Patternum Novum: Felted Sweater Stocking

After posting about Daniel's Christmas Stocking last week, a few of you asked if I was going to write it up as a pattern. Your wish is my command! Here it is -- the Felted Sweater Stocking. As a Christmas gift to knitblogland, I've priced this pattern quite low (good until the end of January), but don't let the low price fool you. $2 still gets you photos, charts and written directions for the cables, and a fully tech edited pattern.

I know Christmas is only a week away, but it's still possible to whip one of these up in time to hang on your mantle!

$2 (from now through January 31) via Ravelry (no account needed)




Finished measurements
Before Felting:
Width: 9”/23cm
Length to bottom of heel: 21.75”/55cm
Length from bottom of heel to tip of toe: 13”/33cm

After Felting:
Width: 6.75”/17cm
Length to bottom of heel: 19”/48cm
Length from bottom of heel to tip of toe: 10”/25.5cm

Materials
390 yards of an aran to bulky weight 100% wool
Shown in Fingerlakes Woolen Mill 3-Ply Soft Wool (100% Wool, 210yds/113g)
US 10 (6.0 mm) needles preferred for working a small-ish circumference in the round (e.g. 16”, long enough to do Magic Loop, or dpns)
Cable needle
2 stitch markers

Technical editing by Chris Church.

Patterna Nova: Double Knit Three - Dots, Spots & Arrows

As alluded to last week, I've put together a little trio of cowl patterns, all double knit, all reversible, and all using less than 200 yards each of two different colored yarns. Introducing, the Double Knit Three:

Dots...

Spots...

and Arrows.

$5.50 for the collection of three via Ravelry (no account needed)


or purchase them individually for $1.99 on the Knit Picks website: Dots, Spots, Arrows

Finished measurements
Circumference: 22.25”/ 56.5 cm
Dots & Arrows Height: 8.5”/ 21.5 cm
Spots Height: 7.5”/ 19 cm

Yarn requirements
(MC) 175 yds/160 m of DK or light worsted weight wool
(CC) 150 yds/140 m of DK or light worsted weight wool

Shown in
Dots: (MC) Knit Picks Capra (85% Cashmere, 15% Merino, 123 yds/112 m per 50g), 2 balls in Black; (CC) Knit Picks Swish DK Bare (100% Merino, 246 yds/224 m per 100g), 1 hank
Spots: (MC) Knit Picks Swish DK (100% Merino, 123 yds/112 m per 50g), 2 balls in Eggplant; Knit Picks Capra, 2 balls in Fairy Tale
Arrows: (MC) Knit Picks Swish DK, 2 balls in Dove Heather; Knit Picks Capra, 2 balls in Honey

Gauge
18 sts & 25 rows = 4"/10 cm in Double Knit Stockinette st
21 sts & 26 rows = 4”/10 cm in Stockinette st
on US 5 (3.75mm) circular needles

Errata
2/11/12: The key for all three charts was mistaken; the explanation of the pink-colored square should be "k with CC, p with MC." This has been corrected in version 2 of the pattern.



The Double Knit Three is a trio of cowls done up in fun prints that add a splash to any ensemble: polka dots for whimsical flair, leopard print for when you’re feeling spicy, and a Southwestern-inspired geometrical pattern for more refined days. Because they are worked in the Double Knitting technique, they are reversible, thus doubling your Double Knit fun.



The pdf includes a brief introduction to the Double Knitting technique and patterns for all three cowls, with written directions and full colorwork charts. Each cowl uses 170 yards of a main color and 150 yards of contrast, so they work up pretty quickly and are a great way to use up extra yarn you have around. And it's not too late to add one of them to your holiday gift knitting list!



Six cowls in three. You can't go wrong with that!

Res Originalis: Daniel's Sorta Felted Christmas Stocking

Before Daniel was born, I had all sorts of ideas about the things I wanted to make for him. Included in the Christmas category was a stocking -- intricate colorwork, fingering weight wool, a sight to behold. Well, I never got around to it, and now that the little guy is here and trying to crawl, we're mere weeks away from Christmas, and I have deadline knitting to work on, I unfortunately had to scrap those plans and go for something a bit quicker. So I got out the size 10 needles, some bulky wool and got to work.

Browsing through the December issue of Martha Stewart Living, I came across a pattern for some stockings cut from thrifted sweaters then felted. As a knitter, the idea of simply cutting up a sweater and sewing it together just didn't fly, but I loved the look of the stockings. So that's what I tried to recreate here.



It has a short row heel and all, but it definitely is more the style of a two-dimensional Christmas stocking rather than something one would wear on ones foot (note the sideways toe).



It's got Aran diamonds and bobbles and cables twisting both ways, and it looks exactly the same on the other side. It's felted -- sort of. I did it by hand and wanted the soft and subtly-felted look of something that had accidentally gone through the washer, so it's really not as felted as it could be. It's also HUGE. The stocking I grew up with, made by a second cousin when I was 1, is likewise ginormous and I always felt like Santa was more generous with me than with my little brother and his comparatively dinky stocking. (It's probably more likely that Santa wrapped my stocking stuffers in extra bulky material to take up more space, but little me doesn't need to know that.) I still love my big stocking and wanted to give Daniel something I could fill to the brim with little toys and candy and socks and (hopefully) oranges instead of onions and he can feel like Santa left more for him than his Uncle Alec.

Because that's what Christmas is about -- getting more presents than other people.

Coming Soon...

Presto...


Chango...

Res Completa: Buzzbee

After Melynda's sweet post about her baby's knits, I thought I'd revisit one of the little things I made for Daniel before he was born. I don't think I ever posted this one outside of Ravelry, but here is Buzzbee (from Wee Woolly Toppers) the first time I tried it on him:



I remember thinking when I took this picture that he would be teeny forever and there was no way he'd ever grow into this hat. Or, if he did, it was ages away. Yet somehow, in the past 8 months, this happened:



Also, somehow, as an 8 month old, our little rascal is much harder to photograph. LONG gone are the days of propping him up in a chair or posing him while he sleeps. After a series of unsuccessful attempts, I caught the above funny smile midway into a roll to the floor...



...after which he scooted right over to the filing cabinet we still have in his room (leftover from the room's previous life as an office), opened the bottom drawer, and started sorting my tax records.



And after which I had to put the camera down because he went after the fan behind him (a current favorite seems to be attempting to chew on electrical wires).

Anyhoo, this is a great little hat and I like how it turned out in the Swish DK. Nice and warm and squishy, and still washable after Daniel has made an afternoon snack of the chin ties. Now that the weather has cooled down, we're using Buzzbee on a daily basis during our walks. Here we are in action:

All Grown Up

It gives me immense pleasure to tell you that I have purchased the domain "theyarniad.com". Feeds should have been automatically updated, so I don't think you need to do anything if you're already subscribed. And I don't know why, but I feel like removing the ".blogspot" part just made this blog a little more grown up. It feels so official!

Thanks for letting me geek out.

World AIDS Day

In honor of World AIDS Day today, Steven A. is holding a pretty awesome contest/giveaway in order to raise money for the Pittsburgh AIDS Task Force, where every $40 donated allows someone to take a free, anonymous, safe HIV test. All you have to do is make a donation some time today and shoot an email over to Steven to be entered to win one of twenty-five prizes (including a set of patterns and some pretty yarn from The Yarniad). There's some amazing yarny goodness in there...so what are you waiting for? GO CHECK IT OUT!