I'm running (wheezing?) my first race - 4 miles - in two weeks, so I feel like I needed something special to kick it off. I wanted to make a pair of plain mitts that had enough give that I could wear them over those cheap, knit gloves you can pick up anywhere when it's extra cold and that they went high enough that I could curl my fingers in for extra warmth, if needed.

Calling this a 'pattern' is a little ridiculous, because it's really just a variation on Eunny's End Paper mitts. After two false starts getting gauge on the Endpaper mitts, I just re-wrote the pattern to fit my gauge and wants.

Mitts!

I worked two at a time using the magic loop method.

This has not been test knit, so there might be mistakes.

Supplies

• 75% of a skein of Plymouth's Happy Feet
• Size 2 32" circ
• Size 1 32" circ
• Darning needle

Notes

1x1 ribbing - K1 p1

Gauge

2" stockinette in the round = 14 sts x 19 rows

Size

7" around the knuckle, unstretched

Instructions

Cuff

Cable cast on 48 sts using the larger needles. Join to work in the round. Distribute sts so 24 are on needle 1 and 24 are on needle 2.

Work 20 rounds of 1x1 ribbing.

K two rounds

Thumb shaping

Increase rounds - K to one before end of needle 1, m1, k1. K1, m1, k to the end of needle 2.

Even rounds - K two rounds.

Repeat last three rounds 6 more times; 62 sts ttl.

Palm

K24, put 14 sts on scrap yarn for the thumb, k24.- 48 sts on needles.

K even for 1 3/4” - 2”, or until just after the knuckles. Switch to smaller needles.

Work 1x1 ribbing for 1” or until the length desired. Bind off.

Thumb

Join for thumb using the larger needles. K14 and pick up 2 sts in gap.

Work 10 rounds 1x1 ribbing.

Bind off and weave in ends.

Sitting on the couch is kind of like jogging.

I've been overcommitted. Completely over-scheduled and over-extended in every area, and nothing is coming together quite right.

Too scattered.

Too hippie.

Too big.

Too girly.

Too MySpace.

But not close enough.

Spring is coming. Soon. It has to.

Somehow, I skated past the holidays with almost no gift crafting. Selfish Knitters would be proud.

My sister got a pair of Snapdragon pop-tops that I contemplated keeping. I really liked them and loved the yarn. Ysolda is on my short list of favorite designers, and her patterns are really well written.

I have another skein of this yarn. I'm planning to make a lacy cowl out of it, using one of the charts from the Estonian Lace book. That is, if Amazon ever delivers it.

Snappy and warm

I've been wanting to make the Hemlock blanket for a while. I'd been thinking I'd make it for some baby, but somehow a hand-knit getting beat up bothers me more than a quilt gettting tattered. So I decided to make it for my other sister for her b-day. She'll treat it well.

Keeping the floor toasty

Finally, when snowed in over Christmas, I finally made my first Saartje booties. I have no idea how I've avoided making these for so long with all the tiny people entering my life. This went to my cousin's new baby, Sophie.

Almost as cute as Sophie... almost.

This weekend will be something for me. I'm going to finish my Vine Yolk cardigan that I've been working on since November. Just in time for Spring...

I told myself for every project worth's of yarn I bought, I had to finish two project from the stash. This has completely sucked all joy out of making things. I lazily jump from project to project, starting, but never finishing. I only have attention for small things.

Like booties.

Don't get too close. You'll get baby rabies.

These are craft felt, decorated with random stuff I had. They still aren't as cute as the examples, but they make me want to go steal a baby and put bows in its hair.

My attempt at punk and sporty

Some will be baby shower decorations, some gifts for my nephew and cousins' belly bumps. There's a lot of reproducing going on.

Purty

And... adorable.

I was highly productive while avoiding writing my final paper. Now that I'm trying to finish my sister's Christmas present, I'm working on everything but it. Deadlines are crafting dementors.

I knocked out my first clapotis for a friend. It's about 3.5 skeins of Cascade Luna. I still don't know how I feel about cotton yarn, but this stuff was nice to work with, and seems to wear nice.

Holy clap.

