yarn

Hehe, this is one of those projects that didn't turn out exactly as I had planned... but totally has it's own charm about it. Of course the trolls add just the right factor of whimsy. There is just something about that hair with the fuzzy pouch...

I knitted up this purse project as a demo for a pattern I am planning for my knitting class, put it in the washer to felt and was then besides myself with giggles when it came out. BOY did it felt! Well it wasn't going to work for an adult or even a tween purse... but it was magically transformed into the perfect little treasure pouch. Pixie quickly found the perfect use for it. Unfortunately I forgot to snap a pre-felted photo.

Materials
size 10.5 needles
7 colors 100% wool worsted weight yarn (I used scrapes of several different brands)

Gauge = 3.75 sts per inch

CO 35 (work in stockinette stitch).
Work color A for 10 rows.
Work colors B, C, D, E, F for 8 rows each.
Work color G for 20 rows.
Work colors F, E, D, C, B for 8 rows each.
Work color A for 10 rows.
Bind off.
You should now have a long rectangle.
Fold over two rows on the top and bottom edges. Using the tail yarn, tack them down so that they are attached on the wrong side and that color A only appears 8 rows long on the right side. This will give the opening a slightly firmer edge.
Fold the rectangle in half in the middle of color G and sew up the sides.
Pick up 5 stitches on the top edge, near one of the side seams and knit an I-cord (or work in st st) for 40” (you don't actually need to work in an i-cord... because the st st curls... it will felt as an i-cord in the wash).
Bind off and attach the strap to other side.

Finished, sewn up but non-felted dimensions = approx 9” wide x 11” long.

Felted it ended up approx 6.5” wide  x 5.5” long with a 30” strap.

BTW - Those of you who have been following along with my knitting lessons will find some new lessons posted again after the holidays. We will learn a new way of casting on, some basic increase and decrease stitches for minor shaping, we will also learn about felting and how to dye our own yarn.

Early in the Fall, I realized that Fairy had outgrown basically all of her sweaters. So of course I set off to rectify that situation. One of the main places she wears sweaters is in the dance studio. When I asked her what she wanted she just said "light blue and sparkly." Ok, I can do that, although I did take a moment to reconcile myself with the fact that she doesn't want pink anymore. Its not the color (you wouldn't have caught me dead in pink past the age of two) but the acknowledgment that she was moving beyond that "everything has to be pink" stage that she lived in for so long that made me pause for a moment.

Growing pains aside, onto my Show and Tell... I totally love this project. I started with this super fun Sequin Yarn from Bernat. Somehow during the spinning process, a single pink sequin ended up in one of the skeins of yarn. Fairy is delighted about that one pink sequin and shows it to everyone. I can't help but think that maybe is slightly symbolic... silly yarn... here it is reminding us that the pink princess in still in there. ;)

I found some blue bejeweled buttons. Seriously, this sweater is all about the bling! I also used a sparkly pony tail band as the closure.

And then sat down to play with this zig-zag eyelet pattern that caught my eye. It took several tries to get the shaping just right and it is probably a bit big (but who wants to knit a sweater that only fits one season?)

And now my Blue Princess, is toasty warm and ready to dazzle!

I took lots of notes. And may at some point in the future try to write it up as a pattern to share. But don't hold me to that. LOL. The knitting notes that work for me don't always translate easily into a sizable, sharable pattern. I can be all about winging it... so we'll see.

Project Three : Block-work Hat

I designed this hat project to help us review everything we have learned so far. This hat requires you to complete casting on, knitting, binding off and seaming multiple times. For this project you will need to make 4 rectangular blocks. Two will be completed in a solid color yarn, two in a multi-colored yarn. The picture shows the hat before it has been finished... we will complete it in a couple weeks when everyone has finished their 4 blocks.

Materials:
One skein Deborah Norville Collection Everyday Soft Worsted Prints Yarn and
one skein Deborah Norville Collection Everyday Soft Worsted Solid Yarn in a color to match
or 2 skeins of worsted weight yarn
size 8 needles
Yarn needle

Directions:
Cast On 40 stitches.
Knit 4 and 1/2 inches.
Bind Off. Leave yourself a 18-24" tail for seaming later.
(make 4 total, 2 solid color, 2 multi-color)

When you have completed all 4 blocks, sew them long sides together in a solid, multi, solid, multi pattern. Then sew the outside two seams together to form a complete a circle. We will discuss how to finish the top of the hat in a couple weeks. We will be making pom-poms using the Susan Bates easy wrapper pom-pom maker.

Just so you know, after we complete the Block-work Hat we will be learning the Purl Stitch.

Additional Projects
I know that a few of my students will finish their hats early, while others will need the full 4 weeks to complete them. So I search the web for some other patterns that can be completed with the knitting skills that I have taught so far. These patterns are all from the Lion Brand website. They are free but you may need to register on their site to view them.

Easy Berry Scarf

Learn to Knit Cuff

Soft Berry Hat

My Favorite Blankie

Newbie Knitting: Project One

Updates! I had some corrections to make and wanted to get some better photos up. Sorry for any confusion. We had out of town guests all week and Pixie's birthday this weekend! I didn't get a chance to edit like I normally do.

This week’s assignment gets you started on your first project, A Baby Chick. You can add this project to your Ravelry queue.

Materials Needed:
Size 8 Needles
Yarn Needle
approximately 20 yards yellow worsted weight yarn (Lion Brand Wool Ease)
6” Scrape of Orange Yarn
Softball-Sized amount of batting
 
Cast On 18sts. Leave yourself about an 8 inch tail.
Knit approximately 34-36 rows.

