Angora Fingerless Mitts

A while ago, I went to a fiber show and picked up 100 yards of hand spun fingering weight angora. I asked the seller what I could reasonably make with such a small quantity and she said fingerless mitts. But when I went online, all the patterns called for more than 100 yards. Plus, I really wanted to use up as much of the yarn as possible. So, I wrote my own pattern and shared it with a friend.

Then, in September, I went to another fiber show and got some more angora. I had several people ask me what I planned to make with it and express an interest in the pattern when I told them. So I have written the pattern and its on Ravelry. The pattern is very simple because Angora really blooms after you wear it a few times (gets fuzzier), so any really complex pattern would be lost.

What do you think of my fingerless mitts?

TARDIS Scarf Pattern Now Available!

TARDIS scarf made with fingering (sock) weight yarn.

I was inspired to design this, my first for-sale pattern, when I found a really nice, free shawl pattern with TARDIS motifs. I was going to make that pattern because I had the perfect color yarn, but I didn’t have quite enough. I thought about making it 2 colors but ultimately decided I really wanted only one color. So I set about modifying that shawl pattern to make it just a scarf.

That’s when I decided that I really wanted to make the TARDIS very differently than what the shawl had. And the next thing you know I was searching for TARDIS pictures online and starting to piece together my own version. Because I hate color work and weaving in ends, I decided to use beads for the white touches. For a while I couldn’t get it exactly the way I wanted it – I think I unraveled that first TARDIS about 16 times. But eventually I realized this was intended to be my representation of the TARDIS, not an exact picture and that took a lot of the pressure off.

I’m really happy with the end result and looking forward to wearing it. The yarn is a wool/silk blend so it is super soft. It will be a pleasure to have this around my neck.

To purchase the pattern for yourself, go here.

How to Make the Perfect Sock Knitting Kit

A stitch counter & a variety of markers. Note how some of the markers open and some do not.

As I mentioned in my last post, I really enjoy knitting socks. As I know you will, too, I thought I’d share with you the contents of my sock knitting kit. This is something that has evolved over the last year of knitting socks and now it has everything I need to knit socks most of the time.

First off, start with a bag which is made of cloth. I know, you’d think you want a knit or crocheted bag but the needles for socks are so small they will constantly stick out of anything that has holes. So I have a cloth drawstring bag (I got mine from Knit Picks) to hold all my sock materials. It’s big enough to hold 2 balls of sock yarn and 2 pairs of socks, but that’s only about 6″ x 10″ or so.

Obviously your kit then stats with the yarn, pattern and needles for your socks. After you have that, add:

1. A tape measure
2. A few colors of sock weight yarn in small amounts. This comes in handy whenever your pattern calls for scrap yarn (like for an afterthought heel).
3. A small crochet hook. You can use this to help you pick up tiny dropped stitches. I like a C size, personally.
4. At least one stitch marker. Almost every pair of socks wants you to mark the beginning of the row with a stitch marker. If you have a few (5 or so) you’ll be prepared for most patterns.
5. A pencil to mark your pattern as needed.
6. A pair of scissors which won’t stab you. You can do a pair of folding scissors, a pair with a sheath or a pair with rounded tips. Mine are on a cord so I can wear them around my neck.
7. A row counter of some kind. I have a small one attached to the cord for my folding scissors. You can also use your phone to count stiches, in which case you can skip this.
8. If you are knitting on DPNs, you may want a holder so that your stitches don’t come off the needles.

That’s it! If you build a kit with all those things, you’ll be prepared for almost any sock making contingency.

Anything I missed? Let me know in the comments what you keep in your sock making kit.

Making a Temperature Scarf (Knit or Crochet)

The colors of Palette yarn I selected for my Temperature Scarf.

I got an idea for a “Temperature Scarf” from Bernat’s blog. The idea is that you knit every day of the year and the color you use is based on the temperature of that day. I loved the idea immediately, although I admit it seems like a pretty big commitment. But it also seems like a way do make something that would be tedious and annoying if you did it all at once. The pattern calls for moss stitch after all (klp1 for one row, then p1k1 for the next row). That is not a really fun stitch to do in any great quantity. But if you did a bit every day its manageable.

The problem with the pattern as it’s written, however, is that it calls for worsted weight yarn. Based on the ball band and the number of rows the pattern would be (784), the project will result in an 11 foot long scarf. A bit much. Plus, I don’t really want to work in that much acrylic. So, my solution was is to do the project in sock yarn instead. I estimate this will result in a scarf about 6 feet long. Still huge, but more reasonable. I ordered from KnitPicks.com and their Palette line of yarns (which has an amazing array of colors). I haven’t gotten the yarn in yet so hopefully the colors work together as well as they seem to from their online pictures. But we all know that online pictures are not the most accurate when it comes to color.