I think I only did two repeats, both horizonatlly and vertically. I finished it in a weekend, by far the fastest I've ever made a scarf.

All that's left to do is hand-sew the binding on the quilt I made from this fabric. I'm pretty happy with the result. The owner should be making her world debut in about 2 months, so I'll post the top after I give it to her folks.

I'm pretty pleased with my quilting, though. I did something other than stippling.

Back up.

I bought fabric for the nephew's quilt. It's fishy, so I think he'll grow up to be a marine biologist. Hopefully, I'll start that this week or next.

I made Oliver some catnip toys using scraps from the quilt.

Kitty toys

First wiff of catnip

Kitty approved

Cold floors are no match

As it gets colder, I'm discovering that normal socks are no match for the coldness of my hardwood floors. Not being much of a slipper person, I made these worsted weight socks. They are too thick to wear with shoes, but they are perfect for keeping my toes warm around the house.

These socks are knit toe up with a short row heel using the magic loop method. They are a very fast knit - I'm a slow knitter and completed them in less than a week. The pattern includes charted and written instructions.

Thanks to karinamaza, moilulu and LiveIIKnit on Ravelry for helping test.

Size

Adult women's

Gauge

2"x2" in stockinette st = 9.5 sts x 12 rows - it is not necessary to get row gauge.

Materials

• US size 5 (3.75 mm) 40" circular needles
• 90 gr Cascade 220 worsted
• Cable needle
• Tapestry needle

Notes

• W&T - Wrap and turn - slip the stitch to the right needle, bring yarn to front, slip stitch to left needle.
• CF - Cable front - Slip 3 sts to cable needle, hold to front, k3, k3 from cable needle
• CB - Cable back - Slip 3 sts to cable needle, hold to back, k3, k3 from cable needle
• YO - yarn over
• SSK - Slip slip knit
• K2tog - Knit two sts together

Cable Chart - click to enlarge

Chart Key

Chart

• Row 1 - P5 k6 p1 k6 p5
• Row 2 - P5 k6 p1 k6 p5
• Row 3 - P5 CB p1 CF p5
• Row 4 - P5 k6 p1 k6 p5
• Row 5 - P4 k2tog k5 YO p1 YO k5 SSK p4
• Row 6 - P4 k7 p1 k7 p4
• Row 7 - P3 k2tog k6 YO p1 YO k6 SSK p3
• Row 8 - P3 k8 p1 k8 p3
• Row 9 - P2 k2tog k7 YO p1 YO k7 SSK p2
• Row 10 - P2 k9 p1 k9 p2
• Row 11 - P1 k2tog k8 YO p1 YO k8 SSK p1
• Row 12 - P1 k10 p1 k10 p1

Closeup of pattern on top

Toe

Create a slip knot. Cast on 24 sts in addition to the slip knot (12 on needle, 12 on cable) using Figure 8 cast on.
Knit even one round. Do not knit the slip stitch. When you come to it, just drop it off and pull the slip knot out.

• Increase row: K1, m1, k until one st remains on needle, m1, k1. Repeat on other needle.
• Even row: K all stitches.

Alternate increase row and even row until you have 44 sts total, 22 on each needle.

• First needle - K21, m1, k1 (23 sts)
• Second needle - K1, m1, k until one st remains on needle, m1, k1. (24 sts; 47 stitches total)

K one round.

Foot

Work chart on first needle, k second needle.

Continue until sock measures 2.5" less than the length of the foot (approximately 3 repeats), stopping at the beginning of needle 2. Remember to note the last row worked.

Final row of chart worked: _____

Heel

The heel is a short row heel worked across the 24 stitches on the second needle.

• Row 1 – Knit to last stitch. W&T
• Row 2 - Purl to last stitch. W&T
• Row 3 – K to one stitch before the wrapped stitch. W&T
• Row 4 - P to one stitch before the wrapped stitch. W&T

Repeat rows three and four 5 more times. There will be 7 wrapped stitches on each end.
Now we need to pick up the wrapped stitches.

