Thursday, November 09, 2006

Prayer shawl finished and fringing


I finished the fushia prayer shawl finally. This one really took me a long time to make, but when you consider that it was my" take along" project it really isn't too bad. I would work on this while I had to wait for someone or something. You know how it goes. Last night I made the fringe. Making fringe with the Lion Brand homespun is no easy feat. As soon as you cut the yarn it immediately starts to fray. That means you really have to knot each stand after you cut the lengths and before you attach it to the shawl. That is a secret that was passed on to me by the ladies in my church's prayer shawl group.

This is a close up of the shawl:


Through trial and error I've found the easiest way to cut the lengths of yarn for the fringe to get them all the same length is to use a clip board. This is how I wrap the clip board with the yarn:

I wrap the board twice counting as I go, using the big clip to hold down the first strand of yarn. Two stand per cast (57 stitches in my case) on stitch and I attach 2 strands at a time with a crochet hook. This makes a very full fringe.

Here's a picture of me cutting the strands on the clip board.

What's nice about using the clip board is that it doesn't bend. If you have ever used cardboard to wrap the yarn it inevitably bends and the strands can become uneven unless you only do a few at a time.

The next prayer shawl will be made from yarn that was donated to our church by Coats and Clark. They were so generous. They sent us a huge box of mill ends for us to make shawls with. That was so nice of them. Thank you Coats and Clark :)

Sunday, November 05, 2006

Ball Band Toilet Paper Cover Pattern


This is my pattern for a knitted toilet paper cover inspired by the "Ball Band" dishcloth. This cover is made to fit a 1000 sheet roll of toilet paper (The kind that is purchased singly, wrapped in a paper) .

**The pattern is based on the "Ballband Dishcloth" pattern and can be found in the Mason-Dixon Knitting book by Kay Gardiner and Ann Shayne. The pattern can also be found on the back side of the Peaches & Cream label. I found mine on the 1lb. cone I purchased in Walmart. Another place you can find the pattern is on the Dishcloth Boutique website where the pattern is known as the Textured Slip Stitch Dishcloth. **

Edited 8/8/08 You can find the ballband dishcloth pattern at the elmore-pisgah website.

Edited: 8/9/07
Please email me if you would like the PDF file of this pattern for easier printing. I would be happy to email it to you. I am looking for another site to host my patterns in the PDF format. If anyone can recommend a reliable free site please let me know. Thanks :)
Edited: 9/28/2007
Click here to download pattern PDF file. Please email me with any problems or questions. Thanks!


Materials:
Worsted weight cotton yarn. 2 small balls, 2 colors A and B. Most worsted weight yarns should work.
Size 7 circular (16") needles, and size 7 ( set of 4) double pointed needles
Large eyed yarn needle
1 stitch marker

Gauge: 18 stitches / 32 rows / 4" in pattern stitch

With color A cast on 60 stitches with the size 7 (16") circular needle. join being careful not to twist.
Knit 8 rounds.

Pattern starts now ( always slip stitches as if to purl and do not break yarn when changing colors, just carry loosely in back of work) :
Round 1 and 2: knit
Round 3: with color B, knit 4, slip1 (*knit 5, slip 1) repeat from * ending knit 1
Round 4: purl 4, yarn back, slip 1, yarn forward (*purl 5, yarn back, slip 1, yarn forward) repeat from * ending purl 1
Round 5: repeat round 4
Round 6: repeat round 4 again
Round 7: with color A, knit
Round 8: knit
Round 9: with color B, knit 1, slip1 (*knit 5, slip 1) repeat from * ending knit 4
Round 10: purl 1, yarn back, slip 1, yarn forward (*purl 5, yarn back, slip 1, yarn forward) repeat from * ending purl 4
Round 11: repeat round 10
Round 12: repeat round 10

Repeat these 12 rounds until there are 7 bands.
End with 2 knitted rounds of color A.

Decrease rounds:
Switch to size 7 double pointed needles, dividing stitches evenly.

Continue with color A
Round1: (* knit 4, knit 2 together) repeat from * ending with knit 2 together
Round2: knit
Round 3: (* knit 3, knit 2 together) repeat from * ending with knit 2 together
Round 4: knit
Round 5: (* knit 2, knit 2 together) repeat from * ending with knit 2 together
Round 6: knit
Round 7: (* knit 1, knit 2 together) repeat from * ending with knit 2 together
Round 8: knit
Round 9: (* knit 2 together) repeat from *
Round 10: knit
Round 11: (* knit 2 together) repeat from *

Break yarn and using large eyed yarn needle draw yarn through the 5 remaining stitches and fasten. Weave all end in.
If you have made an item from one of my patterns, please send me an email
[ hakucho19(at)yahoo(dot)com] and I would be happy to post it in my gallery!


Copyright ©2006 hakucho, All Rights Reserved.

Thursday, November 02, 2006

Ball Band Toilet Paper Cover

I was reminiscing recently about my childhood and I remembered my mother crocheting toilet paper hats or covers. She used cotton rug yarn to crochet the hat in the round and added a gross grain ribbon as the hat band. Mom sewed a plastic flower (no silk flowers in those days) to the hat band to finish off her hats. They were really cute. She gave them to everyone and people even asked her to make them for them when they redecorated their bathrooms so they would match their decor. I haven't thought about these in years....


Lately, I've been getting really tired of seeing my extra roll of toilet paper totally undressed! I thought to myself why not make a "ball band cover" for the toilet paper roll. I just love anything "ball band"! That's what I did. Guess this is kind of the modern version of my mother's covers. I knit it in the round so there are no seams and I'm very happy with the way it turned out. In fact I just cast on another one for my downstairs half bath. It was very quick to knit it up. Now I 'm thinking of buying a silk flower as an accessory (in honor of my mother), but that will have to wait for my shopping trip next week. Happy knitting :)