Mabiana's Crafty Corner

Hawaiian Orchids

2012-01-22T13:03:00.005+01:00

The yarn (Trekking Hand Art by Zitron) says the colorway is called Hawai, the lace pattern (cut out of a magazine at some point in the Eighties, no idea from which one - and they forgot a stitch in each row of the pattern) is named Orchideen-Muster, thus I've decided to name the shawl Hawaiian Orchids. ;-)

I initially wanted to put the lace pattern all over, but the first skein of yarn was just too colourful for that. The second one was less heavy on the orange/yellow, so it didn’t look quite so chaotic (and also serves to hide the difference between the skeins).

I'm alternating between loving the colourfulness and finding it too gaudy, so I guess this is something I'll have to be in the mood for wearing.

2012-01-15T14:39:00.007+01:00

Things I knitted this week:

pattern

It looked like a bathing cap before I blocked it, and afterwards the cuff turned out to be too wide. I cut it off and redid it, this time with smaller needles and k1 p1, which I figured might be a bit tighter, and actually I like it better here, too.

Owls taken from here, the rest is improvisation. And now I just saw that I crossed wrong at one of the owls... will have to fix this later or it will bug me forever.

More fangirling... Hawaii Five-O pillow

2012-01-08T12:58:00.008+01:00

Since I'm trying to figure out what problem exactly my computer has with uploading pictures (Firefox slows down to a crawl after the second, only rebooting the computer fixes this - but I'm alas not sure if it really is just Firefox and not a general computer problem...), here an older project I hadn't uploaded yet.

click to enlarge

Trekkie poncho

2012-01-08T12:22:00.002+01:00

This project mutated from becoming the cowl in the original pattern to becoming a stole to finally becoming a poncho.

The buttons are made out of Fimo clay.

Colourful cardigan

2012-01-03T11:20:00.003+01:00

The yarn is Riva by Debbie Bliss, colour 41002. It was initially intended to be a shorter cardigan, but it seemed such a pity not to let the colours go on changing for a while...

The cable pattern is from a book I recently bought, Zopfmuster (Stitchionary II) by Carla Scott. The cut is improvised, and the going around the edge with the cable pattern, too - and I only needed to unravel this seven times. ;-)

And now I really must take a break from these thick yarns; they are quick to knit, but so strenuous...

Christmas shawl

2011-12-27T12:14:00.003+01:00

Knitted over the holidays:

The pattern is Holden Shawlette.

A very quick sweater

2011-12-22T12:39:00.004+01:00

The pattern is improvised, the yarn is ONLine Linie 292 SAL, knitted with 7 mm needles. 9 mm where recommended, but I didn't like how that looked.

It was an extremely quick knit. Despite even that when sewing together I realized I had skipped two rows in the braid pattern at the very beginning of the back part, and then operated it by securing two rows with one between them on two needles, removing the row inbetween, knitting two rows onto the bottom part and then sewing the two parts (immitating a knitted row) together again...

I used up the yarn entirely; I'd have liked to make the cord around the neckline long enough to make a bow, but there really wasn't any more left. So, a very economical project. ;-)

Blue Tunic

2011-12-18T13:01:00.003+01:00

The pattern is from Sabrina spezial Herbstmaschen 2011, the yarn I found to my astonishment at Aldi, I have to admit I wouldn't have expected them to sell some so nice.

The knitting pattern annoyed me, and I’m a bit annoyed at myself for starting to knit trustingly. They missed the chance to have the braid pattern go around the hips uninterrupted, which I fixed, and to make the side seams invisible, which I alas realized too late and then I was too lazy to unravel all the work I had already done. That is also the reason why on mine the braids are swapped around in difference to the pattern, at least that way the seams aren’t quite so obvious.

I also changed the neckline, showing as much skin as the pattern wanted is too cold for me in winter. ;-)

Cape (with pattern)

2011-11-05T17:17:00.003+01:00

For cold days at the office, I just finished knitting this:

From trying on only I'm afraid already that I'll also need to bring a clothes brush...

I'll try to explain how I did it...

Needles size 6 mm / US size 10. It's recommendable to use two needle sets!

700 g of Schachenmayr Nomotta Silenzio

Cast on 51 stitches. Knit 10 cm/4 inches in garter stitch.

After the selvedge stitch, you now knit 4 stitches in garter stitch at the beginning and at the end of the piece.

Inbetween:

1.) p1, then repeat (k1, p1, make 1 knitwise, p1, k1, p3), the last time only doing p1 instead of the p3

even rows: knit as they appear

3.) p1, then repeat (make 1 purlwise, k1, p1, knit 2 stitches out of one stitch, p1, k1, make 1 purlwise, p3), the last time only doing p1 instead of the p3

5.) p2, then repeat (k1, p1, knit 2 stitches out of one stitch, knit 2 stitches out of one stitch, p1, k1, p5), the last time only doing p2 instead of the p5

7.) p3, then repeat (make 1 purlwise, k1, p1, k1, knit 2 stitches out of one stitch, knit 2 stitches out of one stitch, k1, p1, k1, make 1 purlwise, p7), the last time only doing p3 instead of the p7

From here on, knit as they appear, and every 6th row starting with 9.) (where you also add the button hole!) at the portion of 6 knitted stitches place 3 onto an additional needle, knit the other three, then knit the 3 from the additional needle -

and increase:

Until it has reached your shoulders, add a stitch purlwise before and after the braid pattern every four rows.

Then two times every six rows.

Then three times every eight rows.

Then every tenth row until you get to the border.

For the armholes, in the middle of the portion of purled stitches after the first and before the last braid, use two threads to knit four stitches, then continue knitting with the second ball of yarn (= you have three balls of yarn in use). In the next row, divide those double knitted stitches on two needles, so you have overlapping parts (see which one should be on top on each side in the photo), and knit these in garter stitch from then on. You will need additional needles at first for this. When the hole is big enough for comfortably sticking your arms through, knit the overlapping stitches together again (probably less fiddly would be just casting on 4 additional stitches and casting them off again when you are done with the hole and sewing them on later.)

When it's almost long enough, replace the purled panels with garter stitch for a few rows. (I did quite a lot actually, but only because I ran out of yarn from the right dye lot and needed to hide the difference).

An autumnly cowl and a key holder

2011-10-30T10:30:00.002+01:00

It is either Ravelry or Facebook that makes Firefox on my new computer freeze up repeatedly until rebooting when I upload pictures. This is really starting to get annoying.

I've made myself a cowl in autumn colours:

The pattern is Lacey Small Shell Cowl. While knitting I changed my mind and decided I wanted a different border than in the pattern, so I did 7 rows in garter stitch and added a row of single backwards crochet stitches (Krebsmaschen), and then fiddled apart the first few rows and added the same there, too.

I also made myself a key holder for my handbag, trying out Tunesian crocheting for the first time last night. It's still a bit wonky, but after all, noone sees it that well in my bag. ;-)

Zigzag shawl

2011-10-23T15:05:00.002+02:00

Finished today - the pattern is completely improvised. I'm not so happy with how the zigzag lines come together in the middle.

Wristwarmers with fluffy border

2011-10-17T11:23:00.004+02:00

The fluffy border is made out of what I had left over from the shawl.

Started from the top with 40 stitches.

Lace pattern:

first row: 1p k2tog yo 1k
second row: knit as they appear
third row: 1p 1k yo ssk
fourth row: knit as they appear

When arriving at the narrow part of the wrist, knit the purled stitches together with the knitted ones beside them. When the tube needs to be wider again, readd them.

The bottom has a border of simple crochet stitches crochet backwards (Krebsmaschen).

[I hope now everything is finally correct, I just had to edit for the third time. Maybe I just shouldn't try to post when sick. ;-) ]

Wristwarmers

2011-10-16T10:47:00.005+02:00

I improvised simple wristwarmers because I wanted something really neutral for work to go with practically everything I wear:

Of course, when done they looked quite so bland, so I added the two little shell beads I still had. ;-)

It's 1k, 1p for the cuff, then alternating eyelets and 1p for the hand part. For the top border, I used this stitch that is a simple crochet, but worked from left to right (Krebsmaschen; sorry, couldn't find out the English name). For my hand, 40 stitches on needles size 3,5 mm / US 4.

In other news, dear universe, I'd really like to have a day without new drama for a change, I'm stressed enough now. Thank you.

Sequined shawl

2011-10-10T10:38:00.003+02:00

Thanks to public transportation being on strike and finding noone to give me a ride to work, I had to do Monday's and Tuesday's work on Saturday and am now at home on a Monday morning. But that way I can already share what I finished late last night while marathon watching X-Files (Microfilms! Audiocassettes! Telephone receivers with cords! Ok, I still had one like that until last year.) ;-) :

The sequins are already integrated into the yarn (Schulana Kid-Paillettes). It's the most expensive one I ever bought, but I really love how it looks and it feels very nice.

The pattern is The Age of Brass and Steam Kerchief, slightly altered: I put only 8 rows between the lace parts and obviously repeated that more often. I also changed the edging, just repeating the lace part three times and then casting off. (Didn’t have enough yarn to do another complete repeat and didn’t want to waste any yarn. ;-))

Improved version

2011-10-03T19:12:00.003+02:00

Of course I couldn't leave it alone until it was dry again (soaking it had absolutely no effect), so here is the improved version with a bit on the bottom of the sleeves taken off and then crotcheted around. They're still kind of long, but wearable.
And if I get a cold now I'll know where it came from. ;-)

Not quite as intended... :-/

2011-10-03T14:30:00.004+02:00

So, I was all pleased with my newly knitted sweater, only the edges kept rolling up and so I blocked it - and it magically grew. Now you could make a bow with the sleeves underneath my hands. :-(

I'll make it soaking wet, hopefully it'll shrink back a bit then...

The lace pattern is from a collection of clippings I have, no idea where it came from initially, the cut is improvised.

Jewelry

2011-09-25T16:12:00.003+02:00

I made some jewelry last night and this afternoon:

click to enlarge

I made a second one of the pendants as a present, I hope the recipient will like it.

Rodney the dragon and Earth Glyph bag thingie

2011-08-28T11:32:00.008+02:00

More bag thingies to hang over the waistband of pocket-less skirts, because I have decided one can't have enough of them. ;-)

Both have been stitched on afterwards, I don't think having threads span inside a bag would be very practical. Also, making a dragon pattern was a very late decision.

I have spent yesterday trying very hard to make this dragon look menacing and dangerous. As you can see, I have failed. *g* I think he looks depressed, or maybe as if he were complaining about something. Since I am currently rewatching Stargate Atlantis, I have decided to name him Rodney. ;-)

The rectangle has a width of 30 stitches and is approximately 53 cm/21 inches long. You need 53 rows for the dragon. It's knitted with 3 mm (between US size 2 and 3, UK/Canadian 10) needles, then crocheted together.

