I decided to do the stars intarsia. In the round. And I've realized that I'm a glutton for punishment. Go me. It's starting off a little wonky looking. But thats because there are so many dangling threads behind it. Which will get resolved once it is knitted and finished. But if it STILL looks wonky. Well.
I'm gunna cheat. I'm gunna go around the edge with a double stitch using the purple yarn just to neaten it up. And fatten the star a little too while I'm at it. Huzzah.
I will prevail. And it will turn out beauteous.
I took a break for a few minutes from working on it to do three rows on my OCD scarf. That's uhm. Not going along as planned. I wanted it done by tonight. I failed. Horribly. But that's really only because I have slight ADD when it comes to knitting and such and get focused on one project and neglect my others. Much like the Fugly granny Blanket. That one is not even close to done. I still have two more skeins of yarn to put into it. UGGGGH. Damn my attention span!
Oh and I should also add that by doing the stars intarsia, I've increased the time for which it would be finished. If I luck out, Bone will be sporting her hat next week.
Wednesday, December 31, 2008
Monday, December 29, 2008
Future WIPS
Oh and I have another mini project that I'm going to be doing for myself.
Bone has these cool mukluk slippers that are knitted in a wonderful fair isle pattern and they look just ever sooooo comfy. So imagine my surprise when I was in Five Below before the holidays and I saw mukluk sock slippers. *Squee!* I found a pair that was in my size and bought them. Imagine how NOT surprised I was when I came home and put them on only to discover the sock part of them was WAY too tight in the calf. *grumble and groan*. So naturally, I'm going to have to make a new body for them and attach the bottoms. I think I am going to use this lovely ice blue yarn that I have and maybe some black yarn to make a pattern....perhaps I will wet my teeth with a simple fair isle? Or, maybe I'll just figure out some clever crochet design using SC and alternating the colors....I'm not sure just yet but I am looking forward to starting it AFTER I finish Bone's hat hehe.
I also plan to make a plastic bag holder for our kitchen. We had a huge problem with them....we had two drawers stuffed SO FULL of plastic bags that they could not be opened more than an inch so I purged the drawers and stashed the bags under one of our counters. One, maybe two, bags of them (there are three) will be going to my mom's house since she's way more conscious about using her cloth shopping bags than we are. And as a result she has no more plastic bags stashed anywhere which is NG No Good because she uses them to clean the litter box for the two cats. So we're giving her a whole huge mess of plastic bags and keeping some for ourselves. So I figured a bag holder is a good way to prevent the drawers from getting jammed up again. Long as we can find a place for all the excess that may not fit into the bag holder. I wonder how long you can make them before they just get ridiculous and comical?
I think I'll also make my mom one that she can hang near the litter box so that way she'll always have the plastic bags nearby and at the ready instead of having to go dig around her one cabinet for them. She may already have a bag holder, but she doesn't hang it anywhere. But, I'll make it anyways because, well, what else am I going to do after work these days before school starts?? Oh yea, I COULD work on my super secret project of awesomosity......
Bone has these cool mukluk slippers that are knitted in a wonderful fair isle pattern and they look just ever sooooo comfy. So imagine my surprise when I was in Five Below before the holidays and I saw mukluk sock slippers. *Squee!* I found a pair that was in my size and bought them. Imagine how NOT surprised I was when I came home and put them on only to discover the sock part of them was WAY too tight in the calf. *grumble and groan*. So naturally, I'm going to have to make a new body for them and attach the bottoms. I think I am going to use this lovely ice blue yarn that I have and maybe some black yarn to make a pattern....perhaps I will wet my teeth with a simple fair isle? Or, maybe I'll just figure out some clever crochet design using SC and alternating the colors....I'm not sure just yet but I am looking forward to starting it AFTER I finish Bone's hat hehe.
I also plan to make a plastic bag holder for our kitchen. We had a huge problem with them....we had two drawers stuffed SO FULL of plastic bags that they could not be opened more than an inch so I purged the drawers and stashed the bags under one of our counters. One, maybe two, bags of them (there are three) will be going to my mom's house since she's way more conscious about using her cloth shopping bags than we are. And as a result she has no more plastic bags stashed anywhere which is NG No Good because she uses them to clean the litter box for the two cats. So we're giving her a whole huge mess of plastic bags and keeping some for ourselves. So I figured a bag holder is a good way to prevent the drawers from getting jammed up again. Long as we can find a place for all the excess that may not fit into the bag holder. I wonder how long you can make them before they just get ridiculous and comical?
I think I'll also make my mom one that she can hang near the litter box so that way she'll always have the plastic bags nearby and at the ready instead of having to go dig around her one cabinet for them. She may already have a bag holder, but she doesn't hang it anywhere. But, I'll make it anyways because, well, what else am I going to do after work these days before school starts?? Oh yea, I COULD work on my super secret project of awesomosity......
The Tale Of The Jammer Hat - Part 1 - Knitting When Drinking
As mentioned in an earlier post, while at the WFTDA Nationals this year, my roommate Bone saw knitted hats that had stars on either side to look like jammer helmet pannies. She wanted one but the price didn't justify the product. If they were handmade, then it definitely wouldn't have been a bad price at all, but from the picture I saw of them they didn't look handmade at all. So I told her that I could knit on for her.
After picking out her yarn, I stalled for a little bit before I actually started casting on stitches. We're talking a couple of weeks at best, closer to a month at worst since Nationals was in the beginning of November...heh. So I casted on my stitches and decided on a K3P1 rib for the band. And this is where I hit trouble. I casted on 133 stitches (132+1 so I could knit the last stitch casted on with the first one casted on to alleviate any gap that would form since I am knitting it in the round). I should mention now that I was drinking while I started it (although that could be inferred from the title of this post).
The first few rows are a hot mess. They don't line up at all. The rest of the ribbing is mostly on par with one small exception that is too minuscule for a non-knitter to notice, which is naturally bugging me yet since I've knitted so far away from it I'm not about to rip back. Hell no. Not with all that I've done THIS far.
I solved the wonky stitch problem by making it a double thick brim. I knitted about 10 rows in the rib pattern, then I purled a row and then proceeded to knit 9 more rows in the rib pattern. On the 10th row, I picked up each cast on stitch and knitted (or purled) it with the stitch on my live row. It was slow going but PHEW! Did it ever save me from seaming! I'm not a big fan of seaming when I shouldn't have to, so if I can find a way around it I always do (hence why all my hats are now knit in the round and I've grown extremely fond of scarves with fringe...)
The only problem I see with this method is that now I'm going to want to do it to all the hats I knit from here on out. I prefer it when the brim on a hat is thicker than the rest of the hat, as is usually the case in store bought hats (though plenty of nice ones are double thick all over yum!) So at least I've now started the processes of mastering the method so that way I won't have to rely solely on clever stitches to make it look thicker.
I'm still debating if I want to double stitch the star on or if I want to actually do proper intarsia. I know how to do intarsia (although it has been a year since I've done it so I may be rusty lol), but I like the mindless aspect of just knitting. Which is the point I'm at now with the hat, I just get to knit without really thinking about it until the hat is 8 inches long. I like that. Don't get my wrong, I do enjoy knitting things that take concentration, but meh. But intarsia would make for a much nicer, neater finished product....even though it has a tendency to induce madness in me. (Madness?? THIS IS INTARSIA! heh sorry I could NOT resist). I think I'd just rather do the most efficient method with this hat so I can give Bone the finished product before Winter slips away.
My goal is to give it to her either Wednesday or Thursday. Lofty? You betcha!
So now I'm going to run off to dig out the star patterns that I have and see if I can even remotely attempt to do them properly without losing my mind. Muahahaha.
After picking out her yarn, I stalled for a little bit before I actually started casting on stitches. We're talking a couple of weeks at best, closer to a month at worst since Nationals was in the beginning of November...heh. So I casted on my stitches and decided on a K3P1 rib for the band. And this is where I hit trouble. I casted on 133 stitches (132+1 so I could knit the last stitch casted on with the first one casted on to alleviate any gap that would form since I am knitting it in the round). I should mention now that I was drinking while I started it (although that could be inferred from the title of this post).
The first few rows are a hot mess. They don't line up at all. The rest of the ribbing is mostly on par with one small exception that is too minuscule for a non-knitter to notice, which is naturally bugging me yet since I've knitted so far away from it I'm not about to rip back. Hell no. Not with all that I've done THIS far.
I solved the wonky stitch problem by making it a double thick brim. I knitted about 10 rows in the rib pattern, then I purled a row and then proceeded to knit 9 more rows in the rib pattern. On the 10th row, I picked up each cast on stitch and knitted (or purled) it with the stitch on my live row. It was slow going but PHEW! Did it ever save me from seaming! I'm not a big fan of seaming when I shouldn't have to, so if I can find a way around it I always do (hence why all my hats are now knit in the round and I've grown extremely fond of scarves with fringe...)
The only problem I see with this method is that now I'm going to want to do it to all the hats I knit from here on out. I prefer it when the brim on a hat is thicker than the rest of the hat, as is usually the case in store bought hats (though plenty of nice ones are double thick all over yum!) So at least I've now started the processes of mastering the method so that way I won't have to rely solely on clever stitches to make it look thicker.
