Geek Knitting

Baby booties, several pairs for homeless teen moms. Cascade superwash, various patterns.

Let's all cheer for a bit of knitting content on my supposedly knitting-centric blog! First, while you peruse some of my ongoing knitting (the tiniest tip of the WIP iceberg, my friends!), a link to some geeky knitting. You know, if my husband wasn't such a big guy I would seriously contemplate knitting him a periodic table sweater, just so I could watch him walk out the door every morning and say, "Wait, you forgot YOUR SWEATER!"

Then there's this one. I read a caption for this photo somewhere that called it the world's biggest bully magnet. Luckily nobody in my house is Mario obsessed so I don't have to commit that particular act of intarsia. And since I wrote this post a couple of days ago there are now a lot of other gaming sweaters making the bloggy rounds if you want to see more. (Edited to add: a Tetris blanket!!!)

In other knitting news, I helped someone cast off yesterday. Fellow knitters, do you remember those days? It's the scariest thing for non-knitters. The cast-on isn't such a big deal - you don't have too much time invested. But after slogging through miles of garter stitch rectangular knitting, screwing it up at the end is an overwhelming prospect.

Get Ziggy - the back. Not too Ziggy yet.

Imagine what it was like before you could go here! Seriously, my non-knitting friends, I'm happy to cast on and bind off (and pick up dropped stitches, or tell you why you suddenly have more stitches, or how a hole appeared out of nowhere, or whatever) for you as many times as you'd like. But some of you have expressed embarrassment at having to ask more than once...go to that link. Or go ahead and bring it by - you know I wouldn't tease you if I didn't love you.

Shortrow Sideways Hat

Just a quick FO! In between my other projects, I had to cast on for this little donation hat because I knew it would be quick quick quick, and it was! It took less than 100 yards of cotton dishcloth yarn, but I might make it again using some variegated yarn in a larger gauge. The pattern is here (scroll down) if you need a fast gift.

Our Yearly Giant Scarfathon

This last Saturday was our yearly holiday hands-on meeting for our NCL chapter, and we had lots of hands-on philanthropy projects for people to do. We filled candy bags for Monarch School, made fleece blankets for Senior Community Center, created holiday cards for Meals on Wheels, and of course, everybody's favorite: knitting scarves!

We knit pink scarves for Susan G. Komen, we knit scarves for St. Vincent de Paul, we knit scarves for the Salvation Army. And if you've been looking for Homespun at the San Diego Michael's, good luck. I think our chapter must single-handedly wipe out the inventory every November because that's by far people's yarn of choice. I personally would rather knit with snakes (although - I actually like snakes! Especially - heh heh - gartere snakes! Get it? Garter Snakes! No Purling!) but hey, to each her own.




I usually opt out of knitting any kind of long skinny rectangles of acrylic, but I do like to knit baby things for Salvation Army's Door of Hope. I usually crank out a few pairs of booties or little caps every year.



This year I made up a new little pattern for the more adventurous beginners. Those who are afraid of circular needles or doing decreases or anything like that. I threw in a YO so they could learn something new, and followed it with a K2Tog just to really spice it up. You can see Anna above knitting away on one...she started this about a half-hour before I took that picture and is almost done with hers. I can only wish I knit as fast. And, p.s., witness Fiona up there scheming with her cousin about how soon they can leave the NCL meeting and go hang out somewhere where they won't have to do any good deeds. But I digress...



I think they came out pretty cute, so if you feel like knitting for a local charity, grab some washable worsted and have at it! The image down below shows a schematic - the drawstring hat is on the bottom half of the page and the World's Easiest Baby Hat - truly! - is at the top.


Drawstring Baby Hat

This super high-tech design consists basically of a rectangle with some holes along one side of it. Your gauge isn't that important, since babies are variable in size...The finished dimensions are about 7x10". Make the holes every inch or inch and a half or so, just making sure you end up with an even number of holes for lacing up later. Six or eight will work fine.

