I just made another Rikki hat using the no-line helix method and fabulous yarn. Everyone who sees it wants it! So I added a meaningful tag:
The yarn is Trippin’ with Dixi Travelin’ Tweeds DK, color Splotch. It was a one-off yarn, so cannot be found! I should have bought more.
I do love this hat!!! But, remember — it’s MINE!!
Hey, peeps! I just finished a little impulse project called the Adelphia Bag. The knitting was pretty speedy. The finishing was pretty intense!
The colors reverse! The yarn is Malabrigo Arroyo, in Vaa and Neverland.
The bag is lined and is supposed to have a zipper. I’ve added zippers to bags, but just didn’t feel like it! I used a magnetic snap instead.
I also added a leather strap. I bought the leather at a store I call the “fire trap.” Other people call it S. R. Harris — bought the lining there, too. They sell leather scraps for $10/pound! I owned some rivets and bought a nice set of leather punches. The small punches are so tiny I think they are for SMALL wires!
I added i-cord around the top edge as well. I thought it added strength and stability. All in all, I think I love it!!!
Kathy mentioned our group “lemming project.” It’s a shawl designed by Romi Hill called Artesian. There are hundreds of projects on Ravelry, many of which share the same advice: forget the charts and dump half the markers!
I found a stunning fuscia yarn in stash…what it is, I do not know! I only managed to get the smallest size out of my skein – five sections.
It’s a nice pop piece for summer. Rather more like a scarf than a shawl, but I like it!
A couple of months ago, I jumped on the bandwagon for Metamorphic, a then new sweater design by Andrea Mowry. It’s an exceedingly simple design; the star of the show was the yarn. Two yarns by Spincycle Yarns — Metamorphic (hence the name) and Dyed in the Wool — are alternated every other row to create a colorful blended effect a little more subtle than if Dyed in the Wool were used alone.
I wanted a dark, subdued look so I chose Metamorphic in Marl #6 and Dyed in the Wool in the color way Absolute Zero.
As I said, the sweater pattern is simplicity itself: ribbed neck (2 x 2 ribbing) with slipped stitches going down the center front, back, and sleeves. (The ribbing is done in the Metamorphic yarn alone.) I modified the pattern so that the slipped stitches flowed out of the ribbing. At the 4 center points (front, back, and each sleeve) of the neck ribbing, I put a single knit stitch flanked on each side by two purl stitches. It was easy to figure out, and didn’t require major changes in the overall number of stitches to cast on. I incorporated the few extra stitches into the yoke increases.
My only other real modification was to lengthen the sweater. Many of Andrea’s designed are just a bit too cropped for me. I purchased an extra skein of the Metamorphic yarn to be on the safe side and was glad I did — I needed it for the second sleeve cuff. If I hadn’t lengthened the sweater, I would have been fine.
It took me a while to knit this because I kept being interrupted by other sweaters. I reserved it primarily for TV knitting etc. Sadly, I finished it just as it’s getting a bit warm for sweater weather. But I’m in Colorado — so who knows? I may get to wear it sooner than I expected.
I just finished a really cute, fun sweater: the Tii Pullover designed by Joji Locatelli. Yes, another Joji! When I first saw it, I was intrigued by the ornate cable on the front:
Upon further investigation, I discovered that the cable itself is quite simple.
The two halves (right and left) are knit as separate pieces that are only attached by an inch of knitting at the neck:
The Sweater before Blocking
Then the halves are joined by two long pieces of i-cord:
The front
The Back
Wow! Mind blown!!
I dropped the front neck 10 rows and added a split hem, but otherwise pretty much followed the pattern. I knit it in Lettlopi, which is known for being a very wooly wool. It blocked out beautifully. Not the softest sweater, but I love the feel of it, scrumptious and squishy. This is a winner!!
I am really excited to share what I think is a new technique for casting on i-cord. There are so many people at my LYS BeWoolen knitting blankets, many of which have an i-cord border. My Surrounded Afghan also has a built-in i-cord border. But standard methods of casting on either result in really enlarged sts or the cumbersome task of knitting i-cord and then picking up sts. I used this second method on my pattern.
I kept thinking there must be a better way. All my attempts created the enlarged sts. I realized it’s because the sts are being created by the yarn that is carried behind the i-cord — there is slack that you just can’t get rid of. My method doesn’t do it that way.
My technique uses a provisional cast on. You “bind off” and then work the other side of the sts.
The step-by-step instructions are included in the following pdf. I have also made a 10 minute youtube video that shows all the steps. Let me know what you think!!
The following pdf was changed on April 13, 2022 to include a 4-stitch version!!
I made a shawl pin as a gift for a fellow knitter on her “special” birthday!
Well, as promised I am here to update you on my status as a Dorset shawl pin maker. I am a Dorset shawl pin maker! I tried it out today and in two hours had created a shawl pin! I did make a small one (1-1/8 inches), so those take less time.
Step 1: Cast the Ring — this is the time consuming/annoying part!
Step 2: Slick the Ring — this just means nudging the knotted edge to the back.
Step 3: Decorate — I chose a simple design called Bachelor Buttons
Step 4: Add the side rings that make this a shawl pin
Step 5: Make Stick Pin — I used an existing shawl pin stick
Because mine is a bit small, I think it would look really cute on a sweater!
The supplies are plastic rings, perle coton #5 and/or 8, needles, and metallic thread. The sticks she uses are bamboo skewers that we all have in our kitchens!
There you have it! Pat Olski has all of her knowledge and creativity available in numerous books and magazines. I got my information from Crafting Thread Shawl Pins.
I just got a wonderful book written by Pat Olski called Crafting Thread Shawl Pins. It is a stunner! The pins are absolutely gorgeous. I hope to make a few but haven’t quite gotten there yet. Here is the cover:
And a really pretty pin:
They are all so beautiful. You can match the colors to your favorite, special shawl or sweater. Or make your own buttons. The illustrations are extremely clear and the instructions well written. I will post updates on my progress!
I also embarked on some brioche knitting…syncopated brioche to be exact. Syncopated brioche turns some standard “rules” on their head. When knitting typical brioche, one color is dominant and worked as knit brioche sts, and the other worked as purl. In the following Diamond Lattice Cowl, both colors are dominant. Mind blown!
Had to make another!!
I used Malabrigo Rios, colors Cereza and Pearl Ten for the red/gray, Lettuce and Aquas for the green. One skein of each color. I will be teaching this as a class at BeWoolen next month.
And for those of you knitting tubular cowls that need to be grafted together, read my tip about getting started and easier grafting in The Rainey Sisters Ravelry group!! I learned a lot about what NOT to do when grafting this friend’s Velvet Mirror Cowl!
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