Diamond Seed Baby Jacket

Pattern: Interweave Knits, Winter 2004
Designer: Erica Alexander
Yarn: Dale Baby Ull
Started February 24, 2007
Finished September 12, 2007

Overall, I think the sweater turned out ok, but when I went to block the pieces and assemble it, I was disappointed in the schematic and how the sleeves fit into the armscyes.

Rainbow Marley

Pattern: Rainbow Marley in Little Bitty Hats The only change I made was to the curls on top: instead of using a long-tail cast on I used the backward loop or e-wrap cast on to make the curls more uniform, and it also gave me two ends to attach to the hat.
Designer: Susan B. Anderson
Yarn: Assorted knitpicks shine and other cotton yarns from stash. The first hat is a heavy worsted weight (some yarns doubled) and the second is more of a dk weight.

These hats were made for Colleen and Jenn, two friends who had babies about two weeks apart. I liked the first hat so much I decided to make another.

Baltic Braid Wristwarmers

Pattern: none, really. I made the first during a class at Stitches Midwest with Nancy Bush called "Baltic Braids and Bobbles", and made the second one that night.
Yarn: Valley Yarns Northampton

Diamond Fantasy Shawl

Pattern: Diamond Fantasy Shawl (or Scarf) by Sivia Harding Purchase it here
Yarn: Dye-your-own from Knitpicks, sockweight. Details here.
Started: 8/15/06 (right after Stitches Midwest)
This was a fun pattern. It was interesting, but not prone to mistakes. I might consider making another one with a true lace-weight.

Daisy Hat

Pattern: Daisy Hat from Itty-Bitty Hats by Susan B. Anderson
Size: 6 - 12 months
Yarn: Patons Grace, doubled two skeins of the pink, one skein each green and white
Started: 5/6/07 on Stitch 'n' Pitch day

This was a fun, but challenging pattern. The knitting was simple enough, but sewing on the leaves Just Right took two tries.

Embossed Leaves Socks

Pattern: Embossed Leaves Socks from Interweave Knits Winter 2005.
Yarn: 50/50 Wool/Tencel from Ellen's 1/2Pint Farm, purchased at Stitches Midwest, 2006
I really loved this pattern and this yarn. The pattern went fast, and the yarn was very pretty. It split a little, but so what?

Hugs and Kisses Baby Socks

Pattern: Better Than Booties Hugs & Kisses Socks by Ann Budd from Interweave Knits Summer 2005
Yarn: Koigu, dye code P240
These were made for my pregnant friend, Erin.

Lichen Ribbed Socks

Pattern: Lichen Ribbed Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Mountain Colors Bearfoot in Wild Raspberry

Cleckheaton Country Silk V-Neck

Pattern: design 3 from Cleckheaton Country Silk 8ply book
Yarn: Cleckheaton Country Silk in color 4 (purchased at Knitorious)
Started: December 10, 2006
Finished: January 27, 2007

Geometric Baby Afghan

Pattern: Geometric Baby Afghan from Lion Brand
Yarn: Lion Brand Babysoft (I used five bright colors: yellow, green, blue, purple, pink, and white) It didn't use an entire ball of any of them.
I thought this pattern was a lot of fun. It was simple, but progress was obvious. I used a three-needle bind-off to join the squares, which I do not recommend. I had to go back and close up a bunch of holes at the corners. And it was worth the 99cents to download from the Lion Brand website.

Socks That Rock Socks

Yarn: Socks That Rock in Cobalt Bloom
Pattern: made it up as I went; used a stitch pattern from Vogue's Stitchionary Vol. I

First String

Pattern: First String, Knitter's Magazine, Spring 2005
Designed by "Knitter's Design Team"
Yarn: Cascade Sierra, 80% cotton/20% wool, color 42 (The sweater in the magazine was made using two colors; I opted for one.) Purchased at Knitorious.
Started May 30, 2006
I enjoyed making this pattern, until the end when I had made the body too long because I didn't check the length; I had blindly followed the directions. I ripped off the bottom and re-knit down, and it worked out in the end.