We are making a small square as the base for our birdie. When you look at your knitted piece notice that each bumpy row is actually made up of 2 knit rows. So you should have 17-18 large bumpy rows when you stop. End with the live yarn and yarn tail on opposite sides of the needle.

The exact number of rows doesn't matter (depending on how tight your stitches are you may end up with a different number of rows needed) as long as you end with a square shape. You can tell that it is square by folding a corner up to make a right triangle.

Next week we will learn how to get your knitted square off the needle and how to finish your bird.

CLICK HERE FOR PART TWO: SEWING UP YOUR BIRD

Lesson Two: The Knit Stitch

Alright, by now you should be quite comfortable with Casting On using the Backwards Loop Cast-On. It is time to learn what to do once you get all those stitches on your needle. Make sure the tail and live yarn are hanging down and the edge is lined up nicely along the bottom. The live yarn (the one attached to your yarn ball) will be near the needle tip. Slide the stitches to the needle tip but be careful not to drop any off. If your loops do not slide easily you may have cast-on too tightly. BTW - The first row is always the trickiest. If you are having a hard time getting the right needle into the stitch to start, it probably means that you Cast-On or knit your last row too tightly. Ease up on how hard you tighten your stitches.

Take the needle with the stitches in your left hand and your empty needle in your right. Knitting boils down to this simple chant: In, Around, Under, Off. Let’s say that several times together out loud (seriously, say it aloud). In, Around, Under, Off. In, Around, Under, Off. In, Around, Under, Off. Do you feel the cadence yet? In, Around, Under, Off. Ok, now to explain.

 
Take the right needle and slide it INto the first stitch on the left needle. Go IN from the front to the back. Your needles should cross inside the loop so that the right needle is behind the left needle. Be sure that the live yarn hangs down in the back.

 
Hold the needles together in this cross shape with your left hand and use your right hand to wrap the live yarn AROUND the right needle. Be sure to bring the yarn AROUND from the back (counter-clockwise). This loop will be your new stitch (the orange bit of yarn).

 Bring the tip of the right needle UNDER the left needle, through the middle of the original stitch, catching your new loop with the tip of the right needle. Be careful not to drop your new loop (the orange one) off the right needle.

Slide the old stitch OFF the left needle (the pink loop). Be careful not to drop the stitch on your right needle (the orange loop). You now have new stitch on the right needle. Gently tighten the new stitch by pulling down on the live yarn.

And that is knitting. In, Around, Under, Off.

 
Repeat with the next stitch, and the next, until you reach the end of the row. In, Around, Under, Off. In, Around, Under, Off. In, Around, Under, Off. Saying the chant while you do it really does help in the beginning. Basically knitting is just a process of linking loops together or you can think of it as trading loops from one needle to the other.

IN

AROUND

UNDER

OFF

When you get to the end of the row, switch which hand holds each needle (loops start on the left) and repeat the process Be sure to keep the live yarn in the back and on the second row be careful not to grab the tail yarn instead of the live yarn. At the end of your row you should have the same number of loops as you started with... if you have less you probably dropped a stitch off the tip and if you have too many you probably let you live yarn come around to the front of your needles at some point. Don't panic. We are just practicing at the moment and working on establishing your knitting rhythm. Keep going and don't worry too much about it for now. In, Around, Under, Off.

Just so you know knitting every single row like this is called Garter Stitch. It will create a finished piece with bumpy rows.
 
Tip… Be sure to always keep the live yarn in the back. If you are bringing the yarn to the front and then knitting you will be adding extra stitches and holes into your work by creating what are called Yarn Overs. This is a very common Newbie mistake (but thinking positively... you have just learned your first lace stitch ;) ). So be careful and make sure the live yarn always hangs down behind your work BEFORE you insert your needle into a stitch. Any yarn twisting around a needle will create a new loop.

Some details about what you are doing, for those of you who are interested. First off this style of knitting is sometimes called the American Style or the Throw Style. This is because you are manipulating the live yarn with your right hand in which you “throw” it around the needle to make the new stitch. The European or Continental method has you holding the live yarn with your left hand. Some find it faster that way since there is less wrist movement but personally I prefer the right hand method because I feel like I have more control over tension (totally a personal preference). What is tension… we’ll talk about that in a moment. But what comes down to is personal preference and I just wanted you to be aware that there are other ways to manipulate the yarn in case you see pictures or have a friend who does it that way.
 
What is tension? Tension is how tightly you knit… or basically how tightly you pull your stitches on your needle. Tension that is too loose can create sloppy looking work and tension that is too tight can make it VERY hard to knit. Worse yet is when you have uneven tension, some loose and some tight stitches. Consistency is key to nice results. Tension also affects something called gauge, but that is a conversation for another day. In my experience, Newbies tend to be too tight! If you are having a hard time putting your needle into a stitch then you are knitting too tight. Try not to pull down too hard when you get a new stitch onto the right needle. You don’t want the loops sliding off (that’s really bad too) but you have to be able to comfortably knit it again on the next row. It should slide easily along the needle… you shouldn’t have to use your finger nails or apply force to slide it along.

Your Assignment

Ok, so practice a bit with some scrap yarn. Cast on about 20 stitches and knit a few rows. Then take it all out and start all over. I would suggest doing this a few times. Although you aren't making any progress on a project this way, I think it helps take the fear of messing up out of the equation. My kids in class thought it was pretty funny to get a row or two going and then start all over. They also shrugged off any mistakes because they knew there wasn't going to be a permanent record of them. We will be starting our first project later this week.