I'm still debating if I want to double stitch the star on or if I want to actually do proper intarsia. I know how to do intarsia (although it has been a year since I've done it so I may be rusty lol), but I like the mindless aspect of just knitting. Which is the point I'm at now with the hat, I just get to knit without really thinking about it until the hat is 8 inches long. I like that. Don't get my wrong, I do enjoy knitting things that take concentration, but meh. But intarsia would make for a much nicer, neater finished product....even though it has a tendency to induce madness in me. (Madness?? THIS IS INTARSIA! heh sorry I could NOT resist). I think I'd just rather do the most efficient method with this hat so I can give Bone the finished product before Winter slips away.
My goal is to give it to her either Wednesday or Thursday. Lofty? You betcha!
So now I'm going to run off to dig out the star patterns that I have and see if I can even remotely attempt to do them properly without losing my mind. Muahahaha.
Tuesday, December 23, 2008
Recently, on one of the knitting blogs/communities I read, someone posed a question to the members about helping people learn how to knit. She asked what book, pattern, yarn and needles we recommend to people just starting to learn how to knit. Whenever I teach, or help someone learn, how to knit I always recommend they have four things before they start.
-Stitch N Bitch and Knitting For Dummies. When I first started knitting, I had a "kit" from Michaels that described what to do but didn't show you exactly how to do it. I remember there were illustrations, but it wasn't clear at all how I was supposed to make each stitch. After much frustration, I ended up purchasing both of these books and they helped me immensely. I owe my skills completely to them.
-A basic idea for a scarf. I try to steer beginners away from grabbing a pattern their first time out. When you're just starting the best thing to do is focus on learning how to make the stitches. The benefit to a scarf project is two fold: 1) it gives them plenty of room to make errors, even if they never wear the scarf they will have something to work their stitches out on and 2) if they excel at basic knitting, they can always try out new stitches at various points in the scarf or keep it as a WIP to work out various stitches before committing them to a nicer yarn.
-Caron's Simply Soft (or the Simply Soft Thick & Quick Yarn). I prefer beginners buy this above any other type of yarn. It requires a minimal investment, it's easy to work with, it comes in a wide array of colors so they're sure to find a nice, brighter color to work with that they enjoy. And, finally, it's SOFT. I have a sweater made entirely out of Simply Soft and it's one of my favorite sweaters (save for the neckline WHICH I will be fixing soon enough. Can we say steeking?? I'm totally going to redo the neckline into a V neck because the neckline does not thrill me at all)
-I usually then lend them the size 8 needles I learned on so that they can find a similar pair in a store. (I have a ton of needles, so I won't miss one pair). It's hard to describe them, but they're not metal and they aren't quite plastic. They have some sort of coating on them that makes them a little grippier than regular plastic needles, and they're heavier than regular plastic needles, but they aren't metal. I love them. I found them to be the easiest to work with when I started knitting.
The post also got me thinking about all the funny errors people I know have made while learning how to knit. I find them amusing because they are usually the same mistakes I made when I first started.
The most common mistake I've noticed is picking a yarn that is deceptively hard to work with. These yarns, most notably boucle, are soft and lovely when knitted or crocheted but they're not good for beginners since they're designed to mimic a homespun style of yarn on crack. They usually end up causing more trouble than is worth it for beginners. Especially when they pick a deceptive yarn in a dark color. I have run across many deceptive yarns in my time knitting and each time that I find a new one, I always get angry and eventually give up on it.
My biggest nemesis was the daisy yarn that Moda Dea produced. I'm not sure of the name of it, but it was this novelty yarn that, when knitted up, produced 'flowers' due to the design of the yarn. I should also mention that the flowers hedged on this thin, flimsy thread that was twisted around the yarn, which caused the 'flower' originating bumps which, when knitted into a stitch, would create a daisy on the fabric. If you broke that itty bitty thread, you would not get any flowers until you got to a new part of the yarn where the thread was still in tact. I also was not a fan of the fact that it took 3 balls of the yarn to make one hat. Yea. Wasn't thrilled. It wasn't cheap yarn. Quality wise it was, but price wise it wasn't.
Another friend of mine, who wanted to knit, actually wound up buying herself a big, bright skein of inexpensive yarn and needles and set about teaching herself. She got stumped on how to figure out how to determine the width of the scarf she was knitting so she came over to my mom's house to ask me. She had the needle FILLED with stitches, which wouldn't have been too bad had they not been super huge, long needles. Yipes! I then explained to her about gauge and how the wrapper on the yarn helps you determine the gauge (approximately) and showed her how to knit up a gauge swatch.
I had a similar issue with gauge and such when I knitted my first non-scarf project. I knitted a pair of wrist warmers in purple and black (one was purple with a black stripe and one was black with a purple stripe). I knitted one wrist warmer when I first started, and finished the second one when I had been knitting a while. Obviously, the first warmer ended up being bigger than the second one because I was still making my stitches loose, even though I was following the suggested gauge on the yarn wrapper. Now I live and die by the gauge swatch when making anything wearable beyond basic scarves.
These seem to be the only two that I can think of....but I'm going to blame that on my imminent cold which was been a day in the making and the lack of concentration I possess while I'm sick.
-Stitch N Bitch and Knitting For Dummies. When I first started knitting, I had a "kit" from Michaels that described what to do but didn't show you exactly how to do it. I remember there were illustrations, but it wasn't clear at all how I was supposed to make each stitch. After much frustration, I ended up purchasing both of these books and they helped me immensely. I owe my skills completely to them.
-A basic idea for a scarf. I try to steer beginners away from grabbing a pattern their first time out. When you're just starting the best thing to do is focus on learning how to make the stitches. The benefit to a scarf project is two fold: 1) it gives them plenty of room to make errors, even if they never wear the scarf they will have something to work their stitches out on and 2) if they excel at basic knitting, they can always try out new stitches at various points in the scarf or keep it as a WIP to work out various stitches before committing them to a nicer yarn.
-Caron's Simply Soft (or the Simply Soft Thick & Quick Yarn). I prefer beginners buy this above any other type of yarn. It requires a minimal investment, it's easy to work with, it comes in a wide array of colors so they're sure to find a nice, brighter color to work with that they enjoy. And, finally, it's SOFT. I have a sweater made entirely out of Simply Soft and it's one of my favorite sweaters (save for the neckline WHICH I will be fixing soon enough. Can we say steeking?? I'm totally going to redo the neckline into a V neck because the neckline does not thrill me at all)
-I usually then lend them the size 8 needles I learned on so that they can find a similar pair in a store. (I have a ton of needles, so I won't miss one pair). It's hard to describe them, but they're not metal and they aren't quite plastic. They have some sort of coating on them that makes them a little grippier than regular plastic needles, and they're heavier than regular plastic needles, but they aren't metal. I love them. I found them to be the easiest to work with when I started knitting.
The post also got me thinking about all the funny errors people I know have made while learning how to knit. I find them amusing because they are usually the same mistakes I made when I first started.
The most common mistake I've noticed is picking a yarn that is deceptively hard to work with. These yarns, most notably boucle, are soft and lovely when knitted or crocheted but they're not good for beginners since they're designed to mimic a homespun style of yarn on crack. They usually end up causing more trouble than is worth it for beginners. Especially when they pick a deceptive yarn in a dark color. I have run across many deceptive yarns in my time knitting and each time that I find a new one, I always get angry and eventually give up on it.
My biggest nemesis was the daisy yarn that Moda Dea produced. I'm not sure of the name of it, but it was this novelty yarn that, when knitted up, produced 'flowers' due to the design of the yarn. I should also mention that the flowers hedged on this thin, flimsy thread that was twisted around the yarn, which caused the 'flower' originating bumps which, when knitted into a stitch, would create a daisy on the fabric. If you broke that itty bitty thread, you would not get any flowers until you got to a new part of the yarn where the thread was still in tact. I also was not a fan of the fact that it took 3 balls of the yarn to make one hat. Yea. Wasn't thrilled. It wasn't cheap yarn. Quality wise it was, but price wise it wasn't.
Another friend of mine, who wanted to knit, actually wound up buying herself a big, bright skein of inexpensive yarn and needles and set about teaching herself. She got stumped on how to figure out how to determine the width of the scarf she was knitting so she came over to my mom's house to ask me. She had the needle FILLED with stitches, which wouldn't have been too bad had they not been super huge, long needles. Yipes! I then explained to her about gauge and how the wrapper on the yarn helps you determine the gauge (approximately) and showed her how to knit up a gauge swatch.
I had a similar issue with gauge and such when I knitted my first non-scarf project. I knitted a pair of wrist warmers in purple and black (one was purple with a black stripe and one was black with a purple stripe). I knitted one wrist warmer when I first started, and finished the second one when I had been knitting a while. Obviously, the first warmer ended up being bigger than the second one because I was still making my stitches loose, even though I was following the suggested gauge on the yarn wrapper. Now I live and die by the gauge swatch when making anything wearable beyond basic scarves.
These seem to be the only two that I can think of....but I'm going to blame that on my imminent cold which was been a day in the making and the lack of concentration I possess while I'm sick.
