Frustration and Compulsion

I haven't posted in a little bit because I've been too frustrated with my Noro washi and linen purse. I have about 10 rows left and no more linen :( This means that I have to rip back about that many rows so I can have enough to attach the handle, and then my bag won't be as deep as I would have liked it :(
Here's where I am:


BUT I went to my LYS yesterday, party because I felt I needed 4.5mm needles and partly because I was in the building to take Sheana to violin, and because I am such a compulsive yarn-buyer, especially when yarn is on sale, I had to walk out with this: Filatura di Crosa Rossana, 40% viscose, 28% polyamid, 23% mohair, 9% wool.
I think it will also be accent yarn for another purse.

Cable Tutorial

you're welcome Amanda...
sorry about the crappy pictures.

Example is a 6 stitch front twist cable, twisted every 4th row. Do not attempt cables until you are comfortable with ribbing.

Step 1)work in p6,k6 rib for 4 rows. (remember that for ribbing you knit on the Right Side and purl on the Wrong Side, so row 2 will be k6, p6, k6)
Your purl st will be your background and your knit stitches are your cables.

(picture swatch shows only one cable, and not all 6 purl stitches on either side)


Step 2) p6, slip the next 3 st Purlwise onto your cable hook or dpn and let hang in front of work.



Step 3) remember to move your yarn to the back and knit the next st on the left hand needle. Pull tight.
knit the next two knit stitches.


Step 4) The twist. Slide your stitches on your cable hook or dpn to the right side.


Knit the next 3 stitches off the cable hook or dpn as if it was your left hand needle. The first stitch you slipped should be the first stitch you knit.


Step 5) Bring yarn in front and purl next 6 stitches. Repeat twist for each cable (set of 6 knit stitches)in this row.


Step 6) Next 3 rows treat as p6,k6 rib. 4th row repeat cable twist (this should be a RS row).

(finished cable twist plus two more rows)

random thoughts...

This will be my next haircut. Color included. I've always loved it, but because I've been afraid of bangs for some reason I've never gotten it. Also, any cut that only has one look kindof scares me, but then again I never do anything different with my hair anyway, so I'm being silly :P Have to let it grow out some first though.

I like the scarf, but it's crochet. blech.
Oh, it's from Kim Hargraeves, by the way.

Also, just got accepted to the Knitting Blogs ring Whee!

Cast on for my halter top, not sure if I'm liking the brioche edging on the bottom, it uses way too much yarn, but I'm going to keep going with it.

Finally told my parents about my knitting cafe plans, my mother was less than supportive. *shrug*
I also learned that there is already 2 in NYC, one in LA, one in Portland Oregon, and a few bitty ones scattered around the midwest. It's an up-and-coming idea!
Nice to see people are making it work though, that's inrpiring :)

SWAP!

So I finally got the Summer Interweave Knits Magazine that Amanda of Frenchtoastcake bought for me!
She also sent along some lovely yarney goodness that I have no idea what to do with :P Including some goat-wool roving she dyed herself, and some unspun raw silk roving. Maybe I'll learn to spin?
In return I sent her some sugoi-kawaii Japanese stuff, like a photo album with happy pancakes on it, and crazy engrish Dinosaur socks!
here's my package!


Yay for mail!

new stitch!

My host-mom has this sweater with these beautiful stitch panels that I couldn't figure out for the life of me, so I took some pictures and posted them in LJ Punk_knitters to ask for help, then ended up stumbling across exactly what it was by myself anyways :P
It's Brioche stitch, and it's fabulous :) and I'm going to incorporate it into my next design :)
Easy, beautiful, reversible: what else could you ask for in a stitch?

The stitch on the sweater:


and here's how you do it:
Row 1: * Yo, sl 1, k1; repeat from *. (Note: When you slip stitches, insert the tip of the needle as to purl. See details below. Also, notice the yo slants diagonally over the slipped stitch.)
Row 2: * Yo, sl 1, k2 tog, repeat from *. (Note, when you k2 together, you will slip knit the slipped stitch and the yarn over of the previous row.)
Repeat Row 2.

close call

My LYS has had buckets and buckets of sale stuff since March, and I picked up a whole bunch of odds and ends including a few balls of Filatura di Crosa "Primo" 100% Wool that I thought would make a great felted purse. Since I don't want to have to ship yarn home in August (although I may have to) I figured I'd better get started on it. I pulled the wool out of my stash-bag and noticed something that had previously gone unnoticed: 100% Merino Wool, SUPERWASH.
ARGH!
Would this mean the end of my felted purse idea? Would I have to make a whole bunch mre gray hats? (i've already made 3 this year).
I looked at the label again, and while it does say Superwash, it also says "Handwash in cold water, do not tumble dry" Maybe I have a chance after all. So I knitted up a teeny tiny swatch and scrubbed and rubbed it in the sink.... and it felted! It took maybe a bit longer than regular wool, but I think it will work, especially if I knit it very tightly.
Is it bad to felt Merino? Should I save it for something more cozy where its softness will be appreciated? I haven't decided. I realy don't have that much of it.
It's too hot to be knitting with wool right now...

p.s. I just applied for a spot on the KnittingBlogs ring! wish me luck!

lace hates me, but I love it anyway

I'm designing a halter-top using the rest of the chartruese cotton-rayon I used for my minisweater (I hope I have enough). I was looking for a lace edging to put along the bottom and came across This , and decided to try the second one. But not only does the pattern not seem to work out right, I was an idiot and orginally tried doing it in the round, forgetting that the pattern was written for work that would be turned after every row. SO, I frogged that, tried it again flat and it still didn't work, so I'm now looking for a simpler edging. Anyone know any pretty knitted lacey edgings? That are free?

