My latest design is now up in the Interweave Knits Preview! Introducing the Mirabella Cardigan, which was the little look I posted here.

With this design I set out to mimic crisp lines and woven fabric details. I wanted the narrow ribbing to imitate small plackets which frame the prim button loops. Waist shaping is created with ‘princess seams’ and additional ribbing at the natural waist. The high collar is created using an easy double knit technique (I know, contain your shock).
The yarn is actually a Chunky weight so this knits up quite quickly too without looking heavy gauge.

Finished Size 33 (37, 41, 45, 49)" bust circumference. Sweater shown measures 37". Choose a size as close to your actual bust measurement as possible; garment is intended to be worn with minimal ease.

Yarn Kolláge Hope Chunky (100% cotton; 80 yd [73 m]/56 g): just peachy, 7 (9, 10, 11, 12) skeins.

Needles Size 10 (6 mm): straight. Size 8 (5 mm): straight and 24" circular (cir). Size 2 (2.75 mm): 24" circular. Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.

Notions Size J/10 (6 mm) crochet hook; markers (m); stitch holders; cable needle (cn); tapestry needle; thirteen 5⁄8" buttons.

Gauge 16 sts and 22 rows = 4" in St st on largest needle.

A few more lame mirror modeled shots on my Flickr. ;)

Posted by Jen at 11:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (28)

When I first learned to knit I excitedly realized I could make myself some pairs of fingerless gloves to stave off the perpetual freezing office chill. Had I actually made myself a single pair since then? Nope. Now with finally a slight nip in the air (well some days) here in Texas I decided it was high time I whipped up a pair.

I've had these in my queue for some time. They're the Axel Mitts by Blue Garter and are one quick knit. I like the folded over ribbing which can allow for either more dexterity or more warmth depending on what you're doing, cozy!

The pattern calls for bulky yarn (handspun used in sample) but I had a good portion of a left over skein of Blue Sky Alpacas Worsted Hand Dyes which always seemed more on the corpulent side. I have mentioned I'm a little compulsive about using left overs right? This skein is from the Newsboy Cap completed way back.

This is also why I love my digital kitchen scale. Not only is it great for its intended application (*heart* Alton's Brown's books and metric weight cooking!) but it let me know I had exactly 76 grams to work with. So I figured I'd knit the first glove, weighting it until it reached as close to 38g as possible and see if it would be enough. Can you believe it worked out just near perfect? It helped I seemed to have a larger row gauge than the original.

See how much I had left over? Less than 1g, it didn't even register on the scale. Awesome.

Posted by Jen at 05:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

It's been said plenty, but the versatility of knitting really is awesome. I'm so charmed with my new thimble/amulet bag; it's so wholly different looking and feeling than anything I've yet knit. Do not fear the tiny beads and 0000 size needles (yup that's right) - this little bag really was easy. The pattern was part of our Dallas Hand Knitter's Guild October program on Bead Knitting. Our presenter (and own guild member) Mary Jo Mundell stated she makes these in one day. While mine did take a little longer than that with intermittent spurts of progress it did go very quickly. Major bonus was Mary Jo sells kits for these with the beads pre-strung, praise be.

Oooh sparkley...

And speaking of Guild projects- here's the picture of dorky me, my Circumnavigated Cardi and my State Fair of Texas ribbon as promised.
Well I'm off to tonight's meeting on Steeking. I shall fear no scissors. Now if only for once I could get up to introduce our speakers and not forget half of everything I wanted to say on the spot, sigh.

Posted by Jen at 05:04 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Posted by Jen at 09:25 AM | Permalink | Comments (10)

I'm so excited to finally get to share my first Interweave Knits design - Celtic Tote!
You can view the entire Winter 2007 issue preview here. They've added all the sizing, materials and gauge information as well, a really nice feature.

How this design came together was somewhat different for me, most of the time it's an evolving process. This one however, I was just closing my eyes one day and it popped into my head. I knew I wanted to make exactly what I first envisioned. So I set to sketching out the knotwork design, then working the pencil and eraser (lots of eraser) to work out the charts. It feels like picking favorites with your children but I what can I say, I love it so much.

