Month: June 2017

Knitting

Beat the Heat

Iris Rose

Okay, I know that it is hot but there is still time in the day to knit or crochet or both.  This time of the year, in the Northern Hemisphere at least, it is nice to have a list of simple small projects to work on.  I tend to make toys, hats and cowls or other small items this time of the year to keep the project from becoming a blanket on my lap.  Kids or baby sweaters are also good summer needle arts projects.

Are you like me and in a bit of a panic to have enough stock for craft sales this fall?  I have a few free and paid patterns on Ravelry here that are great for sale stock.  They are quick to make, don’t take a lot of yarn and sell really well.  They are also great for charity knitting which is another great way to spend your summer crafting time.  These items are always welcome, especially the toys, in the winter months.

I have being looking through project pages and other sites to see what other projects will fit into the it’s too hot to knit a blanket weather and still keep that I have to craft urge satisfied.  I found a surprising number of small things to work on.

Socks, socks and more socks seem to be the most popular item to make with hats, mittens, and cowls the next.  I did come across crocheted jewelry, an art that I always forget about.  I was given a crocheted pearl ring and choker set by my DH when we first started dating.  I knew right then that he was a keeper and still have that pretty jewelry.

There a number of patterns for crocheted bracelets that have beads or not and look really lovely.  I have a couple of them on the project list to try while I am sitting on the patio.  They will make pretty gifts for the granddaughters.

Crocheted or knitted squares are another great small project.  They can be all the same or a variety of stitch patterns.  I usually opt for a variety as I am easily bored with the style of the same pattern repeated.  I made this little lap blanket from a Bernat booklet some years ago to learn cable knitting.  I fell in love with the style of since progressed to Aran sweaters.

Learning a new style or skill is another great reason to work on small projects during the hot months.  I learned to make hairpin lace last May and still have the project sitting in a bag.  It will be placed front and centre in my UFO basket as it is light and airy enough to work on without discomfort.

Have a look through your patterns, pick a cool yarn and get busy!  There really is a way to beat the heat and keep on crafting.

Spoiler Alert: New Shawl Pattern Next Week!

Knitting

Designer Rant

Iris Rose

I have a need to rant this week.  I read from time to time about how some crafters will use a pattern and sell the finished goods.  For some reason, there are those who are outraged by the idea that the crafter is making money from someone else’s design.

I am not talking about a company mass producing and selling hundreds or thousands of the end product but a craftsperson maybe selling a couple or more at a craft sale or on the internet.  I am also not talking about reproducing the pattern itself (copyright) or selling the item as self designed; give credit where it is due.

I guess that I take exception to the outrage mostly because there are no truly new designs in the world.  There are only old ideas represented.  There are finite stitch combinations and colour choices.  There are only so many ways to calculate the number of stitches needed for any particular size on any particular needle or hook and there are so very many patterns that are exactly the same.

An example of the fact that two people do think alike is the cocoon shrug.  There are several patterns on the web, both paid and free, that, if you looked at them without seeing the attendant “designed by” would assume that the same person had written them all.  How can each of these be unique to the particular designer?  How could you ever say that this or that person had stolen your intellectual property and is now selling the finished product that they, not the designer, created, for a profit.  How could you ever claim that it was even your pattern that they used and not someone else’s or even their own?

Another example would be Aran or Irish knit sweaters.  The traditional cable patterns are repeated on many different knits that look similar if not the same.  Does this mean that all of the pattern writers that produce Aran knits are guilty of taking credit for a design that is not theirs?

I design and write patterns.  I know that there are many hours spent creating, writing, rewriting, editing and rewriting again only to proof read, test and rewrite once more.  You publish the pattern and, thank goodness, read and respond to the questions and suggestions, most of them really good, that follow.  You design to share your inspiration and vision with the world, not so that you can take possession of it and hold it close.  Being a designer and pattern writer means having an open mind and a thick skin.  It is just like in kindergarten, not everyone will play the game the same way that you think they should.

I rarely knit or crochet a pattern as written; I always change some part of it to make it more appealing or easier to work for me.  Does that mean that the design is now mine?  If I wrote the pattern with my revisions is it a new pattern?

I don’t write on my patterns that the finished items cannot be sold.  I am flattered that a crafts person thinks that my design is worthy of making and selling.  On those that I know from my own experience are good craft sale items, I will comment that this pattern is quick and easy and makes for great craft sale inventory.  How would you police this anyway?  The world is too big and time is too short to obsess over the uncontrollable.

