Freitag, 17. Juni 2016

Modular Crochet

After I'd finished a huge knitted scarf for a friend, I didn't have an interesting UFO lying around. I played around a little with leftover yarn, but nothing seemed to interest me. Eventually, I started a crochet version of the Little Rectangles Scarf I published about a year ago. Even though, at first I didn't like it much, it seems to grow on me and it's actually fun to crochet :)



Freitag, 10. Juni 2016

Undecided Slippers

A pair of slippers is always useful to warm your feet. This design is mostly in garter stitch, but with an unusual construction that shows up nicely when you use selfstriping yarn.

Undecided Slippers - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on

Materials
  • 3mm circular needles (even though everything is knitted back and forth)
  • about 45 grams of fingering weight yarn
  • tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends
  • 3 stitch markers - at least one of them should be removable (e.g. a safety pin)

Techniques


Size, Gauge and What You Need to Measure

The pattern is written in a way that you can adapt it to the width and length of your feet. Before you start, measure around the widest point of your feet.

I had a gauge of 5 cm to 12 sts, and 5cm to 13 ridges in garter stitch (i.e. 26 rows in garter stitch) and 2 cm to 8 rows of stockinette stitch. With this gauge and with a CO of 2x18 sts, the tip bit is 12 cm long. You can adjust the length of this part by casting on more or less stitches.

Undecided Slippers - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on


Instructions

Part 1:

Magic CO 2x18 sts (i.e. 18 sts on each needles).

Now turn your needles around in a way that you're looking at the garter stitch bumps.
All rows of part 1 will be knitted in a U-shape, i.e. you knit the stitches on the first needle turn the piece upside down (this point will be called turning-point ("TP") and knit the stitches on the other needle. Then you turn your knitting to the WS and knit back.

Setup Row: k18 to TP, turn ktbl 18
Rows 1 to 9: sl1, k to 1 st before TP, kfb, turn, kfb, k to end (after a few rows your piece should look similar to photo no. 1)
Row 10: sl1, k to end
Row 11 = Row 1
Row 12 = Row 10
Row 13 = Row 1
Row 14, 15 = Row 10
Row 16 = Row 1
Row 17 and following: continue knitting rows without increases (i.e. Row 10) until the piece is wide enough to fit halfway around your feet (i.e. its half the width of the widest point of your feet) - and remember how many rows without increases you have knitted. Your piece should now look like photo no. 2. For me to reach a width of 11 cm, I had to knit 9 rows without decreases. Place a removable stitch marker in the first stitch of the next row. (This is where you will start to pick up the stitches for part 2.)

Knit the same number of rows without increases again.

Basically now rows 1 to 16 are knitted backwards with decreases instead of increases. i.e.

Row 35: sl , k to 2 sts before TP, ssk, turn, k2tog, k to end
Row 36, 37: sl1, k to end
Row 38 = Row 35
Row 39 = Row 36
Rows 40 to 50 = Row 35
Row 51: sl1, k18 (i.e. to the middle of the row) 
Break yarn leaving a tail of about 40 cm and start grafting in garter stitch. (See photo no. 3)
Graft both sides together in garter stitch. 
Part 2:

Starting at the point where you put the removable stitch marker, pick up and knit stitches around the rim of the tip (one stitch per garter stitch ridge) - see photo no. 4. 
Part 2 is knitted back and forth (not in rounds), so one row is knitted from the inside of the slipper and the next row from the outside.

Count the stitches and devide the number by 4 (this number will be called X). In row 1, you will place two markers, one X stitches away from the beginning of the row and another X stitches away from the end of the row.

Row 1 (inside) : sl1, k X-1 sts, place marker, p to last X sts, place marker, k to end
Row 2 (outside): sl1, k to end
Row 3 (inside): sl1 k to marker, p to marker, k to end
Row 4 (outside) = Row 2
Row 5 (inside) = Row 3
Row 6 (outside) = Row 2
Row 7 (inside) = Row 3
Row 8 (outside): sl1, kfb, k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1
Row 9 (inside) = Row 3
Repeat rows 2 to 9 once more
Then repeat rows 2 and 3 until the length of the slippers are  4 cm short of the total length of your feet.

Now the heel decreases are started:
Row 1 (outside): sl1, k to marker, ssk, k to 2 sts before marker, k2tog, k to end
Row 2 (inside): sl1, k to marker, p to marker, k to end
Repeat these 2 rows 3 more times.

Now, between the two markers there should be as many stitches left, as there were garter stitch ridges without increases or decreases in part 1.

