Monday 22 September 2014

A Jumbo Bargain




Fellow knitters will understand the excitement over finding an absolute bargain priced yarn... today I was 'just browsing' the craft section of a shop, and came across these HUGE balls of yarn. They were 400g of 100% acrylic jumbo 12ply yarn for $22.99... but then I spotted that the Stone colour ball were reduced to $4.97!! It wasn't actually marked as on sale, but I took it over to the price checker by chance.


There were only three ball of this yarn left, and the label said you needed three to make the throw on the label, so I threw them into my basket!!

I am unsure if I will actually make the throw or not, there are a selection of free patterns available for this yarn on the Knitwise Pricewise website here and I have my eye on the Honeycomb Sweater.

I will update on here once I have made my decision on what to make, and will of course share the finished project.

Find this yarn in my yarn stash on Ravelry.

Friday 19 September 2014

Two Very Hungry Caterpillars


I previously made a Very Hungry Caterpillar toy and recently was asked to make a pair of caterpillars for an expecting sisters-in-law who are due close together. I wanted to do something a little different this time, so I chose a different yarn.

Green Mix
For the body I found a gorgeous Moda Vera Fayette Wool in Green Mix, as soon as I saw it I thought it looked as though it was made to be the hungry caterpillar! The yarn recommended 4mm needles, which was perfect as this is the same size I used for the last caterpillar I made.

For the head I found a read acrylic yarn in the sale which I thought went well with the green. It was a lot bulkier and recommended size 
15/ 10mm needles, but I used size 10/ 6mm.

Size 6Size 10


Here is the pattern I used; it is a pattern I made/adapted from previous things I have made, so feel free to use it, but please link back to this page.

Body
Body (I made 6 of these)
CO6
Row1: *K1, Inc 1* Rep * to end (9 Sts)
Row 2: *K2, Inc1* Rep * to end (12 Sts)Row 3: Rep Row 1 (18 Sts)Row 4: Rep Row 2 (24 Sts)Row 5 - 17: Knit Garter Stitch for 13 RowsRow 18: *K2, K2tog* Rep * to end (18 Sts)Row 19: *K1, K2tog* Rep * to end (12 Sts)Row 20: Rep Row 18 (9 Sts)Row 21: Rep Ro 19 (6 Sts)

Cut the yarn leaving a 5 inch tail, thread this through the last 6 stitches and draw tight. Sew the long edges together, leaving an opening for polyester filling, then draw the open edge together. Secure and thread in loose ends.

Head (Please note, I only adjusted the pattern for the head as I was using a bulkier yarn and I didn't want to head to be too big for the body)


CO4
Head

Row1: *K1, Inc 1* Rep * to end (6 Sts)
Row 2: *K2, Inc1* Rep * to end (8 Sts)Row 3: Rep Row 1 (12 Sts)Row 4: Rep Row 2 (16 Sts)Row 5 - 17: Knit Garter Stitch for 13 RowsRow 18: *K2, K2tog* Rep * to end (12 Sts)Row 19: *K1, K2tog* Rep * to end (8 Sts)Row 20: Rep Row 18 (6 Sts)Row 21: Rep Ro 19 (4 Sts)

Cut the yarn leaving a 5 inch tail, thread this through the last 4 stitches and draw tight. Sew the long edges together, leaving an opening for polyester filling, then draw the open edge together. Secure and thread in loose ends.
Antenna
Antenna (Using same yarn as body)
I cast on 4 on DPN to make an i-cord (i-cord tutorials can be found on YouTube, such as this one) after 10 rounds I increased to 6 stitches, then did another 5 rounds before casting off.

Face



Face
I used scrap yarn (black, cream and some of the green mix) to sew on the eyes and mouth, and googled a picture of the hungry caterpillar for guidance.

I am really pleased with how the Green Mix yarn turned out and love my finished caterpillars.



Balls Sewn together Finished


Find this yarn in my yarn stash on Ravelry.


