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! 

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!

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.

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….

Finally finished BF’s socks.
Pattern: 4×1 rib, 68 sts to 7″, 68+2 sts for 1″ (8″), then 68+2+2 sts until 9″ before turning heel. For a man’s US sz 9 feet. BF likes them a little snug.
Materials: Sz 0 needles, Trekking XXL Color 111 (75% superwash wool, 25% nylon, 100g/ 459yds)
Just having fun with Photoshop. And oh yea, the headband is a Finnish pattern and the translation can be found here. I used 2 strands sportsweight yarn with US sz 5 needles. I think the pattern is written for worsted weight yarn.
Edit: Just discovered two beautiful sock patterns. Click here.