Also, I want to do a pointed chest panel/strip, right under the..er..chest area, but I don't know whether I should continue the panel aroud the back, or what to do with it.
Also all this is with laceweight yarn on 3.3mm needles, so tedious as well as complicated :P

They have gorgeous 3/4 sleeve bolero/shrugs at FCUK right now, in a lace rib with ribbing all around the collar area and the back. They're sooo expensive, but would be extremely tedious to make :(
I can't afford to buy OR knit one anyway.

WIP Bamboo-handled purse!

I'm finally using that washi yarn I found for something... I'm knitting it with a ball of that linen I found the same day. It will be a small bamboo-handled purse, maybe for my friend's birthday. I came up with an interesting way to show off the washi. I didn't like how it got hidden when I held it together with the linen, so for the body of the bag I'm doing double-stockinette, with the washi on the outside. I'm sure other people do this, but I've never seen it done (knitting a finer-gauge novelty yarn over a bulkier yarn to show off the texture while sill creating a sturdy fabric). I'm calling it "Figure-Ground knitting" :P I'm really liking this, maybe I will buy some more and make some others, Or try it with a different novelty yarn :) Wish the Bamboo handles weren't so expensive though, doubles the price of the bag!
Ok here's the pics! As you can see, I did ribbing for the part over the handles, then switched to the doubble-sts.


And here's a pic of the washi yarn before:

Key-hole minisweater alterations pattern

OK, so the yarn I used was 3 strands of cotton/rayon (67/33%) yarn (very shiny, NO stretch). The gauge came out to be 16st X 21st in 10cm knit fairly loosely on 6mm (size 10 US) needles.
To get a similar drape, look, feel etc I would suggest trying Berroco Cotton Twist, KnitPicks Shine, or maybe even Lionbrand MicroSpun, but for the MicroSpun you may have to hold two strands together to get gauge, i don't remember quite how it knits up, but the texture is about right. The Berroco Cotton Twist looks like the closest match, but I've never worked with it.
If I count my 3 strand-yarn as one DK-weight strand I only used about 160 yards (145 meters)

The original minisweater/boobholder pattern can be found HERE on Glampyre's website. Study this FIRST. Make sure you understand how a raglan sleeve sweater is put together BEFORE you start.
Here's the full altered pattern, to the best of my abilities, plus my tips learned from making it and from FAQs seen on the Craftster boards.

So, instead of casting on 50, like she did in her worsted/bulky weight wool, I cast on 70 in my dk-weight cotton/rayon on my 6mm circular needle (my needles were pretty long, maybe 100cm tip-to-tip. Do not join. Many people complain about this pattern being too tight across the back. If you think you are particularly broad shouldered, increase the cast-on stitches to 75 (?). Glampyre just added a raglan sweater measuring guide to her site, so since I'm writing this pattern for stick insects like myself you might want to take some measurements if you actually have some womanly curves ;)

Work 8 rows garter stitch and divide as follows:
Row 1: Knit 13, place marker, knit 12 place marker, knit 20 (25 if you're broad shouldered) place marker, knit 12 place marker, knit13. (This is the top neckline, it should sit on your collarbone and just touch in the center.)

Row 2 and all even rows: knit 5, purl to last 5 stitches, knit 5

Row 3 and all odd rows: knit, increasing one stitch before and after each marker. (she used k1 in row below to increase, I used bar increases on the raglan increases because I think they're pretty)

Repeat rows 2 and 3 6 times (you now have 13 total rows.)

Row 14,k5, purl, k5

Row 15, work increase row as normal, but increase five stitches evenly over both sleeve sections (the second, and smallest, section on either side of your needles). Use invisible increases for this.

Row 16: k5, purl to last 5 sts, k5.

Row 17: work increase row as normal, working sleeve sections as k3 m1, k3 m1, etc. over both sleeves.

Row 18: k5, purl to last 5 sts, k5.

Row 19: resume normal raglan increases.

Repeat rows 2 and 3 for a total of 15 increase rows (30 rows total.)

Separate sleeves from body:
Place all body stitches on one piece of scrap yarn, and each sleeve on its own piece of scrap yarn. Try on your sweater. If the sleeve stitches meet at the underarm, it fits and you’re ready to move on. If it seems too small, do a few more increase rounds. Too big, take a few rows out.

Body:

Place all body stitches back onto the knitting needle and work as follows, remembering to keep the first and last five stitches of each row in garter stitch.

Increase on each end of every purl row like this:

K5, m1, purl to last 5 stitches, m1 k5. I worked 12 rows like this, but i'm really non-chested so you may need to do more, just until the front corners almost touch.

Garter stitch for three rows.

Next row (buttonhole row): Keeping in garter stitch, work 3 stitches, yo, work 2 together.

Garter stitch for three more rows and cast off loosely.


Sleeves (work the same). She knit them flat and seamed together, I knit in the round:

Switch to 16in circular needle or dpns :

Work in stockinette for 7 rows.

Rounds 8 and 10: k3 k2tog to end. ( If you have thicker arms only do the first decrease, sts for row 10)

Rounds 9, 11: knit

Round 12: k5, k2 tog to end.

Garter stitch for 5 rounds, cast off VERY LOOSELY.You may even want to switch to larger needles to cast off.

If you make this, let me know how it comes out!

Finished! (except for buttons)

So, it's not really a boobholder, considering I have no boobs to speak of :P And the neckline is way different. It's sized a bit weird, and I did only half of the increases for the body.. strange pattern maybe. And of course I adjusted the gauge though, maybe that messed it up.
I think I like it though, and this yarn was fun to work with. YAY for first garments!


I should have enough of the green left to make a flouncy scarf :) maybe with some sequins if I get ambitious.