Double Yarn, Bigger Needles - A Knitting Experiment

   Okay, so I had to try this out.

    Last week I wondered what the ear warmer would be like with double worsted weight yarn using bigger needles.  I took some lovely turquoise acrylic yarn (I'm pretty sure it's Red Heart Super Saver), wound up two balls of it.  I used size 11 - 16 inch circular needles and I cast on 60 stitches.  This is what I ended up with.

 

      I did not double this up like I did with the other ear warmers I made because the yarn was already doubled, but it's not exactly what I thought it would be or what I want.  Now I wonder if I should do this with my size 8 needles or I may need a size 9.  The size 11 needles made the fabric too loose.  I'm not loving it, but this would be helpful under a hat.

     And I have just the hat.

Black Knit Stocking Cap

   I finished my black knit stocking cap.  I used size 7 knitting needles and Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn to make this.  I made this the same way I made my Christmas Stocking Cap.   The first post about it is here.  The only difference is the black hat is not as long as the red one.   I even put a pom pom on the end of this one.

More Knitting Projects

   I shouldn't have even started these knitting projects, but I wanted a hat and scarf made with black yarn.  Of course, my yarn is acrylic.  One of my favorite acrylic yarns is Lion Brand Vanna's Choice in black.  This yarn is super soft and so affordable.  I bought four skeins from JoAnn's the other day.  They were on sale for $2.99 a skein and I got an additional $20% off, so the four skeins ran $9.57 plus tax.  I ordered them online and picked them up in the store.

    I'm making The Boyfriend Hat, my favorite knitted hat pattern.  Link to knitted hat pattern.  It's a 3 x 2 rib that comes out perfect every time.  I'm going to make this one a little slouchy and see if I have enough yarn to make a pom pom.  I knit this hat in the round on a 16" -  size 7 circular needle.  When I get to the crown decreases I move my stitches onto two circular needles, splitting the 100 stitches to 50 stitches on each needle and work the decreases that way.  It's the easiest way for me to make my hats.  I could always use magic loop, but two circulars works really well for this project.
Yes, I know there are a lot of stitch markers, but they really help me know where I'm at when I'm knitting one hundred stitches.  I put a stitch marker in for each 10 stitches and with 3 x 2 rib that includes 3 knit stitches, 2 purl stitches, 3 knit stitches and 2 purl stitches, so as long as I can count to 10 I can tell which stitch I'm supposed to be making.  It's very helpful to me have all these stitch markers in here.

    I'm also making a lacey knitted scarf in the same black yarn.  It's the same pattern I used two other times this year to make scarves.  I made a white one and a blue one.  I should be able to make a six foot scarf with a little over one skein of this yarn.  I'm knitting this on a size 11 circular needle to get a very drapey fabric.  So pretty.

The Scarf I Couldn't Finish Is Done.

   I had an awful time knitting this scarf.  I started knitting this back in late May.  I have been trying to finish the scarf since then but I kept making ugly mistakes and having to rip it out and start over.  I started over about five time.  It was completely worth it to get it right because it's done now and I'm super happy with it.  This was knit with KnitPicks Brava worsted yarn in the denim colorway.  It's approximately six feet long and it took about 1.25 balls of yarn.  I knit this on size 11 knitting needles and the lacy fabric is very drapey and pretty.

White Lacey Scarf - Finished.

   I finished my white lacey scarf.  I love this scarf.  It's about 6 feet long.

 I'm starting a new one right now with the same size 11 knitting needles and a skein of KnitPicks Brava Worsted yarn in Denim colorway. 

Everyone Needs A Simple Knitted Lacy Scarf

    I definitely need one.

     I have made myself a few crocheted scarfs over the last few years, but I really like this scarf and the pattern is so easy.  I found this free pattern on Ravelry several years ago and I've made two of these for gifts.  The pattern is called the One Row Lace Scarf by Turvid.  It's very pretty and very easy to knit, which is good for me because I'm not the most accomplished knitter.  You don't have to be a Ravelry member to get the pattern.  Here is the link to the blog with the pattern.   Link here.

    This would make an awesome travel knitting project because it's a simple pattern to memorize and it makes such a pretty fabric.  It's almost as small to carry as a sock.

   I'm making my scarf with size ten Sunstruck (by Knit Picks) circular needles (larger size needles are suggested to show off the lacy stitches and I think the 10 is perfect) with a 24 inch cord.  I tried a 16 inch cord would but it was too short for me.  I would rather have too much cord than not enough.   This is a back and forth project so you can certainly knit this on straight needles but I like the circulars for keeping my project secure. 