Christmas Time Is Here....
So I've been lax in posting on here, as per usual. Meh. It's not like I haven't been knitting or crocheting though. I have, most definitely!
I crocheted my mom a scarf for Christmas out of Bernat's Baby Boucle (I think it was Bernat) in a rainbow colorway. She asked me for a thick, long scarf that was also fluffy and warm that had purple, green and blue colors in it. This yarn definitely fit the bill, especially since it came in a huge skein and I was able to make her entire scarf from the one skein. Complete with Fringe. To give you an idea of the size of it (because I suck and have no pictures) it is about a foot wide (wider in some places because I'm still VERY green with crocheting), and over 6 feet long. I'd guess it's close to 6 and a half feet long. Without the fringe. She loves it. And I'm glad she does, especially because once I was halfway through it, she had asked me if I was able to find a yarn in the colors she wanted....gray and black. Ugh. I'll probably make her one in gray and black post holidays.
I'm also dutifully working on a stocking for myself since I have no personal stocking. I was offered the use of a spare stocking that Bone has, and that will suffice for now, but I want my OWN stocking. So I'm crocheting one out of this random skein of TLC yarn I had in a dark purple (I think I had gotten it once when it was on sale and I never used it because it just didn't work well with most of my patterns in terms of comfort and softness. I've finished the entire stocking except I'm adding a 'cuff' of Paton's Classic Wool in Ivory at the top of the stocking because, like I said before, I am not good at Crocheting yet and I tend to randomly increase stitches. SO to disguise the fact that the opening of the stocking is obviously smaller than the rest of the stocking....I'm putting a nice, big fold down cuff on top to detract from that. It also gives me plenty of space to stitch my name on :D But am I doing "Ashley" or "Busty" hrrrm. Probably Ashley since I'll use it for quite some time I'm sure.
I'm also in the process of making a jammer knit hat for Bone. When she was at the Northwest Knockdown (WFTDA Nationals), she saw a company selling knit beanies with jammer stars on either side. But they were almost $20. I offered to make her one in black and purple. It'll take a bit longer than I had hoped since she picked this sparkly yarn that I have (which I fear may be itchy once the hat is done...but I can always crochet a liner for it out of my lion brand micro spun yarn which is UBER soft) and it uses size five needles. And apparently I was drunk when I started it (or I should have been) since the first few rows are all wonky on the ribbing, but that's ok because I wanted to give the hat a fold under brim anyways so I'm still working on the ribbing. But once that's done I'll whip the hat out no problem. And to save myself stress I'm going to double stitch the stars onto the hat for her. They too will be sparkly, cause they are made of the same yarn.
Other than that, I have ideas in my head for another project or two. I want to crochet a dog jacket for Bone's Mom's dog Wicket(aka my Furry Lil Boyfriend). He's a Shih Tzu and gets cold easily so we ended up getting him a sweater and rain coat for Xmas but I want to make him another sweater/jacket because the one I got him is blatantly Xmas. And I've heard rumors that this is going to be a very cold winter as it has already proven to be.
I also solemnly swear that while I'm off from school over Christmas/Winter Break (A whole month....kinda.....) I will post more and work on more projects. Afterall, I need to keep warm this winter. brrrr.
I crocheted my mom a scarf for Christmas out of Bernat's Baby Boucle (I think it was Bernat) in a rainbow colorway. She asked me for a thick, long scarf that was also fluffy and warm that had purple, green and blue colors in it. This yarn definitely fit the bill, especially since it came in a huge skein and I was able to make her entire scarf from the one skein. Complete with Fringe. To give you an idea of the size of it (because I suck and have no pictures) it is about a foot wide (wider in some places because I'm still VERY green with crocheting), and over 6 feet long. I'd guess it's close to 6 and a half feet long. Without the fringe. She loves it. And I'm glad she does, especially because once I was halfway through it, she had asked me if I was able to find a yarn in the colors she wanted....gray and black. Ugh. I'll probably make her one in gray and black post holidays.
I'm also dutifully working on a stocking for myself since I have no personal stocking. I was offered the use of a spare stocking that Bone has, and that will suffice for now, but I want my OWN stocking. So I'm crocheting one out of this random skein of TLC yarn I had in a dark purple (I think I had gotten it once when it was on sale and I never used it because it just didn't work well with most of my patterns in terms of comfort and softness. I've finished the entire stocking except I'm adding a 'cuff' of Paton's Classic Wool in Ivory at the top of the stocking because, like I said before, I am not good at Crocheting yet and I tend to randomly increase stitches. SO to disguise the fact that the opening of the stocking is obviously smaller than the rest of the stocking....I'm putting a nice, big fold down cuff on top to detract from that. It also gives me plenty of space to stitch my name on :D But am I doing "Ashley" or "Busty" hrrrm. Probably Ashley since I'll use it for quite some time I'm sure.
I'm also in the process of making a jammer knit hat for Bone. When she was at the Northwest Knockdown (WFTDA Nationals), she saw a company selling knit beanies with jammer stars on either side. But they were almost $20. I offered to make her one in black and purple. It'll take a bit longer than I had hoped since she picked this sparkly yarn that I have (which I fear may be itchy once the hat is done...but I can always crochet a liner for it out of my lion brand micro spun yarn which is UBER soft) and it uses size five needles. And apparently I was drunk when I started it (or I should have been) since the first few rows are all wonky on the ribbing, but that's ok because I wanted to give the hat a fold under brim anyways so I'm still working on the ribbing. But once that's done I'll whip the hat out no problem. And to save myself stress I'm going to double stitch the stars onto the hat for her. They too will be sparkly, cause they are made of the same yarn.
Other than that, I have ideas in my head for another project or two. I want to crochet a dog jacket for Bone's Mom's dog Wicket(aka my Furry Lil Boyfriend). He's a Shih Tzu and gets cold easily so we ended up getting him a sweater and rain coat for Xmas but I want to make him another sweater/jacket because the one I got him is blatantly Xmas. And I've heard rumors that this is going to be a very cold winter as it has already proven to be.
I also solemnly swear that while I'm off from school over Christmas/Winter Break (A whole month....kinda.....) I will post more and work on more projects. Afterall, I need to keep warm this winter. brrrr.
Sunday, November 9, 2008
Procrastination At It's Finest
While I was supposed to clean my room yesterday (since I've had a bit of a laundry explosion), I didn't actually do it. Big surprise. Instead I sat down and got working on a project for Giant Boy. My plan is to make him a couple of brimmed hats for Xmas. Much like me, he loves those style of hats but can usually complain about the hats that one finds in stores, as can I. You see, we are both giant headed freaks. And while his head may not deviate TOO much from the norm in guys sizes, my head only fits into most guy sizes for hats. I also secretly think that the world would rather we all be tiny headed freaks, but that's merely the notion that runs through my head when I'm frustrated after having tried on a million hats in a store to ensure they fit.
So, anyways, back to the complaints GB has about the brimmed hats from stores. First and foremost, one of his favorite hats shrunk in the wash. It said that it was made out of acrylic yarn and that it was washable. Clearly it was not, because acrylic won't shrink in the wash (and this, friends, is why I make sweaters out of really nice acrylic). And the hat he owns that has a nice large brim pushes into his forehead because of the stabilizing material in the brim. He finds it uncomfortable, but he likes that it keeps the sun out of his eyes more than the tinier brimmed hats.
So I got to thinking about making him hats for Xmas out of acrylic yarns. I knew that I would make him the Sam Hat, probably in black simply soft. And I found a new crochet brimmed hat pattern recently on Ravelry *please note you can only view that page if you have a membership*. I liked it immediately. It's a flat top conductor style hat with a nice big brim. I liked it for many reasons. First, it's crochet so it will work up quickly. Second, it's made out of a worsted weight acrylic so it's safe for washing machine trips. Third, you hold two strands of yarn together to make it so it's nice and sturdy which means you don't need anything extra for the brim after you have made it. The shaping on the brim coupled with the stiffness of the double stranded worsted weight yarn (woo that's a mouthful!) make it hold its shape easily.
So yesterday, when I was supposed to be cleaning my room, I was making a hat for Giant Boy. It took me all afternoon and evening to finish it. But it is done. Honestly, I wanted to try the pattern out before I make him a really nice one for Xmas in a solid color. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I used a Caron Jumbo Print skein of yarn in mixed greens. I'd say I maybe used half of the yarn because I adjusted the pattern a little for giant headed freaks. I made the sides a little longer before starting the brim and I made the brim a little longer too. After I had "finished" the pattern directions, I also made the sides and back a little bit longer at GB's request. Which is great because now I have a great pattern with extra guidelines to follow for one of his Xmas presents.
What I've come to realize, however, over the last hour that I've been awake this morning is that I have failed to create myself one thing in the years that I've been a crafter of many types. I don't have an Xmas stocking.
Now, I do have one at my mom's house which she hangs on the mantel for me every year. It's kind of lame and it's from when I was a kid. It's Ernie from Sesame Street. Wait no, it's not lame, I <3 Ernie. Lame isn't the right word.....beat up beyond recognition is. I used to have a Scooby Doo one too, but lord knows where that one disappeared to. But that's all besides the point. My mom has an Xmas stocking for me, but I don't have one!
