Knitting Today: Swiss Darning or is it Duplicate Stitch?

 Recently I knitted a hat for a grandson.  I knitted in his initials in a circle all around the hat.  I knit a hat for his brother but thought I would try Swiss darning.  I had heard it was easy.  Well, I have found out that the answer to that is--yes and no!

 

Here is the hat in a box ready to send.  (Under that hat is a pile of potpourri bags with one Cadbury egg in each bag.,,a last minute idea since I had the bags handy.)

You can see that the Swiss darning is not stellar...but I bet our grandson will be able to distinguish this had from his brother's hat!

The Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild Charity Hat Knitting Adventure

The Fort Vancouver Knitting Guild are wonderful people who do a lot of good works.  Because I went to one of their meetings they kindly send me their newsletter and invitations to participate in charity knitting.

Several weeks ago they sent me two skeins of 100% Merino wool that was spun in Turkey. It is a lovely walnut color.  I was thrilled to receive the yarn since I committed myself to refraining from purchasing new yarn until all that I currently have on hand has been knitted up...which so far I have stuck to...thus, since the hat project had to be in wool yarn and all the wool I have is committed to other projects I was not going to be able to help out without their yarn contribution.

Well,  Dear One was very happy to help me wind the yarn.  He held the yarn and I wound it with the Stanwood winder (which I LOVE and recommend highly).  This started out as a quick and easy project for the first few winds then the issues began to arise.  The yarn was not evenly skeined up!  What a bust!  Even changing the positioning of the yarn on Dear One's hands did not improve things.  After a LONG time we got the first skein wound. I had decided to let the other one alone but Dear One said he was happy to continue helping so I thought, "Why not?"  Well, that was the wrong idea.

The second skein was even worse! Way more tangles.

We worked on it for another fifteen minutes then it was so tangled that I finally got out my good Gingher scissors and cut it off and excused Dear One.

A few days later I went back into the work room and started untangling the yarn so I could eventually wind it up into a cake.  After pulling from one end until there was not possible way to go on, I searched for the other end of the skein and finally found it, started pulling from that end and eventually had probably ten yards of yarn on the floor, another ten yards over the ironing board, and me in the middle with an almost impossible tangle in the my hands.  After a while, even I gave up for a while and went about my regular business (which included working on the hat) and left the work room for a couple of days. 

Twice I went back in and eased out another yard or two of yarn from each end.  There was still a good-sized tangle, maybe another twenty or thirty yards, when Saturday came.  I went out to do a few errands, leaving Dear One home to rest and do whatever he does when I am away.  When I returned it was obvious that he had vacuumed the floors.  I thanked him for doing that.  He then told me that he had had a terrible time vacuuming the work room because "someone left a heap of yarn on the floor and it got sucked into the rollers of the vacuum cleaner."  OH NO!!  I was going to finish untangling that yarn.  Well, that job is now over!

Here is the finished hat.

Here is the pattern.

Cast on 84 stitches of wool knitting worsted weight (size 4) with US Size 6 16-inch circular needles.  K2, P2 ribbing for 4 inches.  Switch to stockinette stitch for another 5.5 inches then start the crown decreases.
Crown decreases:  K10, K2tog around, Knit 1 round.  K9, K2tog around, Knit 1 round. Repeat the decreases going down one stitch and following with a plain knit round until you have done your K1, K2 tog around.  By this time you should probably only have a dozen stitches.  Knit 2tog around then cut yarn and pull through all stitches and tie off inside.  Weave in ends and you have a hat.

This is a very easy hat to knit and comes out a nice smallish adult or teen hat.  Because it is so easy to knit, and easy to remember the pattern, I will probably knit another one sometime.

More Mission Knitting

 In an effort get further on the hat project,  I decided I would try to knit two hats at once on two circular needles.

The hat I am making is a K2, P2 ribbing for about 8 1/2-9 inches from cast on edge (112 stitches)  then work the crown decreases.  This is a very stretchy pattern, yet it is snug on a smaller head.

