Something Fishy

This is the first time, I tried to knit a fair isle pattern ... I clearly need some more practice before I can produce something better ... ;)

Scrunchies Again

These are scrunchies that I made from "hosiery yarn", i.e.  strips of cut up pantyhose.

I used old "hosiery yarn" I made a few years ago (see blog post here) using the method described here.




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

Materials

• to balls of hosiery yarn (in two colors) - one ball equals the yarn you get from one leg
• one piece of hair elastic
• rather big dpns - I used 12mm dpns, but other sizes will do as well
• a tapestry needle for finishing

Instructions

The numbers in brackets refer to the numbers in the picture. Basically, you'll be knitting a tube around the hair elastic.

(1) With yarn A (beige in the picture) cast on 3 stitches (-> needle A)

On a second needle (-> needle B) cast on 3 stitches with yarn B (black in the picture)

(2) With yarn A knit all stitches from the needle B, the working yarn of both colors is now at the same place.

(3) Slip the hair elastic over needle A and the stitches on this needle. The elastic ends up between the needles. Turn work and knit all stitches on needle A with yarn B, slip the stitches on this needle back, and knit them with yarn A. There are now three rows on needle A (cast on with yarn A, one row with yarn B, and one row with yarn A) and two rows on needle B (cast on with yarn B, and one row of yarn A)

(4) Slip both balls of yarn through the ring, i.e. through the hair elastic and turn work. On needle B first knit all stitches with yarn B, then slip the stitches back and knit one row with yarn A. Turn work and repeat on needle A (i.e. knit one row with yarn B, slip the stitches back and knit them with yarn A). 

(5) Repeat step 4 until your knitted tube is long enough to fit around your hair elastic. Don't forget to slip the balls of yarn through the elastic ring at the beginning of each round.

(6) When the tube is long enough, prepare for finishing, i.e. slip only yarn B through the elastic and knit the three stitches on needle B with this yarn. Now the cast on and the last row on each needle are knitted in the same colour. Cut yarn but leave a tail of about 20 cm. Turn work - you're now facing needle A. with a tapestry needle and yarn B sew the stitches of the last row to the cast on - stitch by stitch, Turn work and do the same with yarn A for the stitches on needle B.

Knot the ends together and use the flat end of the tapestry needle to hide ends inside the tube. Whatever you do, the end will look a bit messy, but once you wear it in your hair, these irregularities will not be visible.

Circle Mitts - Aran Weight Version

A while ago I knitted the Swiss Cheese Scarf by Winnie Shih from really old yarn that I had bought some time in the 80ies. At that time it had been knitted into a sweater and been frogged several years later. Photos of this scarf project are on its Ravelry page.

I decided to knit a new pair of Circle Mitts (original pattern on my blog) but with the heavier yarn. I had one hank left with a label - from that I infered that the yarn was Aran weight.

This is a short version - for the general construction etc., please refer to the original Circle Mitts pattern.




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



Materials

• 4.5mm needles (I switched from dpns to circulars and back - even if you use circulars, you will need a third needle for the three-needle BO)
• about 50 grams of aran weight yarn
• a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Abbreviations

• kfb: knit front & back
• mk1: make 1 knit stitch
• ssk: slip slip knit
• k2tog: knit 2 sts together
• p2tog: purl 2 sts together
• mk1p: make 1 purl stitch
• p2tog: purl 2 sts together through the back loop
• wrap and turn: a method for short rows

Instructions

Part 1 - Thumb

CO12 and join in round (I used this strechy cast-on method, but other CO methods are fine as well)
Knit 5 rounds of k1 p1-ribbing
Knit 3 rounds of plain stockinette stitch
Row 9: *k2 kfb repeat from * (you have increased by 4 sts => 16 sts on your needles)
Knit 2 more rounds of plain stockinette stitch

Part 2
(basically, you'll increase by 8 sts every other row)
Row 1: *k2 mk1 repeat from * (+8 => 24 sts)
Row 2 (and every other even row during part 2): k
Row 3:  *k1 mk1 k2 repeat from *
Row 5: *mk1 k4 repeat from *
Row 7: *k3 mk1 k2 repeat from *
Row 9: *k5 mk1 k1 repeat from *
BO 5 and continue knitting the round to end

