Hot weather and hot bargains

The hot weather went and then came back again. We’ve had a bit of a cool change this afternoon and there’s some lovely steady rain falling now. Love that smell!

My gorgeous daughters picked up these gems for me at the trash and treasure stall at their school fair last weekend. They said there were heaps more, but weren’t sure whether I’d want them or not. It was at the end of the day, when they were getting rid of books at $1 per bag.

They’re “Get Knitting” packs from Marshall Cavendish. One of them actually mentions 1987 on the cover, so I know what vintage they are. They contain pattern leaflets for about a dozen garments and a knitting guide with tips for particular techniques. So I’ve now got issues 9 and 26. I probably won’t knit any of the patterns, but they’re great as reference material. Items like this, that are now 22 years old, have historical value as well.

The back of my Trellis Rib Vest is finished now. I love it. As for the front, due to the weather, all I’ve done is cast on and knit one row. I’ll be doing more every day that weather and circumstances allow.

Too hot to knit

Well, that’s not strictly true. There has been a little knitting, but not enough to report on. Five of the last six days have been over 32 degrees. When it’s very hot, yarn doesn’t run smoothly through my fingers, so it’s time to put the knitting away for some other pursuits. In this case cross stitch.

This is the project I work on when I’m between knitting projects, or when it’s too hot for me to knit. It’s not for any purpose, other than it’s something I enjoy doing. I’m not in a hurry to finish it, so I just do a bit when I want to. I’m certainly not aiming for perfection.

Here’s to some knitting conducive weather over the next week.

First Vest Design Under Way

I’m now working on my first vest design. It’s in a lace rib pattern called Trellis Rib. The garment will have no ease, and no shaping, apart from a shallow rectangular neck line.




I had thoughts of shaping armholes and a v neck, but doing this in a lace pattern seemed a bit daunting. The fact that each knitter has their own row gauge has been troubling me. It’s one thing to achieve the correct stitch gauge, but achieving both stitch gauge and row gauge can be difficult. How will I know that the knitter will reach the shoulders at the same row that I do? I’ve since been looking at more patterns, with lace and without. I’m learning so much. In a lot of patterns the piece is knit until it measures ‘x’, the armhole shaping is done, and then knit even until piece measures ‘y’. Even with a v neck shaping, which I had always thought continued until the shoulders, there seems to be the instruction, and then knit even until piece measures ‘x’. So although the schematic often doesn’t show it, there is some knitting without shaping at the top.

I want my designs to be useful to all knitters, whether they can acheive row gauge or not.

I’ve just now gone Googling on row gauge, and the consensus seems to be that for v necks and raglan sleeves, getting row gauge right is mandatory. I’m not much for raglan sleeves, so that’s not going to bother me. V necks don’t have to slope all the way to the top.

The time where I can see it will be an issue for me is where a high row number pattern is used, and needs to finish at a certain point in the pattern. The pattern I have in mind is the Boxy Tops pullover designed by Lily M. Chin and published in Knitters Magazine Fall 2001 K64, which I have not been able to find a link to. The pattern repeat in this design is 40 rows, and part of the pattern forms the v in the v neck when it gets to that point. It’s a bit hard, in this case, to say knit until work measures around ‘x’ cm ending with row 6. I suppose there aren’t many designs which would have this kind of issue.

In the mean time, I’ve seen a number of vest patterns which are simply two rectangles, and they look lovely. I’ve decided that for my first vest adventure, discretion may be the better part of valour, and I’ll go with simple, rather than my normal habit of biting off more than I can chew.

Gloria Tulip Hat available

The pattern for my Gloria Tulip Hat is now available.
It uses a Tulip Stitch lace pattern from the Creative Knitting stitch dictionary around the bottom, and the crown is in reverse stocking stitch.

I was very pleased to read that an Australian Aboriginal Artist, Gloria Petyarre, has had a scarf design selected and used by the acclaimed French company, Hermes.
Well done Gloria. I thought I’d name my hat pattern in her honour.