A few other little details, it's hard to see from the photos but the cables continue twisting up into the handles. The base is double sided and has my friend, plastic mesh canvas, slipped inside for added structure. Outlines are worked by threading a contrasting strand of yarn around and underneath the cables.

Now I can't wait to hold the actual magazine in my hot little hands!

Finished Size: 12" wide at top edge, 14" wide at bottom, 3 3/4" deep at base, and 10 1/2" tall from base to top edge (excluding strap), after felting.
Yarn: Brown Sheep Lamb’s Pride Worsted (85% wool, 15% mohair; 190 yd [174 m]/113 g): #M08 wild oak (medium brown, MC), 3 skeins; #M151 chocolate soufflé (dark brown, CC), 1 skein.
Needles: Size 9 (5.5 mm): straight and 5 double-pointed (dpn). Adjust needle size if necessary to obtain the correct gauge.
Notions: Cable needle (cn); markers (m); stitch holders; tapestry needle; one sheet of plastic mesh canvas for stiffening base; one 5/8" button.
Gauge: 16 sts and 24 rows = 4" in St st before felting; about 18 1/2 sts and 27 1/2 rows = 4" in St st after felting (your result may vary).

Errata!
Under Back, after casting on and working 6 rows in rev St st it should read:

Next row: (RS) P7, place marker (pm), work Row 1 of Celtic Cable chart over next 21 sts (inc to 25 sts as shown on chart), pm, p8, pm, work Row 1 of Celtic Cable chart over next 21 sts (inc them to 25 sts as shown on chart), pm, p7--72 sts.

Posted by Jen at 04:44 PM | Permalink | Comments (49)

Mr. PieKnits birthday was Wednesday (Happy B-day sweetie!) and now I can finally share the secret knitting gift- a mohawk hat! Mr. PieKnits had lamented that with the whole corporate bag he couldn't do anything really crazy to his hair so I figured this hat would be the perfect stand-in. I'm happy to report it was enthusiastically received.

I was originally going to make the hat as written in the Pretty in Punk book but quickly realized Mr. PieKnits was highly anti-earflaps (although I am quite fond of them and might need a matching hat myself). The pattern also had it worked in two halves then seamed, I'm assuming to facilitate the fringe placement but I wasn't really digging the extra finishing idea. I also didn't want to use wool for the base being Texas and all, and therefore it would need to be altered for that as well since it wouldn't be shrinking. Then I got Adrian of Hello Yarn's pattern at Yarn School for a top down, any gauge no swatch hat- perfect. (It was crunch time here with very little bits of time to sneak in knitting.) The increases it creates are also pretty non-swirly so it worked great. The fringe is Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky which really felts perfectly for this type of thing.

He's also pictured here with his other new birthday present- a custom pro-deck skateboard I had made. :)

It was so worth the surprise.

Posted by Jen at 05:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

Posted by Jen at 12:55 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

I had been good. I've been on a strict deadline knitting diet for the last 3 months. But I finally caved and had a fast and furious donut binge of a knitting project. It had been sitting there on my Ravelry que, taunting me- "Molly's Headband" by Pam Allen from IK Summer 2006.

I had yet to actually knit anything from my first spinning attempts. I mean come on, how could I resist for much longer? This was worked in the handspun single I mentioned here. It's all self-striping and stuff, wee!
When I started spinning I was all excited about spinning the yarn and totally did not realize how entertaining knitting with the actual stuff is! Spinning is still a bit of a mystery to me, knitting I know however. It's like getting a little bit of the mystery revealed when knitting it up and truly seeing how the yarn behaves and how all these variables fit together.

I've been working seemingly endless stretches of stockinette lately so a little taste of lace was very satisfying. The only mods I did were for the ties. I wasn't digging the 24" of I-cord so I just added a YO at each end and strung 3 stands through it and did a simple braid. This saved yardage too with the headband coming in at 7g, so I should have enough of this skein left to make some other little thing as well.

