Major Knitter

Knitting Math

It's late.  I'm tired.  I can't even do my simple knitting math.  After my last post, I ran to the Knit Nook and looked at the navy blue Sirdar Snuggly yarn I purchased for a generic baby blanket several years ago from my LYS - Knitting Central.  I have six skeins (or 300 grams).  I should have enough to make a lovely baby blanket.  I decided to knit a swatch to see how many stitches I would need to cast on.  Here's my swatch.

I used US Size 7 rosewood circular needles and cast on 20 sts.  My swatch is 4 inches wide.  After many deep breaths (to clear the cobwebs out of my sleepy brain) I realized that if I wanted to make this blanket the same dimensions as the original Oh So Soft Baby Blanket I would need to cast on 160 sts.  Will it work?  Can I simply double all the numbers in the original pattern and make this work using the single strand of DK weight yarn?  I think I'll give it a try.  You know, because I have other things I should be knitting.  But this has distracted me.  Bright shiny object.  Twinkle.  Sparkle.  Distract.

Driven to Distraction

DThey say that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery.  Well, I can't tell you how tickled I was to discover that there has been some traction with my Free Baby Blanket pattern - Oh So Soft Baby Blanket.  In fact, it's got a file on Ravelry.  I found this, quite by accident, while surfing my bloglines favorites and came across Dani's Blog - Yea I Knit.  I noticed the blanket and had a slight delay before it dawned on me that she was making my pattern.  Smile.  Little jump for joy.  I decided that I would knit up another OSS Baby Blanket.  I was heading to the movies, so I grabbed the first pair of bamboo circular needles I found and left.  In the end, I had a US Size 13 instead of the 15 recommended - but it doesn't really matter.  My blanket will be slightly smaller, but it will still by soft and fluffy (the double yarn and the extra large needles makes this blanket extra comfy).  BTW, in the end, I did not knit while at Atonement.  It's probably just as well.  I don't think I could have knit and wiped my eyes dry at the same time.  I always bawl at movies.  Don't worry - that's not giving anything away.  I bawl at Hallmark commercials and Disney movies, too.   

Last night, our friends Adam and Erika joined us for game night.  Adam is Anglo-Polish and got us hooked on this great game which his family calls Polish Poker (also called Polish Hearts and Kierki.)  We played for several hours while I tried to make progress on my Oh So Soft Baby Blanket.  I used US size 13 circular needles and 2 skeins Red Heart Soft Baby powder yellow (color #7321) and 2 skeins Caron Simply Soft white (color #9701).  I decided to see how quickly I could knit this up and after one day, I am halfway done.  I have probably knit for 4-5 hours so far.

If you make this blanket, you can use any yarn.  In fact, I have some lovely yarn for a smaller car seat blanket that I bought a few years ago.  I might make one using a single strand of that yarn and US Size 6-8 needles.  Hmmmm.  I think I should go knit up a swatch now.  Ooops.  There I go again - driven to distraction.  It's a wonder I finish anything. 

While Cleaning Up the Stash...

... I found this long abandoned stroller blanket.  It's a small baby blanket knit up very quickly on us Size 13 or 15 circular needles while holding 2 strands of baby yarn together at the same time.  It's a very basic basket stitch so it has some interest to it.  What do you think?

Why was I cleaning up my yarn stash?  Well, I brought up about 10 bins of yarn from the basement and started the process of trying to organize it on the shelves of my Knit Nook.  It's going to take awhile before it looks just right, but at least all the yarn is up from the basement. 

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There is a great deal of leftover charity knitting yarn in my stash.  In fact, it's the bulk of the 10 bins of yarn that I brought up from the basement.  And lots of baby yarn that I accumulated, because there's always a baby somewhere about to be born and you can never have too many baby blankets in the wings just waiting to go to a new home.  Oh - and there's one whole shelf of sock yarn.  At least there's one whole shelf of sock yarn that was in the basement.  There are still several bins of my good yarn for current WIPs or soon to be WIPs and the sock yarn explosion bin which are neatly stored in my closet.

