Sonntag, 10. April 2016

Abstract Art? ... a Design Fail and a Trick

Recently I got a lovely present from my former team - a gift voucher for Magliamania a store with beautiful hand dyed yarns in Berne, Switzerland. They have a web shop, too, but - if ever you're in Berne - go there. The yarns and the colors are just beautiful. (No, I'm not sponsored by them nor affiliated in any way - I just like the yarn and the shop.)

After I bought 4 skeins of a silk merino blend (2 blue, 1 white and 1 dark brown) - this yarn feels wonderful to the touch - and I thought long about how to use them. I decided on a bold geometrical pattern - as shown on the photo below.



But I don't really like the whole effect enough to wear it. So, this attempt at a scarf will be frogged. And I'will do something better with this wonderful yarn - even though I don't know exactly what ... yet.

However, here's a tip if you are like me, i.e. try out a lot of stuff but also frog a lot, but you do not want to cut your yarn:
  • If you use yarn for one color block and want to use it again later in the project, Don't cut your yarn, but let it hang in a long loop between color blocks (see photo). Had my ideas worked out, I would've cut the yarn then and would've woven in the ends afterwards. Now that I frog it, I have the yarn still in one long piece.
Maybe this will help you sometime.

Mittwoch, 6. April 2016

April Knitted Slippers

A cozy pair of slippers to warm your feet on a lazy afternoon at home. They also make great gifts for a loved one. 

The slippers are knitted from the toe up and without a seam. The sole is all in stockinette stitch while the upper part switches to garter stitch.

These slippers look best when knitted with some self-striping sock yarn.




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



This pattern is also listed at AllFreeKnitting.com.


Materials
  • about 40 to 50 grams of fingering weight yarn
  • 3mm knitting needles (dpns or circular)
  • three stitch markers
  • a tapestry needle for grafting and to weave in ends

Techniques


Instructions

Make a cardboard template of your feet. Draw a line that marks half the length of your feet ("half line") - see picture on the right. The heel line will be drawn once you've finished knitting your toe.

Part 1 (Toe, worked in the round):

Magic CO 12 stitches per needle (your piece should look like illustration photo 1)
Knit one round and place one marker after 12 sts and another marker at the end of the round.

To get a shaped toe you first do 4 rounds with 4 increases each (around the markers). Then you alternate 1 neutral round (no increases) with 1 increase round (increases around the markers) twice. Then alternate 2 neutral rounds and 1 increase round - twice. Then alternate 3 neutral rounds and 1 increase round - and repeat this (3 neutral, 1 increase round) until the slipper is wide enough to fit your feet.

In order to mirror the increases in the toe, with decreases in the heel, I find that it helps to keep notes. I usually keep a tally: one normal tick for a neutral row, one squiggly line for an increase row.

Spelled out this means:
Round 0 (knitted directly after Magic CO): k12, place marker, k12, place marker
Round 1 (Increase round): kfb, k to 1 st before marker kfb, slip marker, kfb, k to last st, kfb
Rounds 2 - 4: Increase rounds (= round 1)
Round 5: k all stitches
Round 6: Increase round
Round 7: Neutral round (= round 5)
Round 8: Increase round
Round 9, 10: Neutral round
Round 11: Increase round
Round 12, 13: Neutral round
Round 14: Increase round
Round 15, 16, 17: Neutral round
Round 18: Increase round
Repeat Rounds 15-18 until the piece is wide enough to fit your foot.

After you've finished your toe - measure its length. Then draw a line on your template that's the same distance from the heel end. This line is called toe line on the picture above. Heel and toe will have the same length since the heel decreases will be exactly like the toe increases - backwards.

Depending on the yarn, I had 56 or 60 stitches in total on my needles.


 
Part 2 (worked in the round):
Knit rounds until your piece is long enough to reach the half line.
Leave the markers in, they will be needed later.

Part 3 (worked in rows):
Count the number of stitches on your needles. Divide by 4 and remember this number. (For 56 stitches, this number was 14 - for 60 stitches in total, it was 15.)

Row 0: Knit the calculated number of stitches, place a marker here ("end of row marker) and turn.
Row 1 (WS, inside): sl1, k to marker, p to marker, k to end of row marker and turn
Row 2 (RS, outside), sl1, k all (to end of row marker) and turn

Repeat rows 1 and 2 a total of 4 times

Row 9 (WS) = Row 1
Row 10 (RS), sl1, kfb, k to 2 sts before end, kfb, k1

Repeat rows 1 to 10 once more.