Posted by Jen at 12:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (24)

I cannot knit scarves.

Sadly it's true; I apparently lack the patience to knit a long repeating rectangle. My pathetic first ever garter stitch scarf attempt is proof of this. I made it to about 4 inches and then went "OK, that's enough of that." Now with the new Harry Potter movie/book coming out this has been the cause of much angst as I embrace my dorkieness and totally wanted a scarf to wear. Now I know I could probably buy one but I'm even worse about buying something I could make. So I set to brain storming and then it came to me.

The Harry Potter In-a-Hurry Scarf

Finger knitting - the ultimate in painless knitting! I blogged on this super easy method before and it makes a nice hair wrap/skinny scarf. I might also mention that I have no time to knit a gigantic stockinette scarf as well so this was perfect. I immediately knew trying to work in tons of ends was not an option either and so I cheated. I cut strips to the size I wanted and tightly knotted the ends together trimming any excess. Hey this isn't an heirloom. I usually adhere to the 'No Knots' decree but with a few exceptions. (Such as in the String bag, really how the heck else would you join a new ball in that pattern?) Also got to sport my sweet Harry and The Potters shirt, which I highly recommend you see if they are playing in your area- hilarious.

I solemnly swear I am up to no good.

Posted by Jen at 08:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

I've blocked out time for several knitting deadlines but am waiting on the yarn a little longer than I had anticipated. This always leaves me not wanting to delve into anything that requires a decent amount of brain power only to abandon it shortly. I just can't seem to wait idle though- enter String bag.

I've been wanting to make a version of one these for forever. We buy lots of fresh veggies and thus the plastic bags accumulate rapidly with the frequent grocery store trips. Also in our new location we now have an organic grocer/farmer's market right next to us on my way home. I was so ridiculously pleased about that. So anyway- I'd been imagining keeping this bag tucked in car but now we are also leaving for a 10 day southern California road trip and I decided that I must have this bag for the beach as well.

Pattern: Saturday Market Bag from June 2006 MagKnits
Yarn: Lily Sugar 'n Cream in 159121 (2 balls)
Needles: US 15 and US 10 Denise
Modifications: Inspired by the modifications on disdressed's blog here I converted it to a two strap bag as well. I also made it a little smaller although not as much. I made the strap longer too as I like to wear it cross-shoulder. Do take note though, the strap stretchs A LOT so make it shorter than you think. I changed the construction to work it top down in the round (on 77 sts) and then use a three-needle bind-off to close the bottom. Yeay for no seaming, as sewing that stitch pattern did not look enjoyable.

Pacific Ocean here I come!

Posted by Jen at 01:58 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Yeah I know, more booties- who'd a thought?

I just can't leave left over balls of yarn alone, I can't. Cute, quick and fast knitting even though the finishing took about as long. I used this free pattern and the green Pima Tencel from Anouk.

To review, here's the whole set. Of course now I've stumbled across this really cute bootie version - Simple shoes (pdf). It has interesting construction, and is seamless which I like. Seaming those little suckers is a bit tricky plus I like the idea of less bulk. Hmm, I still have several left-overs around here...

Posted by Jen at 12:06 PM | Permalink | Comments (15)

Seems I did have time to fit in a matching hat for Anouk, mostly because damn, those baby accessories are fast knits. I've had this pattern bookmarked for awhile and cast on and off in one night. Actually the little flower took me as long as the hat as I went through a couple different ones from Knitting on the Edge but even the smallest seem too overwhelming for such a petite hat. I settled on my favorite (and ridiculously easy) flower to date, this one. Only I cast on just 31 sts, binding off 5 sts for each petal and only having 1 stitch on the needle between them.

