Aug 18, 2015
Bags of Plymouth Dreambaby DK Paintpot arrived last month at Janet’s. In my usual Wednesday afternoon procrastination, I offered to knit up a shop sample of the Plymouth Girl’s Tunic with this machine washable blend.
Cute kid! Plymouth #2865 Girl’s tunic
The yarn was pleasant to knit, but one look at the pattern, I knew things had to change. Why on earth would I want to knit this and sew it together? This is a perfect candidate for knitting in the round! And a picot hem but a ribbed neckline and armholes? Of course, picot edging all round!
No baby here, so teddy was my model!
It didn’t take long to knit, but it took weeks for me to finally post the modifications. If you pick up the pattern at Sit and Knit, you’ll get a print out if you’d like to follow what I did. Or else, just download these Plymouth Girl Tunic modifications for your own personal use. You’ll need to purchase the pattern, and perhaps these mods will be obvious to you as well, but I thought I’d share!
Picot edging is worked for a no sew hem!
Picot bind off worked at armhole and neck edge.
Jul 18, 2015
The double knitting swatch was one that needed to be reknit for my Master Knitter Level 3 portfolio. Over the last two weeks, a chunk of time was spent reviewing and expanding my references, thinking about how I actually construct the stitch. The half combination knitting, continental approach is almost described in Alasdair’s Extreme Double Knitting , which is my turn to reference. I also learn loads from Lucy Neatby’s fab resources. The reviewers also wanted me to explain how I twist the yarns at the beginning of the row.
Here’s a view of how I hold my yarn, working the knit stitch twisted and the purl stitch untwisted.
As of today, I’m happy with the swatch. Will I be in a few months? Stay tuned.
Jun 21, 2015
My 3D knit mojo rolled along over the winter. Most recently, I turned back to Knitted Wild Animals, by Sarah Keen.
The giraffe, panda and elephant in their new home
Sarah’s patterns are easy to knit but need a chunk of time to assemble. These three animals used almost an entire bag of polyfill (I chose not to stuff them with wool, as the panda was really quite big and I wondered if the wool might get a bit felted over time).
The last time I knit patterns from this book, there were mental notes about what I might do differently next time. Did I remember them? Of course not.. but this time I’m writing it down.
Knitted Wild Animals by Sarah Keen
- Leave 8″ long tails at the cast on and bind off edges to seam your pieces together.
- If you have difficulty identifying the cast on and bind off edges, tie a bow on the cast on tail to help you remember which is which.
- Tie sets of arms, legs, horns… everything that’s knit in twos and keep them together until the seaming begins
- Consider knitting pieces in the round on double pointed needles (the shorter, the better). The legs, arms and horns could have been knit in the round for the giraffe, elephant and panda. The body sections for the panda and elephant could be, too. Just put markers in between the 2 pieces so your increase and decrease points are easy to identify.
So, there! Now, have you knit patterns from this book? I’d love to hear your tips about what worked for you.
Jun 13, 2015
Six weeks into sailing season and so far, I’ve resisted starting new projects for the boat. Aren’t I diligent? Aren’t I ready for new summer knitting projects? Aren’t I avoiding finishing my Master Knitter Level 3 corrections?
One of the boats in the club had a perfect place to stash the project on board!
From the diligent end, aren’t you proud that either Joji Locatelli’s Windows to my Soul and Umeko by Sarah Hatton dropped into the sailing bag? I’ve been knitting them off and on for a while; both are nearly complete!
Umeko in Cotton Lustre – Yum!
Now it’s time to cast on new traveling projects for the sailing bag as well as other summer adventures on the horizon. An ideal traveling project could be stockinette or garter, but easy to learn and repeatable patterns are more fun. I’d rather not do stranded knitting. A nice portable size is convenient, but I’m happy to do pieces and sew them together. Last year’s Silky Thorn required size 1 needles, which was workable… but not my first choice. And wouldn’t it be nice if it used yarn I already own?
