FRATERNAL TWINS

Here is the latest manifestation of my random bobble madness. I used my simple sock pattern (Colorwave Socks, pattern available HERE) and worked random bobbles. Whenever I came to a certain color (magenta on one sock, aqua on the other) I made a bobble with it. It’s really cool how isolating one color in the bobbles changed the overall tone of the sock.

Click to enlarge the photos.

I do prefer my socks to be fraternal, rather than identical twins!


The yarn is Interlacements Little Toes that I found in the attic. The colors of this yarn are a dead ringer for a betta fish I once had. Maybe that’s why I bought it. Little Toes is no longer available, but you can still get this color (221) in its close relative, Toasty Toes.

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RANDOM BOBBLE MADNESS

I’ve got it bad. I just can’t stop making bobbles. They are so cool! I just finished two Random Bobble Hats. The pattern is for sale HERE.

Coming soon: the random bobble socks below!!!

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KNITTING CAMP

This past week I had the privilege of teaching six girls ages 10-12 how to knit at a local knitting “camp”. In years past the camp was set up for much younger girls, ages 7-8. Trying to teach twelve seven year olds how to knit is a formula for disaster! Even with a lot of help, I was lucky to get a few of them actually knitting by the end of the week. Most of them just gave up or just pretended, and I ended up re-thinking of the camp as “fun games with yarn, plus a lot of running around outside” rather than knitting. I did teach them how to make twisted cord with the electric mixer (a big hit!), tassels, finger knitting, wooden knitting needles from dowels (another big hit), and crocheted chains. But last year I read the camp director the riot act about upping the age, and swore I’d never come back unless she limited the age to at least ten-year-olds. It worked, and this year it was a much happier experience for everybody.

I am proud to say that all of my ten year olds actually learned to knit this time around. A large percentage learned to purl as well, and some even learned basic shaping. Some of them made dishcloths (um, we call them baby doll blankets). We all made the afore-mentioned easy stuff as fun but related diversions. The best part was, after the third day they started talking. Now I love knitting for the intellectual and creative challenges as much as anybody, but the social aspects are definitely a bonus. The girls were too self conscious and shy to talk much the first two days, but after that they started endlessly yakking about movies, dreams, horses, braces, broken collarbones, school, other camp experiences, family vacations, and you name it. Ten year olds are such a hoot!
I love that age because most aren’t really yet too concerned about what other people think of them, and they are just happy to be kids and let life wash over them. They were also in deep awe of my rather-quiet-and-bookish-and-not-used-to-being-movie-star-popular fifteen year old daughter, who helped me with the class, and I think she rather liked it!

For information on the print at the top of this post, click HERE.

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RANDOM BOBBLES DISHCLOTH

KNITTING PATTERN by SARA H. BALDWIN ©2010

This is a whimsical variation of “Grandmother’s Favorite”. Whenever you begin to knit with a certain color, make a bobble with it. It’s kind of fun to see where they end up! The effect sort of reminds me of popcorn spilled on a carpet.

The idea is to make the bobble just big enough to use up the color. It takes about 16 inches of yarn to make the big bobble (right photo, click to embiggen), and about 10 inches to make the small bobble (left photo, click to embiggen). Figure out how much length of one color your yarn has, and choose the bobble size accordingly.

GAUGE: not critical

SIZE: Makes a dishcloth about 8 inches square. If you made it a lot bigger, wouldn't it be an awesome baby blanket?

MATERIALS: One ball cotton yarn. I used some Peaches & Creme in "Winterberry" for the grey and white, and Lion Cotton in "Sherbet Swirl" for the pastels.
Knitting needles size 6.

Big Bobble (right side):
Row 1: Knit, YO, and knit into the same stitch, turn
Row 2: Purl 3, turn
Row 3: K1, M1K (pick up the purl bump behind the next stitch and knit it), K1, M1K, K1, turn
Row 4: Purl 5, turn
Row 5: SSK, K1, K2tog, turn
Row 6: Purl 3, turn
Row 7: Slip 1, K2tog, PSSO (pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch). Do not turn.