Hey!  I hear BF snorting over there.  He's coughing to cover up the hysteria at that last part about being "neatly stored".  OK - maybe my closet is utter chaos.  It's OK.  It's mine.

Anyway, with all this yarn, I was happy to read Margene's post today which referenced making Magic 28 socks.  She's planning on making some for the Dulaan Project.  I have lots of worsted weight wool left over from my felting frenzy days.  I'd love to knit up some Magic 28 socks to add to my contributions to the Dulaan Project.  Let me go find some yarn now.

The Patterns Are Posted

I finished another American Girl Doll shawl and have posted all four of the free patterns here.

They all use US size 5 needles and Lion Brand Micro Spun yarn.  They can be used for any doll or even a teddy bear.  I hope you'll make some for some little person in your life today.  They're so easy you'll want to make them all.

Finished Prayer Shawl

Curious George is modeling the finished Simple Horizontal Prayer Shawl made with 2 skeins of Homespun and US size 13 circular needles (40" length).  Doesn't he look smashing?

Here's a side view

Here's a close up of the detail and edging.  Click here for FREE PATTERN or download the PDF file Here - Download microsoft_word_prayer_shawl_horizontal_stockinette_w_photo.pdf

Winter Knitty is Up!

The winter 2005 Knitty is up!  Check it out here.  There are many patterns that I like, but this one caught my eye as the most alluring.  Did you guess that it was Tempting II?  You probably did.  Unfortunately, it's not the best pattern for my body type, so I probably won't be making it for myself.

I have a confession to make.  I've only made two patterns from Knitty.  Really.  I like many of the patterns, but there are just so many things I want to knit out there and so little time.

You might remember this pattern that I made for my son's 5th grade Egypt project.

And I made these for Haley and her friend from our old neighborhood in New Jersey and even a niece (who thought it was a skirt).  I don't think I ever posted pictures... and now I think the pictures disappeared into never never land.

Which patterns will you make from the winter Knitty?

Happy Halloween

Do you think there's still time to knit this up for trick-or-treating this evening? 

Thanks Joanne for pointing this one out to me.  I don't know how I missed it.

Photo Gallery

Rachel wrote to me to tell me about her finished Oh So Soft Baby Blanket

Just finished the Oh So Soft Baby Blanket and I was so excited, I had to get pictures and put up a picture immediately!! [Click HERE to see Rachel's finished blanket]

Hello! I emailed you about two months ago, asking a question about the blanket, and I am finally done! It looks great--thought you might enjoy checking out the photos.

Thanks so much for posting the pattern. I'm sending it to my boyfriend's brother and sister-in-law in Vienna, Austria.

Best,

Rachel in Chicago

FREE BARBIE DOLL PONCHO PATTERN

Finally - I finished the pattern for the Barbie Doll Poncho.  This will fit pretty much any 12" doll.  If you make one, please send me a picture of your daughter, friend, niece, granddaughter, etc enjoying her Barbie Doll Poncho.

Download barbie_doll_turtleneck_striped_poncho.doc

Just pick any leftover baby yarn that you have lying around in your stash.  I happened to use these three Red Heart yarns I had around the house.  I'm not even sure if they're still available.  Don't worry if they're not.  Any sport weight baby yarn will do.

1. Red Heart Soft Baby - Color 8815 Light Blue Twinkle
2. Red Heart Soft Baby - Color 7737 Powder Pink
3. Red Heart Baby Sport Pompadour - Color 1926 Sweet Dreams

You hardly need any at all.  With this teeny amount below, I could probably still make 4-6 Barbie ponchos - maybe more!

Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince

Did you get your email from Lion Brand today?  It provided free patterns for Hogsworth House Scarves to celebrate the release of "Harry Potter and the Half Blood Prince” by knitting Your Own "Wizard Scarf".  Here's the scoop:

Manhattan, New York - July 6, 2005 - A free knitting pattern based on
the colors of the different Houses of Harry Potter’s school has been
posted free of charge for downloading from the Lion Brand web site. The
simple and easy to follow instructions are the perfect starter project
for anyone interested in dabbling in the "Yarn Arts".

