Just Knitting Around

Trekking100c

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

I love Trekking XXL sock yarn. This is color 100.

HH1st blocking

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is HH in all her glory. I forgot to post her final pic. Now I just have to get the right outfit to wear it with this spring.

Hemlock Ring 1

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

This is the Hemlock Ring Blanket, popularized on Ravelry by Jared Flood. I have included a 6-year old boy for scale. It took the full 500 grams of Cascade Ecological Wool with about 30 inches left after binding off. I started the second ball of yarn at row 26 of the feather and fan chart and bount off after row 50 of the chart. It was origianlly a doily pattern knit with very thin yarn on very tiny needles. Cascade Eco-wool is a bulky weight yarn and is knit on thick needles. I makes a very pretty throw.

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Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here she is pre blocking. She will look much better when she is properly blocked. Hoefully I’ll get to do that today. HH was a fun knit, and will probably be one of the most beautiful things I have ever made. I think I caught most my mistakes within a row of making them and was able to correct all of them with only having to tink significantly once. It is easy to spot when something is out of whack, and often it was those pesky double YO’s.

I am such a geek. I am knitting Hyrna Herborgar from the book Three-Cornered and Long Shawls. I started a group on Ravelry to knit through the shawls in the book. A friend in my knitting group who also has the book mentioned she would like to know the stitch counts for each row. Beth, this one is for you: Stitch Counts for Hyrna Herborgar, now you have no excuse to not start it anymore. The chart includes stitch counts for odd rows, stitch counts for each half of the row, the percentage of the shawl you have completed, which chart you are working on, where the repeated rows fall, and notations where the center stitch splits and the center begins to fall between stitches. The total number of stitches in the shawl (not counting the crochet bind off) is also included. Have fun Hyrna Herborgar knitters!!

Edited to update: there was an error in the chart, it is now fixed as of 2.18.09

I finally got aroung to writing up my Hand Towel pattern knit way back in July of 2006. I was inspired my Mason-Dixon Knitting to whip out my stitch dictionaries pick an easy to memorize stitch pattern and knit away. So for your knitting pleasure, here is the Easy Grid Hand Towel.

Zach’s Stocking

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here was my Christmas gift to my nephew. He has a better stocking than my own kids do. I didn’t knit when they were small. Now I have to start making more stockings. The pattern is Evergreen from Annie’s Woolens . I knit it in about five days. I ordered the pattern on Thanksgiving and had it finished by The Feast of St. Nicholas. It is stranded knitting for most of the colorwork. The name and heart are duplicate stitched.

Zach’s Santa Hat

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is the little Santa hat I made for my newborn nephew. He was a little preemie, so I just winged a pattern based on his head measurement. Of course, I didn’t write anything down so I probably can’t repeat it. . It fit him very well and he was the cutest baby in the NICU.

Lendrum

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Meet my blind date for Saturday.

Christmas Gifts 2008

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

The DH did good this Christmas. He can follow a Christmas list very well. No ad libbing when it comes to knitting gifts. Just in case you cant figure out the cone, Take a look below.

That’s 2.86 miles of laceweight yarn and a pattern that will use about half. Thanks Honey!

I was just notified I was a winner of Cascading Fuschias Market Bag pattern in a contest on CraftGossip. I am so excited. I just finished knitting and felting a bag for my mom fron the Noni Vintage Bag pattern. I bought it on a trip to Chicago at Sister Arts Studio during her Noni trunk show. I will post a pic as soon as I get it put together. I love the Cascading Fuschias pattern and can’t wait to get it. Yay!!

Scaruffle

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is my complete Scaruffle. (Ravelry Link) from the Knitters Book of Yarn. I need to weave in the ends and block it a bit. I really like it, and my mom just loves it, so I think I will give it to her. Since we live together I can borrow it back anytime. I think it will look beautiful with a black top in the winter. It is knit with 1 skein of lucious Artyarns Silk Mohair. Lovely yarn, I bought it when Fiber Naturelle closed. Original price was $19, i either got it for 50% or 70% off I think.

