Purling through the back loop January 27, 2009

Purling through the back loop (p tbl) is not something that’s done very often, but it’s a handy skill to have.  It can also be confusing to figure out without pictures.  Purling through the back loop after a cable turn can help avoid holes.  If you’ve accidentally twisted a purl stitch, it’s an easy way to correct it.  Or, if you’re like me, you mostly run into twisted purl stitches when you’ve had to rip back and no matter how many times you’ve put stitches back on the needles, they’re always twisted.

 

 

Insert the right needle into the back loop of the purl stitch from the back to the front.

   

 

Wrap yarn around needle as usual and pull through the stitch.

 

Recently, I’ve been using p tbl in my ribbing.  I wrap my yarn around the bottom of the right hand needle (instead of around the top as in the picture) which twists the resulting stitch.  On the next row, I purl the stitch through the back loop to correct the twist, still wrapping my yarn in the opposite direction.  Personally, I think that doing that has improved the look of my k1p1 ribbing considerably.  I should probably take some pictures of the two ribbings, but I’ve been a little under the weather lately and so I am lazy. 

 

I got the yarn for my Fireflake hat in blue and white, although I’m not sure I’ll have time to knit it before winter is gone.  Yarn for my sweater/cardigan should be here soon too!  I’m really excited about that.  Can’t wait to get started!

Yarn Babbling January 22, 2009

Ok, having carefully looked at my queue of projects and searched deep in my soul for the answers to life’s great questions, I have determined that, yes, I have enough time and sanity to knit a seamless raglan cardigan.  Not just any cardigan, mind you, a cardigan that will be designed mostly on the fly, a cardigan that will include my first sleeves, and a cardigan that will include my first steek.   Any sane person would choose a pattern already designed and written by a professional sweater-designer.  But me?  I like a challenge.  Apparently.

 

Also, have you noticed that “queue” is a really weird word?  I was trying to type it and I honestly couldn’t remember how to spell it.  It was inconceivable to me that it had “ueue” after the Q.  Shouldn’t there be some sort of silent consonant in there?  Maybe I should start spelling it “queuet.”  The T is silent. Isn’t that better?

 

So, the sweater/cardigan (it will start off life as a sweater before the *shudder* steek is cut up the center) will be knit from Knit Picks Swish Worsted, in Marine Heather.  I know that I come across as the world’s biggest Knit Picks junkie.  But I really like their yarns.  I think that they can’t be beat for a sturdy, good quality yarn for a low price.  I love many, many non-Knit Picks yarns (mm, Road to China.)  But I can’t afford them all the time.  Especially since, well, it takes a lot of skeins to make something that goes around my whole torso.

 

Aaaaaanyway.  I’m thinking that the cardigan will have some nice cabling details.  And if it turns out well, I’ll of course be publishing the pattern here.  Here’s hoping that that’s the case.

 

I mentioned some Misti Alpaca that my brother-in-law had bought me last time.  After Christmas, we drove up to Vancouver for a few days and we spent some time in the Granville Market.  Well, my mother-and brother-in-law spent more time than the rest of us, but that’s another story.  They stopped in at Maiwa, a fiber supply store.  This store is seriously cool.  All kinds of yarns, books, fibers, and dyes.  They had all natural dyes, too, from flowers and vegetables.  I almost bought some, but I don’t really do enough dyeing to justify a big tub of ground marigold or indigo.  The in-laws spent a while looking at different yarns, trying to decide what I’d like. 

 

What I got was some beautiful Skacel Adagio (70% llama, 30% silk)

   

 

And some Misti Laceweight Alpaca (100% baby alpaca)

 

Actually, the second ball of Adagio wasn’t blue originally; it was gold, but when I went in to check out Maiwa for myself I couldn’t resist the combination of blues.  You know how I am with blues.  The laceweight presents an interesting quandary.  Do I try my hand at a lace shawl?  I’m not really a shawl-wearer.  I love the colors, though.  They’d be beautiful as a shawl.  The employee at the store recommended holding the yarn doubled and making a scarf, which is probably what I’ll do.  Shawl might be too much of a commitment right now, given my list of projects.

 

I also picked up some of this Fiesta Ballet (50% superfine alpaca, 50% Tencel) yarn which my mother-in-law pointed out to me:

 

This might be destined for a hat or something like that.  It’s crazily soft.  If I had more of it, I might have made it into a scarf too.

 

I love souvenir yarn shopping.

Too many projects January 19, 2009

I have once again been bitten by the sweater bug.  Usually, this bug bite just involves a slight itching, solved by a liberal application of reminding myself of how much I hate, hate, hate seaming.  Did I mention that I hate it?  Nowadays, this reminder comes in the form of reviewing my stupid mistakes on the Estes Vest, chronicled on this very blog.  Unfamiliar with seaming, I slipped the first stitch of every row, making mattress stitch unfeasible for the seaming.  Very unpleasant.

