Brambles in Knitty!

It's a free pattern, so I'd say you should Check It Out!

-Manda

P.S. I'll try to be a better blogger from now on!

My First Hand Dyed Yarn!!! Plus another new design!!!

It's a blend of purple and green, but mostly brown. I think next time I'm between designs, I'll look up a pattern and make it into mixey colored winter gloves. The class was awesome and I had loads of fun. I will probably never again grab a skein of pretty multicolored yarn without appreciating the work that goes into it.

I brought my yarn home Saturday. While waiting for it to dry, I remembered my last purchase at Wild Purls.

It's Cascade 220 Heathers in Iris. I started swatching ideas for something scarfy, because that's what I could use right now. Winter's on its way and since I'm pretty much a lizard, I need to fill in the gaps in my wardrobe before the constant cold hits.

So I got out larger-than-recommended needles and charted up an expanding feather and fan pattern. I was really scared that I'd end up frogging it, because it looked so weird and lumpy on the needles.

But I was wrong...check it out drying! The ripples are nice, and the CO edge even makes a little collar. It's a one skein project too so that's even more awesome.

I think I'll swing by WP, Michaels or Hobby Lobby today and get enough to make a second version that's a near complete circle. Maybe grey or a nice normal color.

The purple's gonna look so nice under my leather jacket this fall.

-Manda

Gloves, Maybe?

Right now...the day before I go back to school...I'm playing with twisted stitches. You can see at the bottom that I tried a regular traveling vine pattern, but when I got up to the tulip pattern I just went right and left twists. I've decided that I wanna make the tulip a bit taller...I think the middle petal needs more height. I also wanna go back and make the bottom outer edges of the tulip more prominent. I'm also gonna go back do a twisted stitches version of the traveling vines leading up to the flower.

Oh, and I've realized that dark blue is entirely the wrong color for this. The next swatch and final product will be green!

I'm Still Here!

I promise! It's just been a weird couple of weeks trying to design. I was working on the lotus shawl before I got bored and decided maybe it wanted to be a hat. Then I wrote up a pattern for double-thickness gloves, but then I had trouble getting gauge and got bored with that. And now I'm back to working on the supposed 'evil hat' pattern.

It's still blue...still cables and lace, but this time in worsted yarn with less repeats. My goal is to have it test knit so it can be out sometime in September or Early October.

I also really wanna do some kind of hoodie in the future so I can learn pattern grading. It's covered in 'The Advanced Knitting' architect, which I've read...but I still need some real practice.

(I'm secretly hoping Knitty comes out on Oct. 4th...it'd be a GREAT 22nd birthday present!)

Stuck in the apartment for now, waiting for maintenance to come change our doorknob sometime this week.

Meanwhile I'm going to try to get my hair dyed and get to the yarn store this weekend. I'm thinking about using up my design money on fun classes so I can knit better. Maybe I'll actually stop by WP for happy hour this friday...if of course I'm not working on something insanely fiddly.

-Manda

Impulse Shawl Pattern

All knitters do it. We see a gorgeous ball of pricey yarn and say to ourselves, “Just one skein!” Sometimes it can be hard to decide how to use these amazing yarns that we buy in small quantities.

This gauge-less pattern will produce at least a small neck shawl with 100 yards of most yarns. Three examples (all using less than 250 yards!) are provided to help you visualize and choose the materials for your own project.

**Sizing**

*Worsted Weight Version*
Yarn: Noro Silk Garden
Amount: 110 yards
Needles: US Size 8 (5.00 mm)
Finished Size: 34 in wide x 15 in long
86.4 cm wide x 38.1 cm long

*Sock Weight Version*
Yarn: Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock
Amount: 215 yards
Needles: US Size 6 (4.00 mm)
Finished Size: 40 in wide x 18 in
101.6 cm wide x 45.7 cm long

*Lace Weight Version*
Yarn: Jagerspun Zephyr Wool-Silk 2/18
Amount: 230 yards
Needles: US Size 3 (3.25 mm)
Finished Size: 46 in wide x 20 in long
116.8 cm wide x 50.8 cm long

**Techniques Used**
Make One Left, Make One Right, Left Twist, Right Twist

Like all of my patterns, this one is $2.50 USD.

buy now from Ravelry

buy now from etsy

Lotus Shawl Sneaky Peek!

I've had this pattern written up for several weeks, but just last night decided to put it on the needles. And yes, I wet it down and pinned it out so I could accurately plan out the rest of the thing. Right now it has three tiers of flower petals with 8 petals in each tier. (It's 12 inches in diameter.) I have the pattern written out to 7 tiers, which would give me about a 52 inch diameter. I think that's a little small but I think it'd be HUGE if I added an 8th tier given the way the petals increase. (Yet there is something poetic about 8 petals over a constant multiple of 8 stitches in 8 tiers spanning a multiple of 8 rows...)