I created a spreadsheet, which I’ve put on my phone, to keep track of the high temperature each day. I figure if its on my phone, it has the advantage of being with me no matter where I go. I also figure that if its not perfect to the degree each day, its not a huge deal: its just a scarf after all. So I’ve been adding the weekly forecast to my spreadsheet a few times a week so that if I miss a day recording the temp, I’ll have something pretty close.

Download the spreadsheet here.

I can’t wait to get my yarn and get started!

Update: Get the pattern I ended up using and all the rest of the details in part 2 of this post here.

Toe-Up Socks with a Drop-In Heel

Project Log: Supporter’s Socks

The completed socks – check out how nicely the striping worked out!

I’ve been continuing to knit socks since I completed my first pair and I get better at it all the time. I find socks are a great project for summer because they don’t heat you up. And they are wonderfully portable. Plus, everyone loves socks! You can even make them for the hard-to-knit-for people in your life!

So with that in mind, I decided to make a pair for my brother. He is all about brightly colored socks, so I got to work with some great, colorful yarn. The last thing I made for him was a crocheted sweater. It was at least 20 years ago, and the sleeves are 2 different lengths. He’s a sport, though – he still has it! Even though he never really wears sweaters. But because of that project, I decided that the most important thing about THESE socks is that they had to be the same length!

I made these socks from the toe-up. I’ve worked both kinds of socks, now and I like the toe-up for several reasons:

1. You can try them on as you go.
2. You can use up all your yarn if you wish (that’s hard to do with cuff-down socks).
3. All the hard parts are closer to the beginning. By the time you get to the cuff, you can just cruise.

Pattern: Supporter’s Sock by Linda Parkhurst (free pattern on Ravelry.com). I really just used this pattern for the cuff/ribbing. It’s great for striped yarn and makes a really stretchy sock. Basically, whenever the color started to change in my yarn, I knit one row. Then, on the next row, I reversed the ribbing. So, if I started with k2, p2 then, after the knit row, I would do p2, k2. At the end of the cuff, I did an inch or so of 1×1 ribbing, and then I cast off with the tubular cast off (its the Kitchener stitch). I LOVED the result! Stretchy and very attractive!

Heel Pattern: Drop-in or afterthought heel. Instructions are here.

Toe Pattern: Judy’s Magic Cast On for Toe-Up Socks (video). Its super easy to do and looks fantastic!

Yarn: Knit Picks Felici Fingering Self Striping Sock Yarn in the Fizz colorway. I think it looks like Starburst candy. And it’s super soft and wonderful to work with.

Needle: Size 0 circular

Lessons Learned:

• The afterthought heel is a great way to go whenever you are doing striped socks because it keeps the stripes looking great. Without this heel, you usually have a place at the front of the sock where the stripes are not right because of all the yarn you used for the heel. The instructions for this are here.
• I love using circular needles to make socks (the magic loop method). It is so much easier than DPNs!
• When you are doing an afterthought heel, be sure to make the cuff about 2 inches longer than you think it should be. Something about this method shortens your cuff. I thought they were the perfect length, but I finished them and and I wished the socks were a bit longer.

My First Lace Knit

Project Log: “Romantic Moments Lace Wrap”

My newly finished lace wrap. I also made a hat to match for my Derby Party.

I feel like my knitting skills have advanced an amazing amount since the start of this year. At the end of last year, I made some fingerless gloves for people at a Christmas present and I didn’t even know how to knit in the round or leave a thumb gusset. And now I just finished a beautiful lace shawl – my most challenging project to date.

I started this back on March 9 and finished it May 1, so it didn’t take all that long to complete. But it was VERY challenging – probably the most difficult thing I’ve made so far. And it was very rewarding as well.

Pattern: Romantic Moments Lace Wrap and Garter

Here is a close up view of the lace wrap.

Yarn: Mountain Colors Winter Lace in the Harmony Rose colorway

Lessons Learned:

• Use lifelines when you knit lace.
• How to block. I used my new blocking wires and kit from Joann for this project and that’s really why it looks so amazing. Before blocking it was a LOT less impressive. I followed all the directions on the blocking wires kit and it came out beautifully!
• Stitch markers can be invaluable when your knitting lace. They helped me to stay on track and, more importantly, to realize when I was OFF track. I counted pretty much every stitch of every row on this and that, combined with the stitch markers, helped me to find any mistakes while they were still easy to fix.

Half-Moon Cape (includes pattern)

This cape is very glittery and looks especially amazing in low light. The photo does NOT do it justice. Click image to embiggen.

