ShihKnits » Patterns

Stripes

winnie — Tue, 23 Dec 2008 00:03:27 +0000

The second half of 2008 has been very frustrating and depressing for me, professionally. It is one of those times when you’re given a mountain of lemons, and asked to make lemonade. In my case, I was given rotten lemons and um, let’s say, a manual lemon juicer. Given the state of the economy and the rounds of layoffs that I’ve survived, I should be thankful. Yada yada yada.. but in truth, I wake up almost everyday wanting to scream at unnamed individuals and tell them to shove the work to where the sun don’t shine. So here’s to hoping that the next year will be an improvement on the last, and that next year’s end-of-year post will end on a much brighter note.

This little gem was completed in November, made up from a skein of red cashmere that was gifted to me by Joy before she moved to Hawaii, and 3 skeins of leftover Rowanspun 4-ply in the colorway Squirrel. The top-down yoke sweater is inspired by MissLemon’s stripey version, and all it took was just a simple gauge swatch, some head measurements to make sure the sweater will fit through my noggin’, and try-as-I-knit top-down fun.

The edgings for the roll neck, sleeve and the bottom bands were finished off with an applied icord, a la Purl Bee’s tutorial. I played around with jogless stripes and centered the beginning of each round at the center on the back of the sweater (traveling down the spine). It’s not completely inconspicuous, but it’ll do for now.

The result is a feathery-light garment that I’ve dubbed : Candy Cane. If you’d like to knit one for yourself, please drop me a comment and I’ll go dig up my pattern notes. Of course, it’ll only be in the size that I knit, which is 36″ around for 2″ positive ease. (editted to add additional pictures)

Pattern: Garter Sideways Hat from Drops, Sz 58 cm

Materials: Noro Sock Yarn (Colorway S164), 0.5 skein, Sz 3 needles

There isn’t a thing that I don’t love about this hat. The garter stitch, the slouch, the colorway, and the simplicity of the pattern. You should all knit yourselves some. Trust.

Happy Holidays.

Stripey Tweedy

winnie — Wed, 18 Jun 2008 13:57:12 +0000

Barbara Walker, in her Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, called this particular stitch pattern “Portcullis”. In my haste, I have totally ignored her right side / wrong side instructions and ended up with something that is diagonal and not looking anything like the stitch photograph presented in her book (Page 224, if you must know).

According to Barbara, this pattern makes a handsome, symmetrical (remember: I botched it) ribbed fabric resembling crochet. The fabric is free of curl, sturdy, and easy to block; it keeps its shape well.

I used Felted Tweed for this hat, in Crush and Melody, and have enough leftovers for another one. Should you choose to knit this in a solid color, I am sure it’ll look just as lovely.

My gauge before blocking were 36 sts to 5″, and row gauge can be easily adjusted since this pattern comprises only of 2 rows. Finished dimensions after blocking is 22″ around.

Freebie for all. Go to the pattern page to retrieve instructions for your own. In this day and age when gas prices are high and costs for living continually escalate, it’s nice to get freebies every once in a while. Should you find errors or have questions, you know where to find me

Summer

winnie — Tue, 17 Jun 2008 17:56:05 +0000

Summer knits, as I have come to find, should be quick, easy, and mind-numbing. As much as I try to coordinate my yarns with the seasons, I find that so-called summer yarns (the cottons, the hemps, the linens) do not tempt me as much as their woolen cousins. This is the primary reason why the Cherry Cardigan and the linen Perfect Fit Skirt have slowed down to a snail’s crawl, because quite frankly, I just love knitting with wool. As the temperature rises to the 70s and 80s, it is easier for me to turn to miniature wool projects, like socks and hats.

Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks, in Interweave Knits Winter 2005

Materials: Sz 1 DPNs, 2 skeins of Koigu KPM 1205

Notes: No modifications to the pattern. I love this shade of yellow almost-solid Koigu, and the pattern is easy to execute. I’m not too crazy about the star-toe, although I admit it was exciting to try something new. The socks are a little loose on my sz 7 feet, but I think it’d make a pair of comfy house socks this winter. Koigu on your feet is luxury. This FO brings a bounce in my steps!

