Last Minute Tam.

Having not enough information about family gatherings sucks. I just found out that there'll be one happening as early as next weekend and I've had nothing ready for my father in law's belated X-mas/early birthday present.

Not wanting to miss the opportunity to give these gifts in person - and avoid having to go to the post office! - I hurriedly began knitting. So far this was the result:

Now it's time to start on a scarf. I'm sure he will actually need these things once he's up here, considering the fact that he lives in Texas and probably won't be prepared for our weather!

Fir Cone Scarf.

After knitting for a bit over a year, I finally made myself a scarf! My first cabled scarf was a gift to my sil. Next scarf was a feather and fan scarf which I gave to my gmil for X-mas. Not to mention the board knit ones I've made for several in-laws throughout last year, when I was learning news stitches.

Finally it seemed that I had the time - and yarn - to make something for myself. I chose lace, but it still had to have some substance to keep my neck warm, so Fir Cone was the solution. Another reason for picking this traditional lace pattern is the fact that I'm lazy and prefer mindless knitting to stressing out with chart memorization. Nothing wrong with that, I just don't have the stamina, though I wish I had for certain patterns.

There's nothing to this scarf and if you know how to knit and purl and a couple decreases, you'll be set.

It was knit with Joann's Kashmira. A full skein - practically - and in green because I can see the usefulness of this accessory for St. Patrick's day. Feel free to use black, or any of the other 4 or 5 extra colors they have. Incidentally, I might purchase a cream skein of it in the future and try to dye it, because the yearn is great, just doesn't have a lot of variety in terms of colors.

The Scarf begins with a long tail cast on as usual. after 4 stitches are cast on, place marker and follow up casting on 21 more stitches, place marker again, cast on the last 4 stitches.

The 4 initial stitches will form your right garter boarder, while the 21 stitches in the middle are used for a single repeat of the Fir Cone pattern and lastly, 4 stitches will complete the left garter boarder.

Knit two ridges in garter stitch (knit all rows for 4 rows) and start Fir cone Pattern as follows:

Row 1 (and all wrong side rows): Purl across, with the exception of the first and last 4 stitches, which will be knit to form your garter boarder.

(RS) Rows 2, 4, 6, AND 8: (knit the first 4 stitches for the garter board, slip marker) K1, yo, k3, sk2p(slip 1 stitch, knit the next 2 stitches together, pass slipped stitch over them), k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, sk2p, k3, yo, k1. Slip marker and knit the last 4 stitches.

(RS) Rows 10, 12, 14, 16: K2tog, K3, yo, K1, yo, K3, sk2p, k3, yo, k1, yo, k3, ssk. Don't forget to proceed the same way as before to form the right and left garter boarders.

It's pretty mindless and quick to memorize. You'll need a lot of stamina to knit up a whole skein in this fashion, but I'd not begrudge you if you decided to end it much sooner. Just remember to leave enough yarn to knit 2 ridges of garter stitch at the end (in order to match the beginning) and remove it with your preferred method. I decided to use a sewn cast-off just to experiment and I must say that I rather like it.

Ganomy Hat: done

It's finally done at almost 2:00 am on Friday. It did take close to 5 days, but I did slack a bit this week.

Hopefully DH won't be put off by the thought of resembling a garden gnome - though he's far from being as short as one.

Sweater Dress

My small yarn order arrived yesterday and I immediately began working on what I thought was going to become a baby raglan.

Being foolish, I decided to use an 18" doll as my model. Measures taken, quick calculations, I was set to knit something double the size of the doll, thinking that a baby would fit in it easily, with room to spare.

But oh no! What I ended up with was a sweater bigger than the doll, but too small for a baby! So it became a sweater dress and another failed experiment. At least the doll looks reasonably cute in it.

Oh and if you'd like to reproduce this for whatever reason, here's how:

You'll need a size 6, 16" circular (or size to obtain gauge -- aprox. 5 stitches/inch) and same size dpns. Worsted weight yarn was my choice for this.

