Tag: warm

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, 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.

 

Yarn, Knitting and Crochet

Soothing Hat Knitting

Iris Rose

There are times when life becomes a little overwhelmingly busy and you need to step back from the things that you love but are really not essential to everyday life.  Blogging is one of those things for me.  I love to write and to share the things that I design and make but, in the big picture, I don’t survive on writing and the last couple of months fit the step back profile.

I have not been idle, however.  I can’t not craft so even a little bit of doing creeps into most days.  I found a charity that distributes warm hats, scarves, and mitts to school kids in disadvantaged parts of the city and decided to embrace the hat.

Knitting simple hats is a soothing and calming way to spend a bit of everyday.  I love to match colours, double yarn, add patterns, and fancy up the ribbing.  There are so many ways you can turn a simple hat pattern into a unique toque.  This also a great way to use up some stash!

The adult basic pattern for these hats was published in a blog post here three years ago.  I used the basic pattern and  adjusted it for kids of all sizes using the six stitch formula that is explained in the pattern.  I have included the pattern again at the end of this post to save you searching through my site.

I have set a goal because who can work without a goal, not me, so I am working at one hundred items for this year.  The donations are sent out in November so I started the year in mid December.  I am up to twenty-three hats and a couple of scarves so far.  These photos are a little sample of what I hope to accomplish by mid summer.

Basic Adult Winter Toque:

Yarn:     Worsted weight     130m (143yds)     5.5mm or 6mm (US 9 or 10), 40cm circular needle

Aran or Chunky     110m (121yds)     6.5mm (US 10.5), 40cm (16”) circular needle

Bulky                      95m (105yds)       8mm (US11), 40cm (16”) circular needle

You will need DPN’s in the same size to shape the crown or a same size longer circular needle for Magic Loop.  You will also need a stitch marker and a tapestry needle for weaving in the ends.

Cast on 84, (78, 72) stitches and join to work in the round.  Place a marker at the join.  Work 18, (16, 14) rounds of ribbing.  My favourite is K2, P1 as this makes a nice stretchy ribbing like a 1 x 1 but is still a little different looking.  It also lets you twist the knit stitches for a faux cable look.  Continue knitting in rounds until 30, (28, 26) rounds of stocking stitch have been worked.  Start decreases for the crown.  Divide your working stitches by six so 84 stitches will result in decreasing by K12, K2together six times.  You will decrease 78 stitches by K11, K2together six times and with 72 stitches you will work K10, K2together six times.  Next round, knit all stitches.  Continue decreasing every second round by working one stitch less between the K2togethers each consecutive decrease round.  Switch to DPN’s or Magic Loop when the stitches are too taut on the needle.  End at K1, K2together (12 stitches remaining) and, cutting a 15cm or 6” end, thread the end through the remaining stitches and gather them up off of the needles(s).  I like to thread the tail through to the wrong side and fasten it off securely inside.  Weave your beginning end and any ends from colour changes etc., and you are done.

Add a pompom for an up to date look or tassels to make it vintage looking.  Make it in stripes, a good way to use up part skeins, or with a self-striping yarn.  You can modify this pattern with a fancy stitch, but you will have to figure out how to work that into the decreases.  You can also adapt the pattern for finer yarn by increasing the number of cast on stitches, decreasing the needle size to suit, and keep your stitch count always divisible by six to keep the crown decrease in a nice shape.

I use this same formula for kid’s hats, decreasing the number of cast on stitches by six for 5 to 9 year old and 12 for younger.  Even smaller for babies is possible with another six less stitches.

Knitting

Stash Clean Up

Iris Rose

I have been busy again and missed posting last week.  I have a great excuse this time though; I was cleaning out and organizing my stash.

I have no illusions about the size of my stash.  It is huge and almost beyond the capacity of my closet and craft room to hold it all.  I wanted to have access to everything (and who doesn’t) so that I can choose some of the yarn that has been languishing for a while.  To top that off, I foolishly (or not ‘cause it was a steal) bought a stash of coned yarn for machine knitting which is hard to come by.

I any case, I wanted all of my stuff in clear containers for easy viewing and to keep it dust free.  I had solid bins that held everything but who can see through a solid plastic wall?  Every solid bin that I opened was followed with “what the hell is wrong with me?” and a lot of other cussing aimed inward.

I have read about using those shrinking bags with the air sucked out of them for yarn storage and invested in a couple of packs.  They work!  I managed to cut my storage of odd single, double, and triple balls into a workable pile stacked up in the closet.  I then had enough empty clear bins to go to town on all of the rest.  Hand knitting and crocheting yarns in the closet and most coned yarns in my teeny craft room with the machines, I almost feel like I won a huge battle.

Now all I need to do is crochet, knit, or machine knit for several hours of every day for the rest of my life, and it better be a long one, and I will cut my stash in half, haha!

I did find time before the big stash sort to knit up these cute gnomes on my standard bed machine.  I think that I will make a few more and put them around for the holidays.

 

Have a lovely week with little stress and lots of fun.  Thanks for reading and be kind.