We'll see! If I think I can keep it under 70 inches with 8 tiers, that's so what I'm doing!

I'm also going to include instructions for doing 5/8 rather than a full circle.

The Impulse Shawl

It was nice here today so I reshot pictures of my two samples.



The teal one is going to my mom, and the multicolored blue/black/green one is for me. I wanted to make sure to get the pictures done because I'm seeing Mom this weekend.

I'm knitting a mid-size sample in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock, so that'll probably be my next blog post.

-Manda

Almost Finished!

There it is! Nice and finished. I'm guessing it's going to be about 42 along the top edge and 32 along the two other sides of the triangle.

Of course after I took pictures I noticed pins that needed to be moved...that always happens.

Oh hey look, there's my toe!

Something New...

Now that I'm done working on my oh-so-secretive Knitty submission, I can move on to other things.

This pattern idea struck me a few days ago. Done in laceweight yarn, this is going to be a very open, very light shawl.

It's only 17 inches across at the longest point right now, but the pattern is very simple and easy to memorize. Depending on how quickly I finish my pretty teal sample, this pattern could be up as soon as next week!

Junonia Shawl

Sizes available

Small (42 in wide. x 15 in. long) and Large (52 in. wide x 20 in long)

Both written instructions and charts are included

This shawl is knit from the edging inward to the back of the neck so you immediately know how the stripes are going to look at the widest point in the piece. Certain yarns with shorter color repeats, like Knit Picks Felici, just don’t have color runs long enough to stripe across that kind of width because they weren’t meant for it.

That’s where the garter ridges in the first two sections work a little visual magic. By the time you finish the edging, you’ve decreased enough that the yarn can continue stripe as it should for the rest of the shawl. The large size works for yarns with longer color runs like Noro Kureyon Sock. Because the edging comes first, it’s easy to test knit and see which size is better suited to your yarn.

Junonia refers to the genus of the buckeye butterflies. The cockleshell edging resembles the distinct buckeye markings while the blunt ended shape of the shawl looks very much like the spread wings of a butterfly.

Techniques Needed

Multiple Yarn Overs
Three Needle Bind Off
SSP, SSK, K2tog, P2tog

Supplies Needed

Size 6 (3 mm) circular knitting needle (long enough to comfortably hold number of cast on stitches)
300{510} yards fingering weight yarn
Small is Knit Picks Felici in Rainbow
{Large} is Noro Kureyon Sock in S164
Yarn needle to weave in ends
Stitch Marker

The pattern is $2.50 no matter where you choose to buy.

Buy Now through Ravelry

or Buy Now through my Etsy Shop

Rainbow Shawlette

Rainbow Shawlette
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Look it's all pretty and finished!

I barely had to touch the second skein of felici to finish this.

I'm going to knit another (larger) one in Noro Kureyon sock and then release the pattern with both sizes.

I like this one...might keep it!

Blocking

Just waiting for it to dry! I'm sure I'll adjust the pins a million times like I always do...

A work in progress...

Sorry I haven't updated...my last design is getting submitted to Knitty so I have to keep it nice and secret.
After I got my KnitPicks Felici in Rainbow, I knew I wanted to make a shawl or scarf out of it.

I also knew that most sock yarns have short color runs that wouldn't go all the way around the longest point of the shawl.
I decided to go with an elaborate edging to hide the areas of the shawl where the colors wouldn't run all the way across. And I decided to start knitting at the edging and decrease to the back of the neck. Kind of a weird way to do it, but it let me make sure that my edging worked the magic that I wanted.

I think I got it pegged. From this point out, the shawl is straight stockinette and the color runs are long enough to cover more than a row. Still, I know I want to make another version before I release the pattern, either in a solid yarn or one with longer color repeats

Now I just have to be motivated enough to finish it...we'll see.

The Evil Hat of Evil

...is what I've nicknamed this project. I've made so many stupid mistakes. I ended up ripping back to the band again because I picked the project up, and managed to turn around and knit the wrong way for a few rows. Weird, right?

I'll come up with a nice beautiful name for the pattern after it is finished. (Ignore the black lines, they're lifelines so if I fudge, I'm not at square one again.)


I think I'll do two more repeats of the pattern before I close it off. I'm guessing it'll slouch a bit more after it's washed and blocked...plus the back can't really slouch with the needles pulling it tight around the top of the head.

If I don't do anything stupid, It will be finished tomorrow!

Designing Takes Forever!!!

Not really...it's knitting the design after you've decided on it that's hard...

Ok so here are my swatches... (I happened to have the same yarn in green and blue...originally was gonna go with green, but I changed my mind)
The top of the swatch is really ugly because I was experimenting with how to cleanly close the top of the hat...

Then I started knitting...and after I did the entire band on size 1's, I decided to go back and redo on size 0's. I must be crazy, but the smaller band (on the left) looks way better.