The pattern was provided by the Gilroy, California Barnes and Noble
where one of the salespeople knitted "Wizard Scarves” for every one of the
60 employees in the store, to wear when the doors open on midnight of
July 15th 2005 for the release party of the new book.

”These beautiful scarves make an excellent first time project for both
muggles and wizards who are just getting started with knitting,” said
Ilana Rabinowitz, Director of Consumer Marketing for Lion Brand Yarn
Company. "They are made in Wool-Ease yarn, which is an easy-care wool
blend yarn that comes in 45 colors.”

The complete set of all 4 scarf patterns can be downloaded from this site.

How cool is that?  Can you imagine knitting scarves for everyone at work?  Yowza!  My hands hurt just thinking about it.

Runaway Bride Blanket

 

My friend Julie pointed out this link for the pattern so you can make your own blanket just like Jennifer Wilbank's Runaway Bride Blanket.  If you were caught up in the news headlines this past month, you probably saw this blanket and wondered if you could knit it for yourself in the event you needed to hide your face from the media hounds.  Seriously though, I wouldn't wish that sort of angst or anxiety on anyone.  But if you want to knit this colorfully striped blanket on Annie of Mode Knit's website, check out the pattern above.

Last Minute Gifts

Well, we had a great family Christmas celebration at Teresa & Guy's house.  Teresa is my oldest sister and a huge Nebraska fan.  Go Big Red!  Yesterday, my brother Stuart went to Hobby Lobby to buy his wife Priscilla some yarn/knitting gifts (she just took up knitting this fall) and I got a little bit of yarn, too.  It was all red, of course.  So, after our Christmas meal and a game of poker, which I quickly lost, I pulled out the 1 skein of red eyelash and size 13 needles.  I cast on 14 stitches and knit in garter stitch until the entire skein was gone.  It was a fun and decorative hostess gift for my sister Teresa... knit all the while the poker game was going on.  Quick and easy does the trick.  Oh.  I took orders for all the other girls in the family, so be looking for lots and lots of scarves over the next few weeks.

• 1 skein of Wild Child Eyelash Yarn by Yarn Bee
• +1 set of size 13 knitting needles
• +1 game of poker (Texas Hold 'Em)
• +1 big family
• +1 hour
• =1 red scarf for Teresa

Here's a festive picture of Teresa with her new red eyelash scarf adorning the black leather jacket that Santa bought her.

Merry Christmas!

Knitty´s Fall Surprise is Up

If you haven´t seen it yet, check out the Knitty Fall Surprise in honor of Breast Cancer Awareness month (which is October). Since there are only a few days left in the month, you might want to get knitting NOW.

Girly Girl Stuff

Well, I finished the Jazzed Up Denim Jacket. In fact, I actually went to Gap last night and bought three girls jean jackets off the sale rack. $19.99, $19.99 and $15.99. I was quite thrilled with my bargains. Then I went home and began to select my yarn. I finally decided to use the Squiggle yarn in "Code Pink" and Baby Ull Dalegarn. I made a swatch in garter stitch knit with 2 strands simultaneously on size 13 needles.

Here are my supplies. I measured the collar and the cuffs. In this case the collar was 17 by 2 3/4 inches wide so I made a swatch, checked my gauge and then cast on 50 stitches and knit across in garter stitch until the collar measured 2 3/4 inches. I did the same for the cuffs (10 1/2 by 1 1/2 inches wide).

Here are the finished embellishments.

Voila! Here is the finished Jazzed Up Denim Jacket. Using a needle and thread, I simply sewed the cuff and collars onto the jean jacket. This one is for my niece Emily Grace. I hope she likes it.

Thanks Anita for the idea!

More Free Poncho Patterns

I just got the Lion Brand Newsletter in my inbox. If you aren't currently a subscriber, please feel free to check out their link here. They have several free poncho patterns if you are still looking for one. Maybe one of these will fit the bill.