Friday, February 28, 2014

Lucina Shell Cowl

Lucina Shell Cowl

In my experience, at least half of making a nice pattern is finding the right blend of yarn and design. And with these particular yarns - the grey one is textured, and the yellow one is glossy smooth - I wasn't quite sure if I could pull off a mixed design. But then I found this gathered stitch pattern, which adds stitches on rows 1, 3, and 5 and then pulls them all together in row 7, and I thought that it was just the right combination of whimsy and texture to make the yarn pop.

The pattern. Well, I didn't do a very good job of
straightening it out but I think you get the point...
Yarn: Bristol Yarn Gallery Bradford (97% Pima Cotton, 3% Nylon; 120 yards [110 meters]/50 grams); #112 Mirage (color A) - one skein & Bristol Yarn Gallery Somerset (85% Pima Cotton, 15% Silk; 115 yards [105 meters]/50 grams); #103 Yellow (color B) - one skein

Needles: One 24" circular needle in size 7

Notions: Tapestry needle, three stitch markers or scraps of yarn to mark stitches

Gauge: 18 stitches = 4 inches

Using color A, cast on 130 stitches, place marker, and join in round. Purl 14, place extra marker, and then purl until you have 14 stitches left in round, and place another marker. Purl till the end of the round. And now, let's begin the main pattern, which is Lucina Shell from page 226 of Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, except adapted for the round and stripes (and blended with a slipped stitch pattern). So here goes!

Tuesday, February 25, 2014

American Beauty Hat

American Beauty Hat

It may be spring in most of the country, but in my neck of the woods, we're still in single-digits, driving down roads rutted with ice. Of course, I think that this three-color, slipped stitch hat will transition nicely to warmer temperatures as well, and hopefully now that I've made it for my husband, that's exactly what we'll get. Or at least his ears will stay warm...

Yarn: Schachenmayr smc Juvel (100% New Wool; 116 yards [106 meters]/50 grams); #575 Light Moss - one skein (color A), #2 Medium Grey Heather - one skein (color B), #500 Mottled Bark - one skein (color C)
I couldn't bring myself to do a boring back -
hit me up if you want one, though, and I'll come up
with something.

Needles: One 16" circular needle in size 4, one 16" circular needle in size 7

Notions: Tapestry needle, stitch marker

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches on size 6 needles

Using your size 4 circular needle and your color A yarn, cast on 116 stitches, place marker, and join in round. Knit 1.5" in a * k1, p1 * ribbing, and then switch to your size 7 needle and knit one row. Next, we'll begin the pattern, which is American Beauty Tweed from page 39 of Barbara G. Walker's A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, except adapted for the round. So here goes!

Row 1: using color B, * slip 2 with yarn in back, k2; rep from *

Saturday, February 22, 2014

Cloverleaf Eyelet Fingerless Gloves

Cloverleaf Eyelet Fingerless Gloves

I recently received a lovely email suggesting that I make a pair of lacy, fingerless gloves. And I was immediately on board - I've been plotting fingerless gloves for a while now, other projects just keep getting in the way. Unfortunately, I didn't have any good yarn for a particularly lacy project, so I ended up with these kind of starter-lace gloves instead, which use a little bit of eyeletted ribbing, but are a fairly straightforward pattern. Now that I've patterned my first pair, however, expect to see more in the near future - and of a lacier variety!

The pattern. A cloverleaf, if you look closely.
Sizes: smaller (for a hand roughly 7 1/2" - 8" in circumference at the base of the thumb) and larger (for a hand roughly 8 1/2" - 9" in circumference at the base of the thumb) - directions for larger size will follow those for the smaller size in parentheses

Yarn: Cascade 220 Superwash (100% Superwash Wool; 220 yards [200 meters]/100 grams); #821 Daffodil – one skein (both sizes)

Needles: one set of double-pointed needles in size 6, one set of double-pointed needles in size 4

Notions: Tapestry needle

Gauge: 22 stitches = 4 inches on size 6 needles

First and foremost: since these fingerless gloves have a pattern that's intended to be in different places on the two gloves (left of the thumb on the left side, right of the thumb on the right), we'll have to knit the right and left gloves with slightly different patterns. So let's begin with the left, and when that bad boy's done, we'll move on to the right!

Thursday, February 20, 2014

Porcelain Moon Cowl

Porcelain Moon Cowl

Okay, I know the name for this one is goofy. But the design reminds me of something between fine china and Sailor Moon, and I don't have a name for the stitch, so I got stuck. And, either way, it's a closer-fitting, quick-knitting cowl that gets a bit of a different look from the faux-bow gather of the front.

Yarn: Classic Elite Yarns Solstice (70% Organic Cotton, 30% Wool; 100 yards [91 meters]/50 grams); #2346 Faded Teal – one skein (color A) & Skacel Urban Silk (80% Silk, 20% Cotton; 93 yards [85 meters]/50 grams); #01 Cream – one skein (color B)

Needles: One 16" or 20" circular needle in size 8

Notions: Tapestry needle, 3 stitch markers

Gauge: 18 stitches = 4 inches (roughly - my two skeins are slightly different gauges, but I'm not worrying about it)

Using color A, cast on 117 stitches, place marker, and join in round. Next, purl 9, place marker, and purl until you're 9 stitches from the end of the round. Place a second marker, and purl until you reach the end of the round. Purl two more rows, slipping additional markers when you come to them. And now, it's time to begin the pattern, which goes as follows:

Row 1: using color A, knit until two stitches before first marker, k2tog, slip marker, and knit until second marker. Then, slip marker, ssk, and knit til end of round