Stripes Go Round

Pattern: Stripes Go Round, Interweave Knits Summer '04
Designer: Lana Hames? I'll have to check on that.
Yarn: Hemp For Knitting AllHemp3 45g/150yds; 3 skeins aubergine, two skeins Classic Hemp, one skein each Dusty Rose and Periwinkle.

I kind of hated making this sweater, but it wasn't the fault of the pattern. I just didn't like having to change colors so often. In the end, I love it. It is machine washable and is getting softer and drapier with each wash. And I think I look really cute in it!

Fancy Silk Sock

Pattern: Fancy Silk Sock from Knitting Vintage Socks by Nancy Bush
Yarn: Tess' Super Sock Yarn
I did one less repeat than called for in the leg, due to my large calves, and I don't need super-tall socks. I think they're just right.

Ribby Cardi

Pattern: Ribby Cardi from Bonne Marie Burns at Chicknits
Yarn: Cascade 220: Color 4148C, lavendar, three skeins and color 9326, blue heather, two skeins. Zipper from A. Friebusch at Zipperstop.com (I ordered a 20" double-separating zipper, but should have ordered a 19" or 18.5" zipper. Oops. No biggie.)
Dates: March 5 - April 1, 2006

I really enjoyed this pattern. I might even make another in cotton for the summer. It was well-written, and a quick knit.

Dzined Wool/Hemp Socks

Pattern: Oz yarns pattern, sortof
Yarn: Wool/Hemp yarn from Dzined, three skeins of "onesies", sport weight, 1oz. 100yds each, color not specified

This yarn was rough to work with, but has softened in the wash.

Knitting Olympics Hat

Pattern: made up as I went along. Notes below.
Yarn: Sport weight alpaca from Pajolo Alpaca Farm. I purchased this yarn at Stitches Midwest, and the pink color was a lighter weight than the purple, and I doubled it to make up for it. I started with 200 yards of the purple, and 180 yards of the pink, according to the tags, but I had quite a bit left over.

Notes: I started with a cast on used often for lace knitting, what Montse Stanley calls a "Pinhole cast-on" on page 81, and what some people attribute to a woman whose last name begins with an O, and I don't remember right now (Emily Ocker?). I cast on five, then increased in each in the first row, and again on the second row. After that I divided the stitches onto five needles, and increased at each end of each needle every other row. I did this until I had 160 stitches.

At that point I did a Latvian braid. If you Google "latvian braid" you'll find how to do it.

I worked a few plain rounds, increasing to 171, since the colorwork pattern I picked was 19 stitches wide.

I then worked the pattern, carrying and weaving both colors, and leaving out partial leaves until it was deep enough, ending with two rows of purple, weaving the pink behind. The edge is another Latvian braid, and then a cast-off row.

Here and There Cables

Pattern: Here and There Cables by Norah Gaughan from Scarf Style edited by Pam Allen
Yarn: Arucania Naturewool, three skeins, I lost the ball bands, and I don't remember what the color number is. The pattern called for a more yarn than I used; I just knit until I ran out. It's about five and a half feet long.

Cable-Waist Pullover

Pattern: Cable-Waist Pullover from Classic Elite pamphlet
Yarn: Cascade Indulgence (70% superfine alpaca 30% angora)in color 517 I bought this yarn a long time ago, and I don't remember how many skeins....five?

Panta Headband

Pattern: Panta headband from Craftster.org.
Here is the version I used, with the following changes: I subtracted two inches from my head measurement, and I knitted the widest section for only 3 1/2". I did the decreases in the middle of each section instead of at the edge. I thought I was going to run out of yarn, but I didn't. I was able to make it tight enough to stay on and not flare, but loose enough to not mat down the hair too much. The pictures show it with either side out. I grafted the ends together so it's nearly invisible, and can be worn either way.

Yarn: Reynolds Harvest Tweed, color 08, one ball; I had about 3 yards left.

Isis Wrap

Pattern: Isis Wrap, Interweave Knits Summer 2005
Designer: Kathleen Power Johnson
Yarn: Tahki New Tweed (70% Merino, 15% Silk, 11% cotton, 4% viscose) color 029
The pattern called for eight balls, but I used just over six.
I made the largest size.

