After three months, my Jaywalkers are finally complete!  I used Knitpicks Color Your Own, Kool-Aid Dyed to be self-striping.  More pictures, notes, and details on Fig and Plum.

May I introduce Lady Eleanor of Entrelac...

Happy New Year, Craftsters!

I never thought my tube-sock sporting gentleman companion would agree to anklets, but when they're tiger-colored, anything's possible!  

She's warm, she's squishy, she's a wee bit modified.

I'm starting an English-language knitalong for this lovely French pattern:

Join me!  Click here...

http://colchique.blogspot.com

From the Summer '04 Interweave Knits, made with recycled cotton yarn and US 11 circulars and DPNs.  Details sur la blog!

[C to side D]

As I start designing more of my own patterns, I've found myself wanting to play with shapes before making a big commitment with a people-sized model.  So I started thinking about making more miniature versions of my creations.  I thought this one was particularly useful. 

I saw this sweater at Urban Outfitters a while back.  The construction was really interesting - essentially a big piece of circular fabric with holes for arms, but I couldn't for the life of me visualize how it was put together.  It's actually a classic type of sweater shape, as you can see from this Yesterknits pattern, but it's not exactly intuitive. 

The free Yesterknits pattern for the vintage shrug instructed you to knit a piece of fabric, essentially in the shape of a "T," and sew together certain edges.  But the instructions on sewing the fabric together didn't necessarily give one a good idea of how the "T" turned into a sweater. 

So I tried this little tiny test.  I cast on 30 stitches (not the right number for the ribbing, but divisible by three) and knit in 2x2  rib for 10 rows.  Then I cast off 10 stitches on each side of the work and kept knitting the middle ten stitches for another 10 rows.  Then I cast off.  Here's the resulting piece:

Now here's the part I couldn't figure out without trying it myself.  You fold the flap made by knitting the center 10 stitches down and sew side A to side B.  Then sew side C to side D (sorry... I fixed a typo here!).  You'll see the basic shape of the shrug.  It really does end up circular:

It also ended up being just the right size for the fabulous Ani DollFranco to model for you:

The 30 stitches cast on initially are the top / collar side.  Everything else kind of wraps around the body.

There are two main differences (besides the, um scale) between this sweater and the UO sweater.  First, proportion.  I didn't bother figuring any of that out, but you'd have to play with the proportions on a final version.  I just used as many 10s as possible because I was in a hurry.  But I suspect you'd have to knit more than 10 rows initially to get a wider collar.  Second, ribbing.  The UO sweater has two different rib patterns - one for the stitches that border the shrug and one for the inner portion.  You could accomplish this by starting and finishing with a certain number of rows in, say, 3x2 rib before switching over to 2x2 or whatever you finally decide to use.

I don't know whether I'll ever actually make the sweater.  Maybe Ani DollFranco's version got this out of my system enough for now.  But I can't wait to see yours!

http://photos7.flickr.com/12168704_a39ab1c1ed_o.jpg

This is my gift to my Mommy for Mother's Day.  It's a bag made with an initial in her own handwriting, and lined with plastic (should things get messy with her maquillage).  The "S" is for "Sandi."  It's my first intarsia and isn't perfect, but all in all I'm satisfied!  

The great thing about bags is that dimensions don't matter too much.  Yours will vary depending on the size of your yarn and your chart.  Here's what to do:

(1)  Solicit handwriting from the recipient in thick marker (if it's a surprise, reassure them that you won't be defrauding anyone!)

(2)  Scan handwriting sample and run through knitpro freeware charting application.  You'll have to play around with the image size until you get the number of stitches on the chart you're seeking.  I used this:

http://photos8.flickr.com/12170462_0798fd4c04_o.jpg

I had to crop out the rest of Mom's signature, because the letters were too narrow to chart well.  It became this (except larger):

http://photos8.flickr.com/12171579_524b3b667d.jpg

(3) Complete front panel according to chart.  You could also knit one long piece for front and back panels, to avoid having to sew the bottom seam.

Here's my front panel.  Baby's first colorwork:

http://photos8.flickr.com/12168706_c04b22807f_o.jpg

I'm not thrilled with the colorwork, but I started over like three times and couldn't bear to do it again to fix the bumpy spots.  I don't know whether it's possible to get a smooth edge at this gauge on a letter so curvy.  If it is, I'm too lazy to figure out how (sorry Mom!).

(4)  Knit a matching back panel in a solid color.  

(5)  Sew panels together at the bottom seam.  

(6)  Cut a piece of plastic slightly narrower than knitted piece, and about 2" longer.  

(7)  Sew in zipper.  Sewing in zippers is mucho tricky, and I couldn't adequately explain it.  Try this tutorial.  The only difference is that you'll be sewing an extra lining layer on top of the zipper fabric.  Basically you'll make a zipper sandwich, on either side of the bag, then sew it all together.

(8) Now that you've sewn in both sides of the zipper, you can sew together the sides of the plastic piece to form an inner bag.  

Here's the inside of Mom's bag:

http://photos8.flickr.com/12168705_7783a5dc1b_o.jpg

(9) Seam sides of knitted piece as usual.  Stuff in any loose threads or yarn ends (yay!  no need to perform the hated task of weaving in ends).

(10)  Deliver to impressed recipient, who should be thrilled to see her name in lights stitches!

[highly]

my first cardigan, although a pint-sized one.  it's made from artful yarns candy, a new fiber i highly recommend and loved working with!

all the gory deets at mon blog, http://www.figandplum.com/archives/000411.html.

Hey everyone, just in time for spring, I've finally finished my modified version of Knitty's Broad Street Mittens.  The two major modifications are, (1) tailoring the pattern for smaller hands and (2) creating a rounded, symmetrical tip for the mitten flap.  More info on the modifications is available at my blog, http://www.figandplum.com/archives/000397.html.

I should also put in a plug for this yarn, Sock Garden 100% merino from Knitpicks - worked up really well and with beautiful colors AND my total cost for this project was only $4!