Project Log: Half-Moon Cape

This weekend I finished a half-moon cape. This is the first project I’ve made which I intend to sell. I don’t have a store set up yet, but I will have once I have some more inventory. And I also am hoping to enter a few pieces (possibly including this one) in the art show at a Science Fiction & Fantasy Convention in May. I think it will look great with a corset!

I got the pattern for this from Joan in the Nebraska Knit & Crochet Guild. It’s super easy and I’ll put it here for you to use in a minute. The real trick is not the pattern but the yarn. Some patterns show off your skills and some just show off yarn – this is one of the later. Its fun because it gives you an opportunity to work with some yarns you usually don’t get to use very often. This is actually the second of these I made – the first was for my Mom for her birthday and was even more gorgeous (in my humble opinion).

Pattern: Start with by chaining 10 with an N hook. Hdc in 3rd ch from hook. Then hdc in each ch stitch across.  For the rest of the piece, hdc in each hdc across, adding 4 stitches every row (to ad st, 2 hdc in one st). Change colors when the mood takes you.

I find the easiest way is to always add one at the beginning & end and then randomly add 2 more over the course of the row. Its a very forgiving pattern, however. If you accidentally add 5 one row or 3 in another, it won’t make much of a difference.

I finished this particular piece with an I Cord knitted from some of the leftover Vanna’s Glamour (the only yarn I had left in any quantity – size 3 dpn used). I threaded it through the loops of one of the more open parts (which happened to also be in Vanna’s Glamour). This will allow the piece to be tied on. Although it can also be secured with a shawl pin or just left to hang on its own.

The extreme close up view of the cape shows the sparkly bits off to better effect.

Yarn:

1. Lion Brand Vanna’s Glamour – ruby red colorway
2. Lion Brand Martha Stewart Glitter Eyelash – garnet colorway
3. Premier Yarns Fashion Jeweltones – red diamond colorway
4. Jo-Ann Sensations Angel Hair Yarn – red colorway
5. One other angel hair yarn (I can’t remember what it was – sorry)

Lessons Learned:

1. Colors don’t necessarily have to match exactly to be used. Even though this cape uses several shades of red, it works in the overall piece.
2. Texture is also a kind of sparkle. Not every yarn in this piece has sparkle to it, but the ones that don’t have an interesting texture (angle hair).
3. I Cords are addictive. And they are better than a long chain stitch for many things because they look good from all sides and the ends are a lot easier to weave in and hide.

Beginning Lace Knitting

Project Log: Shoulder Snuggle

Detailed view of the lacy part of my second attempt at lace knitting.

Attempt 1: My first attempt at lace knitting was a disaster. Follow my Choosing a Yarn post tips and save yourself some trouble. I used Patons Lace Sequin in black, so I broke rules number 1, 2 AND 3 in this attempt. The yarn has sequins so its really hard to unravel, it is black and has no sheen to speak of, and its very fine weight. It was very frustrating so, let’s move on to attempt number 2, which was more successful.

Attempt 2: I created a poncho in plum. I was very happy with how it turned out, although I found that part of the pattern to be very confusing in how it said to do the decreases.  I’m still not sure it did it correctly but other knitters I showed the pattern to also found it to be confusing. At least it wasn’t just me!

This pattern was a great one for beginning lace knitting. And, since it’s knit in the round, there are very few purl stitches (which is always a bonus).

The finished product. Note the drawstring.

Patterns:

1. Shoulder Snuggle by Drops Design
2. Around the Corner Crocheted Borders by Edie Eckman – #101 (for the border)

Modifications: I had leftover yarn (which I hate) so I added a crocheted border to the piece. However, it stretched as I wore it and tended to fall off my shoulders so I also added a draw-string around the top border (thanks Joan for the suggestion) – its just a crochet chain stitch. I also made a bracelet in the same yarn and crocheted a sock border (pictures will be in an upcoming post about ways to use up leftover project yarn).

Yarn: Caron Simply Soft in Plum Perfect

Lessons Learned:

• Adding a crocheted border can use up extra yarn and add a nice extra touch to the piece.
• How to weave in ends properly so they don’t show through the work.
• A whole mess of stitches – YouTube is a great resource to look up how to do a stitch that’s new.
• Always wash/block your knitting before you wear it.  It makes a huge difference in how the stitches lay. In this case, the poncho was kind of puckered where the decrease stitches were at the top. And the lace was much tighter and puffier – it stretched and showed more after washing.

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Drawstring with Flower Ends

Pattern & Instructions for Drawstring

Here is the pattern I used to make a drawstring for the poncho.

Drawstring

Ch st enough to go around your shoulders plus about 8 inches.