If you're afraid to wing it, here are some more specific instructions.

You'll need to be able to:

1. knit plain garter stitch (knit every row)
2. do a YO (a yarn-over, which will open a new world for you, and which you can see a tutorial for here - scroll down to the bottom - you probably want the English version)
3. follow that YO with a K2Tog (knit two together, which is just what it sounds like, and which you can see here)

Using a washable worsted-weight yarn, CO 30 sts and knit 2 rows

Row 3: k8, yo, k2 tog, knit to end
Knit 11 rows.

Row 15: k8, yo, k2 tog, knit to end
Knit 11 rows.

Continue in this manner, putting in a lacing row every 12 rows, so that:

Rows 27, 39, 51, 63: k8, yo, k2 tog, knit to end
and all others are knit plain.

After you have 6 holes and have knit approximately 9 - 10 inches, get ready to finish.

Rows 64 - 70: Knit

Bind off, fold piece in half and sew the cast-on edge to the bound-off edge. Weave in ends.

Make a lace: braid some yarn, use ribbon, etc. Thread through the hole, draw tight and tie securely. Trim if too long.

Click on the schematic below for a larger image of the Drawstring Hat as well as a folded-over garter rectangle hat.



Copyright 2007 Lydia McNeil - You may not use this pattern for profit or reproduce it for profit; you may use it to knit hats for yourself, for others, or most certainly for charity, but not to sell.

Impulse, Shmimpulse

Warning: there is so little knitting content in this post it barely qualifies for a knitting blog. But if you like puppies and kitties (and who doesn't?), read on.

Another crazy weekend at chez Windansea. Fencing tournament, fundraiser for a school none of my children attend, two (two!!) projects involving a posterboard and/or construction of a miniature stage and puppets, a sleepover, and I'm not sure what else because I think I've only been home for 10 minutes in the last three days.

Here's what's really crazy: in the midst of all this, I had a major impulse-control problem leading to the acquisition of a puppy.

Yes indeedy, internet friends - meet Snoop. Snoop's a rat terrier; we knew absolutely nothing about the breed before we met him, but once we found out that blue eyes are an undesirable genetic trait in the breed we knew he was for us. (Mutant dog? Absolutely, where do we sign? I blame John.)

And guess what? Despite the fact that I swore I'd never put clothes on a dog, something about his size made me have to go into gay dog overdrive. I bought a rainbow collar, a pink Kate Spade-looking doggy purse (me!), a leash with a daisy on it and a t-shirt that says "Security" so he can be just a little thuggish sometimes. John made me put back the tanktop with rhinestones that spelled out "Rock Star" but the Petco is an easy 10 minutes by freeway.




Today is day two and Patty is adjusting pretty well; she still says "All your dog toys are belong to us!" but the feisty fight-picker does have a tender place for her new buddy.



Spot's still not so sure...he's trying to decide whether it's something to eat or just another ill-mannered dog to put up with.

PS Gratuitous Knitting Content: Now I can knit those doggy sweaters I keep seeing patterns for. Although maybe not this one - don't want people thinking my dog's been in the big house!

Anna of Green Cables

Get it? Anna of Green Cables? Anne of Green...okay, it's lame, I know.

Because St. Patrick's Day is coming up and there's a green hat KAL and all, a green cabled hat made from one hank of Knitpicks Sierra.

It fits my 23" head, but since it's cablicious it also fits Mary's head with the brim folded up and Anna, whose head is a bit larger than mine (She actually said it was snug, although I don't see her eyes popping out or anything. Instead, that same sort of amused expression she always gets in one of my hats...the look that says "Other moms go to work, or drive a soccer van, or drink a bottle of white wine in the afternoon....my mom has a knitting blog."). I was going to show you how well it fits me, but the day I took this picture I was wearing my Old Navy camo pants and a black hoodie, and when I put the hat on all that was missing was some of these.

