December 10, 2011

Yarn: Dale of Norway Heilo, 100% Sport-weight wool, in Black, Goldenrod, and Barn Red

Needles: 5 mm / 6 US

Gauge: 6.5 stitches and 7 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Steeking Practice Swatch with fair-isle patterning

Source: Improvised

Comments: I've been working on a Norweigan-Style Olympic Sweater for Mike for about 2 years now (it was started before, and supposed to have been finished for Vancouver's Olympics in 2010), and I really really wanted to get it done in time for Christmas.  All I had left to do was the steeking - the cutting open of the body-tube to make the armholes, and open a placket at the neck.  So this was my practice swatch - I knit it, blocked it, and then machine stitched it, all in preparation for the cutting.  I thought it was successful, and so I steeked the actual sweater.  And then, a few days later, I started sewing in the sleeves, and realized that the machine stitches were not holding, and that the sweater is unravelling.  It is now sitting in the Naughty Corner until further notice.

Not surprisingly, this disaster killed my knitting mojo for another few days.  :(

November 11, 2011

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino, 100% Worsted Weight Merino Wool, in Red

Hook: 4 mm / G-6 US

Gauge: n/a

Stitch Pattern: improvised

Source: n/a

Comments:  Technically, I crocheted this back in late September, but I thought I'd throw it in to the mix in honour of Remembrance Day.  And technically it is kind of a  swatch, because I figured out how to make it while trying to use up a very precise amount of leftover super-bulky yarn.  The shape of that particular flower's petals reminded me of poppies, so I decided to try it out with red yarn.

November 6, 2011

Yarn: Noro Cash Iroha - 40% Silk/30% Wool/20% Cashmere/10% Nylon worsted weight yarn in Black

Needles: 4.5 mm / 7 US

Gauge: 4.375 stitches and 6.5 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Stockinette Stitch

Source: N/A

Comments: This is a text swatch for a sweater I want to make - the pattern calls for this yarn, but somehow their gauge is much tighter - 19 sts/4" to my 17.5 sts/4".  Guess I'll be doing a little math to make this one fit.  I had heard that this yarn grows quite a bit, and it does - pre-washing this measured 5" wide, post-washing it is 5.5" wide.  This is why you need to wash your swatches before measuring gauge!


PS: This really is black yarn, despite how it looks here!

November 1, 2011

Yarn: Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed Chunky, 85% Wool/15% Angora Bulky weight yarn

Needles: 6.5mm and 5.5mm / US 10.5 and 9

Gauge: 3 stitches and 4 rows per inch at the bottom, and 3.25 stitches x 4.25 rows per inch at the top (on the smaller needles)

Stitch Pattern: Fisherman's Rib

Source: BW1, p. 44.

Comments:  I bought this yarn to make a cowl for winter - the pale, icy blue colour (its more blue in person - I had to sacrifice colour for texture!) will go really well with a steel blue coat I bought last spring - now all I have to do is fix the buttons on that coat so that their cheaply cast shanks will stop cutting the threads that hold the buttons on!  :)
I've recently learned that the 'suggestion' to work your ribbing in a needle two sizes smaller than what's recommended is really a good idea.  Not sure if you can see it here, but using a 5.5mm for this yarn really makes the ribbing pop.  This is such a squooshy fabric - I can't wait to cast on and knit and finish and then wear this thing!

October 24, 2011

Yarn: Noro Iro, 75% Wool/25% Silk Super Bulky yarn

Needles: 6 mm / US 10

Gauge: 3 sts and 5 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: seed stitch

Source: N/A

Comments: I didn't like the last swatch I did with this yarn - I have decided to make a seed stitch scarf, even if it does take me ages.  This is the swatch I needed to calculate how many stitches to cast on, given that I want to knit it lengthwise.

October 19, 2011

Yarn: Noro Iro, 75% Wool/25% Silk Super Bulky yarn

Needles: 6 mm / US 10

Gauge: 3.5 sts and 5 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Alternating rows of stockinette and reverse stockinette stitch

Source: Inspired by this project from Ravelry.com (you may not be able to see this if you aren't on Ravelry)

Comments: The aforementioned ravelry project uses this pattern to make a great big cowl that is so big it can be wrapped around your head twice.  It looked lovely, but I'm now thinking this would look better just as a seed stitch scarf knit lengthwise.  The colour repeats should make long vertical stripes, which should be lovely in this colourway - the colours range from these blues and yellows, all the way through to dark brown and orange.  You will (maybe) note from the strands of yarn behind the swatch that this was knit in the round, since I was planning to knit the cowl in the round to save on seaming.  It also served as an example to my students of how to swatch in the round for projects that will be knit in the round.