Part 3
Turn work
Row 1: p2tog, * p3 mk1p p4 repeat from * until there are less than 7 sts left, p to last 2 sts, p2togtbl
Row 2: ssk, k to last 2 sts, k2tog
Row 3: p2tog, * p5 mk1p p3 repeat from * until there are less than 8 sts left, p to last 2 sts, p2togtbl
Rows 4 & 5: ssk, k6, wrap and turn, p to last 2 sts , p2togtbl
Row 6: ssk, k to last 2 sts, k2tog
Rows 7 & 8: p2tog, p6, wrap and turn, k to last 2 sts, k2tog
Row 9: p2tog, *p6, mk1p, p3 repeat from * until there are less than 9 sts left, p to last 2 sts, p2togtbl
Row 10: ssk, k to last 2 sts, k2tog
Row 11: p2tog, *p3, mk1p, p7 repeat from * until there are less than 10 sts left, p to last 2 sts, p2togtbl
Row 12: ssk, k to last 2 sts, k2tog

You should now have something like 54 sts on your needles. Hold the sides together and with a three-needle bind-off, BO 15 sts.

If you  want the upper edge to be wider, just insert a few more of the short row sequences (Rows 4 & 5, and 7 & 8). For a more detailed explanations (as well as how to calculate the number of stitches to bind off if the mitts are wider), please read the original pattern.

Part 4
Distribute the remaining 24 stitches on your needles and put the stitch that remained from BO on the first needle. The remaining sts will be knitted in the round.

Round 1: sl1, pick up 2 sts from the gap between the first st and the next one (this will avoid holes), k10, mk1, k4, mk1, k to end, pick up 2 sts from gap between the stitch you just knitted and the first in the round (=> now there are 6 sts more on your needles, i.e. 30)
Row 2: (RS) k12, wrap and turn,
    (WS): p12, p12, wrap and turn (or use another method for short rows, e.g. this)
    (RS): k12
Row 3: (RS) k9, wrap and turn
     (WS): p7 p2tog, p2tog, p7, wrap and turn
     (RS); k9
Row 34 (RS) k5, wrap and turn
     (WS): p5, p5, wrap and turn
     (RS); k5
Round 25: k one round (picking up all wrapped sts).

Part 5
Knit 3 more rounds
Knit 6 rounds of k1 p1-ribbing
Bind-off loosely in pattern

Weave in ends.
Make two.

How to Use This Yarn?

In June I bought a skein of variegated yarn - with colours ranging from white over yellow, orange and red to light- and dark-blue. Here's a selection of my failed attempts, i.e. ideas that I didn't really like - another one is in this blog post :/

Yesterday, I decided that I would try something modular - that way yarn of one colour would be close :) For the modules, I basically used the same almond shape as in the Almendra scarf. But I added a little hole (4 stitches wide) in the center of each "almond". So far, it's the best I've tried with this yarn ... now I only have to decide whether it will be a triangular shawl or a rhomboid wrap ... hmm, difficult ...

Almendra Cowl

This cowl is made up of almond shaped short row sequences - with full rows in a contrast colour inbetween.

I like my cowls to fit around my neck twice. Threrefore this cowl is double-length, with a circumference of 140 cm - after blocking. It measures between 20 and 25 cm in height.



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





A Czech translation has been provided by Raveler Nemravka. It is available here. Děkuju mnohokrát!


Materials

• 150 grams of worsted weight yarn in Main Colour (MC)
• 50 grams of worsted weight yarn in Contrast Colour (CC, beige on the photos)
• 5.5mm circular knitting needles
• 11 stitch markers (one different from the others)
• tapestry needle to weave in ends

I used some Noro Kurayon (Colourway 40 as MC and Colourway 211E as CC) that I've had in my stash for quite a while.

General Construction
Knitted in the round, this cowl consist of almond shaped short row sequences that are knitted one after another. When one layer is finished,  two full rows are knitted in a contrast colour. The next layer starts with an offset of 10 stitches.

Techniques

• Short rows with double stitches (German short rows, t+p): 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).
• Cheats to avoid cutting yarn: Since I try out a lot (and consequently frog a lot), I avoid cutting yarn at all costs. That's why I'd rather strand yarn over a few stitches (or more) or slip a few stitches. In case of this pattern, this is necessary to get either MC or CC yarn to the start of the new row.
  The picture below shows how this stranding looks from the WS. The encircled numbers show where a new layer starts ("1" = start of first layer, "2" = start of second layer etc.)

Instructions
With CC CO 200 putting a stitch marker after every 20th stitch
Place last stitch marker and join in round (careful not to twist the stitches)
Purl one round, place a different marker to mark the end or round (this marker ("end marker") will be moved).