Pattern: Felicity (PDF Pattern Link) by Wanett Clyde

Materials: Leftover Cascade 220 wool in shade 7814 from my Biker jacket, Sz 8 DPNs

Notes: Truth be told, I did not follow this pattern at all. I loved its simplicity, and just CO 84 sts and increased to 100 sts at random and knit straight for 5.5 inches. At the time of knitting, I wasn’t sure whether or not I wanted the slouchy look that the original pattern provided, so I just did a CCD decrease (slip 2 as if to knit, k1, psso) in every round until I bound off the hat. I still like the FO, but I think I’m going to make a real Felicity hat in the future. This shortened and heavily modified version produces horns. Ha ha. This is what I get for butchering a perfectly executed pattern.

Next we have a striped beanie made from one of my secret favorite yarn. Secret in the sense that I love it, I hoard it, and yet, I haven’t made an entire sweater out of it. Learning my lesson from Felicity Shortie above, this time I wanted:

Non-curling edges (and yet, no garter, and no knit hems)
Stripes
A little texture
Easy memorizable pattern
Not slouchy, and yet not constrict-your-circulation-tight hat

We shall discuss this Stripey Tweedy hat recipe in the next post. Until then, happy summer knitting.

Biker Chic

winnie — Wed, 07 May 2008 03:17:41 +0000

It’s finally complete!

Pattern: My own, a la Barbara Walker

Materials: 6 balls of Lane Borgosesia Knit USA (660 yds), 1.5 skeins of Cascade 220 in colorway 7814, Sz 10 and 10.5 needles, 8 metal buttons, 6 snap buttons

Notes: This jacket was knit from the top down, at a gauge of 14 sts and 20 rows to 4″. Cascade 220 was held double to obtain the same gauge using Sz 10.5 needles. I measured the width of my back for 13″ and cast on the appropriate number of stitches and short-rowed my way down for the shoulder slopes. Armhole length = 7″. When I reached the appropriate length for pockets, I cast on additional stitches for the pockets and knit down for 5″, and k2tog with the body stitches. No waist shaping for this jacket. Then it’s just more knitting until the desired length. Ribbing for the sleeves, jacket border and short row neck was finished off with tubular cast off. The button bands were knit in garter stitch to prevent curling (trust me, I tried stockinette and that didn’t turn out). I left the jacket untouched for days after blocking because superwash yarn has a tendency to stretch out and that wouldn’t be the best time to seam. Sure enough, the damn thing sprang back into shape after a while and I double checked before sewing the nylon lining in place.

Sewing: I decided that I was too chicken (this time) for a zipper, so I went with my original idea of snap buttons. The inside band was lined with nylon ribbon (ends were fused with a lighter to prevent fraying) to reinforce the jacket. I figured if I am going to pull the bands apart frequently I am going to need something sturdier. Yes, it helps.

Like I said, the pockets were a little high, but it doesn’t detract me from gloating. I like how it looks buttoned all the way up, and also when I leave the first two buttons out. It fits exactly how I imagined it would, and that’s no small feat when it comes to “winging” a pattern. This one is a keeper!

(And what’s a FO without side and back views!)

In The Name of Science

winnie — Fri, 11 Apr 2008 15:58:48 +0000

For the last few days, I’ve been obsessed with biker-style jackets. I searched the fashion forums and picked out two that I liked most.

(simple lines, hidden pockets, and epaulets)

What I happen to have is also 7 balls of chunky yarn that was originally purchased to make Tikru’s Greengable. Unfortunately, I realized it wasn’t enough. Since then, the yarn has been staring me in the face gnawing at me to make something out of it. So when the startitis bug hit, I gave in to the temptation of instantly casting on. I made a mental list of the qualities that I want from this jacket, and I realized that given the possibility of running out of yarn, the jacket should be:

Knit top down, but with short-rows for shoulder shaping
With top down set-in sleeves
Have vertical slit pockets on both fronts, also top down
High collar
Sleeve, bottom and collar bands in contrast color, but keep front button bands in same color
Epaulets! Wee….

Of course it was then that I realized that there is no pattern for all the things that I want to do, so what better time than to make my own? That’s right – my jacket is going to have ALL of those qualities. Barbara Walker, don’t let me down now. And this is what I have to show for it after 2 days.