October 17, 2011

Yarn: 2-ply 100% DK Wool from MeadowMist Farm on Mayne Island, BC.

Hook: 6.5 mm / US 10.5-K

Gauge: 3 stitches and 3 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: single crochet (double crochets in the UK system - which terminology is used in Europe?)

Source: Swatch for Snuggly Slippers, from Crochet Today! - Special Issue 2010. 

Comments:  I keep stealing Mike's wool socks to keep my feet warm, so I figured I'd better hurry up and make myself some slippers!  The yarn I want to use is smaller than what is used in the pattern, so I had to make a swatch first.  I didn't get gauge, hence the widening of the swatch to see if one extra stitch would make up the required 4 inches.  Not that that helps my overall gauge, but I think I'm willing to just fudge the pattern a little!  :)

October 7, 2011

Yarn: Unknown Worsted weight yarn

Needles: 5 mm / 7 US

Gauge: 15-16 stitches and 5 rows per 4 inches, measured over the pattern stitch

Stitch Pattern: DROPS lace pattern

Source: This hat and cowl set

Comments: I want to make a cowl that is big enough to pull down over my shoulders like a little cape, without it being so big that I need to wrap it around me.  I think this one should do the trick, and I've decided to make it out of this yarn that I had in my stash.  I got the yarn in a swap, but it came without any labels so I dont' really know what it is.  It appears to have some long-ish guard hairs, which suggests that it might have some alpaca in it.  Anyone know how to identify a mystery fibre?

October 5, 2011

Yarn: Patons Beehive Shetland Chunky, 75% Acrylic/25% Wool, in Dark Teal

Needles: 5 mm / 9 US

Gauge: 3.5 stitches and 7 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Garter Stitch

Source: BW1, p. 10.

Comments: I knit this for my knitting class - their first project was to knit garter stitch rectangles (bigger than this one!), which we would then sew together with the mattress to stitch to make fingerless mittens.  I ran out of yarn though, so mine is a little small.  I didn't realize that Ms. Walker included garter stitch in her books, but I guess it makes sense - it is a stitch pattern, after all! :)

October 2, 2011

Yarn: Berroco Inca Gold, 80% Merino Wool, 20% Silk, worsted weight yarn in Light Teal

Needles: 4.5 mm and 5 mm / 7 and 8 US

Gauge: 5 stitches and 7 rows per inch / 4.5 stitches and 6.5 rows per inch in stockingette stitch

Stitch Pattern: Sweater Swatch

Source: N/A

Comments: This is a swatch for an upcoming sweater project - the colour is discontinued, so I got the yarn for half-price.  The label suggests a 4.5mm, but I wanted to see the drape with a 5mm.  I like the yarn on the 5, but I think I want a little more structure to the fabric, so I'll go with the 4.5mm.  The ribbing here is on the same needle... I think I'll do what's recommended and do the real ribbing on a 3.5mm. 

July 29, 2011

The swatching hiatus lasted almost 2 full weeks - that's crazy!  What little knitting time I did have was devoted to teaching my 6 year old nephew to do finger knitting, and then knitting with one of those french spool knitting things.  Anyway, back to the swatches:

Yarn: Tivoli Celtic Aran, 100% Superwash Aran Wool, in Blue and Taupe

Needles: 5 mm / US 7

Gauge: 4.25 sts and 6 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Stripes

Source: n/a

Comments: I had two balls of the blue in my stash from ages ago, and then I saw the taupe in the sale bin at work, so I had to get it.  I'm thinking v-necked, varsity/grandpa style cardigan, with this stripe pattern at the bottom and cuffs.  Size 12-18 months, perhaps? (or whatever 600 yards will get me!) :)

July 14, 2011

Yarn: Gjestal Naturgarn No. 1, 100% Bulky Wool, in Mustard Yellow

Needles: 5.5 mm / US 9

Gauge: 3.75 sts and 8 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Crown made from horizontal garter stitch

Source: improvised based on several crown patterns from Ravelry

Comments: I need a crown that I can felt, so I dug through my stash and then tried to find a pattern that suited the yarn I dug up.  There were several cute ones, but none were perfect, so I did what we all did and just kind of made it up as I went along.  The recipient is only 1, so I'm thinking the smaller points (6 sts, increasing to 12) are best - even after felting the big ones (8 sts increasing to 14) would probably be too big.

