Trying my hand at fair isle

I finally got around to doing some interesting color work. I found this pattern in Cool Knits For Kids. I couldn't find any errata for the pattern, and the pattern isn't even imputed on ravelry yet, but the pattern seems to be missing a chart, so I did my fair isle stuff mostly from the picture. It worked out, though - looks pretty good, if I do say so myself. I also picked an alternate color scheme (the one in the book is pink) and took out the heart intarsia on the ear flaps and replaced it with a random fair isle pattern. I'm really happy with the result! Now, if I could only get my toddler to wear it!

Fibonacci Hat

Well, since the other hat didn't fit my son's ginormous head, I ended up giving it away and trying again. This time, I used JoAnn Sensations Kashmira yarn (which is DK weight, in case you're wondering, but for some reason it's not labeled). I really like the JoAnn Sensations yarn. I didn't think I was going to like it this much but, for cheap wool, it's REALLY smooth. Not soft, really, so much as soft like cotton might be sorta soft. It doesn't feel scratchy at all like normal wool feels. I tried to felt it before though, since the label says "100% wool Felt-able" but the felting was terrible.

The colors I had I wasn't too sure about, so I had read on some blog someplace that if you use the Fibonacci sequence for the stripes it is more appealing to the eye than just straight stripes w/colors that don't necessarily go well together. I had about the same gauge (as far as I can tell) as with the patons classic marino, so I went with it, but I believe I cast on 113 this time to make up some circumference and also did 9 iterations of the increase part of the pattern. I love how it turned out. I'll see if I can get him to hold still enough to get a pic of him with it on.

Baby Hat take 2

Ok, so since they didn't give a gauge (or dimensions), I think the hat I made turned out closer to 0-6 month size. At least, it's tight on my 6 month old, but maybe he has a giant head. here's the pic, though. I guess I'll try a bigger number cast on :)

Baby Hat

One of my friends did her own rendition of this hat pattern, which I got to see when we were at a playdate. OH SO CUTE!! So of course, I set out to try out my own rendition (she didn't give me the website, I had to search it out). The pattern is translated from a Norwegian pattern, and I don't know about you, but I've never even *seen* a 2.5mm circular needle (I believe that's a 1 1/2 size, US). And of course, I wanted to knit it right away instead of waiting until I got a chance to go to a yarn shop, so I had to go with what I had. I *do* have a size 3 circular needle, which I figured I could use and get a fairly small gauge, and the Patons Classic Wool Merino comfortably knits to a pretty small gauge, so I decided to go with that from my stash. The gauge in the pattern is 28 stitches to 10 cm (about 4 inches), so instead I wound up with 24 stitches per 4 inches with the combo I used. I wanted to make a 12 month size hat, so I calculated out how many inches it would be using their gauge and then used that to decide to cast on109 stitches. That puts the in between straight stockingette sections at 16 stitches instead of 18 or 19.

Ok, I'm off to knit. I'll let you know how it goes!

Finished Braidy

I finished it, finally. And just in time to give it away as a christmas present. It turned out well, but I think if I were to do it again, I'd go with the worsted weight and a smaller gauge. probably a 6x1 rib. The chunky yarn was just a bit too thick, I think, but good for a men's scarf. I'm extremely happy with how the cabling turned out, though.

Braidy

I saw the new Gap Donegal Scarf and decided I LOVE it. But... I don't want to buy it, because to just have it isn't enough, even though it's being sold at a reasonable price for a hand-knit scarf, and in a month or two I could buy it on a lovely deep discount. I want to KNIT it. I want to do it myself. I HAVE TO!! It's a fairly simple pattern, and it shouldn't be much of a problem.

Doesn't it look cool? That's the Gap pic... hope it's ok if I use that. If not, here's the link I'll post mine when it's done.


Here's my pattern for it, I'm calling it Braidy. It won't be exactly the same because I believe they used a worsted weight yarn, and 6x1 rib which you might consider, too, adjusting your cables and needle size according , but....





Braidy:

Yarn: wool ease "chunky" I used the "charcoal" colorway.

Needles: Size 11 straights (8.0 mm) (or size needed to obtain gauge - or at least be close)

Gauge: 14st =4 inches in 4x1 rib

BTW... please let me know if you use this pattern... I'm curious if anyone will :)

4x1 rib:
Row 1 - p1 *k4, p1 repeat from *
Row 2 - k1 *p4, k1 repeat from *

Cable sequence :
Row 1: p1, k4p1, k4p1 slip next 5 stitches onto cable needle hold to front of work, k4p1, K4P1 from cable needle. work remainder of row in 4x1 rib.
Rows 2 - 6: Work in 4x1 rib starting w/row 2
Row7: p1 k4 p1, *slip next 5 stitches onto cable needle and hold to back of work, K4P1, K4P1 from cable needle. repeat from * once more, K4P1
Rows 8-12: work in 4x1 rib starting w/ row 2
Row 13: p1, *slip next 5 stitches onto cable needle hold to front of work, k4p1, K4P1 from cable needle. repeat from * twice more.
Rows 14-18: work in 4x1 rib starting w/ row 2
Row 19: work as row 7
Rows 20-24: work in 4x1 rib starting w/ row 2
Row 25: work as row 1


Pattern:
CO 31 stitches.
Work 4x1 rib for 12 inches, then work cable sequence.
Work 4x1 rib again for 3 feet (or 36 inches, if you prefer) , then work cable sequence again.
Work 12 inches of 4x1 rib then bind off rib-wise.

I'm only through the first cable sequence right now but I'll post the picture of my finished object when I get a chance. Enjoy!

More pics:
I'd like to add that I checked out the original gap version (which is for women, and a bit daintier than the one I made) and it's definitely made from worsted, but has the same 4x1 rib. If you're making it for a woman, you might prefer to use a worsted weight yarn, although it'll take an extra skein of it, I suspect. You might also make it a bit shorter, depending on how long you like your scarf, but the one I made was intended for a man.

Coasters

As one of my ideas for christmas gifts, I've decided to do felted coasters. I used Patons SWS (soy wool stripes) for it. I really liked the lopi-ish style single-ply of the SWS. It's one thing I really liked about Lamb's pride, too. Here's the initial swatch at 9 inches by 7 inches. I cast on 25 stitches on size 10 1/2 needles, then worked it in stockingette. I'm just doing one big long piece to get the rest of the coasters done. Much more efficient, since I'm cutting it anyway.



Here's the swatch after it was felted. It's now 6 inches by 5 inches.

I then used a coaster I have as a guide and cut the felt into square coasters. They're just shy of 4 inches square.
I like it better post cut - the sharp edges look nicer than the messy felted edges of the original swatch, imo. The striping of the yarn turned out really well, too! I'm very happy with the way it turned out... now to do the rest....