Big Bobble (wrong side):
Row 1: Purl, YO, and Purl into the same stitch, turn
Row 2: Knit 3, turn
Row 3: P1, M1P (pick up the purl bump in front of the next stitch and purl it), P1, M1P, P1, turn
Row 4: Knit 5, turn
Row 5: P2tog, P1, P2tog through the back loops, turn
Row 6: Knit 3, turn
Row 7: Slip 1, P2tog, PSSO (pass the slipped stitch over the purl stitch). Do not turn.

Small Bobble (right side):
Row 1: Knit, YO, and knit into the same stitch, turn
Row 2: Purl 3, turn
Row 3: K3, turn
Row 4: Purl 3, turn
Row 5: Slip 1, K2tog, PSSO (pass the slipped stitch over the knit stitch). Do not turn.


Small Bobble (wrong side):
Row 1: Purl, YO, and Purl into the same stitch, turn
Row 2: Knit 3, turn
Row 3: P3, turn
Row 4: Knit 3, turn
Row 5: Slip 1, P2tog, PSSO (pass the slipped stitch over the purl stitch). Do not turn.

Cast on 4 stitches, knit one row.

Increasing rows: Knit 2, YO, knit to end of row. Make a bobble whenever you come to your chosen color. Be careful to keep track of your right and wrong sides and make the bobble accordingly, so that they all end up on the same side. Try to avoid making a bobble closer than three stitches to the edge. Keep going with the increasing rows until your dishcloth edge is about eight inches. I stopped increasing and turned the corner at 50 stitches, but your mileage may vary.

Decreasing rows: K1, K2tog, YO, K2tog, knit to end. Keep decreasing until four stitches remain, and bind off.

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HERRINGBONE STITCH DISHCLOTH

KNITTING PATTERN by SARA BALDWIN ©2010

Herringbone stitch makes a very attractive fabric. It does tend to pull together, so be sure to go up a needle size or two.

GAUGE: not critical

SIZE: Makes a dishcloth about 8 inches square. For a larger or smaller size, just cast on more or fewer stitches- any even number will work.

MATERIALS: One ball cotton yarn. Knitting needles size 10½.

FIRMLY cast on 46 stitches (or any even number).

Row 1: *Slip one stitch, knit one stitch, pull the slipped stitch over the knitted stitch, but before you let it go, knit the slipped stitch through the back loop*. Repeat between the * to end of row.

Row 2: Purl one. *Purl two stitches together, but before you pull them off the left hand needle, purl the first one again, and pull both off*. Repeat between the * to end, and purl the last stitch.

Repeat these two rows until the dishcloth is square, ending by finishing row 2.

To bind off, SSK the first two stitches (slip one as if to knit, slip the next, insert the left needle into the front loops of the slipped stitches and knit them together from this position), *SSK the third and fourth stitches, then pull the first new stitch on the right hand needle over the second (bind off one stitch)*. Repeat between the * to end.

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RASTA HERRINGBONE HAT WITH DREADS

KNITTING PATTERN by SARA BALDWIN ©2010

Skill level: intermediate

Materials: One skein Malabrigo Rasta (150 grams and 90 yards), 16 or 20 inch circular knitting needles size #13, double pointed knitting needles (or another circular needle) size #13. A large size yarn needle is useful. To make the dreadlocks topknot you can twist the yarn by hand, but it speeds things up a lot if you have an electric mixer or drill handy!

Size: Hat circumference 19 inches (small). Herringbone stitch is thick and warm, but not very stretchy, so care must be taken to get the correct fit. Measure the circumference of your head around where you like to wear your hat, and make the hat one inch smaller so the fit will be snug, but not too tight. If you need a larger size hat you can go up to size #15 or #17 needles, or cast on more stitches (any odd number will work, but you will have to modify the crown shaping instructions accordingly).

Gauge: in Herringbone stitch, 4.16 stitches per inch on #13 needles
in stockinette stitch, 2.35 stiches per inch on #13 needles

Using your 16 or 20 inch circular needle, cast on FIRMLY 79 stiches. Join, being careful not to twist.