There's not much to this sweater at all. For starters, I cast on 80 stitches on the 16" circular and knit 2 ridges ( 4 rows total) in garter stitch -- alternate purling and knitting rounds -- and worked in stockinette for 36 more rounds. Then 8 stitches were placed on scrap yarn for each armhole.

The body was set aside and the sleeves were worked on the dpns- which I hate, but they are a necessary evil here -- and knit 20 stitches for 20 rounds, placed 8 stitches onto scrap yarn and joined with the body at last. Once the sleeves are placed diametrically opposed each other, it was a matter of knitting for as long as I wanted the armholes, in this case I wanted an inch or so, so I worked 8 rounds and placed markers where each sleeve begins and ends. From here on it's down to decreasing stitches before and after each marker until sleeve stitches are eliminated and it's time for complete removal.

I removed the piece as soon as I finished decreasing all sleeves stitches and there were more or less 50'ish stitches left on the needle. You may keep decreasing or work the collar, but I wanted a lose and elastic neck opening to make it easier to pull the sweater over the doll's head.

You can certainly make this in one solid color, but I thought of adding red to spark some interest. The sleeves were knit in the contrasting color and once I joined them with the body I chose to knit 8 rounds in grey before I switched to red, but you don't have to wait to start knitting with your contrasting color of choice once everything is united in the same needle. In fact, had I pondered this a bit more, I would probably make the same decision.

The hat and scarf were knit on board and loom of course and are identical to the previous accessories I made last week, with exception of the hat having a knitted on I-cord border.

So there you have it... the dumb baby sweater turned doll dress.

Doll Half Loomed Set

American Girls Dolls were not popular where I grew up, so when my mother in law mentioned them, I had to ask 'what are they?'. It turns out they make pretty good models for my knitting experiments.

This one was left behind by my sister in law when she moved and she came barely clothed. Her thin cotton dress can hardly keep her warm in our place. Partially because it gets really cold here during the winter - more than other homes I frequent - and partially because I'm too cheap to turn the heater on regularly.

So I began knitting her some warm clothes. Nothing fancy, but if you want to know how I did it, here's the recipe:

Hat:

(Materials):

• 20 yards (aprox.) worsted weight yarn
• Blue KK Round Loom (or any 24 pegs loom)

Instructions:

• Cast on the entire loom. You'll be working on the round.
• Knit 5 rows of garter stitch (alternate rounds knitting and purling until you reach round 10)
• Knit 14 rounds in stockinette or twisted stockinette
• Thread a blunt needle with matching yarn and remove the stitches from the pegs with the gathered method.
• Turn hat inside out and pull your thread and tie a neat bow.

The Scarf is knit on a knitting board, using 5 pegs and in simple stockinette. I knit for 40 rows, removed and placed some fringe to add a little interest.

You'll notice that everything is kept really simple because the yarn I had was already interesting enough. I tend to choose between colour or texture when I make something and since the yarn was the variegated/tweedy kind, I decided to eliminate texture and fancy stitch patterns.

The sweater is a proportion yoked sweater from Knitting Without Tears and knit with a 16' circular and on dpns.

I'll be attempting to create some trousers for this poor thing whenever I have more yarn.

Frankenberry Jumper

I'm beginning to question the viability of recycling sweaters. Working with reused cotton was a pain. However, it wasn't just the yarn that created a bit of a problem for this creation.

Not enough pegs on the looms was bad, not to mention that I was a bit off with gauge and proportion calculations. I think the idea behind it is still valid.

Here are my vague notes and directions to attempt knitting this monstrosity:

Cast on the KK round blue loom and knit 10 rows in garter stitch. Switch to stockinette and knit for 40 more rows. Repeat this process for the other sleeve.

For the body, you'll cast on the yellow KK loom and knit for the same amount of rows. Now the fun begins.