You can add length to the hat easily by adding more ribbing at the bottom. I personally don't like anything folded up on my ears, hence all the beanie-style hats I like to make.

Yarn: Knitpicks Sierra, 1 Hank.
Needles: 1 16"circular & a set of dpns in size 7, or whatever size gives you gauge (I knit big, so knit a swatch! The needle size on the ballband said 9-11)
Gauge: 3sts/inch in stockinette (To see this hat in a smaller size & gauge, check here.)

Begin

Please note: if you downloaded this pattern before 12/5/07, there was a missing purl stitch after the p2tog in the 2nd round of the Third Cable. This has been fixed.

CO 72 sts on the circular needle (switch to the dpns during the decreases) and join for working in the round, being careful not to twist. Place marker to indicate beginning of round.


Ribbing

Knit 10 rounds of K2P2 ribbing.


First Cable

Round 1: *Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to back, K2 from left needle, K2 from cable needle, p4. Repeat from * to end.

Rounds 2 through 5: *K4, P4. Repeat from * to end.


Second Cable

Repeat Rounds 1 - 5 as in First Cable.


Third Cable - In which you start the decreases.

Work row 1 as in First Cable.

Round 2: *K4, P1, P2tog, P1. Repeat from * to end. You have 63 sts now.

Rounds 3 & 4: *k4, p3. Repeat from * to end.

Round 5: *K4, P2tog, P1. Repeat from * to end. 54 sts remain.


Fourth Cable

Round 1: *Slip next 2 sts to cable needle and hold to back, K2, K2 from cable needle, P2. Repeat from * to end.

Round 2: *K4, P2tog. Repeat from * to end. 45 sts remain.

Round 3 & 4: *K4, P1. Repeat from * to end.

Round 5: *K2tog, SSK, P1. Repeat from * to end. 27 sts remain.


Fifth Cable

Round 1: *Slip next st to cable needle and hold to back, K1, K1 from cable needle, P1. Repeat from * to end.

Rounds 2, 3 & 4: *K2, P1. Repeat from * to end.

No round 5 on this cable!



Sixth Cable

Round 1: *Slip next st to cable needle and hold to back, K1, K1 from cable needle, P1. Repeat from * to end.

Round 2: *K1, K2tog. Repeat from * to end. 18 sts remain.

Round 3: *k2tog. Repeat from * to end. 9 sts remain.

Break yarn and thread tail through remaining sts, pulling tight to cinch closed. Pull tail through to wrong side and weave in ends.



Copyright 2007 Lydia McNeil - You may not use this pattern for profit or reproduce it for profit; you may use it to knit hats for yourself, for others, or most certainly for charity, but not to sell.

Knitting as Philanthropy

It's that time of year again - our National Charity League group gets together to knit for those in need. If you don't know, NCL is a mother/daughter philanthropic organization for girls in grades 7 - 12. We do service work all year, but every December we get together and do a bunch of hands-on projects at one of our meetings, including knitting scarves for whichever group we pick that year. This year we're donating our scarves to St. Vincent de Paul and also to the Salvation Army here in San Diego.

But guess what? Not everyone knows how to knit!! I know it's hard to believe for all of you - since I assume if you're reading a knitblog you - hello!! - knit too. So a large portion of that December meeting is devoted to TWK (Those Who Know) casting on for FAKs (Future Avid Knitters).

DD#2, the Lobster Sweater designer, managed to knit two scarves AT THE MEETING. That girl's needles are on fire - I can only wish I knit that fast. DD#1, a non-knitter for the most part (except for Batman hats), is starting to be converted - she has a good start on a scarf that should be done without too much delay. DN#3 (Dear niece) knits really fast this year and was almost done with hers....too bad finals are around the corner for all three of them or they'd be sitting pretty.

Wait till next month, when I post a photo of the finished scarves - knit by 200 people, some of whom will emerge with a real love of fiber by the end. In the meantime, there was an awful lot of this, knit up on the biggest needles people could find: