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Tag: knitting

  • Monkey Socks

    Monkey SocksWell, I finally caved to peer pressure* and knitted the damn Monkey Socks. They turned out pretty well! The yarn is the Lang Jawoll Cotton I got at the Craft Show earlier this year. (I forgot to use the matching thread to reinforce the heels and toes. D’OH!) I did them on 2.75mm needles to compensate for being such a tight knitter, and they still only just fit over my ankle. The combination of the lace stitch and the cotton yarn doesn’t make for a very elastic sock, but they’re still quite wearable. The only change I made to the pattern was to adapt them for knitting on two circs (so I could knit both at once).

    * More than 1300 people have already knit this pattern and posted it to Ravelry, and 700 more have it in their queues. I don’t get the popularity. It’s a nice pattern, but 2000 people? That’s NUTS.

  • Koala Tea Cosy

    Koala Tea CosyThis little fella didn’t quite make it in time for the Fifties Fair last weekend, which is all the better really because now I get to keep him! He’s awfully cute, isn’t he? (Until you remember that he has a teapot up his bum, at which point it becomes disturbing.) The pattern is free online and purports to be from 1937. That might explain why I had so much difficulty following it. It reads like it’s supposed to have a picture, but since it doesn’t (except for a random illustration) you’re knitting blind most of the time. You also have to do weird things like knit the two body pieces sideways. Anyway, I had to change a few things: 1) The nose. The shape they give is just perplexing and it didn’t look at all like a real koala. So I went with more of an egg shape. 2) The neck. The opening at the top of the cosy is waaaay bigger than the head, so I had to cinch it up a lot. That’s why I knitted him a patriotic scarf to hide the ugly join. 3) There’s an error when you get to the second row of openings on the front. It should be on rows 67-68, not 66-67. Lastly, this makes for a pretty big tea cosy. I had to pad ours with a dishtowel just to get it to fill out his shape. Using 4ply and smaller needles would give you a smaller koala.

    And that is IT for tea cosies for about the NEXT TEN YEARS!

  • Christmas Robin Tea Cosy

    Christmas Robin Tea CosyChristmas Robin Tea Cosy
    Number five is done, folks! This one took less than a day from start to finish. The pattern is free online and I think it’s just about the funniest thing I’ve ever knit. I used scraps of 8ply yarn (held double throughout) on 5.5mm needles. It fits a fairly small teapot, so you’d have to size up the pattern for a bigger pot. The eyes and beak are cut out of felt, and the white pupils are buttons.

  • Christmas Tea Cosy

    Christmas Tea CosyChristmas Tea Cosy
    This is officially Number Four, folks! This pattern is actually called “Delphie” (no idea why) and it’s from Patons Craft Book No. C.18. The book actually belongs to Ma Snook, who purchased it way back in the 1950’s, I believe. I’m still using up oddments of 8ply yarn on 4mm needles. This cosy was mostly knit while watching the TV movie of Pratchett’s Hogfather; hence the Christmas colours.

  • Ribbed Tea Cosy

    Ribbed Tea CosyWell, the Great Tea Cosy Challenge was on shaky ground there for a while, as it looked like Auntie Linda might not do the stall after all. Happily, I’ve just found out we’re back on… and I’ve just finished my third cosy! This is another one I found on Ravelry, and it’s a free pattern from Bernat (though you do have to register on their site). I used less than two balls of Cleckheaton Country 8ply on 4mm needles, and the only significant change I made in the pattern was to knit the top shaping bit in the round (rather than sewing it up). I also used i-cord to make the loop at the top rather than crocheting one. Onwards and upwards!

  • Irish Tea Cosy

    Irish Tea CosyI’ve just finished my second tea cosy for the aforementioned Great Tea Cosy Challenge. I also found this one on Ravelry, and the pattern is available online. (There are two mistakes though; see below.) It was kinda fun knitting something without a picture to refer to. I wasn’t quite sure what it was going to look like! I also had my first go at making pompoms. This cosy features an open top with a drawstring, which is nice if you’ve got a particularly odd-shaped lid or a handle on top. Even using 4mm needles and 8ply yarn, this is still a fairly large cosy. We only have small teapots, so I fudged the photo by propping our little pot up on a dishtowel. In terms of yarn, I again used some random cheap acrylic that I found in the bottom of my stash. (I’d never purposefully buy acrylic now that I’m a yarn-store-workin’ fiber snob!) Anyway, that’s two down!

