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Freitag, 8. Juni 2018

Fingerless Gloves Worked Flat

If you've read some of the posts from this blog you know that I like constructions a bit out of the ordinary - especially when knitting fingerless gloves.

In this blogpost I've compiled a list of fingerless gloves that are worked flat, which means that they don't have the loom construction of other fingerless gloves.




The photos above only show patterns from my blog, but further below I have listed quite a few other interesting patterns that I found on Ravelry and that I liked. Here are the (free!) patterns shown above:
  1. Helix Mitts: Fingerless gloves knitted in a ten-stitch wide strip that winds around the hand.
  2. Starburst Mitts: These mitts use short rows to form a circle around the thumb.
  3. Xmas Star: Similar construction as the Starburst Mitts, but in two colors with an intarsia pattern to form a star around the thumb.
  4. Serpentina Mitts: Knitted sideways in simple stockinette stitch, these mitts are decorated with random surface crochet
  5. Sparkler Mitts: The same construction as the Starburst Mitts, but in crochet.
  6. Inclination Wrist Warmers: Knitted slanted - all in garter stitch. 
  7. Double Helix Mitts: Similar to the Helix Mitts, but knitted in two 8-stitch wide strips.
  8. Color Explosion Mitts: The opposite construction to my Starburst Mitts, i.e. the short rows don't focus around the thumb but around a point close to the outer wrist.
Other patterns that use interesting techniques and can be found on Ravelry are the following (patterns not pictured above). I have not tried to knit or crochet any of them, but I did like the design when I saw them on Ravelry:
And if that's not enough, here's a list of all fingerless gloves patterns that have the "knitted flat" attribute (free and paid) - you must be logged in to Ravelry for access.
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Sonntag, 20. Mai 2018

Lovely Little Stitch Pattern(s)

When I went to the city center this friday I bought a ball of cotton sock yarn (Regia Cotton Tutti Frutti to be exact, here's the link to the yarn's Ravelry page) - in a lovely fruity self-striping color way. I was planning to do something with short rows - though I wasn't sure what exactly. My first try didn't really work the way I planned, so I frogged it ... and decided to knit a plain sock (yes, no short rows), but I wanted a nice stitch pattern at least. So I searched Ravelry for inspiration. The best sock patterns are usually knitted over a small stitch count (i.e. repeats over 4 stitches or so) - and it's a plus if they're stretchy.

In the end, I used the stitch pattern from the Syncopation Socks (pattern by Mary Heininger - available on Ravelry). It's a really simple rib pattern, but the effect is gorgeous. Since I'm usually too lazy to read patterns (unless I really want to learn a new technique), I only used the stitch pattern and did the construction that I currently like most (toe-up and a shadow-wrap heel).


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This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

Other stitch patterns that I really want to try with socks are:
What are your favorite stitch patterns for socks?

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Donnerstag, 18. Januar 2018

Knitting vs. Crochet - Part II

As readers of this blog may know, I like designs that are a bit complicated :) But once they work, I like to use the idea more than once. An easy way to re-use a design idea is to use it both for knitting and for crochet.

About two years ago, I published a blog post with four designs for fingerless gloves - and all of them with both a knitting and a crochet version. Here are three more designs - with a knitting and a crochet version; two of them for fingerless gloves and one for a scarf. All the patterns linked here are free.


 Helgoland Mitts & La Chocolatière Mitts
Started around the thumb these mitts are worked flat with a wave pattern and in two colors. One mitt is knitted in one piece which minimizes the number of ends to weave in :)
The knitted version is mainly worked in garter stitch and the crochet version with single crochet through the back loop which gives them more texture.

Helgoland Mitts (knitting version) 
La Chocolatière Mitts (crochet version)




Triangulation Wrist Warmers & Sankaku Wrist Warmers
These fingerless gloves are also worked in one piece, but they are started as a triangle that grows from the outside of the wrist, then worked on a bias and finished at the thumb. Both are nice to showcase your variegated yarn.

 Triangulation Wrist Warmers (knitting version)
Sankaku Wrist Warmers (crochet version)






Little Rectangles Scarf & Rettangolini Scarf 
Modular and worked in layers that consist of five rectangles each, this scarf is also a fun way to use your variegated yarn to great effect.
The knitted version is worked all in garter stitch, but you need to be able to do a knitted cast on, a backwards loop cast on and to pick up and knit stitches from the selvedge.
The crochet version is worked in double crochets, and you need to be able to do a chainless double foundation stitch.
Little Rectangles Scarf (knitting version)
Rettangolini Scarf (crochet version)

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Samstag, 28. Oktober 2017

Knitting Gauge Ruler - Cut Out Template

I don't like swatching and I don't like to count gauge. This is especially clear in early patterns ... where I rarely even listed gauge or the size of the finished product. In fact, quite a few of my patterns are designed explicitely with the view of not knitting a swatch (e.g. these fingerless gloves, these slippers or this hat). They contain instructions like "repeat these rows until the piece is wide enough to fit around your wrists" or similar.