(a big lump of chunky yarn)

Oh yea, and I’m also knitting a pair of Aquaphobia Socks on the side too. You can never have too many WIPs.

(jah…I is busy)

New Digs

winnie — Fri, 04 Apr 2008 21:43:23 +0000

Since I last finished the Phildar Pullover with the enormous batwings, I have been force feeding myself to gain the extra poundage to fit into the sweater. No, seriously. Okay, maybe not. But I’ve been working on importing the blogger posts to the new dig AND maybe collecting sock yarns at an alarming rate.

(all Koigu, all the time baby)

The thing with blogger is that when I receive comments from my readers and get all excited about writing them a response, I am greeted with a “noreply-comment@blogger.com”. You can see how this puts a damper on things. So after 3+ not-so-blissful relationship with blogger, I’ve decided to part ways. And oh, there’s a Pattern page now too. It’s looking a little skinny right now, hopefully I’ll come up with more things later on.

In the last few weeks, I’ve been working on smaller projects as I wait for the next wave of inspiration to smack me over the head. I’m usually not one for spring/summer projects, but I picked up three skeins of Euroflax Original Linen to play with. And if I am lucky, I’ll end up with a Perfect Fit Skirt.

See I tried this baby on, and it looks like I won’t be experiencing any muffin-top action. That’s good news in my book. Unfortunately though, it needs a half slip. Now I don’t know about you, but I’ve never worn slips under skirts. Will it be way too hot? What’s the point of wearing a skirt if you can’t feel the breeze, right? The closest thing that I ever wore to a slip was a pair of spandex shorts under my school uniform, and that was in 9th grade! I didn’t understand why kids in school thought it was funny to go around lifting girls’ skirts back then, and I still can’t figure it out. Do they do that anymore?

Welcome to my new digs. Always under construction.

New Year, New knits

winnie — Tue, 12 Feb 2008 03:11:00 +0000

Alright, I’m a little late for a new year post, but better late than never right, guys? Let’s start with the end of year knits. First here, we have a pair of Lapland Mittens from Folk Mittens.

Project: Mittens from Lapland (Folk Mittens)

Materials: Leftover Baruffa Maratona (uber light pink and burgundy), and Knitpicks Merino Style (Pink), Sz 2 dpns

Notes: No mods to the pattern, and this was my first DPN project. I saw these short 6″ balene DPNs at the LYS and decided right then and there that I need to expand my horizons and move beyond the magic loop. Love the DPNs, surprisingly, and went out to purchase more sizes in the 5-6″ length for future mittens and socks. These mittens were a little tight on me, but they did keep my hands warm enough for my Mardi Gras trip to New Orleans two weeks ago. (Yes I saw breasts, and no they were not all pretty).

And because I didn’t want my friend to lose me in the madness on Bourbon St, I brought along my newly knitted Moss Stitch Beret in super bright yellow. It is Big Bird on Sesame St yellow. Little do I know that Bourbon St attendees would show me up with even brighter costumes that obscured my yellow noggin.

Project: Ken’s Moss Stitch Beret

Materials: Cascade 220 (used less than a skein), Sz 3 for the knitted hem, and Sz 7 for the rest of the beret

Notes: I loved the provisional cast-on knitted hem. Look! Lovely. The beret turned out a little slouchier than Ken’s, which is fine by me because I like my hats a little oversized. I may or may not have screwed up the decreases, but in the end my stitch count ended up just fine. Live and learn.

So what is with the cold weather and wanting to live in your blanket? I’ve had 6 skeins of pure merino from Uruguay burning a hole in my stash the last two years and couldn’t figure out what to do with them. Sure, a sweater would be nice, but this yarn pills too damn much. And then I found the perfect pattern.

Project: Pimlico Shrug from Knit2Together (Size S)

Materials: 5 skeins of 216 yd/skein pure merino wool from Uruguay, Sz 7 and 8 needles

Notes: Instead of 34″ of lace knitting, I shaved off some length and ended it at 27″. Since I CO provisionally, I just continued ribbing and joined the knitting in the round. No other mods to the pattern, and it is a dream to knit with this yarn.

