Posted on November 27, 2016 in Knitting & Crafting
This is the first of four knitting posts. Two of which I finished months ago so the commentary will be short on some of them.
I recently started a new job which is great. However, is the most strenuous one I’ve had in awhile. As a result, I have less time and energy for reading, but knitting is more manageable. I have tended to knitting when work or school was occupying. I am aiming to stashdown as well. Hopefully more knitting posts to continue in 2017.
A number of years ago, I made my first pair of legwarmers. I never wore legwarmers before that, but they are became very useful. I wear skirts and dresses through the winter and legwarmers are invaluable for that since I live in Canada. I use my legwarmers at least once a week if not more in the winter and I only had the one pair. When I read that other knitters had issues with this yarn felting, I knew the alpaca would make great legwarmers.
Posted on June 16, 2008 in Knitting & Crafting
Even though I had start this twice and it gave me some trouble towards the end, this is the most beautiful thing I have made yet.
Once I frogged back my first attempt after several mistakes of not being careful, it went extremely well through the knitting. I flew through the pattern doing up to line 55 of Jared’s chart (or 101 in the Extended/normal chart). I love the colour though the Cascade 220 dye can run quite a bit in the wash.
When I hit the bind off row, my troubles began as I realised that I did not have enough yarn. I had to buy more yarn, but I could not rip back to add a repeat because I had placed my life line way too far down. That discouraged me quite a bit because I thought I had enough yarn by going down a needle size and not doing the repeat. I accidentally broke the Emily Ocker cast on when I was weaving in, but I fixed it so it is not too troublesome. I did not enjoy the blocking too much, and only stretched it 9 inches.
The camera does not capture the colour adequately; it is very lovely turquoise aptly named Caribbean. The edge/BO rnd was difficult to block and looks a bit unkempt, so I avoided taking photos of it. I may iron the edges lightly at some point. As usual, I blocked with a bath of Eucalan Lavender.
Hemlock Ring Blanket, started May 19th 2008, finished June 13th 2008
Pattern: Hemlock Ring Blanket adapted by Jared Flood
Size: 45″ blocked. 36″ unblocked.
Yarn: Cascade 220 Wool – #8907 Caribbean – 100g/220 yards – 3.1 skeins
Needles: US#9/5.5mm 40″/100cm bamboo circs with magic loop
Modifications: Emily Ocker Cast On, I often ssk instead of sl1k1psso, and with the BO rnd I k2tog, O, ssk.
Tools/Notions: Stitch markers, lifelines, and row counter are all necessary.
Lessons Learned: Emily Ocker Cast on.
Cost of Project: approx. $28
Would I knit it again? Yes! I would make it bigger. I would love to make this in Cascade Eco wool. It is not sold widely in Canada, but one day though.
Helpful Links and Tips: I used The Rainey Sisters‘s PDF of the pattern as it is updated with the errata and uses ssk. It uses Jared’s chart, and additionally, I paired it with the Hemlock Ring Knit Along Yahoo Group‘s Extended Chart which has helpful numbers of YOs and stitch counts (though there is a small error in the one I got). Being a member of Ravelry’s Hemlock Ring Doily Throw Knitters group also gave reassurance.
Posted on March 8, 2008 in Beauty & Skincare, Knitting & Crafting, Photography
One of my best knit items yet. Last summer, I tried making Evelyn A. Clark’s other popular pattern Swallowtail Shawl and ran into a lot of problems so it has been hibernating. I am ready to tackle it again after this wonderful project. Popularized by Brooklyn Tweed’s version of aran lace, I decided to do some stashbusting with my Patons. This was one of my most enjoyable knits; it’s easy to knit up and remember. It’s also very classy and great pattern for gifts. Usually, I make a few noticeable mistakes and due to my never ripping back policy, I don’t fix them. With this project, I made one or two mistakes, and I don’t even know where they are. Even the invisible/provisional CO worked out, and I hate provisional COs. The heavier yarn makes the knitting flow better. Good signs for my lace future; other than Branching Out, I’d never done a real big lace project until now. I am going to be making BT Hemlock Ring Blanket as well. Hopefully it’ll turn out as beautiful as this project.
Shetland Triangle, started February 26th 2008, finished March 5th 2008
Pattern: Shetland Triangle by Evelyn A. Clark from Wrap Style
Size: approximately 65″ wide x 35″ long blocked (unblocked, it was 10″ less wide)
Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino (100g – 204m/223yds – 100% wool) in 00240 Leaf Green – 2 skeins and a bit
Needles: #9/5.5mm 100 cm bamboo circs and 7.0mm circs for BO
Modifications: Subbed yarn from 2ply lace weight to worsted weight, skipped last two rows of edging chart, 10 body repeats instead of 8 in pattern. Brooklyn Tweed apparently did nine repeats with 400m aran yarn. Doing nine reps would probably be enough with 2 skeins of this wool if you don’t mind using stretchy and bouncing merino. I BO on a 7.0mm using this lace nameless BO I found on Ravelry forums: “k1, k1, sl. both stitches back on left needle k 2 tog. through back loop, [k1, sl both stitches on left needle and knit tog. through back loop,] rep across row.” It looks okay so I may or may not use it next time.
Tools/Notions: 4 stitch markers
Lessons Learned: The aforementioned nameless BO
Cost of Project: $15 (though I only used a tiny bit of the third skein)
Would I knit it again? YES! Good for gifts, and I would love to make this in a silk/wool mix or with non-merino wool fabric such as alpaca. I’d prefer to stick to the heavier weight yarn rather than lace with this project.