Category Archives: pattern

Dots and Stripes purse pattern available

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Several bloggers mentioned last week about wanting to try stranded or Fairisle knitting.

Dots and stripes

I have a small project that would be a great introduction to stranded knitting.

Check it out there to the right on my Pattern page.  You can get more details from Ravelry.

I was inspired by the color work of Kristin Nicholas and the Traveler’s Pocket by Nancy Bush.  In fact I used the same motif in part of my color work and the same braided strap as in the Traveler’s Pocket.

The pattern is available in pdf.

Dots and stripes tester

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I was smitten with this Traveler’s Pocket  designed by Nancy Bush on the cover of Piecework magazine  issue July/August 2004.

My Traveler's Pocket

I made mine out of denim yarn which, unfortunately, is no longer available.  You can tell it’s stretched out and well used.

I wanted something a bit bigger so I reshaped the pattern and added a gusset in the bottom.  It’s also knit in the round however there is no seam to sew on the bottom. There is a seam at the top hem and optional lining.  Finished size is 8 inches by 10 inches.

Dots and stripes

Gusset

Inside

I used leftover cotton yarn but this would look great in fewer colors.  Like blues and greens, reds and oranges or purples or even self-striping yarn and a solid.  This would be a great project to try stranded knitting.

I have one test knitter but would like at least one more to make sure I have all the bugs worked out.  Would you like to test knit this pattern for me?

10 day work week

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This week seemed like it was 10 days long.

Yay!

I had a lot of hurry-up-and-wait stuff going on at work this week.  I had to put together 10 binders of materials for a meeting Wednesday evening I was not attending.  Most of the documents needed updating and I had to wait for those to be done before I could print.  I filled the copier with paper before I started printing the materials and it holds 3000 sheets of paper at a time.  I refilled it yesterday.  That’s a lot of paper.

I’m headed to my daughter’s right after work tonight.  She and one of the twins (Z to be exact) have bronchitis.  Her husband has to work this weekend so I’m going to help her do whatever needs done.  I’m even taking dinner.

And Irish soda bread.  It’s only available around St. Patrick’s Day and I love this stuff.

I hope to have some time to knit so I’m taking a few things to work on while I’m there. 

  1. The neckwarmer.  (See the last post.)  This has been slow going.  Of course, I have been pretty busy every evening this week: laundry, Zumba class, running errands, laundry again, packing.  So you can see I haven’t worked on it too much.
  2. A new sweater.  Tangerine Twist from Knitty Summer 2007.  I bought yarn last summer for a project that escapes me so I have enough yarn for this.  I think this shape will be much better for me than the papaya cardi fail.
  3. Mitts for me.  Treads, Jiffy Mitts, or Fetching using yarn from my stash with enough to make all three pair but I’m not going to cast on all of them.  Treads has a new stitch to learn.  (Thank you Cpeezers for this great tutorial on the lateral braid.) Jiffy Mitts uses fingering weight.  I’m still not over the two pairs of Music Mitts I just finished.   Fetching has cables which I’ve never done.  I’ve been knitting off and on since I was 10 years old and I’ve never done cables other than a swatch.
  4. Seamless slippers.  Pattern on the right.  Mindless knitting and one can never have too many seamless slippers.

Have a great weekend.

In agreement

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Ta-da

I think we are all in agreement that my papaya cardi is a fail.  For me.  I still like the sweater but not on my body.  I should have known that I don’t look good in a swing-type style.  Loose and swingy is not me.  Tight and ultra fitted isn’t me either.  Shaped with a little ease, now that’s me.

Looking back I think that’s the reason I was having such a hard time finishing it.  Deep down inside I knew it wasn’t right for me.  I knew from the schematic that it wasn’t the right shape but I started it anyway hoping it was more fitted as I knit. 

I am looking for a pattern that has more shaping through the waist, not too long and not too short, shawl collar (V-neck), 1-3 buttons to define the waist and can be made with the amount of yarn I have. 

Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, worsted weight, 10 balls, 110 yds/ball.

I’ve found some that are close to what I want but not quite there.  Maybe I should design the thing myself…

In the meantime, do you hear frogs?   Rip-it, rip-it, ribbit?