That said, there are also times where swatching and knitting gauge are extremely important - for example when you're knitting a bigger piece that you want to fit (e.g. this top and this tunic). If you skip the swatching and measuring gauge step here, you will probably end up with a piece that does not fit - which basically means that you've been knitting an oversized swatch.

Until recently, I used my measuring tape or a piece of squared paper with a 5 by 5 cm cut out rectangle. Not very neat, but it did the job. Then I saw on social media that there where specialized tools to do this (just google "gauge ruler" to find them) - and nice ones, too. So, I wanted something similar myself. And of course, I wanted to make it rather than just buy it.



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This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.



Here are two downloadable PDFs with cut out templates for a gauge ruler. One in A4 size and one in letter size.
(Edit: 03.10.2021: updated link to PDF - somehow google seems to have changed the links on GoogleDrive so the old links weren't working anymore)


Instructions
  1. Print out template on cardstock or paper of the appropriate size. What kind of material you use is basically up to your printer and what kind of material it can handle. Make sure to use "actual size" option.
  2. Check size of your print out. Inside the black lines of the cross, it should measure exactly 10 cm.
  3. Cut out the cross in the middle using a utility knife - just inside the black lines (see picture on the right). Cut out around the octagon; I used scissors for that, but a blade or utility knife will do as well. There are three gauge rulers on one template. So you can have a bit of practice cutting them out - I certainly needed that :)
Use it to count the stitches of your swatch.


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Dienstag, 7. März 2017

Cowls Knitted Flat

Personally I prefer infitity scarfs (or cowls) to flat scarfs, because they are more comfortable to wear (at least for me :) and the ends don't dangle around loosely. However, I usually prefer knitting flat to knitting in the round. So over the years I have created quite a few cowls that were knitted flat and later made into a tube (i.e. cowl) shape.

Any flat piece of cloth can be turned into a tube just by sewing the sides together, but with handknitted items it usually looks better to go for a techniques that makes the piece look seamless.

To avoid a visible seam - I prefer to use the following two techniques:
  • Provisional CO: My favorite method for a provision CO is the crochet provisional CO - it is shown in this Youtube video by New Stitch a Day.
  • Grafting: Grafting (or Kitchener stitch) is a way to join two piece of knitting in a manner that it is practically invisible. The best (free) information on grafting that I know of is a five part series on Interweave Knitting by Joni Coniglio. The first of these articles can be found here. Alternatively, you can also use a three needle BO to create a seam that is nearly invisible (it is show e.g. in this YouTube video by planetpurl)



Most of the patterns shown above are from this blog, but the list below includes lots of other  free patterns of other designers as well.

The following links show different techniques and how they are incorporated in flat-knitted cowl patterns. Starting off with patterns shown in the photo:
  1. This was one of the first patterns I knitted back in 2011 (I had just taken up knitting again) and I really liked this cowl I found on Ravelry. It's called Color Theory and designed by Xandy Peters - even though it is easy to knit (in stripes with a slant) the effect is gorgeous. (Side note: this designer has other more stunning designs: here's her designer page on Ravelry, her YouTube channel and her blog are well worth a visit. Her patterns were the ones that made me try out stacked stitches ... which neatly leads to the second cowl :)
  2. The Stack Overflow Cowl was my first attempt to knit stacked stitches.
  3. As soon as I had seen patterns with short row waves, I wanted to knit something like that myself. One of the patterns that resulted was the Mixed Wave Cowl - it's not only knitted with short row waves but also slanted sideways.
  4. Burgdorf Cowl: Modular knitting can also be turned into a cowl. 
  5. Chevrons All Round Cowl: Knitted with two skeins of variegated yarn - and changing the yarn after every second row.
  6. Patchwork Cowl: Another example of modular knitting
  7. Jolly Waves Cowl: A combination of chevrons and short rows  
  8. One of my first ventures into intarsia was the Ice Maiden Cowl. 
Other cowls that used different and interesting techniques are the following (patterns not pictured above). Unless otherwise indicated I have not tried to knit them, but I did like the design.
Of course there are lots of other great cowl patterns available. Therefore, finally, here's a link to get all free knitting patterns for cowls knitted flat (or rather patterns with the category "cowl" and the attribute "worked-flat") on Ravelry - and here's the link to get all pattens (not only the free one) with these attibutes.

