Knitters’ meetup and knitting update

August 11, 2008 at 2:45 pm | In Baby, Finished Object, Knitting, Sweaters | 3 Comments
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I am now fully convinced that knitters do exist in real. After interacting with knitters  only online, I had begun to wonder whether knitters are a species which exist only virtually. Only my eyes have been trained to read knitting related words, so it was a thrilling experience to actually ‘hear’ words like Ravelry, stockinette stitch and blocking. Wow, what an experience it was.

We met at M G Road and spent some time in Hard Rock Cafe. We were a bunch of chatty knitters who loved to talk about everything under the sun - from Obama, BJP and RSS to ghost writing and pets. And of course, lot of knitting stuff too. Rima had gifts for all of us - a bag full of lovely yarn. I have been ogling at it ever since she gave it to me. I am looking forward to more such meetups!

Continuing with knitting baby stuff, I made this cute baby kimono. I loved it the moment I saw the pattern. I had some pink 6-ply acrylic yarn I bought from Raja Market. The pattern calls for 100 gms of 8-ply yarn. I had a little more than 100 gms, so I assumed it should be fine. Boy, was I wrong!

By the time I reached the sleeve separation part, I had used up half of my yarn stock. That is when I realized I am going to run short of yarn. Luckily, I had some candy floss pink yarn in the same guage and I decided to use that. I haven’t really done color work earlier, so this was a great opportunity to learn a new skill. After some head scratching and calculation, I decided to alternate 6 rows in both colors.

It was not easy to do color work, especially the sleeves. I did not want to have too many loose ends to weave in, so I decided not to cut and rejoin but to carry it up (I think that is what it is called). I don’t know if that was the best thing to do! The yarns loved to get tangled up and I had a tough time untangling them.

The only problem I have with this kimono is the neck edge. It does not have a garter stitch border and hence is curling up. I am taking expert advice from Rima and Sanhita on doing a crochet edge to fix this problem.

Looking back at the knitting experience and the finished sweater, I am glad I ran out of yarn. The kimono would have looked plain and boring in one color. I think this is the best knitting I have done so far. The individual V’s of stockinette stitch are clearly visible (which I couldn’t achieve earlier) and the kimono has a ‘proper’ finished look. The kimono is already a hit among my cousins and I am expecting requests from them very soon!

Next up is Tetris baby blanket. This is the first time I am doing intarsia and I hope I can manage it.

I am back

July 10, 2008 at 6:11 am | In Baby, Finished Object, Hobby, Knitting | 2 Comments
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Yes, I am back after a long hiatus. I haven’t been knitting much in the past few months. In fact, I haven’t been doing much of anything. The last couple of weeks have been hectic, with moving to a new house and a few health issues. Now that we have settled down in our new house, I thought I will finally get to the long pending post.

Aren’t these booties adorable? I think they look cuter because of the yarn. I had bought this 2-ply yarn from Raja Market. The yarn has ‘baby’ written all over it. The pom-poms were my own addition, not part of the pattern. The credit for the ’shoestring’ and the pom-poms goes to my husband. He is now an expert in making pom-poms using Pony’s pom-pom maker.

I wanted to make a baby hat to go with these booties and found a pattern I liked. I goofed up big time while joining the ear flaps, so the flaps are inside out. I think it looks ok, I can always get away with it by saying, I wanted it that way! The string again is husband’s contribution.

I almost decided to make a matching sweater, but decided against it. The yarn is quite thin and I don’t think I have the patience to knit an entire sweater (albeit a baby one) with it. I might eventually make a baby sweater, but not with this yarn.

And this pair of booties is for my husband’s boss’s son. Though it doesn’t look as cute as the first pair, it is ok. After adding the ’shoestring’ and pom-poms (thanks to dear husband), I realized I should have used some colorwork. It looks kind of boring now.

So, that’s all is there in the ‘finished knitting’ bag. My mom’s sweater and hubby’s scarf are still WIPs and don’t seem to make any progress at all. I also plan to make a baby blanket (mostly tetris), so let’s see how it goes. Our new house has a huge balcony, facing the forest and it is ideal to knit or to read a book, so I actually might get some knitting done in the coming days.

DIY: Yarn Swift

April 30, 2008 at 11:49 am | In DIY, Knitting, yarn swift | 5 Comments

My knitting “hobby” is slowly becoming a full time activity. What that means is a box full of overflowing yarns, needles in all possible shapes and sizes. What it also means is sore wrists from winding all those yards and yards of yarns into balls. When I can’t order yarn from US, ordering a yarn swift is totally out of the question. The yarn winding pain is felt more by my husband because he volunteers (no, really he does) to do it. I bought a bag full of yarn and also received RAK packages, so more winding for him. He anticipated how will wrists will feel in the coming days and set out to make a yarn swift for himself.

He looked at pictures of the actual swift, the DIY ideas and then he knew what to do.

What you need:

Two aluminium cloth hangers
Adhesive/Insulation tape
An empty bottle
That’s it!

