04.04.08
Knitting: Lace Shawl
A quick post to show my work in progress on a Lily of the Valley lace shawl which I started last night.
04.02.08
Knitting: Lacy Socks
I’ve been quite slack with writing about details of my knitting projects so here is another one; I am knitting these lacy socks for my mum for a Christmas present. I know that she wears bed socks so I thought that these would made a pretty pair for her – of course she my choose to wear them as day socks under her boots in the winter, by this is her choice.
I bought lots of 3 ply wool in cream when I found out I was pregnant and then never really used all that much (apart from to knit an alphabet blanket) so this is being knitted up using this wool that I have a plentiful supply of! I also think that the lace work would look really pretty as a cuff on a jumper or cardigan (I tried it on my wrist before working the heel and it looked very impressive) so maybe I will get started on a nice jumper – although it will take a long time to complete due to the needle size I am using (2mm!)… watch this space…
Noni Bag
I have finishing knitting my Noni bag (above picture is of the work in progress). I am really nervous now since it is in the washing machine being “felted”. This is the first time I have done this and despite checking on the Internet I have not been able to find concrete instructions on how to do it – they are generally quite vague: hot wash, short cycle, keep checking (how can I do this??) so I have set my front loaded washing machine on to 50deg on a colour wash cycle (this is D on my machine), I’ve set the spin to 400 (instead of the 1200 that I usually have it on) and on a half load. Hopefully the resulting bag and strap will come out ok or at least under felted so I can try again.
I do hope this works out since I plan to give the bag to my niece as a birthday present. Fortunately her birthday isn’t until May so at least I have some time to work on something else if it goes pear-shaped!
03.21.08
Knitting Pattern: Fitted Tank Top
Knitting: Fitted Tank Top Pattern
Tension
Using 3.25mm needles – 24 st to10 cm. I didn’t check the number of rows since this didn’t matter as I was measuring length as I went along.
Pattern
Back
Using 2.75mm needles cast on 97 st.
Row 1: K1 P1 to last st, K1
Row 2: P1 K1 to last st, P1
Continue in K1 P1 rib from rows 1 – 27
Row 28: K1 P1 K1 K2tog, then P1 K1 to last 5 st, K2tog K1 P1 K1
Rows 29 – 49: Continue in K1 P1 rib but K2/P2 to keep in line with the pattern at each end
Row 50: K1 P1 K2tog, K1 P1 to last 4 st, K2tog P1 K1
Rows 51 – 66: Continue in K1 P1 rib
Row 67: Change to 3.25mm needles and continue in stocking stitch starting with a knit row.
When the length is correct shape armholes as follows (this was row 127 for me when back measured 38cm from the cast-on edge)
Rows 128 – 129: Cast off 5 st at beginning of each row
Rows 130 – 134: Dec 1 st at each end of these 5 rows
Row 135: Normal row
Row 136: Dec 1 st at each end
Then continue straight in stocking stitch until the armhole measures 18cm (this was row 196 for me)
Then shape shoulders, cast off 8 st at the beginning of the next 4 rows. Leave remaining stitches on a holder to be used when completing the neck.
Front
Complete front as for back up to the point where you want the V-neck to start – this was row 90 for me.
Row 91: K45 K2tog then turn leaving the remaining stitches on a holder
Row 92: Purl
Row 93: Knit to last 5 st, K2tog tbl (through back loop) K3
Continue in stocking stitch dec 1 st at neck edge on every 4th row 11 times more (rows 97 / 101 / 105 / 109 / 113 / 117 / 121 / 15 / 129 / 133 / 137) whilst at the same time shaping the armhole as for the back but only decreasing at the neck edge. (About 18 st left)
Continue straight until armhole measures 18cm (196 rows).
Row 197: Shape shoulders by casting off 8 st
Row 198: Purl
Row 199: Cast off remaining stitches
Complete the other side of the front as above reversing the pattern as appropriate to decrease for the V-neck and armhole
Making Up
Sew the shoulder seams and the side seams together before completing the banding for the armholes and neck.
Armholes
Pick up 103 stitches evenly over the armhole (to do this instead of picking up every stitch, I picked up 2 stitches then missed 1).
Using a 2.75mm circular needle complete 14 rows in K1 P1 rib. I didn’t knit this in the round, instead I sewed the seam up hence using an odd number of stitches.
Repeat for the other arm.
