Hey guys!

I was having trouble finding a good video on how to knit fair isle using the continental method.  So... once I learned, I made my own!  http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T2DzU3nPiu4
I hope this helps some people out! 

This started out about a year ago intending to be a scarf made with double stranded Rowan Kid Mohair using browns and knit on size 4 needles.  I had a nice little pattern going then I decided to throw the white in there just for kicks.  You know what?  I liked the white a little too much and was starting to doubt the colors I had picked.  So I put it down to think it through and basically forgot about it. 

Then a few weeks ago, I was going through my yarn wanting to start another project and I found this.  I picked it up again and continued the original pattern.  (I had traded the extra mohair I had bought when I started the project months ago for other yarn since then.)  I got through 4 or 5 color bands past the second white stripe when I realized I was not going to have enough yarn to finish this!

After some thinking, I realized I didn't really *need* another scarf did I?  So what to do?  Then I thought a bit more and realized it would make a really nice snood (basically a large collar).  So I started the arduous task of ripping back rows and rows of double stranded snaggy mohair.  I "ripped" till I got to the beginning of that next greyish brown after the white band and then backed up that whole thing.  Then I refinished that dark band (which was the same as the beginning) and bound it off and stitched it up.

The moral of the story?  Don't abandon a project so quickly - there is always something nice it can become.  Also, never ever knit with double stranded mohair if you even *think* you might have to undo it!   

I just finished this sleeveless sweater thing!



I got the pattern from a 1960s pattern book but it had no finished measurements for the sizes anywhere in the book.  The pattern called for a worsted weight yarn but I wanted to knit with an alpaca so I used Cascade's Baby Chunky Alpaca and knew I would have to size down with the needles.  I did a gauge swatch and started knitting with size 8 needles.  Then 90(!) rows into the back when I was about to need my third ball of yarn (?!) I decided it was time to take it off the needles and see what was going on and realized it was really big.  So I did another gauge swatch with size 7 needles and it looked better so I got 40 rows into it when I decided to take it off the needles again and saw it was a bit wider than I had wanted so I measured how many inches less I wanted and figured out how many stitches I needed to subtract to make that happen and started AGAIN.



SO.  Luckily I was going to London and had 2 legs of 7.5 hours on a plane to catch back up and finish this.  I finished most of the back by the time I landed and was most of the way finished with the front when I landed on the way home.



It came out exactly as I wanted it to.  It has a nice shape to the shoulders and is fitted by the waist and gradually gets bigger.  I think the original pattern would have been much boxier.  Here is a pic of it flat but I bunched the front so you can see the sleeve holes:



Thanks for looking!!   

I knit an aran cardigan from a pattern I found in a vintage 1960s knitting magazine.  This was the first cardigan I have ever made and the first piece from a true vintage pattern (which I found was written incredibly well).  I knit the child's version and was a little apprehensive at first as it didn't have finished measurements but it was fairly easy to see where to add length as I was knitting.
I used Habu's double ply roving wool but quickly realized in order to get gauge I had to double up on it so ended up having to buy another skein!  But that's ok because the end result is super warm and extra cozy. 

in action


cardigan


stitch detail


the back (the bottom 2 bobbles I had to go back and knit "covers" over them because I didn't pay attention to the pattern!  )


close-up of the buttons which were vintage czech glass

I didn't really pay attention during the first sleeve and finished knitting it completely and started on the other one when I realized that I knit it off-center and had to rip and start over.  That being said, it took me a little under 2 weeks to finish this (I did have some free time!).  If I had to do anything over I would have made the button edges just a wee bigger - oh and paid a bit more attention!

Thanks for looking and have a lovely day!!

Hello!

I am working on a pattern and it is fairly easy but wasn't sure how to interpret this, perhaps someone can help:

"dec 1 stitch on each side every other row 3 times, every row 12 times"

OK so I just did the third decrease and here is my confusion, now do i do a regular row (like before for the every other row) before moving on to the next 12 decreases or do i just start right in on the 12 rows of decreases??   

thanks in advance!!

a finished Rowan's Iceland:http://knitrowan.com/html/magazines_slide_show.asp?productCode=ZM42&serial=74&slideSerial=688!

my camera is being a bit wonky and I couldn't figure out why but here are some pics:

I subsituted the yarn with blue sky suri merino which is sooo super lush and the needle size down to 9.  I wish my LYS had cocoon so I wouldn't have to sub but it feels amazing and I am glad its done!  The sleeves are a bit larger than I hoped but all and all I am sure it will get lots of good use.

Hi!  this is probably a "oh duh" question but I am doing a lace pattern that has some yarn overs and every WS row is "K the knit stitches and P the purl stitches as they present themselves" so what about the yarn overs?  are they Knitted or Purled?  They look like K stitches but is that right???   

hey guys - its fall and what better a time to knit away!
i finished this alpaca scarf over the weekend - it is a stitch i found in the amazing barbara walkers treasury of knit stitch book - enjoy!   

hey hey guys:

I just finished this dress - i guess you can call it a one skein wonder - being that it is one skein and made with an unbroken strand.  I knit it raglan style but did the increases/decreases gradually so as to not have an obvious seam.  It is made with charcoal grey alpaca yarn and I finished it just in time for the fall - yay!

here are zee pics of it worn and lying flat (sorry for the blurriness!):

thanks for looking!

xo

Hi everyone!

It finally got cold enough to pull out the winter gear so i found my first non scarf project (from 3 years ago!) and thought i would post because they are really cute.  I am planning on knitting a new pair with nicer yarn and will post a pattern as soon as I re-design them.

thanks for looking!