    I'm using Knit Picks Brava worsted in the silver colorway.  This yarn is acrylic, which I like.  It's soft and indestructible.  I like that I don't have to worry about bugs eating it and it's washable.  The pattern writer used alpaca yarn to make hers, so feel free to use a natural fiber.  There was also the perfect amount of yardage in a skein of this yarn.  The pattern calls for 175 yards of yarn and this yarn comes with 218 yards.  I'm using two skeins on this scarf because I want this one to be extra long, but one skein of this yarn would be enough for a scarf according to the pattern.

  Here's a picture of my pretty progress so far.

      I bought a lot of Knit Picks Brava in different colors (there are lots of beautiful colors) earlier this year and I think all of it would be great in this pattern.  I picked the grey because, well, it's grey.  I like grey.  I will probably make more of these in some of the other colors, like currant (burgundy) Dublin (dark green), solstice heather (bright navy blue), and white.     

    Knit Picks also has a worsted weight yarn called Mighty Stitch which is a 80% acrylic and 20% super wash wool.  I bought a few skeins of this as well in January to try it out.  I like a good acrylic/natural fiber blend.   The Mighty Stitch comes lots of colors and is a 208 yard skein.

   This blog post turned into a complete Knit Picks commercial.  Sorry about that.  I just like Knit Picks.  I buy a lot of their products and I use them.  

Fixing My Knitted Christmas Hat Problem

    I'm knitting another Christmas stocking cap.  The last two that I knitted did not fit right and were too big.  On the other two hats I used a 3 x 2 rib on the white cuff then I switched to stockinette in the red section.  When I switched to stockinette it stretched out the ribbing and made it way too loose.  I even reduced the number of stitches I used on the second hat I knit, but it also stretched.  I'm blaming the stockinette stitch.  I was constantly pulling the hat back onto my head.  Annoying. 

     It is time to replace the poorly fitting hat.  I looked on Ravelry for a pattern and and I found the perfect pattern which should make a great stocking cap for me.  The hat is made with the ribbing for the entire hat until you start to decrease.  Why didn't I think of that.  I love to knit ribbing.  The pattern is in a book called "Holiday Boutique Knitting" by Mary Jean Daigneault.  I found the book used on Amazon.  The stocking cap is actually a child's pattern so I just used the ribbing pattern from my favorite knitted hat pattern which is a 3 x 2 rib.  I'm going to make this about 4.0 feet long all in the lovely rib until I start to decrease after the 3 foot mark. 

     I started this project a couple of weeks ago.  I couldn't resist because I was ready for a knitting project.  I haven't done any knitting for quite a while.  I should have waited until I finished my poncho but the knitting needles were calling.   I even bought new needles to make this hat.  I bought a pair of Knit Picks size 7, 16" Sunstruck fixed circulars.  They are lovely.  I also bought two pair of interchangeable needles (same size in the Sunstruck material) and 32" cords to use when I start the decreases.  I use two circular needles to do decreases on my hats.  I never got the hang of double pointed needles, I was always worried about dropping stitches, so two circulars is the easiest way I have found for me to work decreases on my hats.  I learned this technique from a youtube video. 

     I knitted the white cuff with Knit Picks Brava Worsted in white and the red yarn is Lion Brand Pound of Love in the Cherry colorway (that is over a thousand yards of red yarn.  Yes, that ball of yarn is huge).   All acrylic.  I made the cuff 6" wide which is enough to be able to turn it up.  I'll be knitting the red yarn for a while.  I figure if I do a couple of inches every couple of days, I will have it done in a few months. 

  I do use a lot of stitch markers on this rib pattern.  The stitch markers make it easy to keep track of which stitches are where on my project.  There are ten stitches between each stitch marker, 3 knit, 2 purl, 3 knit and 2 purl.  I always know what I'm doing as long as I can count to 3.
   

Crocheted Poncho

     I started this poncho last November after I bought a poncho pattern.  I did not make the pattern that I bought, but I ended up getting an easier pattern from a youtube video.  It was super easy to make.  I made the poncho then I added the ribbed collar.  This is the first poncho I have every made and I will not hesitate to make another when I have some time.

    I used acrylic yarn for this poncho and it's really soft.  I like to work with acrylic yarn.  I don't have to worry about bugs eating my project if I use acrylic.  I used Lion Brand Heartland in Great Smoky Mountains colorway that I bought from Michael's.  I bought ten skeins to make this poncho and I have three skeins left.  It's a beautiful dark grey color.

More Sewing, No Crocheting

   I have two more flowers done on my Grandmother's Flower Garden Quilt.  I love the way this is turning out.   I should have taken this picture when the sun was out so you can see the colors clearer,  but the weather was not cooperating today and I wanted to get this posted.

