches, and a couple of extra stitches each side to eliminate any holey bits, and decrease each side, every other round until there are 15 left....then it's just casting off the remaining stitches using the 3 Needle Bind Off.
These socks are great for wearing around the house in the winter ... warm, cozy, soft ... and they let you do an awesome Tom Cruise Risky Business style slide across the hardwood floor ...
not that I would do anything that silly of course ;-D
... although, I've 'heard' that it IS a great way to dust!
Finally....I have a knitting FO to show :-) (and just in time for Adelaide's cold snap!)
This was a jumper that I started in December after buying a bag of grey yarn from the Op Shop....it was just a mixed bag of assorted yarns in different weights and textures, that only cost a few dollars.
With knitting it top-down (thanks as always to Barbara Walker's 'Knitting from the Top'), I was able to knit each stripe until the yarn ran out. The first one I used was Patons Cottage Knit, which was a chunky, slubby mix - this determined the gauge (very roughly!), and the needle size. With the rest, I then just doubled or tripled them to give a similar gauge.
I added some shaping through the waist, with 4 darts, and by using a slightly thinner yarn.
The neckline had a 'roll' happening that would have been annoying to wear, so I just crocheted a row of htr's around the top to pull it flat...it still needs blocking to help it to sit better, but hey...that can wait until the jumper needs washing ;-D
....and of course, as ever!...for every one FO, there are one or two!!! UFO's waiting in the wings....;-D
...so...not a lot of blogging has been happening these last few weeks due to my rapidly failing camera...but I'm back, armed and ready with my new Fuji Finepix Z5, which (oh yeah!) has a blog ready photo setting :-) What to photograph first?...aaah my new book goodies :-D
I took a trip to Dymocks to see what new craft books they had...just browsing you understand ;-D (apart from these two, which just looked too good not to buy!).
To be honest, the Sew What! Fleece book wouldn't usually have gotten a look, but because it was in the same format as the Sew What! Skirts book, and knowing how awesome that book is, I flicked through it. If you look past the fact that everything is made of fleece (!!), there are some really nice, basic patterns (like the skirt book, they are based on your own measurements and marked directly onto the fabric). I was hoping that there would be a pants, tops, sleepwear edition in the Sew What books, but really, this book has a pattern for all of them :-)
now...off to find some pants fabric...more piccies to follow
....how exciting :-DAfter months of reading my copy of Knitting from the Top, I decided to have a go at a jumper with set in sleeves ... I usually shy away from the 'set ins' as the shoulder seams tend to bug me a bit...but according to Barbara Walker this method should produce "a smooth, unbroken band of knitting over each shoulder, which slopes diagonally downward from neck to arm, as a well shaped shoulder should, yet shows no interruption of the fabric anywhere". Well..I tried it! and yes, I gotta say that I'm pretty impressed :-) Thanks Barbara!
I used some of my $5 Wangaratta yarn from Lincraft in a slightly slubby 8 ply, with different coloured flecks in it. I thought this would help disguise any mishaps with my short row shaping, if needed (glad to say that they looked pretty good!)
Next onto the armholes! (I'm doing the body first method from the book, but I'm looking forward to trying the simultaneous set in sleeves next time)...Why is my head is always jumping forward to the next project!!!?
I've come to the conclusion that I've been way over-thinking this whole sock making process! Although I've been knitting pretty much my whole life, socks have never been on my to-do list...they always seemed to be too fiddly, confusing, requiring too much concentration, and not worth the effort considering they would probably be eaten up by the washing machine some day anyway!!....but!!....after seeing everybody elses awesome sock creations (oh how I love Ravelry ;-D) I really wanted to make some...this is where the over-thinking came in!... toe-up, cuff-down, 2 needles, 4 needles, magic loop, gusset, german heel, square heel, afterthought heel...????
So, I decided to stop thinking, and just start knitting :-) I used some thick 10 ply yarn from my stash with 4mm needles (2 circulars). After about half a day of trying out different cast-ons, I went with this one (by far the easiest and neatest). I did 8 wraps of the needles (16 stitches, 8 for each side) and increased each side, every other round, until there were 22 stitches. I then knit 29 rounds before adding the waste yarn for an afterthought heel (for which a lot of fore-thought went into!!), and continued for another 10 rounds before changing to a K1 P1 rib for 8 rounds. The heel was finished by decreasing each side every other round until 8 stitches on either side remained, and cast off by the 3 needle method, (just the opposite of the toes).