It's mostly the ruffling on the edge that was driving me mad. So now I'm about one pattern repeat into the hat.


It's gonna be slouchy, and when it comes time to do the decreases at the top, the lace will gradually shrink and disappear followed by the cables.

I can't wait to see it finished. This one is a gift for me!

Green Lace Up Shrug/Bolero

Green Lace Up Shrug/Bolero
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to the shop today! Pretty pretty!

Working on my TKGA master hand knitting level 1. The first three swatches are washed and blocked but I don't have pictures yet. I think I'm going to have to redo seed stitch though, so BOO!

Combination Summer Hat

My very first design!

This is a crochet summer hat with a knit band. It’s designed in three lengths for slouchiness.

I recommend using cotton for the closest match to the lengths in the pattern. My test run in wool came out quite a bit shorter.

Enjoy and feel free to contact me with any questions!

Let me know if you spot any errors!

Download Now! Absolutely Free!

Blue Angel Shrug Bolero

Blue Angel Shrug Bolero
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

The little angel shrug is all grown up and finished! What a fun project, though I don't think I'll be motivated to do that much beading again any time soon. I gotta admit the crochet hook method worked WAY better than stringing them all ahead of time.

http://www.etsy.com/listing/48142810/knit-blue-shrug-bolero-w-gold-beaded

Get your wings...

I'm edging up on another update to the shop. I'm hoping to get some glove patterns offered in the next few weeks.

I figured I would share a picture of this cute little shrug I'm working on. I still need to pick an edging and crochet it...but the golden beaded wings are very subtle and cute...they wrap just under the sleeves.

Look for it in my shop soon!

Purple Shrug Bolero

Purple Shrug Bolero
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47357247/knit-purple-shrug-bolero

Teal Lace Shrug Bolero

Teal Lace Shrug Bolero
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47358072/knit-teal-lace-shrug-bolero

Green Hooded Scarf

Green Hooded Scarf
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy Shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47376026/knit-green-hooded-scarf

Blue Hooded Scarf

Blue Hooded Scarf
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy Shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47376576/knit-light-blue-hooded-scarf

Pink Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band

Pink Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy Shop

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47380275/crochet-pink-hat-w-knit-band

Orange Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band

Orange Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47379874/crochet-orange-hat-w-knit-band

Green Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band

Green Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy Shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47379391/crochet-green-hat-w-knit-band

Blue Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band

Blue Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy Shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47377180/crochet-blue-hat-w-knit-band

Brown Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band

Brown Crochet Hat w/ Knit Band
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy Shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47377707/crochet-brown-hat-w-knit-band

Long Purple Striped Hat

Long Purple Striped Hat
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy Shop

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47378858/knit-purple-and-brown-striped-hat

Pink and Black Ruffled Gloves w/ Beaded Cuff

Pink and Black Ruffled Gloves w/ Beaded Cuff
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my Etsy shop!

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47381743/pink-and-black-ruffled-fingerless-gloves

Teal and Brown Striped Gloves

Teal and Brown Striped Gloves
Originally uploaded by StrangeKnits

Added to my etsy shop

http://www.etsy.com/listing/47382795/teal-and-brown-striped-fingerless-gloves

Sneakers!

These gloves remind me of a pair of shoes.
The pattern calls for the gloves to be laced with
knitted I-cord, but I think they could also be the
perfect place to showcase unique shoelaces and
other unique embellishments. Knit flat with row by
row instructions, these gloves are a surprisingly quick
project. The example pair is half fingerless, but tips
are given for completing the fingers or taking them off
entirely. As you work the finger stubs, additional
stitches are picked up along the sides of the gap and
passed over working stitches to eliminate the need to
close holes at the end. Basic reference websites are
provided for techniques used in this pattern.

Sizing
Length 8 in. (20.25 cm) from cuff to tip of
middle finger stub.
Cuff 5.5 in. (14 cm) around

Gauge
7 sts per inch and 9 rows per inch in St st knit flat.

Supplies
Size 2 (3 mm) circular knitting needle (long enough
for magic loop) or double pointed needles
Size 3 (3.25 mm) knitting needle (for bind off)
165 yards worsted weight yarn in main color (Teal in
example)
110 yards of worsted weight yarn in contrasting
color (Brown in example)
Yarn needle to weave in ends
Stitch Markers

Techniques Used
Knitting in the Round on Circular or Double Pointed
Needles
Basic Intarsia
Picking Up Stitches
Knitting I-Cord
Multiple Yarn Overs
Jogless Stripes
M1 Increases on wrong side of work
Backwards Loop Cast On

This pattern is now available through Ravelry and at my Etsy store.

buy now through Ravelry

Or buy through my etsy shop

Thanks for looking! Feel free to shoot me an e-mail with any questions about this pattern at Strangeknits@yahoo.com

-Manda