Now I'm on a mission. I need to make myself an Xmas stocking. I'm going to crochet one, I think, because I could make a really neat stocking that way. I'm definitely NOT going to be knitting myself the stockings I knit for my friend last year. They're cute but such a pain in the ass. I've already got a good notion of what I want in my head.
*EDIT* In case anyone is wondering, Giant Boy (GB) is my friend's 14 year old son.
I'll also have pictures of the hat later
So, anyways, back to the complaints GB has about the brimmed hats from stores. First and foremost, one of his favorite hats shrunk in the wash. It said that it was made out of acrylic yarn and that it was washable. Clearly it was not, because acrylic won't shrink in the wash (and this, friends, is why I make sweaters out of really nice acrylic). And the hat he owns that has a nice large brim pushes into his forehead because of the stabilizing material in the brim. He finds it uncomfortable, but he likes that it keeps the sun out of his eyes more than the tinier brimmed hats.
So I got to thinking about making him hats for Xmas out of acrylic yarns. I knew that I would make him the Sam Hat, probably in black simply soft. And I found a new crochet brimmed hat pattern recently on Ravelry *please note you can only view that page if you have a membership*. I liked it immediately. It's a flat top conductor style hat with a nice big brim. I liked it for many reasons. First, it's crochet so it will work up quickly. Second, it's made out of a worsted weight acrylic so it's safe for washing machine trips. Third, you hold two strands of yarn together to make it so it's nice and sturdy which means you don't need anything extra for the brim after you have made it. The shaping on the brim coupled with the stiffness of the double stranded worsted weight yarn (woo that's a mouthful!) make it hold its shape easily.
So yesterday, when I was supposed to be cleaning my room, I was making a hat for Giant Boy. It took me all afternoon and evening to finish it. But it is done. Honestly, I wanted to try the pattern out before I make him a really nice one for Xmas in a solid color. Oh yes, I forgot to mention, I used a Caron Jumbo Print skein of yarn in mixed greens. I'd say I maybe used half of the yarn because I adjusted the pattern a little for giant headed freaks. I made the sides a little longer before starting the brim and I made the brim a little longer too. After I had "finished" the pattern directions, I also made the sides and back a little bit longer at GB's request. Which is great because now I have a great pattern with extra guidelines to follow for one of his Xmas presents.
What I've come to realize, however, over the last hour that I've been awake this morning is that I have failed to create myself one thing in the years that I've been a crafter of many types. I don't have an Xmas stocking.
Now, I do have one at my mom's house which she hangs on the mantel for me every year. It's kind of lame and it's from when I was a kid. It's Ernie from Sesame Street. Wait no, it's not lame, I <3 Ernie. Lame isn't the right word.....beat up beyond recognition is. I used to have a Scooby Doo one too, but lord knows where that one disappeared to. But that's all besides the point. My mom has an Xmas stocking for me, but I don't have one!
Now I'm on a mission. I need to make myself an Xmas stocking. I'm going to crochet one, I think, because I could make a really neat stocking that way. I'm definitely NOT going to be knitting myself the stockings I knit for my friend last year. They're cute but such a pain in the ass. I've already got a good notion of what I want in my head.
*EDIT* In case anyone is wondering, Giant Boy (GB) is my friend's 14 year old son.
I'll also have pictures of the hat later
Sunday, November 2, 2008
And One More For Good Measure.....
I was walking around Target earlier today, in search of a birthday present for my 2 year old niece (my sister had her birthday party today). I stopped short when I reached the "accessories" section where they have jewelry, belts, hand bags and the like and gawked at the scarves for a bit.
I'm not one who could ever bring myself to purchase knit items in a store. Now that I know how to knit and crochet, I find it much more satisfying to run out to the craft store or LYS and pick up some yarn (provided I don't have anything that I'm looking for in my stash) to whip up a project as I deem necessary.
A lot of the stuff that I've been seeing has had a very homemade look to it, too. Which kind of frustrates me. 90% of the scarves and hats I had growing up I remember as being made by my grandmother. I also remember some hideous sweater vest with a goose on it....but I digress. Why are they trying to sell stuff that merely looks hand or home made?
Is it just me or is it far less enjoyable to wrap a scarf around your neck that you just purchased at a store? Isn't it far greater to wrap a scarf around your neck that you just spent weeks knitting until it was just right, blocking to the perfect shape so the edges don't curl and then getting to wrap it around your neck to stave off the cold winds? Sure, it's not as instant as plunking down ten or so dollars on a fancy store bought scarf, but sometimes the better things are totally worth the wait and effort.
I'm not one who could ever bring myself to purchase knit items in a store. Now that I know how to knit and crochet, I find it much more satisfying to run out to the craft store or LYS and pick up some yarn (provided I don't have anything that I'm looking for in my stash) to whip up a project as I deem necessary.
A lot of the stuff that I've been seeing has had a very homemade look to it, too. Which kind of frustrates me. 90% of the scarves and hats I had growing up I remember as being made by my grandmother. I also remember some hideous sweater vest with a goose on it....but I digress. Why are they trying to sell stuff that merely looks hand or home made?
Is it just me or is it far less enjoyable to wrap a scarf around your neck that you just purchased at a store? Isn't it far greater to wrap a scarf around your neck that you just spent weeks knitting until it was just right, blocking to the perfect shape so the edges don't curl and then getting to wrap it around your neck to stave off the cold winds? Sure, it's not as instant as plunking down ten or so dollars on a fancy store bought scarf, but sometimes the better things are totally worth the wait and effort.
So I Clearly Lack Time Management Skills
At least in the department of THIS blog, anyways.
I haven't been doing terribly much knitting or crocheting lately. I've been so wrapped up in school and work. Any free time that I have is devoted to homework or sleeping. Or driving to and from work and school.
I decided to sit down and start work on some new projects and an old project tonight because, well, the weather is getting colder and we had a fire going and it seemed like a perfect time to drape the fugly Granny square blanket across my lap and get to work on finishing it. It won't be finished until for a while yet though. I have one more skein of black soft boucle and then a red soft boucle and a skein of red Jiffy to throw into it before it is finally complete.
I also decided to start myself on a new scarf. I really don't have many scarves and I felt like putting some of the fun hand spun yarn that was gifted to me into that project (sadly, a lot of the gifted yarn was re-gifted and donated to charity when I moved back in june). So I decided to make myself what I am dubbing the OCD scarf. I'm not sure why, but I had my age in mind when I picked the yarn from my bin. I picked two hand spun purple yarns and a hand spun blue. In my mind, these screamed out the number 26. So I cast on 26 stitches and am going to (hopefully) wind up with a scarf that has stripes that are 26 rows thick and repeat 26 times. I say hopefully because I'm not 100% on how much yardage is in each ball I have. I'm not going completely batshit OCD with this, though, I have no prayer of trying to make it 26 inches long so I'm not even going to try that. I could, if I wanted to sit down and gauge it and work out the calculations but Busty + math ≠ friends.
I've also started plotting out a few xmas gifts that I can whip up for people. This year I am NOT NOT NOT making gifts for everyone. I am merely going to make gifts for a few people. Easy gifts that won't result in me sitting in a pile of yarn pulling my hair out in frustration.
I'm going to make a brimmed hat for the Giant Boy (Bone's son) and either a hat and scarf set for Bone or a little messenger bag, I'm not sure yet. But either way, it's gunna end up with a bone motif on it.
I haven't been doing terribly much knitting or crocheting lately. I've been so wrapped up in school and work. Any free time that I have is devoted to homework or sleeping. Or driving to and from work and school.
I decided to sit down and start work on some new projects and an old project tonight because, well, the weather is getting colder and we had a fire going and it seemed like a perfect time to drape the fugly Granny square blanket across my lap and get to work on finishing it. It won't be finished until for a while yet though. I have one more skein of black soft boucle and then a red soft boucle and a skein of red Jiffy to throw into it before it is finally complete.
I also decided to start myself on a new scarf. I really don't have many scarves and I felt like putting some of the fun hand spun yarn that was gifted to me into that project (sadly, a lot of the gifted yarn was re-gifted and donated to charity when I moved back in june). So I decided to make myself what I am dubbing the OCD scarf. I'm not sure why, but I had my age in mind when I picked the yarn from my bin. I picked two hand spun purple yarns and a hand spun blue. In my mind, these screamed out the number 26. So I cast on 26 stitches and am going to (hopefully) wind up with a scarf that has stripes that are 26 rows thick and repeat 26 times. I say hopefully because I'm not 100% on how much yardage is in each ball I have. I'm not going completely batshit OCD with this, though, I have no prayer of trying to make it 26 inches long so I'm not even going to try that. I could, if I wanted to sit down and gauge it and work out the calculations but Busty + math ≠ friends.
I've also started plotting out a few xmas gifts that I can whip up for people. This year I am NOT NOT NOT making gifts for everyone. I am merely going to make gifts for a few people. Easy gifts that won't result in me sitting in a pile of yarn pulling my hair out in frustration.
I'm going to make a brimmed hat for the Giant Boy (Bone's son) and either a hat and scarf set for Bone or a little messenger bag, I'm not sure yet. But either way, it's gunna end up with a bone motif on it.
