Tag: cozy

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

New Bear

Iris Rose

I love to make and sell toys at craft fairs although that is not happening this year.  I also like to play with my knitting machines when I am not hand knitting or crocheting.

I have made a bunch of kid’s sweaters, not yet photographed, and wanted to knit something different.  I, like a lot of us, collect patterns as well as yarn and had purchased a few of Maggie Andrews pattern books for machine knits online.  Included in that pattern haul was a book of toys.  The legs, body, and head are worked in one piece and the arms and ears, etc. are knit separately.  It was designed for a standard gauge machine which would give you a little 15cm stuffie.

I had my bulky out (I only have room in my craft den to have one machine out at a time) from the sweater run and want to continue that so I adapted.  Using the same row and stitch count gave me this little guy who is about 22cm tall and really cute except that his nose, which I hand knit, could have been a little higher on his snout.  Happy, happy me!

I think that this could also be hand knit with the same row and stitch count.  Who needs to worry about gauge when you are making something that can be any size?  It is a great little stash buster and I will be making more; next attempt will be a bunny.

Thanks for reading once more and remember to spread kindness around freely during the week ahead.

Knitting

Baby Blanket 2

Iris Rose

I am back with another baby blanket using the same pattern that I posted on June 28th.

I used a lighter yarn (DK) this time and cast on 144 stitches.   I have a bunch of single skeins from my ebay foray that is so squishy soft.  I had been using it for dolls but with a whole bin full I felt that I could safely borrow some for another use.

The colours are a bit of a mishmash as you can see.  There is something about these colours, great for toys but a blanket, I am not so sure.  Anyway, it is done and although not blocked, looking pretty good even if it is a little bright.  So bright that the colour is too concentrated to take a good photo.  You need your shades for this one!

I have so much of this yarn that I have started another in a new pattern and not quite so eye popping, for my tv knitting.  I have made inroads; the bin is done by about a third, woohoo!

I am still on a yarn fast.  I am determined to work out of stash until it is at least half gone.  Wish me luck and a long life!!!

Thanks for reading and have a lovely week filled with kind thoughts and deeds.

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Fixing the Blanket

Iris Rose

A couple of weeks ago, June 28th blog post, I wrote about a small blanket (and included the pattern) that I had knitted using two Caron Cakes without manipulating the colour changes.  While I was happy with the finished blanket in general I did not like where the one colour change from the lightest colour to the darkest happened.

I did not notice this row until I was much further along in the work and, being me, I just kept knitting thinking that I could live with it.  Well, when all was done and ends woven in, I decided that, no, I could not live with the obvious stripe across the middle of the work.  I like the blanket and, after toying with should I just leave it alone or fix it, thought I would give the fixing a try.

 

The light to dark actually made the repair much easier as I could see where to follow the knitting.  I took a blunt needle so that I didn’t catch any threads of the existing yarn and cut a long piece of the dark yarn.  I started at the end of the row and worked backward, weaving in and out following the stitches formed originally.  As it turned out, the dark yarn piece was too short and as I neared the end I had to stop and take it all out (my choice instead of adding another piece!).  Read curse, curse, and curse here.

The gauge was a little tricky but I think I did a pretty good job of matching the original.  I finally made it to the end (beginning) of the row and the moment of truth arrived.  Did I have enough courage to cut the work in the middle?  If I had made a mistake in following the original stitches I would have created a massive mess.  Well, nothing ventured, nothing gained and as you can see, the scissors were in place.  Eyes closed, I snipped.

 

Pulling the old yarn out carefully and checking for mistakes, I proceeded across the row each way from the centre snip and success!!!  I pulled the work across and up and down to even out the stitches and, after I weave in those ends, it is finished and ready for blocking.

 

I am so much happier now with the way this little blanket looks and with myself for not giving in to the easy way and just leaving it as it was.

Thanks for looking and I hope that you have a lovely crafting and safe week ahead.  Remember to 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.

Knitting

Sock Blanks For Dying

Iris Rose

I am a little late in posting this week as I didn’t have anything to show you until I spent some time on a bulky knitting machine yesterday. I think that I was able to accomplish so much more when I was employed!

As I have mentioned in the past, I am very interested in hand dying yarn. I posted a few photos of yarn that Robyn and I had dyed while we were experimenting with the process. I really love gradient yarn and wanted to see if I could dye some of my own that was truly gradient and not just striped in a gradient way.

I did a little research and it seems that sock blanks are the way to go. Before everything got so busy personally, I had machine knit up some blanks with merino and nylon sock yarn and one with dk wool. The top one is the sock and bottom dk. This is a great way to find any knots that you missed when winding by the way says she as the knitting hits the floor. I have since refined my winding technique!

Next question for me to figure out was how I could create gradients in multiple cakes that were very similar. I know all hand dyed yarn varies in colour but I wanted to be as close as possible. I had an aha moment and broke out my new to me bulky machine and played with knitting double or triple blanks.

All dyed at once in the same colours and spit up to rewind should work. Well the triple, see photo, was a little tough going but the double blank turned out really well.  Only one caveat on this; they are enormous!

Next time I hope to show you how my experiment turned out. Until then, happy week ahead and remember to be kind.