Category: knitting

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Child Balaclava

Posted on by Laura Kate

Gosh, this was a fun and easy project, once I got the hang of the 3-color slip stitch pattern. The yarns were great (Cascade Elysian) and blocked out beautifully. If only I had a five-year-old to test the fit and pose for the photo shoot.

A quick solution for a head mannequin: Grab an oatmeal box and draw a face on it. At least this solves for the photo shoot. Checking the fit will require plopping the piece on a real live child.

View from the side. I stuffed in a small ball of yarn to fill out the crown.

Looking at the back, you observe my slight alteration to the pattern: I noticed in the pattern’s photographs that the neck increases resulted in a slight flare.

To accentuate this feature, I switched from 1 by 1 ribbing to seed stitch just in this section. This will allow the back of the neck to fit easily over a collar.

Or, the flare could be tucked inside coat, to keep winter winds away from tender skin.

If you like the pattern, here is a link to Gretchen Tracey’s website.

https://www.ballstothewallsknits.com/2014/02/kids-dice-check-balaclava.html

She offers the balaclava in a baby size as well as dozens of other cute head coverings for kids. This pattern was free. I hope you’ll give her designs a try.

Posted in colorwork, knitting

Friday Finish: Sequences Convertible Shrug

Posted on by Laura Kate

Hot of the needles, just finished making my version of Sequences Shrug.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sequences-shrug

I started this project in early summer, as one of several stash-busting efforts. The yarn I wanted to use up was Remix Light, by Berroco. I had three colors of the stuff.

This yarn was crafted by recycling left-over fibers from other yarns and includes cotton, acrylic, silk, nylon and linen. I tossed in some left-over cotton marled yarn, to give me four colors to work with.

Swatch showing the sequence of colors I chose for my version

The designer did an amazing job in creating this pattern. By alternating columns of knit and purls stitches within the garter stitch rows, she made the garment reversible. I-cord edges on all four sides bring a nice finish. Of course, with my constant color changes, I had a bunch of ends hanging down one side. As I mused about the time and the potential disruption to the design weaving the ends would cause, I resolved to incorporate them into a fringe. Here is the fringed side about 2/3rds along.

And yes, I did have enough yarn to finish. I used the gold and white/black marled yarns completely. I have small amounts of the blue and pink left.

Look Ma, no ends to weave it!

I’m also really pleased with the I-cord edges, especially along the neckline.

Oh, and you may be wondering how it converts. This garment can be worn as a shrug, shawl or scarf. Soon I hope to upload a photo shoot demonstrating all the looks that are available.

Thank you, Lori Versaci. I highly recommend your Sequences Shrug.

Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday, working my stash yarn

Posted on by Laura Kate

With the Sequences Shrug 99% finished, (This will be revealed on Friday) I have cast on another project, again, targeted at shrinking my stash. I first wrote about this one back in June.

The pink and purple Elysian yarns were left-over from Lu’s simple sweater, completed earlier this year. That blue alpaca yarn is just a place-holder. Ultimately, I decided to purchase a yarn better suited for the project in mind, which is a child’s balaclava, designed by Gretchen Tracy at Balls to the Walls Knits.

https://www.ballstothewallsknits.com/p/about.html

The stitch pattern was adapted by the designer from Barbara Walker’s diced three-color check pattern, found in A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns.

After casting on, a skinny rectangle is knit with three colors of yarn. This weird-looking piece resembles a pre-historic but colorful creature from Unicorn World.

Knitting is continued by picking up around three sides and working in pattern until the helmet section of the balaclava is finished.

At this point, I am dubious about whether it will fit my intended recipient. But I’m willing to trust the designer and carry on with the pattern as written.

If it doesn’t fit Laura Lu, it will fit someone, somewhere.

To find Gretchen’s balaclava pattern, click on the link.

https://www.ballstothewallsknits.com/2014/02/kids-dice-check-balaclava.html

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish from the Stash

Posted on by Laura Kate

A few weeks ago, I cast on a cowl using two skeins of soft yarn found in my stash.

The pattern is called Spinal Twist.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/spinal-twist

It has interesting construction. After a provisional cast-on, the first half of the lining is knit in stockinette stitch. Then the second color is joined and the spinal twist stitch is worked for six inches. At that point, color two is cut and the second half of the lining is completed. Leaving the needle in, the provisional cast-on is removed, the stitches placed on a needle and the two edges are turned to face each other. The two sets of loops are sewn together with Kitchener stitch – All 95 pairs of loops.

It’s not the most good-looking Kitchener I’ve ever worked, but it’s finished. And since the facing is turned to the inside, the join will not be visible.

Today this cowl would look very out of place draped over my T-shirt in the hot afternoon sun. I have photographed it on a hanger, hooked up on a tomato cage.

This garment will get tucked away to wait until gift-giving season. It’s nice that the style is gender neutral, easily worn by any adult.

Posted in knitting

Cast-on Monday, She Shrugged

Posted on by Laura Kate

I pulled one of my stash project bags out of the yarn closet for today’s cast-on.

This group of yarns is mostly sport-weight cotton. The marled white is left over from my husband’s sixteen-thousand-stitch pull-over (aka jumper to the Brits) made more than ten years ago. The Berocco Remix yarn was purchased two years ago to make a summer vest for Lu. I ended up using only the red and blue. The yellow seemed such a dreary color. I couldn’t think of who would want to wear it. Then I came across this charming pattern by VersaciKnits.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sequences-shrug

It is knit with the broken garter stitch in two colors. I began to see how the yellow yarn could be a background to more interesting hues. With cuff-to-cuff construction, the stripes would be vertical while the textural changes ran horizontally. My enthusiasm for the project rose quickly after I worked up a swatch.

Other elements of this design include I-cord edgings and button closures on the sleeves. To make it even more interesting, the garment can be worn three ways: shrug, shawl or scarf. I couldn’t wait to cast on.

I like what I see so far. This could be a good travel project, assuming I can manage the constant switching between purl and knit stitches while riding in the car.