Project 3: Chinese dragon

Start date: February 4, 2007
End date: April 7, 2007
Actual time: ~100 hours

Materials:

• Needles:
  • Takumi Clover US 6 (4.25mm) straight bamboo needles [Purchased at Hancock Fabrics for $4.75]
  • Lion Brand US I-9 (5.5mm) crochet needle
  • Lion Brand size 16 tapestry needle
• Yarn:
  • MC: Red Heart sport weight (2.5 oz, 240 yds), cherry red [Purchased at Hobby Lobby for $1.32]
  • CC: Red Heart sport weight (2.5 oz, 240 yds), yellow [Purchased at Hobby Lobby for $1.32]
• Other:
  • Scissors

Dimensions: ~10" tall (growl).

Notes:

• w&t was a mystery until I finally stumbled upon this page. (This is the penguin pattern that Caity mentioned in her post where she got the instructions from.)
• French knots got you all tied up in... well, you know? I found a page that explains how to approach it. I did have to try many times before I got it right, though.
• And finger crocheting... I opted for being a hooker instead. Three sts probably would have worked, but I went with four for his fangs.
• The eyes really got me since there weren't many details about how to stitch your own eyes instead of using googly ones. I haphazardly stitched a background of white, then the black foreground. But I think I should have just started with the black foreground and stitched the whites around it.

I hope Derek (my under one-year-old second cousin) treasures it for many years to come.

Project 4: The comfort shawl

Start date: February 8, 2007
End date: March 9, 2007
Actual time: ~20 hours

Materials:

• Needles:
  • Boye US 15 (10mm) straight needles [Purchased at Hobby Lobby for $4.67]
  • Lion Brand size 16 tapestry needle
• Yarn:
  • A random yarn I found in the bargain bin. Its label reads "Glitter, color 769, 62% nylon, 23% wool, 15% acrylic (47 yds / 50g)", and it's a bulky weight yarn. But any bulky or worsted weight yarn should do for this pattern.
• Other:
  • Scissors

Dimensions: 48" x 22", which is not as long as I'd like, but what can you do when you use all of the same yarn on clearance that you could buy from the store?

Notes: It took me three tries to interpret the instructions for row 5 of the pattern correctly, but once you get the hang of it, the pattern is rather easy to follow. Remember that you should always have an odd number of sts, and your increase row actions are symmetrical if you were to fold that row in half across the center st.

Originally, I was pretty certain that her diagrams for visual learners are incorrect: I thought that you were actually starting at the bottom tip of the triangle (CO 3 sts) and working your way toward the wide part of the shawl. However, having started over after losing count of the number of sts I had done after the shawl begun to take shape, I saw that her diagram is actually right, and it's quite obvious after you remove the project from your needles, either because you messed up or because you've finished.

Since this was the first time I worked with a bulky yarn, I learned some very painful lessons. If you need to undo your work, it's very hard to see where your sts begin and end since this yarn was so fuzzy and irregular. Even counting sts was sometimes difficult, and not because I took the special math class. After understanding the nature of this bulky beast, I made less mistakes and was less nervous about doing so.

Project 5: A generic beanie

Start date: February 11, 2007
End date: March 3, 2007
Actual time: ~25 hours

Materials:

• Needles:
  • Boye US 6 (4mm), 16" circular needles
  • Bryspun Bry-flex US 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles
  • Lion Brand size 16 tapestry needle
• Yarn:
  • Baby Bee Pitter Patter eyelash yarn (4 oz, 290 yds), teddy bear ombre
  • Baby Bee Sweet Delight twist yarn (4 oz, 226 yds), teddybear
• Other:
  • Scissors

Dimensions: It's big enough for my head. (See notes for details.)


Notes: Since I made a real beanie (not for a beer can), I pretty much followed the HJS simple knit hat pattern. The only real difference was that I held two strands of yarn together, and I only followed the k2 p2 pattern for 6.5" instead of the minimum suggested 7". And I can still fold up the brim. Another item of note is to transfer the beanie from the circular needles to double-pointed needles once you get to the second round of k2 all around in "Decrease round 3" part of the pattern. This is because the fewer stitches you have, the tighter it becomes around circular needles. Double-pointed needles allow you more flexibility with a project's circumference.

Renaming

After a gasp of inspiration, I decided to shed the old Knitze blog title in favor of learn2stitch. Why? I'm a nub, and all good nubs should recognize their limits but at the same time, aspire to become... not-so-nub. And I learned some basics of crocheting tonight at Mozart's, thanks to Molly and Andrea. So the blog can't just cover knitting anymore: the scope has just increased.

Project 2.1: Beer beanie, second try

Start date: January 21, 2007
End date: February 2, 2007
Actual time: ~6 hours

Materials:

• Needles:
  • Boye US 10 (6mm) straight needle
  • Bryspun Bry-flex US 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles [Purchased at Hill Country Weavers for $5.20]
  • Lion Brand size 16 tapestry needle
• Yarn:
  • MC: Red Heart worsted weight (7 oz, 364 yds), warm brown [Purchased at Hobby Lobby for $2.17]
  • CC: Red Heart worsted weight (7 oz, 364 yds), claret [Purchased at Hobby Lobby for $2.17]
• Other:
  • Scissors

Dimensions: Can-sized, a little taller than Project 2.0

Notes: I combined Project 2.0's pattern with HJS Studio's tips on knitting beanies to improve massively upon the decreasing steps. This beer beanie also has two stripes instead of one.

