Reversible Box Tote

The sewing machine came out this week! I saw the most gorgeous knitting bag on instagram. It was made by Truly Myrtle (I don’t usually like podcasts but she’s very interesting to listen to). Here’s the link to her bag.

It’s a shape I haven’t tried before. The pattern for the tote is a free one from Very Shannon. - the Reversible Box Tote.

I bought some gorgeous fabric from The Little Fabric Store. It’s a sweet, little shop and worth a visit, if you’re near. Helen is very lovely and helpful. I got some new Cloud9 fabric and linen to line the bag.

I bought another Clover tape measure too. They are really nice quality. I’ve found with the cheaper retractable tape measures that the tape will stretch and warp with use. I’ve had one for over a year (with daily use) and it is still as straight as the day I bought it. So I bought another because well…you can never have enough tape measures!

You can see the tape measure in the picture below.

The fabric that I chose happened to be what I'd used as inspiration for a stitch pattern that I'd created.

I used some cheap fusible fleece that I had in my stash – so it’s not got as much form as I’d like. Next time, I’ll use better quality.

I love my new bag anyway and have been carrying it around with me!

I haven’t finished any knitting projects this week. The two I’ve been working on are an Artemisia jumper from the latest Rowan Magazine 57. I’m using the yarn from the pattern which is Rowan Softknit Cotton and amazingly I have spot-on gauge with the same size needles for the pattern, which makes a nice change. Though I have altered the pattern and the shaping to make it a few inches longer.

I bought Designer Knitting Magazine 2014/15 and there was an interesting article by Meg Swansen about different increases – including a few that I hadn’t done before. I’ve tried out one that she names kibosirb (knit into the back of stitch in row below) for this jumper and it’s quite a neat increase. Can you see it on the left hand side?

I started a selfish knitting project which is an Epistropheid by Kate Davies but this didn’t go particularly well the first time. I went up 2 needle sizes and hoped for the best, as I didn’t do a swatch (swatches are nearly as big as the hat so it’s sometimes easier to gamble). I did a couple of inches and it wasn’t looking hopeful – so I steamed blocked what I had and instead of 24 sts in 4 inches, I had 27. It was going to be way too small.

So I frogged it. The gauge was as loose as I wanted to go with this yarn, so instead of trying to meet gauge. I’ve added a repeat of the pattern instead. It’s looking ok so far. (I’m electing to forget about the fiasco of forgetting to change to the larger needle for the body of the hat). I fear that this is going to be one of the ill-fated projects, where nothing goes right!

Louisa Harding Esquel Review

I’ve just finished a lovely poncho for a friend. The yarn is Louisa Harding’s Esquel and the pattern is Ivy  from the Esquel book. It’s the one on the cover. The colour I used was 16 Tomato, which isn’t really a very accurate colour name as it’s much more like a rust / burnt orange colour.

It turned out so beautifully and I loved the colour. I keep thinking I’d quite like one but not sure I’ve got it in me to make another at the moment. It’s a beautiful knit but essentially just two big rectangles plus sleeves, so I think another one would become monotonous. Plus, I have an ever growing mountain of projects to do - maybe I'll add it to the wish list.

I was very impressed with the yarn. On the ball, I wasn’t enamoured by it. It was nice but not anything exciting. I’m not a fan of single ply yarns and it didn’t feel particularly soft. I’m very glad I’ve used it now because it’s a pleasure to knit with and blocks to a beautifully soft and draping fabric.

It’s a mix of 60% merino, 20% llama and 20% silk. The merino gives it nice body and warmth, the llama gives it a bit of a halo and the silk gives the tweed like effect on the yarn.

I made two swatches. I did hang them on their sides with weights on for a day or two. I wanted to see if the weight of the yarn would change the gauge. 

5.50mm – 17 sts & 24 rows

6.00mm – 16 sts & 23 rows

The intended gauge was 16 sts by 22 rows. The row gauge was more important for this, as it was worked from side to side. The poncho is quite oversized, so as long as I wasn’t miles off it didn’t matter hugely which I used. I thought the looser gauge would give more drape, which would be particularly nice in a poncho.

