WIP Wednesday: Beatnik Sweater (The De-Stresser)

It still feels a little like the twilight zone being home after a very, very stressful last few weeks of school. With finals done (and grades received!) I am so happy to have time to knit again, and to come home to this:

 

After being in the city most of the year I’m always so happy to be home. I took this picture on a short walk the other day and it was beautiful out.

I’ve been working on the Beatnik sweater since about March, but in the past week I’ve really had a chance to get a lot done.

This is the back. I’m considering modifying the sweater and making it a cardigan. I’m just worried that kind of goes against the intended style of the pattern.  At the same time, I know I’ll wear it more if it’s a cardigan. I’m going to do the sleeves before I work on the front so I’ll cross that bridge later.

The cabling is love/hate thing for me. It definitely keeps the sweater interesting and I love watching it grow, but it does get a little tedious to do for two feet. I’m excited to work on the sleeves next.

The color in the first photo is more accurate. I don’t know if you can tell in this picture, but in the cable on the middle panel my Vs sometimes get a bit stretched. It almost makes a hole in the fabric. I’m not sure if it’s because my tension isn’t even or if I’m fighting against the cable too hard when it’s on the cable needle. Does anyone else have this problem?

I’m using Ella Rae Amity which is 25% wool and 75% acrylic. I was looking for a relative cheap, washable yarn that was not 100% acrylic. I tried using this yarn on an earlier sweater (see this post) but didn’t like the look of the sweater, so I frogged it. This one is coming out much better. I’m excited to see the end result!

About the Crickets…

Hey everyone! Sorry about the quiet around here… School (always my excuse) has just been so so so busy and I haven’t had a chance to do much knitting or crafting at all. And I do want to finish my Beatnik before it’s a consistent 80 degrees outside.

In the meantime, I have been able to do some pinning to Pinterest. Below are some links to some tutorials I’m thinking of trying for some MIBMs!

Origami Butterflies courtesy of Goorigami

 

Doily dreamcatcher courtesy Calico Skies

 

Map cork board courtesy Design Sponge

 

Crochet-covered stones courtesy Flax & Twine

 

Be sure to check them out and if you give one of them a whirl let me know how it turns out!

 

Jenny

Made it By Monday: Homemade Peanut Butter Cups

When I stumbled upon this recipe by Megan at radmegan, I knew I had to try it. I also have always had bad luck with anything baking/cooking related but this seemed simple enough that I had to at least give it a shot.

(clicking on the picture will also bring you to the tutorial!)

It requires no baking! Just melted chocolate and a fridge.

Materials:
-melting chocolate or chocolate chips
-peanut butter
-cooking spray
-mini cupcake papers (I couldn’t find any in my grocery store as small as the ones used in the actual tutorial, I would say mine were probably the next size up).

Time:
About 45 min to an hour

Tips:
-I found it easiest to just spread the chocolate with the back of the spoon in the wrappers
-Because my holders were bigger, my peanut butter cups were bigger. This meant that some bites contain A LOT of peanut butter. A tip would be to crush up some chocolate or honey graham cracker and mix it into the peanut butter mix.

Delicious! For the complete tutorial, be sure to follow the link!

Two FOs: Knit Koala and the Secret Sweater

Things have been so so so crazy at school I feel I’ve barely been able to catch my breath. The good news is I’ve finally declared: History and Economics. I even got a coffee mug from the econ department.

As a result, I’m still playing a game of catch-up with posting about the knitting projects I have completed.

The first is a knit koala toy that I intend to send off when I get home from school with the hat I mentioned in the previous post. I think I may have read the pattern wrong because other people’s projects seem to have a, I guess, rounder body. He’s also a bit askew. But I still think it’s cute nonetheless.

Pattern: Koala Baby
Project Page

The second FO is, surprisingly, a sweater! After all my complaining I thought I would never actually complete one, but it happened. I think it definitely helps that I used a chunky yarn and made the project go a whole lot quicker. I was able to finish it right before I returned to school this winter.

Pattern: Buckland
Project Page

As you can probably tell by the picture it was super bright that day and I couldn’t stop squinting. The sweater is knit side to side and there were so many times when I felt like no way this is right…no way. The result was a super comfy, super cozy lounge sweater. I used Loops & Threads Charisma and though it does pill easily the price and softness – especially for an acrylic yarn – made it irresistible for a first sweater.

The two sides are seemed down the middle using a 3-needle bind off. This project taught me so many new things and finally gave me the confidence to try a new sweater. I am currently working on the Beatnik pattern from knitty. I’m a little worried for when I get to the seaming portion after my disastrous attempt at seeming the Basic Black sweater. Hopefully it turns out something like this:

We shall see….

Flurries Newborn Hat – Free Pattern

Apparently I’m a knitting machine this week. Though it definitely helps when some of the things you are knitting are tiny. My cousin and his wife are expecting a baby within the year and I couldn’t help but finally try my hand at baby knits. It’s definitely a lot faster than knitting for grown-ups!

I started knitting this as it was just beginning to snow outside last week. Inspired by the flurries, I added some simple color work to the top.

Below is a rough pattern for the hat. I added a chart but I may not have formatted it correctly as it is knit in the round. If anyone can spot any errors please let me know!!

This hat is knit in the round

Materials:

-Less than 1 skein each of two colors of worsted weight yarn.

