Tag Archives: allnightknits

Week #1 of 52 Week Challenge & Some Finished Objects

First Glove….From a Chart!

Oh how my hubby had no idea what he was doing when he picked out his favorite pattern out of my newly acquired book. 60 Quick Knits was a Christmas present this year from my dad, his adorable opinion on knitting is that it all should be quick! I am actually really enjoying it so far, just remember to check Ravelry for errata – I have found a lot of entires that were just a little off. So this is the Cabled-Cuff Mitten Pattern, knitted with Patons Worsted Wool. So where did I learn something new this week? I learned (try not to gasp) how to read a chart!

~ You Couldn’t Read a Chart Before this Past Week? ~

Well, no. I have no problem following a chart in the round, at least in the past few months – but a chart knitted flat – akin to bamboo shards under my fingernails. I hated the idea that one symbol having two meanings, I just couldn’t understand why on earth they couldn’t just make a “knit as written” chart.

When they hubby pointed to the mittens that he liked the best, I saw that flat chart and cringed. I’m not gonna lie, the first 7 rounds were….difficult. I pushed through and by the end of the first repeat I finally understood the purpose. I was getting the hang of it after the second repeat and by the third I was gladly going left to right, right to left and realizing that there was a ligament reason for making a chart this way. Final thoughts – YEA FOR FINALLY BEING ABLE TO READ A CHART!

~ How About Some Finished Objects! ~

Christmas, birthdays, New Year’s …. blah blah blah…. has slowed my FO list down quite a bit. However, I still feel like sharing.

: Smushed Together.

: Blocking.

: Close Up.

: Thick and Folded.

It may not be super interesting to look at, but this is a custom order for a new customer. Her sister-in-law went to school in Jamaica where her school colors where purple and gold. I took one of my stitch dictionaries and found a way to combine a standard rib with a zig-zag. I know that it would show better on smaller needles and s solid color, but it actually turned out really well. I added a slip-stitch border to keep the sides nice and clean and she was very pleased. *Dramatically wiping my brow!*

: Stocking number….8?

: 10 Dishcloths.

: OSU Ruffle Scarf.

SInce WordPress isn’t letting me preview the post – and I cannot remember which order I put these in – please just roll with me.

The three (rather boring/ rather repetitive) things I have been commissioned to do this week is 20 dishcloth – 10 Christmas Colors and 10 Pink (these are not done yet).
Another Christmas Stocking – which is actually quite nice, but you’ve already seen a gazillion pictures of them. Sorry friends and neighbors.
AND of course, a few ruffles. I have an order for 5 OSU Buckeye Ruffle Scarves – all done *insert deep sigh of relief*

Yea Cables and Bobbles!

This is yet another concoction of the genius that is 60 Quick Knits – with some big changes on my part. The pattern is the Bobbles & Cables Cap by Suvi Simola and is a decent pattern. I changed the 1. The cast-on 2. The bobbles (which I made bigger) 3. The cable progression was continued another round 4. and I slightly felted the hat when I was finished (no pic of that yet…because I suck).

I made the hat larger and longer to felt the pattern because it does wonderful things to bobbles and finicky cables. It tightens everything up and gives is a delicious fit. I made the cap with Ella Rae Classic Superwash in Kiwi and chucked in into the dryer. The result? Pretty amazing – slight felting give the hat a denser feel and makes the bobbles seem more natural and less like a hanging hemorrhoid 😉

I need a Post-Felt Picture….bad Rachel.

Okay friends and neighbors, that’s all for me today. I will be back with more on my sock stashing, thanks to Knitting Sarah and her #sockswithsarah year-long Sock KAL. I am working the instep on my fourth pair of socks – pretty epic! I need to finish those mittens (yea for reading charts!) and I’ve unearthed my Fiori Autunnali and my Jayashri Pullover. Until next time – remember, if the gimp can try it you can too! 🙂

Slouchy Hats & My Happy Places

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Sometimes I search out comfort, things that resonate in my mind as safe and inviting. Tea with orange blossom honey, my grandmother’s lemon meringue pie or even better, a good book.

There are some books that just holding them brings back a flood of memories and a sensation of falling into a time when life was just less complicated. The Flame and the Flower by Kathleen Woodiwiss was the first romance book I ever read and it was enjoyed by the fireplace because we had lost power to the blizzard that took over the entire midwest that year. Perfect setting for romance I might add. When my grandfather was dying, I turned to The Stand by Stephen King. It may seem an odd choice, it’s content largely based around life and death, but the characters being so rich, so familiar brought ease to my troubled mind.

Certain things just bring us back to a place where we can be fearless, where we can handle anything. I am a lucky girl, because I can add knitting to the list of happy places.

My Happy Place Hat

For the life of me, I have no idea where this pattern came from. I have looked through all my books, magazines and scoured knitting websites looking for its origin. All I have is a pattern my scrawl to go by – Bonus for you because I am going to put it at the bottom of the page though!