• Row 1 – K to the first wrapped stitch. Pick up the wrap around the stitch, place it on the left needle, and knit the wrap and the stitch together. Turn. Twisting the wrap will keep it tight and neat.
• Row 2 – P to the first wrapped stitch. Pick up the wrap around the stitch, place it on the left needle, and knit the wrap and the stitch together. Turn.

Repeat until all the wrapped stitches have been worked.

Leg

• Needle 1 - Continue working chart from the row you noted above
• Needle 2 - P1 [k2 p2] 5 times, k2 p1

Continue working chart on needle 1 and ribbing on needle 2 until there are six repeats of the chart.

Ribbing

• Needle 1 - P1 [k2 p2 k2 p2 k2 p1] 2 times
• Needle 2 - P1 [k2 p2] 5 times, k2 p1

Repeat until ribbing measures one inch.

Loosely cast-off and weave in ends.

Ribbing on the back allows the socks to stretch to fit many foot sizes.

Finished a damson last night. I do like it, but I fear that it's one of those things that knitters love and wear and non-crafters think are weird. There is something about making things that makes you completely blind to whether or not you should actually wear them.

I'll wear it 'backwards', so that the back bunches up in the front. Can't quite do the shawl thing. It's a little too 1940's Poland for my tastes.

Anyone else see a BSG raider?

I also finished the quilt top for one of the baby quilts. I went with a slight variation of Layout #3. I don't have any backing fabric, so odds are this one will sit on the shelf for a while.

I'll put up a pattern for this...soon...

I can't really decide if I'll actually give it away. I kind of want to drape it on Pico's chair, but that's all but a death sentence for the poor quilt.

Couple finished projects I've been sitting on for a while.

A hat and hooters

I've been eyeing the owls sweater for many, many moons, and I've finally gotten around to making it. I did edit it to be a cardigan since I like them better. It only took a little finangling to move the start of the row to the middle of the front and then added 5 sts of garter st on each side, with a button hole every 12 rows.

I'm pretty smitten with it. It's pretty stinkin' warm though.

Here's the pattern on Ravelry.

Also made this hat, which was my first soiree with Malabrigo, my new bff. I'm not planning to write it up as a 'real' pattern, but here are my notes, if you're up for an adventure.

The hat

Supplies

• Size 8 needles
• Malabrigo worsted weight, about 2/3rd a skein
• Darning needle

Stitch Patten

Hold yarn to front, sl 2 sts to right needle, move yarn to back, move 2 sts back to left needle, k3- repeat

The last stitch will overlap the next round. That off-sets it each round.

Texture

Instructions

• Cable cast-on 96 sts
• 1.5 in 2x2 ribbing
• Next row - increase every 10 sts to 105 total
• Work 5” of pattern
• pm every 26 sts
• Decrease one each row at the markers, adjusting to stay in pattern (this is the part I really should have written down...)
• When 12 sts remain, pull tail through remaining sts and weave in ends

My Cathedral Socks have been published on Knitty.com. If they brought you to my site for the first time, you might want to check out my other patterns, many of which are free. You can see them previewed in the right sidebar, or view all of them on the patterns page.

S/M, skipping rounds 1-4

M/L in Schaffer's Anne

I tried canning this year. Dad hooked me up with 3 beer flats of tomatoes, so I tried to make salsa. It turned out okay, but holy cow that was a lot of work for a dozen pints of salsa.

I don't know why I do these things. I don't even like salsa all that much.

I say tomato.

Whipped up a pair of these for G-ma K. They were an amazingly fast knit (four days), and after using light fingering weight yarn all summer, worsted was a nice break.

I didn't follow the pattern for the heel or the toe.

Big and comfy.

Fall is breaking through. Hooray for sweater weather.

Introducing Jupiter Socks! I finally got around to completing and posting this pattern. It's $3, and you can buy a pdf on Ravelry.

Jupiter Socks

These socks are a quick toe-up knit with a simple cable pattern on the front of the foot. The easily memorized pattern makes these socks transportable and good for less experienced knitters. The ribbing also makes them forgiving for leg and foot width.

Any fingering weight sock yarn should make a good substitution.

Pattern includes charts for each size, in addition to the the written instructions.

 

Side view. Back continues as ribbing.

