Yoga Socks, Yoga Socks and Yoga Socks

My current favorite kind of project: yoga socks - this is a really simple pattern, or rather a quick "how to".




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

• The "Elizabeth Zimmermann's sewn bind off" technique that I used is described in this knitty-article.

Instructions

• 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

This pattern is part of the "Knitting in the Round: 10 Knit Sock Patterns and Knitted Slipper Patterns Free eBook" on allfreeknitting.com.

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:

• http://www.swing-knitting.com/
• http://www.strickrausch.de/; Ms Kluge from Strickrausch has also published a sequence of videos explaining her technique - however, these videos are in German: here's the link to her video channel: http://www.youtube.com/user/StrickRausch
• Swing knitting on Ravelry: http://www.ravelry.com/groups/knitting-the-swing---swing-knitting

Step-by-Step Photo Tutorial - Flowers for the Falling Blossoms Scarf

At the beginning of a row use the crochet hook to take the first stitch from your knitting needle and start to crochet the flowers:

ch 7, sl st in 4th chain to form a small loop (the first flower will be crocheted around this loop)

to form the first petal ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3 and sl st in loop,

ch 3, dc 2 in loop (this starts the second petal of the first flower)
ch 7, sl st in 4th chain to form a small loop (the second flower will be crocheted around this loop)

ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (first petal)
ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (second petal)
ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (third petal)
ch 3, dc 2 in loop, sl st in the top of the last dc of the second petal of the first flower

ch 3, sl st in loop of first flower (the second petal of the first flower is now finished)
ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (third petal)
ch 3, dc 2 in loop, sl st in the first chain

put stitch back on knitting needle and continue

Falling Blossoms Scarf

This scarf is the ideal spring project for "bi-craftuals" :)
You can combine your knitting and crocheting skills into one special garment.

The scarf is knitted from side to side with crochet flowers added at the beginning of every 12th row by taking the last stitch off the needle and using it as a chain stitch to crochet from. After two flowers have been crocheted the stitch is slipped back on the knitting needle and knitting is continued in a normal way.

A photo tutorial on how to crochet the flowers can be found in this blog post.






Falling Blossoms Scarf by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Materials:

• 3.5 mm knitting needles (i.e. knitting needles that were slightly bigger than the yarn called for)
• 2.5 mm crochet hook
• ca. 100 grams fingering weight yarn (I used Zwerger Opal Surprise, but any other fingering weight with a nice color change will do)

How to crochet the flowers:
At the beginning of a row use the crochet hook to take the first stitch from your knitting needle and start to crochet the flowers - the numbers in square brackets are references to the chart.

• ch 7, sl st in 4th chain to form a small loop (the first flower will be crocheted around this loop) [1]
• to form the first petal ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3 and sl st in loop, 
• ch 3, dc 2 in loop (this starts the second petal of the first flower)
• ch 7, sl st in 4th chain to form a small loop (the second flower will be crocheted around this loop) [2]
• ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (first petal)
• ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (second petal) 
• ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (third petal) 
• ch 3, dc 2 in loop, sl st in the top of the last dc of the second petal of the first flower [3]
• ch 3, sl st in loop of first flower (the second petal of the first flower is now finished)
• ch 3, dc 2 in loop, ch 3, sl st in loop (third petal)  
• ch 3, dc 2 in loop, sl st in the first chain [4]
• put stitch back on knitting needle and continue pattern

I have written a short tutorial (with photos) on how to crochet the flowers - here's the link.

Instructions:
CO2
knit 2 rows

Section 1 - Set-up rows
Row 1: kfb, k to end
Row 2 - 6: k
repeat these rows a total of 8 times (you have 10 sts on your needles)

Section 2 - Increase rows
Row 1: kfb, k to end
Row 2: k
Row 3: make flower and then k to end
Row 4-6: k
Row 7: kfb, k to end
Row 8-12: k
Repeat these rows a total of 19 times and once more knit rows 1-10 (you have 50 sts on your needles)

Section 3 - Decrease rows
Row 1: k
Row 2: k until the last two stitches k2tog
Row 3-4: k
Row 5: make flower and then k to end
Row 6-7: k
Row 8: k until the last two stitches k2tog
Row 9-12: k
Repeat these rows a total of 20 time

Section 4 - Finishing rows
Row 1: k
Row 2: k until the last two stitches k2tog
Row 3-6: k
Repeat these rows 7 times (there are only 3 sts left on your needles), then
knit one row,
knit and k2tog,
knit one row
and bind off the last two stitches.

