Category: Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

All things yarny

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Finished!

Iris Rose

I started this cardigan last year (I think) and hated the neck edging that I had made. The sweater is machine knit, sideways on an LK150 hobby machine.

I knit it with Hobbii’s Twister which is a colour changing yarn. Twister is sold as a gradient but the colour changes are a bit abrupt resulting in stripes. I used a sideways method (one cake for each front and back) so that the stripes run up and down instead of across which is so unflattering to my body type. Rant here: Take note all of you buyers for plus size women; we want to be flattered not stuffed into a larger version of a garment that looks good on a size two. Don’t get me started on fit! Just because we need a garment wider doesn’t mean that we need it proportionately longer with a huge neckline and shoulders hanging down to our elbows. Maybe spend a few moments looking at real people.  Rant over and moving on.

Anyway, back to my cardi, I put this naughty sweater in time out on a shelf under my sewing table and, every once in a while, remembered it was there, took it out, got mad at it again because of the neck edge and stuffed it back.  Finally last month, I ripped off the neck edge and I do mean ripped, leaving a ragged and not very nice edge to deal with. No loose stitches but not pretty so back into time out it went.

I decided to hand knit ribbing and attach it in the same way as cut and sew on the machine. The overlapping stocking stitch edge covered the ragged bits nicely and I finally am happy with it. It is big and boxy and very soft; a perfect it’s cold in here cover up.  Yay!!!

Thanks for looking and please, have a happy week with lots of yarny goodness coming your way!

 

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Grand Finale, Textured Shawl Style

Iris Rose

Sometimes life just gets in the way of all of the fun things that you want to do. I finally, and I mean finally, have worked my way through the shawl again and am ready to present to you the third and final (except for the little border of course) part of this shawl. Did I say this is final?  All kidding aside, I did enjoy this work.  I hope that you like it.

This project has been a different one for me. I normally equate shawl knitting with lace and really wanted to branch out to something different. I love textured stitches and used some in my Another Cake Shawl, which has surpassed ten thousand unique downloads, yikes!

Here then without any further whining is Part 3:

If you haven’t gone ahead with the colour change then this is how to make the transition. If you are using one colour for the whole thing or have already done this just zoom past these instructions.

Colour change:
Next Right Side Row: With the first colour, work the border in the usual way, slip marker, yarn over and knit 1, pick up your second colour, leaving a tail to weave in later, and knit the next stitch. Work across the row with (knit 1 with colour one, knit 1 with colour two) to one stitch before the next marker. Hold both yarns together knit the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit the first stitch on the next side. Using a single yarn again, (knit 1 with colour two, knit 1 with colour one to the next marker), drop colour two and yarn over, slip marker and work the border with colour one.

Next Wrong Side Row: Work the border with colour one, slip marker, purl the yarn over with colour one, (purl 1 with colour two, purl 1 with colour one) to the last stitch before the next marker, hold the two colours together and purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the first stitch on the second section. Then (purl 1 with colour on, purl 1 with colour two) to the last stitch before the marker. Drop colour one and continue with colour two, purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over slip marker, and work the border. Cut colour one leaving a long enough piece to weave in.

This section is an eight row pattern that will be repeated six times with the first six rows repeated once more.

Row 1, Right Side: Work border as usual, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, K1, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, work border.

Row 2, Wrong Side: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, (K3, P2) to last stitch before the yarn over, purl the stitch and the yarn over, slip marker, P1, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the first stitch, (K3, P) across, K3, purl the yarn over, slip marker and work border.

Rows 3 to 6: repeat rows 1 and 2 working the extra stitches in pattern at the beginning and end of each side.

Row 7: repeat Row 1.

Row 8: Work border, slip marker, purl to last marker, slip marker and work border.

Final Border:
Change to the first colour and work four rows of garter stitch. Omit all the increase yarn overs and slip the first stitch of each row as in the border to keep the edge looking the same.

Change to colour two and repeat the these four rows.

Change to colour three and work two rows of garter stitch. Cast off using a stretchy cast off method. My favourite is to knit two stitches then knit those two together through the back loop on the right needle. Knit one from the left needle and knit the two stitches on your right needle through the back loop and so on to the end.

Weave in your ends, block your shawl according to your preferred method and enjoy!  The spine of the shawl looks crooked because I didn’t notice that it wasn’t laid out on the background properly.  It is straight I promise.

Thank you all so much for reading my blog and, as always, if you have any problem with the pattern please write to me and I will try to help you out.  I can be reached on Ravelry as well by the name  bluechicken.

