The Knitting Siren

Baby Measurements, please help!

Ok, word is out that a mob is going to flood my email/ravelry box with emails about getting the baby bag done:-)  One thing that has been holding me up is finding average baby measurements for a few areas.  I've search online and have come up with nothing, so I'm begging you, help me by measuring your babies!  Metric meausurements are fine, just let me know that's what you are using.

http://www.polldaddy.com/s/66757ACBBA9713FA/

The most important ones are the length meausurements. 

So, that being said, I am working on the baby bag.  Since my little guy is past the baby bag age, I need other babies to measure and test on (either that or convince my hubbie we need another).  I'm knitting a sweater for him, which will be similar to the bag, just without the bottom.  I've figured out that if I make it a bottom up construction in the round, I shouldn't have to make all the charts that the top down version needed.  So, it will be bottom-up, all in the round, lots of cables (or no cables), an optional hole for car seat travel and a couple different bottom opening options.  I'm thinking of throwing in another cable pattern as well that is a little more girlie-ish, we'll see. 

Ripples, new sock pattern

Yeah!  A new pattern!  This is another sock pattern written up for my buddy Beth at Doodlebirds.com.  She did an amazing job of coming up with a great colorway for this pattern.  Toe up construction with a short row toe, short row heel and lots of cables.  This will make a great winter sock (no lacey holes) and is gender neutral, nothing particularily girly about it.  

Since I've been asked about the shoes a bunch, they are Sketcher's.  I freaked the sales clerk out when I found them with my squeals of delight.

Instant download, $5.

 

On the Sunny Side

I'm going to be highlighting one of my free patterns every so often as a way to move them over from my old blog.  Today, On the Sunny Side.  This is my most popular free pattern, 79 projects on Ravelry and it's been favorited 209 (and counting).  It has a sweet and fairly simple lace brim and fits sizes 3 months to 4 years.  I've heard from several people that they liked the brim shorter than what the pattern calls for, so stop working the lace pattern when you feel the brim is long enough. 

You can download the PDF here http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/on-the-sunny-side and store it in your Ravelry Library, or just follow the directions below!

You have two options for the brim of this hat. The first is a closed work brim. This style will have no holes in it. The second is an open work brim. This is more of a lacy style, pretty but lets the sun shine through.

**When working a lace pattern, I find it helpful to place st markers after every pattern repeat. In the case of this pattern, place them every 12 sts. It helps to keep track of your stitches and you'll know instantly if you did something wrong.

Materials: 

50 gms Worsted weight cotton or wool, The Knitting Siren's Bamboo/Cotton works great.

Size US 8 (5mm) circular needles, 16" or size needed to obtain gauge.

Gauge:

17 sts and 24 rows in 4"square

Sizes 3 mos. (6 mos, 12 mos, 2t-4t). 

Opt #1 Closed work Brim

CO 108 (120, 132, 144). Join in a round being careful not to twist the stitches, place marker to mark beginning of the round. Work lace pattern (below) 2 times, or stop at desired length. Work rounds 1 and 2 one more time. 

Lace Pattern:

Rd 1: *(k2tog) 2 times, (M1, k1) 4 times, (ssk) 2 times. Repeat from *around. 

Rds 2 -4: Knit even.

Opt #2 Open work Brim

CO 108 (120, 132, 144). Join in a round being careful not to twist the stitches, place marker to mark beginning of the round. Work lace pattern (below) 2 times. Work rounds 1 and 2 one more time. 

Lace Pattern:

Rd 1: *(k2tog) 2 times, (yo, k1) 4 times, (ssk) 2 times. Repeat from * around.

Rd 2-4: Knit even. 

Body of Hat

*K3tog, k2tog, k2, ssk, k3tog tbl. Repeat from * around. End number of stitches, 54 (60, 66, 72).

Work Stockinette stitch (knit even) until hat measures 2 (2 ½‚Äù, 3‚Äù, 3 ½‚Äù) not counting brim. 

Begin decreases

Place markers every 9 (10, 11, 12) sts, 6 markers total.

*Knit to within 2 sts of the st marker, k2tog, slip marker. Repeat from *around to first marker.

Knit next round even.

Repeat last 2 rounds until 6 sts remain. Cut yarn, draw through sts with a tapestry needle, weave in ends.

Optional Ties

Fold hat in half and mark the halfway points (use a safety pin) where the brim meets the body of thehat. Pick up 4 sts at one marker and work an I-cord for about 5‚Äù. Do the same on the other side.