Weave in ends and block - making sure to block the flowers separately.

This post was featured on The Philosopher's Wife: Yarn Fanatic Party #31, Pinbellish Link Party No. 40 at Purfylle.com. and at Moogly's Hookin' up on Hump Day Link Party No. 120. Thank you!

Mini-Cable Fingerless Gloves

I'm still not sure how this stitch is called – I found a YouTube video that called it „mock cables“, however my (German) stitch dictionary calls it „Minizöpfe“ (i.e. mini-cables) which seens more suitable, since it's not only a cable „look“, but the stitches are actually crossed. But whatever the stitch is called, I like it.

The finished gloves will be about 20cm long and 17cm in circumference.






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

Materials
Fingering weight yarn
3.5 mm dpns
Stitch holder or waste yarn
Tapestry needle

The Mini-Cable Stitch

• mini-cable: insert your right needle in the second stitch on the left needle and knit it, but don't slip it. Then knit the first stitch on the left needle and let both stitches slip from the needle.

Other Stitches

• make 1 purl stitch: insert needle from the back in the bar between the two stitches and purl through the front
• make 1 right or make a knit stitch leaning to the right: insert needle from the back in the bar between two stitches and knit the stitch through the front
• make 1 left or make a knit stitch leaning to the left: insert needle from the front in the bar between two stitches and knit the stitch through the back of the loop

Instructions
CO48 and join in round
Row 1: *p1 k2 p1* repeat
Row 2: *p1 mini-cable p1* repeat
Repeat those two rows a total of 18 times and start thumb gusset around one of the mini-cables accordinng to chart.

After the 16th row of the thumb gusset put 14 stitches on stitch holder and CO 4 above the thumb gusset, these four stitches will be knitted „p1 k2 p1“ in the next row to continue the mini-cable pattern.
Continue pattern for another 13 rows and bind off in pattern.

Thumb
Place stitches from stitch holder on two dpns. Pick up additional 8 stitches from above the thumb gusset. Continue according to chart.

Bind off in 10th row.

Weave in ends.

Make two.

Ten Stitches

Trying to do something else with the brilliant ten-stitch blanket or ten-stitch scarf pattern.

My original idea was to form the cuffs for fingerless gloves in this pattern, than join it in a round and pick up the stitches for the rest of the glove, but somehow it didn't really work out.

Here's a video showing how to knit an enhanced version of the ten-stitch blanket - in German.

Still so cold ...

It's still very cold outside and it even snows ... that's why yesterday I treated myself to some super bulky yarn (3 skeins of Lang Yarns Astrakan).

I plan to turn it into a large-ish cowl (knit simply in garter stitch) and another urchin hat - I really like that pattern.

More ideas

• Spinning newspaper yarn from packing paper and knitting (crocheting?) a bowl for knitting utensils or something similar
• Knitting a pair of fingerless gloves in plain ribbing and decorate the edges with leftover Astrakan or Uno

Mock Cable ... or too many ideas

A few days ago I googled for "mock cable". Here's the first video I found. I really liked the pattern it produced, so I started to knit some fingerless gloves - using a band of two mock cables as the top, then picking up stitches at the side to make the actual glove. It  turned out a bit to tight, so I frogged it.

However, I think that this stitch produces a lovely pattern. So I started another pair but only with mock cable ribbing. I quite like it, and I definitely will pursue the "cable band at the top" idea later.

As to the name of the stitch ("mock cable"), I'm not sure whether it is really correct - since the stitches are really twisted, I guess it's more of a mini cable than a mock one.


Some more googling produced this video where this is done differently.  I will try that also ... sometime.

Chains

By chance I found this video where a cable chain ("trenza cadena") is explained. Even though it's in spanish it's easy to follow.

I changed it slightly (basically throwing in a few purl stitches) to knit another pair of fingerless gloves.

Kitchener Stitch

I have tried to do a kitchener stitch several times ... with or without success. I usually manage to get it wrong.

Anyway, for further reference, here's how to do a kitchener stitch:

• setup: front purl, back knit.
• front needle: knit-slip and purl-leave
• back needle: purl-slip and knit-leave 

Here's a picture of my last urchin hat ... here I got it wrong (which is NOT the fault of the pattern, but my own). I still like the hat :-)

Further info on grafting can be found here. Especially, grafting garter stitch is explained like this:

• setup: Front purl, back purl.
• front needle: knit slip, purl.
• back needle: knit slip, purl.