First Layer (Odd-numbered Layers)
Attach MC and with MC knit the first almond-section as follows
R1 (RS): k20 (i.e. to next marker, left border marker), t+p (turn and pull, see Techniques section)
R2 (WS): k20 (i.e. back to last marker and one stitch further), t+p
R3 (RS): k18, t+p
R4 (WS): k16, t+p
R5 (RS): k14, t+p
R6 (WS): k12, t+p
R7 (RS): k10, t+p
R8 (WS): k8, t+p
R9 (RS): k6, t+p
R10 (WS): k4, t+p
R11 (RS): k5, t+p
R12 (WS): k6, t+p
R13 (RS): k8, t+p
R14 (WS): k10, t+p
R15 (RS): k12, t+p
R16 (WS): k14, t+p
R17 (RS): k16, t+p
R18 (WS): k18, t+p
R19 (RS): k19 (i.e. to left border marker), and DON'T TURN
Continue from Row 1 and knit the next almond-section.

The picture below gives a sketch of the rows in relation to the stitch markers in odd numbered layers.

When you have finished the "almond section" that reaches the end marker or after you have knitted 10 "almonds" switch to CC.

With CC knit one round (stranding MC over the first 10 stitches) - please be careful to knit the double-stitches as one stitch (here the double stitches are the one just before and just after the stitch marker)
Purl one round. Remove the end marker, slip ten stitches, place the end marker.
(If - unlike me - you haven't got a problem with cutting yarn, you can alternatively break MC, knit one round in CC, purl one round in CC, cut CC, remove end marker, slip ten stitches, place end marker and then attach MC to start again.)

Second Layer (Even-Numbered Layers)
With MC start knitting the next almond - however, it is not knitted in the 20 sts between two stitch markers, but around one stitch marker (10 stitches on the left hand side and 10 stitches on the right hand side of the stitch marker).

R1 (RS): k20 (i.e. to next marker, left border marker), t+p (turn and pull, see Techniques section)
R2 (WS): k20 (i.e. back to last marker and one stitch further), t+p
R3 (RS): k18, t+p
R4 (WS): k16, t+p
R5 (RS): k14, t+p
R6 (WS): k12, t+p
R7 (RS): k10, t+p
R8 (WS): k8, t+p
R9 (RS): k6, t+p
R10 (WS): k4, t+p
R11 (RS): k5, t+p
R12 (WS): k6, t+p
R13 (RS): k8, t+p
R14 (WS): k10, t+p
R15 (RS): k12, t+p
R16 (WS): k14, t+p
R17 (RS): k16, t+p
R18 (WS): k18, t+p
R19 (RS): k19 (i.e. to left border marker), and DON'T TURN
Continue from Row 1 and knit the next almond-section.

When you have finished the "almond section" that reaches the end marker or after you have knitted 10 "almonds" switch to CC.

With CC knit one round (stranding MC over the first 10 stitches) - please be careful to knit the double-stitches as one stitch (here the double stitches are the one just before and just after the stitch marker)
Purl one round. Remove the end marker, slip ten stitches, place the end marker.
(If - unlike me - you haven't got a problem with cutting yarn, you can alternatively break MC, knit one round in CC, purl one round in CC, cut CC, remove the end marker, slip ten stitches , place the end marker, and then attach MC to start again.)

The picture below gives a sketch of the rows in relation to the stitch markers in even numbered layers.

Repeat first and second layer until the cowl is wide enough for you. I knitted a total of 5 layers (3x odd-numbered layers and 2x even-numbered layers).

Finish with one knit row in CC and bind off purling in CC.

Playing around with Short-Rows ... and Frogging them

I suppose I'm the queen of frogging ... for every piece I knit, I probably try out three to five different designs until I like it. It's a good thing then, that I usually buy yarn, that can be treated that way (like Noro Kurayon, that doesn't look worse for being ribbed back a few times).

But I guess, I've got it right this time - and I hope I will write up the pattern eventually :)

Knitted Food

In one of the advertising "newspapers" (you know, the ones you get, if you have a store-card for the supermarket etc.) there was an article about a lady who creates knitted food installations. The article is available online (in german).

That made me google for her - and I found her website and her blog. I do love some of the photos there - there is even a free (german) pattern for a knitted sausage :)

I apologize that all the links are to german-speaking webpages, but really like the idea - and I like her knitting philosophy as expressed in the article: "[Stricken ...] helfe, ein Trauma zu verarbeiten, und tue auch Depressiven gut. Am besten sei Stricken ohne eigentlichen Zweck, .... Wenn man wie sie ohne Muster oder Vorlage arbeitet und sich das Objekt einfach vorstellt, fokussiert sich der Geist aufs innere Bild und lässt schlechte Gedanken vorbeiziehen."
Roughly translated: "Knitting helps to coping with trauma and is even good for depressive people. The best is knitting without a purpose ... When one works like her without patterns and just imagines the object, the mind focuses on an inner picture and lets bad thoughts disappear."