Mar 3 2013

Slip Stitch Knit Mug Cozy Revisited

Posted on March 3, 2013 by Rachel

I decided to attempt my slip stitch knit mug cozy pattern again because I had so many problems the first time. Well, this one didn’t go according to plan either. My impatience got the better of me, resulting in this:

The pattern is slightly off. Using the yarn left over from my slip stitch belt, 100 % wool Crystal Palace Yarn, with size US 3 (3.25mm) needles, I decided to cast on 70 stitches and do the pattern

Row 1: P3 K2

Row 2: K1 S1 K1 P2

Repeat till desired length, I did 33 rows.

Cast off like it was an odd row so P3 K2.

Sew on button and loop.

But somewhere on Row 17 I noticed I combined two stitches leaving me with only 69 stitches on my needle and instead of doing the smart thing and undoing my stitches until I found the problem, fix it, and move on, I decided I was too impatient and it was an amazing idea to just cast on another stitch at the end of the row. Wow I was wrong but I knew I was wrong and did it anyways which makes it even worse. But that’s why my pattern is off. I do like the pattern and I do like my dressed up coffee mug in the morning. I also believe that this could be a great pattern for a cuff/bracelet.

The 70 stitches compared to the 75 in the first one I did it working out a lot better. It fits more of my coffee mugs!

Feb 2 2013

Knit Belt, How to Slip Stitch

Posted on February 2, 2013 by Rachel

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I decided to make the Artisan Belt in the Chick with Sticks knitting book. I’ve never had a knit belt before. It was my first time slipping stitches. I was a little nervous about it because although there was a picture of it I wasn’t sure how it would work. But it gave it a nice almost braided looking border, using Crystal Palace Yarn. I used attach 1” D rings as my belt closure.

– To slip stitch all you do it put the needle through the loop, in either knit or purl stitch fashion whatever the directions say, without wrapping yarn around the needle first. So you’re literally slipping the stitch onto the needle.

Start by pulling the thread to the front of the project

Then take the needle through the front of the stitch like you’re going to do a purl stitch.

Push stitch on to needle WITHOUT actually doing the purl stitch

– To attach the D rings, simply fold fabric over the straight part of the D ring and stitch closed. The package the rings come in should also have instructions on it.

Overall I’m really happy with my knit belt. It’s really just an accessory, not for actually holding up pants. But that is just fine with me. I think it’s a nice addition to my wardrobe and it was a fun, easy and quick project to complete.

Nov 9 2012

Knitting Washcloths

Posted on November 9, 2012 by Rachel

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My next project was knitting washcloths using different stitches. It requires all cotton yarn, because you need to be able to use and wash them regularly.

yarn for wash clothes

The first one, a plain knit stitch wash cloth, I have cast on multiple times. I find 100% cotton yarn to be much more difficult to work with than wool and alpaca. Maybe because it’s a stiffer material. Also, I found the pattern in the book for the first washcloth, which is to cast on and do a knit stitch which creates a garter stitch, to be quite large for a wash cloth. So I cast on only 35 stitches. But, I found that 35 was a bit smaller than my other wash clothes but not so small that I couldn’t use it. But cotton is not my favorite. I can see why the book suggests to do just a knit stitch for the first cloth. I was having a lot of problems with it.

issues

I probably cast on five different times until it looked close to normal and once I got to knitting, I found it different to keep the end of each row as tight as the other stitches. But this is the finished result. I think it looks nice.

knit stitch

Next one is using a purl stitch. This was my first project with it. The cloth has a knit stitch border.

-knit stitch a few rows for the top border

-knit stitch a few stitches to continue border, I used 5 stitches,

-purl stitch the row until the last 5 stitches, knit stitch those

-knit

-repeat until last few rows

-knit last few rows for bottom border

-bind off

purl stitch with a knit stitch border

I obviously had a couple of issues, but that’s what happens when you’re watching the newest episode of Revenge, thank God for Hulu Plus :), and not paying enough attention to your needles, so from now, after I complete a few rows I’ll always check to see if there is anything I should fix.