From now on only one of the upper parts (in garter stitch) are worked, the stitches between the markers will be decreased row-by-row and the second garter stitch bit will not be worked until the kitchener stitch in the end.

Row 1: sl1, k to marker, ssk, turn, sl1, k to end
Repeat row 1 until there are only two stitches between the two markers

Then knit the following (last) row: sl1, k to 1 sts before marker, do a double central decrease

Now there should be the same number of stitches on both needles.
Graft in garter stitch.

Weave in ends.
Make two. 



Undecided Slippers - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on


This blogpost was featured at the Really Crafty Link Party #34, at the Linky Ladies Community Link Party No. 99 and at the New Tuesday Pin-spiration Link Party {36}. Thank you!

Linky Ladies Tuesday Pin-spiration Link Party

Mittwoch, 18. Mai 2016

Papagena Scarf

This new playful scarf is great to display the lovely colors of yarn with a long color gradient. It's made up of stacked stitches for the fringes and modularly knitted diamonds.



As to the name: When I posted a picture of this scarf progress, somebody felt reminded of the Queen of the Night from Mozart's opera "The Magic Flute". I really liked this association - however, I felt that the scarf looks a bit too ragged to belong to the very elegant and cold figure of the Queen of the Night, but better fitted to the persona of Papagena.


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




Other languages

русский / Russian: Fellow Raveller lutik made a video explaining this pattern (in Russian): It can be found here on YouTube. Спасибо!

Dansk / Danish: A danish version was written by MarianneHo (Ravelry name). It can be found here on strikkeglad.dk or here as a PDF. Mange tak!


Materials
  • 3.5 mm knitting needles - I used long circulars
  • about 170 grams of fingering weight yarn - I used Noro Taiyo Sock
  • a lot of stitch markers
  • 1 removable stitch markers to mark RS (called "RS-marker")
  • tapestry needle to weave in ends



Special Stitches and Techniques
  • SB = slip back the number of sts to the left hand needle
  • dec9-1 = k3, sl1, [k2tog, psso, SB1] 3 times
  • This is called stacked decrease. There is a YouTube-video from So, I make stuff's YouTube channel that shows how to do stacked decreases.
  • Short Rows (t+p): There are several techniques for short rows – and it’s a matter of taste which one you prefer. I’ve recently learned a technique called German short rows: when you turn, bring yarn to the front and pull it back so that a sort of double-stitch is created, then knit back as usual - when you have to knit the double-stitch, be careful to knit it as one stitch (see also https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6n561SMZXQ); this method has the advantage the no picking up of stitches is necessary. In the pattern, this stitch will be called t+p (turn and pull).
  • Knitted Cast-On: http://youtu.be/IzVy8fRfOw0
  • Stretchy Bind-Off: http://youtu.be/cGHItYwr1us




General Construction

The schematic below shows the general construction of the scarf. It starts with a module at the tip and then grows by layers. Each row starts with an increasing module (called type Inc-B) and ends with another (slightly different) increasing module (called type Inc-A). Inbetween these increasing modules, there are normal basic modules (called type Basic) - starting from the second layer after knitting the tip. Since the layers are knitted in different directions, the RS and WS will switch when a layer changes.
General Construction
Here's how a basic module is knitted:
Row 1 (RS): k25, t+p
Row 2 (WS): k24, t+p
Row 3 (RS): k22, t+p
Row 4 (WS): k20, t+p
Row 5 (RS): k18, t+p
Row 6 (WS): k16, t+p
Row 7 (RS): k14, t+p
Row 8 (WS): k12, t+p
Row 9 (RS): k10, t+p
Row 10 (WS): k8, t+p
Row 11 (RS): k6, t+p
Row 12 (WS): k5, t+p
Row 13 (RS): k6, t+p
Row 14 (WS): k8, t+p
Row 15 (RS): k10, t+p
Row 16 (WS): k12, t+p
Row 17 (RS): k14, t+p
Row 18 (WS): k16, t+p
Row 19 (RS): k18, t+p
Row 20 (WS): k20, t+p
Row 21 (RS): k22, t+p
Row 22 (WS): k24, t+p
Row 23 (RS): k24 ... then go on knitting the next module without turning

Depending on where the module is placed, it may be changed a bit as explained in the instructions.

How to knit a basic module

Instructions

Knitting the tip of the scarf

CO88 (use any CO method you like)
Row A: k all
Row B: k1, * dec9-1, k2 repeat from * 7 times (or until there are only 10 sts left), dec9-1, k1
Row C: k12 place marker k12
Then knit R2 to R22 of the basic module and place the removable marker on the RS when it is possible to attach it.