24 stitches x 53 rows, click to enlarge

The Earth Glyph bag is done reusing my old chart. I want to make a cardigan out of this yarn as soon as I have finally decided on a pattern and stop constantly changing my mind. ;-) I've already discovered that it's really easy to add a stitch when knitting blindly; luckily, I could hide the change in width in the fold when flipping up the bag part.

The rectange is 24 stitches wide and approximately 50 cm/20 inches long. Knitted with 4.5 mm (US and UK/Canadian size 7) needles, then crocheted together.

A pair of earrings

2011-08-14T18:08:00.001+02:00

Made today.

Green stole

2011-08-13T17:54:00.002+02:00

I actually had to knit this twice. The first time, I had the not so great idea of starting in the middle and doing increases on the sides only, which resulted in a way too flat triangle. Now it's a bit pointy, but wearable, and I am so not knitting this again, I am very fed up with doing this pattern. ;-) The starting with a long row and then decreasing does go much better with it.

Alas, the yarn suffered from the unravelling and reknitting, it was much more cuddly the first time.

Black shawl

2011-07-05T22:21:00.001+02:00

The pattern is from Victorian Lace Today, and I'm not happy with it. I think there should be a stronger increase, it does not really turn out triangle shaped. The way it is now is the result of very vigorous steam ironing, but it still is actually a quadrangle if you look closely. One also really should not underestimate the amount of yarn one needs for the crocheted border (just bows of chain stitches), I almost ran out of it before finishing.

Black lace cardigan

2011-05-29T21:22:00.001+02:00

Finished today:

The lace pattern is from "Diana: Die schönsten Trendmuster" (2010), the cut is improvised.

And some more jewelry ;-)

2011-05-01T17:37:00.002+02:00

- click to enlarge -

Made today; somehow watching a movie with a whole lot of water last night inspired a lot of wave shapes. ;-)

New Jewelry

2011-04-29T13:19:00.001+02:00

Made yesterday afternoon and evening. The background is the one finished part of my current knitting project, not that you could really see much of the pattern. ;-)

Aslaug

2011-04-10T16:30:00.001+02:00

I have finished a sweater, but it's being a bit uncooperative in getting photographed. ;-) The pattern just won't come out that well in the picture with the yarn being black, hence two version of the same angle...

It's basically "Aslaug" (pattern enty on ravelry) from Elsebeth Lavolds "The Third Viking Knits Collection" (Designer's choice book 18), but since I was too lazy to recalculate for my thicker yarn and shorter body I just knitted along making it look like approximately in the picture (and I reduced the braid pattern by two purled stitches).

(I don't really know - should I link to the pattern from my project entry on ravelry? I used the design, but not the actual pattern...)

It was probably not such a good idea to put the braid on the belly on the back, too - it looks a bit odd creeping up my behind. Oh well, next time I'll know better. ;-)

A year ago I had serious doubts I could ever knit again - I'm forcing myself to not knit as much as I used to and would likely have had that sweater finished in a third of the time then, but I can. :-)

A bit of jewelry...

2011-04-02T17:59:00.001+02:00

This is what I made today:

Spring decorating

2011-03-19T17:00:00.003+01:00

My coffee table didn't yet look much like spring, so I've made some little felt flowers today to improve it.

Zig-zag border for wristlets

2011-03-01T19:54:00.003+01:00

I've tried to make up a pattern for ending wristlets in a way that allows to draw them far up the hand, gets a little wider or at least not tighter so you can still type well, *and* doesn't flip down every 0.5 seconds. The result alas doesn't photograph well at all, at least if one has knitted it in all-matching black... It's zig-zaging holes dividing stockinette from k1, p1.

The chart for the border:

!!! You start out with six stitches and end up with eight !!!

If you prefer written patterns (and since I just converted it for a friend anyway ;-) - I personally find charts much easier to work with):

k6
yo, k6
k1, yo, k2tog, k2, ssk, yo
k2, yo, k2tog, ssk, yo, k1
k1, p1, k1, yo, ssk, yo, k1, p1
k1, p1, k 5, p1
k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1

(The "ssk" in the fifth row can just as well be a "k2tog" as long as you're consequent, whatever you find more comfortable to knit )

I drew that little chart in the underground and ended up so distracted that I missed my stop and realized only four stops later that the area was completely unfamiliar, so I hope someone uses it and that wasn't in vain. ;-)

Scrap fabric scarf

2011-02-26T18:50:00.002+01:00

I've sewn a scarf, mainly out of the scraps from the dress I used to make the skirt recently:

It requires creative slinging to not make it look too much like a scrap fabric project. ;-) It gets wider at the ends, because these were the former sleeves of the dress. I initially wanted to cut them straight, but then I thought it might be nice to have a bit of a flair.

Maybe I should have better sewn myself a bib, while having dinner I dripped curd cheese onto my cardigan twice.

Clothes recycling...

2011-02-19T18:27:00.001+01:00

Another old-fashioned dress turned into a skirt:

New cardigan

2011-01-24T20:21:00.002+01:00

It's a combination of the general cut of "Gudrid" from Elsebeth Lavold's The Third Viking Knits Collection altered to work with thicker yarn and with an added flare to the sleeves, an attempt to copy the knot pattern from Jenna Wilson's Rogue without actually having the pattern which turned out to look rather differently, as I now see ;-) , and the knot I used for the green skirt for the sleeves.

And finally an opportunity to use the shiny black buttons I had had waiting forever in my button box. ;-)

Highlander wristlets, with instructions

2011-01-07T11:46:00.002+01:00

So, I've been rewatching Highlander lately ... ;-)

Stitching graphic - as you can see, it contains "half stitches" as otherwise it wouldn't have fitted onto my wrist, so it really has to be stitched on and cannot be knitted into the piece.

Knitting instructions for the wristlets:

Fits a wrist with 14 cm / 5.5 inches circumference at the narrowest part, knitted with needles size 2.5 mm/between US size 1 and 2. If you change the amount of stitches to adapt the size, keep in mind that when beginning the lace border, your amount of stitches must be divisible by six.

Cast on 46 stitches.

Knit in k1 p1 for 8 rows.

Continue in stockinette stitch.

After 11 cm / 4.3 inches, add a stitch on each side, so you then have 48 stitches.

After another 3 cm, knit the lace pattern:

When your done with that, cast off.

Steam iron the lace part vigorously, otherwise it will roll up.

And another hat...

2011-01-06T18:16:00.001+01:00

Another hat, completely improvised, and it doesn't look like I thought it would. It quite looks like a bathing cap, I think. Anyone still interested in me writing down the pattern?

A small clothes recycling project...

2011-01-01T20:27:00.003+01:00

I've turned an old dress into a skirt today. The dress was a bit of a mispurchase, the upper part was cut way too wide for me, I would have needed much bigger boobs to look good in it. Or maybe if it had been a long dress to balance the width on top, it would have looked particularly casually... As it was, it looked on me as if I was wearing a potato sack.

I cut off the top part underneath the armholes, folded it down, sewed it on and pulled a rubber band through. I had a fit of megalomania inbetween and thought I could make an additional button hole into the folded down part so the top button was still usable, despite not ever having sewn a button hole - my sewing machine has a button for button holes and the display then tells you to exchange the... what is the thing that presses down the fabric onto the machine called in English? - anyway, it said number 3, and I only had one that said it was #37 and just assumed it was a special sort of #3. Apparently not, my needle rammed itself into it after a few stitches and broke off. /o\ Well, with having a rubber band waist and being so wide it doesn't actually need to open anyway. I guess I'll have to stick to sewing projects without button holes. ;-) The result is not terribly elegant, but if I let the top hang over the waistband I think it's very well wearable. :-)

A hat to go with the cardigan

2010-12-29T15:18:00.004+01:00

Cast on 72 stitches with needles size 6 mm / US size 10. The yarn I used is "Rico Design creative melange chunky".

1. row: p2, k4
2. row: p2, put 2 stitches on additional needle behind work, k2, knit the stitches from additional needle
3. and 4. row as 1. row

After 18 rows, switch to stockinette stitch.

After 14 rows of stockinette stitch, start decrease:
Divide work into portions of 12 stitches. In every other row, ssk the first two stitches of each group of 12, and knit together the last two.

When you're down to 12 stitches altogether, work a row knitting each together with the next one until you have six. With these, knit a 6 cm / 2.5 inches long stem. Fold down the stem and sew the tip onto its root.

Cardigan in greys

2010-12-28T11:50:00.002+01:00

I finished a cardigan last night:

It is very cozy. :-)

Using yarn with changing colours for a cardigan might not have been the most intelligent idea, it was quite fiddly to get the two front parts at least mostly similar. One also can't see the knot pattern quite that well:

It's from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting again, the rest is my usual making up while knitting.

The sleeves are a bit long, too, but I decided I don't mind - my paws are quite fond of being warm, too. ;-)

Another skirt, with pattern

2010-12-22T16:35:00.006+01:00

One really should think that after 9 power outages since end of June at some point someone would finally do something about this, wouldn't one?! Instead, the building administration and the power supplier are having an ongoing debate about whose responsibility it is to search for the problem, let alone fix it... This is very, very frustrating, and since I already had power outages kill computers several times not very good for my nerves.

Ok, end of grumbling. ;-) I've made another skirt:

Click to enlarge

I was rather in doubt whether to leave it that long and if it proves unpractical I'll take a bit off at the waist, but for now it'll stay like that.

I've tried to write down the pattern in case anyone wants, although I'm afraid my graph for the knot pattern is a bit confusing, because the amount of stitches increases and I ended up ignoring the grid on top to make it not too mystifying. At which I might have failed. ;-)

* knitted top down *

I used 800 g of Schachenmayr Nomotta Kadina light - again, very short woman, people of average height will need more if they want that length.

Cast on 106 stitches with a needle size 8 mm / US size 11 = 2 x (45 stitches for the k1 p1 / later stockinette part and 8 stitches for the braid) - or however much you need to get the right width by adding stitches to the stockinette part.

For the first 13 rows, knit the later stockinette part in k1 p1. This is the graph for the braid:

You can obviously just as well immediately start with the braid with the four cables; I mainly did it like that because I changed my mind during knitting about what kind of braid I wanted.

Increase your stitches by 4 every 16 rows: add a stitch one stitch before you get to the braid and after one stitch after the braid.

From the point where the braid divides until you cast off it is 24 cm = 9 1/2 inches with my yarn / 42 rows; start this at the according length of your work:

Add a stitch purlwise in the middle of the braid. From here on, every four rows add one stitch purlwise on the left and one on the right side of your triangle of purled stitches. When your triangle is 9 stitches wide, start the knot pattern:

For the last six rows, knit everything apart from the braids in garter stitch, then cast off. Weave several rubber bands through the waist, otherwise it won't stay where it is supposed to.

