Monat: Oktober 2010

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ramona in the making

this is my first double knitting project, so i wanted to show you some photos even before it’s finished. which will be a looong time from now as this is going really slowly 😉

the pattern is „ramona“ by julia mueller by the way.

i like double knitting, you don’t have the trouble carrying the yarn in the back that you have with other colourwork. and double knitting makes a lovely, warm, double fabric. and the mittens will be fully reversible!

in the beginning i had serious trouble concentrating on the pattern, as you don’t really see instantly if you made a mistake, due to the fact that all the stitches, for back and front, are next to each other on the same needle. i also made life particularly complicated as i knit the black parts of the pattern in white and the white parts in blue/green because i thought it would look nicer. which i still think it does, but it makes you really have to concentrate to get everything right. no way watching tv while knitting 🙂

i’m using wollmeise yarn by the way. i’m always saving my precious skeins for really special projects. i think the greenish/blueish yarn (colourway „pfefferminz prinz“) looks great with the undyed yarn.

the right side:

the wrong side:

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christmas handicrafts

i loooove christmas. it’s my favourite time of year. and it’s still a little early, but here are some christmas decorations i made some time ago. i saw the book on amazon and just HAD to make some of the gorgeous patterns!

these two little angels (carolin & tim angels 😉 ) will go on the door of our flat with a welcome sign:

no idea where these tiny guys will be put up, but i’m sure i’ll find a place. maybe i’ll make some more as presents… tim wanted to help too so he cut out the angel parts:

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pattern: pompon and seeds hat

materials:

  • i used 111 g of kerry woollen mills aran wool, so about half a skein
  • set of 5 4mm dpns
  • a needle to sew in the ends
  • for the bobble: cardboard

gauge:

about 15 sts wide and 28sts high = 10cm x 10cm in seed stitch

finished size:

fits an average woman’s head. slouchy fit.

directions:

cast on 94 sts and join in the round without twisting. mark the beginning of the round with a stitch marker.

devide the stitches evenly on 4 needles: 23, 24, 23, 24.

for the ribbing, work *k1, p1* for 8 rows.

the rest of the hat is knit in seed stitch, which works as follows:

  1. *p1, k1* repeat to end of row
  2. *k1, p1* repeat to end of row

knit in seed stitch for ca 13 cm. if you like a slouchier hat, add some more rows.

now you start decreasing for the top of the hat. when decreasing in the seed stitch part you will always have areas where the pattern doesn’t match up anymore. no reason to freak out though 😉 just try to stay in the pattern as good as you can, dublicate purl or knit stitches here and there won’t be visible in the finished hat anymore.

knit a row and decrease 4 stiches evenly devided by knitting or purling together the last two stitches on each needle. (90 sts)

knit 1 row in seed stitch.

knit a row and decrease 4 stitches evenly across the hat (try to get rid of the dublicate stitches here). (86 sts)

k 2 rows in seed stitch.

knit a row and decrease 5 stitches evenly across the hat. (81 sts)

knit 1 row in seed stitch.

knit a row and decrease 9 stitches evenly across the hat: *k7, k2tog* repeat to end of round. (72 sts)

now switch to stockinette stitch:

knit 2 rows.

knit a row and decrease 9 stitches evenly across the hat: *k6, k2tog* repeat to end of round (63sts)

knit k1 row.

knit a row and decrease 9 stitches evenly across the hat: *k5, k2tog* repeat to end of round (54sts)

repeat decreasing 9 stitches every round until you have 9 stitches left.

cut the yarn, pull it through the 9 remaining stitches twice and sew up the end. also sew up the cast on end.

at last make a pom pom and attach it to the top of the hat. you can either use a pom pom making tool or make one using this description using a 3,5cm radius for the outer and a 1cm radius for the inner circle of the cardboard ring.

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pattern: very basic scarf

yeah, i know for experienced knitters this is hardly a „pattern“ and hardly worth writing it down. but when i started knitting some years ago i didn’t know anything and would have given a lot for basic directions like that… so here we go. maybe it’s helpful for somebody?!

materials:

  • 4 skeins of wolle rödel rigato (90m/50g, 53% wool, 47% poly) or any other comparable bulky yarn
  • 7mm needles. i like to use a short circular needle, but that’s up to you

gauge:

isn’t important here. just forget about it.

finished size:

length: 227cm

width: 16cm unstretched, 33cm stretched

directions:

loosely cast on 38 stitches.

  1. (rs) *k3, p2* 7 times, then k3
  2. (ws) *p3, k2* 7 times, then p3

repeate these two rows until the scarf has the desired length.

cast off using your favourite cast off technique. i recommend either the russian cast off if you want a stretchy/flexible edge, or the plain cast off (using a bigger needle) for a nice and visible cast off edge.

sew in all the ends.

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bramble ishbel

i wanted to knit an ishbel shawl for ages. this is a birthday present for a friend (who doesn’t like computers so it’s highly unlikely that she sees her shawl before her birthday 😉 ) so it was the perfect excuse to give it a try. and it will definitly not be the last ishbel i knit! in fact i already started another one for myself with some my handspun yarn…

i love knitting for others. that gives me the chance to try all kinds of things i either wouldn’t knit for myself or that i already have knit for myself… does that make any sense? 😉 it’s fun to see the happy faces of the present receivers too. getting something truly unique is great and for me it’s just about the fun of knitting…

the old maiden aunt yarn is so much fun. smooth and with a great drape. it has exactly the right amout of „stretchyness“ so that he knitted piece blocks nicely and doesn’t „unblock“ and curl when you wear it. i still have some lovely old maiden aunt skeins left but will place another order soon…

pattern: ishbel by isolda teague

yarn: old maiden aunt, 100% merino superwash sock yarn, colourway „bramble“

needles: 4.0 mm circular needle

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owlie owl cowl

this pattern was love at first sight. it all happened in a little but adorable knitting shop in hamburg, which is called mylys and is highly recommendable by the way. the ladies at the shop where competent, helpful and really nice and we had a nice chat about ravelry, yarn, patterns.. well, you know 🙂 even tim didn’t have to suffer too much during my yarn shopping, as there is a nice little cafe inside the shop as well where he entertained himself with a coke and magazine 😉

oh, yeah, i wanted to tell you about the owl cowl!  there was an owlie owl cowl for sale at the shop and i loved it so much i had to knit it myself! thanks to ravelry i can even show you my inspiration!

knitting fair isle is always a challenge for me. i’m never quite sure if it’s too tight or too loose. but it worked out quite well… i’m getting better…

pattern: owlie owl cowl by betsy farquhar

yarn: old maiden aunt, 100% merino superwash sock yarn, colourways „dreich“ and „hebridean“. and a little bit of wolle rödel sock yarn in white

needles: 2.5 mm, circular needle length 40cm to knit in the round

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no drop

this was a crazy but fun knitting project. the pattern has hardly anything to do with conventional knitting at all. it’s just yarn overs and slipping stitches over each other. after almost getting a nervous breakdown in the beginning (had to frog several times), i got the hang of it the project went along quite fast… the wollmeise was a pleasure to knit with – as usual.

pattern: no drop from arlene’s world of lace

yarn: wollmeise 100% merino superwash, colourway „frosch“

needles: 4.0 mm circular needle