We’ve seen some cold nights here in California, and I’ve loved every moment of it. Why? Because I now have an oversized blankie to keep me warm. It’s soft like buttah, and the perfect piece of clothing to keep me cozy while I knit.

So there we have it. And lest you think I’m taking a break.. you’d be wrong. Project on the needles right now… tadah!

It’s French, it’s pretty, and it’s….. one giant headache. Google translator to the rescue!

Swiss Cheese Scarf

winnie — Mon, 26 Feb 2007 21:09:00 +0000

I’ve had a few inquiries in regards to the Swiss Cheese Scarf over the last few weeks and figured maybe others in blogland may be interested in making one for themselves. This is mindless knitting to the nth degree, but the results are beautiful (if I may say so) and a staple to anyone’s wardrobe.

The general idea is simple: Knit a few rows, bind of a few stitches, cast on the sts that you bound off the previous row, and knit some more. Rinse and Repeat. Pattern: Swiss Cheese Scarf, my own.
Materials: Sz 3 needles, about 800-1000 yds of laceweight yarn
Gauge: not important, but my scarf is about 10-12″ wide after blocking.
Recipe as follows:

CO 110 sts

Rows 1-6: Knit
Row 7: K5 (BO10, K8) 5 times, BO 10, K5
Row 8: K5 (CO10, K8) 5 times, CO 10, K5
Rows 9-14: Knit
Row 15: BO6, K8, (BO10, K8) 5 times, K6
Row 16: BO6, K8, (CO10, K8) 5 times, CO6
Row 17: Knit to end, CO6

Repeat Rows 2-17 until desired length, then BO all sts.

All rights reserved by me. Please use this pattern for your own enjoyment ONLY. Not for resale or distribution unless authorized by me.

I wanted an airy feel to this scarf, and just happened to have a bunch of laceweight yarn sitting in my stash. The same idea can be applied to any weight yarn, but you’d have to cast on fewer number of sts and play with the CO/BO number.

Edit: I’ve received a number of emails due to the holes not lining up properly. Apologies for those who have experienced frustration with this pattern, and special thanks to my readers for spotting the error. Thanks!

The scarf pattern in a downloadable pdf file is now available in the “Patterns” page.

Enjoy!