Elaine Beaded Coin Purse

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

I have started a beaded coin purse, its really easy, you just have to use really tiny needles, 0000! The seed beads came on a hank that you transfer a bunch at a time to the yarn by tying the bead strand to the yarn and sliding them. The kit I bought (Elaine from Purse Paradise) didn’t include lining or instructions for lining it, so I will have to figure that out. I think lining it will be necessary for a nice coin purse.

I only had one almost disaster so far. As I was pulling one end out of the hank of yarn, another end came loose and I lost some beads off of it. I caught it before too many came off. So be really careful after you have pulled a acouple of strands out, the knot that holds them together get loose after you pull some out.

100_8832

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Finished about 1:30 am last night and blocked this afternoon. I had less than 7 yards of yarn left. I was worried I would run out, and bound off a little too tightly to make the “peaks” come out as shown in the pattern. I should have taken out the bind off and redone it when I saw the amount of yarn I had left. But c’est la vie. It is beautiful nonetheless and I am pleased with the result. I think the reason I was so close to running out of yarn was that I knit so loose, it came out really big. I measure 39 inches down the center instead of 23, and about 70 incs across the top instead of 49. I think I will knit it again sometime. It was enjoyable, and I would like to knit a version that comes out more like the size it should be, with the points properly “peaked”.

More shots…

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It’s about 12:30 am, and I think the nupps ate up the yarn quicker than the Shawl Progress Calculator could account for. I have two rows and the bind off left at this point, and somewhere in the neighborhood of 2-3 grams of yarn. Some decisions need to be made.

1. Buy more yarn.
2. Beg for leftovers on Ravelry
3. Make adjustments on the fly and go ahead and finish the thing.

I decided on 3. and will knit the final increase row, and then bind off, skipping the knit row on the wrong side. I will do the BO in the pattern since I know it needs to be loose to block the points properly. If I run out, I will tink back and take out the last two rows of Peaked Points chart. Then finish as directed since I know the last increase round can’t be left out.. Stay tuned.

I had begun to worry if I would have enough yarn left to finish Swallowtail. I used the shawl progress calculator at Rose Kim Knits. According to that, I am 75% finished with the shawl and according to my scale and calculations, I have used about 67% of the yarn. I think I will have enough. I have finished the Lily of the Valley Chart 1 and am about to start on #2. Since it is such a rainy 4th of July, I think I can get alot done this weekend.

Happy Birthday America!

Swallowtail and Habu Silk

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

I started this Swallowtail (free .pdf) while on vacation a couple of weeks ago with my souvenir Habu silk bought at Knitch in Atlanta. The pic is from shortly after I got home. I am now on the first Lily of the Valley chart and am lovin’ the nupps. I am doing them as written with no mods to make them easier, using an addi lace needle and just making sure to keep them loose when I make them. I had no problem with the p5tog and they are looking very nuppy. I’ll take a pic in a day or two when I have a few more rows done.

Summer Shawlette Blocking 2

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Here is what I made with the remaining yarn from my Faux Russian. It’s the Summer Shawlette from Knitting Daily by Sandi Wiseheart. I upsized it a little since it was lace weight instead of fingering. I kept doing increases until it looked like it was big enough, then I had to figure out how to make the lace border around the botton match up when I got to the back. In the end it worked, but I can’t tell you how many stitches I had.

I gave it to my Aunt Sandi who is alway cold in restaurants. She lives in Savannah, and hopefully will be just right for her.

Here is another pic

Black Russian 2

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Finished! It’s Blocking! Next stop–New York City!!

Faux Russian in the dyepot1

Originally uploaded by Dtkpmom.

Faux Russian in the dyepot. The water has almost cooled, and the dye is not fully exhausted. Maybe I used a little too much dye? I cooked it for about an hour, and it has been cooling over 3 hours.