Brand-New Blankie!

As you will recall from my last post, I learned a new stitch, known as the Trinity or Bramble stitch. The whole idea is that you make three stitches from one & then make 1 stitch from 3, thus creating a lovely bobbled effect. Purling across the  alternating rows gives a flat side. I used 6 balls of Bernat "Peachy" Baby Blanket yarn, on size 11 circular bamboo needles. This is my 1st attempt at writing my own pattern. I originally cast on 84 stitches, with the intent of doing k1 p1 in the 1st & last stitches & the Trinity stitch in between. I worked for several rows, and before I knew it, I was ending up with way too many stitches. So I pulled it all back & started again. & guess what? This happened again! And again...ugh.

This is when I learned the value of stitch counters. You can purchase them at any craft store, or you can make your own, simply by cutting some yarn into small lengths & tying them into little loops & placing them between your stitches. In this case, I placed my 1st stitch counter betwees st1 & st2 (so I would always remember to do my selvedge stitch), & then I placed the other stitch counters 20 sts apart (bc 20 is a multiple of 4), leaving my last stitch on the outstide of the last counter (SELVEDGE, BITCH, SELVEDGE is what I kept tellin myself). I got tired of all of this counting, so I only used 62 stitches instead of 84

By the end of Day 1, I had only done about 4 rows, I was tired, I was bitter, & the damn thing only measured about 2" x 21"

This is the bumpy side

This is the flat side

A cross section of the bumpy side.

I went to sleep slightly frustrated but then I remembered that I didn't always know how to knit, and that these sorts of mis-steps are just part of the process. It is important to trust the process.

On Day Two, I found myself so unable to tear myself away from watching RuPaul's Drag Race Elimination Lunch with Michelle Visage that I was stuck in front of my computer with the knitting in my lap. Thanks to lag time, I discovered that I can actually knit while using a computer. I had the most fascinating FB Chat with a guy I briefly met at the Doctor Who convention. Topics ranged from RuPaul to Colin Baker to How Dr Who Made me Gay and back again. I am not yet at the place where I can really take my eyes off the knitting yet, but soon, I hope. I took a break when I got to the end of the 1st ball of yarn, by now the blankie is about 8" long

Aren't my stitch counters cute!?!

Srsly every1 who saw this when I was working on it questioned me bout the stitch counters

Day 3: Worked for several hours, while watching Dr Who: Terror of The Autons Special Edition. Got so engrossed in the show that I somehow picked up 4 stitches! Thank Gawd for stitch counters! I got it fixed pretty quickly, and by the time I went to bed, it measured about 17" long!

Slight variations in dye lots give it a sort of striped pattern

Day 4: Tragedy strikes when I realize that somehow I have reversed the pattern. The bumps are on the wrong side!! This probably happened while I was crying my face off watching a Torchwood Marathon on BBC America. I don't have the oomph to pull this thing back, so I calmly think it over & add another purl row, and things are back to normal. No layperson could ever detect the difference. & Honestly, if some1 got smart with me about it I'd tell them to make their own damn blankie & not question me. I still keep truckin & by the end of the day, she measures about 23" long!

Too big for the table...

...had to be laid onna bed

...& ooh wee, it's the weekend & I head over to Hahnville for some good, old-fashioned stitch & bitch time with my BFF & her wife! My friend & I mostly just talked about Crazy Hoes I used to know and over the course of a 3-day weekend, BANG. The blankie's finished (well, I'm outta yarn) & measures 44" x 21"

Pics really don't do this thing justice

This took me about a week to make, and I learned a lot in the process: the value of patience, the need for stitch counters, and the beauty that can come from something quite simple. Much more than any of that, I feel like I have turned a proverbial corner in my skill level & am looking forward to raising it even higher. 

Thanks for reading!

Praise be!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/128113445/baby-blanketthrow-in-pinks-yellow

The Trinity Stitch....

..is my Bitch!