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until the piece is long enough to reach the heel line.

After a while you will see the end of row without the marker, so you can remove it.

Illustration Photos

Part 4a (Heel, worked in rows):

To get a shaped heel you have to decrease the part between the markers the same way that the increases in part 1 were done on one side of the toe.
This means that you will alternate between one decrease row and 3 normal rows (just as many times as you did for the toe), then twice alternate between one decrease row and 2 normal rows, then alternate twice one decrease row and one normal row, and then knit only decrease rows until there are only 12 stitches between your markers.

A normal row is knitted as follows:
Normal Row (RS): sl1, k all
Normal Row (WS): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p to marker, slip marker, k to end.

And a decrease row is knitted as follows
Decrease row (RS): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, ssk, k to 2 bef marker, k2tog, slip marker, k to end
Decrease row (WS): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p2tog, p to 2 bef marker, p2togtbl, slip marker, k to end

Photo illustration 2 shows how the piece should look after a while.

Assuming that you knitted 18 rows for the toe, the heel would be knitted as follows:
R1 (RS, decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, ssk, k to 2 bef marker, k2tog, slip marker, k to end
R2 (WS, normal row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p to marker, slip marker, k to end.
R3 (RS, normal row): sl1, k to end
R4 (WS, normal row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p to marker, slip marker, k to end.
R5 (RS, decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, ssk, k to 2 bef marker, k2tog, slip marker, k to end
R6 (WS, normal row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p to marker, slip marker, k to end.
R7 (RS, normal row): sl1, k to end
R8 (WS, decrease row):  sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p2tog, p to 2 bef marker, p2togtbl, slip marker, k to end
R9 (RS, normal row): sl1, k to end
R10 (WS, normal row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p to marker, slip marker, k to end.
R11 (RS, decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, ssk, k to 2 bef marker, k2tog, slip marker, k to end
R12 (WS, normal row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p to marker, slip marker, k to end.
R13 (RS, decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, ssk, k to 2 bef marker, k2tog, slip marker, k to end
R14 (WS, normal row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p to marker, slip marker, k to end.
R15 (RS, decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, ssk, k to 2 bef marker, k2tog, slip marker, k to end
R16 (WS. decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p2tog, p to 2 bef marker, p2togtbl, slip marker, k to end
R17 (RS, decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, ssk, k to 2 bef marker, k2tog, slip marker, k to end
R18 (WS. decrease row): sl1, k to marker, slip marker, p2tog, p to 2 bef marker, p2togtbl, slip marker, k to end



Part 4b: Heel flap (worked in rows)

Now only one of the upper parts (in garter stitch) is 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
(Illustration photo 3 shows how the piece looks just before an ssk)
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

Illustration photo 4 shows how the piece should look just before the last row.

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

Weave in ends.
Make two.



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Sonntag, 20. März 2016

Why take the easy way ...

… if there's a more complicated option on offer?



Sometimes I think that I am really too complicated. This time, I wanted to knit a pair of toe-up slippers - starting in stockinette and then changing to garter stitch on top but with stockinette on the soles. It looked great … but I hadn't foreseen that when switching from knitting in the round to knitting flat in garter stitch I would (at one of garter stitch parts) have to purl …

Another option would have been to just ignore the problem and do knitting rows - which would have resulted in a slight irregularity in the texture. But I didn't want that …

So I managed to have to knit garter stitch by doing purl rows only … I have to admit that I find this a bit tedious, even though I don't actually hate to purl like others seem to do.

Anyway, I do like the construction in general and I will finish this pair - even if it is rather a complicated way to get a garter stitch edging.
                                                   
Afterwards, I guess I will knit the same (sort of) slippers again - but this time without the problem of changing from knitting in the round and knitting flat in garter stitch.

Freitag, 11. März 2016

Osterspaziergang Socks

After some stressful months, I needed something hopeful ... That's why I decided to knit a pair of socks in fresh colors. Socks that look like spring is in the air. With a yarn in pastel colors and discreet and easy-to-knit lace pattern. The socks are knitted top-down with an afterthought heel.




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





The name "Osterspaziergang" (Easter walk) comes from a famous part of Faust (Part I). It starts like this:
Vom Eise befreit sind Strom und Bäche
Durch des Frühlings holden, belebenden Blick;
Im Tale grünet Hoffnungsglück;
... 
An english translation can be found here (scene II, rows 903ff.).


