Matchy-Matchy

You all know about the Quercus Socks? Well, when I originally saw the Oak leaf motif and decided to reverse engineer it to the oak leaf and acorn motif, my plans were for a sweater for Bill - who has a thing for Oaks. But at the time I didn't have the money for a sweater's worth of yarn, so I contented myself with making him a pair of socks. Then our birthdays rolled around (they are about a week apart, so we we make it a week long celebration) and my Mom - who had admired the socks and listened to me babble on about how much I love the pattern and had really wanted to make a sweater - gave me the money to buy yarn!

I spent weeks reading through my Elizabeth Zimmermann book collection and scribbling diagrams and calculations on post it notes, and finally it was time to cast on.





I settled on a mash up of EZ's Saddle shoulder sweater and Saddle shoulder hybrid with shirt yoke constructions from Knitting Workshop. Using some slightly altered numbers for EZ's Percentage system from Jacqueline Fee's Sweater Workshop.





the Oak panel is modified/reverse engineered from pictures of several different sweaters featuring one similar, and an Oak leaf motif (with no acorns) available at the The Knitting Fool The side cable patterns are from Barbara Walker's Treasuries with only minor tweaks to help them fit.





Overall I stuck to the regular saddle shoulder pattern (every round body eating, then sleeve eating, then a few more body eating, before doing the saddles) but made the saddles a bit wider – somewhere between the with of the normal saddle shoulder and the width of shirt back variation – by doing fewer sleeve eating decreases, and then just knit the back half of the saddles over the back of the sweater to meet in the center like the shirt back variation.





I was originally going to do a full width oak motif on each sleeve, but I decided to only do half, which made fitting everything in a bit easier, but I still wanted it mostly centered on the side of the arm, so what I ended up doing was knitting the panel centered on the outside of the arm and doing the increases so that they formed a sort of visible seam along the inside of the arm, but then working the last two increases on only one side of this ‘seam’ to push the motif towards the back. (I attached the sleeves to the body with the center ‘seam’ well… centered)





This still left the motif a bit more centered over the top of the shoulder than I wanted so I converted a handful of the single body-eating decreases into double decreases to eat up the extra back sleeve/saddle stitches - effectively shifting the ‘center’ of the saddle towards the front. I still ended up with the back saddle one stitch wider than the front, but I don’t think it’s terribly noticeable or detrimental to the fit.
I had so much fun knitting Bill's sweater that I started to really want one of my own, and since Mom had given me more than enough yarn money...





I made a few minor tweaks: making the arms shorter and the upper arms a bit bigger around, adding a few more stitches around the body and more short rows across the back.





I Love the sweaters and now Bill and I can be all Matchy-Matchy when we go the Rhinebeck this year!





Yarn: Knit Picks WOTA Superwash in noble heather and persimmon heather
Needles: US size 6 (4mm) for the ribbing and US size 7 (4.5mm) for the rest.
Ravelry project pages: Green, Orange


Bill's sweater has about 4-5 inches positive ease and mine has about 1 inch negative ease.





I made a Ravelry pattern page here for the sweater and you can download the rough recipe I used and the charts from there. Just be warned it's really rough and I don't know how well it will adapt to other sizes. No matter what, you should really read Elizabeth Zimmermann's Knitting Workshop sections on sweaters, especially the saddle shoulder variations, or my instructions may not make very much sense.

Socks and other exciting things.

So It's been a while since I posted about them – my poor toe-up Bayerische have been languishing while I worked on other things. But I finally got my behind into gear and got working. Once I sat down and worked on them exclusively the knitting sped past and it didn't hurt that I was very eager to wear them. I love the pattern!




yarn: Knit Picks Stroll Kettle Dyed in Jay
pattern: Toe-up Bayerische (rav link)
Ravelry Page


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And in other sock news I've been designing again!


First up:
Is It Spring Yet?





I had a lot of fun putting these together, I love the lacy twisted stitch and cable flowers and the lovely Lacey vine ribbing on the back give the leg lots of stretch.





from the pattern page:


Winter just seems to keep going. Everything is cold and covered in snow, and all I really want to do is get outside and see some color! These socks are all things I wish I could be seeing outside by February: bright flowers and trailing vines and leaves of spring! The front of the sock sports flowers highlighted by twist stitches and cables, while a twining cable climbs up the side and an undulating vine rib decorates the back.
This sock is 72 stitches around, please feel free to knit a a gauge that will give you the best fit.
Options for both a Short Row Heel and a more traditional style Gusset/Flap Heel are offered.