Santa Claus hat for little penguin

2010-12-18T15:06:00.001+01:00

Yesterday, I visited the Christmas market in Ludwigsburg and bought myself a stone and metal penguin for my balcony. They were displayed in front of their stall on a heap of snow, some wearing Santa Claus hats - alas, the hats weren't for sale, so last night I had to knit one myself for mine. I wouldn't want him to catch a cold, after all. ;-)

Fingerless gloves to go with the skirt

2010-12-05T16:07:00.002+01:00

I still had some leftover yarn from the skirt, and so I improvised these fingerless gloves which I finished last night:

Skirt with leaf ornament

2010-11-30T21:04:00.002+01:00

I've been feeling experimental and have knitted a skirt:

For a very (very!) short person size S / German size 36 this requires a little over 400 g of yarn, not very short persons should buy at least 100g more. I used Schoeller + Stahl Merino Mix.

Cast on 176 stitches with needles size 4.5 mm / US 7. Knit 38 stitches in k1 p1, 6 stitches in pattern A left version, 38 stitches k1 p1, 6 stitches in pattern A right version, 38 stitches in k1 p1, 6 stitches in pattern A left version, 38 stitches k1 p1, 6 stitches in pattern A right version. If you need to make the skirt tighter or wider, add or distract equal amounts of stitches from the "38 stitches" portions.

- Click to enlarge -

Symbol explanation:

After about 8 cm, replace the k1 p1 with stocking stitch. The k1 p1 part is the "tunnel" for the elatic band holding the skirt at your waist, fold it towards the inside of the skirt and sew it on (obviously leaving a small gap in the seam for getting the elastic band into).

From here on, increase stitches like this:
After 16 rows, add a stitch on the right side of each braid. I found it looks nicer if you put one k stitch between the new stitch and the braid. After another 16 rows, add a stitch on the left side of each braid. Continue doing this alternately until the skirt has the right length for starting the border.

Border:
Knit the parts previously knitted in stocking stitch in garter stitch from here on. Right in the middle of each of these portions, immediately start knitting the leaf ornaments:

- I apologize for having broken it up into two graphs, with all the increasing and decreasing it would have gotten very confusing otherwise -

Continue increasing stitches while making the border, now every 8 rows on both sides of the braids.

After your done with C, continue doing about 4 more cm (or however long looks good to you), then cast off.

Handwarmers with honey comb pattern

2010-11-18T20:11:00.005+01:00

Ok, these should be my last handwarmers for some time. ;-)

They are a perfect example why you shouldn't be too thrifty with your yarn. One is made from scraps I hadn't knitted yet, one from a piece I unravelled. The unravelled yarn looks fine on its own, but compared to the other you now see it has lost some of its fluffiness and is actually even a tiny bit smaller. I hope in time the other will get less fluffy, too, and they are starting to look more equally. Or I'll have to knit the pattern again with new yarn. ;-)

* Knitted from the top *

Cast on 36 stitches with needles size 4 mm / US 6.

Work in this pattern:

(Click to enlarge)

Do it once fully, and once until round 7. Here, start knitting in rows for the thumb opening, adding a stitch on beginning and end of the row as selvedge stitches.

Finish this pattern return, start another one and knit it until row 8. With row 9, join it together into round knitting again, knitting together / ssk the selvedge stitches with the adjoining ones.

Immediately after you have done so, do the wrist reduction by knitting the first and last pattern return like this:

Then, just knit on in the pattern until it is long enough for your taste (and not yet too narrow for your arm, of course) and cast off. I guess one could make it become wider again to be able to make it longer by doing the wrist decrease in reverse... Maybe I'll try if I redo the pattern. ;-)

Live Long and Prosper!

2010-11-14T16:56:00.001+01:00

After unpicking the entire stitching on the second one because I cannot count and had placed them somewhere on the side, I am done with my latest handwarmers. ;-)

I couldn't find out which part of the IDIC is supposed to be golden and which silver, staring at Mr. Spock's chest was inconclusive and googling gave me both versions. Maybe it changed at some point in Vulcan history. ;-) Thus, since I have two hands, I decided to just make two versions, so at least one of them will be correct. ;-)

Now I'm waiting for me to bang my hands somewhere and the glass beads breaking. I wanted to use smaller, less endangered ones, but that didn't look right, and I didn't want to stitch it smaller to not make the small circle too wonky.

In case anyone wants my graph :

Grey handwarmers, with pattern

2010-11-13T11:40:00.002+01:00

For a change, I made handwarmers last week. ;-) This time I come with a pattern, too, however.

! You are knitting top down !

Cast on 34 stitches, using needles size 4 mm/US 6. Start with working 18 of them in a k2, p2 pattern (If you have bigger hands, you can easily cast on more stitches for this part to make them fit - though maybe you should do k1, p1 instead then to not have to be able to devide the additional stitches by four). With the remaining stitches, begin with the knitting graph:

Click to enlarge!

(For the opposite glove, I did it mirror-inverted, not sure if one even notices it and it's worth the trouble though. :-) )

When you are done with the entire graph, you just continue doing the last four rounds of it and thus keep on making the middle braid, as you can see in the photo.

Please keep in mind that were there are no symbols drawn into the squares in the middle, there are no stitches yet - I needed the space later for the stitches you need to increase and decrease. :-)

After 6 rounds, replace the k2, p2 part with stocking stitch.

After 18 rounds, start the slit for the thumb: knit three stitches from the cable part into the stocking stich part (for the other glove, knit the stocking stitch part until you are three stitches away from the cable part). Turn around the work and start knitting rows instead of rounds, at the end of the first row knitting an additional selvedge stitch out of the first stitch of the row.

After finishing the 16th row, knit together the two selvedge stitches and knit in rounds again.

Four rounds after this, start the decrease for the wrist: on the thumb side of the stocking part, knit together the fourth and fifth stitch counting from the cable pattern part. Three rounds later, do it again and additionally also decrease in the same kind on the other side of the stocking part. Three rounds later, again decrease, but only underneath the thumb. (= on the whole, you have decreased the stocking part by four stitches, three on the thumb side, one on the other.)

Four rounds later, start increasing in the stocking part again: Every four rounds now, add a stitch right over the point where you have done the decreases before (= you are adding two stitches every four rows).

Continue until the glove is long enough for your taste. In the last six rounds, switch from stocking stich to k2 p2 again.

For the thumb, on the bottom of the slit, pick up 3 stitches. Turn work around, purl them, then pick up another stitch out of the next selvedge stitch. Turn around, knit, pick up another stitch etc. until you have picked up a stitch out of every selvedge stitch and can join the work in a round (if you would then have to purl the thumb from the inside, pick up more stitches in the previous knitted row and join already then). Knit up the thumb until it is long enough, doing a k2 p2 pattern for the last four rows (adding or decreasing stitches accordingly if you don't have the right number of stitches for that).

Red handwarmers

2010-11-07T20:02:00.002+01:00

And another pair of handwarmers. ;-)

Soon I'll have a pair to go with every sweater. ;-) These were made from the rest of the yarn I used for the Camelot dragon sweater.

Handkerchief bag combination and Earth Glyph handwarmers

2010-11-06T16:40:00.003+01:00

Whenever I wear a skirt without pockets at work where I can't have my bag or desk drawers in reach all the time, I have the problem that I don't know where to put my handkerchief, and being without one is unthinkable for me. ;-)

I used to use a key wallet attached to my office keys which I attach to my waistband with a clip for the handkerchief, but didn't really like all that dangling and also, my felted skirt started pilling where it was constantly rubbing.

So, today I've sewn something:

It's basically two connected bags which you hang over the waistband of your skirt. Due to it just being hung over, you can vary if you want to have the outside one for the handkerchief (which is on the backside of what you see in the picture, so even if the hankie is peeking out it's hidden if your top slips up in movement) be lower on your hip for easier reach, or higher for hiding it better underneath a shorter top. On the inside, counterbalancing the outside bag, is a second bag for tampons, with two seams partially parting it into three seperated sections, so they are fairly secure from slipping out or collecting in one corner and forming an unaesthetic lump on your hip.

Now I just need a solution for those pocket-less dresses... ;-)

Also, I've made myself Earth glyph handwarmers last week.

I used my old graph for them.

Black handwarmers

2010-11-01T09:45:00.003+01:00

Yesterday, I made another pair of handwarmers from scrap yarn - alas, only after I had finished the first one I noticed that this ball of yarn was a slightly different shade of black than all the other ones. If you want to make me happy, tell me you don't see the difference. ;-)

The cable pattern is from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting, the cut is made up while going along - I've made them a bit narrower around the wrist because I don't like them to bunch up there that much.

Armwarmers to go with the "pumpkin" slipover

2010-10-27T20:01:00.003+02:00

Last night, I finished arm warmers to go with the pumpkin slipover.

The garter stitch border can be folded down for more finger room when one really has to work while wearing them.

If you want to make some like that, too:

This is fitted to a small hand (wrist circumference 14 cm / 5.5 inches, palm circumference 17 cm / 6.7 inches), you might want to make it wider or use thicker yarn if you have a bigger hand as it doesn't have much give.

I intended to make these using five needles size 4 mm (US size 6), but somehow ended up knitting with four needles size 4 mm and one needle size 4.5 mm and not realizing until I had finished the first one. *sigh* I don't think it shows, though.

*knitted top down*

Cast on 30 stitches. Purl the first round, knit the second, purl the third, knit the fourth, purl the fifth, and then knit on until the piece measures 7 cm / 2.7 inches (or however long you want to have the part from the thumb hole upwards).

Pick a place for the thumb hole, ideally so the place where the round starts doesn't end up on the back of your hand. Purl four stitches here. In the next round, cast off these four stitches. In the following round, cast on eight (!) stitches over this gap. Purl these in the round after that one.

Knit three rounds, then start cable pattern. Place the middle of the cable pattern 7 stitches from your thumb hole (adequately more if you are making it wider, obviously). *If you have longer hands, its middle might not end up at the place where wrist meets hand this way; you'll have to start later, then. With my knitting, the whole cable pattern part is 8 cm / 3.14 inches long, its middle is thus after 4 cm / 1.57 inches*

Knit the cable pattern mirror inverted on the opposite glove.

Thirteen rounds over the thumb hole, start decreasing the eight stitches you cast on for it by ssk the ones most on the right of these stitches, and knitting together the last two on the left. Repeat this after four rows. You should now be back to the original 30 stitches.

6 rows after you have finished the cable pattern, start increasing by adding a stitch each on the left and the right side of your glove. Repeat this every four rows until you are satisfied with the length of the glove. Then again purl one row, knit one row, purl one row, knit one row and purl one row while casting off. Done!