Materials
  • about 50 grams of fingering weight yarn (or more, depending on your foot size)
  • 2.5 mm dpns
  • scrap yarn (for the afterthought heel)
  • a tapestry needle to weave in ends

Gauge
12 sts to 4 cm, 16 rows to 4 cm

Special Techniques and Other Useful Information



Instructions

Use a stitch number that is a multiple of 4 (e.g. 56, 60 or 64).

Loosely CO the number of stitches advised by the sock knitting table and join in round.
I CO 60 stitches and  distributed the stitches on 3 needles.

Cuff
Knit 12 rows of ribbing: * k2 p2 repeat from * to end of round

Knit 6 repeats of the following pattern
Round 1: k all
Round 2: * k2tog yo k2 repeat from * to end of round
Round 3: k all
Round 4: k all
Round 5: * yo ssk k2 repeat from * to end of round
Round 6: k all
You can do more repeats if you want a longer cuff.

Foot
Knit half the stitches on your needles (for me these were 30 stitches) with scrap yarn, place marker, and slip these 30 stitches back to beginning of row.

Then knit repeats of the following 6 rows until the foot is as long a the desired total foot length minus 10 cm (toe and heel).

Round 1: k all
Round 2: k to marker; k2, * k2tog yo k2 repeat from * to end of round
Round 3: k all
Round 4: k all
Round 5: k to marker; k2, * yo ssk k2 repeat from * to end of round
Round 6: k all

Toe
My usual formula for toes is:

  • once: 1 decrease row, 3 normal rows (k all stitches)
  • twice: 1 decrease row, 2 normal rows
  • three times: 1 decrease row, 1 normal row
  • and then decrease rows only ... until there are only 24 sts in total, then graft in stockinette


This means
Round 1: k all
Round 2 (decrease row): * k1, ssk, to 3 bef marker, k2tog, k1 repeat from * to end of round
Round 3: k all
Round 4: k all
Round 5: k all
Round 6 = Row 2
Round 7: k all
Round 8: k all
Round 9 = Row 2
Round 10: k all
Round 11: k all
Round 12 = Row 2
Round 13: k all
Round 14 = Row 2
Round 15: k all
Round 16 = Row 2
Round 17: k all
Round 18 = Row 2
Repeat round 18 until there are only 24 sts on your needles
Graft in stockinette stitch.

Heel
Pick up the stitches of the rows directly below and above the scrap yarn. Then remove the scrap yarn.
In the first round pick up 2 or 3 stitches from the gap, i.e. between the upper and lower row.

Then I knitted the heel with the following formula

  • alternate 1 decrease row with 1 normal row (k all stitches)
  • ... until there are only 24 sts in total, then graft in stockinette

Or spelled out

Round 1: k all
Round 2 (decrease row): * k1, ssk, to 3 bef marker, k2tog, k1 repeat from * to end of round
Repeat rounds 1 to 2 until there are only 24 stitches left on your needles. Graft in stockinette stitch.

Weave in ends. Make two.


Freitag, 4. März 2016

Stack Overflow Cowl

Stacked stitches are a wonderful way to achieve lovely and intriguing color patterns. This cowl is knitted flat - started with a provsional cast on and ended by grafting. It may take a while to get the hang of knitting stacked stitches but it's definitely a worthwhile activity - since the finished piece is not your average garter stitch cowl.

The first pattern with stacked stitches I saw was Xandy Peters' Fox Paws Pattern - absolutely stunning! Another one of hers is called Ribbon Candy and available on knitty.com. In this pattern I'm going to use a similar notation to hers for the stacked stitches.

As to the pattern name - a stack overflow is a computing term. It means that an execution stack (a part of the computer's memory) grows beyond the memory that is reserved for it - which can lead to computer security vulnerabilities. For more details see this Wikipedia article.




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






Materials
  • about 150 grams of fingering weight yarn in two colors
  • 3.25mm needles (straight or circulars)
  • a tapestry needle to weave in ends





Special Stitches and Techniques

Stack Overflow Cowl - free knitting pattern by Knitting and so on

Size

I did a cast-on of 51 stitches and total of 38 pattern repeast (38 times the 6 rows). My scarf has a width of 29 cm and a circumference of 150 cm.