What to do:

Straighten out the hangers so that they turn into straight rods. Each rod will be around 37 inches long. Approximately at the center you bend each rod so that there is a circle at the center and two end of the rods at 90 degrees. Each arm should be 13.5 inches. Now you have two pieces which look like this:

You place both the pieces so that the circles coincide and you have the four arms meet at right angles. Secure with adhesive tape. Your basic structure is ready.

You bend each arm in a Z shape. At 5 inches from the end, bend the rod until the angle is 50 degrees. At 2.5 inches from the end, you bend the arm again in the opposite direction to get a Z shape. Like this:

You mount this on a bottle (filled with water) and it is all ready to use. See it being used here:

The result:

I thought the swift will be wobbly, but it is surprisingly stable and the rotation is smooth. My husband is mighty happy with this one. His eyes are set on a niddy noddy which he agrees is more complicated than a swift.

Disclaimer: No, the yarn swift is not capable of turning a pink yarn into a grey one.

What a wonderful surprise

April 23, 2008 at 1:48 pm | In Knitting, RAK | 1 Comment

Who doesn’t like surprises? And what if the surprise package contains colorful, soft and yummy yarn? Even better, right?

Ravelry has a Random Act of Kindness (RAK) group dedicated for just that - RAK. You post your wish list (knitting related and otherwise) for others to see. If someone is able to and willing to fulfill your wish, they will contact you for your address and send it across.

My wish list was simple - all I had asked for is yarn - any kind, any amount. I can only get acrylic yarn here and I am dying to try out some different kind. I was lucky enough to get offers from 6 people! The best part is I don’t know what kind of yarn they have picked out for me.

The first of the lot arrived yesterday. It was a wonderful surprise from LoneStarNeedler. When I opened the box, I screamed with joy. She has picked out a variety of yarn and has even included patterns for them. How sweet!

My first sock yarn and what beautiful colors! I so wanted to try knitting socks.

Sugar ‘n Cream cotton yarn. Included are two patterns for dishcloths. This the first time I touched cotton yarn and it is so lovely.

Enough yarn to make Surprise Baby Jacket. So thoughtful of her to pick out the pattern and then collect the necessary yarn! The paper in the background is the pattern. I love the colors. It is going to be one beautiful baby sweater.

Nothing like receiving a personal, handwritten note along with a lovely card.

LoneStarNeedler, I can’t thank you enough for the wonderful gift. I always dreamt of knitting with ‘real’ yarn and you made my dream come true. Thank you from the bottom of my heart.

Bamboozled headband

April 9, 2008 at 9:14 am | In Finished Object, Flat knitting, Hobby, Knitting, cable projects, headband | 3 Comments
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After thoroughly enjoying Calorimetry, I decided to knit another headband. I wanted to knit something for my nieces-in-law and headband was the best - knits fast and it is useful for girls. I chose Bamboozled because it has cables and I wanted to try knitting cables.

Bamboozled comes with a chart and instructions. I wanted to learn a new skill (reading charts) so I tried that first. For every stitch, I would see the symbol, then see the glossary to see what the symbol means, then figure out whether I am on RS or WS and then knit that stitch. Phew! I tried knitting a few rows using the chart, but I was taking ages to knit a single row. When I realized I am going to be knitting this headband for the rest of the year if I use the chart, I switched to instructions.

Knitting cables is stressful. I would knit a few rows and then realize I goofed up somewhere and start all over again. That’s when I realized the importance of lifelines. They are exactly that - lifelines!  After I started using lifelines, I hardly made any mistake. Isn’t there a Murphy law that says: it doesn’t rain when you take the umbrella with you, but always does when you don’t take it.

In the knitting world, cable and lace projects have high regards. To be considered a real knitter, one has to attempt cables and laces at least once. This headband was my first step into the cable world. If you ask me, I don’t know what is the big deal about cables. Yeah, they are fun to knit, but stressful too. It needs my complete concentration, so I can’t knit cables while watching TV or when I am multitasking. I knit to relieve my stress, but this project actually aggravated it. Also, I didn’t especially like the end product either. When I look at a cable sweater, I don’t go weak in my knees like some knitters do. I don’t mind knitting a cable project again, but I don’t think I like wearing it. I think I am weird!

Continental vs. English

April 2, 2008 at 11:24 am | In Hobby, Knitting | 3 Comments

This is probably the most frequently asked question in the knitting world. Which is better: Continental knitting or English knitting? Continental knitting is where you hold the yarn in your left hand. In English knitting, you hold the yarn in your right hand, so you are a “thrower” because you need to throw the yarn over the needle while knitting.

My first knitting teacher was an English style knitter, so she taught me her style. I struggled with it for a few days and after that it was a piece of cake. I have read many threads about Continental vs. English on knitting forums, but never bothered to think over it even for a second. Until I started the seed stitch scarf. I consider myself a moderately fast knitter, and when I saw I have knitted just 4 inches of scarf over the past 2 days, I was shocked.

I have to throw the yarn for every stitch and I also have to switch the yarn back and front for every stitch. Thanks to all this throwing and switching, my right wrist hurt. That is when it dawned upon me that Continental knitters must be fast in 1×1 ribbing because they don’t have to switch yarn and they don’t have to throw.

