Holy Moly

I finished my Holy Moly Bolero. Now working on the same pattern in a smaller size for daughter number 1. Used yarn that has been in the stash for at least 20 years. Pattern came from December 07 issue of Knit N Style. Made my sleeves 3/4 length instead of long. Daughter is talking about short sleeves for hers.


In case any of my knitting buddies visit...I did not attend the knitting circle tonight because I am fighting a cold. Thought we would all appreciate me sharing my knitting via my blog and keeping my germs to myself. Hope to see you all next week.

Yarn Swift

Yarn swift is done. This was one adventure I don't think he wants to repeat. He just finished a mini niddy noddy that turned out really nice. I want to put a finish on it and add a cool pin to hold the one end before I share pictures.

Niddy Noddy

My husband was busy in the wood shop again last weekend. This time I have a niddy noddy to show for his creativity. It is always amazing to me how I can hand him a picture of an item and he will come back a few hours later with a 3D version of my request. He is also working on a yarn swift following a pattern I purchased. He got it about 1/2 done before he left for his last snowmobile trip of the season.

My snow widow weekend was spent reorganizing one of the few closets in my farmhouse. I moved some items not needed to the basement to make room for a clothes bar. Tonight I skipped knit night in order to play with power tools. My clothes bar is hung and now I have wiggle room in my regular closet since the rarely worn dresses and coats now have a new home.

A Nostipinne

The 45 degree weather and rain took the view of the barn from a winter wonderland to this...



The cats spend the day close to the house and watching what we humans are up to.



And my husband spent some time in his woodshop working a nostipinne on his lathe.


Still on his list to create...a wpi gauge and a niddy noddy.

Fuzzy Slippers for American Girl dolls

I finally modified my doll slipper pattern to include a knit sole for all those non crocheters out there. Enjoy the pattern in which ever form you decide to create it. If you have any questions please post them as a comment to this entry so that others can benefit from the answers. Feel free to print this pattern off for your personal use but do not republish or post this elsewhere.

Thanks
...Pamala

Gauge: 9 rows and 11 stitches = 2 inches / 5 cm

Needle size: US 7 / 4.5 mm double point or size to obtain gauge

Crochet hook size H (if following crochet foot pad option)

Materials: a small amount ( 8 yard / 7.3 meter) of a plush yarn such as Plymouth Heaven, Schachenmayr Hip Hop or Red Heart Baby Cloud

a small amount ( 15 yard / 13.7 meter) of a worsted weight yarn

Abbreviations: sc – single crochet

Pattern

Knit Slipper foot pad

With 2 of the size 7 needles and worsted yarn cast on 5 stitches.

Row 1: Knit across increasing 1 stitch in 2^nd and 4^th stitch. (7 stitches)
Row 2: Knit across.
Row 3: Knit across increasing 1 stitch in 2^nd and 6^th stitch. (9 stitches)
Row 4 – 20: Knit across
Row 21: Knit across decreasing 1 stitch at each end. (7 stitches)
Row 22: Knit across.
Row 23: Knit across decreasing 1 stitch at each end. (5 stitches)
Cast off.

Continue with slipper body instructions.

OR

Crocheted Slipper foot pad

With crochet hook and worsted yarn chain 8 stitches.

Round 1:
2 sc in second chain from hook, 1 sc in each of the next 5 chains, 4 sc in last stitch, following around bottom side of original chain, work 1 sc in next 5 chains, 2 sc in last hook (this should be the same chain in which round started). Do not join with beginning of round. (18 sc)

Round 2 and 3:
In back loop only and without joining, sc around foot pad increasing 4 stitches on each round by doing 2 sc in each of the corners of the round. (26 sc)

Join final sc to beginning of 3^rd round with a chain stitch. Tie off end.

Continue with slipper body instructions.

Slipper body

Row 1:
Using double points and plush yarn pick up and knit 26 stitches around foot pad starting at join or cast off point and arranging stitches so that 9 stitches from first side and 2 from footpad back are on 1^st needle, remaining 2 stitches from back and 9 stitches from second side are on next needle and 4 stitches for front toe are on 3^rd needle.

