How-To: Knitting Needle Mid-Century ClockI love this brilliant upcycle project from Jennifer Perkins of Naughty Secretary Club. She takes a collection of old knitting needles and turns them in to a rad mid-century style clock. Awesome.
Oh My Knitting Needles! I need one of these.
A Tale of Two Yarns – 2KCBWDAY1
Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.
Some of my favorite projects ever have to be the Sideways Shortrow Watchcaps* I knit for each of my kids. I used Araucania Nature Wool Chunky in a different Multy shade for each. We've really enjoyed these simple hats, and I love the fun colors when we're in the snow.
Another yarn I love was new to me this year. I bought Princess yarn in Petaluma on vacation, and then knit a cardi for my Princess with it. The yarn is SO SOFT and really was a pleasure to knit with. This is definitely a yarn I'd like to knit with again.
*I just found out that the writer of the pattern must have taken down her blog. The pattern is only available by web archive. Hmm...Is it legal if I post it her with her copywrite? I tried to email Barb but, my email was rejected by the recipient domain.
Yarn: worsted weight
Needle: Size US 7 - (I use circulars because the stitches that are left each time you turn and knit back don't fall off that way... if you use straight needles make sure the needle doesn't just fall out of those waiting stitches.
Gauge:
4 stitches to the inch in garter stitch.)
Cast on 40 stitches, knit a row.
*
knit to within 1 stitch of end, turn and knit back
knit to within 3 stitches of end of row, turn and knit back
knit to within 5 stitches of end of row, turn and knit back
knit to within 7 stitches of end of row, turn and knit back
knit to within 9 stitches of end of row, turn and knit back
knit to within 11 stitches of end of row, turn and knit back
knit to within 13 stitches of end of row, turn and knit back
knit to within 15 stitches of end of row, turn and knit back
knit the whole row, even the stitches sitting at the end of the needle
waiting and then knit back
One "wedge" made
**
repeat from * to ** 7 more times for a total of 8 wedges, then bind off not too tightly, pull a thread thru the stitches on what would be the top of the crown to make a nice tight top, sew up your seam, turn up the lovely cuff and voila , a hat, add a pompom if that is your desire.....
To make larger either use bigger needles or add a few more short rows going to within 17 or 19 stitches of end of the row and turn.
For a less deep hat, cast on less stitches.
Copyright 1999 Barb Burri. E-mail: bburri@world.std.com
Spring Forward socks. Knitty Summer 2008. Scout's Swag in a Sock Club colorway. Started March 3, 2009. Finished January 15, 2011.
These are really lovely socks...but they're not for me. They're way too small. Taking pictures I started to feel like my feet were going numb. I took a facebook survey of friends foot sizes and these socks are headed to Tennessee.
I started these socks in July of 2008. M was tearing the drywall out of the living room to run the cables for audio equipment. I tried a pattern from the 2007 Holiday IK. It didn't work with this yarn. I ended up going with the Simple Sock Pattern on the Jitterbug Ballband. These socks sat around longer than they needed to. When I picked these socks up in January of 2011 I only needed to finish the toe decreased on the 2nd sock.
Yarn: Colinette Jitterbug Colorway: Summer Berries 109 November 6, 2007 (I had to by this yarn because my oldest boy is born on Nov. 6)
How crazy is it that I named these my 'Sanity Socks' and their img # on my camera is 5150. Really...I just noticed that as I was typing this post. You can see the img_5150 in the typepad photoalbum.
So...just after I started the Simple Stockinette version of these socks, M was laid off for the first time. I finished these just after he started his new job after the 2nd tour of unemployment. I think this makes perfect closure for the journey. I'm really hoping that 2011 holds some sanity for me.
I fell in LOVE with Ella Rae Book 20 while at Knitterly in Petaluma this summer. My mom bought me the book and I picked up some sale yarn to knit 2 of the patterns in the book. This pattern is named Saffron. It was the project I worked on the entire time M was in Africa. He brought me home some saffron...and it's more vibrant, but it's this color...so this really was an appropriate project. I finished the cardigan just before Halloween, but I couldn't decide on buttons. Here 5's face is still painted here from the Fall Festival we went to. She wore the cardi to church without buttons.
And since it took me so long to get better photos, you get to see how much hair 5 got cut off all at once. I really like her shorter haircut. My mom found some great glass buttons that were her great-grandma's. I love them with this. And I'm glad we have a couple of outfits that match this cardi. I hope it fits for a long time too.
In October, when M & I were in Sacramento for a wedding, I picked up some Happy Feet and a pattern to knit a cardigan for my new niece.
This was a fairly easy pattern. I knit the 2 fronts together so I wouldn't have to count and I could have the neck-shaping the same. I really enjoyed the crochet edging. Here's the cardi on Brownie the bear.
And here's my SIL @ her shower. I'm so excited...we need another girl in this family. She'll be here in less than a week. The cardi seems to be a 3-6 mo. size, so it might be awhile before I get a photo of the baby wearing it.
I needed a quick knit for a Christmas gift. I had picked up some Aslan Trends Los Andes yarn at Wildfiber. I chose the Quickie Cowl. I started knitting according to the pattern, but this yarn didn't have good drape so I needed to modify it a bit. I decided to go with a buttoned cowl and then I took out some stitches so it wasn't so wide. The buttons fit into the YOs. This used 1 1/2 skeins so I have enough to make another one. Maybe I need one for myself. Thanks to my BIL, he took these photos for me.
For Christmas, I knit my kiddos slipper socks. Since their feet grow so fast I made these a bit big. Right now they need to wear a sock inside these because they're so loose. Just maybe they'll get winters out of these. Here they are before felting.
I tried felting in the sink. I let each of the kids take a turn rubbing their own socks in the hot soapy water. I ended up throwing them in the washing machine.
Yes...that's a pumpkin in the background. I finished these in early November and we never carved our pumpkin this year.