Wednesday, March 5, 2008
Soon enough...
It will be spring break (next week!) and I'll be able to come home after work, sit down and knit or crochet my little heart out. Maybe I'll have to crochet a little heart (realistic naturally) to signify the week. Probably won't though haha.
I still have to get pictures of the Zero I crocheted for Cara. And I suck hardcore because I still don't have pictures of the stuff I crocheted my family for Christmas. Eep.
AND I need to make a less lame banner for this blog. Damnit
I still have to get pictures of the Zero I crocheted for Cara. And I suck hardcore because I still don't have pictures of the stuff I crocheted my family for Christmas. Eep.
AND I need to make a less lame banner for this blog. Damnit
Monday, February 11, 2008
It's pathetic. Really, it is.
I would love to remain under the impression delusion that I have more free time than I need. But the sad fact is that I don't. On any given day I wake up, go to work, come home for a short stint and then head off to school. I really only ever have enough time to grab a snack, finish up and bits and pieces of homework that haven't been done and then get changed between out of my work attire and put on regular clothes for school. Then it's off to class until 7:30 or 8:30 Tues thru Thursday. After which, I come home and yet again hunker down with the homework (because I'm obsessed with having ALL of my homework done before Friday night). Then there's always my Mondays where I get up extra early, go to work, change at work and leave for school. And starting next Monday I won't be getting home before 10PM at night thanks to the fact that is the one night we have an open lab for the dark room that I can use at school. The only other time we have open lab that I can go to is Sunday afternoon.
Why do any of you care? Because my knitting and crocheting have suffered greatly. I have a scarf and two blankets that are still WIPs that should have been done a month ago and a Calorimetry and a pair of socks (if you could call them that) that have barely made it past their infancy stages. I really am starting to think I have far too many hobbies.
And naturally, when faced with the options of a quick and easy sewing project (mostly alterations) or hunkering down with a knitting or crochet project, I'll choose the quick and easy project each and every time. The positive side to that is that finally, after months (maybe even years haha), sewing projects are getting finished.
Why oh why can't I be a loser who has no life so that I may sit home on the weekends to knit and crochet? (I know I'm tempting the fates here, I really don't mean that, I'm just kidding, kay? I adore my friends and my boyfriend and cherish all the time I spend with them.)
Why do any of you care? Because my knitting and crocheting have suffered greatly. I have a scarf and two blankets that are still WIPs that should have been done a month ago and a Calorimetry and a pair of socks (if you could call them that) that have barely made it past their infancy stages. I really am starting to think I have far too many hobbies.
And naturally, when faced with the options of a quick and easy sewing project (mostly alterations) or hunkering down with a knitting or crochet project, I'll choose the quick and easy project each and every time. The positive side to that is that finally, after months (maybe even years haha), sewing projects are getting finished.
Why oh why can't I be a loser who has no life so that I may sit home on the weekends to knit and crochet? (I know I'm tempting the fates here, I really don't mean that, I'm just kidding, kay? I adore my friends and my boyfriend and cherish all the time I spend with them.)
Tuesday, January 29, 2008
Knitted Boots
Why on earth would I pay $40+ for a pair of knitted boots? I just won't. I see no point in spending such a ridiculous amount of money on something that could be made at home relatively inexpensively and relatively easily.
I present my knitted boots:
I figure these cost about $7. The yarn I use was part of my gifted stash, so I can't include that in the cost, and the clogs I used were about $7 from Wal-Mart. They're those fleece slipper clog things that have indoor/outdoor soles. Yep. Love em.
How did this happen? Well, I sat my ass down with the clogs and measured them around the edge right above where the rubber bottom is. Then I started knitting with a pair of size 15 needles and figured out my gauge. Then I simply knitted a giant rectangle that would work out to the right dimension to accommodate the clog. Now, of course, with all this math I did, don't ask me why I didn't bother just knitting them as a pattern. I very well could have. But I liked these cause the knitting was mindless.
So anyways, after the rectangles were knitted up, I pinned them onto the clog inside out and pinned the parts that needed to be sewn to fit them. I sewed them on my sewing machine and then glued and hand stitched them to the clogs. Not bad, eh?
I present my knitted boots:
I figure these cost about $7. The yarn I use was part of my gifted stash, so I can't include that in the cost, and the clogs I used were about $7 from Wal-Mart. They're those fleece slipper clog things that have indoor/outdoor soles. Yep. Love em.
How did this happen? Well, I sat my ass down with the clogs and measured them around the edge right above where the rubber bottom is. Then I started knitting with a pair of size 15 needles and figured out my gauge. Then I simply knitted a giant rectangle that would work out to the right dimension to accommodate the clog. Now, of course, with all this math I did, don't ask me why I didn't bother just knitting them as a pattern. I very well could have. But I liked these cause the knitting was mindless.
So anyways, after the rectangles were knitted up, I pinned them onto the clog inside out and pinned the parts that needed to be sewn to fit them. I sewed them on my sewing machine and then glued and hand stitched them to the clogs. Not bad, eh?
Vintage Christmas Stocking
My friend Becky asked me, upon learning of my knitting skills, if I would be so kind as to knit up Christmas stockings for her two newest grandkids and her newest son in law. I agreed and she brought me the pattern and the yarn and I set about working on them.
Unfortunately, I was only able to take shitty camera phone pictures of the stockings because I was stranded in Manville at the time I finished these, so you'll have to forgive that.
And I figured that, since it was such an old looking pattern and I couldn't find any copyright info on the pamphlet, I would post it online for others to use. Well it turns out that it was probably one of my better ideas as I got a lot of messages on Ravelry from people. Some who had a relative knit these stockings, others who were looking for the pattern to continue a similar tradition to what my friend Becky has (all of her family members have one of these), and another who was a little upset because she found my online pattern after she knitted one using an existing stocking as a guide.
So anyways, I figured I would transfer the pattern from my livejournal to here since, well, this is my knitting blog after all. So here ya go:
Supplies Needed:
+1 Skein Each of the Following Yarn:
Red Heart Super Saver Hot Red
Red Heart Super Saver Soft White
Red Heart Super Saver Paddy Green
Red Heart Super Saver Spruce
Red Heart Super Saver Black
Red Heart Super Saver Petal Pink
White mohair yarn
+Size US 9 needles
+Bobbins
+Yarn Needle
Wind Approximately:
5 yards of soft white onto each of 3 bobbins
7 yards of paddy green onto each of 2 bobbins
8 yards of hot red onto each of 3 bobbins
About 2 or 3 yards of black onto two bobbins
About 2 yards of pink onto one bobbin
About 4 yards of spruce onto one bobbin
About 2 yards of soft white and white mohair on one bobbin held together (for beard)
Work remaining soft white, paddy green and hot red from skeins.
Note: Stocking is worked back and forth on needles with the seam at the center back.
Cuff
With skein of white, cast on 60 stitches and work K2 P2 rib for 8 rows. Increase one stitch at the end of row 8 by purling into the front and back of the stitch. You'll have 61 stitches. Break the white and leave a 10 inch end for seaming.
Attach the red and work stockinette stitch for 9 rows. Break the red and leave a 10 inch end for seaming.
Join skein of paddy green and P 39. Drop green, attach bobbin of white and P 1. drop white, take up paddy green and P 9. Drop dark green, join another white bobbin and P 1. Drop white, pick up paddy green and P 11.
Continue to follow the chart (found below) with care not to carry yarn over more than 3 sts. If you need to carry yarn over a large expanse of stitches, twist the yarn you're carrying around the working yarn at each stitch. Use extra bobbins of yarn for each color change and bring the new color under the last color used to prevent a hole.
Decrease 1 stitch on each side at rows 39, 49, 59 and 69 so you have 53 sts at the end of the chart. Work to the end of the chart (85 sts above ribbing) and end with a P row. Break the paddy green and the white yarn and leave a 16 inch tail of the paddy green for seaming.
With right side facing you, slip first 13 sts to a thread for the right half of the heel (from the ornament side), slip the next 27 sts to a thread for the instep, and slip the last 13 sts to the free needle for the left half of the heel (santa side)
Left Half of Heel
Beg. on wrong side, join white.
Row 1 Purl
Row 2 Slip 1, K 12.
Repeat these two rows 8 more times so you have 18 rows on the heel.
Turn Heel as Follows
P2, P2tog, P1, turn
Slip 1, K3, Turn
P3, P2tog, P1, turn
Slip 1, K4, Turn
P4, P2Tog, P1, turn
Slip 1, K5, Turn
P5, P2Tog, P1, Turn
Slip 1, K6, Turn
P6, P2tog, P1; 8 Sts.
Break yarn and place sts on a thread
Right Half of Heel
Beg. at inner edge, take up 13 sts of right half of heel (right side will be facing you). Join white.
Row 1 Knit
Row 1 Slip 1, P 12.
Repeat these rows 8 more times so you have 18 rows on the heel.
Turn Heel As Follows
K2, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, turn
Slip 1, P3, Turn
K3, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, turn
Slip 1, P4, Turn
P4, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, turn
Slip 1, P5, Turn
P5, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, Turn
Slip 1, P6, Turn
P6, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1; 8 Sts.
