Tag Archives: Knitting

FO: Hattie Cowl!

As promised, I finished my Hattie Cowl on Wednesday and blocked it and had it dry for Thursday. There are a lot of things not quite right about it.

Hattie Cowl 1

It’s a bit trapezoidal. The stitch work isn’t perfectly even. I probably should have knit it at a slightly tighter gauge.

Hattie Cowl Full

But you know what? When I look at these photos, I don’t see the errors (except that maybe I should have turned it around since it looks upside down to me). I see a really pretty cowl that I knit and my awesome (and pretty) friend Rachel who I roped into modeling for me on her way into an interview and a lot of love.

Hattie Cowl 4

The good news is that the actual recipient loves it, too! And said that she thought it “may be [my] best piece yet!” So it’s definitely worth relooking at a finished object with a few days distance and with some kinder eyes. By the time I see it again in the fall/winter, I bet it will look perfect!

Landon’s Sweet Baby Blanket – FREE PATTERN

Landon's Sweet Baby Blanket
Well, it's a good thing that I actually kept notes and wrote myself a basic pattern for the blanket I made for our family friend's baby named Landon, it seems he's gone viral overnight!  I posted his picture last night on the Midwest Yarn Facebook page upon receiving the appreciation photo - actually, my husband got it texted to him with a follow up saying that the picture was too cute and he might want to hide it from me (because I love baby pictures!).

So Landon's Sweet Baby Blanket is quite simple to do and it's a perfect weekend project to whip up if you have a short deadline like I did.



Gauge:
5 sts per in on US 6 or size to obtain gauge

What you'll need:

  • 40" US 6 Circular Needle or size to obtain gauge (I used a US 5 because I wanted my stitches to be tighter together - big or loose sts mean little fingers can get tangled up in there)
  • Five 50g balls of Main Color - Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo Color 157
  • Two 50g balls of Complimentary Color - Sirdar Snuggly Baby Bamboo Color 169
Glossary:
MC: Main Color
CC: Complementary Color
slm: slip marker
pm: place marker

Instructions:
Cast on 140 sts in CC.  Work in garter st until blanket measures 2" from cast on edge.

Switch to MC.


Row 1: Work first row of letter chart, pm, k to end of row.
Row 2: Purl to marker, slm, work next row of chart.
Row 3: Work next row of chart, slm, k to end of row.


Repeat Rows 2 & 3 until letter chart is complete.


Continue in st st in MC until blanket measures 28" from cast on edge, ending on a WS row.


Switch to CC.


Work in garter st for 2". Bind off loosely.


To complete borders, pick up about 3 sts for every 4 rows along side of blanket. Work in garter st for 1/2". Bind off loosely. Repeat on other side.


Weave in ends. Lightly steam to block.


L - Chart

Feel free to request a copy of a chart for a different letter by emailing me at info@midwestyarn.com, I'll happily send it to you in JPEG format and post a copy here for everyone else.  

Also, if you make this blanket and are on Ravelry.com, make sure to link a project to this free pattern.  I'm interested to see finished projects from this pattern and to know how you like yours.  :)


Update
Here are the charts for the letters that have been requested:



Sum Total

This:

04.26.13b

Is the sum total of my knitting for the month.

Two measly rows.

To be fair, it’s been an insanely busy month.  I am starting to realize that April seems to be THE busiest month of the farm year.  Between babies being born, shearing being done and garden work going on, it’s exhausting.

Plus, Susan is moving, and we’ve been helping her take things to the landfill and storage as needed.  It’s been a fun and hectic month, but it leaves little down time.  In the evenings, when I would normally be knitting, Oona has decided that snuggles on my lap are essential.

I can hardly complain about that.

The good news is that by next week the majority of the garden prep and planting will be done, everyone will be settled, and things will calm down a bit. Then that yarn and I are going to spend some quality time together.


Tagged: Garden, Knitting

WIP: Hattie Cowl, Part 2

I’m still chugging along on my Hattie Dress-inspired Cowl. A couple of rows ago I realized that the main color had switched to Ghost Fern from Walnut.

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Even though I knew it was happening, it didn’t really look like the Ghost Fern was taking over until I had done a little more and I could clearly see that not only was Ghost Fern dominating the chart, it had been for several rows.

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Next time you see this, it will be done.

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Because who doesn’t want to wear a 100% baby alpaca double-knit cowl in May?

Cold ears no more!

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When the wind gets going in the winter, my ears really ache and I find myself wishing for a longer hat. I’ve been working on this hat, a few rows here and a few rows there, since February and given all the sick time sitting around, it’s finally done. No more cold ears! This is bison yarn so it’s super toasty and soft.

Regular Programming

Well, God, glad that’s over.

In the interest of talking about the most normal, friendly, innocuous things, here’s a picture of my friend Maggie wearing the sweater I knit her for Christmas to work:

IMG_20130402_134750

It’s a Kristen Johnstone pattern; I knit it in the mountains this past fall.

More of the wonderfully banal:

  • guy’s coming to fix the sink tomorrow
  • meatballs for dinner
  • 1 week left of classes

Regular Programming

Well, God, glad that’s over.

In the interest of talking about the most normal, friendly, innocuous things, here’s a picture of my friend Maggie wearing the sweater I knit her for Christmas to work:

IMG_20130402_134750

It’s a Kristen Johnstone pattern; I knit it in the mountains this past fall.