Pattern: Lilly Hat by Larissa Brown of Stitch Marker
Yarn: Left over Pima Tencel from Anouk pattern
Needles: I kinda guessed here since no actual gauge is given and went with size 9's.
Flower: Flowers in Bloom from Spring '06 of For The Love of Yarn

Posted by Jen at 12:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

Wow, three FO's in a month - what's happened to me? (Technically they were finished in May, I am late blogging them)

Yep, really basic socks, but I figured a good place to start (crazy idea, I know). I'm so happy with them! And fun to photograph! I have this theory that socks are kinda the "baby pictures of other peoples kids" of the knitblog world. It's never quite as interesting to others as it is to you. I know before I started a sock, I'd see photos and was like "That's nice, but you know- looks like a sock, whoopie." But then you start you're own, and every little part is so novel. I was all "Look!! It actually Looks Just Like a Sock!". And you want to show it off even to those you know have less than equal enthusiasm.

It really took a long time to finish the second one, but that's because I made them my traveling socks. They're such a great easy-yet-interesting project to take on the road. They've logged several flights as well. I think a pair of socks will always be on the needles for me. Not going to be churning them out left and right but it rounds out the WIP basket nicely and oh so portable.

Showing someone the socks - "Look, see how the gusset is formed, cool huh?" Equals about the same reaction as
Showing some teenager - "Awww, isn't the baby cute when it burps like that?"

These shoes have found a new purpose.

Yarn: Bernat Sox in Jazz Hot colorway
Pattern: Basic Ribbed Socks from Spunmag.com by Kate Atherley
Needles: US size 2
Followed the directions exactly and worked at 60 sts.

Posted by Jen at 01:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (28)

Finished, and with no down to the wire rushing. I honestly feel like going "Go me!", not very good with the procrastination you see. I've wanted to make this pattern since I saw it and had no one to make it for, so didn't really want to stress while making it. I love it! I used the exact colors in the pattern and the suggested yarn; I thought the colors were perfect as is. I love the bold saturatedness of them (yes I'm making it a word). A benefit of marring into an Indian family is they do not shy away from color. No wimpy pastels here!
Fortuitously it happens to pose rather well with our newly painted bedroom.

Pattern: Anouk, from Knitty.com by Kate Gilbert
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Pima Tencel in 1273 (Orange), 4084 (Green), 2493 (Purple), and 7478 (Red) - This is the yarn specified in the pattern
Needles: Size US 6 Denise's

No real troubles with the pattern other than the early tension issues which seemed to just even themselves out if I stopped trying too hard. Well that and at the last duplicate stitch on the second flower I held it back and realized, aah man- it's suppose to be the reverse image. *sigh, rip rip*

I'm quite pleased with buttons though- little lady bugs to go with the flowers. Mr. Pieknits helped spot them and I think they're a nice touch. Now maybe I'll have time to bang out a hat too.

Posted by Jen at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (26)

After numerous days of storms and cloudiness what with Tornado Alley looking more like Tornado Main Street, the weather finally cooperated long enough to get some finished photos.

Circumnavigated Cardigan- she is done and she is cozy. To recap- this pattern was originally published in Knitter's Magazine #10 and is now available for purchase directly from the designer, Medrith Glover (more info here). I also knit this as part of the year long KAL with the Dallas Hand Knitters Guild. This pattern is really more like a very detailed guide. You can use any yarn in any gauge and make any size, it's all calculated by you with your measurements. It gives you lots of room to play with ideas, but when I say detailed I mean it- it's thorough to say the least. Oh and did I mention it was completely seamless, including the side pockets? Yeah, I thought it was a cool pattern. I do love unique construction.

So of course, I had to make some of my own mods. :)

• The pattern calls for 6 inches of ease, while I wanted a comfy sweater that was easy to wear over almost anything- that was a bit much. So I cut mine down to about 2 inches (by pretending my measurements were actually 4 inches smaller, and then followed the pattern as written - easy and mentally indulgent).


• I did add a little bit of waist shaping but this is one thing I didn't do as much as I'd like. I should have started the shaping during the pockets; by the time they were joined I realized it was a little late to do much.


