Fall Projects

Harris pullover with pockets from Rowan Magazine #52.  This issue of Rowan Magazine has so many designs I love.  This project is the third one from it.  What I like about this pullover include pockets and single row stripes. 

However, knitting it turned out to be a challenge.  See the tangle on the photos below.  I find myself getting frustrated with the tangle after 10 rows or so.  This is going to be a slow project.  Hence, I had to come up with a simpler second project.

A lace pullover from Katia Magazine #52 is my simpler project.  I’ve had this project sitting in the bin next to my armchair for a while.  It is knitted with a cotton yarn: i.e. a summer project.  Nevertheless, it will be my simpler project. 

Instructions on Katia Magazines are a bit different from others: each row is charted as you face them.  Stockinet stitches are charted with blank cells for odd rows (knit) and with dashed cells for even rows (purl), while garter stitches are charted with blank cells on both odd and even rows.  In Japanese knitting books, stockinet and garter stitches are charted in completely opposite manner (all cells blank for stockinet).  Once you realize that, it is okay.  But not always.  For this particular design, Katia's charting method does not seem to work well.  I had to replace k2tog done on reverse row to p2tog or p2tog tbl.  I could discern these errors by inspecting the photograph.  I am knitting a sleeve first.

I learned a new cast on technique in this Katia project.  See the photo above.  The main lace stitches are knitted with 4.5 mm or 5.5 mm needles, while cast on stitches were done with 6.5 mm and with three strands of yarns held together.  I used 7 mm needles as I do not have 6.5 mm ones.  With this method, you can plunge into the lace pattern from row 1 and there is no curling. 

An extra project in preparation for #37 from Vogue Crochet Magazine from 2012, involving broomstick stitches.  Since I was not certain about how to do broomstick lace, I bought Doris Chan's Crochet Lace Innovations.  I love this book for three reasons: broomstick lace instructions and designs, hairpin lace instructions, and her foundation single crochet stitches.   I am working on Soolin belt from her book.  The bottom photo shows the foundation single crochet stitch.  It is much nicer and stable than chain stitches. 

That’s all.

Tunisian Crochet Lace Tunic

It is finally finished and I just love it.  Jojoland Melody is a light and beautiful yarn, and turned out to be just perfect for this tunic.  What a luck!  Can you tell how happy I am with the tunic?  I like the length of the bodice as well as the sleeves. 

 

 I deviated from the pattern and did the following:

Sleeves: Cast on 78 stitches (must be a multiple of 3) for 16 ½” long sleeves. Sleeves were knit sideway. The Tss and Tps edge was about 1” long. To knit 15” wide sleeves, 28 rows in pattern stitches were needed. On the 28th row, do Tss on return, and follow with 3 rows of Tps for the edging.  I left the remaining yarn on each sleeve, to be used later in assembly.  I used one ball per sleeve.
Front and Back Bodice: Cast on 117 stitches and knit 40 rows in pattern (19 ½”), reducing to 99 stitches over the 40 rows (reduce 3 stitches at each end every 10 rows starting at row 11, three times total, 18 stitches decreased). Place a marker at each side at 40th row for the sleeve placement. Knit 16 more rows (7 ½”). On the last row, do Tss on return followed by three rows of Tps for the edging.
Assembly: Seam bodice together with right sides together from the bottom edge to the marker. Seam bodice and sleeves together with right sides together, making sure the attached yarn of the sleeves will be at the cuff end. With the attached yarn on the sleeves, knit top edge finishing as instructed. With the same yarn, knit the sleeve cuff edging. Instead of buttons, I used chain stitches in zigzag pattern to close the top of the sleeves and shoulders.  I borrowed this method from Madonna pullover I knit this summer. 

 

 

More photos of close up and the on-the-table flat photos.

 



This was my first successful crochet project.  I think I will do more crochet in the future.





Puppy Yarn’s Braid Scarf

I saw this cute scarf made by a Japanese knitter, Ishi-san, who does such great jobs at anything she creates. I learned the pattern is from Puppy, a Japanese yarn company, and was made available free in 2003 to customers purchased their yarns. In other words, I don’t have the pattern.

Here is what I thought it might be done. It is okay, but something is not quite right. I used 5 mm crochet hook and Crystal Palace yarn Taos.



Later on, Yuri-san, a knitting friend in Japan, offered to send me yarns and the pattern. So, we exchanged knitting goods across the Pacific. She loves Norah Gaughan’s designs but Berroco booklets are not available in Japan and that’s what I sent to her. I now have the yarn and the pattern to crochet the braid scarf!

With the pattern and the same yarn used by Ishi-san, I tried the other day at Knitsmith. Initially, I was not quite happy with the results, but after playing with the location and the method of anchoring the chains at the bottom of the last double crochet, I think I got it. Now, all I have to do is to finish the project before next winter.

Crochet Noro Sock Scarf

I saw this beautifully crochet scarf in this blog sometime ago. The stitches are very interesting and beautifully executed. And the colors of the yarns ... . Absolutely gorgeous! Unfortunately, they are not available in the US as far as I know, and this is one of those cases where yarns mattered a lot. So, I just admired the work and never thought of making one myself. Then, I saw another scarf on Ravelry where Noro's sock yarns were used for the same pattern with gorgeous result. Here is her blog post on it. I happened to have one skein of Noro Kureyon Sock yarn in color 95, my favorite in Noro Kureyon colors.




This ball of sock yarn, I originally entertained the idea of knitting a skirt with it: the idea that its nylon content prevents bagging around the hip. I did not like the fabric as much and the yarn ball was just sitting at the bottom of WIP pile. At any rate, I jumped on the idea of the crochet scarf. I used the diagram from here and modified a little to make the fabric flatter: where there is one single crochet symbol, I added two more in the middle section and one more at the edge. I did five wheels per row. The wheels were crocheted using yarns alternately pulled from inside and outside of the same ball. It was quite a mess to pull yarn from the center as it had a tendency to twist, kink and knot. I ended up purchasing another ball to complete the project and it would have been much easier to use two balls alternately from the start. For the edging, I did a single row of single crochet. It is absolutely lovely!

Although it was not easy to crochet this scarf, I love the result so much and I am already working on the second one using two colors #95 and #188, just like Anne did.

Another handbag from Japanese knitting book

I finished this handbag sometime ago. It is from fall/winter 2006 issue of "European Hand Knits" by Nihon Vogue.



The original is done with wool yarn and has leather handles. Mine has acrylic handles and Berroco Suede in Chickadee Pink was used. It is crochet entirely. Photos below show stitch patterns better. The horizontal ridges are created by "raised double crochet on front side". I referred to "Basic Crochet & Knit" by Ondori to find out the name of this stitch. In Japanese, it is called 'Omote Hikiage Ami.' You would crochet facing the wrong side which you can see in the bottom photo. The slanted ridges are created by knitting crochet chains.