My lovely Gallifrey Gal Pal & fellow knitter, the Amazing Anne, gave me a scarf at the Gallifrey One Convention as a present this year, done in what is called the Trinity (or Raspberry/Blackberry) Stitch. She explained it to me several times & I remember being terrorized at the apparent complexity of the pattern. Even if I hadn't been so drunk (& ooh lawd was I drunk!) the idea of knit, purl, knit all in one stitch would have had my mind blown.

I have been wanting to tackle this ever since then, but I was kind of intimidated & stuck to the garter-stitch patterns I knew in the meantime, mostly in order to replenish my rapidly-dwindling supply of hats, which were selling briskly at those Art Markets.

Well, now that I have some free time from the med skool I decided to give this terrifying stitch a shot. I looked the stitch up on Youtube & found several helpful videos. This is the one closest to what I did to make the swatch:

http://youtu.be/vAAqMPIfJtk

I also had to look at a couple of videos to remind me how to purl, but you can find those on your own.

When you Google this stitch, all the patterns tell you to cast on a multiple of 4 stitches & some advise to cast on 2-4 stitches as selvedge. I added 2 stitches to 20 and did a garter selvedge (that is, I knitted the 1st & last stiches of each row to form a stable edge) on the swatch below, which was knitted on size 11 (8 mm) needles, using Bernat Baby Blue Baby Blanket yarn:

This is the front, or bobbled side

This is the back, or flat side.

As you can see, using a different weight yarn (& probablly different sized needles) has produced a slightly different sort of bobbled effect here than in the scarf.

As I got started on this, I had to remind myself not to be scared a few times. The fear evaporated pretty quickly when I began to trust the pattern & I finished row after row. Something strange started to happen then:  I could hear the Amazing Anne's voice, see her face in my mind's eye, explaining each maneuver, tacitly affirming her belief in my talent. I got that exhilirated at learning feeling that I'd almost forgotten about! Now I'm really excited at using this stitch in my next project....perhaps a baby blanket, done on larger needles? A scarf? 

Who can say?

Whatever it is, I owe a big thank you to the Amazing Anne for the inspiration!!


Ooh & before I forget, this is the basic pattern (does not include selvedge stitches), taken from:

http://www.knittingonthenet.com/stitches/trinityst.htm

Multiple of 4

Row 1 (RS): p
Row 2: *k1, p1, k1 into next stitch, p3tog; rep from *
Row 3: p
Row 4: *p3tog, k1, p1, k1 into next stitch; rep from *

Hot off the Needles...

I feel like it has taken me a year to finish this baby blanket/throw!

The pattern calls for you to cast on 80 stitches with very large needles (I used 11 US circular needles), knit for 7 rows, then transfer to smaller needles (I think mine were 4 US circular) for 7 rows, alternating back & forth until desired length, casting off from the larger set of needles.

I initially tried to do this double-stranded, thinking it would go faster, & that was fine on the larger needles. But ooh lawd what a mistake it was when I got to the smaller ones. I think I knitted 2 rows & it was so tight & so hard to work with that I put it aside for awhile & eventually pulled it back & worked it single-stranded, which was MUCH easier.

I used 3 balls of Bernat "Summer Hours" (AKA Mardi Gras Colors) yarn to make this little beauty, which measures approximately 33" x 22" It is machine washable on cold, dry on medium!

Let me know what you think!

These images don't do the beauty of the ribbing justice

https://www.etsy.com/listing/126378463/ribbed-unisex-baby-blanket-in-mardi-gras

The Newest Knit-Wit!!

Miss Nanette came by & just happened to be dressed in just the right colors to model this precious lil hat & scarf combo I made!!

Sassy & Delightful!!

These little sweethearts are now sold out! Watch out for new stuff to come!

More Mardi Glam!!

Today I put the finishing touches on this lil sweetie! I knitted her on size 10 (US) needles, using the black Lion Brand homespun & Bernat Baby Blankie Yarn that I used for her sister scarf in a previous blog.

