Sleepy Breeze » knitting http://sleepybreeze.com mom blog Sat, 02 May 2009 05:00:30 +0000 en hourly 1 http://wordpress.org/?v=3.0 Backpack, backpack http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/19/backpack-backpack/ http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/19/backpack-backpack/#comments Sat, 19 Jan 2008 21:43:10 +0000 Breeze http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/19/backpack-backpack/ The whole fam ran out to the yarn store the other night to pick up a few things, and with all my new knitting stuff, I’ve taken a break from my sock (over the six inch mark now) to whip up a backpack for Tulip. She wants something like Dora’s purple bag, and while it is purple, I’m knitting it and making some adjustments. For example, I’m still in love with simple cables, and I like how they allow a bit of flex but nip the flex in at the cable, so I’m adding them to the front of my design. I’m also incorporating a small heart on the bottom of the bag, just a little “I love you” for my girl. She’s all about hearts right now, and she inevitably announces that “hearts mean love” whenever she spots one. I’m making up the pattern as I go, so I can put it up for the world to share. I can’t stand finish work, so I’m designing a bag that requires as little of it as possible. I think I’m going to manage to only sew up the sides and sew on the straps, which is pretty good considering.

I’ll add a picture as soon as I finish. I’m getting there. I’ve already got the back and bottom, and I’m busy cabling up the front right now. Again, I’m posting this not because I think I’m a brilliant knitting pattern designer but in case I need to duplicate this for my own purposes, but hey, go ahead and make it if you’d like. I’d be happy to share.

Materials:

  • #7knitting needles
  • #7 double point needles
  • worsted weight yarn of your choice
  • tapestry needle

Gauge: 11 stitches=2 inches

Directions:

  1. C0 36 stitches.
  2. K in SS for 8 inches finishing on a wrong side row.
  3. P the next right side row. This row marks the switch from the back piece to the bottom piece.
  4. K in SS for 1.25 inches, and on the next right side row k 12, p 1, k to end. (This is Tulip’s hidden heart. You can skip it and just knit until you reach 2 inches and start the decreases instead. I’ll mark where they begin with an *.)
  5. Next row: P until the stitch before the heart’s first stitch. k 3, p to end.
  6. Next row: K to the heart stitches, p 3, k to end.
  7. Next row: P to the stitch before the heart’s stitches, k 5, p to en d.
  8. Next row: K to the stitch before the heart’s stitches, p 7, k to end.
  9. Next row: P to the stitch before the heart’s stitches, k 9, p to end.
  10. Next row: * K 2, slp, psso, (if you are not adding the heart, skip to the next *) K to the heart stitches, p 9, k to the last 4 stitches k2tog, k to end. Continue decreasing on right side rows until you have 28 stitches remaining.
  11. Next row: P to heart, k 9, p to end. (*If no heart, p entire row.)
  12. Next row: (Decrease row!) K to heart, p 4, k 1, p 4, k to end.
  13. Next row: P to heart, p1, k2, p 3, k 2, and p to end. You have finished the heard. Contiue to decrease until you have 28 stitches as mentioned above.
  14. P a k row to turn the corner from the bottom of your bag to the front. At the end of the purl row, pick up 20 stitches along the side with a dpn.
  15. Turn work and p the 48 stitches on your needles, switching to dpns as you go.
  16. Pick up 20 stitches along the other side with a third dpn. Now you have 68 stitches on 3 dpn.
  17. K 8, p 1, *k 4, p1 to end to set the 4×1 rib pattern.
  18. Follow the rib pattern for 5 rows, then cable all but the columns on each side.
  19. Continue following the rib and cabling on every 6th row until the front piece is 8 inches. BO.
  20. Seam the sides of the front to the sides of the back.
  21. Pick up stitches along the top of the back piece.
  22. Row one of back piece: k 5, p to last 5, k 5.
  23. Row two of pack piece: p 5, k to last 5, p 5.
  24. Repeat rows 22 and 23 until you have 3 inches, add your favorite button hole.
  25. After button hole, start decreases on right side rows by p 5, k 2, slp, psso, k to last 9 stitches, k2tog, k 2, p 5.
  26. B0 when work reaches 5 inches.
  27. Sew button to front of bag in appropriate place. #7 dpns, two should be 6 inches long and 2 should be 12 inches long.
  28. Attach long i-cords to back of bag near the top and to the sides of the back piece and short i-cords to back of bag near the bottom and to the sides of back piece.
  29. Weave in all the strays, but there shouldn’t be too many.
]]> http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/19/backpack-backpack/feed/ 0 Knitting Successes and Failures http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/17/knitting-successes-and-failures/ http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/17/knitting-successes-and-failures/#comments Fri, 18 Jan 2008 03:46:00 +0000 Breeze http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/17/knitting-successes-and-failures/ I finished my selfish fingerless mittens, but then I gave them to my babiest sister. I’m still selfish, but they didn’t fit me very well and they did fit her. Besides, my next-to-babiest sister brought me great mittens home from Iceland this summer, and I’m enjoying them too much to need anything else anyway.