Beer beanie, v2.1:

1. In MC, CO 32 sts, and divide them amongst three dpns in 12, 12, and 8 sts.
2. Body of can
   1. Rows 1-5: in MC, k2 p2.
   2. Row 6: in CC, k all sts.
   3. Rows 7-9: in CC, k2 p2.
   4. Row 10: in MC, k all sts.
   5. Rows 11-13: in MC, k2 p2.
   6. Row 14: in CC, k all sts.
   7. Rows 15-17: in CC, k2 p2.
   8. Row 18: in MC, k all sts.
   9. Rows 19-27: in MC, k2 p2.
3. Bottom of can (use MC throughout, and shift sts around dpns as needed)
   1. Row 28: k2, ptog.
   2. Rows 29-31: k2 p2.
   3. Row 32: k2tog, p1.
   4. Rows 33-35: k1 p1.
   5. Rows 36-37: k2tog.
   6. Thread the yarn into your favorite tapestry needle, and thread it through all the loops on the knitting needles. Pull a little bit snug, then repeat so the yarn passes through all the loops two times. Draw up very tightly.
   7. Poke the needle through the hole in the center, and take several stitches across the hole on the inside.
   8. Darn the yarn on inside so that it won't come undone.

The improvement opportunity I got from this attempt was that I could probably add another three to five rows to the body so that it would cover even more of the can, and the beanie would fit bigger hands better.

Project 2.0: Beer beanie, first attempt

Start date: January 17, 2007
End date: January 21, 2007
Actual time: ~6 hours

Materials:

• Needles:
  • Boye US 10 (6mm) straight needle
  • Bryspun Bry-flex US 6 (4mm) double-pointed needles [Purchased at Hill Country Weavers for $5.20]
  • Lion Brand size 16 tapestry needle
• Yarn:
  • MC: Red Heart worsted weight (7 oz, 364 yds), claret [Purchased at Hobby Lobby for $2.17]
  • CC: Red Heart worsted weight (7 oz, 364 yds), warm brown [Purchased at Hobby Lobby for $2.17]
• Other:
  • Scissors

Dimensions: Can-sized

Notes: This project was inspired by a beer cozy pattern on Knitting Pretty. It was going along well until I decided to continue working on it while I was pretty sauced at a wine & cheese party. (Big no-no.) The next day, I just decreased the hell out of it to get the project over and done with.

Here's my first attempt:

1. In MC, CO 32 sts. (I actually had to CO using my straight needle because I wasn't sure how to get all 32 sts on one of the short dpns and transfer the sts.)
2. Divide your 32 sts amongst three of your dpns in 12, 12, and 8 sts.
3. Rows 1-9: in MC, k2 p2.
4. Row 10: in CC, k all sts.
5. Rows 11-17: in CC, k2 p2.
6. Row 18: in MC, k all sts.
7. Rows 19-29: in MC, k2 p2.
8. Rows 30-end: in MC, k2tog until the hole in the center is small enough so that darning the end of the yarn doesn't leave a huge gap.

As you can tell from the end of the pattern, I got lost counting. But what I did learn was how to switch between colors while knitting in the round, and that k2tog ad nauseum is not a great way to decrease your project. Tune in for Project 2.1's pattern.

Project 1: Stripey scarf

Start date: January 7, 2007
End date: January 16, 2007
Actual time: ~30 hours

Materials:

• Needles:
  • Boye US 10 (6mm) straight needles
  • Lion Brand size 16 tapestry needle
• Yarn:
  • Noro Silk Garden worsted weight (50g, 100m), color no. 233 [Purchased at Hill Country Weavers for $8.80, normal price is $11.00]
  • Rowan Cashsoft fingering weight (50g, 180m), black [Purchased at Hill Country Weavers for $7.16, normal price is $8.95]
• Other:
  • Scissors

Dimensions: 4" x 46"

Techniques:

• Double cast-on
• Garter stitch (English style)
• Slipping a stitch purlwise
• Weaving in ends
• Basic knit bind-off

Notes: This project was inspired by Silke Hupka's Matilda pattern. It took me forever to realize that the slip technique that I used on project 0 cannot be reused for this one. I must have started over at least five times before I discovered why my stitches were becoming exceedingly tight. Slipping a stitch purlwise differs from its cousin slipping a stitch knitwise in that it does not twist the yarn when you move it to your working needle. Thus, without being twisted, it does not tighten the yarn. Oh, and when Silke says end on the second row of the repeating pattern, she means it. Just for kicks, I tried ending the scarf on the fourth row, and it just looked funny.

I strayed from the written pattern since I couldn't find the Gedifra Cashmerino yarn that Silke prescribed. Instead, Rowan's 4-ply Cashsoft was available at Hill Country Weavers. However, it's a fingering weight yarn, which is much thinner than worsted weight. I ended up casting on 30 stitches instead of 24. Additionally, the Noro yarn was going along fine until toward the center where the blue color ended and was tied to pink. I felt kind of cheated that it wasn't one piece of dyed yarn. So I ended up having to untie the blue end from the pink one and start knitting from the outside end of the skein, which was of a blue shade. About two feet of it was blue mixed with a pukey-looking gray-brown, so I skipped that portion. The scarf has ended up being shorter than I would have liked, but what can you do? Part of the beauty of working with hand-dyed yarn is that you don't know exactly what's going to happen with it.

Mom is lovin' the scarf lots and lots. She said that she's been wanting something like this for a while since many of her winter shirts are not turtlenecks, and this scarf is the perfect accessory to keep her neck warm in the colder parts of Texas winters.