"Pumpkin" slipover

2010-10-24T15:11:00.003+02:00

For this orange pumpkin coloured yarn ;-) I had picked the pattern Bramblewood by Christine Wall - however, I didn't like the raglan style shoulders, so I changed that, and I don't like to knit in rounds, and my yarn was too thin to make the cable pattern broad enough so I had to add two ribs. So, basically, I worked from the picture and made up my version while knitting.

You see I am no model, the only photo where I had my back straight enough to not get folds was blurry. ;-)

Back combs and earrings

2010-10-23T14:33:00.003+02:00

Recently, I bought myself back combs - two of each, as I thought. Only when I opened the wrapping I found that it were actually already packages of two, thus I now had four of each. This of course meant that I had to decorate the additional ones a bit ;-) :

And these are earrings that came out a while ago when I actually wanted to go for a different design that wouldn't work:

A hairy post

2010-10-17T18:39:00.001+02:00

I've crocheted myself some hair tie things (what exactly are they called in English?), using scrap yarn and thin hair ties:

I hope they won't cause as much damage to my hair as my previous methods for tieing them back did, it cost me quite a bit of length.

Any tips for what to use to keep hair together without causing them to break too much?

Hat with curlicues and scrap yarn handwarmers

2010-10-10T15:49:00.002+02:00

I've finished a hat but I'm not completely happy with it - it looks a bit like a sun helmet? My decorative embroidering seems to have made it look really big. It's also awfully hard to photograph and have the embroidery actually come out in the picture...

It was crocheted like the green hat, the curlicues were embroidered on it however the mood struck me at that moment. ;-)

The handwarmers are a scrap yarn product, I would have knitted them longer if I hadn't run out of yarn.

New sweater

2010-10-03T17:27:00.001+02:00

I've finished this today:

It was very quick to knit because of the thick yarn. It's also very warm - the pattern said to make three quarter length sleeves, but that didn't make sense to me for such a thick sweater, my wrists like it cosy, too. ;-)

Scarf and handwarmers

2010-09-18T20:10:00.004+02:00

I've had a bit of a frustrating day, but I also finished a scarf. The handwarmers were already done yesterday.

The handwarmers are 20 stitches knitted k1 p1, using needles size 7 mm. The leaf adds width for the hand, it is knitted like this:

1. k1
2. yo, k1, yo
3. and every other odd row: knit
4. k1, yo, k1, yo
6. k2, yo, k1, yo, k2
8. k3, yo, k1, yo, k3
10. ssk, k5, k2tog
12. ssk, k3, k2tog
14. ssk, k1, k2tog
16. slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over

!!! At row 10 of the leaf, place the hole for the thumb:
left glove: 6 stitches before the leaf: bind off 3 stitches, p1 k1 p1, knit leaf pattern row 10; in the following row, cast on those 3 stitches again
right glove: knit leaf pattern row 10, p1 k1 p1, bind off 3 stitches; in the following row, cast on those 3 stitches again.

After finishing the leaf, continue k1 p1 until they are covering enough of your hand for your taste.

The scarf is made using the same pattern, only knitted in rows:

1. (= back row!) p1
2. yo, k1, yo
3. and every other odd row: purl
4. k1, yo, k1, yo
6. k2, yo, k1, yo, k2
8. k3, yo, k1, yo, k3
10. ssk, k5, k2tog
12. ssk, k3, k2tog
14. ssk, k1, k2tog
16. slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over

with rows of two leaves/three leaves knitted offset (um - I don't know if that is understandable in English, but I guess you can see in the picture what I mean). When you are knitting row 10 of one leaf, you are starting row 1 of the leaf beside it. Between the leaves, there is 1 purled stitch.

You start the scarf with casting on 5 stitches, knitting one leave with p1 on each side. In row 4, you increase by 1 knitted stich on each side; in row 9, you increase by 1 purled stitch on each side, so by row 10, you can start with two new leaves. Repeat this once, so you have the final number of five leaves, three starting on the same level, two on the next (really, I have no idea how to explain this clearly ;-) ).

For the hole to pull the other end through when putting it around your neck, instead of row 1 of the pattern alternatively knit and purl 4 new stitches out of the 1 stitch you have after finishing the previous leaf. In the next row, part the work into two parts here, using 2 of the new stitches for each as basis for a leave and a selvedge stitch. Basically, you are making two leaves that will lie over each other. When you are done with them, knit all those new stitches together instead of doing row 16 and thereby join the two parts again. Note: In hindsight, it might not actually be necessary to do it this complicated, maybe you can just as well part the work beside the middle leave and have it only on one side, especially since I myself don't find the point where I have knitted the 4 stitches out of 1 all that pretty.

When your scarf has the right length, gradually decrease by alternatively knitting the purled stitch on the sides together with the selvedge stitch in row 8 of the outer leaves, and knitting the knitted stitch on the sides together with the selvedge stitch in row 17 of the outer leaves, until you are out of stitches. ;-)

I have BTW added instructions for making the hat to the previous post.

Edit: And I have edited the instructions here because I forgot that the handwarmers are knitted in rounds and not in rows...

Hat with leaf decoration

2010-09-16T19:27:00.004+02:00

I've made a hat to go with the cardigan:

The hat itself is crocheted, the decoration are the leaves from the cardigan knitted individually and connected by a long string of chain stitches, and then sewed on.

Edit: Instructions:
It is made completely in - and here the vocabulary problems start *g* - what wiseNeedle rather confusingly says are double crochet in American English and single crochet in British English. The banderole of my yarn says you should knit it with knitting needles sized 8-9 mm, but I used a 5 mm crochet hook, so it is worked pretty tightly. You start from the top with making a flat circle. For this, make a small ring of chain stitches and crochet around it. For the next three rows, crochet twice into every second stitch, thus increasing stitches by a third every row. Crochet two rows normally, then do one row with crocheting twice into every third stitch. (Or find a more regular way of increasing, I just changed it whenever it stopped lying flat ;-) ) You should have a circle of approximately 14 cm/5.5 inches in diametre then, it actually seemed to me just a bit too small yet, but if you make it bigger, the hat gets too wide. From then on, just crochet regularly until the hat has the desired height. Then, do a row with two stitches into every second stitch, followed by another regular row, which is the last one.

If you also want to make the knitted leaves:
Cast on three stitches. I used needles size 7 mm.

1. p1
2. yo, k1, yo
3. and every other odd row: purl
4. k1, yo, k1, yo
6. k2, yo, k1, yo, k2
8. k3, yo, k1, yo, k3
10. ssk, k5, k2tog
12. ssk, k3, k2tog
14. ssk, k1, k2tog
16. slip 1, k2tog, pass slipped stitch over
17. bind off

Make two of these, connect them with a string of chain stitches, sew the leaves onto the hat.

Cardigan with leave pattern

2010-09-14T19:13:00.002+02:00

First bit knitting project after the big ow done :-) :

Knitted with gigantic needles, so it was actually not that much work. I had knitted a vest with this pattern many years ago, but hadn't liked the cut at all for years while still loving the leaves pattern, so I decided to use the pattern a second time for a new project. The cut is improvised.

Fingerless gloves to go with Greenleaf Cap

2010-08-31T19:47:00.003+02:00

The designer of the pretty Greenleaf Cap has also designed wristwarmers to go with it - however, what I really need for my cold office are fingerless gloves that still cover as much of the fingers as possible without getting in the way when typing. The leaves of the original pattern didn't really work for my small hands for that, so I tried to make a smaller version of it. Here's the result:

Of course, the leaves come out much prettier in their original size. But if someone still wants to use my small version:

Cast on 5 stitches

1. k1, m[ake] 1 purlwise, p1, m1 purlwise, k1
2. k2, yo, k1, yo, k2
3. p6, m1, k1
4. k4, yo , k1, yo, k3
5. p7, m1, k2
6. k3, ssk, k3, k2tog, k1
7. k6, m1, k1, p1, k1
8. k4, ssk, k1, k2tog, k1
9. p4, m1, k2, p1, k1
10. k5, sl1 - k2tog - psso, k1
11. p2tog, cast off knitwise until you have only 5 stitches left, with these: k1, m1 purlwise, p1, m1 purlwise, k1

I hope I didn't mistype. :-)

5 leaves were enough to fit around my fingers (knitted with needles size 4 mm / US 6). I sewed them together, then picked up one stitch per selvedge stitch and knitted in rounds until I reached the thumb, there I started knitting in rows, adding two stitches as selvedge stitches, until I had a slit big enough for my thumb. Then I joined it together in the round again, knitting the selvedge stitches together with the adjoining stitches, knitted on until it was long enough and then made the k1 p1 cuff.

For the thumb, I picked up 4 stitches per 3 selvedge stitches. After four rounds, on the top and on the bottom I knitted three together (thus reducing the whole thing by 4 stitches) and knitted until it was long enough for the thumb when adding the leave border. Two leaves were enough for me for this.

Greenleaf Cap

2010-08-28T17:22:00.005+02:00

I now have an appropriate cap to wear for the to be expected protests against the felling of 283 old trees in the palace garden here in town. ;-) (I have caught a cold last night demonstrating against the partial tearing down of a landmarked building caused by the same reconstruction works that will cause this, so it does seem like a good idea to have one... ;-))

The pattern is Greenleaf Cap.

TARDIS gloves

2010-08-22T14:38:00.002+02:00

A friend pointed me to Wittylittleknitter's TARDIS socks, which of course I immediately wanted to make. However, once I started planning them in earnest, I realized there was no way to make them fit my tiny feet (with proportionally narrow ankles) unless I'd maybe knit them with stitching thread. :-(

After moping for a while, I came up with the idea to do only two pattern repeats and turn them into fingerless gloves for my freezing hands at the office in winter instead:

I took out a row at the windows and each of the panels, because they don't get stretched that much on my hands and they would have looked too long. I placed the thumb hole at the multicoloured areas, so I could also avoid having to switch yarns while knitting in the round. It got a bit big that way, but I balanced it by interrupting the k2 p2 pattern at the thumb with a unit of three of the same on top and at the bottom, and knitting two of them together in the seventh row, thus getting a regular k2 p2 pattern from that point on.

Of course, I will now have to explain to my colleagues (neither of whom has the slightest interest in Science Fiction) what a TARDIS is... ;-)

Kabob Reversible Scarf

2010-08-14T17:09:00.002+02:00

I have just steam ironed my thumb. I would not recommend doing that.

I've also used up the last of the Schachenmayer Regia Hand-Dye Effect yarns I had - to my great annoyance, it had apparently torn in production and they had just tied a knot without paying attention to the colour scheme. You can see the break in the colour gradient at the light green stripe in the middle. The pattern is Kabob Reversible Scarf - I've swapped the "Purl 2 tog" and the "Purl 2 tog tbl", because it seemed more logical to me.