So, I started learning Continental knitting. I learnt knit and purl stitches from Knitting Help. Knit was fairly easy. I fumbled for a few stitches, but purl was the rebel. After purling for a few rows, now I think I get the hang of it. The movements are still not smooth, but I know I will get there one day.

I need to practice this style till my knits and purls are consistent. The day is far away when I can continue my 4-inch seed stitch scarf in Continental style. Even then, it feels good to know I can knit in Continental if I want to. Who doesn’t want to learn a new skill?

I am in no way answering the question of which style is better. I think when I am doing alternate knit and purl stitches, Continental knitting will come handy. It will speed up my knitting and give some relief to my wrists.

The amputated Daisy sweater

March 27, 2008 at 3:59 pm | In Finished Object, Flat knitting, Knitting, Sweaters | 5 Comments
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I plan to visit my in-laws this April. I am always trying to impress them (aren’t we all?) and I wanted to flaunt my knitting skills. I decided to make a sweater for my nephew-in-law (errr…).

This is my first sweater. I chose Daisy because the pattern is simple and beautiful. This sweater is knit in one piece for the body and then divided for front left, front right and back.

I know oh-so-boring grey is not really for kids, but I still used it for two reasons: One, I didn’t know this sweater would turn out well enough for it to be gifted. Second, I wanted to use that yarn. I had loads (and still have 2 skeins left) of it and wanted to use it up.

Once the sweater was done, it looked so plain and boring! I had to spice it up by adding a few daisies (as given in the pattern) and a few borders on the sleeve. I also added buttons made of yarn. These are just decorative - I am going to added “press buttons” for the sweater. Now the sweater is see-able.

Before
After

One daisy out of the three didn’t come out well: I amputated one of its petals. The duplicates stitched border on the sleeves almost represent the Indian flag which was completely unintentional. One border row is so off the track, as if it is drunk - it goes up and down, and up and down. Or was I drunk while knitting it?

As usual, lots to learn. Seed stitch, dividing stitches, raglan shaping, mattress stich for seaming, backstich for the daisies, duplicate stitch for the sleeve border.

All in all, end result: an ok-ok sweater. I think it is good enough, so I am going to give it, after all.

Calorimetry

March 11, 2008 at 1:25 pm | In Finished Object, Flat knitting, Knitting, short rows | 3 Comments

After completing my last knitting project, Peter Vest, I decided to make something quick and easy. I haven’t knit anything for myself so far, so this time the FO had to be for me! I found just the thing I was looking for - Calorimetry. Easy, knits quickly and is fun to wear. It uses short rows, which I hadn’t used before, so a new technique to learn.

It is knit flat using short rows - work till the desired stitch and then turn your work and resume knitting. For a beginner like me, it was difficult to imagine how the knitted garment was turning and taking shape. If you spend a minute to understand how we achieve the oval shape of the garment, it will be easier for you to knit it without getting confused. It knits quickly. Me, being a newbie, could finish it in to 3-4 hours. Makes a great last-minute gift.

I don’t really like the color I used, but that is the best choice I had. I didn’t have much stash and couldn’t wait to buy new yarn. This project is so cool I am planning to make this for my three nieces.

Peter Easy Vest

March 2, 2008 at 12:26 pm | In Finished Object, Hobby, Knitting | 5 Comments

This vest follows the Berroco Peter Easy vest pattern. I used Vardhman yarn in gray. The yarn was not good - one of the skeins was really bad. Needle size - US 8 and 9. I should have used 9 and 10. I made it for medium size (Chest 44). I used up 2 and a half skeins of 50 gms. each.

This is my first project at this scale - both size and complexity. I was hesitant initially whether it will come out well. It has turned out better than I expected. It is not perfect - it looks like a vest made by an amateur knitter. The ribbing on the v-neck is not sharp enough. The front portion and back portion ended up at different length and width - so seaming was a challenge. Knitting was consistent and it shows in the different shapes and sizes of ‘V’ on the right side.

Nevertheless, I learnt a lot from this project. Ribbing, circular knitting, picking up stitches, armhole shaping, neck shaping, knitting a v-neck - the lessons are endless. Looking back at this project, I am happy and proud of myself. I think for a beginner, I did pretty well.

iPod cover knit in round

February 27, 2008 at 6:13 am | In Finished Object, Hobby, Knitting, circular knitting | 2 Comments

This was my first project on double pointed needles. I got the basic pattern idea on the net (Can’t find the site now). It was a simple rectangle in a single color.

I learnt knitting on dpns from Knitting Help.  Amy’s video on dpns is very very helpful. It’s clear and easy enough to understand for a newbie like me.

After knitting a few rows, I got a hang of it. I thought a rectangle in the same color would be boring, so added two rows of a contrast color to spice it up a bit.  Result: a warm, cosy cover for my shining iPod.

I used this for a few days. I used to keep the iPod and the earphones together and my iPod was getting scratches because of this. So, I added a pouch to the rectangle. What you see is this version.

I want to add a flap with a button or Velcro.  This will make the cover complete.

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