Ravelry now allows you to bundle the projects and patterns that you favorite into Pinterest like collections. I created a “Traveling Knits” bundle, which was a good place to start with summer knitting inspiration. The first Fall edition of Knitty.com is always good for inspiration! And of course, the knitters at Sit and Knit and In Stitches always have great ideas when asked. So here’s
6 Easy Knitting Projects for Summer Travels
Baker Street by Joan of Dark in the
Although thoughts of early fall are truly repulsive, it’s always a good idea to restock the hand knit present shelf. Baker Street by Joan of Dark looks like an entertaining and easy project.
Allongee by Bristol Ivy in Spring KnitScene 2015
Coordinating colors of Louet Sport Weight Linen lurk in my stash. They would look great in this fun Bristol Ivy’s Allongee. I love the way drop stitches make this easy knit a bit more interesting. And in Bristol Ivy style, the construction is also a bit different.
Sallah Cowl by Bristol Ivy
A quick peek around my Neck and Shoulders bundle brought me to another Bristol Ivy pattern, this time from Knitty! Sallah could be a portable project that uses one of those irresistible skeins of fingering weight yarn which I’m prone to procuring on the road.
Christy Kamm’s Zick Zack Scarf
The Zick Zack scarf is easy, appealing and I hear addicting. Sample color ways abound in nearly every shop in New England that carries Berrocco yarn! Any fingering weight yarn with gradations works for this pattern, or solids combined with the gradient, why not?
I especially love the look when the colors of the two balls are harmonious for a demure color wash effect.
Churchmouse Easy Folded Poncho
I will bow to the reality that fall arrives sooner or later by including the Easy Folded poncho from Churchmouse yarns. As the final project is a bit big, it’s most likely I won’t work on this if the weather is too warm.
Sarah Hatton’s Stripey Sailor Girl will hit my needles this weekend, as two lovely baby girls entered my life this spring.
I’d love to build up the traveling knitting project options… what are yours?
As for avoiding the Master Knitter Corrections? Um, yes. I’ve finished my aran sweater pattern (test knitting made this a very humbling experience). There’s still more to do, but I won’t dedicate a 100% of my knitting time to the obligations. Holy Cats, it’s summer!
May 28, 2015
Globe photographers caught this image from classes at In Stitches in Weston.
The Boston Globe featured the small business In Stitches in the Metro West edition on May 24, 2015.
Jean and Tom Holtey maintain an amazing yarn and thread collection at their Weston, MA store, and online. As they cater to MetroWest knitters, crocheters, embroiderers and needlepoint enthusiasts, I’ve been lucky enough to coach knitters there in the last year. What a scintillating group of adventure seeking stitchers they are! This photograph was one of dozens taken, but I bet that weighty camera captured other fabulous views. Knowing that Jean spoke with Cindy Cantrell for 45 minutes, I found the article’s angle so heartening: the companionship and comfort of stitching.
Little did Cindy realize that so many people still knit. In the last 15 years, dozens of media blips proclaimed that “knitting isn’t just for grannies any more.” More than four million members interact on the “social media for fiber lovers” site called Ravelry (which in 2014 reported that 84 of 10,000 US citizens were members). I was a bit incredulous that there are still so many people behind on their knitting stereotypes.
Time for us to knit in public, my friends! Time to yarn bomb, perform the craft in new settings, to wear amazing finished objects of fabulous fiber content.
Let the stitches continue!
Mar 25, 2015
When Janet invited us when the Rowan yarn rep stopped by in February, I had no idea I would fall for their new bulky weight ribbon yarn called Cotton Lustre. When Jess first showed the ball of ribbon yarn, we were all a bit “Eh.” When she showed us the knit swatch, we all said “Ah.”
The first bags of Cotton Lustre arrived without the pattern books, so it was time to take matters into my own hands. Thus, with 2 skeins of Lustre, I whipped up any airy kerchief in a lace mesh pattern, which I share here with you!
Kleam Kerchief free pattern