Stack Overflow Cowl - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on


Instructions

Provisionally CO51 (or if you'd like to vary the width, cast on a multiple of 4 plus 3 (4n+3))
Row 1 (WS): k all
Row 2 (RS):  k1 * inc1-9, k3 repeat from * until there are only two stitches stitch left, inc1-9, k1
Row 3 (WS): * k2tog k2 kfb k1 kfb k2 ssk k1 repeat from * until there are only 11 sts left, k2tog k2 kfb k1 kfb k2 ssk
Change color
Row 4 (RS) = Row 3
Row 5 (WS) = Row 3
Row 6 (RS): BO4 (and carry up yarn from other color), k2, * dec9-1, k3 repeat from * until there are only 4 sts left, BBO4

Repeat rows 1 to 6 and change color everytime you get to row 4, i.e. you knit 6 rows with each color (rows 4 to 6 and 1 to 3).

Repeat until your cowl has reached the desired lenght - make sure to end with the color you started with. Leave a tail of about 1 meter for grafting. Place the stitches from the provisional CO on the second needle, hold the ends together (RS out) and graft in garter stitch.

Weave in ends an block.

Stack Overflow Cowl - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on

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Sonntag, 21. Februar 2016

Stacked Stitches

I've long admired the beautiful patterns with stacked stitches created by Xandy Peters - available on Ravelry or from her website "So I make stuff", e.g. the absolutely gorgeous Fow Paws pattern or Ribbon Candy. I really wanted to be able to do this technique and design something with it.

When I first tried the technique, it took me a while to get the hang of it - because, frankly, the stacked stitches all bungled up on the needles feel weird. But once I got over that (and got my maths right), stacked stitches have a certain rhythm to them and are really fun to knit.

The piece shown below is going to be a double-length cowl, knitted flat with the ends grafted together. (I like that construction :)



Videos explaining how to do stacked increases and stacked decreases can be found on the "So I make Stuff"-YouTube channel.

Freitag, 19. Februar 2016

Cordillera Scarf

A beautiful scarf to show off the contrast of two skeins of the same variegated yarn started at different places in the color sequence. It is knitted from end to end all in garter stitch.

Cordillera Scarf - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on



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




Materials
  • a total about 150 grams of fingering weight yarn - in two colors  (I used two skeins of Noro Taiyo Sock but started at a different point in the color sequence)
  • 3.5 mm needles (straights or circular)
  • 1 stitch marker

Techniques and Notation

Size
I did a total of 9 repeats before I started decreasing. My scarf is about 190 long and - at its widest point - 40 cm wide.


Cordillera Scarf - Free knitting pattern by Knitting and so on


Instructions
CO8 (C1) and CO8 (C2)
Setup Row 0: sl1, k7 (C1); place marker; k8 (C2)

Increasing Part
Ridge 1: sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 2: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 3: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 4: sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 5: sl1, kfb, k to 5 sts bef marker (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 6: sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 7: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 8: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 9: sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 10: sl1, kfb, k to marker (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 11: sl1, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 12: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 13: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 14: sl1, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 15: sl1, kfb, k to marker, k5 (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 5 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 16: sl1, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 17: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 18: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 19: sl1, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 20: sl1, kfb, k to marker (C1); k to last 2 sts, kfb, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker (C2); k to end (C1)

If you prefer to work with charts, here's a chart of the increasing part.
Chart of Cordillera Scarf - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on
Chart 1: Increasing Part of Cordillera Scarf
Repeat Rows 1 to 20 until you have reach half of your desired length.

Decreasing Part
Ridge 1: sl1, k2tog, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 2: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 3: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 4: sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 5: sl1, k to 5 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 6: sl1, k2tog, k to 4 sts bef marker (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1, (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k4 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 7: sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k3 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 8: sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k2 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 9: sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k1 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 10: sl1, k to marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker, k5 (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 11: sl1, k2tog, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 12: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 13: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 14: sl1, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 15: sl1, k to marker, k5 (C1); k to last end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 5 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 16: sl1, k2tog, k to marker, k4 (C1); k to last 3 sts, ssk, k1 (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 4 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 17: sl1, k to marker, k3 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 3 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 18: sl1, k to marker, k2 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 2 sts bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 19: sl1, k to marker, k1 (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to 1 st bef marker (C2); k to end (C1)
Ridge 20: sl1, k to marker (C1); k to end (C2) // turn // sl1, k to marker (C2); k to end (C1)

Chart of Cordillera Scarf - Free Knitting Pattern by Knitting and so on
Chart 2: Decreasing Part of Cordillera Scarf
Repeat until there are only 8 sts of each color left. Instead of a the last WS row bind off in pattern.
Weave in ends and block.

Cordillera Scarf - Free knitting pattern by Knitting and so on


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