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Sonntag, 24. Juli 2016

Where to Share Your Free Knitting And Crochet Patterns

When I started to design knitting patterns, I wasn't interested in hit rates and traffic to my blog. Over the years I have wanted to increase my traffic. There are a lot of general posts around that give really good advice on how and where to share your posts - these deal with Search Engine Optimization (SEO), commenting on other peoples' blogs, shareable photos, best times to share your posts on social media etc.

I have followed some of this advice in the past and it has helped a lot to drive more readers to my blog (especially SEO is important - since it will make search engines find your content). However, as a knitting blogger, I would also have liked to get more specific links, i.e. a compilation sites that useful for knitting (and crochet) bloggers to promote their content.

Since I haven't found any such list yet, this post specifically lists sites, directories, social media groups etc. for knitting and crochet patterns. It may be useful both for designers that are trying to get more traffc to their blogs as well as crafters trying to find free resources.

So, which sites do you use? Do you have any other recommendations to share or find free patterns? Let me know in the comments.





Pattern Directories and Pattern Sharing Sites


  • allfreeknitting.com / allfreecrochet.com: Huge directory of knitting and crochet patterns where you can submit your patterns using a standard web form. You need to create an account to submit your projects - but they might link to your pattern in one of their newsletters which usually provides a spike in my webside traffic.
  • craftgawker.com: A curated photo gallery to showcase the works of craft bloggers. You have to create an account and use a web form to submit your work. They also review the submissions in order to make sure that the photos match their standards.
  • shareapattern.com: Links to a new free knitting, crochet and sewing pattern each day. You have to register to submit a pattern.
  • knittinghelp.com: A site with videos to help knitters learn new techniques that also lists free patterns by category. You can submit a pattern using this web form.
  • CraftGossip.com: According to their about page "CraftGossip covers news written by craft people telling you about all the good stuff". To submit your pattern for being linked to, you have to fill in a form. 
  • 365crochet.com - crochet patterns only - there is a web form to submit a free pattern to be listed
  • knittingpatternsgalore.com / crochetpatternsgalore.com 
  • craftroulette.com

Social Media for Knitters and Crocheters


Ravelry

Ravelry is THE site to share and find knitting and crochet patterns - both free and paid. You have to create an account to search their huge pattern directory, but it is well worth it. The search function is excellent. As a designer you can showcase your pattern there - and you also have the fun of seeing other people's projects from your patterns. Over the years Ravelry has provided more than 20% of the traffic to my blog.

Facebook Groups

On Facebook there are a lot of groups for knitters and crocheters - on some of them you can also share your free patterns. Just search for "knitting" or "crochet" and apply for membership.
Groups that are specifically made to post free patterns are  for example (links only work if your are logged in to Facebooks) Ravelry Free Pattern Alerts, Ravelry Free Pattern Alerts (Knit Only), Free Crochet and Knitting Patterns. Other great knitting and crochet groups are Knitting, Love Knitting and Crocheting, CROCHET ADDICT and (if you can read German) nadelspiel ... Whichever group you post your patterns to, make sure to read the group's rules and comply to them and don't spam!


Google+ Groups

On Google+ there are al so a lot of groups for knitters and crocheters - many of them also allow to post links to your free patterns (but as always, read the group rules and comply to them - and don't spam). Just search for knitting/crochet groups and ask to be admitted. Groups that I post my patterns to include: Knitting, Knitting Bloggers, Knit Along on Google+, Knitters Support Group and Some Crochet Too, The Crochet Lounge, Free Crochet Patterns, The Crochet Café and many more ...


Pinterest and Pinterest Group Boards

Pinterest calls itself as "the world’s catalogue of ideas". You can certainly find a lot of inspiration there - not only in the yarny arts but also in recipes, home decor, life hacks etc.
Pinterest is great to store good ideas (by pinning them to your boards), but also to promote your own projects and blog posts, You can do this by pinning to your own boards and using appropriated hash tags. You can encorage others to pin your posts by using Pinterest friendly photos and adding a Pin-It-Button using Pinterest's widget builder.

Group Boards: If you want to find a suitable group board, go to PinGroupie.com, browse the groups and ask to be added as a contributor as indicated (this process may be different for different boards).
If you have created a group board yourself, you can list it at a Group Board Directory.