    Here is a picture of my yarn for the Hotel of Bees Shawl that I will start soon.  The yarn is Knit Picks Comfy Sport, the dark pink is Peony, the beige is Parchment, and the light pink is Flamingo.  I'm looking forward to starting this project soon since I did manage to finish the Christmas towel embroideries and that project is half done now.

Hotel Of Bees Crochet Shawl Project

   The Hotel of Bees shawl pattern was making the rounds earlier in the year.  I heard really good reviews of how well written the pattern was and I saw some beautiful finished shawls in youtube videos and on Ravelry.

   I ordered my copy of the pattern about a month ago.  I spent some time trying to find the yarn I wanted to use.  The designer made her sample with a cotton/acrylic blend yarn and I was trying to find a similar yarn  I found Knit Picks Comfy in Sport weight and ordered it this morning in three different colorways.  Three skeins of Peony (dusty pink), three skeins of Parchment (a natural color), and one skein of flaming0 (light pink).

   While I'm waiting for my yarn, I have printed the pattern (14 pages)  and I'm going to give it a good read.

Stained Glass Shawl

  I finished my shawl.  I love, love, love how the colors came out on this one.  The yarn did all the work.  I used about 4.5 skeins of the Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn for this and the long edge is as long as my wing span so it came out to be a nice size.

Favorite Baby Project Ever Made

   My cousin had a baby five years ago and I crocheted a baby blanket as one of her gifts.  I wanted a blanket that was solid so it would last.  I found a basket weave crochet pattern that I liked.

    I used Lion Brand Cotton Ease yarn (recommended by the pattern writer) which was a 50% cotton and 50% acrylic blend.  I really like that yarn, it was great to work with.  Cotton Ease is now discontinued.  The Lion Brand website says Cotton Ease has been replaced by a cotton yarn called Cotton 24/7, but Cotton 24/7 is 100% cotton, not a blend.

    The link to the basketweave pattern is here:  Crochet basket weave baby afghan pattern.  The pattern was easy to follow and once I got used to doing the forward and back post stitches it worked up very quickly.  The post stitches do tend to eat up a lot of yarn so make sure you buy enough for the size afghan you want to make.

   Here's a picture of the afghan I made.

My Finished Dishcloth Shawl

  I finished my super simple Dishcloth shawl.  This shawl is a very simple triangular shaped shawl that is made by using Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth pattern (all garter stitch with one yarn over at the beginning of each row) which is worked on the bias.  You just keep knitting until you get a nice size shawl or just until you feel like you have enough yarn to bind off the long end.  This is a free pattern on the Internet.  I found the pattern in a couple of places, this website has instructions for finishing off the last row with yarn overs to match the other two sides, which I did not do.  

 I tried to make one of these a couple of years ago using lace weight wool yarn held double but it didn't turn out very well and I abandoned it after a year of working on it.  

   I made this shawl with almost 5 skeins of Lion Brand Vanna's Choice yarn (my favorite acrylic yarn) in the Linen colorway.  I used a size 8 circular needle with a 60" cable which was just big enough when the shawl was finished.  I already had the needles and the yarn cost me about $20.00.  I started this project on March 26th and finished this morning, knitting on it here and there until the other day when I brought it out and really got going on it.  

   My shawl is very thick and feels great on my shoulders.  I could have used a bigger needle to get a little looser fabric that would have been just as nice.  This pattern is very flexible and you can use any yarn weight and any needles to make this shawl.  

Using Up Acrylic Yarn

  I found a couple of market bag patterns to crochet so I can use up the remainder of some acrylic yarn that I bought to make other projects.  The base is from one pattern that I found on youtube and the body and strap are from another market bag that is a purchased pattern, but I just made mine up because I didn't want to pay for the pattern.

   The other day I started this market bag with some leftover yarn I bought to make two teddy bear sweaters.  I finished sewing in the lining this morning.

Another Knitting Project

    I cast on my dishcloth shawl a couple of days ago and I'm loving this easy, easy knit.  It's all garter stitch with a yarn over on every row to increase.  I'm using Vanna's Choice acrylic yarn in the Linen colorway with my size 8  40" Harmony circular needles from Knitpicks.  The pattern is essentially a half of the Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth pattern which is a perfect triangle for a shawl.

     I've been wanting to make one of these for awhile and I actually started this shawl a couple of years ago with some lace yarn held double but I didn't finish it because I made a few errors that just looked awful so I pitched the project and the yarn because I couldn't stand to look at it anymore.