Margarete Fingerless Gloves

A pair of fingerless gloves with a flower pattern. The effect  is achieved by drawing additional loops through stitches two rows below.

Modifications for a two colour-version are given at the end of this post - as are modifications to make a smaller version (rather ladies size S).






This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License.

Size
Ladies M/L
Lenght: ~19cm
Circumference: ~17cm

Materials
120 metres of DK weight yarn
3.5mm dpns (or circular needles – for magic loop method)
tapestry needle
(crochet hook)

Gauge
7 stitches and 9 rows in 1 inch
(in Stockinette stitch)

Abbreviations
mk1p: make 1 purl stitch, i.e. insert needle from the back in the bar between the two stitches and purl through the front
mk1r: make a knit stitch leaning to the right, i.e. Insert needle from the back in the bar between two stitches and knit the stitch through the front
mk1l: make a knit stitch leaning to the left, i.e. Insert needle from the front in the bar between two stitches and knit the stitch through the back of the loop
pm: place marker
slm: slip marker

Flower Pattern Stitch
One flower is knit as follows: k1, insert needle in stitch 2 rows below and 2 stitches in front & draw a loop of yarn placing it on the right needle (Loop 1), k2,  insert needle in stitch 2 rows below and draw a loop of yarn placing it on the right needle (Loop 2), k2, insert needle in stitch 2 rows below and 2 stitches back and draw a loop of yarn, placing it on the right needle (Loop 3)
For the loop stitches, please note the following
→ do not slip the stitch from needle that you have just stitched into
→ make sure to draw all additional loops through the same stitch 2 rows below
→ you have additional loops on your needle, this will we rectified in the next row
→ a crochet hook might be useful for pulling up the loops
In the next row you will have to knit the k stitch in front and the loop together (Kltog) making sure that the loop is in front of the stitch as you knit it, i.e. for one flower: Kltog, k1, Kltog, k1, Kltog

Pattern Chart
The pattern is composed of flowers repeated every 10th row with an offset of 5 rows and one purl stitch between the flower columns.

Instructions

CO48
join in round
work five rounds of ribbing: p1 k2
Set-up Row: p1 k5 (repeat a total of 8 times)
Row 1: p1 k5 (repeat a total of  8 times)
Row 2 = Row 1
Row 3 = Row 1
Row 4: p1 k1 Loop 1 k2 Loop 2 k2 Loop 3 p1 k5 (repeat a total of 4 times)
Row 5: p1 Kltog k1 Kltog k1 Kltog p1 k5 (repeat a total of 4 times)
Row 6 = Row 1
Row 7 = Row 1
Row 8 = Row 1
Row 9: p1 k5 p1 k1 Loop 1 k2 Loop 2 k2 Loop 3 (repeat a total of 4 times)
Row 10: p1 k5 p1 Kltog k1 Kltog k1 Kltog (repeat a total of 4 times)

Repeat 3 times, but to start the thumb gusset change row 10 of the 3rd repeat as follows:

• For the right hand mitt: Row 10 (3rd repeat):  p1 k5 p1 Kltog k1 Kltog k1 Kltog (repeat twice) pm p1 pm k5 p1 Kltog k1 Kltog k1 ksltog  p1 k5 p1 Kltog k1 Kltog k1 Kltog
• For the left hand mitt: Row 10 (3rd repeat): p1 k5 p1 Kltog k1 Kltog k1 Kltog (repeat twice)  p1 k5 pm p1 pm Kltog k1 Kltog k1 Kltog p1 k5 p1 Kltog k1 Kltog k1 Kltog

By starting the thumb gussets at different places the pattern on the two mitts will by symmetrical.