Jewelry

2010-08-07T18:12:00.000+02:00

The big pendant on the left is for a colleague, who has been talking about getting a turtle (which is hopefully recongnizable?) for months and who prefers big jewelry as she thinks it suits her as a very tall woman better. It's a thank you for being so supportive to me when my arm was still so bad. Also, she is going through a rough time now - not sure if giving jewelry isn't a bit of an odd response to that, but maybe it is a small positive thing in a bad time.

Knitted lace scarf :-)

2010-07-25T15:25:00.003+02:00

Look what I managed to make! \o/

And the arm is quite peaceful. :-) It actually seems to like knitting more than long-time typing at work, although that isn't very painful any more, either. :-) Yay, I'm getting my arm back!!! \o/ Well, with all the stretching I'm doing over the course of the day I'd find it a bit rude if it wouldn't finally start appreciating it... ;-)

The pattern was supposed to be Japanese Waves, only I put my printout into a folder when I realized after the first few rows that knitting wasn't possible then, and when I picked it up again recently I didn't bother to find it, but actually just did what I had done in the previours rows and only realized it wasn't meant to be like that when I just looked up the pattern name to link to it - so it looks rather different than planned *g*, but I like it like that, too. The yarn is Regia Hand-dye Effect, but I can't tell you the colour number, because I threw out the banderole when I had given up on finishing it a while ago. And I had been wrong! \o/

Jewelry

2010-07-18T19:49:00.003+02:00

I was going to give my arm at least another month before I take pliers in my hand again, but I need something to distract myself from worrying. So here's a bit of jewelry, made this afternoon...

New look for an old shelf

2010-06-19T17:24:00.004+02:00

I have this little white plastic shelf in my bathroom that used to stand on the balcony, and well, it looked like a white plastic shelf that has spent a few years outside with plants on it... Today, I remembered that I still had some dc-fix foil left over from when I prettied up some small bathroom furniture years ago, and it was enough to give the shelf a new look.

Alas, after I put the stuff I had previously on it back I have to say I wasn't that satisfied anymore. What used to look nice if it weren't for the stains, now looks somewhat cluttered on the patterned surface.

(The lighthouse mat is something I weaved as a teenager, btw. It lived in a box under my bed for many years until I remembered it when thinking about how to make a curtain to hide the cleaning agents behind.)

But I am pleased that I did something crafty, and my arm still feels better than after working all day. :-) I should maybe earn my money decorating furniture... ;-)

Bookend - or CD-end?

2010-05-16T16:42:00.006+02:00

*waves sadly* Anyone still reading here?

I'm still broken, no return to normal life in sight yet. :-(

I made a tiny little thing, mostly for therapeutic reasons and to prove myself I haven't forgotten how to be creative. ;-) And I figured if I have to make myself ache with work and household stuff anyway, I can have a few minutes of hand/arm usage for something I *enjoy*...

I couldn't find a bookend I liked for keeping my musical CDs from falling off this improvised shelf (it's actually supposed to be a flower pot, although I'm not really sure why anyone would want to have a *wooden* flower pot - but one can fix it into a corner rather nicely to have a mini-shelf when one runs out of shelving space. ;-) ), so I made this. I'm astonished myself that it hasn't unfolded yet, it would obviously be no use for actual books. Maybe I'll still redo it with stronger wire when I can use more force again.

Picture frame with new decoration

2010-04-11T15:49:00.005+02:00

I have a really nice photo of my mother, but didn't have a frame I liked for it. So, I decorated an old battered one with shells:

A return to my usual craftiness is still not in sight; needless to say, I'm very sad about this. If anyone knows any stretching exercises for golfer's elbow that don't involve bending the wrist, I'd be grateful - I've pinched a nerve in my hand with the ones I know and it's now partially numb, but stretching is the only thing that seems to help a bit and installing a horizontal bar to hang myself from is not an option in this rented appartment ... Now I'm off to slap curd cheese onto my other hand to attempt to soothe the aggravated tendon sheaths...

Easter

2010-04-03T21:22:00.002+02:00

Happy Easter if you are celebrating! :-) Otherwise, have a nice Sunday. :-)

I'm still broken and unable to do needlework. But, a whole month after the pain started I finally got transferred to an orthopaedist this week who was able to actually diagnose the elbow problem as a Golfer's elbow, and I think the parts of his therapy I could start on my own (stretching exercises, warmth with occasional short ice treatments) are already having a bit of an effect. (I never thought I'd ever feel happy about having taken down all my laundry without a single break ;-) )

Fellow crafters, take good care of yourself, especially when there is also a lot of strain on your hands and arms at work. I'm determined to keep up the stretching and to take more breaks after (hopefully full) recovery.

Pansy fairy

2010-03-20T19:30:00.003+01:00

I've had to take a longer break from needlework, since I got a very painful inflammation in my right elbow when trying to spare my aching left hand... Of course, consequently having to use the left hand more didn't do that very good... Am getting old and frail, obviously. ;-)

Today, I felt up to making this little lady though:

I saw a pansy fairy in the shop window of a book store recently and would have loved to buy it, but it was decoration, not for sale. Then I decided to make one on my own as soon as I felt up to it. I'm afraid I forgot a bit of the details of how to make these dolls, it's been a long time since I made the last one. But the poofy hair covers up a bit of the sloppiness of the upper body, at least. ;-)

Crochet hat, brooch and coaster

2010-02-27T22:17:00.002+01:00

I've finished a crocheting project using a wire thingie for holding the threat over my left hand that was supposed to enable me to work with keeping it tied down in a bandage and relaxed - the jury is still out on the thing, so I'm not giving up my day job to live on the patent rights yet. ;-)

The actual project was the hat, to finally have something to go with the scarf my Mom once knitted for me. The last bits of the yarn I then used to make the flower brooch for the scarf, and a coaster for the mug with the mug warmer for which I had initially bought the yarn.

Star Trek accessory set

2010-02-24T21:51:00.006+01:00

... well, at least it's an attempt at one...

Hat

The thing on top of the hat is a wooden bead I crotcheted around. It already turns out this is not such a good idea, even though I've sewn it on tightly it leans to the side. A pompon might be a better idea, but I probably don't have enough yarn for that left.

Just putting the lace pattern on a simply shaped hat would possibly be better than this shape. It actually suffered several mutations and unravellings while knitting, but I'll describe how it would have been done without that. ;-)

Knit in rounds, needle size 3.5 mm / US 4.

Cast on 114 stitches. Knit in stockinette for 7 cm / 3 inches.

Start knitting lace pattern, putting 4 stitches between each pattern return.

This is the symbol explanation for this and the following charts:

After finishing lace pattern, knit 2,5 cm / 1 inch stockinette. Then, purl for 4 cm / 1 1/2 inches.

Switch to stockinette again. Knit 4 rows.

Distribute stitches equally onto six double pointed needles, or mark accordingly. In every 2nd and 3rd row, knit together the first two stitches on each needle, until you are out of stitches. Sew on bobble.

Gloves

Cast on 40 stitches, needle size 3.5 mm / US 4. Knit 18 rows k 1 p1.

Switch to stockinette. Add two stitches in the second row => 42 stitches. Knit 6.5 cm / 2 1/2 inches. After 9 rows, start lace pattern:

Park 7 stitches on the future inside of the glove on a safety pin for the thumb hole, cast on 7 new stitches to replace them.

Knit 12 more rows. Park 5 stitches on the back and 5 stitches on the front on a safety pin each for the pinky. Cast on two stitches for the "bridge" between pinky and ring finger.

Knit 2 more rows. Then park 5 stitches each on back and front on safety pins for middle and ring finger, and 6 each for index finger.

Knit the fingers, always adding two stitches as bridge between them / when applicable picking up two stitches out of the bridge stitches you have already added for the adjoining finger. For the fingertips, knit together every second and third stitch for three rows, then pull the yarn through the remaining stitches.

For the thumb, use the stitches on the safety pin, pick up the stitches on the opposite side of the hole, and additionally another stitch on each side, so you are knitting it with altogether 16 stitches.

Scarf

It would probably be nicer to make a regular, long scarf in garter stitch with that lace pattern, but I didn't have enough yarn left for that. It now has a bit of an odd length; some of the yarn was already knitted and I had to soak it overnight to make the knitting look regular despite of that, and this stretched it...

Anyway, my short scarf version:

- The button is a disk shaped bead I crotcheted around. -

Generally, the scarf is knitted in garter stitch.

Cast on 6 stitches, needle size 3.5 mm / US 4. Knit two rows in garter stitch. Make a yarnover in the middle in the next row. In the second row after that, k2 after the selvedge stitch, make a yarnover, knit everything between until the last 2 stitches in front of the yarnover, make a yarnover, knit the rest. Do this in every second row until you have the desired width. (In my case, 21 cm / a bit over 8 inches).

Start lace pattern after you have 6 cm / a bit under 2 1/2 inches, placing it in the middle.

From then on, in every second row, k1, knit two together, make a yarnover, knit on in garter stitch until the last three stitches before the selvedge stitch, then make a yarnover slip 1, knit 1, pass slipped stitch over, k1.

Knit until it has almost the right length for your neck, leaving ends long enough to sling as pictured with the end with the button folded up. Then, start the tip: Continue knitting the hole pattern on the side as before, but now after the first yarn-over knit together two, and before the second yarn-over slip 1, k1, pass slipped stitch over. When the yarnovers are about to meet, put an eyelet into the middle: (over 3 stitches) slip 1, knit 2nd but do not remove from left hand needle, pass slipped stitch over, 1 yarnover, knit 2nd and 3rd stitch together. In the next row, when you are at the yarnover, stitch into the stitch 1 row below. Knit garter stitch two more rows, cast off.

Crotchet a sling onto the tip, sew on the button.

***

And if you see another knitting post from me any time soon, please hit me. My left hand is really angry with me from all the knitting lately. :-(

Meandering hat and gloves

2010-02-16T20:42:00.006+01:00

Knitting instructions for the Hat

Needle size 4 mm / US 6. I used a circular needle as long as possible, then switched to double pointed needles.

Cast on 96 stitches.

Knit stockinette for 8 cm / 3 inches.

Knit Meander pattern:

(Please excuse the odd stripe on the side. I made it highly professionally in MS Word and then made a screen cap for getting a jpg-file and failed to crop properly and am too tired to reupload now. ;-) )

Knit stockinette for 3 cm / 1 1/4 inch.

You have now finished the brim which gets folded up. For knitting the actual hat part, you now turn the work around so the former backside of your work is facing you. Make a yarn over before starting to continue knitting and knit it together with the last stitch of the next row, so you don't get a hole.

Knit stockinette for 14 cm / a bit over 5 1/2 inches.

Add a stitch after every 8 stitches in the next round. Knit the following round normally.

In the round after that, knit 4 stitches, add a stitch, and from then on add a stitch after every 9th stitch for the rest of the row.

Knit stockinette for 6 cm / 2 1/3 inches. Distribute stitches equally on 4 double pointed needles. In the next row, now knit together the 2nd and 3rd stitch, the stitch on the right being on top, and knit together the 2nd to last and 3rd to last stitch, the stitch on the left being on top.