Suffice to say, my friend was very happy with the poncho.

It was a huge thing to block and took up all the spare bed. I ended up pinning the edge instead of using wires. I tried the wires but it was making a bigger job of it and I had a bit more control with the pins. I did use the wires in the shoulders and sleeves to give a straight edge.

FO: Follow Your Arrow KAL

Not my latest finished object but it’s taken me awhile to get around to blogging about it. I mentioned before that I was partaking in Ysolda’s Follow Your Arrow knitalong this year. Project page here.

I used Sparkleduck Solo which is a lovely yarn. A very vivid sea green colour and has lovely stitch definition.

I managed to keep up with the KAL. I do like knitalongs, as each section is in a bitesize piece. I managed to complete the first 3 clues in an evening and the 4th and 5th in 2 evenings, so it didn’t take up too much of my knitting time.

Each clue has an arrow theme. I did clues BABBB plus the extension chart and 4 repeats of Rows 3 & 4. I liked the choices I made with the clues, though I think after seeing all the other shawls, I prefer the smocking chevrons on clue 3 instead of the little arrows. The little arrows are still very cute, I just think the design would have more cohesion with the chevron. At the time, I’d just completed the Rendevouz Shawl, which has quite a bit of smocking type stitches in it, so I went for something different.

Anyway, I took lots and lots of pictures of the shawl, so here is just a small selection.

Photo Tutorial: How to Measure Yarn for Intarsia

This year I’m doing Debbie Abrahams’ Mystery Blanket. There’s lots of intarsia.

I’m taking some advice from a friend and sorting out my materials for each square when I get the patterns. This means I can just grab a bag and start knitting when I’m in the mood.

One thing that’s very useful to know is how much yarn to measure off for your intarsia bobbins. You may be of the persuasion to wind a bit off and hope for the best; if you’d rather be more accurate then hopefully the following will be helpful. It would be useful if you are short on yarn, or like me want to prepare in advance, or if you travel about with your knitting and want to take less yarn with you.

First, count the number of stitches in each section you’ll be knitting.

Here’s a sample chart -

You can just count each square and make a note of it. Or here’s a few tips to make the counting quicker. If the chart is numbered or has boxes of 5 or 10 then it makes life easier.

For easy square shapes like the blue square then just multiply the rows by the stitches. There are 100 stitches in the blue square.

If the shape is irregular like the purple shape, then find any square or rectangular shapes – such as the area outlined in green and work out how many sts are in this i.e. multiply the rows by the stitches. There are 140 sts in this section. Then count by hand the small purple bit that is left – 25 sts in this section. Add the two sections together and there are 165 sts in this section.

Repeat this for the yellow section and there are 135 yellow sts.

I’m just going to work on the purple section now to simplify things.  The stitch count is 165 sts, which I’ll call X. You need to know how many rows are in that section too. This is easy with a numbered chart. There are 20 rows in the purple section.

The next step is to work out how much yarn a stitch uses. I’ve seen some people work this out by winding the yarn around the needle 10 times and measure this length, then divide by 10 to get the number. This would give you a good estimate but won’t perhaps be as accurate.

What I tend to do is measure how many stitches I can knit in a metre (or a yard) of yarn. I do this on my gauge swatch but if this isn’t something you do then cast on enough stitches for a swatch (say enough for 6 inches of width) and knit a row or two first.

Start at the beginning of a row, measure a metre or a yard of yarn. It doesn’t matter whether you’re metric or imperial , just work in what you’re used to.

Make a slip knot at the metre/yard mark.

Use either a lockable stitch marker, safety pin or even a paper clip and attach it through the loop of the slip knot (where the knitting needle normally goes).

Then pull it up tight.

Work across your stitches until you reach the knot. Count how many stitches you’ve worked.

