new yarn!

April 21, 2015 by 8 Comments

I’ve tried a new Etsy store!  Here are the yarns I purchased:

welthase yarn

Welthase yarn is dyed in Germany and it’s lovely!  I balled it up using my ball winder (well, Chris wound it, I used my knees and arms to act as a swift) and there were no knots in any of the hanks (NO KNOTS!!!).  I got 600m of the lace merinosilk in coral,  800m in lace supersilk in silver, and 262m of BFL sporty DK in shimmering grey.  The yarn is very soft, particularly the supersilk!

I have plans for each of these — a knit project and a crochet project — and I’ll have leftovers of some of them.  I’ll update later on how they are while working on a project.  I can’t wait to get started!

That’s all for now, thanks for stopping by!

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book review: “Easter Knits” by Arne & Carlos

April 4, 2015 by 1 Comment

arne & carlos easter knits book review

This book has been on my shelf for a while, and the eggs aren’t newly made, either.  There’s a post about them from over a year ago, but I wanted to revisit this book in the spirit of Easter!

Inside, there are patterns for a variety of eggs, balls, and bunny plushies, all of which are adorable, and none of them look TOO difficult to make.  The patterns are clear and include easy-to-follow charts.  Once you get the basic structure of the eggs and balls down, you could even invent your own colorwork patterns if you’re feeling adventurous!

Working on DPNs can be a pain and some people avoid them at all costs, but these were easier than other things I’ve used DPNs for, somehow.  The eggs worked up relatively quickly, considering the ungainly nature of DPNs.  I suppose you could use the magic loop method if you wanted to use circulars instead.

Easter Knits by Arne & Carlos book review

I used DK weight acrylic yarn, but I’m sure you could adapt the patterns to make bigger or smaller eggs if you so desire.  An easter egg/ball cushion would be really cool!

Do a Google search for “Arne & Carlos” and you’ll come up with a few places to purchase this book (as well as their other books, which are also great!), so the price may be different depending on what country you’re in, but it’s not gonna break the bank.  I recommend it!

Thanks for stopping by!  I have some crochet stuff coming up, I promise!  The yarn for a couple of projects is in the mail headed to me right now!

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Star Anise hat ta-da!

March 28, 2015 by 4 Comments

Not quite like I expected but I’m happy.

Star Anise knit hat

This was made with 131 yards of Arroyo yarn by Malabrigo (100% merino, sport weight) in the Coffee Toffee colorway, which is one of those colors that’s oddly difficult to photograph accurately.  The yarn is so soft — I’d had it forever and forgotten about it, and I love it!  Have to get some more sometime.

Despite my love of the yarn, the needles called for (US 3 & 4) were not quite right — my hat is not slouchy or loose at all like the ones in the pictures on the pattern page.  Of course, maybe that’s my fault — I could have been knitting way too tightly, and I didn’t make a gauge swatch.  Even so, I like the hat:

Star Anise hatIt turns out it’s hard to take pictures of the top of your own head.  Well, the KBLs that go up the whole thing are a little wonky — maybe because I didn’t block it — but I’m hoping it will all straighten out with wear.

The cast on was difficult because it was my first [successful] long tail tubular cast on, but I love how it turned out!  Might start using it for things that don’t even call for  it.

Star Anise hat knitted

Anyway, I think the pattern is worth the $6.  It was enjoyable to make and I do like the end result.  Let me know what you think, and if you’ve made it, how did yours turn out?

Well, that’s all for today.  Thanks for stopping by!

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how to knit a neater edge in garter stitch

March 7, 2015 by 1 Comment

how to knit a neater edge in garter stitch

There is now a permanent page here in the menu bar with these instructions (click here for that).

This method works in plain garter stitch as well as lace patterns that do not have purl rows.  The example shown is the Gentille cowl.  This does not work in stockinette stitch.  Look at how the edge looks finished:

how to knit a neater edge in garter stitch

HOW TO DO IT

The trick is simple: slip the first stitch of every row purl-wise with your yarn in front.  Then move your yarn to the back and continue knitting!

Now you know!  Use this tip from anything like scarves to blankets!

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Gentille cowl ta-da!

February 25, 2015 by 16 Comments

My busy hands have completed a new project: the Gentille cowl!  Available for about $5.74 on Ravelry (click here), this pattern makes a great one-skein wonder!

"Gentille" cowl - a wearable knitted piece with great drape!

The yarn used was awfully hard to photograph properly, even in natural light, but if you’re wanting a pretty accurate representation of color, check the source: KnitPicks Hawthorne in Ladd’s Addition.  It’s essentially a blend of dark blues and purples with a pop of hot pink that has a tail end of bright orange.  Less brown than in my pictures here.  I think it’s gorgeous, but that’s not the only thing about this yarn I love: it may be 80% wool but it’s not scratchy at all, even after a whole day’s wear; it blocked beautifully; the drape is perfect.  This is my favorite yarn of the year so far, for sure.

Gentille cowl draped on a chairAs you can sort of see, there are two “sections” to this pattern: a garter stitch section and a lacy chevron section.  That constitutes 1 pattern repeat, and my 357 yd skein was perfect for 4 repeats total.  Here are closeups of the two “sections:”

Gentille cowl - garter stitch sectionGentille cowl - lacy chevron sectionI like the way the bright pinks/oranges make a sort of zig/zag pattern throughout.  This is called “pooling,” right?  Well, I really like the way it pooled here (I know sometimes it can be a mess)!

In conclusion, even though the pattern was pretty easy to remember, I don’t regret paying for it — I’m sure I’ll use it again someday.  This pattern mixed the mindless garter stitch with interesting [but not difficult] chevrons, and it looks more complicated than it actually was!  This is the sort of pattern you could churn out in a week for a gift, and I think anybody would love to receive one, don’t you?

Well, that’s all for today, but this isn’t the last you’ll see of the Gentille cowl!  Look out for a special knitting tip coming up soon!  As always, thanks for stopping by!

 

 

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