Have a wonderful week filled with happy and kind thoughts to everyone.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Koolaid, Colour to Dye For

Iris Rose

I am going to take a break from the monster shawl today and let you in on some fun that DD1 and I had the weekend before last.

I love hand dyed yarn. I love the look of the rich colours, the different colour placements and the allover yumminess of the finished hank. I tried my hand at dying yarn a couple of years ago and, although I was generally pleased with the result, it just did not meet my expectations. Attempt number two did all of that and more.

Here is the yarn soaking in the sink.  I let it sit for 30 minutes to make sure that it was all hydrated.

Last time I used Wilton food colouring and did not do any research beforehand. I did my reading this time and we used Koolaid, guaranteed to stain anything in its crystal form. The only sad thing about all of this is that, in the wisdom of corporate Kraft Foods, Koolaid in the unsweetened package of crystals that we all know and cherish the memories of from our childhood is no longer distributed in Canada. This meant that an Amazon delivery was in order but, unfortunately, with limited colour (flavour) choices.

I think that we still did pretty well all in all. We had a variety of yarns to try, five in all, from the Knit Picks Bare collection. All are natural animal fibres which made the colouring easy.

Adding the Koolaid!  Then adding more Koolaid!  Then adding even more Koolaid!

Heating the yarn in the pots took a little time and I was so impatient.

Letting them cool before rinsing.  It is interesting that the water went from saturated with colour to clear in a couple of minutes.


I followed the instructions, here, on the Love Knitting website and everything went just as planned except that it took way more Koolaid than we expected for saturated colours. If you are looking at a large batch, this is definitely not the most economical way to play with dying yarn, but it was one hundred percent right on for the fun factor.

Drying took over night but was so worth the sheepy smell in my bathroom, not.  Good thing I don’t use this tub.

And, here we have it, from plain to fabulous!  Now, what am going to make with these lovelies?


I will have the promised next section of my shawl up for you later this week or early next but in the meantime, have fun with whatever craft you are working at right now. Take care of each other.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Part One of Part Two of the New Shawl

Iris Rose

Okay, after much delay, here is part two of my latest shawl design. Please keep in mind that this is an untested (tested only by me) pattern. If you find errors, please let me know and I will correct them. There are no charts although there will be in the final paid version of the pattern.

I told you that I lost my notes and had to start over with this beast. I found them in the bottom of my purse which is lovely but large and a pit for everything that I don’t know what to do with including that ever increasing pile of receipts in the darkest depths. That is where I found this.

Good thing that I started over, yeah?

Part two is bobbles or nupps if you want to call them that. I don’t because I hate knitting nupps but am okay with bobbles. Bobbles it is then for this section. I changed colours here because the yarn I am using is in single, double and triple balls from my stash so not enough for all one colour. If you have a single colour that you want to use, ignore the colour change rows and carry on with the next pattern section.

You will have ended the first section with six rows of stocking stitch. Do not cut the yarn as you will work a 1×1 stranded colour pattern for two rows. If you are not used to stranded knitting, a caution; make sure that you spread your stitches out on your right hand needle or you will end up with a puckered or pulled in row which is difficult to block out. Loose is good!!!

Next Right Side Row: With the first colour, work the border in the usual way, slip marker, yarn over and knit 1, pick up your second colour, leaving a tail to weave in later, and knit the next stitch. Work across the row with (knit 1 with colour one, knit 1 with colour two) to one stitch before the next marker. Hold both yarns together knit the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit the first stitch on the next side. Using a single yarn again, (knit 1 with colour two, knit 1 with colour one to the next marker), drop colour two and yarn over, slip marker and work the border with colour one.

Next Wrong Side Row: Work the border with colour one, slip marker, purl the yarn over with colour one, (purl 1 with colour two, purl 1 with colour one) to the last stitch before the next marker, hold the two colours together and purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the first stitch on the second section. Then (purl 1 with colour on, purl 1 with colour two) to the last stitch before the marker. Drop colour one and continue with colour two, purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over slip marker, and work the border. Cut colour one leaving a long enough piece to weave in.

Right Side Row: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit to next marker, yarn over, slip marker, knit centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit to the next marker, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Wrong Side Row: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl to the next marker, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Repeat these two rows twice more for a total of six rows.

This is the pattern but unblocked.  The bobbles will stand out and look like flowers when it is blocked.