-Yarn needle

-Four US Size 4 DPNs (3.75mm)

Gauge:

6 st x 7 rows = 1″

Pattern:

Cast on 60 stitches, dividing evenly onto three needles

K1, P1 for 1 inch

Knit around until piece measures 2.5 inches from the beginning

Start color work chart. (I added the chart for clarity, but it’s really just alternating the MC and the CC every other stitch with the 9th row of the chart starting with the CC, 3sts of MC, and CC again).

(Clicking on the image will make it larger)

Knit until piece measures 4 inches from the beginning

Begin crown decreases:

k2, k2tog around

k1, k2tog around

k2tog around

knit one round

k2tog around

Finishing:

break yarn, cinch top

Weave in loose ends.

Again, please let me know if you have any problems. I’m still new at writing patterns and I hope they are as clear and easy to follow as possible!

FO: Haven-Inspired

Thank goodness for spring break! I have had this piece done for a while and just haven’t been able to post about it.

I had admired the Haven scarf by Kim Hargreaves for a long time. Unfortunately, the price and shipping of the book just for one pattern was not in my budget range. Thankfully, I recognized the lace pattern in the scarf and saw that it was just that surrounded by a garter stitch border. Armed with that knowledge, I quickly developed my own version of the Haven scarf.

Ravelry Link

I first started with knittingonthenet’s Shell Lace Pattern.

I then modified the lace pattern so that the sl, K2tog, psso was just a K3tog. I didn’t like the look of the slipped stitch and thought the k3tog looked more centered.

I also cast on enough stitches to do a slipped 3st garter border on each side (slipped 1st stitch, purled last stitch) and two lace repeats. I also began and ended the scarf with 6 rows of garter stitch.

After knitting a few swatches to make sure I was getting the look I wanted, I chose Loops & Threads Charisma.It is cheap and soft. It does tend to pill easily however and can split.

I cast on 38 stitches on US size 10 needles and was on my way. It really turned into a luxuriously warm scarf. This winter was so warm, though, it didn’t get to wear it nearly as much as I wanted…

I also apologize for this last photo. I had a hard time while wearing it to get the photo to accurately represent the color while showing the lace pattern.

Blues Infinity Scarf – Free Pattern!

I’m on spring break this week and I’m using my extra time to finally update you all on some of my completed knitting projects. This newest one is a quickie that I already love wearing! I used Marble Chunky yarn that I got at a nearby Blick Art Materials on sale. It’s a lot of yarn so if you can grab it while it’s on sale I definitely recommend doing so. The color variegation plays out really well in the scarf. My only complaints are that the yarn splits very easily (it’s 2ply and very loose) and I found about 3 knots in the skein. You are welcome to substitute any chunky weight yarn.

~*~*~

Blues Infinity scarf is a reversible circle scarf that has two unique sides that are warm and fluffy next to the skin. If you have an questions, please feel free to contact me.

Ravelry Link

Materials: 

- 1 skein (I used about 3/4 of it) of Marble Chunky Yarn

- Set of US size 10 (6mm) straight needles

- Yarn Needle

Gauge:

16 sts x 21 rows = 4 in  (gauge is not incredibly important for this pattern)

Finished Measurements:

8″ x 54″ before seaming

Pattern:

Cast on 30 stitches

Row 1: Knit

Row 2: *P1,K2*

Repeat rows 1 and 2 until scarf measures 54″ from beginning.

Finishing:

Mattress stitch the two ends together to complete the infinity scarf. A helpful tutorial for the mattress stitch can be found here.

Enjoy your new infinity scarf!

A Thank You!

It’s been super busy at school the past few weeks, and as a result this post is quite late. This is a big shout out to the folks at Studio DIY who just before the holidays held a giveaway of the recycled journals by Ex Libris Anonymous. I was lucky enough to win one and I couldn’t be happier!

I loved Nancy Drew as a kid so the choice of journal was an easy one. It definitely inspired me to start journaling again too!

Made It By Monday (on a Tuesday – shh!): The Easiest Circle Scarf

Hello again everyone! This week I want to share with you another super easy tutorial by Belrossa. I’ve had a hard time finding an inexpensive circle or infinity scarf lately, and after seeing this tutorial I had to try it.

First thing to find is a square scarf. I found mine for $0.25 at a thrift store (definitely beats some scarves I’ve seen for $25.00+).

I folded it with right sides in and pin down the sides to sew.

Turned it right side out and it was ready to wear!

Seriously, one of the simplest things ever with a satisfactory result. For more details, head on over to Belrossa!

Happy crafting!

Made It By Monday: Lace T-Shirt

Like a previous MIBM’s Lace Earrings, here comes another project that is a great way to use an old lace table cloth or curtain.

I made this lace shirt following Yellow Suitcase Studio’s Lace Top Tutorial. It was so easy to follow (especially for someone like me who has very little sewing experience) and I finished it in one night. She does a great job using photos and written instructions to help you out!

This is the first tshirt I’ve ever sewn myself so I’m very happy with the result. I didn’t finish the sleeves partly because I like the unfinished look and partly because I was done trying to fiddle around with my very, very old sewing machine.

Tutorial Link: Click Here!

Total Time:
2-3 hours

What You Need:

Scraps of lace (enough solid pieces to make the front and the back)

Sewing machine

White thread

Iron

A bit of patience!

Have a great week! I’m heading back to school in two days so expect the next update soon!