Wool Free and Lovin' Knit

Log Cabin Dishcloth -- This month's Christmas Knitted Gift Idea

This month's Christmas knit idea is a simple log cabin dishcloth which was inspired by the log cabin blanket I knit.  

I used Bernat Handicrafter cotton but any good workhorse cotton will do. The cotton should feel dry and a bit like knitting with string because that's what will make it a strong and absorbent cloth. 

Pair one of these with some fabulous dish or hand soap for a friend, neighbor, teacher, hostess etc. 

Start with a 1" square in the middle.  In this yarn that was a cast on of 5 stitches and 6 rows.  On the 7th row (right side facing) bind off all but the last stitch, then, pick up and knit the stitches down the side closest to your left hand (every other row works well). From this point on you will knit for 7 rows and bind off on the 8th (right side facing you).  

You just continue to work around the sides like this (alternating colors in a way that pleases you) until your dishcloth is approximately  8" by 8 " and you've completed an even number of sides.  

Bind off the last row completely by pulling the yarn snuggly through the last stitch, weave in the ends, and you've got a lovely looking dishcloth. 

When you are finished, place it on the ironing board, use some blocking pins to straighten your corners, and then give it an quick press using the cotton steam setting on your iron.

Choose colors to match a friend's kitchen decor or go with Christmassy reds and greens.  These will knit up quickly (an evening or two at most) and are a practical gift that keeps on giving. 

Just seven more months until Christmas -- how are you doing with your Christmas knitting? 

Dahlias and Denim Wristwarmers

(Dinner Plate Dahlias, "Otto's Thrill")

Well, the 13 window boxes that surround my roofdeck are planted.  I promise to show you pictures of all of them next month when the flowers have had a chance to fill out.  In the meantime, I'll show you the dahlias  along with a pair of wrist- warmers I've just finished in Rowan denim yarn?   

The wrist-warmers were a total impulse knit.  I was looking for something else and I happened upon a bag of Rowan denim left-overs from the Picnic Blanket I knit a few years ago.  The next thing I knew the yarn was on #4mm needles and then voila, I had a new pair of fingerless gloves.  

It was a great opportunity to practice the 2-color garter slip stitch pattern which is a new love of mine.

I knit them a little longer in each section to compensate for the shrinkage (which is less than an inch total on a piece this size) and then I tossed them in the washer and dryer. 

Trying to decide if I'll gift them or keep them for myself -- gotta say I'm leaning toward making them mine, all mine!

 

We'll be right back...

It's that time of year when I plant my window boxes so I'll be taking a wee break from blogging this week to spend some time in the dirt.  

See you all again middle of next week!

 

Day trip to Patternworks

I've been wanting to visit the Patternworks shop in Center Harbor, New Hampshire, for a few years now (ever since I heard they carried Sea Island Cotton) and today it just worked out for me to take a little drive up there.  

This is a beautifully laid out shop with 4 large rooms and one smaller nook full of yarn, patterns, books,  notions and needles and all kinds of knitted-related things.  They carry their own exclusive yarns and patterns but they have a wide selection of others as well. 

the room for baby yarns - photo from Patterworks Website

I found plenty of wool-free yarns in-stock.  This is the home of the Sea Island Cotton I've long desired and they also had Kollage Riveting Worsted which I really wanted for a cardigan, and they had so many cottons, linens,  silks,  bamboo, acrylics and all kinds of blends of all of these.  The selection of wool-free yarns is a little larger at present because of the season, but they do carry them year 'round.

Oh, and they had some fabulous sales on single skeins of this and that. Can you believe I scored a skein of Euroflax Linen at 1/3 of the usual price?  Yes, that was me dancing along those gorgeous pine floors. 

The staff were warm and welcoming but just let me wander around the store in peace.  Then, when I needed help, they were available, knowledgable, and pleasant-- a winning combination.  

They don't usually allow photos to be taken in-store, but she did say I could have one photo (too kind) so I opted to show you my spoils which I laid out in front of this gorgeous ceramic cabled vase holding branches of cotton (sadly it wasn't for sale).  

We are really spoiled here in New England with so many fabulous yarn shops within a few hours driving distance.  This is one shop you'll want to see the next time you are passing through New Hampshire.  

 But if you can't get there, they do have an on-line store as well which is really worth checking out!  And it's free standard shipping on orders of $50.00 or more plus they have a great "yarn test drive" policy.  

Gee, I'm talking myself into ordering more yarn on-line. LOL.  Better close this blog post and get busy with the yarn I bought!  Wonder what I'll play with first? 

 

Blankets for the Boys

A couple of years ago now (seems like just yesterday) I knit up afghans for the girls (my three nieces and last  year one for my sister).  So, it's time to start knitting for the boys.   