• The colorwork is an obvious change, I added simple stripes and after a few failed attempts decided duplicate stitching on the stars on the front worked the best.


• The pattern calls for binding off then picking up for the start of the top down sleeves but I preferred the more seamless look and didn't want it competing with the stripes. For a provisional cast on I had just knitted several rows in the contrast color then switched to the main color, cutting out the contrast when ready to work in the other direction. While a little more work, this seemed to eliminate any change in tension issues.


• The button band is worked in garter st in the pattern but here I chose to use double knit- much more on that in this post


• I also used double knit for the sleeve hems, here using black for the inside color which allowed me to add another star at each end. So the inside cuff is the contrasting black a la Elizabeth Zimmerman style. On these I joined the two layers with kitchener stitch in the main cherry color.

The double knit sleeve detail- unfortunately trying to take a photo of the inside of your sleeve proved difficult. But the cuff inside is the reverse, black with a red star.

I did just notice my hair is covering the other two stars, oops. Oh well, you can see them in previous posts that are all complied here for your back-reading pleasure.
ETA: I've put up a tutorial for the double knit button band here.

Posted by Jen at 09:05 AM | Permalink | Comments (34)

I do love felt; it's definitely my kind of sewing material. I think coming up with boy embellishments though is a little trickier, at least for me apparently. I went through a few different ideas before deciding on this one and am quite fond of the final result. (Convinced myself I did not need to keep this pair for "future what if".) I used Heather Bailey's great Bitty Booties pattern and got to rummage through my vintage buttons and use some of my vintage ric rack too.

The rest of the weekend was a determined dash to finish the Circum nav cardi- and I did! It's currently blocking and will be ready for the Guild's show and tell and some finished photos soon.

Posted by Jen at 12:31 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

Bias hat v.2.0 is in need of another rework, after trying to fudge the numbers here and there in an effort to make a more compact pattern. Seems they needed fudged in the other direction. So I've given up any idea of releasing this pattern somewhere near "in-season". Which means, a little welcome distraction!

Babies, babies all around (literally, both neighbors just had babies within days of each other). A nice simple, follow the pattern knit was just the breather I needed. T-Strap Booties in the Lion Brand Cashmere blend, which really is very soft. I was tempted to post this with no mention of who they were for, just to mess with my mom (Hi Mom!) but I must be getting soft. ;)

And the winner is...
Now what everyone wants to really know- the contest winner!
Thanks to the handy Random Number Generator the winner is -

Janelle of Bioengiknitter!

Big thank yous to everyone who left suggestions, they will be very helpful!

Posted by Jen at 09:28 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Squeee! Ok, I can't help it- I just got my copy of the new Knitter's Magazine Spring 2007 issue that has my pattern in it.

Introducing Liquid Silver
This was pretty much my month of December. It is so exciting to see this pattern finally out; it was one of my very first designs. Originally sketched out some time ago, the details came together after a long incubation period. And little details it has! It looks simple, and it is, but I think it has enough interesting bits to keep it engaging.

The underarm increases are done entirely with short rows rather then large chunks of stitches cast on in stair steps. All the required stitches are cast on at once then the short rows "activate" the needed amount for each row. This makes for a smooth curve and far easier seaming. My favorite is the cuff treatment though.

I-cord casings are made using, can you guess? double knit! ('I love double knit' should be my catch phrase.) It just worked out perfectly, this way you can simply join the front back with an easy 3 needle bind-off. Again, painless seaming- my fav. Of course the I-cord closures at the top take care of the usual somewhat unsightly top seam of a dolman style construction. Plus I think everyone can show a little collarbone and look sexy. :)

It also made the contents page, not the cover of course, but the 2nd thing you see which I have to say I thought was pretty cool, heh. My "working title" for this design was Concatenate, which amused my programming geeky side. (Mr. Pieknits informed me it was 'too geeky', pshaw) I think Liquid Silver is a great choice though.

