Archives for November 2016

And that’s what I’ve been up to lately: all stealth knitting, all the time.

But that is coming to an end in a couple of days,and I am pleased to report that the second article about my creative process for my colorwork jacket is available for your reading pleasure over at Mason-Dixon Knitting. (In case you missed it, read Part One here.)

And I have a book for review/giveaway. This is one I’ve had for a while and it slipped through the cracks.

This is Nicky Epstein Enchanted Knits for Dolls: 25 Mystical, Magical Costumes for 18-Inch Dolls by, not surprisingly, Nicky Epstein.

You can view all the patterns on Ravelry, here.

Now, I don’t very often knit doll clothes, and I haven’t knit any of these patterns, so you can take my review with a grain of salt.

I read the reviews of this book on Amazon (linked from the title, above) and they were mixed. Mostly positive, but some people said the patterns were confusing. Looking on Ravelry, I don’t see many projects knit from the patterns, so it’s hard to get a feel for the patterns. It’s possible the negative reviews are because these are not beginner knits. They are small fiddly pieces with, in a lot of cases, a good deal of finishing work required.

What I can say is that the patterns are adorable! Some of my favorites:

Madame Vampire is knit from light fingering weight yarn held double. There are a lot of fine details in this outfit — sequins edging the front of the dress, a detachable collar. And there are instructions for creating the little crown.

The Whimsical Witch is knit from sock yarn, and uses a self-striping yarn for the skirt. There are even directions included for knitting little witchy shoes!

Gnome Girl is knit from sport weight cotton. You can see the level of detail here in the little vest and embroidered decorations.

I think this is a wonderful book for a relatively experienced knitter who has special little ones to knit for. Any child who has American Girl or similar dolls would be over the moon to receive one of these amazing outfits.

There’s still time to knit one as a holiday gift. So who’d like my review copy?

Leave a comment on this blog post by 11:00am Eastern Time Sunday, December 4 and I will chose a winner at random.

Loki is contemplating a magical outfit.

?

Today, I want to talk about this book:

This is Urban Knit Collection: 18 City-Inspired Knitting Patterns for the Modern Wardrobe by Kyle Kunnecke, published by Interweave. My one-word review of this book:

Wow!

There are 18 patterns, and as the title says, they are city-inspired: inspired by architecture, ironwork details, art deco theater details. You can preview all the patterns here on Ravelry.

I am fortunate enough to receive a lot of knitting books to review and this book really stand out for me: the designs are really unique and stunning.  there are sweaters, wraps, and accessories, and they are knit at a lot of different gauges, and in a wide range of sizes.

Some of my favorites:

The Rosema Wrap is a loose-fitting shawl-like garment with sleeves, and it has a lace and cable pattern. It’s knit from worsted weight yarn and is available in three sizes.  There are details about the pattern on the designer’s website here. I have some yummy Cormo wool that would be perfect for this and I may have to knit it!

This amazing piece is D’Amour Wrap and is worked in fingering weight yarn. What an stunning wrap! It is worked from several large charts and is definitely not a quick knit, but what a fabulous piece. I think it is well worth the time you would need to invest in the knitting of it. More details here.

Skyscraper is a beanie with twisted traveling stitches, worked in worsted weight yarn. I love the architectural look of it. You can find more details here.

Savoy is a deep v-neck cardigan worked in fingering weight yarn. I’m showing the back of it because it is such an amazing pattern. There’s a view of the front and more details on the designer’s website here.

I am not going to give this book away, as there are several designs in it that I really want to knit. So I am being greedy and keeping it for myself.

It’s a cold windy day, a good day to stay inside and knit. Or to hangout in a tote, if you are Loki.

In my last blog post I showed a photo of my 21 Colors Slouch hat.

This prompted a comment about the undesirability of having to weave in all those ends and was there a better way to knit it.

The answer is well, no. If you don’t want to have to weave in ends, you don’t want to make this hat. You could approximate it using a self-striping yarn, however. Weaving in ends has never bothered me — it’s just part of the process. I’ve knit many many Fair Isle sweaters so I’ve done quite a lot of end-weaving in my time!

The same commenter also said ” wouldn’t you have jogs in the knitting if it’s done in the round?” Yes, you do.

If jogs in the stripe annoy you, there are methods you can employ to get rid of the jog. Just google “jogless stripes” and you will find plenty of resources.

