Frogging!

I started my sweater using size 8 US needles and worked a few inches, but I now can tell it will be too big so it needs to be frogged. I've figured out the correct (I hope) numbers and now will use size 7 US needles. I'll do a 2x2 cable on each raglan "seam", a two 2x2 cables leaning toward each other with a twisted knit stitch between them (pattern is called staircase cables) beside each front band and do a garter stitch rib between stockinette stitch for all the rest. We'll see how this works out. Now I need to frog and cast on again.

Ribbit, ribbit! :)

A sweater for me!

I've decided I need a sweater - for ME,  this time. :) I've designed lots of tiny baby sweaters, but never an adult sweater. Over the years I've knit probably dozens of adult sweaters from other people's patterns. Sometimes I've knit them exactly as the pattern says, but other times I've changed them to suit myself. But I've always used the pattern as a guide for all the numbers - you know, stitch count etc.

Well, this time I'm doing my own pattern. I have Barbara Walker's book Knitting from the Top Down (the title has a down arrow symbol at the end, not the word down, but I don't know how to put that here - my knitting skills are better than my computer skills sigh). The book was a gift from my daughter, Colleen a few years ago. Thanks, Colleen. She's an accomplished knitter herself (among a ton of other crafts).

My sweater will be a raglan cardigan with a double cable panel on either side of the front bands and cable panels at each of the raglan "seams". I'm in the process of working out the number of stitches. I'll need more than a plain sweater would require because of the cables, so I hope I figured it out correctly. The proof will be in the knitting. I'll knit the neck band and front bands after the sweater is complete. We'll see how it goes.

Here's the yarn I'm using. It's Knit Picks Brava Worsted, an acrylic yarn in their Denim colorway. I have several cardigans in wool but I want one in acrylic this time. There are times of the year here that I need a sweater, but wool is just too warm. This is the desert after all.

Sweet Baby Dress

I finished my latest knitting design, a cute baby dress. I've named it Sweet Baby Dress and the pattern is for sale now on ravelry.com and also on craftsy.com.

I like the way it came out and it was a fun knit. It's worked top-down and is seamless except for the cute little puffy pocket that is worked separately and then sewn onto the skirt of the dress. I love the puffed sleeves too. Two of the sizes (I made all 4 sizes - 3mos, 6mos, 9mos, and 12 mos) have little store bought satin flowers sewn onto the yoke while the other 2 sizes have cute buttons sewn onto the yoke. I just love them all. :)

The Sweaters Are in the Mail.

What do you do with all the sweaters you knit during the pattern design process? I send mine to Pine Ridge Indian Reservation in South Dakota, USA. There are various groups on the Reservation that collect and distribute items to folks in need. I belong to Bundles of Joy, a charity group on ravelry.com that was created for knitters and crocheters who like to make sweaters, etc. for babies and children. Here are pictures of 10 of the most recent sweaters I sent to the babies of Pine Ridge.

Some of the sweater designs become published patterns and some don't. LOL

Tote Bag - Plan C

After struggling with the dimensions listed on the pattern of the Tote Bag, then deciding to change them to suit me, I knit the bottom and about 3/4 of the back. Then I started working on the chart for the front of the bag. The chart incorporates 12 different colors and on most of the rows of the chart there are 5 colors. I worked 4 rows, or I should say, I struggled through 4 rows, carrying the 5 colors across each row and came to the conclusion that I don't have enough years left to live to make that struggle worth while! That chart would be MUCH better worked as a needlepoint project rather than a knitted one.

Yesterday I cast on for the front of the bag using a stitch called "joyous stripes". It's k1, then with yarn in front, slip 1, repeated across the row. Then purl every wrong side row. Very simple but not boring. I'll work 2 rows of each of the 12 colors and keep repeating that for a total of 7 repeats of the 12 colors, which should give me the desired height I need. There will be a band of the green color used for the bottom and back, at the bottom and top of the front. So far I've completed just over 2 repeats of all the colors and I really like it. There's a lot of ends to weave in, but I've been stopping to do that after every completing every 6 color changes so it isn't too bad. This (not very good) picture gives a rough idea of how the front will look. :)

Stash Buster Baby Sweater

A few weeks ago I decided to create a new baby sweater design that could use several different partial skeins of yarn from my stash. The pattern finally ended up being one that can use multiple partial skeins and uses two different stitch patterns, garter and seed stitch. The pattern is for sale on Ravelry (click here Stash Buster Baby Sweater ).

Uses 4 different partial skeins

Uses 2 different partial skeins

Uses 4 different partial skeins

Uses 1 skein

Uses 4 different partial skeins

Tote Bag - Plan B

I was delighted during the Holidays when my daughter, Colleen, shopped on line at Knit Picks and gave me a collection of knitting stitch reference books and a knitted tote bag kit that I'd been wanting. The bag is Road Trip Tote Kit "Heartland".  http://www.knitpicks.com/cfkits/kit_display.cfm?ID=40211

I finally read through the whole pattern in mid January. This pattern is definitely not for a novice knitter, mainly because of the intarsia. The chart has as many as 6 colors across some of the rows. I made and blocked a swatch and did get the gauge listed on the pattern, I then completed the base and about 6" of the back (the back and the intarsia front are done separately) but then put what I had knitted in time-out, as it definitely wouldn't have been the size that the pattern claimed, especially the height. The width might have been close but the height would have been much shorter.

I sent a pm on Ravelry to the designer to see why, but still have never received a response from her. Then I sent message to Knit Picks giving them all the gauge numbers and why I felt the bag would never become the dimensions stated by the designer. I received a response from them saying they agreed with my numbers and would contact the designer for further info. Two weeks later, I received another Knit Picks message stating that the designer told them that the actual height of the tote was "about" 10" tall and that the 11" listed was a typo. In my opinion the whole gauge listed on the pattern is wrong!


So now I've decided on Plan B. I frogged the whole piece I had knitted and started over with a larger needle. I knit another swatch to get a new gauge and re-figure the number of stitches needed to get the tote the size that I want. I've decided to crop the chart too, so the whole tote will be a shape that is different from the pattern.

My tote will be about 10 1/2" square with a shoulder strap so I can wear it cross body on days when my hip tells me that I need to use my cane. I'll make the bottom base and each side 4" wide. The original pattern info has the bag as a sort of a trapezoid shape with the bottom about 12" across and the top about 17" across and the bottom base and each side about 4". I haven't yet decided how I'll do the shoulder strap. I may use a commercial one or knit one, then use a heavy interfacing and the fabric lining to line the strap for stability so it won't stretch. Need to think about that for a while.

This project will take a while as I'm using US #2 needles and the yarn is fingering weight, not to mention the time consuming intarsia for the front of the bag.

To save my sanity I'll alternate working on the bag with knitting cute baby sweaters.  I've got a new baby sweater design currently in the works. I've written out the pattern and have completed knitting 2 of the 4 sizes so I need to get going on the other 2 sizes before I can publish the pattern. This one will be a yarn stash buster!