More of the wonderfully banal:

  • guy’s coming to fix the sink tomorrow
  • meatballs for dinner
  • 1 week left of classes

WIP: Sarah’s OJAI Hooray Sweater – Body Talk!

Hi everyone! Sarah here, with an update on my Hooray cardigan, knit in lovely 100% cormo wool Juniper Moon Share Yarn!

I’ve made tons of progress since my last post. I love knitting top down sweaters, because the garment really takes shape right before your eyes!

First, I knit the yoke and shoulders.

Hooray Yoke

Then I separated stitches for the sleeves from stitches for the body of the sweater.

Hooray Sleeves Separated

Next, I worked the body of the sweater downwards.

Hooray Divided Arms & Body

Hooray Body Progress

Top down sweater construction is great for making modifications as you go, because it’s easy to try on the sweater and see how it’s fitting your body. I’m quite short (under five feet!), so I often reduce the length of sweaters just a bit, so that they work better with my proportions.

Hooray Waist Shaping

When adjusting sweater length, I take a look at the pattern schematic, suggested measurements, and lots of photos of finished projects on Ravelry. All of those resources help me to figure out how I want the sweater to fit, and where I could cut out some length without disrupting the pattern too much.

With the Hooray Cardigan, I only wanted it to be a little bit shorter than the original pattern. So, I eliminated 1 inch of even knitting (without any shaping) from the body, after the decreases that create a waist and before the increases to accommodate hips!

Hooray Most of Body Complete!

I’ve just about finished the body of the sweater, which means that soon, I’ll be able to move on to button bands, sleeves, and all the finishing up bits. I’m so excited!

Hooray Body

Sarah hangs out with her cat, drinks a lot of tea, sometimes eats sensible, delicious granola for breakfast and knits as much as possible in beautiful Victoria, BC.

Trying To Craft

Some people say I have too many irons in the fire.

Other people say “jack of all trades, master of none”.

I disagree with both.

True, I have waaaaaaay too much going on for most normal, rational people.  Especially now that it is spring and I am working on getting gardens in, dealing with new lambs and kids, raising new ducks, clearing out brush, managing four homeschoolers and reorganizing much of the house.  It makes it pretty difficult to find time to knit or sew; never mind learn how to use my spinning wheel or loom.

But I think having many varied interests and projects can be a really good thing.  For one, I am never, ever bored.  Not ever.  There is always something that can be done, and always something that can be learned.  I can also generally find something to talk about with new people.

It does, however, make it challenging to find the time to do some of the things I enjoy.  Often by the time I’ve taken care of all the things that need my attention I am too tired for the things I want to do.

But it’s okay, because soon school will be done for the summer and the gardens will not need such intensive care during the day (in fact once the heat hits for real I’ll be doing outside chores early in the morning and late in the evening).  The animals will be in need of more attention, but nothing that I can’t knit in between.

So I have plenty of projects lined up waiting for this magical time of less things to worry over.

04.10.13a

This lovely Joel Dewberry fabric is waiting to be an A-line skirt for me.  I have a bunch of projects waiting to sew, actually, but right now this one is my favorite.

And just what does one do when one’s best friend is a star in the yarn and fiber world?

04.10.13b

You horde all the yarn she makes. (My craft room is looking better now that I’ve got this unit for all my yarn and fabric!)

Oh sure, I get plenty of free samples of her yarn.  The problem is, once you’ve held and petted the yarn it becomes imperative to get your hands on as much of it as humanly possible.  I’ve spent plenty of time trolling WEBS and buying out quantities of JMF yarn whenever I can.

SO there are plenty of yarn projects lined up.

The one I am tackling first is this lovely Honeybee Stole pattern with some luscious yellow Findley.

04.10.13c

Such a fun, light, summery project and I CANNOT WAIT to get started on it!  I have a flowy white sundress it will look perfect with.  Also, this yellow Findley just cried out for it!

I am hoping to cast on tonight – barring a thousand distractions.  It is lace, afterall, and as I have said many a time before, lace knitting and children  JUST. DON’T. MIX.


Tagged: Farm, Garden, Homeschooling, Knitting, Sewing

WIP: Hattie Cowl

I have a WIP post for you! It’s a day late, but since I spent 5 hours in doctor’s appointments with my husband yesterday (Lauria here, not Susan), I have a lot more to show you than I would have yesterday! Lots of knitting time!

Had I gotten this post written before the doctor appointments, all I would have showed you was this:

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(I can’t get enough of this color combination! Walnut and Ghost Fern in Herriot.)

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A brilliant tubular cast on modified for two color double knitting, which I found here. And I could have taken a photo of the solid part with a couple rows of the colorwork section. But, since I had 5 hours of knitting yesterday, I can show you a much further along cowl!

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This cowl uses the Ombre chart from the Hattie Dress. I came up with the idea in the middle of the night and I couldn’t sleep, I was so excited. I’ve never double knit before, and I am hoping that blocking will solve some of my knitting mistakes. It won’t solve the mistake I made just to the left of the green stitch marker (tan side). I didn’t notice that until just now! I’ll have to fix that.

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This is my styling assistant. He loves to get in the way! He flopped right down on the swatch I had fortunately finished photographing, just before I started photographing the cowl. (And don’t worry, I picked up that stitch the dropped off the needle!