In my sample, I worked 59 stitches in a yard. If working in imperial, divide this number by 36 and that’s how many stitches can be worked in an inch. If working in metric, divide this number by 100 and that’s how many stitches can be worked in a centimetre. My number is 1.64 (rounded to 2 decimal places). I’m going to call this figure Z. I can work 1.64 stitches in 1 inch.

I’ve got all the numbers I need to work out how much yarn we need for the purple section.

• Number of stitches – 165 – X
• Number of rows – 20. The rows give a bit of leeway for moving across stitches and up and down rows. Multiply this number by 2. 20 x 2 = 40 and call it Y.
• Stitches per inch/cm – 1.64 – Z

Number of stitches + number of rows multiplied by 2. 165 + 40 = 205

Divide this number by the stitches per inch/cm. 205 ÷ 1.64 = 125

Add 12 inches / 30 cms for tails. 125 +12 = 137 inches

The yarn I need for the purple section is 137 inches.

For those that like numbers then here’s a formula that sums it all up – (unintentional pun!)

This can be a little time consuming if you have a huge chart and it’s not practical in all circumstances. However, it’s a useful thing to know how to do.

Once you’ve got all your yarn then wind into bobbins and you’re ready to start knitting.

Personally, I can’t stand the plastic knitting bobbins. They weigh your knitting down, bang about, taffle together and stop you from getting into a flow with your knitting.

I’d recommend winding them into butterfly bobbins. There isn’t any added weight to your knitting, if you have a taffle you can just pull the yarn through and if you’re using shorter lengths then there’s less to taffle anyway.

Here’s how I make butterfly bobbins.

I wind bobbins on my hands. For a smaller amount of yarn, I’ll do this over just two fingers. For most circumstances then I’ll use four. Give yourself enough of a tail to get it out of the way of winding. This needs to stay free because this is the end you knit from.

Use the photographs as a guide but basically wind the yarn in a figure of eight shape. Some people just wind it around without the figure of eight – not tried it myself though. I always think the figure of eight keeps the strands stacked on top of each other so they are easier to pull out.

Keep winding…..

Continue until you’ve got enough left to wind around – probably about 16 inches/40 cm (more is better than less).

Slide the yarn off your hand holding it firmly in the middle so it doesn’t unravel.

Wind the tail end of the yarn around the middle section. Do this firmly but not too tight as the yarn wants to run through underneath. Continue until there is only a small amount of yarn left.

Loop the yarn….

Slide it over the end of the yarn to the middle (where you’ve been winding around).

Pull it tight. If you’re winding from a ball then just clip the yarn short.

To use the butterfly, pull the yarn from end where you started (not the end that is wrapped around the butterfly).

Baby Ravi

This one didn’t take long to knit at all. It’s a fabulous knit. Quick because of all the garter stitch but lots of interesting construction too, making it fun. The pattern is Ravi Junior by Carol Feller. The yarn is Millamia Naturally Soft Merino in Forget-Me-Not. Ravelry Project Page.

The yoke is worked from edge to edge with short rows to give the shape. I used German Short Rows which made the whole process quite mindless – no picking wraps up when working back. It’s a great technique if you haven’t tried it.

There are short rows at the bottom edge too, which makes it a lovely shape for a baby.

The yarn is just perfect for this (and most things really). I’m a big fan of Millamia. The stitch definition in this yarn is beautiful and so lovely and soft too. It blocks really well and I think this soft blue is just gorgeous.

The buttons are from Textile Garden. I thought a contrast worked nicely here and it zings it up a bit.

There’s something very satisfying about applied i-cord against garter stitch. Probably something to do with the clean lines next to each other. It can be a wee bit tedious but more than worth the effort.

I used the recommended yarn for the pattern. The yarn is worked at a looser gauge than is recommended by Millamia. Naturally Soft Merino is a sport weight yarn and normally worked on a 3 / 3.25mm. This is worked at a similar gauge to a standard DK. In garter stitch, this makes a nice draping and soft fabric. The only downside is my knitting looks a little uneven in places… This does mean that you could possibly use a DK yarn if you wanted to.