Bandana Cowl

I have gotten so far in the knitting of my Carnaby Skirt, that it no longer fits in my bag that I carry into the city on my commute. This means one of two things: either I don't knit on my commute or I start another project. So I decided on a quick knit by Purl Soho called the Bandana Cowl. I found Purl last week when I was looking for a good pictorial for my blog on short-row knitting. I looked at several of the free, online knitting patterns that they had, copied a couple of them to my hard drive and went on with life.

A week later, I was looking at some postings on Knitting Paradise and noticed this one on the Bandana Cowl and immediately recognized it. To me, that is knitting destiny.

I am somewhat limited on bulky weight yarn at the moment, but I had some left-over Wool of the Andes Bulky from my Chocolate Diamonds Sweater that I knitted last fall. Perfect. I cast on the pattern and am following it as written. There was some discussion on Knitting Paradise regarding converting the project to knitting flat instead of in the round and adding some buttons, but I decided not to mess with the pattern and just go with what was written.

I am about half way and have only knitted for about 3 hours. For me, that will be a REALLY quick project. I may have to get some more bulky yarn.

Happy knitting!

Short row knitting -- One of my favorite things!

As you may have seen in one of my most recent posts, I am currently knitting a skirt called the Carnaby. The skirt is knit with a pair of panels: one in a pattern and the other a stocking stitch wedge formed with short row knitting. I have grown quite fond of short rows. I remembered first learning how to do short row knitting when knitting sock heels. But I have found that short row knitting is used in all kinds of knitting.

Just like increases and decreases, short row knitting is a shaping method. Think "darts" in sewing. From the photo above, you can see the wedges formed with the short rows. (Ignore the color, my iPhone doesn't capture color indoors at night very well.) In the picture on the left, you can see where the short row stopped and turned around. The Carnaby pattern, spaces each short row end about 10 stitches  from the last one, with six short rows in all so that it is a long skinny wedge.

The Purl Bee has a very nice short row pictorial tutorial (wow that rhymes) showing the wrap and turn that most people use with short row knitting. "Purl" has pictures showing both the wrap and the pickup when both knitting and purling. And since Purl did such a great job, I would rather you check out her link. I'm not sure I would do half as well with my iPhone.

On Ravelry, as of the date of this post, if you do a pattern search on just the word short row you will have 12,518 patterns come up. Well that isn't all socks or skirts! There are coats, dresses, scarves, swimsuits, toys and buttons. Personally, I have made dog sweaters, socks, and an ear flap chullo on my knitting machine.

If you haven't tried short row knitting yet, you are missing out on a very useful skill. Pick up some yarn, pick out a pattern and get some learn'n on!

Happy Knitting!

My current project: The Carnaby

The Carnaby, designed by Nikol Lohr and published in the Fall 2010 online Knitty, is a skirt reminiscent of the prep-school tartan. This skirt is knit along its length in a two panel pattern. One panel is in box stitch, a 2 X 2 checkerboard pattern that lends huge texture and meatiness, the other panel is a short row stocking-stitch forming a long, thin pie wedge. This combination gives the skirt a natural increase from the waist to hip without darts or increase/decrease shaping at a side seam. It also adds a fun and flirty A-line look.

I have lengthened the skirt just slightly to just-above-the-knee length, so that I can wear it to work without worrying about professionalism. The wrap styling is one of the best features of this skirt, but I plan to make only the top two buttons functional and close the remaining ones permanently. This will lesson the number of button holes that I have to make and make the skirt less likely to open at inopportune times. Big, fat, wooden buttons are what I have in mind. I will have to go button shopping closer to the end of my knitting when I get to the button hole row.

The yarn I have chosen is Wool of the Andes by Knit Picks in a beautiful, creamy avocado color. I like this yarn. I used the Wool of the Andes Bulky when I did my Chocolate Diamonds last fall and decided to try it in the worsted weight. I am glad that I did since I am getting the same good stitch definition that I got with the bulky version. The color is great and is a direct result of my love of the fruit, too!

Well, since I would rather be knitting than blogging. . . Happy knitting!!!

Not Your Average Sweater

This is my baby, Beemer! And although summer is coming and it will be hot, I needed something fast and easy to knit when I couldn't concentrate easily enough to knit lace, so Beemer is getting a sweater.  Searching for a pattern is easy when you use Ravelry and not only did I find a dog sweater, I found a dog sweater specifically designed for the not-your-average-shaped-dog shape of the dachshund. The Wurstwarmer is a pattern available for sale through Ravelry. Most of the patterns that I knit have been free downloads, but this one was worth every penny of the $3.00 charge.

Designed by Flint Knits, the pattern's "short rows add extra material to accommodate a dachshund’s barrel chest. A long, ribbed, generously-sized turtleneck gently hugs the neck and allows for a wide range of neck and chest shapes and sizes. A long body covers the belly, and more short rows curve the sweater over the rump. Short, wide-set triangular sleeves will stay on even the wiggliest pups."

I am using some old acrylic sport weight yarn by Caron. And when I say old, I mean it -- the yarn is some 14 or 15 years old. The pattern is knit with only one yarn. However, you know I have a hard time not fiddling with a pattern, so I have incorporated a stripe into the sweater. I knit down to the end of the chest increase/short rows in navy, then switched to a medium blue just before the bind off and cast on for the leg holes. A total of 9 rows of knitting in the medium blue, then a single row of cream, three rows of medium blue, another single row of cream, 9 rows of medium blue and back to navy.

If you have ever knit socks with a short row heel, this pattern should be a breeze. In fact the sweater looked a lot like a giant sock until I intentionally knit in two holes for Beemer's legs! I am guessing that this pattern would be great for other long low dogs such as Basset Hounds, short legged Jack Russell Terriers and Dandie Dinmont Terriers. Although a Dandie Dinmont pretty much has its own sweater!

If this one works out well, I may be knitting an entire wardrobe for my Mr. B!

Happy knitting!