 

Those who followed the Estes saga might remember that one of the reasons I wanted to knit it was because it had no sleeves.  This fact appeared perfect, as sleeves seem like the main hassle of knitting a sweater.  All that pinning and easing and making sure that the stitches line up.  And even picking up stitches from the shoulder for the sleeve seems hard- you have to pick up, what, every 3rd stitch or something like that?  Sadly, though, I really like sleeves.  Sleeves are warm.  Can’t make a sweater without sleeves.  What to do?

 

I received Elizabeth Zimmerman’s Knitting Without Tears from a friend for Christmas.  Elizabeth Zimmerman is known for many things, including her blunt and amusing writing style and her famous cast off.  But she also invented (or unvented) the bottom-up seamless sweater.  Seamless!  Knit all in the round, except for a few rows at the back of the neck.

 

I’m dying to make myself one of these.  Zimmerman has instructions for a yoke, a raglan, and a saddle shoulder sweater.  They’re all based on percentages so they easily scale to different sizes with a minimum of math.  What I really want is a nice comfy cardigan to wear on nights when I’m a little chilly around the house; something that looks nice but is, essentially, comfort clothing.  I’m thinking that I will make a raglan sweater then cut a steek up the front and make it a cardigan with some buttons.  I’ll put some cabling around the bottom and up the front (maybe the back) and sleeves.  I’m really excited to start this project, even knowing that by the time I’m done with it, it’ll probably be too warm to wear, because that’s just the way things work.

 

Of course, I also have a pair of Fair Isle gloves that I’m dying to knit.  I have them all charted out and the yarn sitting upstairs.  And I’ve got two designs that are destined for submissions to Knotions and a UK magazine, Yarn Forward.  Sorry I can’t share with you what they are yet.  But I can say that they’re fabulous.  I’d like to submit something to Knitty too, but I haven’t gotten a good idea yet.  And not only do I have those projects to start/finish, I have a crocheted blanket that I started last January that I’d like to finish some time this year and I need a new cowl for skiing since the one I made two years ago has felted to be too small.  And I really want to knit a scarf/cowl with this Misti Alpaca that my brother-in-law gave me before it gets too warm.  And a new hat, a white and blue version of the Fireflake Hat…

 

I can do all that before the weather changes, right?

 

Of course, the weather is against me.  Right now it’s 53 degrees outside.  And sunny! Is this Seattle or not?!  I’m going to have to migrate north just to be able to wear my knitwear soon.  But it does mean that I can ride my bike more often, which is nice.  As you can see, I’m very conflicted about this weather thing. 

 

Either way, I guess if I want to be able to justify adding a cardigan to my pile of projects, I’d better get back to knitting! (And I’d better knit fast!)

Fireflake Hat January 14, 2009

I love this hat.  I think I love everything about it (and I don’t normally like snug-fitting hats.)  I designed this for my husband, but I’ve already ordered the yarn to make one for myself (in white and blue!) For him, I wanted a hat with color and with a pattern resembling snowflakes, since he’ll be wearing it around the ski village.  But I didn’t want the color to be girly and I didn’t want the snowflakes to be obviously Nordic.  I like this pattern because the snowflakes are very geometric and not at all like the traditional “ski sweaters.”  The chart looks complicated but each row is easy to follow. Which was very nice, seeing as I was secretly knitting it five days before Christmas!  (Sadly, it took longer to get a good picture of the hat than it did to knit and write the pattern!)

 

I also used this hat as an excuse to work on my tubular cast on.  I don’t like rolled brims and I wanted to have the color work start as close to the beginning of the hat as possible.  So, a tubular cast on with ribbing that gives a nice stretchy edge and looks almost like stockinette seemed perfect.  The only drawback is that the cast on is best worked flat, but there isn’t much to sew up at the end.  However, if you don’t want to tackle the tubular cast on, cast on with the long tail cast on, join in the round and work 5 rounds of ribbing.  The tubular cast on will flip around until blocking.  Wet blocking is the way to go- afterwards the cast on will lay flat.  If it doesn’t, try running some elastic through the tube created by the cast on to hold it down.

 

The hat is cast on flat in sport weight yarn, then joined in the round and worked circularly for the rest of the pattern.  The color chart is repeated 8 times around the hat.  I found it helpful to place a marker at the end of each chart repeat.  After the color work, the yarn is switched from sport weight to worsted weight so that the plain stockinette section is quick to knit.  There are two sizes; the only difference between them is length.  The women’s size is 1″ shorter than the men’s.

 

         

 

Fireflake Hat

Download the PDF: Fireflake Hat

• Finished Size: 20″ x 7″ for Women’s, 20″ circumference, 8″ in Men’s, shown in Men’s
• Needles: 1 size 5(3.75mm) 16″ circular, 1 size 7(4.50mm) 16″ circular, 1 set size 7(4.50mm) DPNs 
• Yarn: Knit Picks Telemark: Black, Garnet Heather, Flame Heather, Persimmon Heather; Knit Picks Wool of the Andes: Coal
• Yardage: Black, 70yd; Garnet, 40yd; Flame, 15yd; Persimmon, 15yd; Coal, 80yd
• Gauge:  25 sts x 29 rows = 4″ in sport weight Color Chart; 22 sts x 26 rows = 4″ in worsted weight stockinette
• Extras: 24″ waste yarn (for cast on), tapestry needle, stitch markers (optional)

 

Special Stitches

Tubular Cast On:  There are many great tutorials online about tubular cast ons. I use TechKnitter’s technique.  TechKnitter also links to other tutorials for this cast on.  Here is a video tutorial.

