Tag: KnitPicks

Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday – Mostly Alpaca

Posted on by Laura Kate

This week-end, I cast on a shawl from yarn that was 1. in my stash and 2. frogged from a UFO. This particular pattern is a top-down triangle design with a twist – literally. By increasing more stitches on one half of the double yarnover section and using short rows, it creates a gentle slope across the back of the garment. The pattern is by Manos del Uruguay and is available free on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gentle-slopes

Here are the yarns I am using.

The Letitcia is Peruvian yarn blended of wool, alpaca and silk. Gloss is a Knitpicks – super wash merino and silk. The three lace weight yarns are 100% alpaca, in my stash for so long that I no longer have the labels. Just last year I blogged about a UFO with this lighter-than-air yarn, in which I moaned about the way the stitches simply floated off the needle. To solve this problem, I am holding them TRIPLED in this project, and following with the Leticia yarn to LOCK THEM DOWN.

My variation to the pattern is the insertion of the striping row of eyelet lace. This will show up every 16 garter ridges, to break up the plain vanilla and keep things from getting too boring.

I think that the back side is just as pretty as the front side.

I like that this pattern works for mindless knitting. The pattern repeats every four rows that are easily memorized. The only hiccup I foresee is that I am going to need a longer cable very soon.

Posted in knitting, painting, quilting

Carrying On

Posted on by Laura Kate

While it was a struggle to pull my eyes away from yesterday’s news feed, I got a surprising amount of work done. We even managed to take down and store the Christmas tree.

My new approach to watercolor painting adopted on Jan 1st has me excited about the potential. This time I chose to apply a quinacridone red wash. After it dried, I added a miniature landscape of snow-covered mountains at dawn.

This took me very little time to complete and I enjoyed every brush stroke.

Moving on to sewing, I got another block design worked up on the Animal Friends project. Here is a little pet condo in bright colors and fun geometric shapes.

That brings my completed block count on the project to twelve. I’m half-way there!

And finally, I found a use for some old yarn from a knitted item that I frogged almost ten years ago. It is a KnitPicks yarn called Gloss – a very soft blend of wool and silk in a dark green color. I bought three balls of a complimentary color to make this charming capelet.

https://ravel.me/isochronal-arc

The combination of slip stitch and lace kept me alert and engaged as the fabric appeared.

I will post this as a finished object tomorrow.

And in conclusion, my dear crafty friends, let’s all follow EZ advice.

Now, let us all take a deep breath, and forge on into the future; knitting at the ready.

“The Opinionated Knitter” by Elizabeth
Zimmerman

Posted in colorwork, knitting

Cast on Monday – Deep Stash

Posted on by Laura Kate

With the success of the rose window hat…..

https://dailyfiberfun.wordpress.com/2020/11/20/another-f-o-friday/

……using this Tunis breed hand painted yarn, I am now keen to make matching gloves. The bright green sock yarn that I paired it with for the hat is almost gone. So I will need another coordinating yarn if I want to add colorwork to the gloves.

After a lengthy rummage to the back of my yarn closet, I came up with some two-ply wool in a pleasing shade of teal. This yarn is Palette, from Knitpicks. Almost a full skein, it has been languishing in the back of the stash for at least seven years. How fortunate that the color goes so well with the multi-hued Tunis.

You see that a cuff is underway. I made an I-cord about 7 inches long, joined its ends and picked up stitches all along. The 2 x 2 rib will give enough stretch. Now I must decide on the stitch pattern for the palm.

I plan to use a basic glove pattern similar to this one.

Instead of regular stripes, I will go with a mosaic, or slip stitch, pattern. I have a hankering to try this one, designed by Naomi at String Geekery. It is called Sea.

https://wordpress.com/read/feeds/40644630/posts/2711862773

I like the vertical element and think it will work well in a glove.

Hm, best make a swatch first. See you later,

Laura Kate

Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday Again

Posted on by Laura Kate

Yes, I am still working on the pair of socks that I started last Monday, using the rainbow colored Berroco yarn. It’ another cold and rainy day – really, the beginning of a cold and wet week here in Oklahoma.

But I am starting another project, just to keep things interesting. My daughter has requested a pair of gauntlets. You know the thing I’m talking about – to keep your arms and wrists warm. I chose this pattern, from the book “60 Quick Luxury Knits” featuring Cascade yarns. I like the fresh graphic quality of the colorwork. For the main color I have chosen a spicy pumpkin superwash merino from Knitpicks, size DK. Now I must dive through my left-over bits of yarn to come up with eight contrasting colors.

Despite a large number of odds and ends available, I don’t have enough selection in the range of values I need. I’m short on light colors. Oh why didn’t I choose a pattern that uses a sock weight! That I have plenty of.

Does this mean a trip to the LYS? I’ll let you know later.

Posted in knitting

It’s Friday, it’s a Finished Object

Posted on by Laura Kate

It’s the season for sock making, and here is my entry. Just your basic sock, nothing fancy.

The only thing worth commenting is this: I have been knitting for twelve years, and this pair is the first I have knit with a self-striping yarn. This particular yarn is KnitPicks Stroll. The colorway – Test Pattern – was on sale earlier in the year. I’m pleased that I was able to get the wide stripes to line up the same way on each sock.