Tag: cable pattern

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Patterns

Iris Rose

Do you like to knit and sew?  Made in cotton, this pretty little dress is the perfect summer project. The skirt is full and fun and the bodice is a cool or cozy knit depending on the fibre that you use.

I love to crochet and sew as well as knit so have combined all of these crafts in this little dress.  I used a really soft cotton and acrylic blend worsted weight yarn in my stash and a cotton remnant for the skirt.  You can find the pattern in my Ravelry store here and my Etsy store here.

Are you looking for an easy pattern for charity knitting?  Summer is a great time for small projects!  Every year I try to knit at least thirty hats for donation.  Last year I made over one hundred as well as several hat and scarf sets for school kids.  This easy but great looking hat is available in my Ravelry store here and my Etsy store here.

Thanks for looking and I hope that you enjoy my patterns!  Have a great weekend and happy crafting.

 

 

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

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.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Tame Those Stripey Yarns

Iris Rose

You know those really lovely stripey skeins of yarn that look so pretty on the shelf and then just jump into your shopping basket and come home with you?  You remember how disappointing it can be when you knit up one of those too gorgeous to leave behind skeins and it turns out that the colour changes are too abrupt?  The must have, love it to death, oh so pretty stripes that look like heck when turned into an actual project can be redeemed!

I am guilty of the same impulse buys that a lot of us are.  There must be a lot of us because the yarn companies keep making new versions of the same stripes, short colour changes or long.  There is a way to minimize the effect of the colour changes that always seem to fall at a place in your project that is just wrong.

This hat knitting has given me plenty of opportunities to play with colour.  I have always doubled two yarns of contrasting colours to make a bulky yarn that will calm down a too bright (but again, oh so pretty) yarn and make it usable.  I have been experimenting with ways to cure the colour change.

It means that the yarn is doubled but a number of today’s yarns are thinner than they were a few years ago.  I start with matching the colours from both ends of the skein.  I like to rewind my yarn into a cake before starting to check for knots and this also facilitates using two ends easily.  Then I will pull one end out to about half way through the colour so that points where the colour changes do not line up.  Start knitting or crocheting and you will see a lovely blending of the stripes so that there are no abrupt changes. The first hat is Lion Brand Landscape which is a worsted weight.  I knit this one with 8mm needles.

 

Next up is made with Red Heart Unforgettable, a little lighter that knit up nicely doubled on 6.5mm needles.  I also tried crocheting with the same method and you can see how the colour changes are softened.

 

 

Finally we have Red Heart Roll With It Melange in two colourways.

 

You can also use one end of a self striping yarn and one of a solid colour.  This hat was made that way using the same Roll With It as in the hat above and a light worsted in medium grey.

It really is that easy.  I used Red Heart Roll With It for a couple of projects and, even though the colour changes are quite short, I still ended up with a pretty tweedy effect that softened the visual impact of the yarn.  I hope that this little tip has helped you with ideas to use up that part of the stash that is calling out to you for guidance!

Have a lovely week, stay safe and be kind.

Knitting

Headbands

Iris Rose

I have a new to me bulky knitting machine that has an issue with the carriage arm. I tried to straighten it out and it will work for a little while then it is back to bending the needle latches, not a good thing. I suspect that the carriage was maybe dropped or the arm stepped on because the steel is slightly bent in the centre and will not hold onto its revised shape when straightened out.

The machine was a great bargain so I got what I paid for. This is the situation where the Queen of Clearance has to step up and fix the problem. I had another carriage arm that fit and worked so I know that the issue is with that piece. Got to love ebay; another is on its way to me right now and the machine was still a great deal even with the added expense.

And now I finally come to the topic of today’s blog post. Since I had to test each time I worked on the carriage arm, I decided to make the yarn do something other than random swatches. Headbands with a twisted front seem to be a trend so I jumped on the wagon and made up a few.

They are very easy to make and, on the machine, very fast as well. I whipped up the pink one on Wednesday and the other four yesterday. The sewing up took longer than the knitting but it usually does with machine knits.

These would be very quick to hand knit as well and are a great way to use up those part skeins of worsted weight. You know the bag in the bottom of your closet where you put all of the bits that you can’t bear to throw out. Stripes are another way to use the smaller pieces. There are many patterns for these in both knit and crochet made in all weights and types of yarn. I think that something fuzzy knit or crocheted on a large needle or hook would be very appealing and warm with a built in cozy factor.

Thanks for looking and have a crafty cozy February week. Remember to pass the kindness along every chance that you get.