Monday 15 September 2014

Patchwork Blanket Border



I mentioned in my previous Patchwork Additions post that I wanted to add a border to my blanket. The pattern I chose to use was from the same Crocheted Afghan which book I borrowed from the library in my previous post. The pattern was actually for an entire blanket made up of small squares, which is pictured on the front cover, but I figured I could make it would work as a border as well. 



I decided as the blanket has lots of light and bright colours mixed together, I wanted the border to be a darker colour to tone it down a little without clashing, so I used some navy blue yarn that I had.

Each of these little squares measures roughly 7cm, so I did a little maths and worked out I'd need 8 squares for each short side and 11 for each long side, then 4 for the corners; 42 squares in total. However after 39 squares I ran out of my navy blue yarn. As I had enough squares to cover the sides I chose a lighter blue to do the corners.

  

Once I had all the squares made, I joined them together in strips and pinned them to the blanket edge to make sure they were evenly placed, then sewed them on! I am really pleased with the way the blanket has turned out and I think the blue border frames it perfectly. I feel as though I could leave it for a while now, because it looks finished, but I'm sure sooner or later I will start adding to it. Watch this space.

  

Wednesday 10 September 2014

When a Project Goes Wrong

I am sure it has happened to everyone; you spend a considerable amount of time on a project, it goes wrong, you try to save it, but inevitably you have to admit defeat and unravel the entire thing.

I found this beautiful crochet Summer Sprigs Lace Scarf pattern which was made with one ball of fine lace yarn. I thought this would make an excellent gift for my friends birthday, and if it only used one ball of yarn, then it probably wouldn't be too big a project...


I didn't have any lace yarn, but I did have quite a lightweight white yarn, and so used that, also my hook was a little larger than suggested, so I had a second ball of yarn but in pink, which I thought would be good to do the edging in.

It started off well, after a few attempts I understood the pattern and happily spent a few evenings crocheting in-front of the TV as my scarf began to take shape. To start with I was happy with the piece, it actually looked very lacy and pretty.


Unfortunately I ran out of the white before I got to the edging, but I had spent quite some time working on it, so I thought maybe it would still look ok if I colour changed half way... but then after a few more rows I ran out of the pink and I STILL hadn't got to the edging!

I added in another white, I think I knew at this point it just wasn't going to work, as the two whites where slightly different shades, but I was determined to get the project finished, even if just for experience.



I finally got to the point, ready to start edging, and proudly picked up my scarf, only to realise the point was not in the centre! Some how I had only been decreasing alternate rows on one side, so I had a scalene triangle shape. I didn't even take a picture, I just started pulling the thread and watched my multi-coloured mess disappear.

I'm not going to lie, I was relieved to stop working on it, because I knew it was never going to turn out the way it was supposed to, but I was disappointed I didn't end up with a beautiful scarf. I will definitely attempt this again in the future, but next time I will make sure I have the correct yarn and hook.


Wednesday 3 September 2014

Blocking



I have heard of blocking before, and I sort of new what it was, but I didn't really think I would ever need to do it... until now.

As I said in my previous post, I am planning on creating a border for my patchwork blanket, but because each square uses different yarn, tension, knit styles etc, they didn't line up as equally sized rectangles. I decided I needed to do something about this before I could add to the blanket, so I did a bit of research on blocking and found this really easy to understand article: How to Block Your Knitting



I submerged the whole blanket into a sink of luke-warm water, then laid it out onto a towel and rolled it up to get rid of any excess water, then I began to measure and pin each square to the size I want (18cm x 15cm) onto a dry towel. In some of the squares, such as the intarsia zig zig, there was a lot less give, so it helped to give it a real good stretch with my hands before trying to pin.


Once I had all the squares pinned, I laid another towel on top to help soak up some moisture, then I used my hairdryer on a cool setting. The blanket was almost dry but the towel was really damp, so I then transferred it to a completely dry towel and left it overnight.

It took me quite a while to get the squares all pinned nicely, but I would definitely recommend doing it to get a nicer finish on your work, it has really improved my blanket. I didn't use any fancy equipment, just pins, a tape measure and a couple of towels. From now on I will block each individual square before adding it to the rest of the blanket.