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@libby-elsa-knitting-blog
The pattern contains two sizes of the Dreambird, one for women and another one for little girls.
This was posted on my FB wall by my top-of-fashion friend, Lady Raven. I thought this eccentric style would pair ohhh-so-nicely with my subscription to Jimmy Bean Wool’s Beanie Bags - and I haven’t been disappointed.
Link, for all the yarn-philes: https://www.jimmybeanswool.com/details/beanieBags/default.asp
I might-could get around to posting progress pics of my shawl. Maybe in May?
Front lit versus back lit lace Nooch Fiber shawl! I dyed this yarn to have a very subtle gradient from darker grey to lighter grey. The yarn is lace weight in 50% merino and 50% silk. :)
Beautiful work. And a lot of it. That’s a whole lot of lace.
I got a small stash of yarn samples from Jimmy Bean’s Wool, and needed something to do with it. Voila! Something I didn’t know that I needed - that I actually do need. Yay!
Tags, to promote good behaviors:
Jimmy Bean’s Wool: http://www.jimmybeanswool.com/
Lethal Quick Knits, for linking this pattern: http://www.leethal.net/quickknits/links.html
We already knew that Hannelore is a knitter. I’m dying to know how complicated her scarf is.
Introducing Marsala Pantone Color of the Year 2015, a naturally robust and earthy wine red color from pantone.
Photos of the Ingress beanie (with hemmed brim) that I made from the pattern previously posted.
I'm wrangling this pattern into being a hemmed-brim beanie. It's taken me more tries than I'd like, but I think it's finally close to finished.
This is a two-part video explaining several fixes for common weirdnesses that happen while knitting.
" May your stitches be perfect, may your gauge be just right. May your cables be twisty and your lace oh-so light. May your knitting time be plentiful and your project bag full, may the people you knit for be grateful and love wool.…”
-Unknown-
sier96:
Bits Of Fluff:
After my wedding, I wanted to make something for my bridesmaids that would be a physical reminder of how much I appreciated their friendship and the warmth they brought to my life. After long months of looking through patterns, this one just clicked with me. This pattern has some tricky spots, but the math does work as described.
I used different yarns for each of the three, using my "feels" about each to pick the yarn and colors. The yarns were thicker than recommended, but I liked how that changed the overall effect.
Stay warm.
Quick, Chunky Fingerless Gloves
Pattern by Elsa
Story of this Pattern
My first attempt at off-pattern fingerless gloves was made by request from my “baby sister” Amber at Gulf Wars (around 2012-ish). She was perpetually shivering, and I had spare yarn and nothing on my needles for a minute - it was a thing what needed done. I wrote out the pattern for her, but it was irreproduceably complex. I brought in my inspirations (a banked fire on a cold War night; color-work knitting in the round) to make her a unique item that would give her warm memories of that War.
Now, only three iterations later, this pattern is more durable and predictable.
Yarn
Preferred: Bernat Roving
Substitution: 1 strand sport-weight, 2 strands sock-weight
Cast-on 24 sts total.
Preferred: Continental (long-tail), 12 pairs
Optional: Use two different colors so the CO top is an accent.
Hand
PM; Join in round. Work even (stockinette) for 12 rounds or until long enough for top of hand.
Thumb Opening and Gusset
K8, pm, bind off 4 sts, pm, K8.
K8, cast on 6 sts, K8
Starting at Marker: K2 P2.
For the first two rounds: In the four sts surrounding the marker, decrease 1 in pattern.
Wrist/Arm
Knit in K2P2 ribbing for the intended length - I usually work 21-24 rounds.
Cast-off
Preferred: I like Jeni’s Surprisingly Springy Cast-Off.
Optional: cast off in the same accent color as the top.
Knitting nerd jokes.
Cold Afternoon Slippers
Design Notes
During the Winter Solstice of 2013, when I watched vigil on the longest night of the year, I finally “got around” to making slippers against my cold hardwood floors. First, I spent a few hours looking through a few designers’ patterns. After some trial and error, I figured out a pattern that fits comfortably, is reproducible, and is decently straightforward.
Yarn
Bernat Roving, held double.One skein per slipper, plus about a 1/4 of a second skein to make them a little deeper. To work with doubled strands, Knitting Daily recommends using holding the center-pull strand and the outside-wrap strand of the same skein.
Needles
Size 9 circulars, 24” cable. Magic Loop is your friend.
Atypical Increase
To increase in this pattern: Split the two strands that are otherwise held together, and work them independently (creating new stitches with the doubled strand). I’m calling it “knit-split”.
I haven’t seen this done in other patterns, so I hope this makes sense.
Please PM me if I lost you: [email protected]
Directions
Using the Magic Circle (aka Disappearing Loop) cast-on, CO 5 (using doubled yarn). PM at beginning of round.
Round 1: knit-split (k through each individual strand of first st) PM after each to separate ‘panels’ (ProTip: use a unique color marker for the first for best tracking) 10 sts
Round 2: knit-split, K even for each panel. 15 sts.
Round 3: knit-split, k even. 20 sts.
Round 4: knit-split, k even. 25 sts.
Foot body
Remove all Markers except first. K half of the live sts, PM.
Work the sts at the beginning of the round TBL (through back loop) so they twist - this will increase the durability of the sole.
K even until the tube is long enough to reach the instep. Mine’s about 24 rounds.
Place non-twisted sts on holder.