Place 4 stitches of each of your 3 tubes onto some scrap yarn and transfer the remaining stitches from the looms onto a 24/20 or even better: 16" circular needles. I used a size 8, which was the closest to the gauge on the looms for me.

Join the sleeves and body and knit 4 rounds of stockinette. Begin decreasing 2 stitches at the beginning and end of the sleeves every other round.

I cast off when I got down to 32 stitches or so, because I was afraid that if I kept decreasing I might end up with too small of a collar opening.

I know these directions are so vague, but I just wanted to share how this experiment went. I'm sure that if I keep tinkering with it I'll find a way to create a baby yoked sweater sooner or later.

Finished!

I'll call it done, though there's room for improvement. I'm just glad I had enough yarn to finish it! Next time I'll be sure to order 2-3 more skeins just to be certain.

The "high" I'm experiencing right now is just too much. Completing this garment just gives me a huge sense of accomplishment, although the pattern isn't mine and there were moments of frustration and anxiety. All due to my own stupidity though. Next pullover I make, I'll eliminate the panic and be certain I'll have enough to finish the project.

Re-starting

After a lazy day in front of the television, I've done some good progress on the Open Collar Pullover. I'm loving it, but I know lots of people would be put-off by the incredible amount of repetition. I think I'm halfway towards the arm opening now.

So it's back to my knitting and finishing off New Year's dinner. Wish you and yours a great 2008. I'll be making my knitting resolutions after a beer or two!

Open Collar Pullover Body.

Child Scarf

Here's a "pattern" for a better late than never X-mas gift if you're interested. It's mindless knitting and only requires that you keep track of which weaving pattern you just finished.

You can knit this in an afternoon if you're in a hurry.


Materials:

• Any knitting board with at least 14 pegs in each board side. I used a 22" KK Long Loom.
• 3-4 oz. bulky wool. You may need more depending on how long you'd like it to be.
• Loom Pick
• Row Counter (optional)
• Crochet Hook
• Scrap Yarn
• Scissors

Instructions:

• Cast on using the anchor yarn cast on method (instructions for this cast on can be found at the instruction section of http://www.knittingboard.com) The amount of pegs is up to you, just keep in mind that a stockinette boarder of two rows will run along both sides of the scarf.With that in mind, you'll need at least 10 stitches to show off the criss-cross pattern.

• After knitting the first row, begin criss-cross stitch pattern (also found in the instructions>stitches area of http://www.knittingboard.com).
  

• (If you have a row counter) click away the first row you completed. Every odd number from here on signals that you executed the first weaving pattern, which has you beginning the weaving at the top 1st peg and bringing it down to the 4th bottom peg.
  

• Next Row: Start weaving at the top 1st peg, but bring the yarn down to your 3rd bottom peg. Every even row will use this weaving pattern. A row counter should come in handy to remind you of which weaving pattern you're supposed to start with at the beginning of each row. A piece of paper would also take care of the job. A third solution is to make 2 yarn rings of contrasting colours. For example, a blue ring could represent even rows and red would be odd rows, which you'd switch accordingly every time you complete the first or second weaving pattern.
  

Continue alternating even and odd weaving patterns until you reach the length you desire. Once such length is accomplished, apply your preferred removal method and weave in ends.


Wool scarf knit for my nephew.

Dusk Cardigan

Stefanie Japel's Puffed-Sleeve Feminine Cardigan is indeed stunning, but -- of course -- I had to deviate from her pattern because right away I wanted to skip the peplum and get this: I wanted to turn it into a ballet wrap cardi instead of a conventional button up one.

And... it didn't work. Now I'm agonizing over the decision of frogging up to the sleeves, or making it work as is by adding side buttons. As seen in the photo, I completed the entire body before I decided I hated the idea of a wrap.

With that in mind, I won't be back until I re-knit hundreds of rows and finish this project.

Happy Christmas~