Do this another four times every second row.

Then reduce stitches like that in every row, until you have only 4 stitches left altogether.

Knit them until you have a panache of 3 cm / 1 1/4 inches, then pull the yarn through all the stitches.

Knitting instructions for the gloves (for small hands!)

I have stitched the meander pattern on afterwards, mostly because I didn't think of putting one on them earlier. It does of cause improve the stretchiness of the gloves, but knitting them in directly might look better, the background does peek out quite a bit.

You can of course use any glove pattern you like, especially since my hands are very small and mine might not fit that many people. Keep in mind that the amount of stitches has to be divisible by 8 for the pattern to fit on it without break.

Since the gloves are knitted in rounds, you will have to cheat when the beginning of your stitching meets the end by adding or leaving a stitch to have an uninterrupted band.

Needle size 4 mm / US 6

Cast on 32 stitches.

Knit 5.5 cm / a bit over 2 inches in k1 p1.

Switch to stockinette. Knit 22 rounds. If you knit the Meander pattern in directly, start it after 4 rounds.

Park 6 stitches on the future inside of the glove on a safety pin for the thumb hole, cast on 6 new stitches to replace them.

Knit 12 more rows.

Park 4 stitches on the back and 4 stitches on the front on a safety pin each for the pinky. Cast on two stitches for the "bridge" between pinky and ring finger.

Knit 1 more row.

Then park 4 stitches each on back and front on safety pins for the other three fingers each.

Knit the fingers, adding two stitches as bridge between ring finger and middle finger, and three stitches betwen middle finger and index finger.

For the fingertips, knit together every second and third stitch for three rows, then pull the yarn through the remaining stitches. For the thumb, use the stitches on the safety pin, pick up the stitches on the opposite side of the hole, and additionally another stitch on each side, so you are knitting it with altogether 14 stitches.

Curlicue slipover

2010-02-13T20:39:00.005+01:00

After having finished this slipover this afternoon, I now find that I have almost nothing to wear underneath it that goes with it. O.O I could have sworn there were several long-sleeved shirts the colours would look nice with... Which is why I am modelling it in a summer dress when we have over 20 cm / 8 inches of snow outside. *sigh*

The different curlicues are actually because I had initially planned on making small curlicues but didn't bother to really calculate the size my draft would come out in knitting and naturally misjudged, then decided to use them anyway, thinking while knitting smaller ones would have been nicer after all and making a new pattern for the front, and now of course I'm thinking maybe the bigger ones are nicer after all... ;-)

Graph for small curlicues:

The arrow shows where you jump to when knitting it for the second time.

Graph for big curlicues:

Knitting instructions:

I'm not so happy with the neckline, actually, but couldn't think of a different way to knit it along with the rest. I kind of wished I had started it a bit later, too.

Anyway, the knitting instructions, in case anybody wants:

Size 36/S

Needle size 4 mm / US 6

- Alternate between the background colours as the mood strikes you in the first part, do it the same way at least until the armholes in the second part. -

Cast on 112 stitches.

Knit K1 P1 for 5 cm / 2 inches.

Switch to stockinette.

After 6 rows, start with curlicue pattern. The point of the first curlicue for both versions is the 25th stitch from the right. (For the small version, it is very important to place them exactly, otherwise they won't fit into the space you have left at the shoulders.)

Start armhole after 35 cm / 14 inches:

Knit together two stitches, add one stitch beside the selvedge stitch in every row. The added stitch is P in the first row, K in the second row etc., so you get the K1 P1 border on the side. After 8 rows of this, stop adding stitches, but keep on knitting stitches together in every row for 5 rows. Then only knit stitches together in every other row 5 times. Knit 3 rows. In the forth, knit together 2 stitches one last time. >(You should altogether have knitted stitches together 20 times by then.)

Neckline on the backside:

22 cm / 8.5 inches after starting the armhole, start with the neck:

Cast off 16 stitches in the middle.

Cast off one stitch in each row until each half of knitting has 29 stitches. Cast off one stitch every other row two times -> 27 stitches.

Knit 2.5 more cm (1 inch), cast off.

Neckline in the front:

Two rows after starting the armhole, start with the neckline.

Mark the middle.

Cross the stitch right beside the middle stitch with the next one on each side, the one closer to the middle being on top.

Do the same in the row after the next one, but this time, purl the stitch you crossed towards the middle.

Alternately do this until you have 12 stitches between the "V" you have created, alternately k1 p1 with two k ones in the middle.

In the next back row, add a stitch in the middle.

In the row after that, you start parting the knitting in two halves, knitting two selvedge stitches out of that new stitch.

From then on, in every fourth row, knit together every 8th and 9th stitch from the middle (the one closer to the middle being on top), until you have 34 stitches left on each side.

Knit on until the front part has the same length as the back part. Cast off all stitches except for the K1 P1 of the neckline plus a selvedge stitch.

Continue knitting the K1 P1 until it is long enough to sew along the neckline on the back.

~~And my left hand is not aching again. Lalala.~~

Earrings

2010-02-07T16:41:00.001+01:00

I've done quite some damage to my hands with trying to knit the gloves so quickly. I hope it wasn't too early to try doing something creative again with them when I made these earrings today, especially since I am not very happy with them.

The ones with the green beads are going to be a present.

Nereid gloves

2010-01-31T10:52:00.001+01:00

I work in a very drafty building, and with it being so terribly cold last week my hands turned to ice when I was sitting at my desk with the draft blowing right at them. So, I decided I needed some gloves without fingertips, which I could wear while typing.

The pattern I picked was Nereid, adding half-knitted fingers to it - not the ideal choice if you need something urgently, I found that it required a lot of concentration and I actually had to undo quite a lot at the first one, because I kept missing stitches at the end of a pattern return. Also, my hands don't seem to approve of knitting k1 p1 for such a long time with such thin needles, they are quite achy today. Usually I only get pains in my wrists from knitting too much.

I had not planned to make them nearly that long - I had not looked at the instructions attentively enough before actually doing the thumb and had not noticed that you start it much earlier than with my usual glove knitting method. I really like how that version looks though, I might adapt my standard glove pattern accordingly.

For some mysterious reason I also was at the last row of the pattern return when I reached the thumb on the second one, when I should have been in the middle. I have measured them about twenty times, for all I can see they definitely have the same length. If you notice that they don't, please don't tell me or don't tell me yet ;-) , I'm unlikely to be able to resist unravelling and reknitting in that case and my hands really do need to recover.

Hat with rolled up brim

2010-01-24T11:22:00.003+01:00

I've finished another hat - after spreading out all my scrap yarn in front of me last week I'm nearly overflowing with ideas what to do with it. Apparently, it just required spreading it all out in front of me once and then letting it settle in my head for a few days to finally find uses for it. ;-) (At the same time, I have lacked inspiration for jewelry for months - I hope it's just the cold that draws me to warm soft yarn instead of cold metal and not running out of it.) I need at least one additional pair of arms, my hands and wrists are starting to get annoyed with me. ;-)

Anyway, the latest hat:

I must have knitted the lower half at least five times. It just refused to look like I wanted it to. It still doesn't, actually, I think my initial idea just doesn't work that way. On the other hand, the ceramic cat buttons I have had for ages work with this version (except that might be a bit too playful for a 36-year-old? But on the other hand, I'm only 36 on the outside anyway ;-) ). I also have a whole flock of geese from the same potterer, but I have also hesitated using them - I worry that if I sew them onto a cardigan, the next time I don't pay attention and bang it against a table one of the geese will loose its head.

Knitting instructions

Started with double pointed needles, switching to circular needles when big enough. The yarn I used is actually meant for needles one size bigger, it's meant to be a bit stiff.

Cast on 6 stitches with needles size 4.5 mm / US 7, close the round, start knitting in stockinette stitch.

Add 6 stitches in each row, always on the same side of the one you have added in the previous row, until you have 84 stitches. Then, twice knit 3 rows without increasing and then do the increase in the fourth row => 96 stitches.

After that, knit in stockinette stitch for 16 cm = 8 1/4 inches, for the last four rows switching to 4 mm / US 6 needles.

Switch back to 4.5 mm / US 7, add a stitch after every fourth stich for one row.

Knit another 6 cm / 2.4 inches, for the last three rows switching to 4 mm / US 6 needles.

Cast off. Sew on buttons, secure the rest of the rolled up part with a few stitches.

Does anyone know if one can mark a pattern as for free in one's project description on Ravelry without storing the pattern there? Because I can't find where...

Accessories with buttons, includes knitting instructions

2010-01-23T13:53:00.006+01:00

I still had so much of the yarn I used for the tree sweater left over (and am drowning in scrap yarn already) that I decided to make some winter accessories. Since I couldn't find a hat pattern that struck me as fitting for both my yarn and my person, I ended up designing my own, and additionally a scarf and gloves to go with it.

They were also an opportunity to use some of the singular pretty buttons I'm hoarding. ;-)

I hope my knitting instructions will be understandable, writing them down in a second language is not easy, and those inches are really confusing. ;-)

In hindsight, I could probably have saved myself knitting the button holes and just sewn the buttons on top. Although maybe if one plays hide and seek, one could undo the one on the hat and flip down the brim instead of covering ones' eyes while the other person hides... ;-)

Hat

Cast on 6 stitches with needles size 4mm / US 6, close the round, start knitting in stockinette stitch.

Add 6 stitches in each row, always on the same side of the one you have added in the previous row, until you have 96 stitches.

Then add 6 stitches in the same way only every other row until you have 126 stitches.

Knit on in stockinette stitch until the part without adding stitches measures 11 cm / 4 1/4 inches.

Knit 1k 1p ..., until you have added 8 cm / 3.2 inches in that pattern.

Cast of all but 63 stitches. Then continue in k1 p1, in each row casting off the first two stitches and knitting the last stitch and the selvedge stitch together (for the selvedge stitch you don't knit (in my case the first, but I think most don't knit the last), just slip it over the other stitch), so you alternately reduce two stitches on one side and one stitch on the other. Put the buttonhole into the middle when you are down to 27 stitches. Continue this way until all stitches are gone.

Flip up the brim, you should still have about 2 cm / 0,75 inches of 1k 1p on the inside. Sew on button.

Gloves

- Please note that I have small hands, you might need to make them bigger -

I have first knitted the upper part, and then added the k 1 p1 part with the point knitting downwards, because I wasn't sure how far my yarn would go. You can of course just as well start with the point and knit up. The hidden part on the wrist is mostly knitted in stockinette stitch, because I didn't know yet how much would peek out, this can of course just as well be done differently.

Cast on 40 stitches. Knit 30 rows in stockinette stitch.

Park 6 stitches on the future inside of the glove on a safety pin for the thumb hole, cast on 6 new stitches to replace them.