Heel
Working in Stockinette (smooth face, k on rs and p on ws), alternate between the following sets of rounds until the heel cup reaches the back of the heel. Mine ended with 6 sts.
Set 1:
k to last 3, ssk, k
p to last 3, p2tog, p
Set 2:
s1, k all
s1, p all
Gusset
Pick up sts on each side of the heel and also put the live instep sts on the cables. DO NOT WORK the pick-up sts quite yet.
Work as follows: from live heel sts, work ONE pick-up st, turn. Slip the new st, turn and work. Repeat this order (s1, work even, work 1 pick-up, turn) until all pick-ups are worked.
Work half the live instep sts, turn. Work through the other half.
By now, you’ll be running very low on yarn. Keep working this way (s1, work even) until all yarn is gone.
Put live sts on decorative yarn, and leave it long enough for drawstring tie and a knot(s) to secure it in place. (ProTip: I prefer a non-felting yarn so I can periodically adjust the sts on the line.)
Care
Machine wash cold. Air dry. They’ll be tight just out of the wash but will loosen back up with wear. They’ll stretch back out quicker if you wear them while wet. Do NOT layer with socks when wet. :-)
For best results, do NOT remove the fuzz that will develop on the inside. It will eventually matt down as an extra layer of insulation and padding. Dire Warning: If you pull the fuzz out, you'll feel the knit ridges and drafts.
Stay warm!
Simple Dishcloth Pattern
This link (to a personal blog) goes to a simple dishcloth pattern, in the style often called "Grandma's Favorite." The tutorial includes a video! (The blog intro to the video makes it sound like the video is slow-loading; I didn't find that to be the case.)
The video uses the cast-on I showed first during the knitting class in Northkeep (December 6). Her way of working the Continental (long-tail) cast-on is a little simpler than my version. Might make more sense for you. Or, if you still don't "get" this cast-on, use any other one you prefer (I've linked a tutorial for the Knitted Cast On in an earlier post).
A note about the techniques used (with links to videos from Lion Brand Yarns)
"Knit 2 together" (abbreviated "k2tog") is what it sounds like: "stab" two stitches at the same time, from the front of the needle, from the left to the right. Work like you would for one ("wrap/grab/pull through").
"Yarn over" (abbreviated "yo") is when you move the working yarn from the back to the front, and then up-over the needle to the back again, and then work like normal. Yarn-over increases the overall number of stitches, creates a lace hole, and is almost-always paired with a k2tog or similar decrease.
Libby/Elsa Style Monmouth Caps
Original Source Link and Back-Story
This was the tutorial I used when teaching myself how to make these caps. My version is a decent bit modified for a few goals:
To make these caps cheap, easy-care, outdoor-work-friendly.
To use the thickest yarn I could find for quick construction.
To make the pattern simple for me to memorize.
I usually skip the suggested "button" on the top because the yarn I use looks goofy worked that way. Marked notes indicate Medieval practice.
Yarn
Hometown USA super-bulky. Dual-chromatic: one color for brim (CC), another for crown (MC).
Medieval: Wool; Monochromatic, either red or brown
Needles
Size 11 (circulars with 24” cable are nice)
Medieval: probably DPNs and thick wool at a slightly lighter gauge (bulky, not super-bulky).
Crochet hook
I like an H or J, but anything in that vague size range is fine. I use this for holding picked-up stitches, and then for weaving in loose ends after the knitting work is done.
Directions
Leave a tail about the length of your forearm – fingers to elbow. This will be the hanging loop. (You might want to finger-crochet the tail to make the length more manageable while you’re working around it.)
Cast on 48 sts in CC. (I usually use the knitted cast-on.)
PM and join in round. Knit 5 rounds, weaving the tail between the rows. Purl 1 row. The tail should hang out the RS. Break the yarn.
Knit 5 rounds in MC, maintaining the tail on the RS.
Tie the tail to the top row. Finger-crochet the length evenly, leaving about 2 inches of tail after securing the chain. Pull the tail through the fabric (at the purl seam is a nice place) and secure it on the WS. (I usually tie it and also weave it in the WS for security overkill.)
Take a deep breath – this is the tricky part
Use the crochet hook (hook end leading) to pick up 7 stitches of the cast-on row. Fold the knitted work in half, holding the crochet hook and left needle parallel, WS together. (The purl row should make this fold look natural.)
K2tog across, using one stitch off the back of the crochet hook and one stitch still on the needles.
Keep working until all stitches of the cast-on row are secured – this will seal up the hemmed brim. (The last one or two K2togs may be a little wonky depending on your cast-on method. [Knitted cast-on especially leaves a weird gap at the first/last stitch; long-tail cast-on works very tightly all the way around but otherwise closes smoothly.])
Now just a little bit of counting!
Knit even for 18 rows. (21 for people who request hats for big heads. 15 for people who are sure they have tiny heads. I use size 10.5 needles with this pattern/yarn for kid hats.)
Shaping: Rows 2, 3, 5, 7 : Knit Even
Row 1: (K4, k2tog) to end of row
Row 4: (K3, k2tog) to end of row
Row 6: (K2, k2tog) to end of row
Row 8: (K1, K2tog) to end of row
Row 9: K2tog – should end with 8 sts.
Break yarn and thread the tail through the live sts. Pull snug and dress on WS.
Enjoy!
Knitted Cast-On
This link (to Knit Picks) goes to a lovely tutorial for the Knitted Cast-on we practiced at the Northkeep class (December 6). The link includes a video and still photos and notes.