They were just so much easier (and less fiddly) than I thought :-)
The only change I will make for my next pair, is to make the heel bigger...I made this one on half of the stitches, but I really should have read my Knitting without Tears (Elizabeth Zimmermann) more closely, as she explains that a much better percentage is two thirds.
I now feel confident to try the sock pattern that my daughter requested from Love to Knit (Bronwyn Lowenthal)...the pattern is written for 2 needles, but as always, I have to do it different ;-D
I bought another bag of green Wangaretta Mill yarn for $5 from Lincraft, not really knowing what I was going to do with it (as per usual!). When I got it home, it matched great with some white Lang Arte that I bought a few years back (also from Lincraft). I was thinking of making a blanket with hearts, similar to Millie's Blanket, but wasn't too keen on how EZ's heart looked in the variegated yarn. The block I went with in the end, was this intarsia heart from Jan Eaton's 200 Knitted Blocks...I love the look and feel of this textured yarn :-)Taueret, I'm not sure of the content of some of these packs of yarn from Lincraft, but reading the forums over on Ravelry, some people have had some awesome finds, including Zhivago, Patonyle, Zoomy, Cleckheaton Country,
Cleckheaton Angora, Gusto, Country 8 ply, and heaps more. It's certainly worth while taking time to 'dig' through the pile...the selection seems to vary a lot between different stores though...(the selection at the Marion SA store is really good :-))
....Some new crafty books for my birthday last week, to add to my library...(thanks guys!)
(the Love to Knit book was a pressy from my daughter, on the condition that I make her the socks on the front cover!!!) :-D
I bought a load of $1.20 pillowcases last year, because I really liked the fabric...some I've set aside for making skirts or tops, some for making quilts, and some for general sewing....this one was screaming out to be an apron :-) (well ... 2 aprons!) The 'pieced' front is actually one piece of fabric (one whole side of the pillowcase)...and from my stash, I added a blue and white checked lining, and a white tie.
Quick, easy, cheap...and mighty practical ;-D
I was really excited this week to hear that my ipod hoody pattern had been featured on the Craftzine site (thanks so much to 2Paw for letting me know :-))
Since being featured, it has also appeared here and here!!
**very big grin**
The first week in December usually means gingerbread houses here...it also usually means a hell messy kitchen, falling roofs, the smell of scorched gingerbread, gingerbread either so hard that it breaks your teeth, or so soft that the walls cave in...it's a heaps good Chrissy tradition, but you get the general picture!?
Well this year, only one of my girls was game enough to give it another go...after googling for a new recipe (yep, they try a new one every year!), she went with the first one she clicked on, and OMG!, it was the best one yet :-) Tastes great, simple recipe, perfect consistency, and yes, a house that didn't cave in :-D WOOHOO!
I found a copy of Barbara Walker's Knitting from the Top on Ebay, and have spent the last couple of days reading it from cover to cover :-) It's not a pretty book, and it would certainly be overlooked by me at the bookshop, but reading everybody's praise about it, I knew that I had to have a copy (and I was so right!). The book relies on text rather than photos, but it is so well written that it all makes perfect sense, and makes everything seem so easy...I'd given up trying to master the Invisible Cast On, but on my first try with Barbara's instructions, I totally got it!!
I haven't done much knitting or sewing in the last couple of weeks ... thanks to the great aussie cold virus that everybody seems to have had :-(
...but I did make a start on some Pocketbook Slippers (easy, no think, no effort, stash yarn knitting). The weather is getting hotter now, so slippers were perhaps not the obvious choice...but hey they're quick and have a really clever construction.
Trying to be Sunsmart yesterday, I was looking for something to wear over my shoulders, and found this green One Skein Wonder that I made a while back (before I started blogging). It worked perfectly...just right for protecting my shoulders outside in the sun....and just right for inside, guarding me from the air conditioners.
I'd forgotten just what a cool top this is :-)
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
These are the specs:
