New pattern!

Hello there! It's been a while (again, I know!) but great news - I have finally written up the pattern for the Naomi Scarf after lots of very flattering requests for it on Ravlery. Since I added it to the Ravelry database last night, it's already in 18 queues - how lovely! I am really looking forward to seeing all the different versions everyone makes in different colours, yarns, etc. You can also find the pattern in my Etsy shop - whichever you prefer.

Here are the links:

Naomi Scarf on Ravelry

Naomi Scarf on Etsy

Hope you like it!

Boulevard Headwrap.

After all those teeny-tiny stitches (Lara loved the sweater btw, and it fits, it really fits!!), I felt the need to whip up something quick and satisfying. Inspired by the vintagey feel of the sweater, I decided to make up a pattern for a retro headwrap/ earwarmer/ headband/ whateveryouwantocallit.

It was so lovely and so fast that I made 3 versions of it pretty quickly and now I have the pattern available on Ravelry and in my shiny new etsy shop! There's lots and lots of how-to pics in the pattern, with instructions for all three variations.

Mine's coming in handy this weekend and as my friends on the east coast of the US know, winter's not quite finished yet, eh? Hope you enjoy :)

How to: the Anthro Ruffled Scarf.

I am so happy about the response I have gotten from fellow Ravelers on my Anthropologie-inspired scarf! There have been a few requests for my notes on how I did it, and so I thought I'd write it all out here for you. If you decide to knit the scarf, there is also now a pattern page for it on Ravelry here: Anthropologie-Inspired Ruffled Scarf.

Anthropologie-Inspired Ruffled Scarf

Materials:

• Approximately 4 skeins of Cascade 220 (100% Peruvian Highland Wool/Worsted/10 ply/220yds/201m per skein)
• One set of 5.5 mm knitting needles
• Cable needle
• One 5.5 mm crochet hook
• A sheet of paper folded over itself width-wise to create a 2.5" strip
• Tapestry needle

Gauge: 25 st and 20 rows = 4" in k1, p1 ribbing

Finished Measurements:

• Scarf without crochet border: 87" x 5"
• Scarf with crochet border: 89" x 9"

Pattern notes:

C10F = Slip 10 stitches to cable needle, hold cable needle in front, work 10 stitches in (k1, p1) ribbing, work 10 stitches from cable needle in (k1, p1) ribbing

C10B = Slip 10 stitches to cable needle, hold cable needle in back, work 10 stitches in (k1, p1) ribbing, work 10 stitches from cable needle in (k1, p1) ribbing

Main Knitted Scarf Instructions:

The scarf is worked in a 1x1 rib with a garter stitch border on either side. Cables appear every 15 rows. The border is worked in broomstick crochet, without twisting the loops. More detailed information below.

With 5.5 mm needles, cast on 44 stitches (I like a tubular cast on).

Row 1: slip 1, k1, (k1, p1) to last 2 stitches, k2

Repeat this row 9 times more for a total of 10 rows.

*Cable row 1: slip 1, k1, (C10F) twice, k2

Repeat row 1 14 times

Cable row 2: sl1, k1, work 10 stitches in (k1, p1) ribbing, C10B, work 10 stitches in (k1, p1) ribbing, k2

Repeat row 1 14 times.*

Work from * to * 9 times

Repeat Cable Row 1

Repeat Row 1 14 times

Repeat Cable Row 2

Repeat Row 1 10 times

Bind off.

Crochet Ruffle Border Instructions:

If you haven't done broomstick crochet before, I suggest that you check out any of the youtube videos that give a visualisation of how to do it. It is really easy, but not unless someone shows you how it's done first. You may notice that the loops are twisted together in these videos, however in this version, you will not twist the loops. You may also notice that in these videos, crocheters often use something to hold the loops as they go around. I just used a strip of folded paper, described below.

Take a sheet of A4 or letter-sized paper and fold it width-wise to create a 2.5" wide strip - you will use this to place the crochet loops on to create uniform-sized loops as you go around. Don't worry when there isn't enough space on the strip to hold the loops you are creating; once they start falling off the end of the strip, they will stay uniform in size. You just need to keep the most recent loops on the strip so they don't pull and change in size. You could use a ruler or a piece of cardboard of the same size if you like.

With 5.5 mm crochet hook,start at one corner of the scarf (it doesn't matter which side of the scarf you work from, as it is reversible). Insert the hook into a knit border stitch and draw up a loop. Place the loop on the strip (the strip should be turned horizontally now, as in the photo below.

Continue around the scarf, drawing up a loop for each knitted stitch along the short edge of the scarf, and along each row of the long edge of the scarf, placing the loops on the strip, and moving the strip along as you go. Once you have drawn up these loops around the edges of the entire scarf, single crochet at the top of each loop all the way around. Do not twist the loops. This will secure all the loops together around the scarf. Try to lay the scarf out completely flat as you do this, so that the single crochet stitches are all in approximately the same place on each loop. You will also want to watch out that you don't miss any loops as they can sometimes get lost - check both sides of the scarf every now and then to make sure you haven't missed any. Once you have single crocheted around the scarf in each loop, slip stitch to join the last stitch made to the first stitch. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Okay, so I think that's it! If you find any mistakes in the pattern (especially as I wrote it down from memory, rather than as I knit it), please feel free to let me know!

November Sweater.

I am very excited to be writing this post: I have just finished making a sweater that I more or less made up myself! I know people mod and improvise their own patterns all the time, but not me - I usually follow patterns to the letter, not changing sleeve length, stitch pattern, or waist shaping.

But this was different - I was inspired so, without further ado: the November Sweater!

Now, as you might expect, this is not the most complex of patterns. What happened was, I was on my usual trawl through the charity shops of Ealing, looking for knitwear I could unravel and knit into something else, when I spotted a dark purple-y sweater that was a bit tired, but that I was sure I could breathe new life into. The original stitch was quite lacy (how I wish I had taken a photo of it in its original form!) but fairly easy to take apart. While undoing all those machine-made stitches, I thought about what to re-knit it into. Having seen a few cap-sleeved sweaters out there recently, that's what immediately sprang to mind. I thought a smaller, more defined lace pattern than what the original sweater had would also work.

So, I borrowed the lace stitch from the ever-popular February Lady Sweater, which, in turn, had borrowed from Elizabeth Zimmermann's Baby Sweater on Two Needles. I drew out what I hoped it would look like (excuse my extremely poor drawing skills):

It was basically just a basic T shape - the sweater would be worked in 2 pieces: front and back, and side to side so that the lace pattern would be horizontal in stead of vertical. There are no increases, no decreases, and probably the most advanced technique used was picking up stitches around the bottom of the sweater to add ribbing.

Now, not that it is necessarily required that I actually write out a pattern this unbelievably simple, here it is, posted more because of my little, private happiness at having done this on my own than for any assumption that anyone couldn't have figured this out themselves!

(Excuse the messy house behind me!)

November Sweater

Materials:

• A short-sleeved sweater's worth of approximately DK weight yarn (find an old sweater in your local charity shop or thrift store)
• One 26" 5 mm / US 9 circular needle
• One stitch marker

Lace Stitch Pattern:

Row 1: k1, k2tog, yo, k1, yo, ssk, k1

Rows 2 & 4: purl

Row 3: k2tog, yo, k3, yo, ssk

Instructions:

Front

Cast on 42 stitches.

Row 1: k2p2 - repeat to end of row

Row 2" p2k2 - repeat to end of row

Repeat rows 1 and 2 3 more times

Begin lace pattern.

Repeat lace pattern, rows 1 - 4 twice.

Cast on an additional 42 stitches.

Continue in lace pattern for 18" ending with a right side row. (Or width necessary for individual fit)

On wrong side row, bind off 42 stitches, leaving 42 stitches remaining.

Continue in lace pattern for two repeats.

Change to k2p2 ribbing for 8 rows.

Bind off all stitches.

Repeat exactly for back.

Seam sides of front and back together. Seam shoulders 5" in from end of sleeves.

Ribbing

With front and back sewn together, and starting from a side seam, pick up and knit 116 stitches evenly around the bottom of the sweater. Continue in k2p2 rib around for 2.5".

Bind off using Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy bind off from Knitty - this is really necessary for actually being able to get the thing over your head!

Weave in ends, and voila! I "designed" a sweater.

Now it is entirely possible that there are mistakes in the above, and also that there a million better ways to achieve the finished product - but I do like the way it turned out.

Also, I apologise that I haven't actually worked out different sizes (as written, it works on a size 10 UK or 6 US). Clearly I am not yet that talented. One day...

And: the project on Ravelry.

____________________________________

Listening to: Alela Diane

Eating: Stuffed Butternut Squash (mmm)

Oyster Card Cover

It was the yarn that inspired me. I figured, most Londoners don't particularly enjoy their commutes, so why not brighten it up a little. So I whipped up a little cover for my oyster card, which is now looking a million times more brilliant, not to mention a lot easier to find in the Mary Poppin's Narnia that is my handbag. For those of you interested, here's what I did:

Used: less than 1 skein Katia Galaxia yarn (purchased from All the Fun of the Fair near Oxford St)

1 5mm knitting needle
1 yarn needle

I cast on 40 stitches.
I knit 25 rows.
I cast off.

I then threaded the yarn needle with a length of the yarn approximately 3x the length of my oyster card when opened. I then weaved the yarn through the stitches on the borders of all 4 sides of the piece. I then laid the oyster card, opened out on top of the knitted piece. With another shorter length of yarn, I threaded it through the piece, at the spine, drawing the two longer sides together, and tied with a bow. I then took the two ends of the longer threaded yarn length and pulled them tightly, gathering the border stitches to form a nice cozy for the oyster card, tying again with a bow.

Pretty easy huh? I think it's a good way to personalise something that every Londoner's got, and you can embellish or modify to suit yourself pretty easily.