Category: Knitting

A new post on knitting

Knitting

Sweetie Pie Dress and Bubble Sleeve Sweater

Iris Rose

Two new machine knitting patterns from my personal notebook are now available.  Pattern writing is always a challenge; creating the design, testing, and writing up the instructions are not a quick process.  I have favoured girly patterns for this post but, rest assured, there are some great patterns for boys on the way.

The first pattern is a fun sweater with fancy sleeves that is written for midgauge knitting machines.  There are ribbed bands, but these can easily be made in mock rib or by reworking knit stitches.  I knit the sleeves in a fun self striping yarn for a colour pop and matched a solid colour for the body and bands.  It is written in five sizes from 20” to 32” finished chest measurements.  You can link to the pattern in my Ravelry store here or my Etsy store here.

 

The second pattern is a pretty dress that is written for sizes 2, 3, and 4 for standard gauge machines with or without a ribber.  Instructions are included for plain knit bands if you don’t have a ribber bed.  I would like to make this one in larger sizes but was limited by the number of needles.  I could have made the skirt in more pieces but did not like the look of the extra seams.  I do have an Aline version that I will be publishing in larger sizes that has a similar Fair Isle band.  You can link to the pattern in my Ravelry store here or my Etsy store here.

 

Thanks for looking and I will be back soon with more on all of my favourite crafts.  Have a happy week filled with kindness.

Knitting

Still Around

Iris Rose

I just looked back at my last post and I was startled to see that I have not posted anything new since last July!  Life has been very busy and not left much time for playing unfortunately.  There has been just too much going on to share with you here so I will try to go forward without bringing in the past.

My last post was about my newest blanket project.  I bought extra yarn, I created six large squares knit in the round, and added the green border.  I didn’t like the narrow border so frogged those and made it wider and there it sits.  After trying out different ways of joining the squares with a panel knit in a lighter green, I just couldn’t find the right stitch.  Frustration took over and I packed it away and haven’t touched it since.  Such is the fate of projects that don’t cooperate!  I still don’t have a clue what I want to do so this pretty blanket in the making will stay in time out a little longer.

I have been knitting socks!  Some of these are hand knit and some machine and I am missing a couple of pair that were in the wash.  I was only disappointed in one pair, the one with the purple, grey and orange.  All of the other sock yarns washed and dried beautifully except that grey which shrunk and felted a bit making the sock just a tad too short in the foot.  I plan to cut it and replace the grey with a different yarn to make it a nicer fit.

I have lots of other things on the go including another one hundred hats project.  I am at seven and counting.  I need to sort out my projects (and my thoughts) and am committed to posting more regularly.  Until next time, happy crafting!

Knitting

Hand Dyed Triple Blank

Iris Rose

Dying yarn is a really great way to express your creative side in colour.  I have a bunch, and I do mean a bunch, of undyed sock yarn that speaks to me every once in a while.

I had knit some sock blanks a year or so ago that I wanted to paint as gradient cakes.  Knitted with double or triple ends, the idea was to produce two or three cakes that were the same.  It worked well and this is the end product.

I had a large blank of three ends of sock yarn that was left over undyed.

After dying some merino and silk blend with a mixture of blue and yellow to produce a lovely green, there was a fair bit of dye left in the pot but not enough to dye a whole skein.

I added some extra yellow to soften the green and threw in the blank.  It turned out a beautiful avocado tone with slight variations that I really like in kettle dyed yarn.  Rinsed and dried, it was time to unravel and separate the three strands into individual cakes.  I have done this before by winding one end onto a yarn winder and hand winding the other ends into balls to rewind.

I am a collector of knitting machine stuff and found myself with three winders.  I know that seems excessive but I did have six and have given a couple away so don’t feel too badly about the ones remaining.  It turned out that having an assortment of winders is the best possible thing for this job.

Although it took a while to unravel the blank, I ended up with three nice cakes and no rewinding a ball into a cake which is a real pain.

Have a lovely week filled with kindness and crafting.

Knitting

Faux Cable Hat

Iris Rose

I have been busy pattern writing but, unfortunately, life keeps interfering and I am just at the point where I can almost publish.

I have been knitting charity hats as you know as I have written ad nauseum about them.  While I knit many plain stitch hats, I have been playing with patterned stitches too just to keep the boredom down.  Cable hats are popular and I came up with a simple to knit faux cable pattern that fits well and looks great at least in my humble opinion.  The hat is nice and stretchy so will fit a variety of head sizes.

I knit these hats in acrylic yarns to keep them easy to care for but any worsted weight yarn could be used.  I sewed a button on the inside of the crown, just a little off centre, to attach the pompom and keep it removable for cleaning.

 

I have published the pattern on Ravelry here and wanted to show you all how easy this twisted stitch is to make and how great it looks.  Without further rambling here is my video, my first ever instruction video; please don’t judge me too harshly.

play-sharp-fill

The pattern has a photo tutorial included but sometimes it is easier to watch the action to make a new stitch, especially if you are a new knitter.

Thanks for watching and have a great, crafty, and happy week and spare a kind thought for those less fortunate.

Knitting, Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Where Did February Go??

Iris Rose

It seems that being home every day just makes time fly by faster.  I feel like I blinked and February disappeared into the past.  I have been merrily crafting away thinking that I just blogged a few weeks ago and I am kind of stuck in a rut so it’s okay to wait another week and, zoom, six seven weeks have slipped away.

 

As I said, I have been busy.  I wrote last time about knitting hats and how soothing and mindless it is.  On January 16th I had finished seventeen hats and thought that I was doing pretty darn good thank you very much.  I laid out the hats that I have knitted up to today and I have reached an astonishing fifty-five!  I should reach my goal by early June.

 

I actually have a few more than that as I added a couple that I had left from the last craft sale that I did and I machine knit ten hat and scarf sets too.  I am in love with the popular fluffy, furry pompoms as the photos show!

 

My goal is one hundred hand knit hats so that is the tally that really counts for me.  I just cast on number fifty six.

 

Thank you for looking and have a lovely crafty week and be kind to each other.