Available via Ravelry for $3.00







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and even more exciting, I have a pattern for sale via Knit Picks too!


Quercus Socks





I designed these with Bill in mind. I Love the oak leaf motif, and Really wanted to make a sweater with it, but didn't have the yarn for one. The oak motif would not get out of my head, so I finally gave in and started poking around a sock idea and this is what I came up with.





from the pattern page:


This is an earthy toe-up sock, originally designed for my husband. The central oak leaf and acorn panel is flanked by an engaging yet simple twisted stitch braid, with a lace style ribbing on the back of the leg reminiscent of rows of little acorns. The pattern invokes feelings of hiking through an English forest.
This sock is 73 stitches around, please feel free to knit at a gauge that will give you the best fit.
options for both a short row heel and a more traditional style gusset/flap heel are included.





you can purchase this pattern for $2.99 via Knit Picks

now in print!

Hey everyone!


I'm just stopping in to let you know that I've been published*!


That's right! Come the new year, if you are looking for a new calendar, pick up the 2014 Knitting Pattern a Day calendar, and you will find my Felted Fish Cat Toy pattern on May 5th!




* Ok, it's kinda cheesy since I wasn't paid for the pattern. I entered it in their contest to win money, but didn't win, and all runners up were put in the calendar. But still... published!

Hey! long time no see!

So I've been super busy living life and enjoying my time with TW, but I have a ton of stuff to share with you!

Still no progress on the shawl, I really should get myself an audiobook and buckle down, but until then, I’ve finally finished the big blanket!

For size reference, that's our queen sized bed.

(yes, I had to stand on a chair to take that picture, it was scary.)

It's nice and soft and cozy and warm, and I finished it just in time for a summer heat wave, so it hasn't gotten much use yet, but I foresee lots of cuddles come winter time.

And just because, here is TW modeling it for you:

Yarn: my hand dyed hand-spun

Needles: size 10.5 (6.5mm) knitpicks options

Pattern: a bastardized Shetland Shawl construction: I cast on three stitches and knit the middle panel, increasing every row until it was big enough, and decreasing back down. (a la Grannie's Favorite Washcloth). Then I picked up stitches all along the edge and knit in the round increasing at the corners until I ran out of blue yarn, then I did a sideways knit on edging in white, ending it back at the beginning with Kitchener stitch.

It's meand to be big and warm, and not need any blocking if it needs to be washed.  I can simply squeeze out the water and pat it out in a rough square shape and let it dry.
(My poor pi blanket got dirty soon after TW was born and it still hasn't been blocked since we don't have the room for it here.)

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Bill's socks are coming along nicely, I have one more pattern repeat and then I start the ribbing.

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And as the weather has finally started to cool off a bit we can start turning off the AC and opening the windows, which means pleasant breezes... and slamming doors. So I’ve had to get back to the little mousy doorstop. I picked up a nice heavy stone for his base today while out on a hike so I can stuff him and finish up the rest of his head. Then its just a quick nose and a couple of ears!

(although I do have to admit that he looks a bit creepy right now.)

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In other crafty news, my poor juggling balls have been sitting on my bedroom bookshelf for ages, ever since the old bag fell apart in the wash, so I decided (with the inspiration from my new friends on the FB Project Project group (hi guys!)) that it was time to make them a new bag.

It was super simple, just the leg off of an old pair of PJ bottoms, and a kumihimo cord made from cotton yarn. But now my juggling stuff has a happy new home, and I have more room for books on my self!

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Before I made the juggling bag I decided to try my idea out on a pair of jeans first. Then I got the nifty idea to make it a set, so I whipped up a few denim bean bags to go with it. (the aren't filled yet, since I need to pick up some of those little plastic pellets first, but I have a craft store trip planned for the near future for some other crafty projects, so I'll pick some up then.)

I have a friend who juggles also, and since I certainly don't need any more balls, I may give them to him.

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I have a few more crafty ideas in the works, and I'm trying to keep up knitting regularly, (even with the lack of a weekly get together) so hopefully I'll be back soon with more updates!

arbres!

Knitting moves slowly along.

There wasn't any Monday night knitting for a few weeks because of the holidays, and then because if Bill's work schedule getting in the way, I couldn't go the last few weeks, and the holidays also got in the way of Saturday knitting a bit, but I have been knitting a little: I'm about halfway through the trees on my sheep shawl:

and I'm on the fourth and final ball of blue for my hand spun blanket (no picture because it doesn't look much different.) once I finish that I'll cast on a few stitches and do a sideways knit border with the last two balls of white. I can't wait until I'm there, it will be fun to see exactly how big this blanket is.