Thumb Gusset:
Knit according to pattern until you reach the first stitch marker, then do the following instead of the purl stitch between the markers.
Thumb Row 1: slm mk1p k1 mk1p slm
Thumb Row 2: slm p1 k1 p1 slm
Thumb Row 3: slm p1 mk1r k1 mk1l p1 slm
Thumb Row 4: slm p1 k3 p1 slm
Thumb Row 5: slm p1 mk1r k3 mk1l p1 slm
Thumb Row 6: slm p1 k5 p1 slm
Thumb Row 7: slm p1 mk1r k5 mk1l p1 slm
Thumb Row 8: slm p1 k7 p1 slm
Thumb Row 9: slm p1 mk1r k7 mk1l p1 slm
Thumb Row 10: slm p1 k9 p1 slm
Thumb Row 11: slm p1 mk1r k9 mk1l p1 slm
Thumb Row 12: slm p1 k11 p1 slm
Thumb Row 13:  slm p1, move 11 sts to stitch holder, p1 slm
Thumb Row 14:  remove marker, p2tog, remove marker
        → once again there are 48 sts on your needles

Continue pattern until rows 1 – 10 have been repeated a total of 5 times

Finishing rows:
Work row 1 of pattern three times
Work 4 rows of ribbing: p1 k2
Bind off in 5th ribbing row

Thumb:
Move 11 stitches from stitch holder on two dpns.
Pick up 5 sts from above thumb gusset (→ 16 sts)
Rows 1 – 4: knit
Rows 5 – 7: k3 p1 (repeat)
Bind off in k3 p1 ribbing in row 8



Modifications if you want to make a two colour version:

• in the loop row knit the loop stitches with the contrast colour
• in the next row, use the main colour to knit the stitches & loops together

The photo on the right shows the WS to give you an idea how the yarn is stranded.

The two-colour version in the pictures is also smaller, i.e.it is rather a size S.

• CO 42 instead of 48
• ribbing: p1 k2 p1 k2 p1 (repeat) - and knit the whole pattern as a repeat of 14 (instead of 12 in the wider version), alternating the purl channels in width (one with 2 sts in width, and one with 1 st in width).

 

Cable Experiment Mitts

I wanted to achieve the effect of cables varying in width.






This work by Knitting and so on is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 3.0 Unported License

.



Materials:
Fingering weight yarn (ca. 35 gr)
3mm dpns
stitch holder or waste yarn

The finished mitts will measure 20cm in lenght and ca. 16 cm in circumference

Instructions:
CO56
join in round (14 sts on each needle)

knit 8 ribbing rows:
*p1 k6 p3 k2 p2* (repeat)

start pattern
row 1: *p1 k6 p3 k2 p2* (repeat)
row 2 = row 1
row 3: *p1 C6F p3 C2F* (repeat)
row 4 = row 1
row 5 = row 1
row 6: *p2 k4 p3 k4 p1* (repeat)
row 7 = row 6
row 8: *p2 C4F p3 C4F p1* (repeat)
row9 = row 6
row 10 = row 6
row 11: *p3 k2 p3 k6* (repeat)
row 12 = row 11
row 13: p3 C2F p3 C6F* (repeat)
row 14 = row 11
row 15 = row 11
row 16: *p2 k4 p3 k4 p1* (repeat)
row 17 = row 16
row 18: *p2 C4F p3 C4F p1* (repeat)
row 19 = row 16
row 20 = row 17

start again from row 1
start thumb gusset at stitch 8 in row 20 of the 2nd pattern repeat

after row 13 in 3rd repetition: do 7 rows of ribbing, i.e. *p1 k2 p3 k6 p2* (repeat)
bind off in 8th ribbing row

Thumb gusset
start increases around stitch 8 in row 20 of the 2nd pattern repeat and increase by two sts in every other row, i.e.
in row 19 of 2nd repetition: p2 k4 p1 pm p1 pm p1 k4 p (→ set-up)
in row 20 of 2nd repetition: p2 k4 p1 marker m1right k1 m1left marker p1 k4 p1 (→ increases)
in row 1 of 3rd repetition: p1 k6 marker k3 marker p2 k2 p2 (→ no increases)
in row 2 of 3rd repetition: p1 k6 marker m1right k3 m1left marker p2 k2 p2 (→ increases)
in row 3 of 3rd repetition: p1 C6F marker k5 marker p2 C2F (→ no increases)
… until there are 17 sts between the markers
place sts on markers on stitch holder and CO1 (backloop cast-on) above, so that there are again 56 sts on your needles

Thumb
move stitches from stitch holder on two dpns
pick up 7 sts from above thumb gusset (→ 24 sts)
round 1: k
round 2: k2tog k20 ssk (→ 22 sts)
round 3: k
round 4: k2tog k18 ssk (→ 20 sts)
round 5: k
round 6: bind off