Addicted to garter stitch

Project – Garter Stitch Cardigan
Patons Pattern Book #500874 – Bamboo Baby and Bunnies
Yarn – Patons Bamboo Baby in Royal
Blogger – knittinjen

I love garter stitch. When I was first learning to knit I didn’t like it much. I didn’t think it looked like a knit item. To me knit items were stockinette (stocking) stitch so I thought I wasn’t really knitting.

Doesn’t seem like much knitting does it? I had to clean the house…

The pattern says to knit the sleeves first. Being the good girl that I am I followed directions other than I am knitting both sleeves at the same time. I’m using the recommended yarn, Patons Bamboo Baby and chose one of the new colors, Royal. This yarn looks just fine online but in person it is wonderful. I am amazed at the sheen without being too shiny. It is a tad more slippery than the Patons Decor (as well it should be) that I’ve been using for the past six weeks but I chose some nice wood needles to give me some drag on the yarn. I absolutely love it. Oh by the way, the blue is fantastic – and as I thought it will make the recipient’s eyes just pop!

– knittinjen

Felting Fun

Project – Felted Posy Bag (knit)
Patons free pattern (download here)
Yarn – Patons Classic Wool in Mercury, Wisteria, Currant, Water Chestnut, Royal Purple, Lemongrass, Leaf
Blogger – YoElizbo

As I said before, this Felted Posy Bag is fast! It took me less than a week to knit it, and I wasn’t even rushing things–just my usual nightly rounds and the couple of rows I squeeze into the day. So if you were really in a hurry, I think you could whip this out in no time. And then all it takes is the trip through the washing machine to turn it into a felted wonder.

Here are all the pieces knit up,

and ready for their close-up:

I already love these flowers so it will be fun to see how they felt up. Now, I have to make a confession. I have felted a ton of different yarns, but I have never felted with Patons Wool. So this was sort of suspenseful for me. How would it felt? I find that wools felt two ways–just sort of solid or it with a more interesting nubby fabric. So I had my fingers crossed as I tossed the pieces into their zippered pillow cases.

Zippered pillow cases are a must for felting. Unless you really hate your washing machine and want an excuse to kill the old one and get a new one. Because if you just toss the wool pieces in, the leftover bits of fiber that come out in the felting process end up in the washing machine’s water pump and then the pump will clog and  . . . well, you get my drift. Let’s just suffice it to say that lucky for me, my sister-in-law learned this lesson the hard way, and I have never tempted fate after her experience.

So into zippered pillowcases they go, and then into the washing machine with a really bad pair of jeans, some old towels and a couple of those laundry sheets that “catch color”. Just in case the dyes start to bleed. Oh, and a cap full of your favorite wool wash. Then switch on the hot water, fill ‘er up, and start the washing machine on the violent cycle. About 10-12 minutes into this, I usually stop the washing machine, pull out one of the zippered bags and take a peek at what is happening.

This shows the bag not quite ready. I could still discern stitches, and it wasn’t firm enough. So back into the bag it goes–being careful not to get extra fibers in the washer–again, I am sort of hyper about that, but I really don’t want to have to buy a new washing machine. At this point, sometimes I add a little more hot water and reset the washing machine back for another round of washing and in another 5 or so minutes, check it again. The timing really depends on your washing machine and the wool. If I have never felted with a yarn before I tend to hawk the machine and keep checking. When I am finally sure that it is all A-okay, I move the washer cycle ahead to spin and let that spinning force do the work for me.

Then it is out of the bags, patted and tug into shape and leave them to dry on a towel. So here were my delights and surprises: The Patons felts wonderfully. This is now my go-to for felting because it gets that lovely dappled nubby sort of surface. Trust me, it gives the felted fabric a rich character. And even better, the colors didn’t bleed. My color catchers came out clean. I can say that has never happened with other yarns we shall not mention. So hurrah! A new favorite felting yarn. The interesting thing was that the two shades of green used for the leaves,

Leaf on the left and Lemongrass on the right were exactly the same size and dimensions when they went into the washing machine, but they felted so very differently. I find that fascinating and have to imagine it has to do with lots of factors–the dyes in the wool, how each piece was situated in the washing machine. Lots of things. But that is what is so fun about felting–you just never know how it will come out of the wash until it is done.

What have you felted? Any felting disasters you want to share? Tips that make your felting perfect every time?

-Elizbo

I’m lovin’ it!