The Log Cabin Blanket was supposed to be for my 2 year old nephew but instead it's heading off to charity.  You are all right that it is still a nice blanket (thanks for all your kind and encouraging comments), but it's just not the vision I had of the one I want to gift to my nephew so in due time I will start his again. 

In the meantime, I've started  An African Adventure Blanket for my eldest nephew.  He's all growed up now and has his own place and he mentioned that he "wouldn't mind if I wanted to knit him an afghan".  Which is all the encouragement it took for me to go yarn shopping.  

    

These are the first few shells I've knit up.   This would be a great scrap buster blanket but I have actually purchased yarn for this one because I have a certain color combination I'm hoping to achieve. I'm using Berroco Comfort again (my go-to afghan yarn). 

 No deadline on this one, although I'd love to finish it before the end of this year.  At least I've got it started.  

The shells knit up pretty easy, although each one took me an hour, and I need about 78 more of these.  Once I have 9 together I'll join them up and see how that goes. If the process is too painful, he might be getting an African Adventure Pillow.   

I'll keep you posted! 

The Log Cabin Disaster

I've had my share of knitting disasters and I try to remind myself that the pain eases with time.  But this latest one is pretty disappointing. 

You remember the lovely log cabin blanket I started for my youngest nephew?  

(note the stunning bright yellow yarn)

I was using Nashua Creative Focus Worsted -- a combination of pre-dyed silk yarn along with the navy blue  yarn I had dyed myself.  I suspected that my navy yarn would bleed a bit so when I put it in the machine yesterday  I carefully inserted 4 sheets of Shout color-catchers just to be on the safe side. I used a cold water, handwash cycle. 

The navy color ran into the color catcher sheets to be sure -- but it also ran into all the other colors.  The lovely yellow stripes turned to the color of mud.

Is your heart sinking as you look at all that lovely knitting gone to ruin? Don't you just feel sick about it?  Oh, or is that just me?

To add insult to injury, I mustn't have picked up enough stitches along one of the very early rows or I knit the corner too tightly or something -- the blanket won't stretch out quite square -- it puckers a little on one side although it might relax when dried.  

Knitting this  blanket WAS fun.  Washing and blocking it?  Not so much.

What's Black and White and Too Cute all over?

My latest pair of stripy booties (50 Baby Bootees to Knit ).   

 

I got invited to another baby boy shower (is nobody having girls anymore?) so whipped up another pair of these stripy booties  which have become my go-to bootie pattern.  They not only look adorable, but they have a snug cuff that helps them stay on wiggly little toes .

This is a young, fashion savvy mom so I thought she might appreciate a black/white version.  I used a mercerized cotton dk (Tahki Classic for the white, RYC for the black). 

I'm thinking about knitting up a black and white hat to go with them -- what baby hat pattern do you think would be the best match for these shoes? 

All Wound Up

I finally cashed in the birthday money I've been hoarding for the past few years and purchased a Heavy Duty Ball Winder from Nancy's Knit knacks.  As you can see, this baby is about as SOLID as they come.  

I love the position of the handle -- so much easier on the arm compared to traditional ball winders and it rides very smooth.  I didn't splurge for the electronic handle, but it can be added on anytime (hint, hint family). 

I wound about 25 balls of yarn this afternoon just to get the hang of it. I did get a few wonky balls (user error) but once I figured out what I was doing wrong it was a "cake" walk. 

Practice makes perfect and not to worry, there's plenty more unwound yarn where that came from so I'll get lots of opportunity to use it again soon.  In the meantime, hauling all those unwound skeins of yarn out made me realize I'd better get knitting!

Any ball winding tips and tricks you want to share?  I'm all ears!

Found Treasure

 
I've been asking other knitting designers for their "must have" list of books for their personal knitting library and without exception everyone recommended Barbara Walker's  A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.  

There are 4 volumes altogether and because I never do anything by half measures, I ended up ordering all 4.  

Each book in this series contains hundreds of stitch patterns. Volumes 1 & 2 present these as written instructions with an accompanying black & white  photo.  Volumes 3 & 4 present charted stitch patterns and are more heavily weighted with lace and cable patterns. 

I find myself sitting pouring over them (like a cook with her recipe books) and they are probably one of the best investments I've made in my knitting library to date. 

So, if you are looking for a good book to inspire your knitting,  I highly recommend you start with this wonderful treasury by Barbara Walker.

Hand-dyed, Hand-knit baby sweater

I knit the 5 hour baby boy sweater for my upcoming nephew using the Nashua Creative Focus Silk Worsted yarn that I hand-dyed last summer.  It's a soft shade of turquoise and  I love how looks knitted up. 

Sadly this yarn has been discontinued.  Anyone have another brand of worsted weight silk you'd recommend?