Show off stranded socks

I had marvellous intentions of knitting socks for everyone in time for Christmas, but alas, I have recently finished only my fourth pair for the year. I must have been knitting too many cardigans and jumpers.

I like these socks very much, they are made from the lovely yarn, colourway 1335 Vintage, and the pattern, show-off stranded socks is a free download from Anne Campbell's website. They have a really interesting heel and gusset construction, and a very cool overall pattern of slipped and passed over stitches.
The only trouble I had was that the stitch pattern is not quite so stretchy as stocking stitch, and I foolishly failed to allow for this in my choice of sizes. It is just terrible ;) that the only person in the house these actually fit is moi. They are rather stretched over the foot of my daughter, in her role as sock model, and she was complaining bitterly about this for the entire 35 seconds of the photo shoot. They look good though!

I have started some plain socks with self striping yarn. I might make them a bit small for other peopel too.

Ra-Ra Cape construction 2

I did not construct this cape all in one sitting, the i-cord threading was driving me batty.
Here is my take on Diagram 2, attaching the top two ruffles to section 3.





Section 1 cannot be attached directly opposite to the join of section 4 and 5, as shown in the diagram, as the length of attachment for each of section 1 and 2 does not allow this. Instead, section 1 is attached slightly to the right of the centre of the edge of section 3, then the i-cord is threaded through section 1 alone for 5cm of the cast on edge and all of the short end. There is a long tail of i cord.


Section 2 (crochet) is shown as being attached abutting section 1. I chose to overlap section 1 and 2 slightly to prevent a gap during wear. Section 2 is then attached to section 3 for 10cm, and the i cord is threaded through section 2 alone for 15cm. I assume this is to allow an armhole, but unfortunately, my daughter did not like the very skinny appearance of section 2 alone over her shoulder, and does not use this armhole. If I were to make this cape again, I would not place the armhole here, but in the section 4 attachment, to make a more symmetrical appearance when the garment is worn as a short vest, rather than just over the shoulders.
Section 2 is attached to section 4 for the last 15cm of section 2 edge. The remaining part of section 2 has the i-cord threaded through without attachment, and there is a long tail of i cord, which is worn tied to the i-cord tail from section 3 and 5.


The flowers are added at this point.





The instructions for this pattern say that assembly requires patience. I agree, but the outcome looks rather pretty, and the recipient is suitably appreciative.

Jo Sharp Knit Issue 7 Ra-Ra Cape Construction part 1

My daughter really fancied the Ra-Ra Cape from Knit Issue 7.



This pattern calls for 10 different balls of yarn in 5 separate pieces loosely joined by 3 i-cords. Reading through the pattern, I noted that several of these shades were only used for a relatively small amount of knitting. I decided to make a version of this pattern from mostly remnant yarn, to get an idea of the amounts needed.



Section 1 and 2
I used Alpaca Silk Georgette, Kelp, 1 ball for both sections. I used Sirdar baby bamboo, Willow to edge section 1.

Section 1 was straightforward, and a pretty lace pattern. The pattern calls for lightly ironing this piece before assembly. Instead I dampened the piece and gently stretched it to shape, pinning the section to my ironing board to dry overnight. I feel that this displays the lace pattern to advantage, without the risk of distorting the piece by ironing.

Section 2 is simple crochet. The crochet instructions in this pattern are written in USA style. I found this a bit annoying. The pattern book is published in Australia, and it is an error, in my opinion, to publish in this country, for distribution in this country, using non-Australian terms without noting this use in the pattern.

In spite of translating from USA to Australian/British crochet terms, I found that using the ASG for the crochet ruffle rather than the mohair indicated (or maybe not having a tension gauge to aspire to) left me with a crochet ruffle far less wide than the blocked knitted lace ruffle. I added a shell edging to increase the width.

RS: 1dc,*miss 1 stitch, 5tr into next stitch, miss 1 stitch, 1dc into next stitch: rep from*



Section 3
This is the only part of the garment for which a tension is given. Using the tension gauge, this piece is 60cm in length.
There is an error in this section. The first 6 rows are correct, except for the double asterisks at the end of row 6, which should be ignored.