June 29, 2011

Yarn: Berroco Vintage Worsted - 50% Acrylic, 40% Wool, 10% Nylon in Snow Day

Needles: 4.5mm / US 7

Gauge: 4.5 stitches and 6 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Stockinette Stitch

Source: N/A

Comments: Oooo, what a bad photo! A white swatch on a white background was perhaps not the best idea. :)   This is just a project swatch for something I started today...  Keep an eye on my other blog to find out what it is!

June 26, 2011

Yarn: KnitPicks Essential Kettle Dyed 4-ply, 75% Superwash Wool, 25% Nylon, in Spruce

Needles: 3.25 mm / 3 US

Gauge: 6.75 stitches and 9 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Stockinette, with some random embroidery

Source: N/A

Comments: After several hours of trying to convince myself not to buy a very fun sock yarn at work today (I think it would make the cutest kids' sweater!), I came home and dug out some sock yarn from my stash, which was also purchased with kids' clothes in mind.  If I make this one up quickly enough, maybe that other yarn will still be there when I'm done, and I can buy it then! :)  (yarn Karma is a powerful - and very useful - thing!).  I have some ideas for how I want this one to look, I'm just not sure if I'm on the right track yet.

June 20, 2011

Yarn: 100% Jacob Wool, heavy DK/light worsted weight, in natural dark brown 

Needles: 5 mm / 8 US

Gauge: 4.5 stitches and 6 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: stockinette with a ribbed middle section.

Source: N/A

Comments: I <3 this yarn too!  :)  I bought this at Woolfest, a British Fibre Festival, way back in 2008.  I have 6 skeins of it, but for the life of me I can't figure out the exact yardage - which is why its next to impossible to decide what to do with it.  But thanks to Darcy, I think I may have a solution, and then hopefully I can make this into a wearable sweater already! :)   (This swatch was meant to give me an idea of gauge, so I can start looking for pattern ideas.)

June 2, 2011

Yarn: Shepherd Classic 100% Wool in Orange and Brown

Needles: 4 mm / 6 US

Gauge: 5.5 stitches and 7 rows per inch 

Stitch Pattern: Stripes Test

Source: N/A

Comments: I was inspired by yesterday's ripple stripes so I threw them into the mix on this test swatch.  I have a plan... now I just have to finish a current WIP so I can start this one.  :)

May 3, 2011

Yarn: Cascade 220, 100% Worsted Weight Wool, in Navy

Needles: 4.5 mm / 7 US

Gauge: 5 sts and 7 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Cable Pattern from Elinor Brown's Tuckernuck Cardigan, featured in Interweave Knits, Winter 2010

Source: Interweave Knits, Winter 2010

Comments: I like the cables in this pattern, so I thought I'd try it out. (Have you noticed my new trend in stitch pattern sources - about time I put all my knitting magazines to good use!).

April 28, 2011

Yarn: Elann Peruvian Baby Silk - 80% Alpaca/20% Silk, in Cedar

Needles: 3.5mm / US 4

Gauge: 7 stitches and  8 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Little Birds

Source: The Stitch Pattern from Cherry, by Anna Bell

Comments: This one is for Darcy.  :)

April 8, 2011

Yarn: Patons Classic Wool Merino, 100% Worsted Weight Merino Wool, in Grey and White

Needles: 4.5mm / US 7

Gauge: 4 stitches x 6 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: Pearl-barred Scallop with added Garter ridges

Source: CEoS, p. 510, modified

Comments:  This was a test swatch for project I've been thinking about for a while - worked in a slightly thicker yarn, of course!  :)

April 2, 2011

Yarn: Crystal Palace Squiggle, in Lacquer Red

Needles: 8 mm / 11 US

Gauge: 3.5 sts and about 4 rows per inch

Stitch Pattern: plain garter stitch

Source: N/A

Comments:  My camera does not like this colour of red - its very hard to photograph!  Its a little hard to work with this yarn - its really just a thread with bits of fuzz sewn onto it every few inches.  I think its really intended to be knit alongside something else, but this is going to be a 6-foot accent scarf, so its probably better on its own - I gather that it will be wrapped twice around the neck of the wearer, so a more dense fabric would be overpowering.