Stitch Abbreviations:

k = knit

p = purl

tbl = through the back loop

ssk = slip, slip, knit

k2tog = knit 2 together

M1 = Make one (pick up strand between stitches, knit into the back)

yo = yarn over.

The Coolest Longies I've Ever Knit

I love these longies!  The yarn is so perfect for the design.  Now that the waistband and leg hems are complete, I love them even more. 

The momma who I knit these for dyed the yarn herself and I just love it. 

I'm tempted to put my other 2 pressing projects on hold to cast on a pair for muchacho, but I will resist!!!

My next crazy longies project, knitting on the bias (diagonal) just to see if I can do it.  I doubt that will ever turn into a full blown pattern, I don't know if I can handle the logistics of figuring out all the pattern sizes.  We'll see...  In the meantime, yes, I am writing out the sideways longies pattern.  Suggestions for a name for the pattern are greatly appreciated, Sideways Longies just doesn't do it for me.

So, I've figured out how to do a grafted bind off for a 2x2 ribbing.  I'm so excited!  If you look closely, you can see it on the sideways longies.  It makes a very smooth, professional edge.  It's a tad time consuming, but the effort is so worth it.  Tutorial coming soon...

I'm going to Canada for a little field trip for the boys.  We only live about an hour from the border and the boys have never been there.  Is it sad that I'm excited for the time to knit in the car?  I love long car trips with long stints of uninterrupted knitting time!

Smothered by yarn!

I didn't realize it's been so long since I last posted.  I wasn't kidding about being busy! 

Here is the pair of vertical striped longies I've been working on.  Isn't this the best colorway!  I just love it.  I've had to play with using 2 balls in different ways to prevent bad pooling.  As much as I love how these look, it's very hard to control pooling. 

And this is the pair of Turtle Butts I just finished.  "Home Sweet Home" colorway by www.doodlebirds.com with coordinating trim.  I'm glad I got enough to make 2.  This one is going to a good home and the second pair will stay here :-) 

And this is the sock yarn Beth dyed to match my Wandering Waves pattern.  Perfect together!  I can't wait to get the next club shipment (should be here today, eeeee!)  This is the sock is going to be submitted to the sock club book.  Wish me luck!

And, if you can believe it, I'm still working on the Mystery Shawl.  A new clue is put out every Friday and so far I've been able to keep up.  I squeeze in a row or 2 when I can.   

The secret to my success... my timer.  I wouldn't be able to function without it.  I set it for 15 minute increments, knit for 15, clean for 15, computer for 15, play with muchacho for 15 and so forth.  I always find it amazing how much I can get done in just 15 minutes.

I've way overstayed my computer time, off to go get 15 minutes of knitting done.

When it rains...

...it sure does pour!  I've 2 customs that I've been waiting on yarn for, both packages arrived today and I've gotta knit 2 socks and edit 2 patterns to submit for consideration in a new book.  So I'm going to crank out the customs this weekend (cross my fingers) and devote next week to the 2 sock patterns.  It's a good thing I like to knit.  Nothing better than saying to hubbie, "Can you make dinner?  I need to work."  And then go sit on the couch, turn my favorite show on and knit.  Have I mentioned how much I love my job?  This is why I think I will always do customs.  Pattern writing takes a lot of time and concentration where knitting is so much more fun and relaxing.

Off to go "work" now!

My new find!

It's amazing what you can find at Walmart, knitting related, if you just look.  I found this clipboard that makes a wonderful pattern holder.  I'm trying to get hubbie to cut a thin piece of metal to fit on the front of this.  I usually use post-it notes to keep track of where I am in a pattern or on a chart and my idea was to put my pattern on a metal board and use a long magnet instead.  Post-it notes lose their stick after a while and fall off easy.  Clip boards like this are nice because I can store small items in it (like my beads, stitch markers, pen and extra pattern pages).  I keep my pattern in a plastic sleeve to help protect it, plus I can write notes on the sleeve with a dry erase marker and wipe them off later.

I know they make metal clipboards like this, I just need to find one.

Verdict on my wool wet bag... not too bad.  If you wash your diapers every day, they are fine, but by the second day, my bathroom started filling with the unpleasant aroma of ammonia.  Since wee one is close to being potty trained, we only use a couple diapers a day so I'm not sure if we'll keep using it :-(  Yes, you heard me right, potty trained before 2!!!  I wish I had learned about EC'ing when he was first born, but we were able to start early enough that he's got the hang of things now.  We still have accidents, but only when I'm distracted.