Regia Surf Color Socks

Pattern: Made it up as I went, using as a guide the "Easy Sock" pattern from OzYarn.com, which is has been taken down. Sorry, try the Wayback Machine. Knitted from the top down.
Yarn: Regia Surf Color in color 5410

Ice Cream Cozy

Yarn: Cascade Fixation
Pattern: Me!

Uptown Boot Socks

Pattern: Uptown Boot Socks
Designer: Jennifer L. Appleby
Published in Interweave Knits Winter 2003
Yarn: Elann Sock It To Me! Essential 4 ply 75% superwash wool, 25% polyamide, two 50g balls, 460 yards (with a little left over) on size 2 needles.

I adjusted the pattern, as the yarn I chose was thinner than the yarn called for. I cast on for the largest size, and used the numbers for the largest size for any stitch counts, but used the length measurements for the medium size.

Cardigan Raye

Pattern: Phildar's Cardigan Raye, previously available at their website in French, and in English at Annaknits.com. Unfortunately, it is no longer available at either site. [UPDATE: I used The Wayback Machine to find it, and I now have it in three PDF files, which I will gladly send to you.]

Yarn: The exact yarns called for, Phildar Licorne, Plaisance, and Sunset. It was ordered from a shop in the Netherlands that carries all Phildar yarns, accepts Paypal, and speaks English, www.breiweb.nl. They also carried the hot pink satin hook-and-eye tape called for for the front closure. The attraction of this sweater for me was the color sequence, thus substitution was not a possibility.

I made the second largest size, and ran out of both the orange Plaisance (used at the top) and the turquoise Sunset (sparkly yarn carried along with turquoise cotton Licorne).

Beaded Rib socks

Pattern: My own
Yarn: Louet Gems Merino Opal in Pink Panther - 100 grams

Koigu Neckwarmer

This was a great project for one lonely skein of Koigu.
The neckwarmer I made for my dad.

Pattern - Me!
Yarn - one skein Koigu; no clue what color. Who cares? Use whatever you think is pretty and comforting.
Needles: set of five size 2 dpns (you can use whatever you usually prefer to do socks with, naturally.)
One nylon stocking knee-high
2 pounds uncooked rice
two pieces of ribbon, each approximately 10 inches long

Beginning ruffle:
Cast on 117 stitches using crochet cast on.
Join to knit in the round, being careful not to twist cast on.
Knit two rounds even.
Third round: *k1, k2tog, repeat from * around (78 stitches)
Fourth and fifth round: knit even
Sixth round: repeat third round (52 stitches)
Seventh and eighth round: knit even
ninth round: *k3, yo, k2tog, repeat from * replacing k3 with k4 twice (it doesn't matter where, this just makes the stitch count come out right; I did it at the end of the first and third needle)
10th row: knit even, knitting through front of yarn overs (don't twist them!)

tube:
Knit even until work measures 17 inches

End ruffle:
first round: repeat ninth round from beginning ruffle
second round: repeat 10th round from beginning ruffle
third and fourth round: knit even
fifth round: *k2, m1, repeat from * around
sixth and seventh round: knit even
eighth round: repeat fifth round
ninth and tenth rounds: knit even
bind off

Thread one piece of ribbon through eyelets formed by yarnovers at one end of tube. Pull closed and tie a pretty bow.
To fill neckwarmer, I used a (new) nylon stocking knee-high. I filled it with rice first, tied a knot in the top and then put it in the knitted tube. I had to push and pull a little to get all the rice in the previously-unstretched stocking, so I think this would be easiest, but your results may vary. Do what you feel is best.
Thread second piece of ribbon through second set of eyelets, pull closed and tie another pretty bow.

Baby Albert

Pattern: Baby Albert from Sally Melville's The Knit Stitch
Dark sweater: medium size - One skein Lion Brand WoolEase Sport in Mulberry (a very pretty color)
Light sweater: small size - Lion Brand Baby Soft in white and lavender (leftovers I had around) - I don't recommend doing this. It's tricky to get the edges the way they need to be for picking up stitches and seaming, and it was a pain to do it every other row.

