I told you I was in a dishcloth-knitting mood these days. Saturday evening, while hanging out and chatting with some friends, I cranked out this Mason-Dixon Dishcloth (from Mason-Dixon Knitting, natch). This was the first time I’d tried this pattern–which is knit in the round from the outside in–and I found it to be a lot of fun. As long as I had a row counter, I was able to keep track of my knitting and participate in the conversation pretty easily without getting lost in either. For some reason, the bobbles at the points ended up on the wrong side of the fabric. I’m not sure how that happened–I followed the pattern carefully, and the errata don’t say anything about the bobbles. This was the first time I’d ever knit bobbles, too, so experience isn’t there to help me figure it out.
Between Sunday and Monday I cranked out this one-of-a-kind number. It’s based on the “Waterfall” stitch pattern in 365 Knitting Stitches a Year
. My friend Katie has been using the stitches in this book as inspiration for her own dishcloth-knitting lately, and she lent me her copy for inspiration. I really want to like this stitch pattern, but I don’t think it’s idea for a washcloth–the result is too loose.
Inspired by my friend Gina, who recently completed an Unbearable Cute Baby Kimono (Mason-Dixon, y’all) for her niece who’s due in mid-August, I decided to whip up one of these myself. Since I had one ball of blue yarn and one ball of green yarn on hand–and I felt like playing with color a bit here–I strayed from the monochromatic scheme of the original pattern and used one color on the front and one on the back. I like the result, though I was surprised at how slowly this thing worked up. It’s knit in garter stitch in one piece, so I thought it would go a lot faster.
I’ve come across lots of interesting stuff while cruising in the information superhighway over the past few weeks. (Thank goodness Al Gore invented the Internet! Whatever would I do without it?) Rather than try to think of something postworthy to say about each and every one, I’ll just list them all here and let you make of them what you will.
I’m not a crocheter, but this project has me half-tempted to learn that craft. It’s a bag/box shaped like one of those Japanese stone garden statues (of which I have one in my backyard). The author of this pattern filled her box (which she calls a castle bag) with crocheted fairy-tale figures, though I bet amigurumi (look here for a list of free patterns) would be equally at home here.
Check out Cat Bordhi’s (yes, she of the Moebius scarf fame) instructions for knitting a treehouse.
This week’s Craft: Pattern Podcast is for the Isabeau Purse, a cute little lace thing that uses only about one skein (~120 yards) of yarn and is the right size for carrying a wallet and cell phone.
Have a skein of Koigu that’s burning a hole in your stash box? This beret from the Purl Bee might be just the ticket, then.
I don’t own any books in Barbara Walker’s Treasure of Knitting Pattern series. (Gasp! Does that mean I’m not a real knitter? This reminds me of the time in graduate school when a colleague told me I wasn’t a real anthropologist because I didn’t have any maps on my office walls.) Here’s a just-started online project whose goal is to compile color photographs of all the stitch patterns in those books. They’re looking for volunteers to create swatches and send in their photos, so if you’re interested head on over there!
I live nowhere near Santa Clara, where Stitches West 2007 will be taking place later this month. Hearing about this knitting-focused train ride to Stitches West makes me a bit jealous of those who do (like my SP9–how lucky!). What fun!
Here is designer Benjamin Cho’s take on the knit dress, as unveiled at his Fall 2007 runway show this week in New York. The use of knitting needles here is kind of neat. But those disembodied hands? Kind of creepy.
From BBC news comes this article about how a women’s hospital in Liverpool is using knitted breasts to help teach new mothers how to breastfeed and express milk. This is a great solution for cash-strapped programs that can’t afford more lifelike (and incredibly expensive) model breasts. In the article a hospital rep says that more knitters are needed, but no contact information is provided (and I couldn’t find any information at the hospital’s website).
I told you I was in a dishcloth-knitting mood these days. Saturday evening, while hanging out and chatting with some friends, I cranked out this Mason-Dixon Dishcloth (from Mason-Dixon Knitting, natch). This was the first time I’d tried this pattern–which is knit in the round from the outside in–and I found it to be a lot of fun. As long as I had a row counter, I was able to keep track of my knitting and participate in the conversation pretty easily without getting lost in either. For some reason, the bobbles at the points ended up on the wrong side of the fabric. I’m not sure how that happened–I followed the pattern carefully, and the errata don’t say anything about the bobbles. This was the first time I’d ever knit bobbles, too, so experience isn’t there to help me figure it out.
Between Sunday and Monday I cranked out this one-of-a-kind number. It’s based on the “Waterfall” stitch pattern in 365 Knitting Stitches a Year. My friend Katie has been using the stitches in this book as inspiration for her own dishcloth-knitting lately, and she lent me her copy for inspiration. I really want to like this stitch pattern, but I don’t think it’s idea for a washcloth–the result is too loose.
Inspired by my friend Gina, who recently completed an Unbearable Cute Baby Kimono (Mason-Dixon, y’all) for her niece who’s due in mid-August, I decided to whip up one of these myself. Since I had one ball of blue yarn and one ball of green yarn on hand–and I felt like playing with color a bit here–I strayed from the monochromatic scheme of the original pattern and used one color on the front and one on the back. I like the result, though I was surprised at how slowly this thing worked up. It’s knit in garter stitch in one piece, so I thought it would go a lot faster.