Now available on etsy:

https://www.etsy.com/listing/122888952/black-beanie-with-mardi-gras-inspired

Super Ball Weekend Recap

Yes, that baby blanket is still up on those round needles. I'm thinking I may rip it all back & restart as a single strand.

Anyway, as you may have seen on Facebook, the blessings have been plentiful! An old friend from my home town saw my Amazon Wishlist post for a hanging torso mannequin & guess what? She got it for me plus an extra surprise that should be here soon! The torso mannequin (AKA my new boyfriend, Gary) is a great display item:

Saturday, I got a ride to Lowe's to purchase some lighting for my space at the Market & afterwards my Homegirl Stacey came by for Crafty Saturday night accompanied by "Jacques Brel is Alive & Well & Living in Paris" onna DVD player. She was sewing a dress for Gallifrey & I got started on a black scarf with Mardi Gras colored ends:

I cast on 11 stitches with a combination of Grey Lion Brand Homespun Yarn along with Bernat Baby Blanket Summer Day Yarn & knitted that in straight garter stitch for 15 rows & then I did the body of the scarf in Black Lion Brand Homespun Yarn, slipping the first stitch, to create a braided edge. You will notice that I lose almost 2 inches in width when I dropped the Bernat yarn out of the piece:

Super Ball Sunday was a night at the Frenchmen St. Art Market for me & unfortunately it was not the extravaganza I had hoped for. In fact, I didn't even make my booth fee back, & my Bitter Knitter identity briefly took over. However, I was blessed with a ride from one of my fellow Marketeers with a minivan so I didn't have to be trying to deal with Taxicab Madness at 1:30am!

I am thinking I will be making a ton of stuff in the coming days with this Mardi Gras colored yarn to prep for the big day, watch this space for more deets!

I have to rush off to my Job now, but I'll be posting this scarf (& many others) on Etsy later this evening.....


Thanks for reading!!

A New Beginning...& an Ending...

OK so this post's title is going a bit far. Yesterday I decided to make another baby blanket (yes I do make stuff besides hats & scarves---admittedly not much, but I digress) but I decided I wanted to try something new--Circular knitting needles! (If you don't know what that is, Google it, I'll wait)

For the baby blankets I've made in the past, I followed a very simple pattern: Cast on 80 stitches using a size 16 needle, knit 7 rows, then transfer to size 6 needles & knit 7 rows, repeating until reaching desired size (AKA until I ran out of yarn), Cast off from the larger set of needles.

This lovely ribbed effect  on this 28" x 33" blankie/throw the result:

I made this ^ (and the 2 before it) on long, straight needles, and it took forever! Plus the needles were very full &  hard to work with, taking me about 20 mins or so to finish a row, to say nothing of how heavy the thing was. After 3 days of working on each one, my hands were feeling the pain, so I looked up some internet videos & decided to finally put the circular needles that I have to good use! However, since I can't do anything simply, I decided to try my 1st project on circular needles with a double strand of yarn, as seen here:

I started working on this around 5pm, ripped it back after the 1st couple of rows because I got the yarn all tangled up. For the 1st 7 rows on size 11 needles, I was thinking WOW this is so easy!! 

Then I had to transfer the work onto these lil bitty circular needles I have (no number on them.) I did about 3 rows and this was the most tedious thing I have ever done. I definitely started to get the hang of it, but I don't really think I'll be finishing this particular project for a while. This is what it looks like right now (and probably for the foreseeable future LOL):

I only included the yarn balls in the pic so you could see how much work I have left.

So the "ending" I mentioned in the post title is because today I started (and finished) a lovely commissioned piece for a friend & colleague of mine at the med skool:

It measures about 2" x 66" and is composed of a triple thread (Royal Purple Velvet Chenille, Amethyst Chenille & Black Eyelash).

I am posting the scarf on etsy as a "made to order" item, but the finished blankie/throw can be all yours if you follow this link!

https://www.etsy.com/listing/122413041/pastel-green-blue-white-ribbed-baby