During the discussion of my selfish knitting, the world-traveling sister pointed out that I’ve never made her anything. I was shocked. Could that be true? After a bit of reflection, it appears that it was, in fact, true. I say it was true because it no longer is true. She is now the proud owner of a fetching pair of fingerless mittens knitted from some beautiful hand-painted and hand-spun Japanese wool that I’ve been holding on to for at least three years while I waited for the perfect project for a tiny bit of yarn that was too beautiful to leave on its lonely shelf.

Since then, I’ve also finished a hat called “Peg” from Debbie Bliss’s Junior Knits. I like the shape, but it’s huge. I think I’ll make it again in a much smaller size. Tulip’s “Peg” hat is a soft orange, and I had enough left over to make her a scaled down version of the fingerless mittens, which are a huge hit. I just dropped the needles down from #5s to #2 double points and went from casting on 45 stitches to casting on 35, and they are a great fit. Oh, and instead of listening to the number of rows to knit before starting the thumb, I just measured her little hand. I did the same thing on the adult version for the second pair I made. The original design starts the thumb up too close to the fingers to be comfortable to me. I write this, not to enlighten my readership, none of which knits though I think I have a single crocheter out there, but instead to remind myself for the inevitable day Tulip loses one little orange mitten.

]]> http://sleepybreeze.com/2008/01/17/knitting-successes-and-failures/feed/ 0 An excercise in selfishness http://sleepybreeze.com/2007/11/28/an-excercise-in-selfishness/ http://sleepybreeze.com/2007/11/28/an-excercise-in-selfishness/#comments Thu, 29 Nov 2007 00:00:59 +0000 Breeze http://sleepybreeze.com/2007/11/28/an-excercise-in-selfishness/ I’m a reasonably selfish person, by which I mean that I’m not unselfish, but when it comes to knitting, I’m nearly incapable of making something for myself. It’s ridiculous, but I’ve made dozens and dozens of things, but only kept a few for myself. Sometimes I even start a project intending to keep what I’m working on, but I inevitably decide that I just have to give it to someone else before I’m done. This winter I’m going to knit, and I’m going to keep it. It’s mine! All mine!

My first act of selfish knitting is a cute pair of fingerless gloves called Fetching from Knitty, a site I love to check out for inspiration. I’ll get pictures up when they are finished. They knit up fairly quickly, as the pattern says, but it’s still slow going with a baby sleeping on my lap. I finished the left one today, and I hope to start the right one tonight. The gloves may not compare to Tulip’s five mommy-made sweaters, four of which fit her this winter, but they are my first attempt at cables. I’m excited to wear them, maybe as early as this weekend, assuming that I manage to keep them. I can barely finish a row without mentally giving them away to one of my sisters. (Girls, if I try, tell me no, please.)

While I am fairly sure that I’m going to keep my gloves on principle, I know I won’t be able to keep from knitting stuff for at least my kids this winter, even though they don’t need anything. Tulip is the most excited recipient of hand-made gifts I’ve ever met. I know absolutely that she would rather have something I made her than something from a store that is far more likely to catch a 3 year old’s eye, so I will take a little break from selfish knitting to make her something next. Maybe some cute little socks. Maybe a stuffed animal. Definitely a tiny carrot. All she says she wants for Christmas is a basting brush (go figure), tiny horses, diapers for the tiny horses, and a soft carrot to feed the horses. I’ve found a cute carrot pattern, and I think I’ll felt it down to the size she’d like it to be. Pictures to follow. :)

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