Thread it into the Poncho

Pick a spot to be the center (in this case the ending garter st made 4 apparent “rows” – I picked a spot half way between the 2 of them). Count a number of stitches to which makes about 1 inch (“interval” here and throughout) (I did 6 in this case). Thread the drawstring up through the poncho using a crochet hook, count out the interval, thread the drawstring back through the poncho.

Lay the poncho flat so its folded in half with the stitch you just made in the middle. On the opposite side from your stitch (front of the poncho), place a stitch marker to mark the center of the stitch .

Weave chain into the poncho using a crochet hook counting out the interval between each time the drawstring goes through the poncho. Do this with both sides of the drawstring.

Making flowers (to hold the drawstring in)

Join yarn to end of drawstring and ch 4, (sc in first ch, ch 3) rep 4 times, sc in first ch. Join with sl st to space formed by first ch 3.

Bind off & weave in ends.

Knitting My First Socks

Project Log: “Father’s Day Socks”

Ed models the sock from the top. I made him put it on as SOON as he got home.

I used a pretty basic pattern so I’d be able to concentrate on the mechanics of the sock. I also used a fairly light-colored yarn so I’d be able to see the stitches easily. I also decided to use 5 double-pointed needles (dpn). The socks are intended to be a present for my boyfriend. I have far more experience with crocheting than I do with knitting. Until recently I had only really done knits and purls. So I figured this would be a challenge for me.

The hardest parts were:Joining the stitches after I cast on to the dpn. I was paranoid about them twisting and I found all those needles to be very awkward and unwieldy.Figuring out how to do the heel. The part where you shape the heel wasn’t too hard because the instructions were very clear, but when it said to pick up the stitches along the heel flap, I had no idea what it meant. I found this YouTube video to be very helpful, although from what I can tell there are a LOT of different ways to do this and no one is right.

Pattern: Father’s Day Socks from LionBrand.com. You will need to have a free account on LionBrand.com to access it (which I recommend highly as they have some nice free patterns).

Yarn: Deborah Norville Premier Yarns Serenity Sock Yarn (2 skeins) in the Aquamarine colorway. I’m not terribly happy with this yarn. Not only did it not stripe very well, but it pooled colors quite a bit and it had a few thickened spots in it.

Pooling of colors with variegated yarn. Thankfully its on the bottom of the foot.

Lessons Learned:

• In order to make the first row lose enough, you can use a needle 2-3 sizes larger than the one you plan to knit with for casting on. I did not do this. I thought I cast on nice and lose but when I had gotten a bit into the pattern realized it still was a bit tight. So I fed some of my yarn tail back through and made it loser (not an easy process). Or you can experiment with some alternate, stretchier cast-on methods.
• It helped me to turn the sock inside out. That way the needles I cared about the most were on the top.
• You can secure your dpn with a tiny rubber band on each end holding the needles together so you don’t drop stitches while its in your bag.
• Be sure that the needle you pull to work with next is NOT one with stitches on it.
• Make the first few stitches on a new needle especially tight to prevent laddering.
• Put the stitch marker after the first stitch so it will stay on the needle. Just remember that the beginning of the round is actually the first stitch, not the second one.
• A friend of mine told me that you can avoid the color pooling if you knit alternating rows either from 2 balls of yarn or both ends of the same ball of yarn (thanks Deawn).

The finished sock.

The GroovyGhan – Super Cool Afghan

The whole big GroovyGhan in its entirety. It's really quite large.

Project Log: “The GroovyGhan”

One of my favorite projects lately was the crocheted GroovyGhan. It had been a long time since I’d done an afghan because they always took so long. But I guess my speed had increased dramatically because this one only took a few months to complete. And I love the end product.

When I started the first square – which is a good old-fashioned granny square – I got very worried that the colors would be way too much. But as I worked more and more I loved it more and more.

Pillows forms were 18" and 24". I added the fun fur in the middle AFTER I finished the entire square.

Pattern: GroovyGhan

Modifications: I accidentally ordered way too much yarn, so I made it 2x the size the pattern called for. Then I STILL had a bunch of yarn left over so I also made pillows to match. I didn’t have a pattern for the pillows: I just took one of the squares and made it a lot bigger.

Yarn: Mostly Caron Simply Soft with some stash yarn thrown in (Bernat Super Value). The Caron is significantly softer than the Bernat.

Lessons Learned:

1. When you crochet pillows, make them smaller than the forms. They will stretch to fit but if you make them the exact right size, the yarn gets saggy and they don’t look as nice after a while.
2. Before you start a project, don’t forget to check your stash for yarn you can use!! Yes I already knew this but I am really bad about actually doing it.
3. Don’t be afraid of bright colors.
4. Triple check your yarn amounts before you order.