Group Boards that I post to are: Let's Knit and Crochet, Knitting Knitting Knitting PIN for ALL, Fiber Arts Community Board {P2P}, Yarn Love Community Pinboard, my knit affair ¦ pin here, The WHOot Best Crochet and Knitting, etc. (And no, I'm not the owner of any of these boards so I cannot add you to the list of contributors - you have to ask the owner's permission (politely!) - and it's their decision to accept you or not.) Also, all of these boards have a set of rules to comply to.


Yarny and Crafty Link Parties

If you are featured at a link party, it might create a spike in your blog's hit rate - especially if it's a popular link party and the hosts share the features on their social media channels. Here's a list of link parties that specialise in "yarny" stuff:

More link parties (not yarn specific) that I regularly frequent can be found here.
Other peoples (crafty) link party lists are for example here and here. One general link party directory can be found here.


Forums etc.





So, these are my favorite places to promote my patterns. I hope this list was helpful to you and I would love to add more recommendations to my list.

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Donnerstag, 21. Januar 2016

Patterns with a Knitting and Crochet Version

Some people like to crochet - some people like to knit. I like both crafts and I really like designing fingerless gloves that have a bit of a special construction, e.g. started from the thumb or worked flat. They are all quite interesting for using up self-striping yarn. For some of these I have written both knitting and crochet versions - i.e. I have copied myself :)
Here's a list of these patterns.

U-Turn Mitts
These mitts are started with a magic cast on at the edge of the hand - and then forming a U shape around this cast on.
They mitts are worked flat - except for the thumb which is worked in the round.
The U-Turn mitts (crochet) were the first crochet pattern I ever published. Somebody's comment gave me the idea of trying to work out one of my patterns in crochet in the first place.

U-Turn Mitts (knit version)
U-Turn Mitts (crochet version)




Circle Mitts & Kreisel Fingerless Gloves
These mitts are started at the thumb and then grow in circle shape around it. When the mitt is big enough to fit around the hands, the sides are joined at the edge of the hand and the mitt is finished with the shaft. In the knit version, you switch between knitting in the round and knitting back and forth. In the crochet version, you only knit back and forth to achieve a continuous structure.

Circle Mitts (knit version)
Kreisel Fingerless Gloves (crochet version)



Pieces of Eight / Octavo
These mitts are also started at the thumb. Then the eight shape is worked - and finally the mitt is "widened" by back and forth rows. These mitts are a bit of a topological challenge, but the effect is quite beautiful.

Pieces of Eight Mitts (knit version)
Octavo Fingerless Gloves (crochet version)






Starburst / Sparkler
These mitts are worked flat. The shaping is achieved with short rows, which means that in the end there are more rows at the edges and less rows at the thumb.

 Starburst Mitts (knit version)
Sparkler Mitts (crochet version)

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Samstag, 9. Januar 2016

From Almendra Cowl to Zoom Out Mitts

Recently when I looked at the list of patterns on my blog's Ravelry Page I noticed that I had patterns starting with nearly every letter of the alphabet ... nearly. That made me want to complete the list ... and I finally made it in December with the Xmas Star Mitts.

I must admit that I "designed" the names of at least two patterns to have a complete set of all the letters of the alphabet (K and X were the most difficult :). But I am quite proud to have a full alphabet of free knitting and crochet patterns anyway.




This list shows several things:
  • I'm not good at naming patterns - that's why I sometimes ask for help in the knittingparadise.com forum.
  • I like "nerdy" pattern names - or names that have some engineering, geometry or sci-fi connotation. 
  • I really like hand accessories - 31 (!) of the patterns are fingerless gloves and wrist warmers.
The list also shows that currently (January 9th, 2016) there are 64 free patterns available on this blog.

Here's the list. Enjoy!

Edit: All patterns released after this blog post are listed in italics. Currently there are 192 different patterns available. (last edit: 06.05.2022).

A
Alignment Socks
Autumn is Coming Bandana Cowl
B
Bamboo and Ruffles Wrist Warmers
Biased Brioche Cowl
Bitilasana Yoga Socks
Egg or Avocado (Potholder)
Lateral Knitting (Sideways Garter Stitch Top)
 Little Christmas Tree
Little Rectangles Summer Scarf (also available in German)
Luftbläschen Brioche and Lace Scarf

M
Margarete Fingerless Gloves
Tipsy Toe Socks (also available in German)
Tipsy Toe Socks 2.0
Tomatoes and Coffee Socks
Zimtstern Mitts (also available in German)
Zoom Out Fingerless Gloves (also available in German)


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Samstag, 17. Mai 2014

Horizontal Cables

A while ago I saw a beautiful pattern for crocheted fingerless gloves on Ravelry - Comet by Tanja Oswald. It had horizontal cables and instantly started thinking about how to do horizontal cables in  knitting ... it took me a while to figure it out and I'm still not happy with the result and there is room for improvement, but it's a path worth pursuing.

