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!

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!

Knitting is Good for You: Knitting Behind Bars

I’ve seen a lot of articles about how knitting is a great way to relieve stress, relax, and help those who are facing difficult times in their lives. I’d like to share some of them with you. This article comes from good.is and describes Maryland convicts who have taken up knitting while behind bars. Head on over to the article here to take a look.

And, as always, happy knitting!

WIP Wednesday: The Sweater Saga

Sorry for the long absence! School, as always, has been super, super busy. As I move forward with this blog I’m really going to have to put a more concerted effort into updating regularly.

Even despite my slow updates, I have kept knitting. I had this big idea earlier this Fall to design and knit my perfect sweater… I didn’t get very far. I had never knit a sweater at all – how was I supposed to design and fit my own?

So below is step 1 of ‘jenny knits herself a sweater finally.’ I chose the Sage pattern (Click Here!) as it’s knit in the round with raglan sleeves. I royally messed up the first sweater I tried to make by seaming terribly. This time I wanted to choose a pattern that has as little seeming as possible.

I’m not sure if I’m in love with the Morrish Lace pattern, but it’s coming along nicely. I haven’t hit any major snags (yet!).

As it is only my second attempt at a sweater, I didn’t want to buy a too expensive yarn for it. I’m using Ella Rae Amity worsted weight on sale at Webs. I also didn’t swatch (yikes!). I know its a heavier yarn than called for but I figured that this is really just an experiment anyway… right? UGh.

Well, we’ll see how this goes.

A Long Time Coming

Hello everyone!

Sorry for the long long absence. End-of-school and finals and trips to NYC and Canada have kept me very busy the past month and a half. I have a lot to share with you but I’ll start with my latest FO:

Pattern: Springtime Bandit
Project Link: Ravelry Page

This is my first lace/shawl project EVER and I loved every minute of it. Even when I messed up and had to rip back (saw K2 P to last 2 stitches, K2 as K2 P2 across… though edge chart only charted odd rows like others – it doesn’t) I still enjoyed seeing the beautiful patterns I was creating. I used Malabrigo Merino Worsted in ‘purple magic.’ It was a dream to work with and the color is beautiful!(and I have some leftover )

Unfortunately, my love for lace knitting does not match my love of wearing shawls (none) so I plan to wear this more as a scarf:

This was also my first experience blocking something. I may have to block it again, it kind of contracted back in on itself.

I’ll have more updates soon!

Jenny

Last of Winter

Hello again,

One of my favorite things about being at school in the city is I will finally experience a real-life spring. At home it’s cold right up until May so the few warm days we’ve had already have made me so ready for the warm weather.

But before this got too ridiculously cozy to post, I finally made the bulky cowl I’ve seen on all the stylish looking city people this winter. Every day it’s semi-acceptable to wear this I do. This is the first time I’ve not followed a pattern at all. I didn’t want to not give credit, though, to the GAP-tastic pattern as it looks just like it plus I stalked the project pages to look at measurements.

Though I didn’t count the # of cast on stitches, I can if anyone is interested in making the same thing. I used LionBrand Super-bulky (on sale – woot!) and size 15 36″ circulars. Super easy, super quick, and super instant gratification.

Ravelry Link

(please excuse messy dorm room/poorly edited pictures)

Slouchy Spring Hat

I got some Kudo yarn on sale at my LYS at the end of January. It was just one skein so I had to make something small – I decided on a hat.

I’ve made the Katherine Hat twice now, and I really love the pattern. I produces just the right amount of slouch. I ended the hat a bit to early this time, but still fits relatively okay.

Ravelry Link
Pattern Link

I’m excited for spring knitting and crafting – the weather is finally starting to warm up and I can’t wait until shorts weather!

Until next time!

Jenny