    Pattern Errata (as posted on Ravelry):

    In the Popcorn Panel, row 1 should read:
    Row 1: P2, P3, turn, K3, turn, P3 tog, P1, P3, turn, K3, turn, P3tog, P2.

    In the Diamond Panel, row 11 should read:
    Row 11: P1, slip next stitch to cable needle, hold in back of work, K1, P stitch from cable needle, (K1, P1) 4 times, slip next stitch to cable needle, K1, K stitch from cable needle, P1.

  • Strawberry Tea Cosy

    Strawberry Tea CosyStrawberry Tea Cosy
    Ma Snook called up the other night to confirm that Rodd’s Auntie is indeed having a booth at this year’s Fifties Fair, and would I mind making some knitted pieces for it? I decided to turn it into a challenge: Just how many tea cosies can one woman knit in two weeks? I polished off the first one in two days. I found the pattern through Ravelry and it’s available online. I used some leftover Gryffindor scarf yarn for the red and yellow, and some cheap Kmart acrylic for the green. I think the effect is definitely kitschy and cute. On to the next one!

  • Violet’s Cardy and GVH Socks

    Violet's Cardigan and BootiesAs I mentioned before, my friend Brigita had a baby (named Violet!) and I wanted to make her something. So last week I cracked open Debbie Bliss’s Baby Cashmerino 2 and cast on for the “Cardigan with Moss Stitch Edging.” It’s a very quick little knit, especially when you modify it to the knit the body on a circular up to the armholes. I had three balls of Baby Cashmerino in colour #340010, but when I finished I found I had at least half a ball left over. That means booties! These are from a pattern I had in my Ravelry queue called “Saartje’s Bootees.” (It’s a free download on that site.) Again, very quick to knit. And aren’t the little wooden buttons just perfect? We actually had them at the shop and I couldn’t resist. I’ll be sending this off to Brigita today… I hope Violet likes it!

    GVH Conwy SocksNext up are my “GVH Conwy Socks.” Conwy is a pattern from Knitting on the Road, and while I still like the look of it, it wasn’t that fun to knit. The little twisting cables just get really, really boring. I used Colinette Jitterbug in the Velvet Damson colourway on 2.75mm needles. And as you will remember, I ran short. I couldn’t bring myself to frog them back though, so I used some leftover Sirdar Town & Country to finish the toes… Hence the “GVH” (i.e. “Graft Versus Host”). They’re a little bit Frankenstein, aren’t they? I still love the Jitterbug colour though, and I’m definitely going to wear them.

  • 702 ABC Knit-In

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    It’s me and Bex, proudly representing the non-blue-hairs! Miss Fee and Lara are with us too. Shame on all you slackasses still in bed!

  • Max’s Socks

    Max's SocksHooray! I’ve been counting down the minutes til Max got home from his trip and found the birthday package I sent him. I’ve been reading Max’s site for nearly seven years now, from way back when he still had the old “Mr. Plow” domain. (I think this is the first official w-g mention.) Though we’ve never met in person, I’ve come to think of him as a really good friend. He’s always been super supportive of my schemes and ideas, and he’s introduced me to some great dance music. So I decided it was time to thank him! I sent off a secret e-mail to TheRealTimShady and luckily he was a fan of the idea. With his help (surreptitiously getting someone’s shoe size from overseas isn’t easy!), I cracked open Knitting Vintage Socks and whipped up a pair of “Gentleman’s Socks with Lozenge Pattern.” I used two balls of Sirdar Town & Country (with very little left over). Then I packed them into a box with a packet of Tim Tams and a selection of weird Australian candy bars. Unfortunately I was a bit off with my timing; the box made it to Atlanta before Max’s birthday, but he’d already left on a trip to New Mexico! So I had to keep mum about it til he got home. (Which – ask the Snook – isn’t easy. I’m terrible about surprises.) Today brought the happy news that Max is home, he got the package, and the socks fit him perfectly. So hooray! Happy belated birthday, Max.