Since I had size 7 circular needles...both 16-inch and 24-inch, I decided to use them to work two hats at once.  It turned out that the 16-inch "circ" was a bit too tight to do the job easily.  It certainly can be done that way but not as comfortably as with two 24-inch needles...so off I went to Black Sheep at Orenco to their new location.  It was a challenge for me to get there but I love our Garmin.  (In our welcome letter to the Oregon Portland Mission it was strongly recommended that we bring a GPS with us.  I can see why!  Fortunately we were already comfortable with the basics of GPS.  I am sure there is more we could learn, but it gets us where we need to go.)

I have started getting Chia Goo needles.  The ones I get are lace needle which have a longer sharper point making it very easy to pick up the yarn.  Their cable DOES NOT TANGLE!!!  A very good thing.

112 stitches Patons Classic Wool cast onto two circular needles

On the way home I dropped off a book at the main library then saw a Papa John's pizza and cranked the car to a quick stop and ordered a pizza.  Dear One is always happy when I bring a pizza home to him.  This was a Philly Steak pizza which was on sale for a good prize.  Because he is a vegetarian I asked if they could make half of it a regular cheese pizza, which they could.

One more stop was at Whole Foods Market which I had discovered by chance about half a mile from home.  I was astonished at the prices of things...quite high, except for some canned garbanzo beans which were $.79, the cheapest I have seen them.

When I got home we had the pizza for supper.  The crust was great.  The regular cheese side of the pizza was cheese, but not regular:  no red sauce, just more of the cream cheese sauce that was under the Philly Cheese Steak side.  Not popular.  Having said that,  the cheese size went pretty fast, too.

Knitting Today: Baby Jane Booties and Hat

A friend is having a baby girl very shortly.  I started a top/sweater for her but found the yarn not to my liking when I was well on the way.  So I pulled it out to re-purpose.

This is what I actually made:  Baby Janes and an easy newborn baby hat with some lovely soft variegated yarn.

The hat pattern is here  which I found at Ravelry:

Small Preemie to Full Term Hat/Michelle's baby hat
(with fold up cuff)

Materials: Baby sport weight yarn
Size 5 double pointed needles (You could do this on regular needles also but then the even rows will be purled.)
Sizes: S, M, L, FT (9", 10 ¼", 11 ½", 13")
Gauge: 5 ½ st = 1"
Cast on 50, 56, 64, 70 stitches. Rib 2, (2 ½, 2 ½, 3) inches.
Continue in stockinette stitch for 1 ½, (2, 2 ½, 3) inches.
Begin decreases.
Row 1: Knit 2 tog, K 3, (5, 6, 5). Continue across.
Row 2: Knit.
Row 3: Knit 2 tog, K 2, (4, 5, 4). Continue across.
Row 4: Knit.
Continue to decrease in same manner until K2 tog around row- continue to K2 around until 5 or 6 st left. Cut yarn with tail. Run through stitches left. Tie off and weave in ends.

http://www.bevscountrycottage.com/michelle-booties.html

The Baby Janes are here,  a Red Heart yarn pattern.

For decently formatted pattern, please go to the website above.

Baby Jane Booties

Designed by Linda Cyr.

Baby size 6 – 12 months. Finished length: 31⁄2”.

Red Heart® With LoveTM: 1 skein 1805 Bluebell. 

Knitting Needles” 4mm [US 6]
Double Pointed Knitting Needles: 4mm [US 6]. 

Yarn needle, 23/8” diameter buttons.

GAUGE: 20 sts = 4”; 38 rows = 4” in Garter st. CHECK YOUR GAUGE. Use any size needle to obtain the gauge.

Special Abbreviations


Ssk = Slip next 2 sts knitwise, one at a time to right needle; insert point of left needle into the fronts of these 2 sts and knit them together from this position.

M1 (make one stitch) = Lift running thread before next stitch onto left needle and knit into the back loop.

BOOTIES


Right
 

With knitting needles, cast on 28 sts.


Rows 1, 3, 5 (wrong side): Knit.


