SnapShots & WhatNots

A newborn dinosaur hat

In the general hustle and bustle of the last few weeks a fair few projects that I have completed and some that I’m still working on have slipped through the cracks and haven’t managed to be blocked, or photographed yet.

But this tiny hat was a last minute gift that had to be completed on a deadline. It’s destined for a soon to arrive baby that is currently referred to by a dinosaur related name – it’s parents are fellow nerds and I think it’s adorable! So in keeping with his theme I made a tiny dinosaur cap from a free pattern on ravelry and it turned out so cute. It’s since been packed to Kathy’s suitcase and it’s just arrived (with her) with Ireland.

Someday I’ll have my own tiny human to dress in minute knitted items….until then I’m working on a santa hat for Boomer….he’s not that impressed with the idea!

Hitofude: version 2.0

 

I have a finished knit to show you finally. I’ve been working on three knitting projects at the same time and I thought I’d end up finishing them at different times and then adding in new projects. Turns out I went ahead and just knit all three projects at the same rate and finished all three of them within a few days or each other. This Hitofude cardigan is the only one that I’ve managed to completely block and even wear this week…..the weather dipped below 80F (25 C) and I declared it sweater weather (for about 10 minutes!)

I actually made the Hitofude cardigan last year. It was my second sweater/cardigan that I’d made and I loved it! I loved making it, I loved the feel of the cardigan against my skin, I loved the colour…..I loved everything except the fit. Even after a really hard block where I stretched out the lace work it wasn’t right. At first I thought I’d be ok with it – it wasn’t crop top short but it was above the waist band of my jeans when I normally like the length to be at least 3-4 inches longer (to detract from the backside!) and the front of the cardigan pulled up really high and I though it looked a bit weird.

Thus it lived in the bottom of the closet for a year – until I was doing a clear out recently, rediscovered it and realized that I loved it enough to rip it all back out and remake it. Luckily when I’d bought the yarn, which is Madelinetosh Light in the Medieval colorway, I’d bought 3 skeins and only used 2 when I knit the cardigan. I think the last time I made it I made a small according to the measurements but this time I erred on the side of caution and made a medium.

I also changed up the pattern a little – I didn’t like the way it pulled up at the front which is cause by all the extra stitches in that area so I decreased the number of stitches. I did 4 repeats of chart A below the rib band before moving to charts B-D (I didn’t do chart E at all) and for each of the charts B-D I repeated the last 8 rows one extra time. This allowed me to get extra length without increasing the number of stitches at the same rate.

I really like how it turned out this time. The length is perfect for how I like it. The front sits flatter than the original version and I think it makes it more flattering and easier to wear. I’m really glad that decided to remake this one, now I have a cardigan that’ll be very heavily in rotation this Autumn rather than languishing in the bottom of the wardrobe forgotten.

Now to start blocking the featherweight and the daybreak shawl!

[Linking up with Frontier Dreams and Small Things]

Knitting Project 5/15: Grey cable knit blanket

It’s finished!! I’ve knit quite a few massive blankets recently and even two other cable knit blankets but this one just seemed to take the longest time to complete. Looking back though I don’t actually think it took any longer than this blanket but it felt like twice as long for sure.

The pattern is available for free on ravelry (here’s a link to my project page). I have a good friend who recently moved into her first house and just happens to be a huge fan of cable knit blankets so when I stumbled across this pattern I knew it would make the perfect present. I loved it straight away when I saw it…..except that I wasn’t too keen on the twisted braid and vine pattern in the centre. I spent a while figuring out what substitutions I could make to make it more “me”. I stocked up on this lovely Loops&Threads Soft and shiny yarn in grey and began the knitting saga.

This blanket has been on more than one road trip, I’ve done bits of it in 6 different states, and it’s taken an entire season of Game of Thrones and a grand total of 3 months to complete.

Now onto the next project!!!

Here are the project notes for anyone who wants the replicate the centre panel.

Cast on 116 stitches, knit one row (knitting through the back loop – I did this for the other two panels as well). Instead of doing the twisted braids and vine pattern as described in the pattern I did the following layout:

The 6 stitch cable pattern was a simple 4 row repeating pattern

Row 1: Knit 6

Row 2: Purl 6

Row 3: C6F

Row 4: Purl 6

I came up with a moss stitch based diamond pattern that was a 24-row repeating pattern making it fit perfectly in with the centre braid which is also a 24 row repeating pattern.

Row 1: P7, C4F, P7

Row 2: K7, P4, K7

Row 3: P6, T3B, T3F, P6

Row 4: K6, P3, K1, P2, K6

Row 5: P5, T3B, K1, P1, T3F, P5

Row 6: K5, P3, K1, P1, K1, P2, K5

Row 7: P4, T3B, (K1, P1)x2, T3F, P4

Row 8: K4, P3, (K1, P1)x2, K1, P2, K4

Row 9: P3, T3B, (K1, P1)x3, T3F, P3

Row 10: K3, P3, (K1, P1)x3, P2, K3

Row 11: P2, T3B, (K1, P1)x4, T3F, P2

Row 12: K2, P3, (K1, P1)x4, P2, K2

Row 13: P2, K2, (K1, P1)x5, K2, P2

Row 14: K2, P2, (K1, P1)x5, P2, K2

Row 15: P2, T3F, (K1, P1)x4, T3B, P2

Row 16: K3, P2, (K1, P1)x4, P2, K3

Row 17: P3, T3F, (K1,P1)x3, T3B, P3

Row 18: K4, P2, (K1,P1)x3, P2, K4

Row 19: P4, T3F, (K1,P1)x2, T3B, P4

Row 20: K5, P2, (K1,P1)x2, P2, K5

Row 21: P5, T3F, K1, P1, T3B, P5

Row 22: K6, P2, K1, P1, P2, K6

Row 23: P6, T3F, T3B, P6

Row 24:  K7, P4, K7

C6F = Slip 3 stitches onto a cable needle, hold to the front, knit 3, pass stitches from cable needle back onto left needle and knit 3