Knit 10 more rows. Park 5 stitches on the back and 5 stitches on the front on a safety pin each for the pinky. Cast on two stitches for the "bridge" between pinky and ring finger.

Knit 1 more row. Then park 5 stitches each on back and front on safety pins for the other three fingers each.

Knit the fingers, always adding two stitches as bridge between them / when applicable picking up two stitches out of the bridge stitches you have already added for the adjoining finger. For the fingertips, knit together every second and third stitch for three rows, then pull the yarn through the remaining stitches.

For the thumb, use the stitches on the safety pin, pick up the stitches on the opposite side of the hole, and additionally another stitch on each side, so you are knitting it with altogether 14 stitches.

Pick up stitches from the bottom of the knitting. Knit them in k1 p1.

After 34 rows, start the point. To have an unequal number of stitches and thus being able get the buttonhole into the middle of the point, when stopping to knit in the round knit both selvedge stitches out of the same stitch in approximately the middle of the inside of the glove, so you are then knitting with 41 stitches. Knit together both the first regular stitch and the selvedge stitch, and the last regular stitch and the selvedge stitch, until the point is complete. Put in the buttonhole when you are down to 17 stitches.

Flip up the k1 p1 part, a bit of k1 p1 should still be on the inside. Sew on button.

Scarf

Cast on 3 stitches. Add a stitch on each side in each row, knitting k1 p1, until you have 61 stitches. Knit a row without adding stitches, then add one each side one more time -> 63 stitches. Knit until the length is right for you, keeping in mind that the end with the button is going to get flipped up. In the next row, knit together first regular stitch and selvedge stitch and last regular stitch and selvedge stitch. Knit another row without knitting together, then knit the rest with reducing the stitches as described before. When you have 17 stitches left, put in the buttonhole. Sew on button.

Tree sweater

2010-01-17T14:53:00.002+01:00

A while ago, I saw this beautiful tree pattern and decided I must have this on a sweater. And that was my latest knitting project, finished last night :-) :

Since it falls so wide at the bottom, one does not see the trees very well when I'm standing... I didn't think of that when I decided on having three tree groups on each side, thinking it would look more harmonic than two. Maybe I'll need to have it admired when I am lying down. ;-) A huge disadvantage is that the yarn seems to bleed colour, the throw over my chair now has red stripes on one arm. I hadn't noticed that with the blue-green yarn of the same kind I knitted with recently, maybe it's a problem with the red dye.

I'm thinking of using the tree pattern to also knit another cover for my foot stool, the one I knitted a while ago has alas started to look shabby due to the yarn pilling, it is obviously to soft to have feet planted on it regularly. Although I'm not sure if I might not have the same problem then again soon with any smooth yarn unless I use something really artificial, maybe I should rather make something plain in a hairy, fluffy yarn. On the other hand, a furry cover might make my feet too warm on hot summer days...

After finishing this I started socks last night with a sock yarn that imitates hand-dyed yarn and looks lovely on the skein. Alas, I'm rather unsatisfied with how the colours distribute themselves on a sock, it seems to me it would be better for a big piece, for which I have of course not bought enough yarn in the same colour scheme. I have however unfortunately bought enough yarn of that kind for three different pairs of socks, I'll have to think about whether I'll give the other colour schemes another chance. For now, I'm taking a break from it and knitting a hat from the rest of the yarn for the tree sweater. And who knows, with a bit of a break and forgetting what my initial mental picture looked like, the sock yarn will grow on me after all. ;-)

Handkerchief and Tissue Bags

2010-01-10T16:10:00.004+01:00

And of course, then I sewed some more today. ;-)

A little bag for a handkerchief for when I'm in my comfy clothes at home and have no pocket, and a bag for the content of a whole package of tissues.

I wanted to give the tissue bag press buttons for closing it, but apparently I put those I had Where I Will Find Them Again and have no idea where that is ...

The handkerchief bag now hangs on the shelf beside my tv chair together with the knitting bag, for easy reach when in need. ;-)

Knitting bag

2010-01-09T17:30:00.002+01:00

I think this ends my attempts at sewing for a while now, this was entirely too much of a battle. ;-)

It looked different in my head, far less like the old PE bag I had in school, and I should have reinforced the big pocket in the front so it doesn't hang down limply when empty. I was initially thinking of making a second one as a gift, but apart from being somewhat fed up at the moment ;-) I don't think I will let my sloppily sewed in zipper get inspected closer. ;-) Also, I broke the second one I had, naturally just after I had sewed it in (and of course that initial seam was much straighter...). I made the mistake of thinking it would be easier to give it a rectangular bottom - if I ever make a thing like that again, I will know better, I found getting around the corners very difficult. Considering my lack of practice with sewing and that I was working without a pattern it could be worse, though.

Back to knitting now, I feel much safer with that. ;-)

Knitting needle case

2010-01-04T16:26:00.004+01:00

Belated happy new year! :-)

I ended last year and began this year with a huge decluttering and rearranging fit and will most likely spend the next few weeks searching for stuff I put somewhere else. ;-) One thing that got moved were my knitting needles, out of the drawer that always has the phone cord in the way when closing it into their own box, which required giving the double-pointed needles some kind of extra-box or bag. So, I spent today afternoon sewing one:

I made it from scraps - pink is normally not my colour at all, but I love the cloth with the silver roses. It's from a dress my Mom sewed for me when I was a princess at carneval when I was a little girl. :-)

2009-12-24T09:21:00.000+01:00

Merry Christmas! :-)

Owl scarf

2009-12-22T11:40:00.002+01:00

I swear, one of these days I am going to knit something that hasn't got owls on them again. *hangs head in shame* ;-)

I'm particularly proud that I managed to figure out a way to make it reversible, even though it's probably not particularly elegant. ;-)

The reversibility was accomplished by actually at first casting on 100 stitches and knitting the owls pattern in the round, again with only two purled stitches between the owls so 10 owls fit onto it and it could be folded neatly. Which I then did after one row of white stockinette stitch, knitting together (k1 p1) a stitch from the front needle and the corresponding stitch from the back needle and additionally adding a selvedge stitch on each side, so I had then 52 stitches. With these I continued in a pattern alternating between 10 stitches of k1 p1 and 10 stitches of brioche stitch (Patentmuster). Every 16 rows, I switched patterns. The end was where it got really fiddly, because I couldn't think of an unawkward way to get from flat piece of knitting to round. I ended up knitting the owls individually and sewing them on. I closed the rounds on the bottoms after stitching on the eyes by crotcheting them together, and added the tassles. The owls require steam ironing when done, otherwise they pull the ends together too much.

Gloves with a pair of owls

2009-12-17T18:58:00.003+01:00

The hat really needed matching gloves. ;-)

I have of course already made owl gloves in green, but I wanted some with the golden/brownish yarn with which they also come out better, and try to have a pair of owls on them this time. I used a standard glove pattern and the same owl pattern as for the hat, obviously, but I put only two purled stitches between the owls, and framed them with two purled stitches on each side. I increased two times two stitches on the back of the glove before starting the owl pattern to accomodate for the crossovers pulling the knitting together, but only decreased two stitches afterwards, so I had an additional stitch for both index and middle finger to make them more comfortable - which turned out to be a good idea, they certainly aren't too wide.

(Actually, I accidentally added a line into the owl pattern on the left glove, which I only realized on my way home tonight. This bugs me greatly; however, I really don't want to undo something I have already worn for a day... Hmpf. If you want to make me happy, say you don't see it. ;-))

BTW, if you finish them while watching Star Trek XI, you might suddenly find that you have just stitched an eye onto the chest of one of the owls. Not that this has happened to me last night, of course. ;-)

Gryffindor Scarf

2009-12-16T11:19:00.003+01:00

I have caught a most horrible cold, but I now also have a scarf that will hopefully prevent me from getting another one of that kind in the future. ;-)

(Um. I might have been rewatching my Harry Potter DVDs lately. ;-) )

Owl hat

2009-12-14T20:13:00.002+01:00

I knitted the Who? owl hat yesterday:

The colour in the first picture is accurate.

I didn't want to leave owls without eyes, but didn't have 20 identical buttons either, so I stitched them on. And I didn't purl the stitches beneath them as the pattern says, they might have peeked out underneath the stitching.

Sweater with twig pattern

2009-12-12T16:24:00.006+01:00

I finished another sweater today:

I had oak twigs in mind, after having seen a sweater with them on it, but not liking how they had been done that much and wanting to have some acorns on them, too - of course I have had oak leaves strewn on my path wherever I went since then and can now definitely say they are not botanically correct either. ;-) Although maybe, somewhere there is a kind of oak that has leaves like that? ;-)

(BTW, if you google pictures of acorns for making knitting patterns, and in all unthinking innocence use the German word for that, you'll get some ... interesting pictures - it's a homonym and also means glans... ;-) )

Here's my knitting chart (click to enlarge) - I apologize if this breaks your brain, writing it down nearly broke mine. ;-)

I (German size 38*/UK 12/M) cast on 118 stitches (using 4 mm / US size 6 needles for the whole project), knitted the borders in k2, p2 for about 16 rows (!! take care to start with either 1k or 1p, so you can let a knitted rib turn into the twig !!), and when then starting with the pattern (as you can see, framed by the braids, then stockinette stitch on the sides) I added 4 stitches when starting each braid. Alternate between leaves and acorns as it pleases you. At the height where I wanted to have the armholes I knitted together two stitches every row 6 times, then every other row until the work ended with the braids. The width of the neckline is the space between the two "twigs", I started it just after the previous to last leave in the front, and after the first two "fingers" of the last one in the back, and cast off the part when the last pattern return would have been finished. You might want to start the neckline earlier, it's a bit tight. The sleeves were knitted top down in stockinette stitch, casting on 22 stitches, then adding a stitch in each row on both sides until it was wide enough to fit into the "straight" part of the armhole (actually I made it too wide for that, but you probably want to avoid that, they would likely fall nicer if I had), then a stitch on both sides in each other row until it fits into the armhole completely. After ten rows just knitting on I started decreasing a stitch on each side, alternately in each 2nd and each 4th row, until I was down to 50 stitches, and then just knit on the few centimeters until it was long enough to start the border, again 16 rows k2, p2. (Well, actually I had 51 stitches, obviously having forgotten to decrease somewhere, and had to knit together two before I started the border. ;-) ) !! If you are not a 1m 50/ 4'10'' person like me, you'll have to decrease slower or they will be too tight for your lower arm !! And then I knitted the neck border out of the neckline, 12 rows in k2, p2.

The yarn I used was Wolle Rödel Sport & Strumpfwolle extrastark, I needed 4 skeins of 150 grams each (the finished sweater weighs a bit over 460 grams).