Next was the basket weave washcloth! Probably my favorite, pattern wise and the colors in the yarn. This is what I did:

-cast on 50

-knit 5, purl 5, continue pattern

do this for 5 rows

-purl 5, knit 5, continue pattern

do this for 5 rows

-continue to alternate until desired length is reached.

-bind off

I just did it until I ran out of yarn. I used my row counter for this just incase I forgot what stitch to start with and even wrote out, row 1-5 start with knit, 6-10 purl, 11-15 knit, 16-20 purl, and so on to keep me on track.

basket weave

As much as I do not enjoy cotton yarn, I know I’ll use it again if I redecorate and I make wash clothes and other kitchen items.

completed wash clothes

So now I have three wash clothes to use in my kitchen 🙂 Maybe I’ll enjoy cleaning more knowing I created/made the wash clothes I’m using? Hopefully?

Nov 7 2012

Felted Knit Bag Revisited

Posted on November 7, 2012 by Rachel

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My last attempt at felting a bag did not go very well. So, I threw the almost felted knit bag into a different washer that had more options and it worked a bit better. I actually think if I put it on another cycle it would have been completely felted, but I had no more quarters with me and I really didn’t want to spend anymore time in my building’s basement. But I do like the way it turned out, the knitting does get to be more like a fabric, it feels a lot stronger and I like that it looks fuzzy. Here is what it looks like…

2nd time felted

Then I finished the bag by whip stitching around the flap with the gray novelty yarn and attached a button.

finished

I’m pretty happy with the results. I’ll have to use it next time I go out!

Oct 28 2012

Felted Knit Envelope Bag

Posted on October 28, 2012 by Rachel

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My first project in the book I’m going to tackle is the felted knit envelope bag which actually the second project in the book because the first project is a scarf with a knit stitch and since I have completed two already I decided it was ok for me to skip that one. 🙂 Here are my yarn choices. They are in skeins, so I don’t need to hand wind them.

time to knit a bag

I was a little worried at first about combining two different yarns but it hasn’t been too big of a deal. It is a little difficult to see where the stitches are so I have employed the use of some awesome knitting tools. First one is a stitch/row counter. It helped me keep track of the number of stitches in each row. I think I will braid some yarn in order to make a necklace out of it. It even has a lock on it so I can stop wherever. Second is the use the purple knit stoppers. It’s great to place them on the needle points when I am finished knitting and I do not have to worry about the stitches falling off the needle.

I have skipped stitches a couple of times and with the fuzzy novelty yarn it was hard to tell at first, but you just carefully pull the yarn to where the skipped stitch is and place the stitches back on the needle, carefully, and start knitting again.

The bag is basically a giant rectangle and could be made into any size. It just depends on your intended use. You fold and then whip stitch the edges to create the pocket which turns it into a bag. I’m using both threads to do the whipstitching. I’ll do a separate tutorial on the whip stitch because it is used in knitting, needlepoint and a hand stitch for finishing in sewing and at the beginning I had a bit of trouble making sure I was going through both layers to connect them. That’s probably because I was too busy watching television as I was finishing. :/

knitted rectangle

fold

whip stitch close up

This is also a felted bag which really concerns me. Something about doing all of this work just to place it in the wash to shrink rubbed me the wrong way. How much will it shrink anyways? It’s currently about 15inches by 10inches. But here is how it turned out. :/

How to Felt:

First I needed to get all of my materials, the bag, a zippered pillowcase, towels, jeans, and quarters for the washing machine.

felting supplies

put knitted bag in zippered pillowcase

put pillowcase and jeans in the washer

feed the machine

Place on small load, hot wash, and check after awhile, 10 minutes, to make sure it is felting and take it out when it has reached the size I want and also not let the cycle go into spin or rinse. Now maybe the washer I chose in my building is old or maybe because it is a commercial machine or I picked the wrong wool yarn but I don’t think it looks like it’s suppose to..

finished?

So it was suppose to turn out to be a thick fabric where you can no longer see the stitches and shrink a little bit and it didn’t. So, maybe I’ll try the felting process again?

So felting fail, but no worries that’s why it’s good to practice.