 

Pattern Right Side Row 1: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, ((knit 4, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch)) repeat to the next marker. (You will have six stitches left at the end and that’s okay, go ahead and knit them.) Yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit 6, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, ((knit 4, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch)) to the last four stitches, knit 4, yarn over, slip marker, work border.

Making the bobble:

 

 

Pattern Wrong Side Row 2: Work border, slip marker, purl yarn over, (purl four, knit3tog) to last bobble, purl the six, remaining stitches and the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the next six stitches, knit3tog, (purl 4, k3tog) to the last four stitches, purl 4, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Pattern Right Side Row 3: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit 4, ((purl 1, yarn over, purl1), knit 1, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, knit 2)) repeat to the next marker. (You will have five stitches left at the end and that’s okay, go ahead and knit them.) Yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit 5, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, ((purl 1, yarn over, purl1), knit 1, (purl 1, yarn over, purl1) in the next stitch, knit 2))) to the last four stitches, knit 4, yarn over, slip marker, work border.

Pattern Wrong Side Row 4: Work border, slip marker, purl yarn over, purl four, (knit3tog, purl 1, knit3tog, purl 2) to last bobble, purl the 5 remaining stitches and the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over and the next 5 stitches, (knit3tog, purl 1, k3tog, purl 2) to the last four stitches, purl 4, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Pattern Right Side Row 5: Repeat row 1 starting with 6 stitches and ending the section with 8 stitches.

Pattern Wrong Side Row 4: Repeat row 2 working the extra stitches at the beginning and end with purls.

The next piece of this section will be next week’s blog post.  Have a great week!

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Part One Of The New Shawl

Iris Rose

Okay, this is a week late. I began to write up the first part of the shawl pattern and, in the middle of it all, I lost my notes! I had to go back and test knit so that my instructions actually produce the pattern that I wanted to share. OY! Anyway better late than never, right?  So, here it is with last week’s intro and all.

Last week I wrote about garter tabs and the best way to start a triangular shawl. I also explained how to complete a yarn over and slip stitch at the beginning of a row.

Both of these techniques are used to start my newest shawl pattern, Part One being featured today. If you missed last week’s post and tutorial, you can find it here; I am not going to repeat the instructions today.

Start with a garter tab and begin the first section of the shawl with simple stocking stitch. The border will stay the same throughout all sections of the shawl and it is worked over four stitches in garter stitch as follows: yarn in front, slip the first stitch purlwise and bring the yarn over to knit the next stitch. Refer back to last week’s post for photos of this. Knit two more stitches and the border is done. When you get to the other end of the row, you will knit the first three stitches and knit the yarn over and slipped stitch together to bring your border back to four stitches.

The border stitches will NOT be included in the pattern instructions as they are the same throughout as stated above. You will knit on the right side and purl on the wrong side for the first fifteen rows increasing four stitches over every right side row with your yarn over increases.

After your garter tab is worked and the return purl row is made, continue as follows:

Right side: Work border, place marker, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, place marker, work centre spine stitch, place marker, yarn over, knit 1, yarn over, place marker, work border.

Wrong side: Work border, slip marker, purl all stitches, slip marker, purl centre stitch, slip marker, purl all stitches, slip marker, work border.

Continue with the right and wrong side rows until you have fifteen stitches on each side of the centre spine. Your last row completed will be a wrong side row as your first purl row after the garter tab is row one.

The next right side row will start the seed stitch band.

Row 1: Right side: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, knit1, purl1 across to the next yarn over, knitting the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, knit1, purl1 to the next marker, knit the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Row 2: Wrong side: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, knit1, purl1 across to the next yarn over, knitting the last stitch and purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, knit1, purl1 to the next marker, knit the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Row 3: Right side: Work border, slip marker, yarn over, purl1, knit1 across to the next yarn over, purling the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, knit the centre stitch, slip marker, yarn over, purl 1, knit 1 to the next marker, purl the last stitch, yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Row 4: Wrong side: Work border, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl1, knit1 across to the next yarn over, purling the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, purl the centre stitch, slip marker, purl the yarn over, purl 1, knit 1 to the next marker, purl the last stitch, purl the yarn over, slip marker, work the border.

Work six rows in stocking stitch, increasing on the right side rows.
Repeat these ten rows five more times for a total of six repeats of the seed stitch bands and finishing with six stocking stitch rows.
And there you have it, part one of your shawl is all done.

Have a happy week filled with yarny goodness and don’t forget that random acts of kindness are really an essential to happy living.