Left In Stitches

Dobby Hat

2005-12-01T17:36:00.000-08:00

I wanted to knit something in order to celebrate the new Harry Potter movie, but I didn't have any Gryffindor colors lying around (or cash to buy some), so I devised this Dobby Hat. Everybody loves Dobby. I don't know about you, but I most definitely loved Hermione all that much more when she tried to liberate the house elves through knitting. The second photo shows the hat's true colors.

Here's the pattern!

Materials:
Red Heart Super Saver (100% acrylic), 1 skein MC (Light Periwinkle), 1 skein CC (Burnt Orange)
U.S. size 8/5 m.m. straight needles
tapestry needle

Size:
One size fits all...it is quite stretchy.

Gauge:
17 stitches and 23 rows = 4" in stst

Co 70 sts. In MC, knit in k4p4 ribbing patt for 25 rows. In CC, 5 rows stst. Decrease row (RS):* sl 1, ssk, k until last 3 sts, k2tog, sl1. P 1 row. Rep from * 9 more times; 54 sts. In MC, p 1 row. *sl 1, ssk, k until last 3 sts, k2tog, sl 1. P 1 row. Rep from * 6 more times; 39 sts. In CC, sl 1, ssk, k until last 3 sts, k2tog, sl 1. P 1 row. Rep from * 9 more times; 20 sts. In MC, p 1 row. *Sl 1, ssk, k to last 3 sts, k2tog, sl 1. Rep from * 6 times more; 5 sts.

Finishing:
Cut yarn, leaving a nice long 2-3 foot tail. Pull the tail through the remaining 5 sts and pull very very tightly. Use remaining tail of yarn and tapestry needle to seam up the back of the hat using mattress stitch.

And then you'll have you a Dobby Hat! :)

Yarn hair?

2005-11-24T18:42:00.000-08:00

I definitely want to try this. See, this is why I love LiveJournal, even moreso than Google. You can find anything on LiveJournal. In this case, I found a tutorial on how to make your own felted yarn hair extensions. Here is a picture of her results:

Oh man. As soon as I get a job where I won't get fired for having cool hair, I will totally try this. However, the job I have now...yeah, they're not too partial to red dreds. (I work at a froufrou cafe in Downtown Chicago. They are very into teh "only pretty and nice girls work here" image.)

A four day scarf.

2005-11-09T06:12:00.000-08:00

Yeah, that whole thing about posting an FO that wasn't a scarf?

Lies. All lies.

Draping here before you is my four-strand braided cable scarf (see this post on how to make a four-strand braided cable). I finished it in four days. I have been a very nervous and jittery girl. It is knit in some worsted virgin wool I had lying around.

The AntiCraft

2005-11-01T05:13:00.000-08:00

We were deep in the clutches of a weeklong absinthe binge when the Divine Hand of Brilliance touched us in an inappropriate place. When this vision came, we knew we must create a haven for all the sinister crafters of the world. No more would we be cowed into silence by cheerful scrapbook stickers. Never again would we be forced to gleefully execute a sweater of intarsia puppies. The green fairy had blessed us with an exotic vision we were powerless to deny. We madly scrambled for pen and paper with which to compose our opus. Finding none, we took up our knitting needles and carved text into the walls. With an old tube of Vamp we illustrated our glorious creation. Upon release from the hospital, we returned to our lives with renewed direction and embarked upon this project with the fervor of a snake-kissing Pentecostal who has an anti-venom kit.

Click here for more of AniCraft's Antifesto.

This website is too fabulous.

I especially love Bad Juju, Eternal Embrace, and Snowball's Chance in Hell (which is entirely too clever).

I promise, promise, promise that soon I will have an FO post that isn't a scarf. Promise.

Four-Strand Braided Cable

2005-10-23T05:57:00.000-07:00

(click the photo to enlarge)

In order to overcome my extreme boredom over the VK simple cardi, I decided to make a little four-strand braided cable sample to add to my wall-o-fiber (I take all of my gauge swatches, stitch swatches, etc. and tack them onto my wall. Photos will come later). The four-strand braid is a simple, classy cable that always looks great. Here's how it's done:

CO 20 sts.

ROW 1 (RS): p4, k12, p4
ROW 2 (WS): k4, p12, k4
ROW 3: p4, k12, p4
ROW 4: k4, p12, k4
ROW 5: p4, *slip three sts on cable needle and hold in front, k3, k3 off of cable needle* rep from * once, p4
ROWS 6-9: rep rows 1-4
ROW 10: p4, k3, slip three stitches on calbe needle and hold in back, k3, p4

rep rows 1-10 until desired length.

Knitty's Titties

2005-10-17T18:58:00.000-07:00

I am in awe of Beryl Tsang, the creator of the Tit Bits pattern for Knitty.com. She sure took her lemons and made lemonade! Ms. Tsang was diagnosed with breast cancer at the age of 37 and lost her right breast. Post-surgery, her search for a prosthetic was a whole new kind of hell to go through. She spent day after day in medical boutiques and supply stores, only finding disappointment. "When I got home, I put on my new titty and bra and promptly broke into tears," she writes. "The titty reminded me of raw liver, while the bra resembled the suspension system of my 1995 Volvo."

So what did she do? Why, what any good knitter would do, of course... she sought consolation in her stash. While pawing through her balls of yarn, she was struck by an ingenius idea. She knittied her some titties!

What an empowering and wonderful project. Not only does it encourage healing through the process of knitting, but women can make themselves a prosthetic that is actually comfortable, let alone practical and cute.

Women can order Tit Bits off of her website (they have everything from Everyday Tits to Floosie Tits), or make their own using the Knitty pattern.