Rows 7 - 12 Rep rows 1 to 6.
Rows 13 - 17 Rep rows 1 to 5.
Cast off in rib pattern.

I used Alpaca Silk Georgette in Kelp, and Aslan Trends Glaciar Del Cielo, in colour Green Tea for section 3

Section 5 and 6 were constructed as written, using the same Rare Comfort Kid mohair shade for both (Damask) (C and D), with the other yarns being Silkroad DK Tweed in Magnolia (this is yarn E in the pattern, and I used it as yarn E), substituting Aslan Trends Artesenal in Champagne for yarn F, and using the Green Tea cotton (I), the Baby Bamboo Willow yarn (J) and Jo Sharp Soho Summer Cotton in Crete (H) as the three cottons.

The i- cords were made from the Baby Bamboo, in Willow, and in the Magnolia shade of the Silk Road DK tweed. The crochet flowers (translated from American again) were made in the Green Tea cotton.

I then started the assembly. This was not straightforward, as the diagrams are not to scale.


As section 3 is 60cm long, and Section 5 is attached to it for 20 cm, followed by a 25 cm gap, then attached for an unspecified length, it is important to note that Section 5 is attached at least 3/4 of the way along the length of Section 3, not 1/2 way along as Diagram 1 would indicate. (I unpicked ;( )



I found that Section 4 was slightly gathered to Section 3 to achieve the 13cm unattached edge at the left.



I found all the i-cords rather too long in this garment. In retrospect, I could have made them a third shorter with no problems for wear by an average sized woman.

I will write about the next assembly steps in a further post.

Knit Issue 10 Jo Sharp Cotton T shirt

The Desert Garden Aran jumper in Knit Issue 10 has been lurking at the back of my project list for a few months now. With warmer weather, I have faithlessly abandoned my blanket in progress, and my 1/3 completed wooly waistcoat, and frivolously started on this top 2 weeks ago - on a weekend away camping. (Yes, we did need our beanies at night, and they were beautfully warm)



The Desert Garden jumper was a perfect knit for car travel, easy stitches, washable, non-fuzzy cotton/microfibre yarn, and I was happily up to ball 4 on the sleeve/upper bodice section whilst still on the drive north west (passenger, naturally) when I ran into a problem. The ball I pulled out of my knitting bag was not the same shade. Horror! I had pulled the yarn straight from the shop shelf on Friday, not looking very closely, knowing that there was only one dye lot per yarn on the shelf. What could have happened? Alas, I had a mixed bag of colour Solstice 237, a white/cream shade, and Stark 668, which is, as the name suggests, Stark white. I had no other knitting project with me, what could I do but start a second top in Stark?

As I had more of the Stark with me than the Solstice, I progressed further with the second top during the weekend away, and have now finished it, much to the displeasure of daughter the second, who had dibs on the first one. As this is a quick knit, I might manage to get hers finished too before the very hot weather starts.

I am afraid that I cannot agree with the magazine that this is a t shirt. In my opinion, this garment is a boat neck jumper. It is designed with a loose tension, so that an undergarment in a contrasting colour is visible underneath. It would be rather cheeky worn without an underlayer.



This particular jumper is size B, for a 90 cm chest. The smaller size is for an 80 cm chest, slightly smaller than the dimensions of the recipient, and my daughter did not want a close fitting or negative ease garment, hence the larger size. I have lengthened the sleeves, and the body, slightly, to fit my daughter, but still used only 10 balls. The printed pattern called for 24 balls for this size, which was an errata corrected by the Jo Sharp team to 14 balls, but in my knitting, even with lengthening, I was 4 balls short of this.