I am not in any way condoning copyright infringement.  I think that credit should be given to those original thinkers among us.  I just want talented crafters to be given their due on their handiwork making items from our patterns and to turn away the protest and guilt ladled out to them for being industrious.

Knitting

Pink Ice Cream For Summer

Iris Rose

It is almost summer, yay!  I love this time of the year the best.  It is a time of promise, watching new plants grow, dreaming of the fruit and berries to come.  Do you think I like food?  It is also a time to look forward to swimming at the lake, walking in the park and just generally enjoying the outdoors.

This brings me, of course, to outdoor crafting.  When you are working in the heat, it is nice to have something small to knit or crochet.  If, like me, you have grandkids to spoil or maybe your own babies to create for, this is a good time to work on the little clothes that are such fun to make and look so cute.

I designed this little jumper (or tunic dress) for our oldest granddaughter a few years ago and didn’t take any pictures at the time so I have recreated it to include multiple sizes and what I hope are clear instructions.

I am including it here now as a gift to you for reading my blog.  It will be on Ravelry next week as a paid pattern.

It is kind of mindless knitting but sometimes, especially this time of the year, that’s okay.  I hope that you enjoy my latest pattern and that you will share a photo of your finished jumper with me.

Pink Ice Cream Jumper

This pretty little jumper is knit from the bottom up in the round starting with the ruffle.  The buttons are sewn onto the straps with the buttonholes in the bodice which allow you to easily move the buttons to make the jumper grow a little bit with your kidlet.  The bodice is designed to fit snuggly with a stretchy fabric.

You can make the ruffle in a different colour from the body and add a third colour at the bodice.  I have made this pattern in a self striping yarn as well and it was very cute worn over a coordinating Tshirt.

 

Sizes: 6 months, 1, 1 ½, 2, 3.  Chest is designed with negative ease of 1.25cm or ½”.

Gauge: 24 stitches x 31 rows = 10cm or 4″

Materials:  300 to 350m or 330 to 390 yds of baby or sport weight yarn, two buttons.

Tools: 4mm (US6), 60cm (24″) circular needle, stitch holder, stitch marker.

Abbreviations:           k = knit

p = purl

k2tog = knit 2 stitches together

 

To begin: Cast on 260 (264, 276, 280, 292) stitches and join being careful not to twist stitches. I used a long tail cast on but a cable cast on is pretty too.  If you have trouble joining in the round with this many stitches, work the garter rows back and forth and join after that so that you can see if your work is twisted.  You can use your cast on tail to sew the garter piece closed and no one will know the difference.  Place a marker at the join to mark the beginning of your rounds.

 

Ruffle:

Rounds 1 to 4: Garter stitch (in the round, knit 1 row, purl 1 row).

Rounds 5 to 14: Stocking stitch (in the round, knit every row).

Round 15: k2tog around. 130 (132, 138, 140, 146) stitches remain).

Skirt:

Work in stocking stitch until the body piece measures 15.25, (20.25, 25, 30.5, 35.5) cm or 6 (8, 10, 12, 14)” total including the ruffle.  This measurement is a guide only.  Stop when you think that the skirt is long enough for your child.

Bodice:

All stitches will be worked as k1, p1 rib for the remainder of the jumper.

Round 1: k1, p1, repeat from marker to marker.

Repeat Round 1: 7 (9, 11, 15, 17) more times.

Next Round: Cast off 10 (13, 14, 16, 17) stitches st, work 50 (52, 54, 54, 56) stitches in k1, p1 rib, cast off 10 (13, 14, 16, 17) stitches, work 50 (52, 54, 54, 56) stitches in k1, p1 rib.  Remove marker.

You will be working back and forth from here on.

Place the first 50 (52, 54, 54, 56) stitches (back piece) on a holder as you will now be working back and forth over the last 50 (52, 54, 54, 56) (front piece) stitches.  You can leave the first batch of stitches on the needle and just work back and forth on the front stitches if you don’t want to move them to a stitch holder.

Rows 1 to 10: k2tog through the back loop, k1, p1 to last two stitches, k2tog.  You are decreasing 1 stitch each end and will have a total of 30 (32, 34, 34, 36) stitches remaining on Row 10.

Rows 11 to 15: k1, p1 to end of the row.

Row 16: Make buttonholes: Maintaining k1, p1 rib, work 4 stitches, k2tog, yo, k1, p1 for 18 (20, 22, 22, 24) stitches, yo, k2tog, k1, p1 over remaining 4 stitches.

Row 17 to 21: k1, p1 to end of row.

Cast off tightly to keep top edge from stretching.