Glove of Herringbone

winnie — Sun, 20 Nov 2005 03:01:00 +0000

Alright, here’s the thing. I’ve only heard back from a few of you who are interested in the mini-KAL. The motivation for having this KAL initially was to help out knitters who love this glove as well but are scared of the Japanese. I’ve decided that instead of having a KAL, I’d just write out my interpretation of the pattern in English for everyone to see. That way, those of you who are interested in knitting one up – be it now or later – can have something to refer to. The pattern copyrights belong 100% to the original authors, and what I am merely doing here is just giving you an interpretation of what I did. With that said, hopefully I am not stepping on anyone’s toes.Pattern: Herringbone Gloves by Tata&Tatao
Suggested Yarn: Rowanspun 4-ply (brown& beige), but I used Regia 4-ply (brown and cream)
Suggested Gauge: 40 sts + 44 rows = 10 cm (mine was 10.5 sts x 10 sts to 1″, using 2.50mm Addi Sz 1 40″ circular needles in magic loop)
Shortcut method: use babelfish to translate most of the pattern by typing in the url. The translated instructions may or may not make sense to you at this point, so here’s where I come in.
My interpretation: Instructions for the right glove is given. Basically you start knitting in the round from the wrist up, then increase for the thumb. After that, you’ll knit the thumb, the little finger, the ring, middle and index finger, respectively. The last 6 charts at the end of the instructions represent the thumb pattern and its decreases (top two), the rest of the fingers and their decreases(middle two), and the little finger and its decreases (bottom two). Work k2tog and ssk accordingly for left or right slanting decreases.
To start, CO 64 sts and knit 2 rnds in brown. From rnd 3 to rnd 18, follow Pattern Stitch A. Starting from rnd 19, you will begin increasing between St 41 and St 42. The increasing instructions are given in the chart below Pattern Stitch A, where the black boxes represent the increases on the palm side (salt and pepper). On the hand side (herringbone bone), just keep repeating Pattern Stitch A. You will increase 24 sts over the next 36 rows on the palm side. It is helpful to place a stitch marker before St 41, and another stitch marker before St 42 to keep track of your stitches.
After the increases are completed, you will be knitting the thumb. Place all sts EXCEPT Sts 33-57 (24 sts total) on scrap yarn. The 24 sts that you have left on your needle is the thumb. On the first round of thumb, you will CO 4 additional sts after the 24 sts (I used backward loop), giving you a total of 28 sts for thumb. Follow the thumb pattern for 16 rnds and switch to the decreasing pattern for thumb. At the end, you will end up with 10 sts. Kitchener st these by placing 5 on one needle, and the other 5 on the other needle. This completes your thumb.
Place the remaining sts back on needles and work Pattern Stitch B for 8 rounds. Now you will be knitting the little finger.
The first 8 st on the HAND side and the last 8 sts on the PALM side will be used to knit the little finger. Place all other sts on scrap yarn. Now you will follow the pattern for the little finger (bottom two). Knit the first 8 sts according to pattern, THEN CO 4 additional sts, then follow the pattern again for the last 8 sts. There is an error in the diagram here. The 4 additonal sts that you have to CO was wrongly placed at the end of the pattern. Instead, it should be placed between the first 8 and the last 8 sts. The 4 CO sts lies between the little finger and ring finger. Work 20 rnds from the little finger pattern, then continue on Rnd 21 for the decreases. You will have 10 sts remaining. Kitchener these sts as you have done with the thumb.
Place remaining sts back on needle. Follow Pattern Stitch C for 4 rounds. Now you will be knitting the rest of the fingers, starting from the ring finger, then the middle, and finally the index finger. The method for knitting all three fingers are the same. Each finger will have 24 sts total – 8 from hand side, 4 additional CO, 8 from palm side, and 4 sts which are picked up from the previous finger’s additonal CO sts. I’ve included a picture to show you what the 4 picked up sts and the 4 additional CO sts look like. Instead of having flat fingers, you actually knit 4 sides. Follow the Finger pattern for the 3 fingers and kitchener the 10 sts as described previously. Weave in loose ends and call it a day.
That sums up the right hand glove. (And that is my index finger – not the middle one). For the left glove – which I haven’t started, basically you copy and save the pattern diagrams in Photoshop, then click on “Image“, then “Rotate Image” and click on the “Flip Image Horizontal“. That should give you a mirror image of the diagram and so you’ll have both L and R hand charts.
Phew.

Ah, hair

winnie — Fri, 28 Oct 2005 08:09:00 +0000

I don’t know about you gals, but me, I’ll be the first to admit – my hair and I don’t get along. Some days it’s sleek and straight, other days, it’s this. Can you see the weird ass curls that seem to have a million directions? Yea, there’s no taming that. See I fall asleep in my damp hair many a nights, so the top is flat while the bottom flares like wildfire. Quick, must find a way to cover up the bad hair day. Amelia Earhart to the rescue – again. This time, in size 8′s and one ball of KFI Cashmerino in teal (55% Merino, 33% Microfiber, 12% Cashmere). This is the third time I made this hat, and I finally get to keep it. And yes, that’s Raspy I’m wearing. Loving it too.
Around 9-ish tonite.. I decided that I’m in the mood for some soup. I wore my new hat, totally working it as I walked to the restaurant for take-out, and totally working it as I drove home – window down, of course. Gotta feel the wind in my hair. Two seconds later, I discovered that I had totally locked myself out of my apartment. Oh shit. The landlord does not live in my apt complex, and I’m too cheap to call a locksmith (The last time I did that it cost me 100+ buckaroos – think of all the yarn I could have bought with that money… yes I think of money in terms of balls of yarn). AHHH… what did I do? Hm, let’s see. First, I uninstalled the mesh screen from my window (had to fight through the thorns of the evil rose bush standing right infront of it), propped the window open, and crawled through a foot long crack. Then I found my keys, went out again to re-install the mesh screen, and came back inside, relieved. Whew, that stealth operation was worth at least two bags of Rowan yarns…..
Mari tagged me for a meme. But that will have to be another post. Stay tuned….