Well....
...it's official. My blog is moving homes. Please update your bookmarks/feeds to www.christinaslattery.com/blog if you wish to keep up with my knitting ventures. Blogger, you've been good, but I much prefer managing things in my own webspace! Layout-wise, I'm not done, but my content is moved there!
See you all on the other side! :)
Just in time....
One year ago today, I started this blog. I think I've had quite a lot to say in the past year, and it's made me realise just how far I've come in that time. Not only in knitting, but in life too. I'm really glad I stuck with this idea, and I hope to continue it for quite a long time. The blog will be moving soon thanks to a very generous and wonderful friend who was able to hook me up with some webspace, so I will keep my readers posted (the few of you that there are). Once I'm done with my dissertation (10 days to go!) I will put my energy into this project.
Happy birthday blog! :)
Quick project
Mary Jane slippers:
Pattern: Julie Carter's
Plain JanesYarn: Patons Classic Merino...maybe 2/3 of the skein
Very quick knit, even for my very slow ways. I messed up a little bit and as a consequence the little "seam" made from switching between the knitting and purling ended up on the right side of both slippers. I blame it on my dissertation-related brain damage. But I'm quite happy with them, and they're very warm! I need to decide if I want to put some non-skid stuff on the bottom, but I confess to being enticed by having something I can skate around smoothe surfaces with. *blush*
DW pattern is now available in Spanish!
I got an email from a woman in Spain, Carla, who asked me if she could translate my wrist warmer pattern so she can post it for Spanish knitters. I thought this was a lovely idea, and I'm happy to say that it is now available to download in PDF format
HERE.Thank you very much, Carla!
ETA: I have also fixed a few things in my original pattern including a much nicer looking chart, so please download the new one if you want to see the latest version!
Wrist Warmers!
Yay, they're done!
The pattern was tricky to write up, but I got it in the end. It's currently residing
here.
Yarn: Peru DK Luxury Alpaca (80% Merino, 20% Alpaca, 10% Silk), 2 50g balls, 200 yards
Needles: US 4 dpns (3.5mm), set of four OR long circ for the magic loop
Gauge: 3 inches=20 sts
Notes: It took a lot of swatches, a lot of graph paper, and a lot of counting stitches from various screen grabs to come up with the proper dimensions for this. That said, the final gauge came very tight overall and the diamonds appear a little smaller, but that was the only way I could get the twist cables on the sides to sit on my hand properly. Looking back at the pictures (which can be seen in the original post linked at the top of this one), her gloves are a much looser fit. The original gloves could possibly be knitted in a sport weight yarn rather than the DK, or even still with DK but on size US5/3.75mm, but I wanted something nice and snug.
The twist cables on the side are also not accurate - this was an honest oversight. I started knitting while the chart was still a work in progress, and when I *thought* I had it right, just continued knitting them as I had first written them down. I have adapted this on the pattern chart, mainly because with the proper spacing it makes for a perfect repeating pattern. If you want your twist cables to look like mine, then just ignore those columns on the chart and cross your cable every fourth row.
What I learned:
Cables: This was the first time I tried to write a pattern with cables. I learned that you must have a purl stitch on either side of the cable to make it stand out. On some level, I'm sure I knew this having knitted cables before, but now I will definitely remember it!
The Magic Loop: This pattern works well on dpns, but I wanted to try the magic loop too. I thought it would be better so that there weren't any gaps between the cables (these fall exactly on either side of the first needle which holds the diamond motif), and that it would be better for the knitting overall. It worked very well, but I found I knitted much more slowly. If this technique works for you, I wrote the pattern for this method as well.
Other thoughts: These were a LOT of fun! Once I understood how the diamond cable worked, I barely had to look at the chart. It was completely worth the time and effort to come up with the pattern because I'm thrilled with the result. If anyone tries this out and spots any errors or other issues, please let me know - my email address is at the bottom of the pattern.
Doctor Who wrist warmer, Part 1
Well, the first wrist warmer is done. I'm rather pleased with it!
This one was done on 4 dpns. It worked out fine, but it was a lot of needles to handle when the cable needle was in play, and a bit hard on my hands. The second one has been cast on with my a long circular, marking first foray into the magic loop method. It was a bit fiddly at first, but I'm getting the hang of it. It's better for the distribution of the cables too, as each one isn't on its own needle. I'm anxious to finish it so that I can post the pattern. The chart is finally accurate (after MANY drafts), but the twisty cable on the side can't be written on a repeating chart since they're done every 4th row and the chart has an odd number of rows.
Lace Gloves, Part 1
I came upon some Debbie Bliss Baby Cashmerino. It's sooo soft and I just thought, "This would make a great pair of gloves." It was crying out for something simple but beautiful, and sadly, none of the patterns out there could please me. So what do we do in this instance? Make one up! I pulled out my mother's stitchionary and came across the Travelling Vine stitch. It was easy to adapt it to an in-the-round pattern, so after a little experimenting, off I went! I wanted a long glove too - this took just about the entire ball of yarn. I borrowed techniques for the thumb gusset and fingers from at least two other patterns. I wrote everything down, so when I'm done with the second one, I might put the pattern up.
Modelled on my hand - you can't really see all the holes clearly...you really have to click for the bigger picture to appreciate it.
Close up of the back stitches:
The whole thing after a bit of blocking:
A lesson on colour accuracy...
Well, I'm a little disillusioned. This is the yarn I ordered from Knipicks - Elegance in the Wild Rose colourway (70% baby alpaca, 30% silk).
Now, that looks beautiful, but here we have the picture with the flash, which is mostly what it looks like:
This is a picture in the natural light - much different:
I *suppose* they did the best job they could photographing it. Looking at the natural light picture does look mostly similar to the photo they posted (which is what I prefer) but in the incandescent light, it's disconcertingly magenta. I'm going to use it anyway because I don't think I'll be able to find better, but it's just not what I expected. The wool itself is completely luxurious and strokable though. Plus, I will normally be wearing wristwarmers outside, won't I?
