Updates

Well!  It's been a little while.  I've been busy... too busy to update.

I finished Josh & Arden's blanket and named it "Harmony".  I didn't get a photo of it before I wrapped it up, and Arden sent me one -- but already printed!  Maybe someday I'll get it scanned and posted, who knows.  I've been really encouraged lately by both Arden and my friend Beth who both have mentioned recently that they just love the blankets I made them for their respective weddings.  So, I'm happy.

I also finished a blanket for my friends Neil and Kristine for their wedding in October.  The only bummer to the whole project is that I noticed as I was taking the final photo that I had not sewn it together according to my pattern.  It was way too late to fix it, but I think it turned out okay after all.  Here's a photo:

The main stitch was:
      Row 1: *k2, p2* to end
      Row 2: *k2, p2* to end
      Row 3: k
      Row 4: k
Super simple, and I love the way it turned out.  Even with the squares sewn on wrong.

I did a big hat project for Christmas, but I think that will be the subject of another post.

I'm currently working on the beautiful "Diamonds and Pearls for Sophie" by Katie Benedict -- my goddaughter Emily is turning 1 in just a few weeks!  That project is pretty much consuming my time right now.  It's definitely a good thing that school is a bit slow.

I'm about to finish a pair of socks as a semi-belated Christmas present for my friend Kayre - she opened one of the socks for Christmas, but I had barely started the other at the time.  Those should be finished tomorrow.  I found a neat stitch to use for the cuff: it's called a "twisted rib":
      Row 1: *p1, sl1p wyb, yo (from back to front), k1, psso two stitches*; repeat to end
      Row 2: *p1, k2* to end.
The stitch is nice and thick and stretchy - pretty perfect for the cuff of a sock if it wasn't so irritating to do the psso with such small yarn.  Oh well.  The socks are turning out well.  I'll have a photo later.

Finally, I've been working on a blanket off and on for Gloria and Jimmy.  I haven't fully decided on the pattern yet - some kind of alternating lace and garter deal - so I'll hopefully update again when I've settled my mind on that one.

Dragon/Hippo/Dinosaur

So... I'm finishing up Arden & Josh's blanket (that's blanket #2) and actually have already started on blanket #3.... but of course, other projects abound.

I'm about to start the "umbilical cord hat" from Stitch 'n Bitch, with a couple tiny modifications - nothing serious - for a friend.  I also made some mini Star Wars amigurumi for which I bought patterns more than a year ago.  They turned out *so* cute (a little Ewok and Yoda) that I was motivated... and my motivation took this shape:

When I was first making him, my boyfriend Tim told me he looked like a dragon.  My friend Stewie informed me, about halfway through, that he thought it looked like a hippo.  But my intention was always "dinosaur".

This guy is crochet and stuffed with poly-fil.  I used some yarn I found in my stash (and actually ran out before I finished him - that's why the spikes are green instead of blue) and I didn't even really come up with a pattern.  I'll describe what I did, and if anyone wants a more detailed guideline, I can give that a whirl later.

I started with a ch2, 6sc in 1st ch.
From there, the second and maybe third row were just 1sc in each sc - making the nose.
I wanted the nose to be at the bottom of the head, so I increased (2sc in 1sc) a few stitches at the top of the head for the next few rounds, then at the back of the head did the decreases on the top as well.
For the neck I made increases at the bottom and decreases at the top so that it would slope down a little.
The body has the increases mostly at the bottom - but I put a couple at the top, too, to make him a bit round.
I did a couple of rows even in the middle for his gut, then decreased at first just on the bottom, but then more towards the tail I spaced out the decreases pretty evenly.
The legs are little tubes 6sc around (start again with 2ch, 6sc in 1st ch, then do 1sc in each sc for about 3 or 4 rounds) - I made the bottom of the foot green since I was running out of yarn - and then I sewed these on separately at the end.
The spikes I crocheted right on to the actual dinosaur (I didn't crochet them and then sew them on) and they follow a 2 stitch pattern: *sl st in the 1st stitch, hdc, dc, hdc in next st* rep from * to * until end of spike row, sl st.