Gloria Tulip HatKnitting Pattern
Yarn suggested : Heirloom 8 ply cotton
Gauge : 22 stitches = 4 inches in Reverse Stocking Stitch
Needle size : 4 mm / US 6
Meterage : 100 mtrs / 109 yards

This pattern is available to buy from Ravelry for $US 5.00

A light weight, mid-season hat knitted in the round. The stitch pattern comes from volume three
of a 1980’s English knitting series called Creative Knitting. No details of the publisher are available in this edition. The stitch count will vary from round to round of the Tulip Stitch pattern, as extra stitches are added, then removed in subsequent rounds.

Hat Finished

I’ve finished my sample for the hat pattern, and I’m really pleased with it. The colour, which I wasn’t sure about, looks lovely knitted up. The stitch pattern looks good. The decreases for the crown seem OK to me.

I have a request for test knitters open on Ravelry’s Free Pattern Testers Group. I’ve had two takers so far, and am hoping for a few more. I’m really excited to see how people go knitting from my instructions, and to see other people’s version of the hat.

First Ever Hat Design Under Way

This strange looking creature is the beginning of a hat, which I’m having a go at designing.
I’m using some basic instructions from Debbie Abrahams’ "Design your own knits".

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Design-Your-Knits-Easy-Steps/dp/060061638X

This book is very good, but it will say something like "calculate the number of rounds you need to knit for the depth of the hat", but doesn't actually say how to calculate this.
Yes, if you know the distance and the guage, you can calculate it, but not if you don't know the recommended distance.
This sort of thing happens again and again in this book. "Calculate the number of stitches for the width of the back neck and the shoulders", but the body measurements for these distances are not mentioned. Is it from shoulder point to shoulder point? I'm battling on, but it does seem a bit like it's written for those who already know how to do it.
I suppose it's not "Design your own knits for dummies".

I pored over the page on hat design over and over again looking for information about the recommended amount of negative ease. I gave up looking and guessed, and then when following the steps, one by one, there it was, in black and white, right in front of my eyes.
5cm (2 in). Sadly, this sort of thing seems to be a common occurrence for me lately.

I'm having a look at the Vogue Knitting "The Ultimate Knitting Book", with a view to perhaps using it for vests, pullovers etc.
I do tend to skim over pages looking for key information, rather than methodically reading through each part. I must learn patience in this area.

Since taking this photo, I’ve actually finished knitting the hat, but haven’t yet taken another photo. I don't know if I want it photographed on my ugly head though. I may have to recruit one of my daughters.

It uses the tulip stitch pattern for the bottom of the hat, and reverse stocking stitch for the top.

I'm really pleased with it, for a first attempt. I plotted out the curve of the decreases on graph paper, but it does seem a bit like a star at the top, though not when it's on my head.

I can't find standard measurements for crown of head to forehead or base of skull. Circumference is easy enough to find. All of this is fine when designing for oneself, but if designing for others, what are these measurements for baby, child, woman, man?
The list of questions is endless. Persistence is the key.

Knitting Pattern Available – Crocus Bag

Despite appearances to the contrary, I haven’t disappeared off the face of the earth. Life’s normal trials and tribulations have continued. For now, at least, I have fought my way to the surface to bring my knitting pattern for the Crocus Bag out into the open.

Surprisingly enough, it’s knit in crocus stitch, with an Irish Moss Stitch base, band and strap. It’s a basic rectangular shape. Some woven fabric is required to line the bag.

The crocus pattern is from the knitting series “Creative Knitting”







Crocus Bag
Knitting Pattern
Yarn suggested : Heirloom 8 ply cotton (or any other DK/8 ply yarn)
Gauge : 23 stitches = 4 inches in Crocus Stitch
Needle size : 3.75 mm / US 5
Meterage : 360 mtrs / 394 yards

This pattern is available to buy from Ravelry for $US 3.50



A light and lacy bag for summer, knitted in the round with only the strap to sew on. The bag is knitted on smaller needles to create a firmer fabric. The stitch pattern comes from volume three of a 1980’s English knitting series called Creative Knitting. No details of the publisher are available in this edition. If you wish to top to draw in a little more, use a K1, P1 rib for the band. Some woven fabric is needed to line the bag.