1×1 Ribbing: *K1, p1* to the end of the row.

 

Brim

Using the a 1×1 rib tubular cast on, cast on 129 stitches with Telemark Black on the smaller circular needle.  Do not join in the round.  (If using a long-tail cast on, cast on 128 sts, join in the round, and work 5 rows of 1×1 ribbing.  Move on to the Color Work Section.)

Work 4 foundation rows (k1, sl 1 purlwise with yarn in front) as per tutorial instructions.

Work 1 row of K1 P1 ribbing until the last stitch of the row.  Join in the round by knitting the last stitch together with the first stitch of the row. 1 st decreased; 128 sts

 

Color Work

Knit 1 round Black.

Knit 1 round Garnet Heather.

Knit 1 round Black.

Work Color Chart 8 times around the hat. (Both charts below are the same.  One is in color, one is in symbols; use whichever one is best for you.  Click on the charts to enlarge.)

  

Knit 1 round Black.

Knit 1 round Garnet Heather.

Knit 1 round Black.

Switch to larger circular and join Wool of the Andes Coal.  Cut Telemark Black.

Decrease Round: K1, *k2tog, k3, k2tog, k2,* to the last 5 sts, k2tog, k3.  28 sts decreased; 100 sts

Knit until the hat measures 5.25″ [6.25"] from the cast on edge.

 

Shape Top

Dec Rnd: *k2, k2tog,* to the end of the round. 25 sts decreased; 75 sts

Knit 2 rounds even.

Dec Rnd: *k2, k2tog,* to the last 3 sts, k3.  18 sts decreased; 57 sts

Knit 2 rnds even.

Dec Rnd: *k1, k2tog,* to the end of the round.  19 sts decreased; 38 sts

Knit 1 round even.

Dec Rnd: *K1, k2tog,* to the last 2 sts, k2.  12 sts decreased; 26 sts

Knit 1 rnd even.

Dec Rnd: K2tog 13 times.  13 sts decreased; 13 sts

Knit 1 round even.

Dec Rnd: K2tog 6 times, k1.  6 sts decreased; 7 sts

Cut yarn and thread through the remaining stitches.  Pull tight and weave in all ends. Use the tail from the cast on to sew up the gap in ribbing.

Wet block to remove brim curl and relax the color work.

     

 

Please Note: I post my patterns as soon as I’ve completed them because I’m excited to share them with you. They have not been fully tested. I’ve made every effort to make sure that the instructions are clear and error-free. There may be typos or pattern mistakes and if you find them or have any questions, please let me know by posting a comment or emailing me, dailyskein at gmail.com.

 

This work by Cailyn Meyer is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-Share Alike 3.0 United States License.

Cableface January 12, 2009

Scene: A poorly-lit ski shop in the middle of winter.

[Two knitters walk into the shop, chatting about hand knit hats.  They glance at a skier standing in the corner, facing away from them.]

Knitter 1: Wow, I wonder how this hat is made.  Look at that stitch pattern.

Knitter 2: Yeah, and check out those sweet skis!  Excuse me, do you work here?  Are these on sale? [looking at the skier in the corner.]

[The skier turns around slowly, dressed in a stylish hooded jacket and snow pants.]

[Lightning flashes, revealing the skier's face- a cable knitted in a blue-white hand spun.]

[Knitter 1 and 2 scream and try to run.]

[Cableface trips the knitters with yarn and strangles them with the cable of her circular needle.]

[Cableface turns to the camera and holds up her wickedly sharp metal DPNs.  Chilling music plays.]

 

Cableface

Coming soon to theaters near you.  Unrated.

 

 

Seriously, people, I think we’re in real danger here.  Think about the dangerous weapons that we work with.  Sharp needles.  Cable needles are really just pointy-ended garrotes.  Yarn has so many nefarious uses; cheap acrylic could easily be used to torture someone.  DPNs could be lethal projectiles.  Poison stitch markers- well, maybe that’s going too far.

 

I’m not sure if Cableface is just a horribly scarred knitter using a cabled mask to hide her identity while she murders other knitters or if she’s a half-finished, partly frogged and scorned piece of knitwear that’s turned evil from neglect.  But either way, I think we need to be wary.  She’s obviously unhinged and cold.  She also might enjoy skiing or boarding when not killing people.  It is our job as members of the knitting community to keep our eyes out for this criminal and to warn others.  Call the police immediately if you see Cableface.  I’m sure there’s a reward.  If they’re smart, it’ll be paid in cashmere.