Only the body is stuffed - and I made sure to stuff the head before decreasing for the tail.  The tail actually doesn't have stuffing in it.  My plan was to overstuff the body and then work some of the stuffing down into the tail, but it just didn't work out that way.

All in all, I think he was about 4" tall and maybe 6" long.  I left him with my friend Stewie's 3-year-old nephew.

Here's another photo, since he's such a cutie:

I might as well include the inspiration for the dinosaur.  These patterns are by Lucy Collin, and you can find them on Etsy.  Enjoy!

Blanket #2 of 2011

Hello again!

Blanket #1 is finished - I'll post some completed pictures on Ravelry soon (you can find me @jennylg)... And that means I'm starting on blanket #2!

I've actually been working on it for a while now and already have some parts of it worked out.  It's going to be a wedding present for my friends Josh and Arden, and for some reason I felt like black and off-white yarn would suit them well.  I also wanted to get some practice in with intarsia knitting, and from there decided to go with a diagonal theme. 

I didn't want to knit the entire blanket, since I want this one to go pretty quickly (still have one or two or maybe three more to get done this year) so I decided to find a granny square to go with the theme.  I settled on the Corner Stripe Square by JudyK because I can alternate the squares to form a diagonal pattern.

Part of the reason I haven't written the pattern down yet is that I haven't completely decided what I'm going to do.  I bought Caron "One Pound" yarn and originally had a different design in mind for the intarsia squares, so I bought two pounds of black and one pound of off white.  This actually will mean I have less of the white than I need, but I might be able to just use the black instead.  We'll see.

So, in summary:
- I'm making the "Corner Stripe Square" in black (so far) and may add some white.  I'm using hook size K and the squares are turning out about 6" per side.  All in all, I'm planning to make 40 of the small squares.
- I'm making larger squares knit in garter stitch in various diagonal patterns.  I'm using size 8 needles and casting on 40 stitches.  These squares end up being about 11" per side, and I'll sc around the edges before sewing them together.  I'm planning to make 10 large squares.

The overall plan is to arrange the larger squares on the diagonal as shown:

Here's what I have so far!

New Bag :)

So this isn't a pattern I designed, just one I found on Ravelry.  But I can't explain how much I love making a new bag for myself, and this pattern is *adorable*.

The pattern is called "Nordstrom Crochet Hobo Bag" and it was a jiffy to make.  It took me most of the afternoon, including making a lining for it out of an old t-shirt.  I bought all the accessories yesterday - a strap for it (with a cute little braid on the side), a magnetic closure (though I think most of the time it will be too full of knitting to close!), and the yarn.  For $15 and a couple of hours... this can't be beat.

That being said, I'm a little upset the two balls of yarn turned out to be dyed so differently (you can pretty much tell where the first ball ran out) and I was hoping to make this in a solid color, but couldn't find one I liked.  The bag is still amazing - but I might try another one in a different color.  After all, purse handles come in sets of two.  :)

Here's a photo!

Blanket #1 of 2011

My most well-known projects are blankets.  This is probably because I take them pretty much everywhere I go, and probably because I've made a number of them.  I love giving them as wedding gifts. (I've actually never knit myself a blanket!)

I've been putting together simple patterns for these for a while, now - this is just the first of the year.  My friends Joel & Beth are getting married on May 20th, and this one is for them.  I'm hoping to be done far sooner than May, though, since next up will be Josh & Arden, who I think are getting married in August.

The pattern is based off of a stitch called "Basket & garter stitch" in Maria Parry-Jones' book "The Knitting Stitch Bible" and is really best read off a chart - but I'll type it up anyway since I'm not quite sure how to draw a chart on the computer.

I'm using Caron's "Simply Soft" yarn for this project - and it's actually my favorite yarn for blankets, since it's so soft and it's a great price when you need a lot of yarn.

