Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Happy Belated Mother's Day


Oh, the things you can do with a crochet hook and some string!  For Mother's Day I made a wrap for my mom with Noro Silk Garden (colour 84, one of my faves), a 5mm crochet hook, and a Simple Crochet Ripple Baby Blanket pattern (start with a chain 58).  I used 8 skeins of yarn, but for each I cut out one shade from the colourway (black, it just didn't work the way I wanted) - so lets estimate about 755m were used (the finished wrap weighs 376g). 


It relaxed quite a bit after blocking. I washed it in Eucalan, gave it a tug widthwise, and hung it on a laundry rack to dry. When i finished crocheting it was a bit tight, but now it has a really lovely drape. If you don't want as much drape, try washing in Soak instead of Eucalan.


For a more spring/summery version, try using Noro Taiyo (4 skeins). They don't make the Noro in the same  fiery colourway, but they have some great options:

  • 20: "Stylin' Autumn" - brown, black, teal, grey, green, wheat, rust
  • 30: "Girlie Fantasy" - pinks, purples, fuchisa, teal, wheat, navy
  • 24: "Autumn in Paris" - yellows, greens, magenta, cream, rust, wine
  • 1: "Neutral in Pink" - pink, black, brown, grey, cream
  • 31: "Double Rainbow" - yellow, moss green, pink, fuchsia, magenta, sky blue, apple green, orange, cream, grey, royal blue
  • 23: "Starry Night" - blues, greens, brown, touch of mauve
  • 29: "Fiesty Fire" - pinks, oranges, peach, fuchsia, violet, brown, black

For a lighter version, try using 4 skeins of Noro Silk Garden Sock  (or when it arrives, Noro Taiyo Sock), and a 3.5mm hook, and more sts (like a number from the actual pattern):

  • 269: "Au natural" - cream, beige, grey
  • 241: "Purple Fantasy" - purples, olives, browns
  • 313: "North by Northwest" - spruce, azure, rust, yellow, black, brown
  • 322: "Lake Tahoe" - greens, black, bronze, turquoise, white
  • 264: "Spring Cleaning" - turquoise, blue, apple green, purple,  aqua, pink, brown, dark blue



As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!

Friday, May 06, 2011

Jewy-Gurumi


What have I been up to? A little of this, a little of that. Above is the Passover Seder Plate (aka. Jewy-Gurumi) I made for my parents for passover this year. I didn't finish it up completely in time for the unleavened week, so my mom sent it back home with the leftover chicken soup and briskit. She was also adamant that I show it to all of you!  Proud mommy. Despite the fact that we're a pretty secular family, she gets a kick out of my knit & crochet judaica, especially the foods. Of course, it bridges our strengths, as my mom's medium of choice is food while mine if fibre (not bran).  

I've labelled the different pieces, I had to use a little poetic license in my choices to make them recognizable. The Z'roa/shank bone and Maror/bitter herb aren't really recognizable as gurumis, so they became a chicken drumstick (it's a legbone, right?), and a raddish (it's bitter enough).  I was originally going to give them little black safety eyes, but the eyes did not arrive in time to add them. Maybe I'll make another set with eyes. I appropriated most of the patterns, but listed everything in Ravelry. I made up the celery, so I'll definitely get around to posting that.


As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!

Thursday, May 05, 2011

Berroco's Kiama Cardie - Done!


Our Kiama cardie is Done! And it looks AMAZING!  And I really like how it feels when I'm wearing it!  It's kinda cool to the touch, perfect for summer. YAAAAAYYYY!  :-)  The drape is faboulous, the colour is fabulous, and the texture is interesting. We used 9 skeins of Berroco Origami in 4362 Whale Watch, and the pattern is from Berroco Booklet 294 (available in store).



Here is the sweater upside-down. It's one of those flexi things, you can wear it either way. Cool, huh? Fitted in one direction, deconstructed in the other. Reminds me of that scene in Six Degrees of Separation, where they're talking about the two sided Kandinsky painting: one side is chaos, the other control. Just flip it to express how you're feeling. 



Sorry about the sad pic, you would not believe how hard it is to take a decent picture of yourself on a timer. But it's hard to see what a garment will look like when it's on a hard, petite mannequin. Now, keep in mind I'm 5'9" and do not have big shoulders. If I did it again, I'd make the arms longer, just a couple inches on each side. The size is a small/medium. 


As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!


Thursday, April 21, 2011

Ruminating on Kid Things


I'm thinking about making something for my niece, who is 3 months old this week. The only thing is that she's a grower and I'm not really sure what size she's going to take from week to week, and what size she'll be in any given season. Moreover, she's gigantic (in the 95th percentile for weight and height), and I don't know if she's going to take after my father and I and be tall, or if she'll slow down after a year and fit regular kid sizes. Maybe I should just make whatever project I choose in a 2 year old size?  


My sister-in-law put in a request for a felted jumper, which isn't going to happen in knitting - poor kid would cook. But I do love this little dress from Berroco's Remix Booklet #303.   The sizes range from 2 to 12 years, so the sizing issue could work out.


I would use colour 3956, dungaree (light blue). I think it's a safe colour for a pale kid, and she seems to look great in blue. It only takes 3 skeins to make a size 2 (also 4 and 6), and the price is right at $11 each, so it's not the end of the world if she mucks it up. And the yarns is completely washable, so this one is a definite maybe.



I've also been thinking about making a little hoodie for her. I love this version by KimDillard, and I have some Koigu Kersti kicking around, but I don't think it's a good colour for my niece. It is rose with highlights of royal blue, pumpkin and black. It sounds bad, but it's not, it's just too dark and too pink. 


Another option is Dream in Color Classy in "Some Summer Sky". It should be a great colour on her, and when we go to the park it'll be really easy to keep track of her. 


As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!



I'm thinking about making something for my niece, who is 3 months old this week. The only thing is that she's a grower and I'm not really sure what size she's going to take from week to week, and what size she'll be in any given season. Moreover, she's gigantic (in the 95th percentile for weight and height), and I don't know if she's going to take after my father and I and be tall, or if she'll slow down after a year and fit regular kid sizes. Maybe I should just make whatever project I choose in a 2 year old size?  


My sister-in-law put in a request for a felted jumper, which isn't going to happen in knitting - poor kid would cook. But I do love this little dress from Berroco's Remix Booklet #303.   The sizes range from 2 to 12 years, so the sizing issue could work out.


I would use colour 3956, dungaree (light blue). I think it's a safe colour for a pale kid, and she seems to look great in blue. It only takes 3 skeins to make a size 2 (also 4 and 6), and the price is right at $11 each, so it's not the end of the world if she mucks it up. And the yarns is completely washable, so this one is a definite maybe.



I've also been thinking about making a little hoodie for her. I love this version by KimDillard, and I have some Koigu Kersti kicking around, but I don't think it's a good colour for my niece. It is rose with highlights of royal blue, pumpkin and black. It sounds bad, but it's not, it's just too dark and too pink. 


Another option is Dream in Color Classy in "Some Summer Sky". It should be a great colour on her, and when we go to the park it'll be really easy to keep track of her. 


As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!


Tuesday, April 12, 2011

Monkeying Around


I'm fostering a new sock monkey!  I rescued him from the renovations at the former coffee bar down the block. He was all alone, getting dusty, and at risk of getting paint on him. Poor little guy! He looked very naked next to our resident monkey, so I make him a little sweater.

As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!


Saturday, April 09, 2011

Blanket in Progress


Thought you might like to see the progress on my Crochet Log Cabin Blanket in Noro Silk Garden Sock.  Can`t say enough good stuff about using this yarn for the blanket, it`s just too beautiful and too easy - makes me happy. 

Silly me, I blocked all of the blocks and found out I have one more square to make!  Why do I do that?! The blocks are each 14 x 14 inches, and I'll have 20 of them, making the blanket before edging 70 x 56 inches. The fabric is not heavy, so it might make a nice bedspread, and if  it pleases me I might expand it to 70 x 70 inches (pre- border).

As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!

Sunday, April 03, 2011

Herringbone Cowl


I`ve been working on a lighter weight Herringbone Cowl for the spring. It looks gorgeous, love it. I`m using 2 skeins of Malabrigo Worsted in colour no.9 Polar Morn. By the way, it will not actually look like a capelet, as above, the needles are just shorter than the total circumference of the piece. You can see what it will looks like HERE.

The Malabrigo is working up really fluffy and light on the 12mm needles. If you wanted it denser you could reduce the needle size, but I`m happy to have it light and airy.

The pattern is working well, although it does leave a slight jog. Also, follow the instructions and don`t play around with the placement of your stitch marker, or your jog will wander off (mine did, but I`m not going back to fix it). 

As always, you can find us at Knitomatic.com!