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Showing posts from 2012

Kid Seta - Lacy Infinity Cowl

  I love red.  Or at least reds with blue undertones.  We finally got a red that I really liked in Kid Seta  (Ruby) and I couldn't resist playing with it.  Fortunately one ball of Kid Seta goes quite a ways (300 yards of Lace weight mohair) and it can be worked on big needles. Anyone that has spent any time with me knows that when I travel I always have at least 1 or 2 projects (OK, sometimes more like 4-8, plus yarn to swatch) with me to work on.  Kid Seta has been in my knitting bag twice this year and I really appreciate how light the project is (and that I can easily carry it in my purse).  So, I was knitting while on a flight (and getting hopeful that I would be able to finish the project) when somehow the yarn got wrapped around some guy's foot as he passed my seat. As quickly as I could, I extricated myself from my seat (with my needles and project still in my hand) and chased after him, yelling, "Excuse me sir, please stop..." and finally caught up wit

Easy Lacy Scarf - Pluscious

I love new yarns.  They have endless possibilities and lots of suggestions as to what they would like to become.   Pluscious is a fun machine washable yarn and 148 yards per 100 grams.  It is great for baby toys, blankets, pillows, and more.  I wanted to try something different and throw together a scarf out of one skein.  It is amazingly soft and would be a wonderful scarf or shawl for someone that is sensitive to wool. Pluscious is similar is feel to Chenille, but it doesn't worm.  I found it easy on my hands and got a long scarf out of 1 skein. Materials 1 skein Pluscious (100% Polyester - 148 yd/100g ) - shown in color 02 (Open Seas) US 10.5 Needles Yarn Needle Abbreviations K - Knit YO - Yarn Over K2Tog - Knit 2 Together Cast on 16 stitches Row 1-4 K Row 5-8 K1 [YO, K2tog]* K1 (repeat from * to last stitch) Continue until reach desired length. Bind of loosely. Weave in ends with yarn needle. *For a wrap - cast on 40 stitches and use

Popcorn Scarf - Baby Alpaca Chunky Paints

  So, at the office we do Secret Santa.  Which means we have a drop dead date to have projects done by (aka deadline).  I'm actually doing pretty well this year - probably mostly because I decided to be realistic as to what I could actually accomplish before Christmas (we are not going to discuss the 4 other projects I am working on).  Last year I took on a rather large project (Feather and Fan wrap in Venezia Worsted) that ended up being taken from me on the flight from Peru back home. Fortunately I did get it back, but lost more than 8 hours of valuable knitting time (the flight attendant was obviously not a knitter - no knitter would actually risk ruining a project to use needles for anything besides knitting while they are occupied with yarn). Anyway, I digress.  Sadly, Secret Santa is not so secret this year - at least for the person that I have (whom also has me).  I thought it would be fun to try a Popcorn Scarf in Baby Alpaca Chunky Paints.  I used 2 skeins, but coul

Magnum Paints Uber Cowl

Magnum is a fabulous yarn for instant gratification knitting.  It is a glorious 250 gram hank with 123 yards of Peruvian Highland Wool that knits up very quickly on larger needles (US 15 - 19).  Now it even comes in Hand Paints! I have been waiting (rather impatiently) for the Paints to come in so I could actually see them knit up - and I am not disappointed.  It probably helps that I love reds and burgundy and that was the colorway (Red Mix) I got to play with.  I've knit a hat and a scarf in Magnum but had yet to make a cowl and thought it would be a great way to show off the colors! This works up long enough so you could wear it 3 ways - like a long cowl, double around your neck, or down on your shoulders.  I also came up with some variations where you could do 2 smaller cowls out of 1 skein or a narrower but longer cowl.  This ends up a pproximately 40" circumference (about 1.75 sts = 1" in pattern) x 10" long Materials: 1 skein Magnum Paints (sho

Lace Rib Beaded Ruffled Scarf - knit in Venezia Sport

While at Stitches Midwest, I took one of their market sessions with Deanna Van Assche for bead knitting and that it was one of those techniques that looked much harder than it was.  So I bough some beads (she sells the kind that are pre-strung) with the intention of designing something using beads.  I really do like the pre-strung beads as you tie the string that the beads are on to the yarn and slide them over.  This way, I did not have to worry about chasing beads on airplanes.    Last December, I had written a scarf pattern for Kim in our office to make with Venezia Worsted and never got around to making myself.  It had a ruffle on each end and a simple lacy rib pattern for the body of the scarf.  I thought the beads would be beautiful at the end of the scarf and I absolutely love an excuse to play with Venezia Worsted . So I picked a lovely shade of purple that matched one of the colors of beads that I had purchased.  Then I sadly realized that Venezia Worsted was just a b

Bentley's Hat - Fixation

So, I was in upstate New York last week and was getting some serious knitting time riding in planes and cars (after 4 days of Stitches East) and stopped by a cute shop (no it wasn't a yarn store) that was selling a hat.  I looked at the hat and realized I could probably come up with something pretty similar and that Fixation would be better than the cotton it was knit in since it was stretchy and machine washable and dryable.  I probably noticed this hat in the first place, because a friend is expecting her first child (a little boy to be named Bentley - although I may have butchered the spelling) and I was trying to figure out something to make that would be somewhat special.     So, I whipped out my handy black sheep measuring tape, measured the brim and drew a quick sketch when I got back to the car.  Then, I realized that the one color I had of Fixation would simply not do for what I had in mind.  Fortunately, I was visiting yarn stores and was able to find a more appropri

Market Mitts - Casablanca

I have been wanting to create a pair of quick mitts for Casablanca and was pleasantly surprised that I was able to get 2 pairs out of 1 skein - 1 woman's and 1 man's (or large woman's - as it fits me).  They knit up very quickly and are super cozy.  I had them end farther up on the fingers - where you could still use your fingers, but also stay warm. I divided the skein approximately in half to try to get the mitts to match.  Also, I placed the marker before I got to the thumbs - one 3 stitches before the marker for the beginning of the round, the other 3 stitches after the beginning of the round. Materials  1 skein Casablanca - shown in 07 US 8  - DPNS Cable needle (or smaller DPN) 3 stitch markers (2 in one color and 1 in another) Abbreviations K - Knit P - Purl SM - Slip Marker PM - Place Marker C8F - Slip 4 stitches onto a Cable Needle, Hold in Front, Knit Next 4 Stitches, Knit 4 Stitches from Cable Needle C8B -  Slip 4 stitches onto a Cable

Football Hat - Cascade 220 Sport

So, it's fall, which means football in a lot of households.  Last spring, I figured out some colors in both Cascade 220 Sport and Cascade 220 Fingering that would work for all of the NFL teams.  I had the idea for a hat that could be adapted for any team colors. Cascade 220 Sport is one of my favorite yarns to work with - it plays well on the needles, comes in more than 70 colors, and there are 164 yards per 50 grams. Materials: 2 skeins - Cascade 220 Sport - shown in MC (9573) and CC (8903) US 4 - 16" Circular Needles US 6 - 16" Circular Needles US 6 double points Stitch Marker Yarn Needle Abbreviations: k - knit p - purl kfb - knit in front and back of same stitch Using US 4 Cast on 120 (108) stitches with CC (8903) Join in round - careful not to twist, place marker P1, [K2, P2], to last 3 - K2, P1 After 2 rounds change to MC (9573) Cont in 2 x 2 rib for 2" (1.5") Change to US 6 Increase - kfb - K9 (K8) 12 times Knit fo