Transfer the second (back) set of 50 (52, 54, 54, 56) stitches from the holder to your working needle.

Rows 1 to 10: k2tog through the back loop, k1, p1 to last two stitches, k2tog.  You are decreasing 1 stitch each end and will have a total of 30 (32, 34, 34, 36) stitches remaining on Row 10.

Rows 11 to 21: k1, p1 to end of row.

Row 22: Work the first 8 stitches in k1, p1 rib, cast off next 14 (16, 18, 18, 20) stitches (tightly to minimize stretch), work the last 8 stitches in k1, p1 rib.

Place the first 8 stitches on the stitch holder or leave it on your needle if you are comfortable working on the second 8 stitches with the first hanging.

 

Straps:

Rows 1 to 49: k1, p1 to end of row.  If you want a shorter strap, cast off when you reach the length that looks good to you.  I made mine extra long so that the buttons could be moved for grow room.

Cast off.  Transfer the remaining 8 stitches from the stitch holder and repeat Rows 1 to 49, cast off.  Block lightly, weave in ends and sew buttons to ends of straps to fit snugly to shoulders.

 

Knitting

New Shawl But Not Yet So Here is Another One

Iris Rose

 

I have been working on a Shetland/Faroese shawl that I wanted to have finished by today.  Sadly, that is not going to happen.

I was working away at the final few rows and realized that I had made a mistake six or seven rows back on the longest part of the knitting.  Add to that, I am making the monster with a mohair blend yarn that is more than slightly fuzzy.  I also realized that writing a new pattern at the same time as knitting it and watching TV is a surefire recipe for disaster!

Once I recovered from my little temper tantrum and picked the shawl back up, I toyed with the idea of just ripping back the few stitches in question and reknitting them.  Simple, right?  I was wrong, oh so wrong to assume that this would be an easy fix.  I have done this before with cables and simple stitch patterns with great success but lace is a little more tricky than that.  All I have done is created a huge mess that I will have to rip all of the work back to and now I don’t love this shawl anymore.

Long story short, there will no new lace shawl pattern this week.  I do have photos of the work in progress so that you can see what to expect next week and also so that you can see my harebrained idea on how I should repair this oops the lazy way.

Just so that you don’t feel that I have let you down completely (although you didn’t know that the pattern was coming so I have not only not produced what I wanted to but now I have spoiled the surprise as well!) here is an alternative., my Textured Wrap pattern.

This wrap is knitted long ways and is a great way to use up those really lovely but single skeins of yarn that you (or at least I) buy just because they are too pretty to leave in the store but what the heck do you do with them now.  It has enough changes in pattern, simple pattern stitches, really, to keep the work interesting but you can still multitask a bit.  Pick out a palette of coordinating yarns and enjoy knitting this cozy wrap!

Textured Wrap

Size: 16 in x 76 in or 40 cm x 195cm

Gauge: 16 stitches x 24 rows = 4″ or 10cm, note: gauge is not critical for this piece but should be close to achieve the correct size.

Materials:10 50gr balls of worsted or dk weight yarn (90 to 140 yds or 80 to 125 m per ball,  I used 2 black, 2 dark brown, 2 blue tweed, 1 variegated, 1 heather, 1 light rust tweed, 1 multicoloured mini pompom).

Tools: One US 9 or 5.5 mm circular needle.  Shawl is knit back and forth but you will need a circular needle to hold all of the stitches and to allow you join yarn at opposite end of the work from the last colour worked.

Bobbles: Large bobbles are made in one stitch as follows:

In the same stitch k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, turn, p5, turn, k5, turn, p2tog, p1, p2tog, turn, k3tog.

Small bobbles are made as follows:

In the same stitch, k1, yo, k1, turn, p3, turn, k3tog.

With black yarn cast on 280 stitches and work 4 rows of garter stitch.

Change to mini pompom yarn and work 5 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to dark brown yarn on the wrong side and work 7 rows of stocking stitch.

Next row (right side): k11, make large bobble in 12th st, k11 repeat * to * to end.

Purl 1 row.

Change to blue tweed yarn and k5, make a large bobble, k11, repeat * to * to 6 st remaining, make a large bobble, k5.

Work 8 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to black yarn on the wrong side and k 1 row.

Change to variegated yarn and work 5 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to heather yarn on the wrong side and k 1 row.

Change to blue yarn on the wrong side and knit 1 row.

Change to heather yarn on the wrong side and k 1 row.

Change to blue yarn on the wrong side and knit 1 row.