Here are some pics of the sock pattern that appears in the 16th issue of Yarn Forward. You can check them out on Ravelry, too.

They're reversible, so "right side out" and "inside out" are really subjective. I prefer them purl-side out.

Right side out.

Inside out.

In print.

Now, when am I going to finish the second sock so I can actually wear these?

Huge knitting related week this week.

Received a GIANT box of yarn that needed a good home. Lots of nice stuff in there that I will put to good use. I think I might try dying some of them too, like that lavendar Lamb's Pride.

Want to roll in it?

Also, received my copy of Yarn Forward with my first published pattern in the lower left corner of the cover! Woot. Super, super excited. They don't have it up online, so I'm not sure if it's been released in the US yet, so I won't post pics of the socks yet, but here's proof -

Who's that?

The woman to the left of my pic? That's Sarah, another KC designer and MisKnits knit night attendee. We're storming the UK.

I also might have gotten a thumbs up from Knitty regarding a pattern for this fall. We'll see!

Cozified

I made another cozy while toying around with stitch patterns for a pair of mittens I'm going to design using the latest skein of yarn StitchnPretty sent me. I love the little bits of silver the yarn has in it. Gussies it up, but isn't harsh on the hands when knitting. This one is going to a co-worker to protect her blackberry.

Notes

m1 - Make one - purl into the thread that runs between the stitch just worked and the next one on the needle

sl1 - Slip one - slip stitch to the right needle as if to knit

psso - Pass slipped stitch over - bring the slipped stitch off the left needle so that it wraps around the stitches worked since slipping it. This is a decrease.

closeup of stitch pattern

Pattern

Figure 8 cast on 48 sts (24 on needle, 24 on cable)

Rounds 1 & 2 - P3 k1 - Repeat 11 more times

Round 3 - P3 sl1 k4 psso - Repeat 5 more times

Round 4 - P3 k1 p1 m1 p1 k1 - Repeat 5 more times

Round  5- P3 k1 - Repeat 11 more times

Round  6- *P3 k1  Repeat from * 10 more times p3

Round 7: Using the last unworked st from row 6, *sl1 k4 psso p3 Repeat from * 5 more times k1

Round 8: P1 m1 p1 k1 p3 k1 - Repeat 5 more times

Repeat rounds 1-8 six more times, for a total of seven.

Work 12 rounds 1x1 ribbing (k1 p1)

Cast off loosly and weave in ends

peek.

A rug!

Made this bad boy for my bathroom. The finished rug is approximately 2 x 3 feet

Supplies

Size 13 needles
140 g (3 balls) white Peaches and Cream
140 g (3 balls) ecru Peaches and Cream
Darning needle

Notes

The pattern is worked with two strands of yarn held together. I used slightly different colors, but you could certainly use the same color or a solid and a variegated.

No gauge - just cast on and go!

CF - Slip 2 to cable needle, hold to front, k2, k2 from cable needle

Pattern

Holding two strands of yarn together, CO 52

K for five rows

The cables

Start cable chart -

• Row 1: K2 p1 *k4 p3 Repeat from * 5 more times k4 p1 k2
• Row 2: K3 *p4 k3 Repeat from * 5 more times p4 k3
• Rows 3 - 6 : Repeat rows 1 and 2
• Row 7: K2 p1 *CF p3 k4 p3 Repeat from * 2 more times CF p1 k2
• Row 8: K3 *p4 k3 Repeat from * 5 more times p4 k3
• Rows 9 - 12: Repeat rows 7 & 8
• Rows 13 - 16: Repeat rows 1 & 2
• Row 17: K2 p1 *k4 p3 CF p3 Repeat from * 2 more times k4 p1 k2
• Row 18: K3 *p4 k3 Repeat from * 5 more times p4 k3
• Rows 19 - 22: Repeat rows 7 & 8

Work 3 repeats.

K2 p1 *k4 p3 Repeat from * 5 more times k4 p1 k2

K3 *p4 k3 Repeat from * 5 more times p4 k3

Repeat last two rows.

K five rows

Bind off and weave in ends.

Just makes you want to stand there and brush your teeth.

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