random threads

Here are the last three 6″ swatches I have knit for the blanket donations at the Basket of Yarn retreat.  All are based on stitch patterns in 450 Knitting Stitches: Volume 2 (The Harmony Guides)

Lattice stitch, page 20:

Moss Slip Stitch II in two colors, page 35. This one ended up being quite thick with the slip stitches every other stitch, and has a tendency to bias. It might work as a potholder, but I don’t think I’ll use it for a dishcloth or blanket square again:

Eiffel Tower stitch, page 36:

In the past week , I have been whipping out more 6″ swatches for donation to the Baskets of Yarn retreat this coming weekend, where we will be sewing the swatches into blankets to donate to charity.  I played around with a number of dishcloth patterns, then started swatching interesting patterns in my stitch dictionaries. Today, I’ll share the three latest I’ve knit from free dishcloth patterns. For most of these I cast on anywhere from 21 to 25 stitches to get “about” a 6″ square end result.

First up, the completed Bee Stitch Cloth, downsized to a 6″ square (should have cast on a few less stitches):

Next, the Open Star Dishcloth, again downsized. I didn’t cast on quite enough stitchs for this one, so when it ended up a bit too small, I added a round of single crochet in the purple to get it closer to the 6″ square.

This is the Three and One Checked Cloth pattern, and I think it turned out quite well. I plan to knit this one again. The pattern was easily memorized and doesn’t need edge stitches to lie flat.

Here are the last of the hats I knit for donation at the Baskets of Yarn retreat (starts in 3 days, woot!).

First I knit  the Knit Hat with Flaps featured on Knit & Crochet Today! tv show on PBS using the recommended yarn, Moda Dea Tweedle Dee in shades of gray called “Thunder”:

Next, I knit the same pattern using Di.ve’ Autunno yarn, which is a bulky instead of the chunky/super-bulky like the Tweedle Dee. I also knit in the round with magic loop, which meant I had to reduced the pattern by the two seam stitches. I aslo added more rows of garter stitch around the cuff/brim of the hat. And I thought a slightly more delicate i-cord was in order, so switched from 4 stitches to 3 on the i-cord.

I have 2 more complete balls of this yarn, plus about 3/4’s of a ball, so I can make something more. The color variations worked out well on the hat.

As part of my February hat-athon, I also finished the following hats:

From the class on Stranded Knitting I took with Amy Detjen last June at Knitters Connection 2008, here’s the ’sample’ we knit in class that I modified into a beanie hat.  I did get the hang of knitting with both hands, one picking and one throwing, with fairly even tension.  I used the charts Amy provided in class but added more patterning in the decrease section at the top of the hat.  The yarn I used is Jamison’ Shetland Spindrift in Sand and Burnt Umber that came out of my stash. I think this one I’m keeping vs donating to charity.

This beret was knit using Crazy Aunt Purl’s (Laurie Perry’s) free pattern Super-Simple fast and easy chunky hand-knit beret. The yarn is Reynolds Smile.  I had to short-cut the pattern a bit as I was running out of my single ball of yarn too quickly, so the overall effect is less slouchy than the designer intended.  I think it still works tho’.  This one will go to the BoY donation for the workers at the ASU Broyhill Center as a thank you for making our time at the Winter Retreat so great.

This ribbed watch cap is from Charlene Schurch’s book, Hats On!, and is called the Lace Rib Watch Cap. The yarn is Red Heart Soft Yarn in “leaf” colorway. The yarn, true to its name, was soft to the touch (not icky-to-the-touch-acrylic-feeling) and being machine washable, is good for a college-student recipient. This one is being donated also.

I have not been knitting any major projects in January and February–just the plethora of hats, in preemie and adult sizes. Another charity project I’m supporting is 6″ squares which we will join into blankets at the Baskets of Yarn retreat (in 9 days!).  I have two swatch squares finished, and one more on the needles. I’m using up leftovers I had of dishcloth cottons.

The stitch patterns are a basic knit-purl checkerboard:

The same Honeycomb Cable as used in my Honeycomb Beret pattern:

And the one on the needles now is the Bee Stitch Cloth from Knitting Pattern Central.com :

Here’s the last sets of photos for the Honeycomb beret pattern I designed, which I finished yesterday.  I knit this one in Rowan Colourscapes Chunky in the color called ‘Cherry’ which is really red, rust, and purple/violet.



To recap, the pattern is available for free download from my patterns page or from within Ravelry as the Honeycomb Beret.

I’ve been quiet lately, haven’t I? Well, the knitting has continued during February, and still hats. I’ve been knitting hats to donated to the students at Appalachian State University who work at the conference center. This is a charity effort organized by my LYS, Baskets of Yarn, as a way of saying thank you to the students who work so hard to make sure we have a great time at our annual retreat. Which is only ten days away now! Any leftover hats will be donated to a chemo-cap charity.

I’ll be posting some pictures over the next few days  from the various hats  I have been knitting, but I thought I’d start with the Honeycomb Beret. This is a pattern I designed using a stitch pattern from Volume 2 of the (old) Harmony Guides:   450 Knitting Stitches: Volume 2 (The Harmony Guides) called “Honeycomb Cable.” I’ve knit it in three different bulky/chunky yarns to refine the design:

Nashua Handknits Vignette, in color ‘Distant Mountains’:

Patons Shetland Tweed Chunky in a dark green:

Rowan Colourscape Chunky in a pink/purple/red called ‘Cherry’:
Photo to come soon…just finished this one yesterday.

The pattern is available for download (FREE!) from my patterns page or from within Ravelry as the Honeycomb Beret.

I finished a total of 15 preemie hats in January that are being donated to two projects, the k3tog collection for the Children’s Hospital of St. Paul (Minnesota, doncha know?) and The Preemie Project which supports the University of Iowa Hospitals and Clinics.  My mom knit two caps as well.

Here are the last few I knit, using mostly Red Heart Soft Baby Steps yarn. I liked this yarn the best of the three or four acrylics I have knit with in the past few weeks.  Very soft, worsted weight, which means a quick-knit, and how can you beat the names of Kitty Print for the pink/lilac/white combo and Puppy Print for the blue/green/white combo? The Preemie Project in particular said that parents request pink and blue for the babies.  I guess we still haven’t overcome the traditional stereotypical colors.

I do like the i-cord bow tie top on the hat on the right…that yarn was Bernat Baby Jacquards in the color Easter Basket. Only down side was it was a sport/DK weight yarn so did not knit up quite as fast as the Baby Steps yarn did.

I’m onto my February charity knitting now (yes, I know it is still January). For the Baskets of Yarn retreat in March we are asked to bring hats to donate to the college students at Appalachian State University (where the retreat is held). I have two in progress, pics’ to come on those.  My, college- student-sized heads are soooo much bigger than little preemie babies’ are. Mom is helping out on this project too, and has her two hats done. She even knit a third for a local charity in Michigan. You go, Mom!