Row 2 (increase row):
Knit across increasing 1 stitch at each corner, 30 stitches. (Increases should occur in stitches 1, 9, 14 and 22.)

Row 3 (increase row):
Knit across increasing 1 stitch at beginning of needle 1 and at end of needle 2, 32 stitches. Stitches should be arranged 14 on needle 1, 14 on needle 2 and 4 stitches for front toe on needle 3 which are the last stitches worked on row 3.

Toe short rows:

Working in stockinette stitch starting with purl row and only the stitches on needle 3 (toe stitches) bring in 1 stitch from the side needle and work it together with the 1^st stitch of the toe row as follows:

Row 1: slide 1 stitch from needle 1 to needle 3, on needle 3, purl 2 together, purl remaining 3 stitches. Turn work.

Row 2: slide 1 stitch from needle 2 to needle 3, on needle 3, knit 2 together, knit remaining 3 stitches. Turn work.

Continue in this manner for 10 toe rows. 22 stitches remain.

Row 4:
Knit across 22 stitches even.

Slipper cuff
Change to worsted weight yarn, work in knit 1, purl 1 rib for 4 rows. Cast off cuff.

Finishing
Weave all loose ends into cuff, foot pad or body as appropriate to hide.

Thursday

This week started out with a couple of inches of snow which quickly melted in the 40+ degree weather of early in the week and then reality hit in the form of high winds and sub-zero wind chills and by the end of the weekend we should be back to at least a couple inches of snow or lots more depending on which meteorologist you listen to. Michigan weather is never boring.

Running hither and yon this week was limited so I was able to attend sock night at Sip N Knit. Good thing…I had them lining up for help on double knitting and sewing up the bunny pattern from Heart Strings Fiber Arts. It is always good to be welcomed with enthusiasm and then be able to share my skills with others. I went home with a warm and fuzzy feeling. I get this feeling a lot with the women in Ithaca. Recharges my batteries for another week of going to work, helping with homework and all the other chores of life.

Off the needles
This week 2 items have come off the needles:

Sock number 1 for January’s Sock of the Month which is the Railroad Rib Socks pattern from Fiber Trends is done. I like the pattern but the yarn chosen from the stash ‘Red Heart Luster Sheen’ and size 1 needles make this a long knit although I love the resulting fit. Up until now I have not been happy with the fit of my hand knit socks, they are always rather sloppy on my feet. Could be a sign I should do a better job of checking gauge and such but where is the fun and adventure in that? Sock 2 will happen but not immediately. Need to rebuild the reserves for this one.


I also took out the lace waist of the AG shorts, decreased stitches and used smaller needles and I am much happier with the result. The fit is much nicer on the doll. I can now finish this area of instructions on the pattern. Should be up for offer it in my Etsy shop soon.

On the needles

February’s sock has been started. The pattern is Hellen’s Socks from Fiber Trends and I am using some yarn from the stash that I picked up at Lavender and Peonies, a yarn shop in DeWitt, approximately 2 years ago. Golly, time flies when we are busy.

Started the Cobblestone Pullover from Interweave for hubby by doing the swatch on size 7 needles which turned out to be too small so we re-swatched on 8’s which are closer. The number of stitches per 4 inches is within ½ a stitch so that is good but I am several rows shy of the rows per 4 inches so I may have to adjust shaping at the neck to accommodate this difference. Needles have been purchased though so onward we shall trudge.

Goofy Girls

My final Christmas project was a knitting bag for my younger daughter. Here it is as modeled by both of my goofy girls.



One of my bags was being used to carry her knitting around and I had some wool that she kept wanting to help herself to so I put that together with an old bag turned liner and crocheted her a bag. I got to test felt a swatch and determine how big to make the bag based on my test. I was pleasantly surprised when it actually worked out close to my calculations. Also got to install a zipper into my work for the second time. I think I am getting the hang of it.