Row 2: [K1, m1, k12, m1, k1] 2 times–32 sts.


Row 4: * K2, m1, k12, m1, k2 * m1, repeat from * to * once more–37 sts.


Row 6: K3, m1, k12, m1, k2, m1, k3, m1, k2, m1, k12, m1, k3–43 sts.


Rows 7 - 14: Knit.


Row 15: K13, [ssk] 4 times, k1, [k2tog] 4 times, k13.


Row 16: Knit.
Row 17: K8, bind off 19, k8.

Strap

Slip each set of 8 sts onto a double pointed needles. Cut yarn. Rotate the needles so that the heel edges of the bootie meet. With right side facing, attach yarn to foot edge and work across the sts as follows:

Row 1: K7, k2tog (1 st from each needle to join heel), k7, cast on 13 sts for strap– 28 sts.


Row 2: Knit.
Row 3: K25, yo, ssk, k1.

Row 4: Knit. Bind off.

Left

Cast on and work same as for Right Bootie to Strap.

Strap

Rotate the needles so that the back edges of the bootie meet. With wrong side facing, attach yarn and complete same as for Right Bootie.

FINISHING

Sew bottom and heel seams. Weave in yarn ends. Sew button opposite buttonhole on strap.

Charity Knitting: Easy Premie Hats

Here are two premie hats I made recently to go along with a newborn hat.

Ribbed Hat

Cast on 48 stitches with soft worsted weight yarn and using US size 7 double pointed needles.

Knit 2, purl 2 ribbing for 4 inches.

Begin decrease rounds. 

Dec. Round 1: Knit 2, knit 2 together.  Repeat around.
Dec. Round 2:  Knit
Dec. Round 3: K1, k2tog around
Dec. Round 4:  Knit
Dec. Round 5:  K2tog around.

I think you need to do a second K2tog round to get to 6 stitches left. 

Work I-cord for 2 inches.  Bind off the 3 stitches and weave in ends.  Tie a knot in the I-cord.


Beanie Hat

Cast on 48 stitches with soft worsted weight yarn and using US size 7 double pointed needles.

Knit 1, purl 1 ribbing for 1 inch.

Knit every round until 4 inches from cast on edge.

Begin decrease rounds. 

Dec. Round 1: Knit 2, knit 2 together.  Repeat around.
Dec. Round 2:  Knit
Dec. Round 3: K1, k2tog around
Dec. Round 4:  Knit
Dec. Round 5:  K2tog around.

You may need to K2tog again to get to 6 stitches remaining.  Cut yarn with a long tail.  Thread a needle and run yarn through 6 stitches and pull tight.  Fasten off.

Make a small pompom and sew to top of hat.  Turn up brim.

Slouchy Leftover Hat

This hat was knit up rather quickly as a potential gift.  I had my doubts about its acceptability which turned out to be correct!

The hat was knit on 16" US 11 circular needles holding two strands of Bartlettyarn (which is worsted weight/heavy worsted weight) together throughout.  You could use a bulky yarn.

Cast on 64 stitches and knit in K2, P2 ribbing for 3 inches.

Knit one round plain, increasing 5 stitches evenly.

Knit plain (knit every stitch in every round) until you are ten inches (or a little more) from cast on edge.

K4, knit 2 together around.

K3, knit 2 together around.

K2, knit 2 together around.

K1, knit 2 together around.

Knit 2 together around. If necessary, continue this final decreasing until you have only 6-8 stitches left on needle.  Break yarn leaving plenty of tail to go through stitches, pull tightly and secure. Finally, weave in ends.

This is a very sturdy and somewhat slouchy hat.  If you want it slouchier, use softer yarn, perhaps some which is already bulky weight.  I carried one color throughout, adding new colors as I ran out of the previous color.  A pretty quick knit, but next time I will use metal needles instead of bamboo as the bamboo did what they do best, stick to the yarn do it does not slip off needles!

Since I rather like this hat myself, I may be wearing it out in the cold soon!