I also had a dyeing frenzy this week and here are the fruits of my labor:

Most are up in my etsy shop.

Wandering Waves, new pattern!

I wrote up this lacey sock pattern, Wandering Waves, for my good Indie dyer friend Beth at Doodlebirds.com, yarn of the month club.  She bribed me with promises of yummy yarn.  I'm a sucker for Beth's yarn.  The colorway I used for my test sock was "Goth Girl" on her Bamboo Sock yarn.  The second photo shows what the pattern looks like in a solid/semi-solid yarn.  The yarn that Beth sent out with the club was a gorgeous semi-solid called, "Indigo Burst."

The pattern uses a short row toe and a short row heel (gotta love those short rows!) and is worked from the toe up.  Pattern can be easily adjusted for any type of toe and heel you prefer.

Available for instant download for, $5.

And for the "Other than Sock Club" I created this awesome scarf, "Corrugated."  Pictures really don't do this pattern justice.  Both sides have a very interesting texture and the scarf is nice and thick, almost 3 dimensional.  It would make a great "boyfriend scarf."  It is designed to need only 1 skein 4 oz skein of Doodlebirds worsted weight yarns.  You can easily make it wider and use 2 skeins if you would like.  This scarf was made using the "Doodlebirds" colorway, love it! 

Instant download, $3.

You can purchase Beth's yarn club by the month, if forking out 3-12 months worth of yarn at once is out of your price range or you just want to give it a try.  And yes, I've got another sock pattern that will be going out with this coming month's shipment.

And, just a taste of some of my favorite Doodlebird yarns:

Ok, I'm done with my Doodlebirds ad now :-)  Gotta pimp my friends when I can!

Patterns for Small Ones

Instead of having all my patterns run down the side of my blog, I'm going to make a couple pattern posts that will be easier to link to.  All are available for instant download through Ravelry.com.  If you have an account with Ravelry, you'll never have to worry about losing your electronic pattern files, they are automatically saved to your library on Ravelry!  Plus, I can easily send you updates to the pattern (I'm always adding new things to the Britches pattern).

Turtle Butt, $5.50

Adorabubble Britches, $7

Persephone's Tunic (includes sleeveless directions), $5
Persephone Summer Top, $3
Persephone's Pants, $5.50
Pants and Tunic, $8

Screwball, $4

Slobber Soaker, $3

Will add picture when I find it :-)
Turtle, $3

Got the dye-pot out!

It's been almost a week since I dyed anything!  Birthday week was crazy, but now that it's over, back to work.  I've got more lace coming and of course bamboo.  If the muse strikes, I might have a couple new colorways, but for now, I'm just dyeing up some familiar color combos.  Antique bronze was a big hit, so I'll be making more of that and some other good fall colors.  I can't believe it's already fall.  It's so cold here and it's only the second week in September.  I'm sitting with a scarf on, fleece pants and freezing.  It's inspired me to get going on some winter wear for the the kiddos, but right now my hands are too cold to knit :-)  Time to dig out my wristlettes!

I finished up the spreadsheet for the bottom-up version.  I completely forgot I was going to do that until someone finally asked about it.  It's still in a sort of testing mode since I'm the only one who has used it, so use at your own risk!  Please tell me if something is wonky on it though :-)

I'm almost done with the first clue on the Mystery Shawl.  I wish I could post pics of it, so pretty.  I found some beautiful dark grey glass beads that are lined with silver at my wonderful LYS, The Yarn Stash (thank you Amy!)  The shawl uses my all time favorite lace pattern along the edge so that is exciting.  I like how it is used in the shawl.  Beading was a pain until someone on the yahoo group posted the greatest idea for a wire hook.  It has made my life so much easier.  I can at least post pics of my new tool!

The wonderful lady who suggested this was planning on making a handle to go with it.  I have a ton of polymer clay somewhere, I just don't know in which of the millions of boxes in my garage it is in.  It's made out of 24 gauge craft wire, twisted at one end so the beads don't fall off and hooked on the other end.  I can load it up with beads, hook my yarn and slide the bead on easy peasy.

And, here is some handspun I did last week.  It came from the world's ugliest roving.  I was experimenting with kettle dyeing in my crockpot and added 1 very wrong color.  On yarn it would have been a disaster, but on roving, I love how it spun up.  It'll make a very nice fall hat and scarf (like I have time to knit for myself).  I foolishly didn't take pictures of the roving, I was worried it's ugliness would break my camera.