With the same needle and the white yarn, pick up and knit 9 sts from the inner edge of the half heel (the 9 stitches that were slipped on the beginning of the heel)
Take up and K across the 27 sts of the instep, pick up and K the 9 sts of the inner edge of the other half heel, then K across the 8 heel sts. 61 STS.
Gussets and Instep
Row 1 and all odd numbered rows With white, Purl
Row 2 K14, K2tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K14
Row 4 K13, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K13
Row 6 K12, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K12
Row 8 K11, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K11
Row 10 K10, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K11
Row 12K9, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K9
49 STS
Work Stockinette stitch (P 1 row, K 1 row) for 14 rows, ending with a K row. Break white and leave a 12 inch tail for seaming.
Join skein of red and P 1 row and K 1 row for 11 rows, ending with a P row.
Dec. Row, K23, K2Tog, K24; 48 STS
P 1 Row
Toe
Row 1 - right side - K9, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K18, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K9; 44 sts
Row 2 and all even numbered rows - Purl
Row 3 K8, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K16, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K8; 40 sts
Row 7 K7, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K14, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K7; 36 sts
Row 9 K6, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K12, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K6; 32 sts
Row 11 K5, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K10, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K5; 28 sts
Row 13 K4, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K8, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K4; 24 sts
Row 15 K3, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K6, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K3; 20 sts
Row 17 K2, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K4, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K2; 16 sts
After last Dec row, with wrong side facing you, place the first 4 sts onto a needle holder, then slip the next 8 sts to the free needle. Slip the last 4 sts to a 2nd holder.
Beg. with the 4th st, slip 4 sts from the first holder onto the 2nd needle. K the last 4 sts from the 2nd holder onto the same needle having side edges at center of needle. Points of both needles should be at the same side as the end of the yarn. Break the yarn, leaving a 14-inch end for weaving the toe.
Weaving Toe - Thread the yarn into a yarn needle and weave the sts together as follows:
*Pass needle through first st of front needle as if to K and slip st off, pass through 2nd sts of front needle as if to purl and leave st on needle. Draw yarn through, pass needle through first st of back needle as if to purl and slip st. off. Pass through 2nd st of back needle as if to knit, leave st on needle and draw yarn through: Repeat from * until all sts are joined. Fasten off.
Finishing
Sew in all ends securely. Sew seams with matching colors. Steam stocking lightly, do not steam ribbing. Using letter chart below and duplicate stitch, stitch name onto stocking with white yarn on the red stripe at the top of the stocking. (Letters are 7 sts high)
Sew a white pom-pom or jingle bell onto Santa's Cap and a small red pom-pom for his nose.
Trim the tree with sequins and beads as follows:
Sew beads and sequins onto the tree, inserting needle from wrong side through the stocking and the sequin, then through the bead and back through the same sequine and stocking to the wrong side.
CHARTS
Santa Chart
Or you can download it here:
For Excel
For Microsoft Works Spread Sheet
Letters
And now for my horribly bad camera phone pics of the stockings I made:
A close up
The backside
A Comparison
What I'm not happy about is how completely different the two santas look, even though I was SUPER anal about the stitch count and everything. I'm sort of glad I didn't take any pics of the 3rd stocking cause that was even more different.
What those pictures also do not show is that after they were done, I stitched sequins onto the trees to look like ornaments, stitched a star at the top of each tree and stitched a gold jingle bell on santa's hat. I also crocheted strips that were three stitches wide and 20 sts in length and sewed them on as the hanger.
So there you have it folks, the vintage Christmas stocking.
Unfortunately, I was only able to take shitty camera phone pictures of the stockings because I was stranded in Manville at the time I finished these, so you'll have to forgive that.
And I figured that, since it was such an old looking pattern and I couldn't find any copyright info on the pamphlet, I would post it online for others to use. Well it turns out that it was probably one of my better ideas as I got a lot of messages on Ravelry from people. Some who had a relative knit these stockings, others who were looking for the pattern to continue a similar tradition to what my friend Becky has (all of her family members have one of these), and another who was a little upset because she found my online pattern after she knitted one using an existing stocking as a guide.
So anyways, I figured I would transfer the pattern from my livejournal to here since, well, this is my knitting blog after all. So here ya go:
Supplies Needed:
+1 Skein Each of the Following Yarn:
Red Heart Super Saver Hot Red
Red Heart Super Saver Soft White
Red Heart Super Saver Paddy Green
Red Heart Super Saver Spruce
Red Heart Super Saver Black
Red Heart Super Saver Petal Pink
White mohair yarn
+Size US 9 needles
+Bobbins
+Yarn Needle
Wind Approximately:
5 yards of soft white onto each of 3 bobbins
7 yards of paddy green onto each of 2 bobbins
8 yards of hot red onto each of 3 bobbins
About 2 or 3 yards of black onto two bobbins
About 2 yards of pink onto one bobbin
About 4 yards of spruce onto one bobbin
About 2 yards of soft white and white mohair on one bobbin held together (for beard)
Work remaining soft white, paddy green and hot red from skeins.
Note: Stocking is worked back and forth on needles with the seam at the center back.
Cuff
With skein of white, cast on 60 stitches and work K2 P2 rib for 8 rows. Increase one stitch at the end of row 8 by purling into the front and back of the stitch. You'll have 61 stitches. Break the white and leave a 10 inch end for seaming.
Attach the red and work stockinette stitch for 9 rows. Break the red and leave a 10 inch end for seaming.
Join skein of paddy green and P 39. Drop green, attach bobbin of white and P 1. drop white, take up paddy green and P 9. Drop dark green, join another white bobbin and P 1. Drop white, pick up paddy green and P 11.
Continue to follow the chart (found below) with care not to carry yarn over more than 3 sts. If you need to carry yarn over a large expanse of stitches, twist the yarn you're carrying around the working yarn at each stitch. Use extra bobbins of yarn for each color change and bring the new color under the last color used to prevent a hole.
Decrease 1 stitch on each side at rows 39, 49, 59 and 69 so you have 53 sts at the end of the chart. Work to the end of the chart (85 sts above ribbing) and end with a P row. Break the paddy green and the white yarn and leave a 16 inch tail of the paddy green for seaming.
With right side facing you, slip first 13 sts to a thread for the right half of the heel (from the ornament side), slip the next 27 sts to a thread for the instep, and slip the last 13 sts to the free needle for the left half of the heel (santa side)
Left Half of Heel
Beg. on wrong side, join white.
Row 1 Purl
Row 2 Slip 1, K 12.
Repeat these two rows 8 more times so you have 18 rows on the heel.
Turn Heel as Follows
P2, P2tog, P1, turn
Slip 1, K3, Turn
P3, P2tog, P1, turn
Slip 1, K4, Turn
P4, P2Tog, P1, turn
Slip 1, K5, Turn
P5, P2Tog, P1, Turn
Slip 1, K6, Turn
P6, P2tog, P1; 8 Sts.
Break yarn and place sts on a thread
Right Half of Heel
Beg. at inner edge, take up 13 sts of right half of heel (right side will be facing you). Join white.
Row 1 Knit
Row 1 Slip 1, P 12.
Repeat these rows 8 more times so you have 18 rows on the heel.
Turn Heel As Follows
K2, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, turn
Slip 1, P3, Turn
K3, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, turn
Slip 1, P4, Turn
P4, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, turn
Slip 1, P5, Turn
P5, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1, Turn
Slip 1, P6, Turn
P6, Slip, Knit and PSSO, K1; 8 Sts.
With the same needle and the white yarn, pick up and knit 9 sts from the inner edge of the half heel (the 9 stitches that were slipped on the beginning of the heel)
Take up and K across the 27 sts of the instep, pick up and K the 9 sts of the inner edge of the other half heel, then K across the 8 heel sts. 61 STS.
Gussets and Instep
Row 1 and all odd numbered rows With white, Purl
Row 2 K14, K2tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K14
Row 4 K13, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K13
Row 6 K12, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K12
Row 8 K11, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K11
Row 10 K10, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K11
Row 12K9, K2Tog, K29, Slip, K and PSSO, K9
49 STS
Work Stockinette stitch (P 1 row, K 1 row) for 14 rows, ending with a K row. Break white and leave a 12 inch tail for seaming.
Join skein of red and P 1 row and K 1 row for 11 rows, ending with a P row.
Dec. Row, K23, K2Tog, K24; 48 STS
P 1 Row
Toe
Row 1 - right side - K9, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K18, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K9; 44 sts
Row 2 and all even numbered rows - Purl
Row 3 K8, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K16, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K8; 40 sts
Row 7 K7, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K14, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K7; 36 sts
Row 9 K6, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K12, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K6; 32 sts
Row 11 K5, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K10, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K5; 28 sts
Row 13 K4, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K8, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K4; 24 sts
Row 15 K3, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K6, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K3; 20 sts
Row 17 K2, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K4, K2Tog, K2, Slip, K and PSSO, K2; 16 sts
After last Dec row, with wrong side facing you, place the first 4 sts onto a needle holder, then slip the next 8 sts to the free needle. Slip the last 4 sts to a 2nd holder.