I'm feeling a little miffed about knitting out though. Because the Monday knitting is so much earlier than when it was at Flavors a lot of people can't reliably make it, and the people at More Bread and Jam are (understandable, and rightfully) thinking of not staying open any longer for it. And Saturday knitting isn't really all that fun for me because all the ladies that go there already know each other from other things, which means I'm usually out of the loop on their conversations, when anybody shows up, that is, one day I was the only one there and while it was nice to have tome to just sit and knit, it was also kind of lonely. And then the last time I went the two other ladies who showed up sat off at another table and talk to each other and essentially ignored me the whole time. So I'm not even sure if I want to continue to go to that either.

Despite all the roadblocks to finding actual knitting time, I have been able to get a new pattern posted! It's and oldie but a goodie: I knit it a long time ago, but never really got around to formatting everything up properly until recently. It's been test knit a few times, and some errors were found, and I just the other day fixed it all up and you can now download the Arachen's Veil Shawl pattern!

have fun with it!

Pattern Palooza

Part of the isolation over the last two months has been because was working on two new patterns.

The first one you have seen before:
The vacation headband



It is now available as a free download from Ravelry:
here, as a PDF
(Do not worry if you don't have a Ravelry account, you can still access the pattern!)


The other pattern has also made a short guest appearance here:
The shamrock tam, the pattern was originally put together for a stranded colourwork class I am teaching, but I had so many requests for the pattern I finally decided to put it up for sale :


Pattern will be available for US $3.00

The Shamrock Tam: $3.00

change purse tutorial

as promised, here's the tutorial.pattern for the little change purse I made yesterday.
be warned there are a lot of pictures. (you can click on each picture to get a bigger view)
if you would like, you can also view the tutorial as a slide show from my flickr album


gather your materials
you will need:
2 4x6 pieces of fabric, a short zipper (length isn't too important, so don't worry if all you can get is a longer zipper), sewing machine and thread, scissors and an iron.


fold each of your pieces of fabric in half, with right sides together. Press.


With zipper closed, place the zipper in the fold of one of your fabric pieces. Center the fabric on the zipper, making sure the pull tab is out of the way.


Sew along the folded edge


Unfold fabric and refold wrong sides together, press. (be careful not to melt your zipper!)


Repeat on the other side of the zipper with your other piece of fabric.


press again.


Unzip the zipper so that the pull tab is "inside" the fabric.


Fold the zipper in half so that the teeth are on top and the fabric pieces are together.
Sew each end of the zipper several times along the edge of the fabric.


Trim away the excess zipper, being careful not to cut where you just sewed everything together.


Making sure that the zipper pull tab is in the center of the fabric. Unfold the very top and very bottom piece of fabric so that you now have two flaps of fabric (right sides together) above and below the zipper.


Sew along first one side, then the other side. Making sure the back stitch several times over the zipper to secure it.


Sew along the top edge (the piece that will be the outside of your purse, if you are unsure which end this is, it's the one where you can see the top of the zipper and the pull tab from.)

Then sew along the bottom edge, leaving about an inch gap unsewn in the middle. Trim your corners. And trim the ends of the zipper flush with the fabric. (not shown in the picture)


Pull everything right side out through the gap you left in the inside bottom edge.
Make sure to poke out your corners. And sew up the hole.


Push the lining fabric inside the change purse, making sure everything is neat and tidy, and admire your handiwork!

Doily head

I recently met a very nice woman online who goes by the handle "doilyhead" we both share an interest in lace, and she has done a lot of work inquiring about copyright and public use of old patterns. Hopefully you will be seeing some of her projects appearing here as I test knit for her. You can see some of what she has done at her flicker page here

One of the fun things she has done in her spare time has been to convert old doily patterns into berets, this inspired me.

So I decided to try my hand at it:



I call her the Star of the County Down after a song by one of my favorite bands, Emerald Rose.

The lace pattern is not directly from any one doily, but more my take on a common theme that I have seen in many doily patterns. The results aren't nearly as spectacular as what Doilyhead had come up with, but I'm pretty happy.



I am offering up the pattern for free, but, you won't find it here.
I have become so smitten with Ravelry, and I think it has a lot to offer even to the casual knitter. There is still a waiting list to join, but it is moving very quickly now, and they plan to go public very soon. They have recently offered PDF hosting and downloading of free patterns available to all users, and this is where you'll find my pattern. The pattern page is here. enjoy