But you know what? Jogs in stripes don’t bother me. For me they are part of the charm of a handknit item.

This started me thinking about perfectionism in knitting. It seems that there is a drive for absolute “perfection” in knitted items: no jogs, no seams, nothing but knit. I think there is such a thing as too “perfect.” Me, I like seams in sweaters — they give structure to a garment. I like to pick up stitches along a bound-off edge for a neckband rather than knit a neckband from live stitches. That bound off edge gives the neck of the garment some stability.

Here is my favorite tip for doing something “imperfectly:”

When I am knitting something in the round, I cast on my stitches, and then I often work back across them instead of joining and working in the round on the first row. I join and work in the round on the second row. I am going to have a yarn tail from the cast-on that needs to be woven in, and it is no more trouble to use that yarn end to close the tiny gap at the bottom of the garment that is present because I worked back across the first row before joining in the round.

This is very helpful if you have a huge number of stitches because it can be tricky to join in the round without twisting the cast-on stitches.

A relatively new knitter I taught makes a lot of baby hats for friends with little ones, and she mentioned that she always has trouble on that first round, fiddling with working in the round while knitting stitches from the cast-on edge. I suggested my “work back across the first row” tip to her and she loves it, and now does that on all circular projects.

So that’s just my tip for doing something imperfectly to make things easier!

Anyway . . .

So this came in the mail the other day:

This is the Opal Yarn 2016 Advent Calendar. There are 24 little doors, for December 1 through 24, and behind each door is a mini-skein (15 grams) of Opal sock yarn. Squeeee!

I pre-ordered this from a vendor in the UK a few months ago, as it is more readily available in Europe.

I have shown remarkable restraint and have not yet opened any doors, waiting til December 1.

Now . . . what to knit with the wee skeins? I could do a long crazy scarf. I could knot afghan squares. I could knit mini socks. Anyone have any other ideas?

Here is Loki’s interpretation of “if it fits I sits.”

The winner of my review copy of60 Quick Knits for Little Kids is Gina in the SF Bay Area, who has been emailed.

I total for got to mention in my last blog post the first in a series of articles I’ve written for Mason-Dixon Knitting: check it out here!

I made a lot of knitting progress last week. I knit a hat:

This is the 21 Color Slouch, designed by Virginia Sattler-Reimer and knit in all 21 introductory colors of Blue Sky Fibers Woolstok. It came as a kit, with 12 yards of each of the 21 colors. A very clever way to introduce the colors and far more fun than a color card!

And I started this:

This is Granito, designed by Joji Locatelli. I’m knitting mine in my new favorite yarn, Wollmeise Blend, in the Pistazie colorway. I’ve made some good progress on it, but now I’m setting it aside as I have some non-public design work I need to do. Such is life.

Meanwhile, the little prince is catching up on his beauty sleep!

I have another new book to review:

This is 60 Quick Knits for Little Kids, published by Sixth&Spring Books last month. It contains, as you might expect, 60 patterns for kids. Sized for ages 2 to 6, they include all sorts of things: sweaters, dresses, hats, mittens, scarves, blankets, etc. And they are quick knits — all are knit from Cascade Yarns Pacific® or Cascade Yarns Pacific® Chunky, which are worsted and bulky weight respectively. Of course you could sub any other yarns that knit to gauge.

Some favorites:

Bow Tie by Matthew Schrank. You gotta love a little kid in a bow tie. This is knit from worsted weight in seed stitch.

This is the Butterfly Bolero by Yoko Hatta, also knit in worsted weight. I’m not sure if it is the bolero or the adorable little girl who caught my eye, but either way, it is a winner!

This V-Neck Cardi by Kiri FitzGerald-Hillier is so cute! It would work for both boys and girls.

These Textured Cowls by Lori Steinberg are knit in bulky weight yarn so would be a snap to knit out. A great gift idea!

There are 60 patterns in all and you can see them on Ravelry, here. The book is great value — it has a wide variety of types of things so makes a great one-stop resource for knitting for kids.

Who’d like my review copy?

To be entered in the drawing for my review copy of 60 Quick Knits for Little Kids, published by Sixth&Spring Books, leave a comment on this blog post by 11:00am Eastern Time on Sunday, November 13, 2016. We’l pick a winner then.

Loki says “meow.”