You can see the entire Spring Preview online at Knitter's website
http://www.knittinguniverse.com/flash/knitters/GalleryList.php?IssueNum=86

It really feels awesome to grace the same pages as such designers as Norah Gaughan, Elsebeth Lavold, Deborah Newton, and Kathy Zimmerman. I'm excited to be a part of such a great issue!

Posted by Jen at 09:06 AM | Permalink | Comments (44)

I seriously feel like the slowest knitter over here. Mr. Pieknits does finally have cozy fingers with his new Knucks though.

This is a clever pattern and an interesting knit, even with the thumb gusset trials. Although I do have to say that 10th finger was a test in perseverance, thankfully they do go quickly.

The pair was made using Elsbeth Lavold Silky Wool, always great to work with. I got gauge no problem with size 4's. Spring here in Texas did rather sneak up on me (more like suddenly jumped out from behind a hedge) so probably doesn't need these for gaming as much anymore but I figure they're always good for perpetually cold offices.

Aejaz (aka The Blur) decided he agreed with the embroidered tattoos whole-heartedly.

Posted by Jen at 10:10 PM | Permalink | Comments (14)

A FO actually, and a kinda sorta pattern.

Scallop Choker Necklace

This little one-nighter was inspired by Judy Gibson's clever top down scalloped edging. I still have quite a bit of a ball of Classic Elite Provence left over from Scarlet that's been inspiring me to invent ways to use up, so this piece came about. Essentially I added a garter eyelet row and worked some beads and charms in the bind off then wove some ribbon through the eyelets to make a choker.
Here's the simple little pattern.

Materials
Gauge: 21 sts and 26 rows = 4" in St st.
Needle size: US size 7/4.5 mm
Yarn: Classic Elite Provence (100% Mercerized Egyptian Cotton; 205yds/186m per 100g skein) Color: #2627 French Red
Other: 8 black 6/0 seed beads, 3 small charms of choice, 1/4 inch black ribbon

Directions
Pre-string beads- my order was 2 seed beads, 1 charm, 2 sb, 1 Charm, 2 sb, 1 Charm, 2 sb.

CO 54 sts.
Row 1: Knit
Row 2: K1, *k2tog, yo, k1; repeat from * ending k2
Row 3: Knit

Start chart or written directions via Judy Gibson's site. Note: I changed the double decrease in row 7 to a centered decrease in my version, which is reflected in the chart.

Bind off all stitches (I bound off in Purl), working the beads in at desired locations. On the two outer scallops I did just one black seed bead centered. For the center 3 scallops I did 1 black, 1 charm, then 1 black centered in each.
Weave in ends and block. You'll notice on Judy's site she blocked the piece straight, but I kept it in its natural curved state. Thread ribbon through eyelet row with enough extra length to tie in back.

That's it! I also got to use my new favorite "blocking boards" - puzzle piece cork board tiles. They work great!

I picked up this set of 6 or so on clearence for $5 at Hobby Lobby. The piece's all interlock together so you can make your blocking surface as small or large as you need it and it breaks apart for compact storage. Yeay!

Posted by Jen at 06:43 PM | Permalink | Comments (18)

Lace Leaf Pullover by Teva Durham

Pattern: Lace Leaf Pullover, from Interweave Knits Summer 2005 and Loop-d-loop
Yarn: Knit Picks Sierra in color Bud. I ended up using just a little of the 7th skein.
Needles: Size 10.5 Denise's

Overall, I'm quite happy with this one. My gauge was significantly smaller than the pattern gauge to require a recalculation of the entire pattern. I wanted a loose sweater but it could have been a bit narrower. I think that stems from my gauge loosening up over the long intermittent working of this project. The only other wish is that I had modified the leaf chart to be larger, as I have seen on some others in blogland but I think it still stands sufficiently out. I'm nit picking here however. I love my bright green sweater! (and the sleeves are long, I know but I love way too long sleeves)
I'm also one with the grafting now. As a pleasant surprise, the graft line turned out rather unnoticeable. I'm going to be grafting wherever I can from now one!

Posted by Jen at 11:32 AM | Permalink | Comments (21)