Knitty Nerd

I tried to make one of the beaded bows with a lovely cotton yarn, but the whole thing came out all flopsy and droopy. It kind of looked like a sad clown bow.

So, instead I had to find a pattern that fit a cotton yarn, and Drops provided again. This lovely set of socks and bonnet for a baby was made in a jiffy and came out quite well, I think. The yarn would be soothing and cool on a summer day, and provide warmth on cold days.

The free patterns from Drops is now making it on to my useful links for knitting, as a fledgeling pattern designer, I've found it very helpful to have a large resource for looking up solutions that others have had.

And I'm learning from my red experiment, now I know that a cotton yarn is not very firm and can not provide a shape on its own. If I want to make something that isn't clothing and should stay in a particular shape on it's own, choose something else. Although, cotton yarn is definitely nice for clothing.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

So, I've knitted my red bow in several red yarns now, but needed a break so I tried a new pattern for baby booties. I found the pattern at Drops and knitted it in a cotton yarn using 3 mm needles. It was a very simple pattern and definitely suitable for beginners, and they turned out quite cute.

I didn't add the crochet edges, and now they kind of look like doll booties, but they are in baby size.

So, back to testing out yarns and trying to come up with another pattern.
































Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I wanted to crochet a turtle and found a nice free pattern for a small striped turtle. The pattern is clear and makes for a nice turtle, however, mine looks like it was made by someone who's never seen a turtle.

So, what happened was, I made the body and feet, just as the pattern says, and it looked fine. Then came time for me to make the tail, but I ended up making the head.


The placing of the feet, made this the back of the turtle and I couldn't simply turn it and put the tail on the other end. So I ended up making a kind of teddybear head with suitable ears and a few stitches on the front for a face.

Now this mishap turtle is my monster and tends to show up cuddling in my knitting projects.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I have made a pattern. I think. It is quite simple, a little bow. But it's a start and we all know it: bow ties are cool.

Apparently the plan of using red yarns worked. I just sat down and forced myself to come up with something to make with one of my red skeins and this is what happened.

I'm a little surprised that it worked and that I came up with something so different from what I've made before. I've never knit a bow before, and I've never knit with beads. So, at least for me it's quite original. (Someone else has probably come up with something similar before, though.)

After making the first one, I made another with another yarn.




I used light wool yarns to make both bows, and all the other details are in the pattern. It's a quick little project, if you should want to make one.

And my little monster does look cool with a bow tie.






































Download the pattern in English or Norwegian. (It's completely free.)

Please tell me how the pattern works, if you make one of these bows.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I knit a few baby booties. They are made from a traditional nordic pattern. Well, not that traditional, probably from the time just after the war. Most knitters at that time probably knew the pattern by heart, at least it seems to have been very popular.

I used this Danish pattern (free) from 1945, but if you don't read Danish, not to worry it's been typed up in lots of languages at ravelry.com. It's a quick and easy knit, and lots of yarns can be used. A nice project for leftovers.

I also made a blue set with a hat.





























The hat is just a standard pattern for baby hats, don't know where I learned it. I just added a top that can be tied.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

Just a quick note: to all knitters, and knitted sweater lovers, and general fans of the 80s, now you can vote for your favorite Bill Cosby sweater from The Cosby Show. You can even win an autographed book from Bill Cosby if you vote.
Well, that takes me back.

The picture is of Bill Cosby in 1969, and from Wikimedia Commons.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

I have decided how to begin my journey towards writing my own patterns.

One of the skills I lack is choosing yarn. Usually I just use the yarn recommended in the pattern.

So now I have bought a whole heap of different yarns, all approximately sport or sock weight and all in dark red. I have chosen all sorts of materials in the yarns, all sorts of brands, and both the discount stores and fine yarn shops were visited. In the picture above are some of the skeins I bought. I wanted all of them in same or same-ish color so I would not get distracted by color when I looked at the results and evaluated qualities.

Next, I will try to make the same things with different yarns, and try to learn about their qualities and what they are best used for.

Hopefully this will be the first leg of my journey, maybe it will get me from Hobbiton to the Old Forest, or if I'm lucky, all the way to Bree. Or maybe it's just a little adventure before the journey begins for real.  Either way, the yarn looks tempting and I can't wait to begin.

Until next time,

Happy Knitting

Vacation time is coming up for most people, but I have already come back from mine.

I went to Cambridge, and filled my time with pubs, colleges, punting, museums, crumpets, tea and all the other things you'd imagine doing in there.

But the reason for my post, is the yarn shop in Cambridge, The Sheep Shop. It is a little out of the way, but, as it turns out, well worth the trip. The staff was simply the friendliest, and most service minded I have seen in a long time. After browsing the yarns for a bit I was offered a cup of tea (how British, right?) and a seat where me and some other customers sat and talked for a bit about knitting, yarn and England. It was just lovely. Don't you wish every yarn shop was like that?

They stoked quite a few types of yarn, both the larger brands and some locally made. I found a brand called Sparkleduck, and chose a skein of some type of dark red in the yarn called Galaxy.

The staff at The Sheep Shop told me it was hand dyed right there in Cambridge, witch made me like it even more. There is something special about a yarn made just where you are, somehow. Well, at least it's that way for me. And hand dyed is also an attraction.

The yarn is fingering weight and made of 75% wool, 20% nylon and 5% stellina. (See more at their website.) As you can se in the picture above, there is a little sparkle in the yarn, but is's quite subtle. Most glitter-type yarns are so overdone I don't know what to make with them, but this can be knit into quite a few things without becoming too gaudy.

Now I just have to find the time to use it...








Isn't it tempting? Don't you just want to knit when you see it?

Until next time,
Happy Knitting

One of my absolute favorite knitting designers is Alan Dart, and a few years back he made a series of designs with the Beatrix Potter characters. (Almost all of them, I think.) I am the lucky owner of some of these patterns, who can no longer be sold due to something, something copyright. (Although you can get them used from amazon: Jemima Puddle-Duck (Knitting Pattern)). And now I have made my very own Jemima Puddle-Duck.

I made her almost as the pattern is written, the only exception being the scarf.

She was made with Silja yarn in the colors white nr. 302, black nr. 301, yellow nr. 358, blue nr. 307 and pink nr. 323. I used 3 mm needles and ordinary toy stuffing. The pattern says to use "washable toy stuffing", but I've never been able to find something that dries up properly after a wash. Maybe it's something they have in England, and not here.

As with all Of Alan Dart's creations, the pattern gives a nice facial expression.






































The bonnet is put together from quite a few flat pieces, so the sewing takes a bit of time, but is really does look like the Jemima Puddle-Duck drawings in the Beatrix Potter books.






































The feet are put on a little crocked, by mistake originally, but it turned out to be quite pretty and gave the figure a sense of being in motion, just like in all the images from the books.





























Often Alan Dart patterns call for swiss darning, witch I hate, with a vengeance. So I knitted the pattern on the scarf. I took a long time to chart, but was well worth it to not have to swiss darn.























The only thing I would have done differently if I were to do it again, was to put a little lead or heavy stuffing in the tail to give the figure a bit more balance. Now she is a little wobbly.
































So from me and Jemima,

Until next time,
Happy Knitting