I couldn't help myself.

2005-10-16T15:54:00.000-07:00

You are Shetland Wool.
You are a traditional sort who can sometimes be a
little on the harsh side. Though you look
delicate you are tough as nails and prone to
intricacies. Despite your acerbic ways you are
widely respected and even revered.

What kind of yarn are you?
brought to you by Quizilla

Bored to tears.

2005-10-12T19:11:00.000-07:00

I am working on the simple cardi from the fall VK issue (from the One Sweater Four Ways article).

Jesus H. Christ.

I started it in August, and it's still only about half done. It is so boring. I've pretty much come to the conclusion that I will never, ever make patterns this simple ever again, unless I absolutely fall in love with a yarn that needs to be admired on its own without fancy stitching or intarsia. I feel like I'll stab my eyes out with my 5mm's out of boredom if I don't just hurry and finish the damn thing. I've come to the conclusion that if I'm aching for a simple cardi/raglan, I'll buy one... and save my time for wearable art.

Of course, I say this now. By next week I'll find another sweater at a department store that I can't live without, but I know I could make better (with better yarn, nicer seams, better shaping, neater stitches............)

Bulky Irish Hiking Scarf

2005-10-08T19:00:00.000-07:00

While my dad was in the hospital for triple bypass surgery, I sat in the waiting room and finished this scarf, along with the back and half of a side of a simple raglan cardi (phew!). My twin and I sat there all day and then spent the night, so that was a whole lot of knitting time! (Dad did great, by the way. He's home now, and recovering with amazing speed. Katie, my twin, is working on an afghan for him which should be done fairly soon, since he feels chilly a lot of the time.)

I loved the Irish Hiking Scarf pattern so much that I decided to make it in some bulky-weight yarn I had lying around for a super-duper huge scarf for those Chicago winters... For those of you that are non-Chicagoans, our winters can last anywhere from 5-7 months, and are blisteringly cold and windy. The only modification that I made to the pattern is that I only have two cables instead of three, otherwise it would be waaaaay too wide. True, it is meant to be a schlumpy scarf... but not that schlumpy.

Photo credit goes to the Pops.

Glam slam?

2005-10-06T19:16:00.000-07:00

I don't mean to all of a sudden turn into a You Knit What spin-off, but I find the "sneak peak" patterns for Vogue Knitting's new issue to be highly disappointing. First of all, the ones that are even close to cute would only be flattering on a rail skinny model. Don't get me wrong, I love it that "Victoriana" is in this year, especially with the new Tim Burton movie and everything... But, unfortunately, I am what one might refer to as a bit...well...svelte challenged, and the whole look is completely hopeless on my figure. It tends to lean a little more towards "hi I'm an old granny" instead of the preferred "I'm so skinny and macabre that I look like I really DID die in 1902." However, if you are teeny-tiny-itsy-bitsy, you really ought to make this and this just to show us all how incredibly cool you are. This is really the only one that I think is too cute for words, and it is definitely "my style," but again, it would only look good on a slight frame.

As for the rest of the patterns? Simply awful. Ugly intarsia + bad shaping + ugly lace pattern does not (notnotNOT) equal a pretty sight. And while I'm totally impressed by the model's rockin' hunting horn, what the frig is this? Wait folks, this one is not for weak stomachs: oh my god, it's a novelty yarn horror! Noooooooo! I loved last season's issue with all of the wonderful gypsy/romantic styles and fiber exploration (they had a pattern for the only successful Koigu garment I've ever seen), and this is just........BLAH.

Well, my friends...

2005-09-23T09:52:00.000-07:00

It's almost October, and you know what that means...The knitting is about to begin. Big Time. Not that I haven't been busy with my luscious fiber fun over the summer, mind you. I started on my Christmas present projects in June (I learned from last year), and I have to say the big thing that I have fallen in love with this summer is cables, cables, cables. Here to the upper- right is a close-up of my Good Ole Cabled Scarf in Lion Brand Wool-Ease Worsted Weight 80% acrylic-20% wool blend with size 8 US/5.0 mm needles. I saw this yarn at my local craft store, and I flipped out. The photo unfortunately doesn't show it very well, but there are little threads of irredescent tinsel worked into the white! I thought it would be the perfect holiday party scarf. This pattern was a bit more challenging, but was fun all the way until the end. The finished scarf measures about 5.5-6 inches by four feet.

And to the left you will see the close-up from my Irish Hiking Scarf. This was my first cabled project. If you have not tried cables yet, I highly recommend this pattern. Cables are ridiculously, decievingly easy. I knitted this in cheap-o worsted Red Heart Acrylic with size 8 US/5.0 mm needles. I generally practice new stitch patterns in acrylic because it doesn't fray or split the way that natural fiber yarns do, and the pattern really pops out. The finished scarf measures about 8 inches by four and a half feet.

Cable patterns that I can't wait to start on:

I absolutely adore Knitty.com's new issue. So many challenging and fun patterns! Sometimes the patterns on Knitty are a little too "trendy" for me (or just plain ugly....for isntance, what the hell is this), and I refuse to spend the time and money to knit something that will go out of style in three to five years. But this season's issue is full of wonderful classics with a tasteful modern twist. These aren't your gramma's oversized and unflattering aran raglans! I especially love Blackberry and Josephine. They both manage to use chunky/bulky weight yarn, which knits up super quick, without being completely unflattering and...well...adding a little chunk and bulk to one's figure. It's hard to find a pattern using bulky wool that is still feminine and well-shaped. I'll be interested to see how I do on these... I wonder if they will turn out as well as they look on Knitty.