Status, Status, Status..
Posted by: knitant on: March 10, 2008
Okay, so where are we in our knitting. Girlfriend finished hers last week, a few minutes before meeting her friend to present the hat as a gift. That was a time crunch there for you, girlfriend. But it did not turn out well. Too big. Try again, my cute little niece-y. You say that you’ll give the hat as a Xmas gift instead? Now you’ll have plenty of time to knit. This happens a lot. The knitting may be done beautifully but we tend to forget to check gauge intermittently. Gauge is important. It determines the size of your knitted piece. I know so for it was something I learned when I started to knit 1000 years ago.
JJ and I are at the same phase. Just knitting the rectangular piece. You know we are busy souls, and have x amount of time to devote to knitting. It took me about 1 month to knit this hat, and I think this time it will take me …. 1 month to knit. I’ve had a busy week, but I took some time to check out stitch patterns in knitting books at a local library. I wrote that I’d be faithful to the pattern and use the stated stitch but I’m afraid the stitch is not working for me. In the end, it comes to how comfortable you are with the knitting, and since this hat is for me, though the stitch is lovely, it is not for me. I’ve been experimenting with different stitch patterns and selected a simple rib stitch. I did not use the same rib stitch knitted for the first hat. I had my niece in mind when I chose that rib stitch. This time, the simple rib stitch suits me. There was another factor. In selecting a new stitch pattern, I had to keep in mind how it will look when knitted. The back of the hat has folds, so a flat and simple stitch pattern would do well. Flat, so the folds will not be bulky and unsightly. Simple, so as not to detract the stylish folds of the hat. TMTH?
I know we are still at the beginning of our first knit-along, but I browsed knitting publications for the next knit-along project. I..couldn’t… help…myself. I found some wonderful sweater knits in the winter issue of Vogue Knitting magazine. JJ and I both love a long sweater coat with big cables down the front. It is designed by Anna Sui, and rated as ‘very easy, very vogue’ knitting. Something we both could knit. Well, I dunno know about JJ, but I am an advanced knitter. NOT! JJ emailed me a weblink to Crafters.org for Mary Jane slippers. It’s so cute! And functional! Yep, cute is my favorite word at the moment.
Here’s my sign-off – Keep on knitting. Until next time!
Finished Hat, Version 1
Posted by: nijkt on: March 9, 2008
OK, so last week, Girlfriend finished her hat! buut, it came out too big… the importance of gauge… yes. well, she’s started to frog and will start over again. try and try again!
OUR FIRST KNIT-ALONG
Posted by: knitant on: March 2, 2008
Here are pics of the hat for our first knit-along:
The hat has a nice boxy shape that perches loosely on the head which is a popular wear-style nowadays among hipsters. It looks simple in the front with the nicely textured stitch pattern I substituted but when one looks at the back view. Oooh-La-La. It has stylish folds, transforming the look from simple ordinary to simple kewl. The knitting does not take long and anyone can knit this. The instructions are uncomplicated. Knit a long rectangular piece measuring 28 cm x 68 cm. You can use any stitch pattern as long as the finished knitted piece measures the stated width and length. Or use the special hikiageme stitch that my so talented niece-y provided in a preceding post. Then fold and tuck the knitted piece here and there to form a hat and sew up the seams. Et voila! Vous avez un chapeau!
The knit-along began as an idea for my 2 nieces and I to knit this hat together. We live in different U.S. states, and having an online weblog was a great method to do just that. So here’s the scoop on where we are:
The first pic is knitted by Girlfriend, who is knitting the hat as a birthday present for her friend. Girlfriend! You’re sooo far ahead of us. It looks like you’re nearly done with the knitting and ready for the finishing part. You selected a yarn when knitted has a color gradient and stripe-y effect. Looks super! Can’t wait to see the finished hat. If you need help with the finishing, ask your eldest sis…..JJ!
Good transition to introduce JJ, who is really the force behind this project. She translated the Japanese pattern into English, and figured out the special hikiageme stitch (hs) from the accompanying chart. The second pic is of JJ’s test swatch using the special hikiageme stitch pattern. Yep, you’re right JJ. It is a rib stitch. I think it’s a variation of the 1×1 rib stitch. There are bits of lace knit in between the rib. JJ and I are on the same step, the very first step-knit a test swatch. When I knitted the test swatch using hs, it was not a smooth knitting motion for me. Whenever I knitted hs, I had to look to down to see where I stick the knitting needle. Something I’m a little uncomfortable with, that’s just me. See the third pic for my test swatch. It’s kind of funny, I was knitting the test swatch while watching the vampire flick, ‘30 Days of Night’, so I had an excuse to look down at my knitting and not see the gruesome scenes. Hehe. Keep on knitting until next time.
THE BEGINNING OF A WONDERFUL KNIT-ALONG
Posted by: knitant on: February 24, 2008
- In: Intro
- 3 Comments
Hi niece-ys! Let’s start our knit-along project, the cute hat from a Japanese knitting book. I think this will be fun! I’ve already knitted this hat for one of my nieces but used a different stitch pattern. I would love to knit another and ‘really’ be faithful to the stitch pattern this time. It is a lovely stitch pattern but I don’t understand the chart for the stitch pattern!
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