Beg. with the 4th st, slip 4 sts from the first holder onto the 2nd needle. K the last 4 sts from the 2nd holder onto the same needle having side edges at center of needle. Points of both needles should be at the same side as the end of the yarn. Break the yarn, leaving a 14-inch end for weaving the toe.
Weaving Toe - Thread the yarn into a yarn needle and weave the sts together as follows:
*Pass needle through first st of front needle as if to K and slip st off, pass through 2nd sts of front needle as if to purl and leave st on needle. Draw yarn through, pass needle through first st of back needle as if to purl and slip st. off. Pass through 2nd st of back needle as if to knit, leave st on needle and draw yarn through: Repeat from * until all sts are joined. Fasten off.
Finishing
Sew in all ends securely. Sew seams with matching colors. Steam stocking lightly, do not steam ribbing. Using letter chart below and duplicate stitch, stitch name onto stocking with white yarn on the red stripe at the top of the stocking. (Letters are 7 sts high)
Sew a white pom-pom or jingle bell onto Santa's Cap and a small red pom-pom for his nose.
Trim the tree with sequins and beads as follows:
Sew beads and sequins onto the tree, inserting needle from wrong side through the stocking and the sequin, then through the bead and back through the same sequine and stocking to the wrong side.
CHARTS
Or you can download it here:
For Excel
For Microsoft Works Spread Sheet
And now for my horribly bad camera phone pics of the stockings I made:
What I'm not happy about is how completely different the two santas look, even though I was SUPER anal about the stitch count and everything. I'm sort of glad I didn't take any pics of the 3rd stocking cause that was even more different.
What those pictures also do not show is that after they were done, I stitched sequins onto the trees to look like ornaments, stitched a star at the top of each tree and stitched a gold jingle bell on santa's hat. I also crocheted strips that were three stitches wide and 20 sts in length and sewed them on as the hanger.
So there you have it folks, the vintage Christmas stocking.
The Sam Hat
I wanted to make the city girl hat, which is a crochet pattern, but I wanted to knit it because at the time I couldn't crochet to save my life. So after figuring out how to make it, and having it halfway done, I frogged the project completely. It just so happened that I was knitting it while watching Rock of Love and one of the girls on the show (Sam) was wearing a similar hat that had a swirled rib pattern. I decided immediately that I wanted my hat to look like that, so I got to work. 3 days later, I had The Sam Hat. Then, I figured out the pattern after a few requests.
The Pattern
Ok So I managed to gather all of my notes that I have written down while making this hat (trust me, not an easy task as I manage to just jot stuff down anywhere I feel like it and it ends up everywhere lol) So hopefully this is good and isn't terribly confusing or off the mark from what I did. I've written up the patterns in the size hat to fit my head (23" head) but I've included the gauge so you can easily figure out how many stitches you personally need if your head isn't as large as my gigantic melon is. Although you need to keep your stitches as a multiple of 11 to work with the K3, P8 ribbing
Supplies:
1 Skein Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Oxford Grey
Size 8 US 16" Circular needles
Size 8 US needles
Size 8 US Double Pointed Needles
Plastic Mesh
Stitch Markers
Yarn Needle
Gauge: 22 Sts and 28 Rows = 4" in rib pattern
To begin, CO 110 stitches, place a marker and join the round. Begin hat by working 1/2" of seed stitch.
After you've reached 1/2" of seed stitch, you begin working the wide rib pattern. Rib pattern is K3, P8 repeated ten times across the round.
To get the rib pattern to spiral/swirl, you want to shift it on every 5th round. Rounds 1-4: (K3, P8) 10 times
Rounds 5-8: P1, (K3, P8) 9 times, K3, P7
Rounds 9-12: P2, (K3, P8) 9 times, K3, P6
Rounds 13-16: P3, (K3, P8) 9 times, K3, P5
(Essentially, on every 5th row you will take a P stitch from the last repeat of the pattern and put it at the front of the row, shifting the pattern over one stitch. If you want a more dramatic swirl, you could shift it more frequently or shift 2 stitches instead of one).
Follow this pattern until your hat measures 5 1/2" from the bottom up.
Once your hat measures that long, you're ready to begin decreasing. (A note about the decreasing section: While I decreased, I also maintained the shifting pattern every 5 rows. You can do this or you can just decrease it as it should give it a bit of a swirl on it's own. Since my pattern isn't exact to the row, I didn't include the shifting pattern in this section. So just do your best if you include it with the decreases.)
Remember, switch to DPNs when necessary to ease knitting!
On first decrease round, you're going to P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches beginning with the first group of 8.
Knit the next round normal.
On the next row, P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches on the groups of 8. When done, you'll now have a rib pattern of K3, P7.
Knit the next round normal.
On the next round, P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches beginning with the first group of 7
Knit the next round normal
On the next round, P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches on the groups of 7. When done, you'll now have a rib pattern of K3, P6.
On the next round, you're going to do another decrease row by P2Tog at the start of every other group of 6 Purls. Repeat this on the next Round
After the double decrease round, you should have K3, P5 ribbing, so K2tog at the beginning of every K3 on this round. (so the pattern will be K2, P5).
On next round, P2Tog at beginning of every P5 group. (Pattern will then be K2, P4)
On next round, K2tog on every K2 group and P2tog at beginning of every P4 group. (Pattern will then be K1, P3).
On next round, P2tog at every P3 group (pattern will then be K1, P2)
On next round, Purl the knit stitches and P2Tog on the P2 groups, so you will be left with 20 Purl stitches on your needles.
On next round, P2Tog across the row. (You should have 10 Stitches left)
Repeat last round, P2Tog across the row (You should then have 5 stitches left)
BO stitches and sew up small hole on top of hat.
Brim (Based on Vickie Howell's brim for Brimster)
Using your straight 8 Needles, pick up 40 stitches on bottom edge of hat and knit them.
Row 2: Purl all sts
Row 3: Knit all sts
Row 4: Purl all sts.
Row 5: K2tog, K to last 2 sts, SSK.
Row 6: P2tog, P to last to sts SSP
Row 7: Knit all sts.
Row 8: Purl all sts.
Row 9: Repeat Row 5
Row 10: Repeat Row 6
Row 11: K2tog (twice), K to last 4 sts, SSK (twice)
Row 12: P2tog (twice), P to last 4 sts, SSP (twice)
Row 13: Repeat Row 11
Row 14 (turning ridge): Knit all sts.
Row 15: (K1, inc1) twice, K to last 2 sts, (inc1, K1) twice.
Row 16: (P1, inc1) twice, P to last 2 sts, (inc1, P1) twice.
Row 17: Repeat Row 15
Row 18: Purl all sts.
Row 19: K1, inc1, K to last st, inc1, K1.
Row 20: P1, inc1, P to last st, inc1, P1.
Row 21: Knit all sts.
Row 22: Purl all sts.
Row 23: Repeat Row 19
Row 24: Repeat Row 20
Rows 25-28: Repeat rows 21-22 (twice)
Bind off.
Finishing
Using the brim you knitted, lay it over plastic mesh and use that as a guide for the brim. Trace it with a pen or marker and cut it out.
Using your leftover yarn and yarn needle, sew up side seams on the brim with the purl stitches facing out. Insert the mesh piece and then sew up the bottom edge of the brim (I like to sew it thru not only the yarn, but also thru some of the mesh to give it a bit more stability).
Then basically all you have to do is weave in the loose ends, block it if you feel it needs it (mine didn't) and that's about it.
The Pattern
Ok So I managed to gather all of my notes that I have written down while making this hat (trust me, not an easy task as I manage to just jot stuff down anywhere I feel like it and it ends up everywhere lol) So hopefully this is good and isn't terribly confusing or off the mark from what I did. I've written up the patterns in the size hat to fit my head (23" head) but I've included the gauge so you can easily figure out how many stitches you personally need if your head isn't as large as my gigantic melon is. Although you need to keep your stitches as a multiple of 11 to work with the K3, P8 ribbing
Supplies:
1 Skein Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Oxford Grey
Size 8 US 16" Circular needles
Size 8 US needles
Size 8 US Double Pointed Needles
Plastic Mesh
Stitch Markers
Yarn Needle
Gauge: 22 Sts and 28 Rows = 4" in rib pattern
To begin, CO 110 stitches, place a marker and join the round. Begin hat by working 1/2" of seed stitch.
After you've reached 1/2" of seed stitch, you begin working the wide rib pattern. Rib pattern is K3, P8 repeated ten times across the round.
To get the rib pattern to spiral/swirl, you want to shift it on every 5th round. Rounds 1-4: (K3, P8) 10 times
Rounds 5-8: P1, (K3, P8) 9 times, K3, P7
Rounds 9-12: P2, (K3, P8) 9 times, K3, P6
Rounds 13-16: P3, (K3, P8) 9 times, K3, P5
(Essentially, on every 5th row you will take a P stitch from the last repeat of the pattern and put it at the front of the row, shifting the pattern over one stitch. If you want a more dramatic swirl, you could shift it more frequently or shift 2 stitches instead of one).
Follow this pattern until your hat measures 5 1/2" from the bottom up.