Confused now? ;-)

*Insert a moment of glee from the successfully dieting here ;-)

Edited to add: I am obviously being stupid - does anyone else who is on Ravelry have the projects they uploaded in the last three months get displayed in a completely illogical order? The last one uploaded used to be the first displayed, but on my project page they now appear somewhere after one I uploaded in October. I can't for the life of me figure out what I did differently when I saved them. Is this possibly a general bug? I took a look at their help boards, but until now couldn't find a fitting post...

Bodie and Doyle pillows

2009-11-08T19:13:00.004+01:00

I've finished a scrap yarn project today. A few weeks ago I thought Well, this can't be done, and wanted to move on, and of course the idea got stuck in my head. *g* So, in the end, of course I had to try.

Click to enlarge

*scratches head*

I am not terribly convinced of it, they are not as accurate as I would have liked them to be, both because of the limitations of putting something in knitting and because I just didn't get them quite right. Also, the heads are of course not the same size, which I realized way too late.

The scrap yarn I used as background for the CI5 is a bit too dark, alas.

Click to enlarge

- Sorry, I again had to photograph the charts as my scanner is not big enough, and had had them folded in the middle while knitting. And I was too lazy to draw nine million crosses so I just indicated the outlines of the black parts. *g* -

Chart for the "CI5" see CI5 socks post.

Knitted with 3 mm needles over 96 stitches from the top down. Started and finished with 1k, 1p until there was enough of a border for the buttons, button holes are in the top one.

Gloves

2009-10-31T18:12:00.000+01:00

Last night I finished knitting the gloves:

I wanted to make the tips all black initially, but then didn't like how it looked and it seemed to make my short fingers even shorter. So, I went with the irregular stripes on some fingers. Now I really only have a few threads of the alpaka yarn left. Although maybe I could put some stripes into socks... ;-)

Scarf with reversible cables

2009-10-28T19:49:00.003+01:00

I've finished a short scarf last night - actually, it's a tiny bit long to be short, but I refuse to undo anything. ;-) I'm still using up the rest of the alpaka yarn, and that wasn't enough for a normal length scarf, so I went with the variety with the hole to pull one end through to fasten it. I've saved myself a little rest of it and am making bicoloured gloves to go with it and the hat at the moment.

Click to enlarge.

In case you want to make one, too:

I = knit
- = purl
diagonal line top right to bottom left = place first 4 stitches on additional needle in front of work, knit next 4 stitches, knit the stitches from additional needle
diagonal line bottom right to top left = place first 4 stitches on additional needle behind work, knit next 4 stitches, knit the stitches from additional needle

- stitch numbers for 4 mm needles (= according to Ravelry US size 6) -

Cast on 50 stitches.
Pattern: 2 stitches in garter stitch, cable pattern, 20 stitches garter stitch, cable pattern mirror inverted, 2 stitches garter stitch.
Knit until you have enough length to wrap it around your neck and have one end the length you want it to hang down, then knit pattern to the middle of the scarf and use a second ball of yarn to knit the rest. Knit those two halves seperately for 11 rows (or, if you use a thinner or thicker yarn, until you have a slit long enough to comfortably pull the other end through), then knit with one ball over the whole width again and knit on until the second end has the same length as the other when you pull it through the slit.

Rafn hat

2009-10-25T18:03:00.002+01:00

I used some of the rest of the alpaka yarn to knit the hat "Rafn" from Elsebeth Lavold's Viking Patterns For Knitting which alas made me feel rather stupid, because it took me forever to figure out that I was supposed to flip up the part with the cable pattern so the whole side of the hat is a double layer of knitted material, and not turn the whole thing inside out and have an extremely long mysterious object. :-D (I partially blame the German translation just so I don't feel quite so stupid ;-) )

Having finally understood how it is supposed to be, I decided I did not like the way the decreases on top of the hat were done, and undid that part and improvised my own version:

I'm now working on a short scarf with the rest of the yarn.

New sweater

2009-10-18T16:13:00.002+02:00

I've finished the big knitting project:

It's "Hekla" from Elsbeth Lavold's The Second Viking Knits Collection which a friend gave me, with slight variations - I improvised a bit with the cut, hence the sleeves got a bit ... poofy *sigh*, put ring things into the cables on the arms and didn't make the high collar.

I made it from a yarn I gave to myself for my birthday, Schachenmayr Nomotta Alpaka Fashion (the original colour is kind of in the middle of what my camera turned it into in the first and in the second picture), it was a bit too expensive for an everyday purchase. It was wonderful to work with. :-) I had to buy more recently and was lucky to get a dye lot that looked practically exactly like the original one. Now I still have a bit left over, maybe I'll make myself a hat from it...

CI5 socks

2009-10-11T11:11:00.007+02:00

In spring, on an impulse I bought myself a box set with all seasons of The Professionals. It then stood unwatched in the shelf for quite a while while I was annoyed with myself for spontaneously spending money on something I didn't even really know I would like (I had watched one single episode maybe 20 years ago). Then, I needed something to entertain me during the preparations and clearing up of the appartment for the painting, and dug them out - and found that I liked the series. Very very much. *g*

So, me being me, of course I tried to knit something related to the series. *g*

Click to enlarge. And please ignore that my carpet needs vacuuming. ;-)

I stitched the letters and number on again, because I dislike to have threads spanning inside my socks. I then had to steam iron them though, because the broad stripes of stitched stitches wouldn't lie flat, so maybe knitting them in directly might be better actually.

I used a standard sock pattern, 66 stitches (the pattern takes up 29) for very small feet (German size 36), needle size 2 1/2, using Rödel Sport- und Strumpfwolle Classik yarn. It probably looks better on someone with bigger feet who can make the socks wider and has then more space on the sides of the pattern.

Doodle earrings

2009-09-27T19:18:00.002+02:00

This is what I did this afternoon :-) :

click to enlarge

They're all based on doodles I drew while listening.

Labyrinth slipover

2009-09-19T22:36:00.004+02:00

I have a bit of a thing for labyrinths, so it was only a question of time until I put one on something knitted. ;-)

It was initially supposed to be a slipover, but then I tried to make sleeves, too - I should have trusted my first impression that the yarn wasn't enough, it indeed wasn't. So, a slipover it is.

It was probably an odd idea to put the labyrinth on the back and front, and I guess the higher position on the back would have been the more modern, grown up choice. But I want to be able to see the pattern myself, too. ;-)

And, as always, here's the graph:

Temeraire sweater

2009-08-30T12:14:00.005+02:00

I'm done, the Temeraire sweater is finished!

I had to photograph instead of scanning, because Temeraire is too big for my scanner. ;-) (Also, my scanner drives me crazy with trying to outthink me and always trying to edit out the grid.) Sorry it's a bit lopsided. The quality should otherwise be ok, you can click to get a really large version.

I have knitted it top down again, because I find it easier to place the motif right that way. I've increased stitches a bit towards the bottom, because my lower half is quite so big compared to the upper half at the moment, otherwise the cut is simply imitated from a sweater that fit me well.

And with the amount of hair I accidently knitted into that one I should be bald now...

Now it just needs to get cool so I can wear it. ;-)

Knitting WIP

2009-07-29T11:02:00.003+02:00

I'm on vacation this week and have spent the first few days knitting like a madwoman. ;-) Yesterday afternoon I found a blister on my index finger where the yarn is running along. I stuck a band-aid on it and knitted on, and of course this morning I then found a second blister right next to the band-aid. *g*

My current project is an attempt to knit the dragon Temeraire from Naomi Novik's book series. Making a pattern from a written description turned out to be unexpectedly difficult, as my attempt of a first drawing to then turn into a pattern made me end up with a four-legged butterfly wearing a bonnet. :-D After about three million pattern revisions (I will share it when I'm done and have made a readable version without the three million corrections) I have now ended up with this:

I'm not really sure how I want to knit the rest of the body. I have already decided to make the sleeves patterned in the colours of the dragon, as that much white to stain would be an invitation for disaster on me (and I don't have that much white yarn anyway - I initially wanted the background in the same blue as the markings on the wings, but that didn't have enough contrast to the dragon for my liking, and so I used yarn I still had left over from the SGA pillow). I could make the body all white, at least if I put a second Temeraire on the back, but I think a border might be nice to make a bit of a connection with the sleeves...

Oh well, I should take a break anyway, see blisters. ;-)

(And please please please - could the drilling in the cellar that already woke me up this morning stop already?!)

Pink/orange top

2009-07-25T17:05:00.005+02:00

Finished knitting another project, and am pleased to find it looks better than I thought while working on it. :-)

It looked really very pink in the light of my working lamp, but it depends on the light which of the different colours the yarn consists of dominates.

The lace pattern is out of my various folders with patterns me and my mother, when she was still able to knit, have collected over the decades, so I can alas not give a source for it. The cut was improvised while knitting.

When I was just about to upload the knitting photo, I heard a new kind of squawking on my balcony - it seems I have a new hungry visitor. :-)

Raven pendants

2009-07-18T20:05:00.001+02:00

I need a thank-you-present for a friend, and so I tried to make a raven pendant - hopefully she'll like one of them. The earrings are for me. ;-)

Knitted Top

2009-07-04T14:10:00.004+02:00

I've finished a top:

It was actually finished weeks ago, but then I decided I wanted to have sleeves on it. Knitting them was interrupted by getting the appartment painted by The Painter Of Doom, who was not only unreliable, chaotic and sloppy, but also ruined my window frames, and then, when I was almost finished with them, I decided I'd rather have it without after all. Not sure what I'll do with the partial sleeves now, maybe I'll try to make a short-sleeved shrug.

I'm not entirely happy with it. I was trying to knit this, but since this knitting book is absolutely not to be had here, not even used on the internet :-( , I had to guess along. Lucikly, the pattern for the braid is also in Viking Patterns for Knitting, but it looked so tiny with my yarn that I doubled it, which I didn't do accurately enough, it's a bit staunched. And I shouldn't have doubled the space between the middle cables, too. Now that I am looking at it again I also think my yarn might not have been that much thinner than the original after all either, and it might have worked fine with the original size.

As I have been improvising, I'm now not sure if I should link it to that pattern on Ravelry - what do you think?

New jewelry

2009-05-17T12:54:00.004+02:00

I might have been to the cinema recently... ;-)

As always, click to enlarge.

Baby boots

2009-05-16T17:19:00.005+02:00

I've knitted baby boots for a schoolfriend's baby that is due in June:

The bottom part is from a pattern Maria kindly provided, the top with the stylized leaves is from Sabrina Special Baby 2009 (can't find an issue number, sorry). The first attempt, using the yarn I had used for the owl sweater, got rather gigantic, the baby could have worn them when starting school. ;-) Only when I switched to that thinner yarn and needles two sizes smaller they got right. Usually, I need to use bigger ones because I knit so tight, so that was strange.

As you can see, if the Mom doesn't like them, my old doll Tanja can always wear them. ;-)