This was the first hat I made in the round, the first project that had cables in it and the knitted object I have made the most. I have made dozens of these hats, they fly off my needles and into my friends and families hands like hotcakes. Even my niece wanted her own, which made me giddy. So, when I am stressed or need to feel like a superhero, I do this pattern.

As an added bonus to saving time knitting, I spent more time with Photoshop than I think is healthy. I have all the books I can handle and have been playing around with it all night. So you get to see the fruits of my labor, misguided and goofy as they may be. This is the best way to learn I suppose, trying things over and over till you feel you got it down. I am most certainly not there yet, but hey….step in the right direction.

: Full Frontal

: Full Frontal – Edited

: Close Up Top

: Close Up Top – Edited

: Left Side

: Left Side – Edited

: Close Up Back

: Close Up Back -Edited

: Right Side

: Slouchy Beret

Sure, it’s amateur hour here at All Night Knits but who cares? It was fun to play around with the filters, concentrations, hues, saturation, blah blah blah…yada yada yada. I was working my way through an instructional book and it built up my confidence – a bit. Either way, it feel like a step in the right direction

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The Pattern

(If you find this pattern’s origin, please contact me and let me know. I want to acknowledge its creator and thank them for years of fantastic knitting!)

Needles: Sizes 9US and 11US

Yarn: Worsted

The Cables: C3 over 3 Left: Slip 3 Sts. onto cable needle, hold in back, K3, K3 from cable needle. C3 over3 Right: Slip 3 Sts. onto cable needle, hold in front, K3, K3 from cable needle.

With size 9 Needles, Cast on 72 Stitches (long tail cast on). Join in the round and Place stitch marker.

Knit 5 rows in 1by 1 (K1,P1) .

Change to size 11 Needles and work cable pattern as follows:

-Rounds 1-4, 6-10 and 12: Knit

-Round 5: *C3 over 3 Left, K3. Repeat from * till end of round.

-Round 11: * K3, C3 over 3 Right. Repeat from * till end of round.

Work rounds 1-12 1(one) time as written above.

-Next round (increasing round): *K2, M1. Repeat from * to end of round.

-Work rows 2-12 of cable pattern one time, then work rows 1-6 one time.

-Next round Being Decreasing: *K7, K2tog, K7, SSK. Repeat from * to end of round.

-Next round: *K6, K2tog, K6, SSK. Repeat from * to end of round.

-Next round: *K5, K2tog, K5, SSK. Repeat from * to end of round.

– Next round: Work row 11 from Cable Pattern the work one round even.

-Next round: K10, K2tog till end of round.

-Next round: K9, K2tog till end of round.

-Next round: K8, K2tog till end of round

-Next round: K7, K2tog till end of round.

Continue in this manner decreasing your knit stitches by one until you K2tog across the round, Leaving you with 6 sts.

Cut a long tail and weave through live stitches twice. Pull tight and weave in the ends.

Block lightly over a plate or pie tin by lightly misting the hat.

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So there it is friends and neighbors, I hope you enjoy the pattern as much as I did. I wonder, is there anyone out there reading this that has a happy place? Found in either a place, food, book, pattern or the multitude of things I didn’t list? Please share if you would like to, I would love to listen!

Hello Hinagiku Hat!

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Spring has sprung here in the Buckeye State and I am loving every moment of it. Sitting out outside, watching the birds frolic amongst the bird feeders and the cloying sweet smell of freshly cut grass. Heavenly. With a new-found confidence that I will not allow either the panic monster or my arthritic hand from stopping me from doing what I love to do, so I pick up my needles and cast on. Hoping for the best.

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With circular needles in hand, I went on a hat making mission. Perhaps this is because of my miserable horror of making a pair of socks; I have the yarn, the needles, the pattern and overwhelming fear of failure! Out of misery came hats, so it can’t be all bad!

Max’s New Favorite Hat!

The pattern came from Ravelry user 87Cafe and I loved the new twist on the daisy stitch. The moving of the first stitch to the last stitch created this awesome twisted texture that just had me head over heals for the pattern. Look and see! 🙂

Close Up of Brim of Hat

Check Out That Slouch!

Side Shot…and ADORABLE Kitty

Spiraled Back of Hat

Look at that Face…both Max’s and the Foam Head

Hingakiu Hat

Nice and Slouchy

Max’s New Favorite Hat!

The Back of Max’s New Best Friend!

Admittedly, I had some trouble with this pattern. The brim of the hat is a tight rib done on size 3 needles, which made my errant hand scream in protest. There was a lot of ice and Advil in the first section of the hat (not to mention a nosebleed. Oh the joys of aspirin therapy!) but it was worth it. Changing to size 8 needles made the daisy stitch seem like a walk in the park, even the K3tog went smoothly with a looser gauge. I tried to take more pictures of the process; maybe just to remind myself that it was getting done, there was indeed progress despite the many trips to freezer for a bag of soothing peas. All told, the pictures were inspiring to me. Picking up my iPod and scrolling through the photos was enough to keep me motivated.