Neck
Pick up 189 stitches evenly over the neck (again I picked up 2 stitches, then missed 1).
Using a 2.75mm circular needle complete 14 rows in K1 P1 rib. Again I didn’t knit this in the round, instead I sewed up the seam by overlapping.
Tank Top
Well I finally finished my tank top, I’m going to post the pattern shortly but obviously I only noted down the instructions so I know what I did (and so I could complete the front to the same instructions) and to my tension – so this is only really specifically for me. I’ll get around to posting a picture later
03.19.08
Knitting: Tank Top
I managed to complete the neck of my tank top and have started on the armholes. I need to stay at home today as the greenhouse is due to be delivered, therefore a good excuse to attempt to complete the tank top. I bought some wool off eBay a while ago; 10 balls of Wendy yarn with lycra in black, and have been wondering what to make with it. In the end I decided on a tank top but knew what I wanted and couldn’t find a pattern to decided to make it up as I went along! So far so good, I believe it will fit – I was worried that I had made it too small since I wanted it to be fitted (as it contains lycra) but thought that I would to the other extreme and had made it too small. However after knitting up both the front and the back and tacking them together it appeared to be ok. Now that the neck is done it is looking even better, so hopefuly when the arms are done it will be really good and I will wear it!
If it does work out ok then I will post the instructions for knitting it up – however I am a size 8 and have obviously knitted it to my size so I will only post the instructions for a size 8. Having said that, it will be easy enough to alter accordingly…
03.18.08
Digging vs Knitting
OK, so I had planned on digging in the garden today – and it is such a beautiful day – however then I remembered that I had today booked in as a leisurely day for me! Why? Well my son is on a school trip; he left yesterday morning and will be back tomorrow night. This is the first day in a long time when I have had the house to myself and haven’t needed to drop him off at school in the morning and then pick him up again – which really breaks my day in half. Therefore I planned to have an uninterrupted day where I can just sit and watch the TV or some films and get some serious knitting done… baby permitting.
Fortunately baby Izzy have been perfectly well behaved, I have managed to get two loads of washing done and out on the line (or airer as the line got full up quite quickly) and tidied the house up so I haven’t been completely lazy.
Now however I am making the most of the afternoon and am currently (bar this blog) sat with a nice cup of tea desperately trying to finish off a fitted tank top that I started a while ago. I’m practically finished now, I just need to knit up the rib on the neck and the armholes.
Hopefully I will receive my package of wool and pattern for my Noni bag this week, hence my determination to finish this tank top soon. I hope to complete the neck today at the very least then maybe I can work on the armholes over the next few days. It’s my OH’s birthday on Friday and so I hope to bake a cake to surprise him with, so I can’t do too much knitting otherwise I will never bake the cake…. anyway, time to get back to my leisurely afternoon (I think I might even have a glass of wine soon!)
03.13.08
Next Knitting Project
I have surfed eBay and found a seller (albeit in the US) who is selling the Noni pattern that I really quite like, it is for little bags the right kind of size for mobile phones, iPods and Nintendo DS’ – therefore I have placed an order for the pattern along with some pink and blue wool as recommended in the pattern. My niece is 8 in May and one of these bags would be perfect for her to keep her Nintendo in, so hopefully I will be able to start on this as soon as the package arrives.
The other positive is that I had a £5 voucher from an eBay email (usually I delete them so I’m quite pleased that I actually read this one!) so in total the pattern and two skeins of wool have only cost me £9.50 including postage.
Knitted Items
I’ve been searching the internet for ideas for knitted goods and have come across Noni which produce patterns for beautiful felted bags.
I think that felted bags of some description would be ideal for both gifts and selling. I have decided that I am going to invest in one of the Noni patterns and some of the wool that is recommended in the patterns – this would be my first attempt at felting – and knit up one of the bags to give to my niece for her birthday in May (it’s the kind of thing she would love), then I can use my experience to design some of my own patterns for bags to sell
03.12.08
Small Crocheted Items
Whilst browsing the internet for ideas of small items to make, I came across this blog Crochetroo which lists patterns for crocheting. Although these patterns are copyrighted so I couldn’t make any of these to sell, there are some wonderful items to make as gifts and also ideas to inspire my to create my own patterns (I’m currently making a fitted tank top from some Yo-Yo yarn by Wendy and have made the pattern up so just waiting to finish it to see if it fits so I’m not adverse to creating patterns from scratch!)