   I took this picture in the middle of a row because I love the classic look of the needles with the knit fabric stretched between the two needles,




 

More Knitting

    I'm really having a lot of fun knitting these days.  Yesterday I bought some soft Red Heart Boutique Unforgettable yarn in Cappuccino colorway at Michael's for $4.51 including tax after using a 30% off coupon.  I've been wanting to make a ribbed neck warmer with a very soft acrylic yarn for the last couple of years, but I never got around to it.  This yarn is a lovely cream and soft light brown that made lovely stripes in this project.

    I cast on 100 stitches using a long tail cast on and knit a 3 x 2 rib for 7 inches.  I used size 8  16" circular needles for this project.  I like to use stitch markers to count off every 10 stitches so I can keep track of my knits and purls.  I really enjoy knitting this rib pattern.  It's a pattern I learned making a favorite ribbed hat and it goes very quickly, so I just cast on as if I'm starting the hat and then I bind off after knitting 7 inches of ribbing, it's nice and stretchy and the perfect length on my neck.  This pattern would also make a nice ear warmer/headband by knitting 4 inches length instead of 7.  It would be fun in a bulky yarn or a worsted yarn held double made with big needles.  I could make bunches of these, but I really don't need them, so I'm starting a different knitting project tomorrow.

Miss Marple Scarf in Acrylic

    I had to remake the Miss Marple Scarf in a yarn I could wear around my neck that wouldn't itch.  I knit this pattern about a week ago (blog post here) in some wool yarn I had in my stash and although the colors in the yarn were quite pretty, the scarf is extremely scratchy.  I knew when I tried it on after it was finished I wouldn't wear it very much.   

    But I really love the design of the scarf and the name of it.  It's super cute and I knew I wanted to re-knit this fun pattern in a soft acrylic yarn that wouldn't itch.  I used a skein of Caron Simply Soft in the Bone colorway that I found in Walmart for about $3.65 including tax.

A Sunday Crochet Project

  I was cruising on Ravelry the other day and found a crocheted braided ear warmer pattern that I just had to have.  I didn't want to steal any of the designer's pictures from the Ravelry site, so I'm including a link to the designer's etsy store with the pattern:  V. Larios' Etsy Store - Braided Ear Warmer Pattern so you can see the pattern for yourself.

   To make this pattern I bought a skein of Big Twist Value Yarn from Joann Fabrics today.  I've never seen the brand Big Twist Value before.  The package says it's made in India and is distributed by Jo-Ann stores.  I don't know if this brand makes anything other than acrylic yarn, the yarn I bought is acrylic.  I bought the yarn in colorway dark rose.

    This took me about 3 1/2 hours to complete.  The instructions were okay, but they could have been better when it came to finishing.  They were a little hard to follow.  I did finish it the way it was written, but the piece is a little too big for my head.  I would like a tighter fit, so I'm going to modify the area where the braids are joined.  

    I only used about half of this skein of yarn, so I have enough left over to make another.

    It turned out super cute and it's really warm.  I'm going to love this.  I may even make a few more  in different colors. 

   

Past Projects - Quilt and Crocheted Afghan

I made this simple quilt for my brother in January this year.  I actually emailed him last year and asked him about colors and patterns so that he and his wife could have a say in the end result but they never made a decision.  So I made him this one.  This quilt is similar to the very first quilt that I made in 2012.  The quilt I made in 2012 was given away at a family reunion.  My brother really liked that quilt, so that's what I decided he would get.  He loves his quilt.  The back is solid dark blue with a few of the pinwheels in the center of the back to give it interest.  I did the binding in the same dark blue and the quilting is all stitch in the ditch.

You can see my quilt inspectors, Taffy on the table and Merlin on the floor doing their quality control inspection.

Since my brother does not let his wife use the quilt, I crocheted her an afghan and sent that up to her in August.  It's a one color afghan made up of 80 - 8" granny squares.  I made it with Red Heart Super Saver Solid Yarn (acrylic).  It's big and very warm.  She loves her afghan.  This is a picture of it spread out over my sofa.  

  I'm currently working on making a new harness for my dog, Wolfgang.  It's cut out but I have not done any stitching on it.  Once I finish the harness, I will be working on a pillow cover using some Laurel Burch fabrics I have been collecting for it..  I bought an 18" pillow form at Walmart last weekend for that project.  I have fabric for a quilt, I have fabric for a patriotic door decoration, I have supplies to make potholders to match my new kitchen curtains, and I also have some fabric to cover the new table top ironing board that I bought a couple of months ago.  That's a short list of things I want to do.  I also have one embroidery and two cross stitch projects ready to be started.