As you can see, I had some fun with the filters. It was a nice distraction from the knitting, it also served as a way to rest my hand without feeling like I was failing. Working on the pictures was like working on the project, so no guilty no-no feelings about my knitting breaks. Plus, the whole photo editing with an iPod still seems so new and shiny, like a child with a new toy.

Confidence is a beautiful thing. After my husband read my post (yes, my husband read my blog 🙂 he wrapped me in a big bear hug and said “I never doubted you, I just want what is best for you. I want to protect you from pain, but you are obviously too damn stubborn for that”. It’s been a very, very good day.

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So, friends and neighbors, how do you take breaks from your knitting? With so many projects on the needles I tend to feel guilty not working on it. Even if it not knitting you are taking a break from, how do you relax these days?

Stitch Week 7 – Heartfelt Thank You’s & Photo Editing Mishaps

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Before I get started today, I wanted to say thank you to all of you that commented, liked or simply read Please Don’t Tell Me What I Cannot Do. It was overwhelming to see that the blogging world actually cared about my circumstances, and the outpouring of support and encouragement left me a bit dumbfounded. I’m still surprised that something that personal poured out of me, obviously it needed an outlet. Infertility, especially miscarriages is something that most people want to sweep under the rug, like seeing it in the daylight would solidify it in reality. It felt like a weight lifted off my shoulder to just write about it, to purge my mind. So thank you so much. Thank you.

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Perhaps white was not the best yarn color to try to photograph, but live and learn and play with photo editors! So with no further adieu, I humbly present Week 7’s Stitch Pattern!

Hello Week 7!

I will tell you that knitting this was a delight – a little confounding do to my dearly departed GG’s handwriting- but once you get past that it seemed to knit itself. When I started taking pictures of the dishcloth with my iPod, they were horrible! No joke, it was like the image just disappeared in the picture, which gave me the opportunity to play with both Instagram and Vintique . I haven’t done much editing with these applications, but playing around with them last night was a blast. Whether it was successful or not, I shall let you decide.

Sharpened and Hi-Light.

Super Duper Sharpened with Lo-Res Filter

Aqua Filter

To be honest, I am feeling the Epic Fail with theses. On the plus side, I was introduced to all the fun filters and sophisticated things that can be accomplished with an iPod; something I foolishly used (until just recently) to listen to music and check the weather. Silly me!

With the filters on my iPod not giving me what I wanted, I pulled out my trusty Canon and decided to go old school – if you can consider digital photography and Photoshop to be old school that is. I was pleased with the result;, this could be because of the abject failure of the first attempt but hey, I am still learning! Most people who work in hospitals aren’t well versed in the fine art of making their pictures not suck. Or maybe that is hopeful thinking! Anywho, here are the shots from the Canon.

Before Photoshop Close Up

After Photoshop, Thank you Hi-Pass

Full Frontal

Stitch Pattern Dishcloth

Magnified Close Up

Much Better!

So GG, what did you have in store for us this week eh? Well, once again there was no name to the pattern, no punctuation, and a very odd Cast On number. Well Week 7, you haven’t disappointed me!

co38 – Cast On 38 Sts. (Feeling Pretty Good)(Why yes, I am a smart a**!)

R1 correct, kall- Row 1: (RS) Knit all Sts. (Seriously, sometimes when I read these patterns I think of the movie Nell and her secret language!)

r2,pall – Row 2: Purl all Sts. (Nice, nice)

r3 p2 k1 end – Row 3: P2, K1 to end of row (This would have been simple, but there are 38 sts and that definitely is a multiple of 3! Eh, don’t fight it Rachel, just see what happens).

r4 k2 p1 end- Row 3: K2, P1 to end of row (Well at least we are being consistent with the whole incorrect number of stitches dealio. Again Rach, just breath in through your nose and out through your mouth).

rep to end, fin. – Repeat Rows 1-4 to desired length, BO loosely. (Dear God, Please let this work out ok!)

Well, it ended up working out better than ok! The pattern was almost spa like in its interwoven bumps and ridges. I would even go so far as to say it felt luxurious! With this in mind, I got on Ravelry and started my scavenger hunt for dishcloths and facecloths for something similar. The closest I found was from Anne Mancine listed under Spa Day Facecloth, which was the same pattern, just outlined with a seed stitch border. What I found a bit confusing though was that the pattern contained a Copyright – how is this possible? GG wrote the pattern (or more likely copied it down from a magazine or a book) circa 1968. Thus I remain confounded by the whole Copyright thingamajigger. Well, it is something new to add to the every compounding list of things to learn.

Thank you again bloggers for all your support and encouragement. Feel free to leave comments, questions or insights….your knowledge is priceless. OH, and Max says Hiya:)