Project – Boldly Colored Plaid Afghan
Patons free pattern (download here)
Yarn – Patons Decor in Chocolate Taupe, New Teal, Aran, Pale New Green, Claret, Navy
Blogger – knittinjen

Afghan knitting is FUN. For years (and years) I have wanted to knit an afghan, in fact, when my mom taught me to knit about 30-years-ago I worked on garter stitch squares with plans for an afghan. (Said squares are in our basement storage room – not in afghan form.) Truthfully I have longed for one but have steered clear of making one because of my inability to stay on task, to not come down with a terrible case of startitis, or simply bore myself into certain death. I should admit, however, to having made a small blankie for one of the twins and the other twin’s is still on needles somewhere in the house.

As I suspected Patons Decor yarn is fantastic to work with and is so soft and squishable I can hardly contain myself! The k1b (knit one below) stitch is simple and because I decided to make some of the squares all garter stitch the knitting goes really fast.

My last photos showed only a few days’ worth of work and I had one strip nearly finished. While I’ve had a busy week with the kids, job and life I have been able to steal away time to knit. I completed that first strip and started the second one at knit night.

See - this is coming along - Squeee!

You know what I’ve been thinking (how could you really)? This afghan would make a good group charity project. Find five or six of your knitting buds to each work up a strip and then find some sucker a good finisher to sew them all together. Even a beginner could work up a strip! How about a group making a shower gift? It would be good baby afghan – all you’d have to do is make the strips shorter. Can you imagine it out of the soft colors of Bamboo Baby? Not into ”baby” colors? Patons Pure has rich colors like Marine, Taupe and Grey. Plus Pure gives you the added bonus of being organic cotton and would be incredibly soft on a newborn’s skin. I am actually drooling!

Gotta get back to it,

– knittinjen

Smitten

The weather has become a little nippy and it was time to assess my winter accessories situation. Hats? Check. Scarves? Check. Mittens? Oh dear.

The situation is dire. This right here is the first pair of mittens I have ever knit. Sure, there’s nothing wrong with them per se, but they don’t scream; “Hey everybody! Check out my kick-ass hand knit mittens! I’m so talented! And warm! In yo face!”

I plan to rectify the situation immediately.
Step One: Step Seven. What? I mean Next Steps Seven.

Just in time to rescue me from mitten ennui, Patons has a brand spankin’ new book dedicated to all the wonderful wooly ways to warm your hands. I set to work choosing something both warm and, ahem, “kick-ass” looking:

A little fair isle number perhaps?
Kick-ass factor covered, I was left to cover Step Two: “Hey Everybody!”.

Nothin’ shouts; “Hey! Look over here!” like Peacock and Lemongrass (Patons Classic Wool). I’m so ready to get in yo face with these mitts!

-juliaknits

Tammy McTam Tam

My tam is done! I wove in the edges (not too bad!) and blocked on my handy dinner plate.

I love the colors and I love how they worked up together.

Though I’ve never been one to ‘rock’ a beret, I wasn’t quite happy with the look of the hat after blocking.

It’s too tall, and not wide enough, I guess. Whatever it is, it doesn’t scream ‘tam’.

I think the problem has something to do with the width of the plate, so I borrowed someone else’s dinner plate and reblocked! (note: Reblocking isn’t hard, just get your project wet and do it again).

With a larger dinner plate, my hat is tam-ier, and I love it!

-jencraft

FO: Fair Isle Tam

Just in time for crisp, cool air, my Fair Isle Tam is ready to wear!  Hehe, that rhymes!  The Fair Isle Tam was a lot of fun to make.  From picking out the colors to working the pattern, this project was very addicting. Since I am so used to doing fair isle with fingering weight yarn, using Patons Classic Wool in worsted weight made this tam fly off my needles.  I must come clean about something.  Prior to being shown this pattern, I had NO idea what a tam was.  I actually had to Google ‘tam’. This was also my very first Knit-Along as well!

I made my tam exactly as the pattern states.  In the beginning, I had a little trouble with the center decreases, but nothing that I could not figure out.  I used a medium size dinner plate during blocking to help shape the tam.  The only thing I would have done differently, would have been to use a tighter rib stitch.  Recently, I discovered the twisted rib stitch (you knit through the back loop on the knit stitches).  This technique creates a very nice, tight, rib.

Don’t forget to email photos of your tam to knitalong@patonsyarns.com or join the Flickr Group to share your finished tam!

Coming soon… Cables and Lace Hoodie (Patons Pure Organic Cotton) update!

-BrennaLePurl