Once your hat measures that long, you're ready to begin decreasing. (A note about the decreasing section: While I decreased, I also maintained the shifting pattern every 5 rows. You can do this or you can just decrease it as it should give it a bit of a swirl on it's own. Since my pattern isn't exact to the row, I didn't include the shifting pattern in this section. So just do your best if you include it with the decreases.)
Remember, switch to DPNs when necessary to ease knitting!
On first decrease round, you're going to P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches beginning with the first group of 8.
Knit the next round normal.
On the next row, P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches on the groups of 8. When done, you'll now have a rib pattern of K3, P7.
Knit the next round normal.
On the next round, P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches beginning with the first group of 7
Knit the next round normal
On the next round, P2Tog at the start of every other group of Purl stitches on the groups of 7. When done, you'll now have a rib pattern of K3, P6.
On the next round, you're going to do another decrease row by P2Tog at the start of every other group of 6 Purls. Repeat this on the next Round
After the double decrease round, you should have K3, P5 ribbing, so K2tog at the beginning of every K3 on this round. (so the pattern will be K2, P5).
On next round, P2Tog at beginning of every P5 group. (Pattern will then be K2, P4)
On next round, K2tog on every K2 group and P2tog at beginning of every P4 group. (Pattern will then be K1, P3).
On next round, P2tog at every P3 group (pattern will then be K1, P2)
On next round, Purl the knit stitches and P2Tog on the P2 groups, so you will be left with 20 Purl stitches on your needles.
On next round, P2Tog across the row. (You should have 10 Stitches left)
Repeat last round, P2Tog across the row (You should then have 5 stitches left)
BO stitches and sew up small hole on top of hat.
Brim (Based on Vickie Howell's brim for Brimster)
Using your straight 8 Needles, pick up 40 stitches on bottom edge of hat and knit them.
Row 2: Purl all sts
Row 3: Knit all sts
Row 4: Purl all sts.
Row 5: K2tog, K to last 2 sts, SSK.
Row 6: P2tog, P to last to sts SSP
Row 7: Knit all sts.
Row 8: Purl all sts.
Row 9: Repeat Row 5
Row 10: Repeat Row 6
Row 11: K2tog (twice), K to last 4 sts, SSK (twice)
Row 12: P2tog (twice), P to last 4 sts, SSP (twice)
Row 13: Repeat Row 11
Row 14 (turning ridge): Knit all sts.
Row 15: (K1, inc1) twice, K to last 2 sts, (inc1, K1) twice.
Row 16: (P1, inc1) twice, P to last 2 sts, (inc1, P1) twice.
Row 17: Repeat Row 15
Row 18: Purl all sts.
Row 19: K1, inc1, K to last st, inc1, K1.
Row 20: P1, inc1, P to last st, inc1, P1.
Row 21: Knit all sts.
Row 22: Purl all sts.
Row 23: Repeat Row 19
Row 24: Repeat Row 20
Rows 25-28: Repeat rows 21-22 (twice)
Bind off.
Finishing
Using the brim you knitted, lay it over plastic mesh and use that as a guide for the brim. Trace it with a pen or marker and cut it out.
Using your leftover yarn and yarn needle, sew up side seams on the brim with the purl stitches facing out. Insert the mesh piece and then sew up the bottom edge of the brim (I like to sew it thru not only the yarn, but also thru some of the mesh to give it a bit more stability).
Then basically all you have to do is weave in the loose ends, block it if you feel it needs it (mine didn't) and that's about it.
Because the one thing I really need is another blog......
Yes, that's right, I have started myself another blog. Aptly titled Knits of The Living Dead because....I said so! Yes, I love zombies and I love knitting, so why not?
I'm sure most of the people on my livejournal could care less about my knitting entries, and I think it is rather nice to have a blog dedicated to simply knitting (with the errant zombie post here and there muahaha) that I can link into my Ravelry profile. Something that doesn't need to be "private" is nice as well.
So I should fill you guys in on what you should expect to find here. First, there will be the knitting stories/catastrophies. As well as my own patterns and projects that I'm working on which will include knitting and crochet projects. And every once in a while you'll be treated to some yarn porn.
As if my days weren't filled up enough between work, school and homework. Hah. Now I'm going to force myself to knit a little bit every day or at least post about knittingdaily. a lot.
So I guess we need to get started here with a little bit of an introduction. So here goes.
My name is Ashley, but I prefer being called Busty thanks to my love of Roller Derby (Busty Yorneekaps was my skater name). I adore everything zombie, halloween, horror, and gore. I'm currently 25 years old and live in the grand state of delusion...I mean New Jersey where I work part time as an office assistant for a silicone sales and manufacturing company. I also attend school full time in pursuit of my Communications Associate. After community college I will be transferring to a four year school to go after my degree in Media and Film production. Lofty goals as of now, but one day it will happen. I enjoy knitting and crocheting, maybe a little too much. I've been knitting for about 3 years and have only been crocheting for less than 6 months. These skills run in my family, both my mom and grandmother would crochet when I was little and my grandmother knitted. It should come as no surprise then that I inherited my grandmothers knitting needles and crochet hooks when she gave up the practice due to arthritis not cooperating with her.
I have been blessed with gifts when it comes to my two fiber-ific loves. My knitting needle collection is now absurd (mainly because I spent a lot of time constructing my own knitting needles out of wooden dowels), I have between 4 and 5 full sets of straight needles and countless DPNs and circulars. My collection of crochet hooks is not much better. I have almost 100 standard crochet hooks. Yep. This collection consist of my grandmothers hooks and my great grandmothers hooks. I also have a butt load of those steel hooks for making ridiculously small, intricate lace things. But I don't feel like going blind so they just sit there and keep the other hooks company.
The other fiber related gift I've been blessed with was a huge increase in my stash. The former secretary at my church has a sister who used to knit designer wear for a company and she had all this leftover yarn around her house. She gladly gifted it to me since she no longer knits. And while I have seen larger stashes of yarn, I'm quite impressed with my collection. It is currently being contained in two large flip top tupperware bins and two three-drawer tupperware "dressers". THen, of course, the yarn that would not fit in those drawers is in the bag they came in still.
Here, this will give you a much better idea at the yarn that I currently posses:
That's the yarn I was GIFTED on my queen size bed. That does not include my two large totes filled with yarn (but you can see one tote off to the left of the bed to get an idea of how much more yarn I have). I think I counted once and I have close to 200 varieties of yarn. Yea I'm a bit insane.
I'm sure most of the people on my livejournal could care less about my knitting entries, and I think it is rather nice to have a blog dedicated to simply knitting (with the errant zombie post here and there muahaha) that I can link into my Ravelry profile. Something that doesn't need to be "private" is nice as well.
So I should fill you guys in on what you should expect to find here. First, there will be the knitting stories/catastrophies. As well as my own patterns and projects that I'm working on which will include knitting and crochet projects. And every once in a while you'll be treated to some yarn porn.
As if my days weren't filled up enough between work, school and homework. Hah. Now I'm going to force myself to knit a little bit every day or at least post about knitting
So I guess we need to get started here with a little bit of an introduction. So here goes.
My name is Ashley, but I prefer being called Busty thanks to my love of Roller Derby (Busty Yorneekaps was my skater name). I adore everything zombie, halloween, horror, and gore. I'm currently 25 years old and live in the grand state of delusion...I mean New Jersey where I work part time as an office assistant for a silicone sales and manufacturing company. I also attend school full time in pursuit of my Communications Associate. After community college I will be transferring to a four year school to go after my degree in Media and Film production. Lofty goals as of now, but one day it will happen. I enjoy knitting and crocheting, maybe a little too much. I've been knitting for about 3 years and have only been crocheting for less than 6 months. These skills run in my family, both my mom and grandmother would crochet when I was little and my grandmother knitted. It should come as no surprise then that I inherited my grandmothers knitting needles and crochet hooks when she gave up the practice due to arthritis not cooperating with her.
I have been blessed with gifts when it comes to my two fiber-ific loves. My knitting needle collection is now absurd (mainly because I spent a lot of time constructing my own knitting needles out of wooden dowels), I have between 4 and 5 full sets of straight needles and countless DPNs and circulars. My collection of crochet hooks is not much better. I have almost 100 standard crochet hooks. Yep. This collection consist of my grandmothers hooks and my great grandmothers hooks. I also have a butt load of those steel hooks for making ridiculously small, intricate lace things. But I don't feel like going blind so they just sit there and keep the other hooks company.
The other fiber related gift I've been blessed with was a huge increase in my stash. The former secretary at my church has a sister who used to knit designer wear for a company and she had all this leftover yarn around her house. She gladly gifted it to me since she no longer knits. And while I have seen larger stashes of yarn, I'm quite impressed with my collection. It is currently being contained in two large flip top tupperware bins and two three-drawer tupperware "dressers". THen, of course, the yarn that would not fit in those drawers is in the bag they came in still.
Here, this will give you a much better idea at the yarn that I currently posses:
That's the yarn I was GIFTED on my queen size bed. That does not include my two large totes filled with yarn (but you can see one tote off to the left of the bed to get an idea of how much more yarn I have). I think I counted once and I have close to 200 varieties of yarn. Yea I'm a bit insane.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)