Gauge issues

Measuring my gauge has always been one of my biggest stumbling blocks when it comes to knitting.  And this project is no different.  I knit a swatch and carefully counted my stitches and rows and came up with 6.5 stitches & 8 rows/inch.  Using these numbers, I figured I needed  234 stitches to make a 36 inch wide piece.  It wasn't my math that was off, it was my gauge.  Turns out my gauge was more like 6 stitches/inch, so right from the beginning I inadvertently added extra inches.  So now the garment I meant to make as a small is more a medium or even a large.

Since this pattern is still a work in progress, I'm going to finish it as is and see how it turns out.  Knowing what I know now, I'll be able to make the necessary adjustments to make the next one the size I intend.

Scary lace

I've avoided lace patterns up until now, because I was scared they were to complicated and to difficult to keep track of the stitches.  The last time I attempted lace was when I was just learning to knit and picked a pattern that was way over my head.  The last couple of months I've been browsing through my stitch dictionary longing to do something other than basic cables and ribs.

I chose horseshoe lace for this project because it looked to be one of the easier ones.  I already knew how to do all the stitches.  It was just a matter of putting them in proper sequence; which wasn't as easy and it seemed.  I can't tell you how many times I started out, sure I was following the pattern, but by the time I got to the end of the row, something was off.  I either had to many stitches or not enough, throwing off the rest of the pattern.  It wasn't until I realized I could use stitch markers at the end of each repeat to keep track of where I was.  Now even though I have 200+ stitches in a row, they just seem to fly by and I've finally gotten to the point where I've started to memorize the pattern.  I'm finding lace really isn't as scary as I thought.

Sneak peek at my next project

Here a little sneak peek at what I'm doing next.  This is yarn I bought last weekend at  Interlacements booth at the Shepard's Harvest Festival.  This is the thinnest yarn I've ever used and I haven't had much luck with lace patterns before so this is definitely a challenge.  I'm in the process of designing something and everything goes well, I'll be publishing the pattern for sale in the shop.

Shepherds Harvest Festival

I spent my Mother's Day wandering around the Shepherds Harvest Festival in Lake Elmo, Minnesota.  This was my first visit there and it was a lot of fun.  There were many yarn vendors with beautiful yarns and I discovered corn yarn.  A yarn with the look and feel of cotton, but made from corn.  There were sheep sheering demos, spinning demos, stock dog demos (sheep herding), and others that we didn't get to.  We walked around the barns, looking at alpacas, llamas, sheep, goats and rabbits.

One of the fiber rabbits.  This one was huge.

Sheep sheering demo

Fleece skirting

Just one of the spinners

A baby lamb wearing a sweater

Llamas

My daughter riding a llama

On the blocking table

This sweater started out as a shrug I knitted last summer.  I only wore it about 3 times and then put it away, because I really didn't like it.   This winter I decided to frog the shrug and knit something I've been thinking about for a while.  I knit this this pattern for my daughter a couple years ago.  Hers was knit in acrylic for easy care, but this one is 100% highland wool, and has me a little nervous.  I don't usually work with wool and I've never hand washed anything before.  I tried very hard to avoid stretching, but somehow it looks like it's gotten wider.  I'm hoping it will be ok.  I hate to think of all the work I put into it and then not have it fit.  I still have to find a button, I'm thinking of hitting the antique stores for something unique.

~Edited to add that I was able to put it in the dryer for about 20 minutes on delicate and get it shrink back down to size.

No-sew method for adding a decorative edge to your projects

Decorative edge knit onto a blanket.  WIP

I hate seaming… So much so that I avoid it whenever possible. When knitting blankets or something that requires some sort of finished edge, I usually try to incorporate the edging or border into my pattern, but that’s not always possible. This particular blanket it wasn’t possible and I really debated whether or not to but a border on it. I put it away for a while and finally decided it needed something.

First I thought about picking up the stitches all the way around and knitting a simple garter stitch border, but really I wanted something a little fancier than that. I looked through my stitch dictionary and found a border I really liked, but it would need to be seamed on. What I wanted to be able to do, was knit the border and attach it to the blanket at the same time.

I spent the better part of a day searching online for directions on how to do just that, but came up with nothing. I knew there had to be a way and if I couldn’t find it online, I’d have to come up with a solution on my own. I played around with different ideas and finally found one that works.

• Pick your border pattern, and cast on desired number of stitches on a DPN. My border was originally 4 stitches wide, but I added 10 more stitches to make it a little wider. I placed a stitch marker between the 4 edge stitches and the 10 I added so I could keep track of when to start knitting in pattern.
• Remove the last cast on stitch but keep it live, insert needle, from the wrong side of the blanket, into an edge stitch, place live cast on stitch back on needle.

Cast on needle with the picked up blanket stitch

• Pass the blanket stitch over, and knit your first row, away from blanket edge

• Turn your work, blanket and all and knit back towards the blanket until you come to the last stich

• Pick up the next blanket edge stitch, knit the last stitch, pass the blanket stitch over

Picking up next blanket stitch

• Turn your work, knit away and repeat.  

Depending on the size of your blanket, it could take a while to knit the border all the way around, but your omitting the seaming and you’ll know exactly when to stop knitting when the ends meet. The only seaming you’ll need to do is the two ends together with the method of your choice.  Weave in tails.