Thursday, April 26, 2007

Hob Nail Cloth knit the "coming unravelled" way!

Here is a picture of my tri-color hob nail cloth that I was inspired to make after seeing CeElle's hob nail cloth. I recently added her beautiful cloth's photo to my knitting friend's gallery page. Check out her blog and gallery: coming-unravelled.blogspot.com. She came up with the idea of adding randomly placed colored cluster stitches on the cloth. She was very creative to come up with this innovative idea :) Now the possibilities and combo's are endless! Thanks, CeElle for sending me your photo! I really love seeing what other people do with a pattern. Please continue to send me your photos of any items you have knit with my patterns .... so I can share them with everyone. Thanks!

Still lagging behind everyone else...but I am slowly catching up by finishing 2007's April Mid-month KAL - Diamond Drop Lace pattern.
I'm not really enthused with the way I knitted the seed stitch border. It came out "wonky". Next time I think I'll knit Cathy's version. She wrote her pattern Bridal Shower Lace Cloth last year and it's very similar but with a garter stitch border which shows off this pretty lace pattern in a nice frame.

Happy knitting everyone :)

Sunday, April 22, 2007

Cro-Kay anyone?

The Cro-Kay edge took awhile, but now my Argosy blanket is complete. Here is a closeup of the Cro-kay edge. This edge is a knitted edge similar to a single crochet using knitting needles instead of a crochet hook. Mason-Dixon Kay explains the "how to" here. Before anyone attempts to make this Argosy blanket I wanted to let you know that this blanket if you follow the scarf pattern you will end up with a parallelogram rather than a rectangle with straight sides. My only complaint is that it is difficult to fold. If you want a more traditional blanket I think I would follow Kay's instuctions for the baby blanket or Vyvyan's blanket but make it longer and wider for a larger blanket. Because it is a throw it's fine for my use.















I was asked: What kind of yarn did you use? Well, here's a picture of the yarn:
I used two strands, one being yarn from Pasa Yarn Mill in Uxebridge, MA. I really don't know what the fiber content of the yarn is...I know it is part wool (you can smell the wool if you get my drift). I added in Caron Simply Soft and it does make it so soft. The resulting blanket is so heavy though. I'm glad it's a dark color because I don't know how I would ever wash it.

The twin of the other prayer shawl I knitted is finished.
Not anything really new, sorry. BUT I did complete two more cloths....trying desperately to catch up with the Monthly Dishcloth KAL's. Here's my pathetic attempt to take a photo with crocus flowers. If you want to see flowers and knitting you have to check out Allison's blog. She is an incredible photographer. This cloth is the 2007 March Mid Month KAL Small Basketweave.

This last cloth which I thought I had enough yarn to finish, but I came up short...is a two tone one instead:
This pattern is the 2007 February Mid Month KAL- Lacy Diamond. If you are want to try these patterns I suggest you join the group. By joining you get access to so many wonderful patterns that I'm sure you will not be sorry :)

happy knitting :)

Tuesday, April 17, 2007

My Argosy Blanket is finished...well, almost!

Last night I finished knitting my Argosy Blanket or Throw which was inspired by Vyvyan's Argosy Scarf pattern. (Check out Vyvyan's blog for more Argosy patterns. ) Actually I bought the yarn to make myself a sweater, but that didn't work out. Then I realized I had more than enough yarn to make the blanket which goes very nicely in my living room All I need to do now is weave in the ends and finish off the edges so it won't curl.

I was inspired by Mason- Dixon Kay who knitted a wonderful Argosy baby blanket. At the time I started my blanket Kay's pattern wasn't available yet, but I think I like the way mine turned out anyways. This pattern is sort of knit on a diagonal and once you get use to the pattern it is quite enjoyable. The resulting textured knit is a little lace like, but not delicate and has a very nice drape to it. I pretty much used the argosy scarf pattern without any changes to the pattern except I made it longer and wider. I wanted something rather large that I could wrap myself in when it gets cold. Too late to use this year, but it will be ready for next winter.

Next I'll use Kay's Cro-Kay edge to finish the blanket off. Check here to see Kay's baby blanket and her Cro-Kay edge with instructions.

I really fell in love with this pattern, but I did learn a lesson: don't try to knit type of pattern when sleepy or tired. I ended up making a mistake and then tried to fix it without ripping back, which was a big mistake because I ended up in such a mess that I proceeded to "tink" or unknit about twenty rows one stitch at a time. All that work was worth it because the rest went much better. I was very frustrated as there was so much time wasted when I could be knitting for real...oh, well...live and learn, right? Now on to some smaller projects....

happy knitting :)

Monday, April 09, 2007

Just couldn't stop myself...

...from knitting more of these DW or Double Woven cloths! I had to try all of my variegated yarns...

...yes, I know I'm addicted, but I just had to ...
keep on trying....
and then I tried two solid colors...
and then a variegated and a solid! The combinations are endless!!
Conclusion: I REALY like these cloths!!

happy knitting :)

Wednesday, April 04, 2007

Just in time for Easter

I needed to take a break from the throw I’m knitting. It is really coming along nicely. Hopefully I’ll have some pictures soon of that. In the meantime, I finally knitted up the Monthly Dishcloth KAL bunny cloth
just in time for Easter. This cloth is a variation of grandmother’s favorite. I used Sugar and cream "rose pink". The pattern can be found here.
How can you have an Easter with out peeps? …Check this little guy out. Isn’t he cute? I’ve been admiring this cute pattern and just had to try it out myself. I used my cotton chenille and a tiny bit of orange cotton to finish off this little duckling’s beak. This cute pattern can be found here.

For quite some time now I’ve been wanting to try The "Infamous" Darrell Waltrip Cloth. Wow…I really like this cloth! Super easy and I just love the pattern that is created with the variegated yarn. Now I know why everyone has raved about this one! I have the urge to go and knit a cloth with every variegated yarn in my stash (and I've even been thinking about going out and buy more variegated colors....) Just what I need…another cloth to be addicted to. :) Watch out ballband, you now have some competition!

Now I have to get focused and concentrate on getting ready for Easter. Hope everyone has a wonderful Easter!

…and most importantly…happy knitting :)