So, without further ado:

Joel & Beth's blanket:

Materials: 3 Skeins Caron Simply Soft in Pagoda
                 3 Skeins Caron Simply Soft in Off White
                 Size 9 straight or circular needles

Gauge (approximately): 7sts by 11 rows = 2"  [but really, it doesn't matter for this project]

Make 5 (3 in Pagoda, 2 in Off White)
CO 42 sts.
Row 1: *k7, p1,k1,p1,k1,p1,k1,p1*, rep from * to end
Row 2: *k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p7*, rep from * to end
Row 3: *p7, p1,k1,p1,k1,p1,k1,p1*, rep from * to end
Row 4: repeat row 2
Row 5: repeat row 1
Row 6: *k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, k7*, rep from * to end
Row 7: repeat row 1
Row 8: repeat row 2
Row 9: repeat row 3
Row 10: repeat row 2
Row 11: repeat row 1

Row 12: *p7, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1*, rep from * to end
Row 13: *p1,k1,p1,k1,p1,k1,p1, k7*, rep from * to end
Row 14: *k7, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1*, rep from * to end
Row 15: repeat row 13
Row 16: repeat row 12
Row 17: *p1,k1,p1,k1,p1,k1,p1, p7*, rep from * to end
Row 18: repeat row 12
Row 19: repeat row 13
Row 20: repeat row 14
Row 21: repeat row 13
Row 22: repeat row 12

Repeat this pattern of 22 rows until the piece measures 60".  BO.

Finishing: Sew the five panels together, alternating colors.  [Possibly: add border?]  Weave in ends.



Here's my work so far!

I've got a long way to go!  But it's moving right along - I started this on Sunday.

First post... and a hat.

So I decided to start a new blog... for knitting patterns!  (Probably crochet patterns, too, if I design any.)

I want to start trying to design my own knitwear in 2011 and I wanted to have a place to record/edit my patterns.  Hopefully this is the beginning of a beautiful new relationship.

My boyfriend asked me to make him a scarf, and went through my stash to find something he liked.  One of the yarns was handed-down from an old friend, and I had no idea how much was left in the skein.  I figured out what the yarn was, and found another skein in the same color (hoping the dye lots weren't *too* different).  I ended up only needing a few yards of the second skein so... I decided to make myself a hat to match.

So... the first pattern is a hat with those little flaps to cover your ears!  This one is inspired by this hearts hat and by this pattern I asked Google to translate from the French. (Try it... you can only add the earflaps on Sundays!  Teehee.)  I didn't want to have to buy size 13 DPNs, so this is worked flat and seamed.

Materials: Jiffy Thick & Quick yarn, 1 skein in "Berkshires"
          Size 13 straight or circular needles

Gauge: 7 sts and 9 rows in 3"

Ear flaps (make 2) CO 5 sts
Row 1: purl
Row 2: K1, m1, k3, m1, k1 (7 sts)
Row 3: purl
Row 4: k1, m1, k5, m1, k1 (9sts)
Work in stockinette st until flap measures 3 inches.  Do not bind off - cut a long tail and put it on a stitch holder for later.

Hat:
Cast on 6 stitches, knit on one ear flap, cast on 18 sts, knit on other ear flap, cast on 6 sts. (48 sts)
Row 1: p2, k2, p13, (k2, p2) 3 times, k2, p13, k2, p2
Row 2: k2, p2, k13, (p2, k2) 3 times, p2, k13, p2, k2
Row 3: purl
Row 4: knit
Continue in St st until hat (not including ear flaps) measures 3".
Row 1: *k4, k2tog*, rep from * to end
Row 2: purl
Row 3: knit
Row 4: *p3, p2tog*, rep from * to end
Row 5: knit
Row 6: purl
Row 7: *k2, k2tog*, rep from * to end
Row 8: purl
Row 9: *k1, k2tog*, rep from * to end
Row 10: purl
Row 11: k2tog around
Break yarn, leaving a long tail.  Draw through remaining 8 sts, and sew the back seam.  Weave in ends.

Cut 4 long pieces of yarn.  Attatch 2 to each ear flap at the middle of the yarn, and then braid the 4 strands on each side together to form the ties.

Ta-da!!  It's not very tight against my head, but the ties should keep the ears warm!  :)

**edit** a note on sizing:  I love the short length of the hat because my ponytail fits at the back of the hat.  If you want a longer hat, shorten the ear-flaps a bit and lengthen the main part of the hat before you start the decreases.  For instance: try 2" ear-flaps and 4" of hat before decreasing.