Tag Archives: knitting

Finished Project: Dusty Green Tread Mittens

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Pattern: Treads by Victoria Anne Baker
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca
Started: December 8, 2011
Finished: December 9, 2011

Ravelry page

These were a Christmas gift for my roommate and I love how they turned out!

The linen ridge stitch looks really cool but you have to make sure you’re knitting very tightly or the effect won’t be right.

I’m also a huge fan of the sideways braid but it takes absolutely forever to knit one row of it.

One alteration I made was to ktbl the knit stitches in the ribbing of the cuff.

Finished Project: Heart Cable Mittens

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Pattern: Baby Girl’s Sleeveless Gloves by Devon Clement
Yarn: Vanna’s Choice Baby in a light pink shade I can’t remember the name of
Started: December 10, 2011
Finished: December 10, 2011

Ravelry page

I don’t have kids, nor am I usually around any mini-humans, and to top it off, I have ginormous hands for my size, so I’m really hoping these mittens will fit the little girl they’re meant for.

The pattern page shows pictures of a pair of these mittens knitted with a heart cable on the front and another pair with flowers. I wanted to do the hearts but I had no idea how to do the heart so I sort of ran with it and managed to cobble together something that vaguely resembles one.

My heart was knitted over 14 stitches. I can’t remember off the top of my head how I did it but I’ll take a look at my notes and write it up.

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Tutorial: Ribbed Man Beanie

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I wanted to make a bunch of beanies as Christmas gifts but I couldn’t find a beanie pattern for men that I liked so I came up with this one. It’s pretty basic and quick so it makes a nice last minute gift.

Materials:

– ~200 yards worsted weight wool

– 1 stitch marker

– US size 9 circular needles (I used longer ones and used the magic loop method)

– US size 9 DPNs

– darning needle

Hold yarn double and cast on 64 stitches.

Place marker to mark beginning of the row and knit in the round, k2 p2 all the way around.

Continue k2 p2 rib until the entire thing is 7″ long for a fitted beanie or 9″ long for a slouchy one.

Decreases (repeat what’s between the [ ] until the end of the row):

You should only be decreasing every other row.

Row 1: [k2 p2tog] (48 stitches remaining)

Row 2: [k2 p]

Row 3: [k2tog p] (32 stitches remaining)

Row 4: [k p]

Row 5: [k2tog] (16 stitches remaining)

Row 6: Knit all stitches.

Row 7: [k2tog] (8 stitches remaining)

Snip yarn. Pull the tail end through the remaining stitches. Weave in ends and wear!

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Just some randoms.

– I absolutely fail at blogging lately. It’s not even a lack of substance. I have about six posts lurking around the back of my mind.

– Thanksgiving was absolutely scrumptious. I’m still an avid believer in the fact that stuffing should be a part of regular meals and not limited to annual holidays. Noms.

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– The Christmas knits pile is getting bigger! I was feeling increasingly guiltier yesterday when I realized how little time is left before Christmas and how many projects I have to finish by then so I took a trip to the yarn store (and only bought one thing for myself!). More on that later.

– I’ve purchased 6 Jane Richmond patterns in the past 48 hours. I am a happy clam.

– I also bought a winter coat and snow boots over the break. I *think* there’s a possibility I will survive this winter.

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– Especially when one considers this pile of happiness.

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– My Canadian roommate was making fun of me for coming up with excuses to wear my snow gear out. Can it just snow already please?

– Holy crap The Walking Dead. Is anyone else super mad about having to wait two months? I’m pining. I also may have obtained the entirety of the graphic novels that have been released. Except I don’t want spoilers so I’m afraid to read them. Gah.

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A lesson in gauge

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Sometimes I get cocky and forget that I’ve only really been knitting for less than a year. And with that, I forget that each new knitting project I pick up teaches me something new.

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Cables aren’t new, I learned cables with my Hermione sweater. But the blackberry stitch was new. And the idea of alternating skeins when working with hand-dyed yarns. And (I feel sort of stupid about this one) the importance of gauge. That was new too.

I’m not exactly sure how I’ve been getting away with it, but up until now I’ve never knitted a swatch, nor have I ever consistently checked my gauge on a project. I would pretty much just buy the correct weight of yarn and use the recommended needle size and run with it.

When you spend $19.20 per skein though, it’s a little hard to just “run with” anything. When I had gotten to about the eighth row, I checked my gauge and realized I was knitting waaay too loosely and was going to end up with a behemoth sweater. So I ripped it and now I’m checking like a maniac every few rows and for once my gauge is perfect.

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My only question is, how the hell is anyone getting gauge on this sweater with size 7 needles?? I’m knitting super tightly on size 5’s and it’s perfect. I could probably even go down to a size 4 and knit normally.

In other news, I really love this pattern. And this yarn. And the color.

*drool*

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