Row 1: Slip one stitch, knit one stitch, pull the slipped stitch over the knitted stitch, but before you let it go, knit the slipped stitch through the back loop. Repeat around. You will have one stitch left over, and this becomes the first stitch of row 2.

Row 2: Knit one, but return this stitch to the left hand needle. Pull the 2nd stitch on the left hand needle over the stitch you just knitted, but don't pull it off the left hand needle until you've knitted it in the front loop (the usual way). Slip the next stitch (the one you knitted first) to the right hand needle. Repeat around.

Repeat these two rows until you have about 3 inches of hat body, enough to cover your ears, and end by finishing row 1. Knit two together (k2tog) around, knit the last stitch (40 stitches). Continue in stockinette stitch (knitting every round) until the hat body is about five inches deep.

Shape crown: As your hat circumference grows smaller, you will have to switch to either double pointed needles, or work with two circular needles of the same size.

Row 1: Knit 6, k2tog. Repeat around, 35 stitches
Rows 2-3. Knit around without decreasing.
Row 3: Knit 5, k2tog. Repeat around, 30 stitches
Rows 4-12: Knit around without decreasing.
Row 5: Knit 4, k2tog. Repeat around, 25 stitches
Row 7: Knit 3, k2tog. Repeat around, 20 stitches
Row 9: Knit 2, k2tog. Repeat around, 15 stitches
Row 11: K2tog around, knit the last stitch, 8 stitches
Row 13: K2tog around, 4 stitches

Cut the yarn leaving a 12 inch tail, thread and pull up the remaining four stitches, and secure.

Dreadlocks topknot:

Rasta does tend to kink a bit, but not enough to make dreadlocks consistently. I added a lot of twist to the yarn by cutting about a five-yard length (or just use up whatever yarn you have left), attaching one end to a chair, and the other end to an electric mixer. Before you twist the yarn with the mixer, make sure that the mixer is turning in the direction the yarn is already naturally twisted, or your yarn may fall apart. When the yarn is twisted well enough to kink, firmly wind it up around a book- mine was about five inches wide, but your mileage may vary. Tie the hank of twisted yarn tightly in one spot, and then slide (DO NOT CUT) it off the book. Now you will have lots of kinky loops that can easily be worked into dreads with a little patience!


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PLAYING WITH RASTA

A few weeks ago I happened by my local yarn store in Charleston, Knit.

Sometimes there is yarn there that gives me happy tingles when I pick it up. This turned out to be one of those times. There was a massive new shipment of Malabrigo Rasta, so pretty I wanted to eat it. It was pricey, but the colors were SO BEAUTIFUL! Even though I am not at all a fan of super bulky yarns (lace and sock weight yarns are more my style), the colors were stunning, so I took a skein home just so I could play with it (and maybe drool on it a little too).


As soon as I had wound it into a ball, I discovered how Rasta acquired its name: it does tend to kink and worm a bit. It gave me the idea to make a scarf with dreadlocks. These scarves are incredibly fast and easy to make.
















For the one on the left, cast 8 stitches onto size 17 needles, and knit every row (garter stitch) until there are about 18 inches of yarn left. Drop the first two stitches, bind off the middle four stitches, and drop the last two stitches as well. Carefully unravel the two edge stitches and gently twist into dreads. The scarf on the right was made exactly the same way, except the scarf was knit in stockinette stitch (knit one row, purl one row). This causes the scarf to gently roll up a bit so that all of the dreads end up on the same edge.


As cute and promising as these scarves were, I was really looking for something a bit more practical. I played with a scarf pattern in Herringbone stitch (HERE). This stitch really makes the most of the pretty texture and short color changes of Rasta, but the scarf was too thick and firm for my tastes, even though I used #17 needles.




Bulk and firmness are not particularly good qualities in a scarf, but they are great qualities for warming up cold ears- yes, a hat!! (top photo) Success! And of course I had to top it off with dreads!

I promise to post the hat pattern in my next blog entry!

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