Some FOs

Lilly wrap for a charity shop:



I was without a ribber whilst making this - Thomas the cat having used my ribber carriage as a trampoline - so the hems are latched for about 5 rows. Didn't get time to wash/press. I know ribbed welts are considered somewhat passe, but at least they stop the curl!

Charity tee top made on an LK150:



Made this on Heritage weekend in September, only just got around to finishing it. There's another half somewhere but I am out of DK at the moment and the mid-gauge has been taken down.

Charity tee top made on my KH60:



This is a skein of very pretty blue boucle yarn that I bought as a four pack ages ago (the other skeins were all different). I had planned to use it for myself, but there was not enough for much more than a hat. This used most of the ball - someone else can benefit from my impulsiveness.

The charity tee top patterns are based on the Guideposts knit for kids pattern and they are linked on my Free patterns page.

Almost FO: child's aran jumper

100_3839
Originally uploaded by steel breeze

12 (count 'em!) pieces to make up this jumper, and it's not done yet. The photo was not great so was unsure as to which side of the tuck side strips was the right side - so did the sleeves one way and the front/back the other. Bit of a jigsaw trying to piece this together but I managed eventually. Just needs a neckline adding - probably just a few rows of stocking stitch for a simple curled edge, don't want to make the neckline too small.

FO: machine knitted scrunchie

Video here. The video shows it being knitted on a standard machine, but this yarn was very slubby so I did it on an LK150.

...addendum

I almost forgot, I also made a hair scrunchie with some fancy yarn on the LK150. The video is here - you are supposed to keep going until the elastic band is covered. I stopped when I ran out of yarn.

Will post a photo when I have one to post!

In progress...

This is the sleeve for the chenille jumper. The yarn is a kind of sky blue, and is pretty strong. However I discovered last night it's a good idea to leave the ravel cord in until the rib is finished, because it will snap otherwise. Oops! The main part is knitted on the LK150 and the 2x2 rib is being added by hand.



This is the first jewelbox sock. The yarn is red, yellow and blue. I don't think I'll have enough for a second sock - garter stitch uses a lot more yarn.

When (machine) knitting goes wrong...

Maybe this should be part one in a series of fugly... (click for a bigger picture)





This is a hand-latched rib as per the LK150 Option 4 pattern book - you leave needles out of work and then latch them up, skipping the first three rows. I reckon I must have done something wrong. It was also about 16 needles too wide, but that's another matter entirely (and the math worked out in theory). It's already been frogged and replaced with a hand knit rib, but it was so bad I felt I had to capture it for posterity.

Next time - a versatile jacket that has no way of ever staying on your shoulders. Huh.

Confused

OK I'm completely confused about the sleeve instructions - it gives instructions for the left side and then for the right side. I suspect I've knitted two pieces of junk. GOnna have to ask on Rav, see if anyone can decipher. It doesn't say to split the sleeve (ie holding position), but it's written as if it should be.

The pattern is from the Knitmaster Option4 book and all parts are in three pieces - a central cable strip, and two tuck braids on either edge.

Addendum - I missed one important sentence - place LH needles into hold. Duh.

Cable I'm amazed

This is part of a front knitted on the LK150. Cables are seperated by gutters (needles out of work). Missed the very small note indicating I should have latched these up by hand, will do the sleeves correctly. Did try latching up the gutters, but they were so tight as to be invisible on the right side.

The front and back are made from three pieces - a centre cable part, and a tuck stitch braid. Likewise the sleeves are also in three pieces. So far completed back, front and one sleeve cable section, and one tuck braid.

The pattern is a child's aran-style sweater from the Knitmaster Option 4 book.

Suddenly it slows...

Diagonal Matrix hits a bump in the road - casting another 70 odd stitches both ends, really slows a project up. Can't figure out how it goes together yet. Admittedly it's garter stitch with the odd increase, so hardly a brain tax, but it's amazing how my enthusiasm seems directly related to the amount of time it takes to knit one row.

Managed to mess up my diary and miss last night's MK club meeting, where they were measuring folk to make body blocks. I hope there'll be time to measure me next time. Whoops!

I'm on the front on the LK150. Lots of cabling, lots of mistakes, thus lots of dropping and reforming cables by hand. Yeah, I should probably have picked something easier, but there ya go.

Free pattern: Simple shopping bag with variations

Yarn: Peaches and Cream worsted cotton
Machine: LK150 or 6.5mm machine
Tension: T5

Cast on 80 stitches using the e-wrap cast on (leave an end of about 30cm for sewing up). RC000 Knit 10 rows.
*Set machine to HOLD. Put centre 20 needles into hold, plus the remainder of the needles on the opposite side from the carriage.
Knit 6 rows on the remaining stitches, then put them in hold. Break the yarn.
Put the centre stitches back to working position using the transfer tools, and cast them off with the single transfer tool. Leave the empty needles out of work.
Put the remaining held stitches to upper working position and knit 6 rows, starting and ending in the centre of the machine.
E-wrap cast on over the centre 20 needles, knit across the remaining held stitches.*
Reset row counter to RC18. Knit to R140.
T9 knit 1 row
T5 knit to R265.
Repeat handle section from * to *.
Knit 9 rows T5. Knit 1 row T10, latch tool cast off, leaving a 30cm tail for sewing up.
Sew up both side seams, weave in ends.

Variation #2:

* Instead of knitting 10 rows before making the handle, cast on in waste yarn, knit 1 row in ravel cord, then 10 rows T5, 1 row T max, 10 rows T5, and pick up the cast on row (ie make a hem). Repeat this for the other side (where it says Knit 9 rows T5).

Variation #3:

* Drop stitch variation - cast on 81 stitches instead of 80. After making the handle and resetting to RC18, knit 10 rows. Transfer every other stitch to its neighbour, leaving the empty needles in work. Knit to RC 255, and then drop every other stitch (make sure these are the ones you transferred originally). Knit 10 more rows and complete as before. When off the machine, pull the knitting to drop the stitches completely. You may need to experiment with this and knit less than 255 rows, as dropping stitches will make the knitting expand. (If I get chance I will experiment with this myself).

Bags of bags

I've been having a go at making bags lately. Seemed a nice change from garments that can have fitting problems.

So far I've made the following:



Take an old bag shopping (Knitwords 44)

This went ok, except I suspect two ends of cotton wasn't enough (and I didn't twist it, either). Love the tuck lace pattern, found the picking up of hems and picot hems a bit time consuming. Lots of ends to weave in, which is why it's only just been finished.



Susitna

This is a great pattern if your knitting machine knits circularly. Alas, my SK840 does not like to knit in the round, without much help. I also made the handle way too short (I admit it - I couldn't face 200 passes of both P carriage and main carriages), but the bag came out really long and I wasn't sure I wanted to make it much longer. Looks thinner than it actually is. I'm wondering now if I haven't somehow got the machine mounted using Brother ribber brackets, not Knitmaster ones, seeing as I seem to have a spare pair of Knitmaster brackets hanging around.



Drop stitch mesh bag

This works ok too, although I think I would like to make it a little larger and longer next time. Made on the LK150. Hard work to drop stitches in Peaches and Cream cotton.



Simple bag (my own design)

This is a very simple eyelet bag made on the LK150. I will post the pattern when I've taken a photograph of it. Pattern now written up, with variations!

I'm tempted to design a few more, using elements from the ones I've already tried.

FO: Coffee and cream jumper

100_3687
Originally uploaded by steel breeze

This is with the re-knitted neck. Not great, but looks a lot better than it did...

Update

The Knit Camp tutors fund has raised £4454 which has been split between the tutors in a way agreed between themselves. Many thanks to all who have been involved in making this happen. The tutors are very grateful for your generosity.

The money has gone some way towards relieving financial difficulties. Tutors are still owed a total of around twenty thousand pounds but your kind words and moral support have been more beneficial than you can possibly imagine. To know that we are appreciated by so many people is a great boost.

===

Finally finished the new neck on the Cog's jumper, just need to upload the photo. It looks a lot better. Completing the bands on the Noro Silk Garden cardigan, and will then need to add button bands and buttons. Trying desperately not to start any more projects, as I need to concentrate on xmas knitting now. We'll see how that goes! :) Anything I do knit for xmas will be a bonus - if I make the item the "main present" it's too much pressure and I find myself actually WANTING to clean the oven all of a sudden. Weird.

FO: Bottle green jumper

100_3686
Originally uploaded by steel breeze

Made on the LK150 from Forsells' Touch of Silk for the Cog. Hems and rolled collar.

The picture is at a funny angle I think - his legs aren't that skinny! :)

Almost FO: coffee and cream jumper for the Cog

Let this be a warning to all knitters. This is what happens when (a) you don't calculate if you actually have enough yarn and (b) you don't think beforehand what you're going to do with the bands. Clearly 400g of a DK yarn is not enough for a whole jumper. I was saving the cream for something else. Oh welL!

The sleeves have 10 rows reversed stocking stitch, the bottom band is reformed rib, and the neck band (knitting and then treble crochet) looks bloody awful and was unpicked last night. I'm going to add some 2x2 rib by hand, I think. So you could look at this in two ways - either the goddamn sweater curse that plagues every garment I make for the Cog has struck again, or I'm really just crap at planning. :)

This is the first garment I've made on the LK150. The yarn is Forsell's DK Touch of Silk, knitted at T4. Not the smoothest or most forgiving of yarns on a plastic machine.

There's also a round-necked one in the same yarn but bottle-green. I had two cones of it, so it's going to be more successful. It just needs sewing up - the yarn is unsuitable for sewing, as it thins and splits. It's very similar to Noro Silk Garden in composition, just without the lovely colour changes.

New toy - LK150

Picked up this from a fellow Raveller - wanted a midgauge for a while, but the only new metal bed currently available is very expensive (and that's not including the ribber, which of course I would have to have also). Whilst I might save up for that, this will tide me over in the meantime.

It does tuck, slip, plating, fairisle and there's an intarsia carriage. Any patterning is hand-selected (fairisle is done using slip and two passes per colour).

I'm pretty sure it's an LK150, although it's got "Option 4" written on it. It was a bargain and was in excellent condition (had to replace the row counter though). It's got pink and grey rollers and looks very girly, but seems man enough to knit all the DK I've tried in it so far.

Looks like the Bro convertible is now extraneous. Have to have a think and see if I can find it a deserving new home.