The big beanie

My mother was knitting the twisted rib beanie from Knit Issue 6, for my brother-in-law, but when she finished, it was too small. How annoying. When we looked back at the pattern to see what could be the problem, we found that the pattern stated that finished measurement was 40cm in circumference, and this was exactly the measurement my mum had ended with. Now beanies are worn stretched, and single rib, or even twisted rib are stretchy stitches, but as standard male hat sizes are from 56-63 cm, this is asking the beanie to stretch around 50%. This is a big ask, a bigger beanie was clearly required.
Increasing the size involved re writing the pattern for a cast on of 84 stitches, and a nice even set of decreases at the top. It was also re-written to allow circular knitting - I much prefer pulling through a single stitch at the end of a beanie to stitching up the back.

Here is the not quite-Knit 6 bigger beanie.



It did take more yarn than orginial pattern - 2 and 1/2 balls of Jo Sharp Silkroad Ultra, in colour 722 cement.



The new pattern is available free in the shop with the purchase of the yarn required.

Fortunately, my mum ravelled her too small beanie, and knit it up again in the new pattern, so I get to keep this one. This also means that we know that the pattern takes only one x 100g skein of Alsan Trends Guanaco.

It is warming up here, but this beanie will be just the thing for a September school holiday camping trip. It gets cold at night when you travel inland.
It is actually lucky that there is half a ball left over, as now my husband wants a beanie for this camping trip, and I can make him a nice striped one.

Knit Issue 10 Reversible Wrap

After my first winter cardigan was spirited away, I felt an absence in my wardrobe. I needed a new cardigan quickly. (Hmmm, the first one was a quick knit too, I must be feeling a bit impatient lately). Fortunately, there is another quick to knit cardigan in the same pattern book, the reversible wrap.


I knit it in Jo Sharp Silkroad DK Tweed, colour Asparagus, #426. It only took 7 balls, which I thought was pretty good for a big warm cardigan . I love this yarn, and the colour is gorgeous.






I quite like the cardigan worn in both directions, which surprized me, as the deservedly popular Origami top from Knit 7, which is much the same dimensions, really only appeals to me in the shawl collar direction, although the bolero direction does look fabulous on other people.



I like the shaping that the corrugated stitch pattern gives to the back of the jacket.

I did have some trouble sewing up the cardigan, as the SilkRoad DK kept breaking in the arm seams during wear. I have not had this trouble previously, and think it must be due to the high degree of stretch required of these seams near the armscye.
I oversewed with a matching DMC stranded embroidery cotton and have had no further problems. I am wearing this so often that I really think I need another one....

Not quite a 1- hour scarf, teaching a child to knit

Teaching children to knit is not for the faint hearted. I have gone through the motions with many children, some of them even related to me, and people ask me quite often for tips on needle types and yarns that are suitable for this purpose.
My standard reply to these questions, is that when teaching children to knit,I like to start with shortish, bamboo needles at about 4.5-5.5mm diameter, and a medium weight (8ply, 10ply) yarn composed of mostly wool. My reasons for this are that little hands cope better with short, not-too-thick needles, bamboo needles are not slippy or sticky (or particularly damaging when poked into someone's arm or leg), and that wool yarn, if selected judiciously, tends to feel soft, comes in great colours, and is less likely to split and slip than cotton, or stick like acrylic, and is relatively inexpensive.
I follow this advice myself, and have started several accomplished knitters for whom I like to take credit. I also have a 14 year old daughter whom has so far only started 3 scarves, of differing types. You can't convert everyone into a knitter :(.
My latest convert is my son. He has been trying knitting on and off since he was 4 years old. He has several partially completed 8ply woolen scarves in his WIP pile. Some of them are rather old.
Only 4 years after his first attempts, he has completed his first project. He did not follow any of my standard advice. Instead he followed the advice I generally reserve for older beginners - pick something you want to wear, and knit that.

He fancied the Sirdar giant balls of yarn marketed as the one hour scarf. This yarn is not only 100% Nylon, but has a chenille effect, so it is a bit tricky to see the stitches. It requires 10mm needles, and both knit and purl stitches. Much more complex than the standard garter stitch rectangles he had fiddled about with previously.
I think it was the colour and texture that appealed to him - don't you think he is sounding like a knitter?
This scarf took about 6 weeks of sporadic beginner knitting.
He has cast on another project already.