C4F = Slip 2 stitches onto a cable needle, hold to the front, knit 2, pass stitches from cable needle back onto left needle and knit 2

T3F = Slip 2 stitches onto a cable needle, hold to the front, purl 1, pass stitches from cable needle back onto left needle and knit 2

T3B = Slip 1 stitches onto a cable needle, hold to the back, knit 2, pass stitch from cable needle back onto left needle and purl 1

[Linking up with Frontier Dreams and Small Things]

Knitting Project 4/15: Old Town Cardigan

Old Town was on the needles for what seemed like a really long time to me. It was also knit in 3 different states and two different countries…which might have contributed to that feeling. I started it in the car on the way to Florida for the half-marathon back in January and finished it while at home in Ireland back in February but it has languished in a my knitting bag waiting for a good blocking before it finally got worn this week. It was worth the wait though I’m already 100% smitten and I know it’ll be heavily in rotation over the next few months.

The pattern is Old Town and I decided to use a cotton blend yarn so that it would be a little lighter for the summer months. Even when it’s roasting outside the blasting cold of the AC in work means I always need a cardigan with me. I used Knitpicks Shine sport in Platinum which arriving looking like a slightly more greenish grey hue than the silver grey I was expecting but I like it anyway. I had to play around with gauge a lot on this project – I ended up calculating that to get a small to medium size I would need to knit the x-small size. This meant that when I was doing the sleeves I decided that it would be best to not to the decreases (excellent idea) to get a better fit.

The construction on this cardigan was tricky….tricky in the “I don’t know how this is going to work so it’s keeping me really interested” kinda way. You start off with a provisional cast on and knit a part of the back, a part of the bodice, then you put stitches on spare yarn and repeat for the other side and somehow bring it all together and it magically looks like a cardigan…..brilliant! The sleeves, which are usually my least favourite part of any sweater knit because they get boring, where actually quick and easy this time around because a) they were completed before the body and b) they were knit flat two at a time and seamed together……from that point on I already had a garment and I was just knitting for length.

As you can see I decided to go for a lot of length. It’s 31” long from top to bottom but the increases along the front section (which I continued along the entire length) create a small flared effect at the front. This cardigan is very me, I would buy it in a shop in heartbeat and it’s easily the most versatile and wearable garment I’ve knit so far. I already want to knit another one…in some super soft squishy wool.

Knitting Project 4/15: Old Town Cardigan

New/Improved Techniques: Fit….I used a lot of calculations and wet-blocked swatches to determine the right size to get gauge and it paid off big time on this one. I still over bought on the yarn though J. This pattern used yet another method for short rows, this time it involved using a small yarn trap to pull up a stitch….sounded complicated but created a perfect “no gaps” short row. All the ribbing was ktbl which is a pain but worth the effort for the look.

[Linking up with Small Things and Frontier Dreams]

Knitting Project 3/15: My Irish Zora Socks

I calling these little beauties my Irish socks since I purchased the yarn in a lovely little yarn shop in Dublin called This Is Knit – which for anyone who happens to visit Ireland, is located in the Powerscourt Shopping Centre. I knew exactly what I wanted going into the shop, which is the only way I can prevent very expensive impulse purchases, I was after two skeins of yarn. One would be a worsted weight yarn earmarked for some fingerless mitts (I haven’t started these yet) and the second would be some beautiful sock weight Irish yarn.

I ended up finding the perfect yarn! It’s produced by HedgeHow Fibres which is based in County Cork in Ireland, and the colourway is called Powerscourt and was dyed exclusively for This Is Knit. It’s a beauty with colours ranging from dark navy blue all the way to light green very reminiscent of the waterfall for which the shopping centre and yarn is named.

I chose the Zora sock pattern to use with this yarn, another fab free pattern, because I wanted a pattern that incorporated cables but was also plain enough to showcase the yarn. I also compensated for the mistakes I made on sizing the last pair of socks by increasing the number of stitches (from 64 to 72) and increasing from size one to size two needles. They almost fit perfectly….the heel is a little baggy but that’s about it…maybe next time I’ll do the same for the cuff but either increase the stitches OR increase the needle size for the rest of the cuff but not both. Sizing…it’s getting better but it’s not quite there yet.

Overall though I love these socks – they are super soft and very squishy underfoot. I’ve been wearing them as lounging around the house socks which they seem perfectly suited for. I would definitely make another pair of socks with the same pattern again too.

Project 3/15: Zora Socks

New/Improved Techniques: Cabling on tiny needles without a tiny cable needle….took a while but I managed to get the hang of it. Still working on the sizing issues.

Now what on earth to do with all the leftover sock yarn I’m starting to accumulate?

[Linking up with Small Things and Frontier Dreams]