 

Other ideas for horizontal cables (different ones though) can be found here:
 
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Sonntag, 24. November 2013

Brioche

Inspired by a KAL (or rather its German Version StriMiMi - Strick mit mir) in the facebook-group of nadelspiel.com, I've started to dabble around in two-colour brioche.

Using to skeins of fingering weight yarn and 3.5mm needles, I did two colour brioche in the round (with a CO of 120 sts). Cabling is added at three points around the cowl ...

Here's a list of videos that explain the technique:

Two-colour brioche knitted flat:
Two-colour brioche knitted in the round:
Further information about brioche stitch:
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Samstag, 3. November 2012

Notes and Illustrations on Short Wave Mitts

Since some people had problems regarding different parts of the pattern, the following explanations & illustrations can hopefully clear up some of these.

How to pick up stitches from the thumb part

How to graft/do the kitchener stitch
Cut the yarn but leave a long enough tail (I usually take about 5 to 6 times the length of the seam). Put the yarn on a tapestry needle.
For setting up insert tapestry needle purlwise into the first stitch - first on the front needle, then on the back needle.
* Now insert the needle knitwise into the first stitch on the front needle and slip the stitch, then insert it purlwise in the next stitch but leave that on the needle. Do the same on the back needle - then repeat from * until there are no more stitches on your needles.

If my explanation is too wordy, I found a video that shows it: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BAEIogIli6o


On the stacking of garter stitch ridges - or where to start wrapping and turning
During the first half of the pattern the slope of the MC row goes downwards - that's why I call the CC sections "downwards sections" - the ones in the second half are therefore called "upwards sections".
Each section lies between two markers: left and right. For the downwards sections, the first w+t is at the beginning (right) marker - because you start on your way back (WS). For the upwards sections, the first w+t is on left marker (RS). That means that during the downwards sections you knit the first row till the end and start the “short row movements” in the second row, whereas in the upwards section you first do the short rows and only afterwards complete the CC row.
In the following sketch the blue line is the direction of the CC knitting of the first upwards section and the fifth (last) downwards section.


Is it possible, to do it differently and start the upwards section at the right marker - then the stacks of garter ridges should look like this. The difference in the completed mitt should be minimal - the shaping of the section and the lines made by the MC would be the same, only the stacks of garter stitch rows will look differently.
 
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Sonntag, 15. April 2012

Yoga Socks, Yoga Socks and Yoga Socks

Yoga socks variations, free knitting patternMy current favorite kind of project: yoga socks - this is a really simple pattern, or rather a quick "how to".



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This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.



Materials
  • about 25-30 grams of fingering weight yarn
  • two 4mm needles (for cast on)
  • 3mm dpns
  • tapestry needle (to bind off and to weave in ends)

Special Techniques




Instructions
    Yoga socks, free knitting pattern
  • CO60 with 4mm needles and join in round
  • change to 3mm needles (using bigger needles for CO will make the cast-on stretchier)
  • knit 34 rounds of "p1 k3 p1"-ribbing (this is basically "p2 k3"-ribbing, but by starting with p1 k3, the opening will start end end in the middle of a purl channel)
  • in 35th round: BO30 and finish round in ribbing-pattern
  • in 36th round: CO30 (knitted cast-on) and finish round in ribbing pattern
  • knit 33 more rows of "p1 k3 p1"-ribbing
  • BO using sewn bind off technique - also very stretchy
    (list of BO techniques: http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/FEATsum06TT.html)
 
Variations - also in fingering weight sock yarn
  • CO64 with 3.5mm needles and then change to 2.5mm needles and knit "p2 k2"-ribbing

    and/or

  • Knit 36 rounds for the ankle part - and only 25 rounds for the foot part



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Waves

Ever since I saw some "swing knitting" projects on ravelry, I wanted to make something like that myself. I managed to start something similar yesterday. It's basically constructed of short rows ...
Though I am pleased with the result, it doesn't look quite as "organical" as I would have liked it. Furthermore, I made a few mistakes so that the pattern is not really regular. But for a prototype (and something I have figured out without a written pattern), it's OK.



Links to swing knitting or related techniques:
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