Wicker Park

Wow, I'm really excited. I just finished writing the pattern to this shawl and I posted these pictures in the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry--a day and a half later I had to edit the post, allowing more test-knitters, so many wanted to do it. (I have some local testers up my sleeve, as well.)

This is making me think about what other projects I could do. I like the Wicker Park shawl because it has such interesting construction; I love being a short-row architect, which is what I'm calling it now. Maybe I'll make another short-row hat like Lee Meredith, but you know, different. Oh, here's my hat that I made of her design!

Sweater Completed!

So, my first sweater was a success! I finished it a while ago, but I forgot to blog the finished product! Also, I made buttons. Thinking of making more and selling them on Etsy and/or local yarn shops.

Chamber Tie Pattern

The other day my friend Brooke, from the Evanston Chamber of Commerce, mentioned he was starting a blog about ties and wondered if I could knit him a tie. I'd never knit a tie before, but how hard could it be? I took on the challenge and gave it a couple nice personal touches: a seed stitch border and a single cable down the center. I used Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic, which has a nice sheen to it, as well as being very sturdy. I also took some notes so I could write up the pattern for you here!

Materials

Yarn: 1 skein Tahki Yarns Cotton Classic

Needles: US 4 - 3.5 mm

Guage

16 stitches and 22 rows in seed stitch = 2 inches

Abbreviations

CO - cast on

p - purl

k - knit

s - slip stitch from left to right needle purlwise

p2tog - purl 2 stitches together

k2tog - knit 2 stitches together

c4f - slide 2 stitches purlwise to cable needle and hold to front, knit next 2 stiches from left needle, knit stitches off cable needle

c2f - slide 1 stitch purlwise to cable needle and hold to front, knit next stitch from left needle, knit stitch off cable needle.

Pattern

CO 16 stitches

1: s1, (k1, p1) 7 times, k1

2: s1, (p1, k1) 7 times, p1

Repeat two more times.

Cabled area

1: s1, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p3, k1, p1, k1

2, 4, and 6: s1, p1, k1, p1, k2, p4, k3, p1, k1, p1

3: s1, k1, p1, k1, p2, c4f, p3, k1, p1, k1

5: s1, k1, p1, k1, p2, k4, p3, k1, p1, k1

Repeat cable rows 1-6 seventeen times, then work from 1-3 once.

Decrease

After row 3 of the cabled area, you'll be starting on the wrong side (ws).

1: s1, p1, k1, p1, k2tog, p4, k2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1

2: s1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k4, p2, k1, p1, k1

3: s1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p4, k2, p1, k1, p1

4 and 5: Repeat rows 2 and 3.

6: s1, k1, p1, k1, p1, c4f, p2, k1, p1, k1

7: s1, p1, k2tog, k1, p4, k1, p2tog, k1, p1

8: s1, k1, p2, k4, p1, k1, p1, k1

9: s1, p1, k2, p4, k1, p1, k1, p1

10 and 11: Repeat rows 8 and 9.

12: s1, k1, p2, c4f, p1, k1, p1, k1

13: s1, p1, k2, (p2tog) twice, k1, p1, k1, p1

14: s1, k1, p2, k2, p1, k1, p1, k1

15: s1, p1, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1, p1

16: s1, k1, p2, c2f, p1, k1, p1, k1

17: s1, p1, k2, p2, k1, p1, k1, p1

18-29: Repeat rows 14-17 three times.

30: s1, k1, p2, k2, p1, k1, p1, k1

31: s1, p1, k2tog, p2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1

The Rest of the Tie

1. (rs) s1, (k1, p1) three times, k1

2. s1, (p1, k1) three times, p1

Work those two rows until they equal the length of the first part of the tie. Bind off.

First Pattern!

Oh boy! I just added my first pattern to the Ravelry store! It's free because I'm not a pro yet. Anyway, you can find it here! (You need to log in to the site, so if you don't have an account, get one!) And here's a picture of my test-knitter and me, wearing hats that the other one knit!

That Time Of Year

I thought I would share with you the first leg of my trip to work. Yeah, I keep my balance by shouting at the top of my lungs like Tarzan.

My First Sweater!

OK, so it's been a long time coming. I usually favor smaller crafts that can be finished in a day or two--keeps life from getting boring and all, right? And seriously, a sweater...that's BORING! Each piece takes at least a day, then you have to sew it together and everything.

One thing I did that was fun I used short rows to continue the border from the front to the neck of the back. I then learned how to graft from this website and joined the back collar to the front border of the other side. Doing short rows is one of my favorite things in knitting--it gives you freedom to do wacky things like add borders and shape things!

Now for my next experiment--for the sleeves, I picked up stitches around the arm holes and started doing short rows to form a slight cap sleeve. Now that I've finished that, I'm knitting in the round. My round needles are all 16", however, so it looks like a pretty thick sleeve. We'll see if it continues to look that way! If it does, no biggie, I'll just have some wide sleeves.

Hats for the Kids!

Here are a couple more projects from the lovely Hattitude book I bought a couple weeks ago. I also made them matching arm-warmers. Oh! Quiz! Which one has which favorite color? Can you guess?

Everything is made with Malabrigo Worsted. It's so soft and the kids loved the color choices!

Also, I recently sent a fan message to Cathy Carron (author of Hattitude) and she wrote back! Ask anybody who sees me on a day-to-day basis and they'll confirm it's all I talk about. Not really, but I've definitely mentioned it to everybody in passing.