Change to heather yarn on the wrong side and k 1 row

Work 2 rows of stocking stitch.

Work 6 rows of basket weave stitch in a 2 x 2 pattern:

Row 1: k2, p2

Row 2: p2, k2

Row 3: p2, k2

Row 4: k2, p2

Row 5: k2, p2

Row 6: p2, k2

Work 3 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to black on the wrong side and work 3 rows of reverse stocking stitch, (knit 1 row on wrong side, purl 1 row on right side and knit 1 row on wrong side).

Change to light brown tweed yarn on the wrong side and purl 1 row.

Next right side row, k4, make a small bobble, k9 repeat * to * to 5 stitches remaining, make a small bobble and k4.

Purl 1 row.

Change to black on the wrong side and work 3 rows of reverse stocking stitch as above.

Change to variegated yarn on the right side and work 3 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to dark brown yarn on the right side and work 4 rows of stocking stitch.

Next right side row, k8, slip crochet hook into last stitch on right hand needle and pull off, ch6, slip st into the back loop of the 2nd ch from hook, slip st into back loop of remaining 4 ch, slip loop on hook back onto right hand needle, k8, repeat * to * until 8 st remain, k8.

Work 3 row of stocking stitch.

Next right side row, k4, repeat * to * as above until 5 stitches remain, work crochet and k4.

Work 3 rows stocking stitch,

Change to mini pompom yarn and work 4 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to black yarn and work 2 rows of reverse stocking stitch.

Change to blue tweed yarn and work 4 rows of stocking stitch.

Next right side row, k9, make a large bobble, k19 repeat to * to * until 11 stitches remain, make a large bobble and k10.

Purl 1 row on wrong side.

Next right side row, k19, make a large bobble, k19 repeat * to * to end.

Work 4 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to heather yarn on the right side and work 2 rows of stocking stitch.

Change to black yarn and work 4 rows of garter stitch.

Cast off loosely.

Finish Ends: finish the short sides to match the border on the long sides.  With blue tweed yarn on the right side and starting at the edge of the first colour after the black border, pick up and knit 52 stitches along the edge ending before the last black border. Knit 1 row back on wrong side.

With black yarn, pick up and knit 3 stitches on the edge of the black border, k52 blue stitches and pick up and knit 3 stitches on the black border.

Work 3 rows of garter stitch and cast off loosely.

Repeat this work at the opposite short side to finish the wrap.

Weave in all those pesky ends and block lightly.  I pressed mine rather than stretching it to maintain the texture and weight.

Abbreviations:

Knitting:                      k = knit

p = purl

yo = yarn over

k2tog = knit 2 st together

p2tog = purl 2 st together

k3tog = knit 3 st together

Crochet:                      ch = chain

slip st = slip stitch

 

Knitting

Coconut Banana Bread (Not Knitted or Crocheted, I Promise)

Iris Rose

Like a lot of people who love the needle arts, I also love to cook and bake.  I have never had a lot of success with banana bread.  It never turns out dark and moist the way it should even though I have tried every recipe in the universe or so it seems.  I have tried high fat, low fat, applesauce sweetened, brown sugar sweetened and even one that used molasses. No luck, uhuh, no great banana bread for me; it just isn’t in the stars.

I decided to give it one last try and thought that, experienced baker that I am, I could wing it.  I found some coconut that needed to be used or tossed so I threw that in too.  Here is what I came up with, a moist delicious (but still not dark) version of banana bread with the added texture and flavor of coconut, yum!

I hope that you like this recipe as much as I did and I promise that I will go back to knitting and crocheting for my next post.

 

Coconut Banana Bread:  Makes two loaves,

Ingredients:

3 cups flour (I used all purpose but you could use half whole wheat)
1 ½ cups brown sugar
2 ½ tsp baking powder
½ tsp baking soda
1 cup shredded coconut
3 ripe bananas mashed
3 eggs
½ cup butter melted and cooled
1 tsp vanilla
2 cups buttermilk

Procedure:

Preheat oven to 375F.  Grease and flour two standard loaf pans.

Mix well flour, brown sugar, coconut, baking powder, and baking soda in a large missing bowl and set aside.  In a separate bowl, beat eggs lightly, stir in mashed bananas, butter, vanilla and buttermilk.  Pour wet ingredients into dry and stir until mixed, do not beat.  Spoon equal amounts into your prepared loaf pans.

Bake for 1 to 1 ¼ hours or until top is firm when touched.  Cool in pans for 10 minutes then turn out onto a cooling rack.  Enjoy when cool enough to slice!!