Happy Boxing Day!

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year, from me to you.

And from Gimli too.

Did you get some lovely yarn for Christmas? Maybe about 400 yds worth? Here's a project for you, if you need one...

A free pattern for the Penobscot Bay Shawl, modeled by mi madre. I used some gorgeous angora-wool blend DK weight yarn from Scotland, but it will work with any yarn weight, in any number of colors (including just one color - I'm starting that one today!). More details are on the pattern Ravelry page.

download now

Happy Boxing Day to all!

Handspun patterns

The 4! Oz! Challenge! ends tomorrow, and I'm happy to say that I finished my patterns and got them submitted before the last day (a miracle in and of itself, seeing as how I am the Queen Procrastination). Here they are*:

Lisbon Cloche**, superwash merino in "Thunderstorm" from Spunky Eclectic

download now

Shelburne Falls Beret, Targhee in "Garland" from Hello Yarn

download now

This was a really interesting process for me. Usually I spin without much of an end product in mind (although the TdF did change that a bit). For these, I had four days in between trips in August to spin up the yarn, and I knew two things: 1) I was going to chain ply both colorways to keep the colors intact, and 2) I was going to knit hats, but I didn't want them to be really obviously stripey.

For the SE merino, I ended up spinning a really fast, thick single. When it was plied up, the yarn ranged from 6-10 wpi and was super squooshy. I used a slipped stitch pattern (same as in an eye of partridge heel flap) to break up the striping, but since the colors didn't contrast very much, that was sufficient.

For the Targhee, which I spun second, I was a bit rushed - the final yarn was a wee bit overplied. But...there wasn't a lot I could do about that while on vacation, so I soldiered on. Since the colors in that skein were much more contrasting, I needed to take "extreme" measures to try and break up the striping. The stitch pattern I chose has two rounds of slipping the same stitch, which is then crossed over two stitches on the third round. I'm really pleased with how it came out.

The patterns include details about spinning the yarn and a whackload of specs (i.e. singles wpi/tpi, plied wpi/tpi, twist angle, etc). Both hats are knit from the top down, starting with i-cord in waste yarn, and can easily be adjusted in size as you go (patterns are written for only one size). Enjoy***!

* Please excuse the goofy pictures, but it's really hard to take pictures of your own head without looking like an idiot.
** Named for the towns in which the respective dyers (Amy of Spunky Eclectic and Adrian of Hello Yarn) are located.
*** If you knit up one of these in a commercial yarn, please let me know how it works out and I'll add that to the Ravelry pattern pages. Thanks!

Patterns for Free

Stripey Noro Socks

download now

Turkish Walrus

download now

Padded Harddrive bag

Here

Silly Devil Socks

Here

Ehem. Now back to your regularly scheduled knitting content.

Sorry about that (both the long blog break and the excessive political wanking). I have been knitting, even if I haven't been posting about it at all.

I finally broke down and busted out the Noro sock yarn. Say what you will about the feel of it, the thick and thin nature, the VM, but the colors are absolutely To. Die. For.

I'm moving to a new office, which I was cleaning out today, so I took advantage of a window (!) to take some pictures

Pattern: Stripey Noro Socks, by yours truly (pattern now available for download here)
Yarn: Noro Kureyon sock yarn, colorway S40
Needles: Knitpicks Harmony dpns in US 1/2.25 mm
Start/finish: 10/3-10/17/08

While harsh in the skein, the yarn feels fine on my feet. I haven't tossed these babies in the dryer yet, but I've heard that makes a grand difference in the feel. I originally meant these for a Christmas present but they ended up being too big. If they do shrink or shift around in the dryer, I will gift them. Otherwise, I'm keeping these things for me me me.

I love the striping on the heel. I kept the heel flap in stockinette so it would work out, and I managed to get everything to line up just right. Hooray!

**************************************************************************
I guess it's now November so it's time to take stock of October's accomplishments:

Knitting
Ummm...Noro socks. That's it.

Spinning:
Cotton Candy
Superwash merino, as yet unblogged because I need to unload a cubic buttload of pictures from our camera.

Other:
Halloween costumes! (see above disclaimer on superwash merino)

What was I doing last month?

Turkish Walrus

The pdf for Turkish Walrus can now be downloaded here. Please let me know if you come across any mistakes or whatnot. Happy knitting, and share pictures when you've got them!

FO: Silly socks for a silly girl

Just in case you were concerned about the lack of knitting content in this supposed knitting blog, here's a pair of socks for the wee Devil:

Pattern: my own toddler-sized interpretation of Mata Hari (detailed below)
Needles: Susan Bates US1
Yarn: Knit Picks Dancing
Started: on vacation in the UK, around 8/30/07
Finished: 9/25/07
Comments: I just made up the pattern as I went along, after several abortive attempts to get the right size. I ended up casting on 48 stitches, knitting 6 rounds of k2, p2 rib and then started the pattern. Pattern row: knit 6, k2tog, yo. Repeat to end of round. Then knit three rows plain. On the next pattern row, on the first repeat knit 5, k2tog, yo. The other repeats are still k6, k2tog, yo. This shifts the eyelet over one stitch so they end up spiraling around the leg. I worked the leg until the first repeat of the pattern started with a yo (about 8 repeats), and then knit one round before starting the heel. Short row heel - I did short rows down to 6 live stiches, but I'd do fewer short rows next time since the heels are a little narrow and pointy when they're on the feet. Once the heel was do, I knit 2 rounds and started up with the pattern again. Worked the same distance for the foot, knit one round and then began decreases for the toe.
Toe decreases: row 1, k1, ssk, knit to last 3 stitches on far side of toe, k2tog, k1. Repeat on back of toe. Next row: knit all stitches. I repeated these two rows 5 times, then worked row 1 every row until there were 12 stiches total left. Then grafted the toes together and started sock 2!

Devil was very excited to have a new pair of silly socks. They weren't as silly as I had been envisioning since I remembered the yarn looking like this:

Instead of like this:

But so be it. She immediately put them on her hands and started dusting off the coffee table. Clearly not my child!

Gotta get this place cleaned up...

Look! Silly socks!

FO: Padded bag

Pattern for padded hard drive bag - this easy bag uses the same stitch pattern as a sock heel flap to create a thick sturdy fabric that will cushion your valuables against the hard knocks of everday life (such as being unceremoniously tossed in your bag on your way out the door in the morning).

Yarn: worsted weight left over from a sweater for my MIL many seasons back
Needles: ? US size 7 I think
Gauge: 5.5 sts/9 rows per inch
Dimensions: ~3.5x5.25 inches
Pattern: Row 1 - sl1, k1, repeat to end
Row 2 - sl1, purl to end

Cast on 20 sts (or number needed for desired width, just make sure it's an even number). Work in pattern for desired length, ending with a WS row.

You'll now work the back of the bag by knitting the first and last stitches on the needle with one of the slipped stitches along the side of the bag front as follows:

Row 1: pick up slipped stitch at right edge of bag front (when WS is facing you) and k2tog with the first stitch on the needle. k1, *sl1, k1*, repeat * to * to last stitch. Pick up slipped stitch on left side of bag and ssk with the last stitch on the needle.
Row 2: purl all stitches

Work these two rows until all slipped stitches along the side of the bag front have been worked. Continue in pattern until bag flap is desired length.

Bind off 9 sts, k2, bind off 9 sts. Reattach yarn and work a 2 stitch i-cord tie to desired length. Bind off 2 sts. On bag front, pickup and knit 2 sts. Work 2 stitch i-cord tie to desired length and bind off. Weave in all ends, slip in portable hard drive, and enjoy!

ETA: how about that new countertop?