Layer 1

Inc-B Type Module
Place marker at the end of the row and CO44 sts (with knitted CO)
Row A: k43, ktbl, slip marker, ktbl, k11, t+p
Row B: k11, slip marker,  k1, * dec9-1, k2 repeat from * 3 times (or until there are only 10 sts left), dec9-1, k1
Row C: sl1, k24 t+p
Then knit R2 to R21 of the basic module
Row 22: sl1, k24, t+p
Row 23: sl1, k23


Move the RS-marker to the other side of your knitting

Inc-A Type Module
Knit 12 sts, place marker at the end of the row and CO44 sts (with knitted CO)
Row A: k43, ktbl, slip marker, ktbl, k10, t+p
Row B: k11, slip marker,  k1, * dec9-1, k2 repeat from * 3 times (or until there are only 10 sts left), dec9-1, k1
Then knit R1 to R22 of the basic module (don't turn)

The photos on the right show how the piece looks while knitting Rows A and B of an Inc-A type module.


Layer 2 and all subsequent layers

Knit an Inc-B type module
Knit Basic Module(s) until there are only 12 sts left
Move the stitch markers to the other side of the piece
Knit an Inc-A type module


The last layer

Knit an Inc-B type module up to and including row 22.
Row 23: BO24

Knit rows 1 to 22 of a normal module
Row 23: BO24

Knit an Inc-A type module up to and including row 22
Row 23: BO24

Weave in ends and block it.




Oombawka Design Featured on Knitting Love Link Party with Jessie At Home and Underground Crafter

Samstag, 7. Mai 2016

T-Shirt Upcycling

Currently I love watching DIY videos on YouTube - especially sewing tutorials and even more especially tutorials where people use thrifted materials to create something new and stylish. Currently, my favorite channels are:
They all have wonderful ways of creating their own patterns from clothes they already own and a great way of explaining the mechanics of sewing.

That's why I wanted to do something similar - however, with a knitting spin. I decided to use a t-shirt that had holes in the front part (just below the neckline) and "cover" these holes with a knitted collar. Here's how the piece looks in progess ... if it works out the way I want, I guess I will write a tutorial.


Donnerstag, 5. Mai 2016

Wanderlust Phone Sock

My mobile needed a new sock - so I knitted one with cotton leftovers from a sweater project. It's a quick and easy knit - interesting if you want to learn new techniques like Judy's Magic Cast-On or grafting garter stitch. 



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




Materials
  • some leftover yarn in two colors (I used less than 15 grams of aran weight cotton yarn - to be specific, it was Linea Pura Organico by Lana Grossa)
  • 4mm circular needles (the yarn called for 5mm to 5.5mm needles but I wanted a denser texture)
  • a tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends


Special Techniques

Size and Gauge
Unstretched my phone sock is about 7 cm wide and 10.5 cm high. My gauge was 9 stitches for 5 cm and 18 rows for 5 cm.
I made my sock intentionally smaller than my phone because cotton fabric usually stretches and widens.


Instructions

Magic CO 2x24 stitches (i.e. you have 24 stitches on each needle)

Now turn your needles around in a way that you're looking at the garter stitch bump and that you could start knitting.
The rows will be knitted in a U-shape - as shown in the picture on the right. The arrow indicates the knitting direction in all RS rows.

Row 1: ktbl24, k24
Rows 2-6: k all in color 1
Rows 7-8: k all in color 2
Rows 9-10: k all in color 1
Rows 11-12: k all in color 2
Rows 13-14: k all in color 1
Rows 15-16: k all in color 2
Rows 17-18: k all in color 1
Rows 19-24: k all in color 2
Row 25: k24 in color 2, then cut yarn but leave a tail of about 50 cm

Graft in garter stitch.


Freitag, 29. April 2016

Fishy or Birdy

Here's a picture of a little knitting experiment I started recently. It's a combination of modular knitting with a fringe of stacked stitches.

When I first posted pictures of this on my social media accounts people commented that it looked a bit like birds' wings. However, in my eyes it looks a bit too disheveled for a bird. It reminds me of something tentacular or maybe clinging seaweed - something from deep below the seas.

Anyway, the decision whether it looks "fishy" or "birdy" is only relevant for choosing an appropriate pattern name. So far, I haven't got a good idea, so I am grateful for suggestions.



Sonntag, 24. April 2016

Nice Little Yarnbomb


As seen on a lovely spring morning in Konstanz.