The only thing I don't like about this pattern is that the front edges are made to butt up together, when they need to overlap for the buttons. I suppose I could fix this if I wanted to easily enough. But babies keep their arms in front of them, pushing the fronts together, so I don't think it matters.

Shedir Hat

Shedir Hat from Knitty.com Breast Cancer Awareness Mini-Issue
Designed by Jenna Wilson
Yarn - one ball Rowan Calmer color 463 (that little pile is all that was left)

Broadripple Socks

Broadripple Socks - Knitty Summer 2003
Designed by Rob Matyska
Yarn: Cascade Yarns Fixation - color 9843, 2 balls (with quite a bit left over)

Ruffles Scarf

Ruffles Scarf - "Scarf Syle" - Pam Allen
Designed by Amanda Blair Brown
Yarn: Karabella Breeze in Light Blue - 2 balls

Booga-esque Bag

Booga-esque bag:

Pattern for original Booga Bag at: BoogaJ
Two skeins Noro Kureyon color 116 (every inch)
Handles from Hobby Lobby: $2.99 (!)

Elizabeth Zimmerman Blanket

This is a closeup of the corner:

Pattern: based on a blanket described in Elizabeth Zimmerman's Knitting Workshop series.
Yarn: From St. Louis Knitting Guild donated yarn table: "Quick Knit Sport",
This blanked was donated back to the guild for Project Linus.

How I made this blanket:

1. The total weight of yarn was 251g. I knit a swatch, with a size 5 needle, which was 2.5" x 5" or 12.5 square inches. It weighed 5 grams. I divided 251 by 5 and multiplied by 12.5 to find that the entire blanket could be 627 square inches. I rounded down to 600 and took the square root to find the length of the sides, which was 24.5. I again rounded down to 24" just to be safe. I couldn't get any more of this yarn, and I didn't want to run out, and I didn't know how much the border would take. My swatch gave 5.5 stitches per inch, so one side of the blanket would be 132 stitches. Half of that is 66, and this is what I cast on.

2. I cast on using a provisional (crochet) cast on. Then I knit across all of the stitches and back once. On the next row I knit 65 stitches, wrapped, turned, and knitted back the 65 stitches. On the next row I knit 64 stitches, and so on, until I had one stitch left not wrapped. At this point, the blanket is a right triangle, with the needle holding the stitches along the longest side.

3. Reverse the directions to make the other half of the square: on the first row, knit one, wrap, turn, and knit one stitch back. On the second row, knit two, wrap, turn and knit two back. Continue, knitting one more stitch on each row until the first square of the blanket is complete. (Note: since this is garter stitch, it is not necessary to knit the wraps with the stitches as you come to them, as is usually done when performing short rows.)

4. Continue, repeating this square three more times to form one larger square. When you are ready to complete the last row, look at your cast on row (pull it out if necessary to see better) and knit either one row or two to make sure a knit row is against a purl row. Remove the cast on and graft the first and last rows together.

5. To do the i-cord edging: using a smaller double-pointed needle than you used to make the blanket, pick up* one stitch for each garter ridge along one section of the side of the blanket. On another dpn, of the same size you used to knit the blanket, cast on four stitches. Knit the stitches in the order you cast them on, knitting the last one with one of the blanket edge stitches. Continue, knitting the i-cord, and including one blanket stitch with the last stitch of the cord, picking up more edge stitches as necessary, until you reach the end of the side. Knit two rows without including a stitch from the blanket, knit one row including a stitch from the corner, knit one row plain, and continue along the next edge. If this does not yeild a flat corner, either add or remove plain rows to make it line up correctly. Continue around all four sides. When the beginning of the cord is reached, remove the cast on and graft the beginning and end together. Weave in the ends, block, and you're done!

* I really sincerely mean to "pick up", not "pick up and knit". Just put the needle through the loops at the end of the row; no extra yarn is involved in this.

Lite Lopi Pullover

I made this sweater last winter (2003).

Lite Lopi Pullover - Interweave Knits Fall 2003
Designed by Norah Gaughan
Yarn - Lite Lopi in heather rose, wine, light gray, sage green, and navy blue. It took one less ball than it called for in every color except for the two colors that only called for one ball in the first place.