Projects For When You Are Out of Knitting Projects

Sweetie Luvv on Knitlist wrote asking for suggestions for something to knit now that she was caught up. I sent her this answer :

I have it in the back of my mind that I'd like to make slippers or dishcloths or some other small, practical item and stash them for gift giving (if I ever get to the point where I'm caught up on projects).

We had a woman who worked with us years ago who crocheted slippers. When Christmas came she loaded the table in the breakroom with slippers of all colors and types. We had such fun chosing our own special pairs! That lady is now dead, but I still have my last pair of "Mary slippers" and I cherish them.

I received this note in response to my post:

Baby car seat blankets. You would think, being nearly 44, that I'd be running out of friends having babies, but I swear, I've had to knit about 5 of these things this year and got to the point (they're quick and easy) that I started making extras. You never know when you'll need a shower gift!! Dishcloths are another project I like to do when I don't have a project.

Karel Lea, TN

The link I used to have posted here no longer works. Try using your favorite search engine for "knitted baby car seat blanket pattern" or some variation of these words to see if you can find another. --iij

Hm... regular baby blankets, especially simple ones like basketweave or the dishcloth pattern, would be just as useful to have in a gift stash as the car seat blankets. Scarves and neckwarmers would be other 'quickie" gift projects. I like getting suggestions! I'm noticing that a lot of these "non-projects" are portable and use up the yarn stash. More plusses for this project!

I'll post to this blog any other suggestions I get. Readers, please send your favorites to me at tilla2@yahoo.com.

Some ideas that I have seen mentioned on knitlist include:

1. Knitting for charity. The list seems endless : mittens, chemo caps, baby blankets, children's vests... Contact the charity of your choice and see what they need. Here's one mentioned on knitlist :

You could join us on the Mittens_For_Akkol Yahoo Groups list and knit for
the kids in the orphanage in Akkol, Kazakhstan where temps this winter dipped to
40 below zero and the kids have inadequate clothing. There is more info
here: _http://www.knit-on.com Choose the "Help Others" option to get to the page.

Charity items can also include:
Blanket pieces (Warm Up! America)
Hats (shelters, Afghans 4 Afghans, Caps for Kids)
Mittens (shelters, local schools and tutoring programs)
Slippers (Toasty Toes)
Baby items (local charity hospital maternity ward)
Chemo caps
Scarves (Christmas at Sea - also hats and mittens)
Over on KnitTalk we have a folder with info about charity groups and activities to which members can contribute. --- Margo Lynn
2. Bedding for animal shelters.

3. Socks.

4. Hats

5. Knit squares (in all different stitches of course), for a future “sampler” afghan. This one uses up those bits of yarn, and is nice and portable. -- Lois

6. Cat toys. =^..^= They only take an hour or two (mostly) and they use up odd scraps of yarn. ---Eileen
http://i38.photobucket.com/albums/e111/lindydiva/CatToys_1.jpg

7. Make a dog sweater. Here's a great pattern. http://www.redlipstick.net/knit/chihswe.html

8. Garter stitch coin purse, from Mari.

Cast on enough stitches to make a piece about 3" wide, then knit for about 6 inches and make a yarn over buttonhole and knit a few more rows then cast off. Fold so that the buttonhole overlaps and sew up the sides to make a pouch. It could also be made longer for a cell phone cozy or an eyeglass case. A few people I taught to knit have done this. They would learn to cast on, knit, yarn over, cast off and sew a simple seam.

9. Baby blankets or sweaters are good, because you never know when you will need something in a hurry! -- Margo Lynn

Tessellating Fish Knitting Pattern

I read Knitlist daily. There has been a lot of discussion about the tessellating fish afghan pattern no longer being available. I surfed the web and found the pattern at http://yarngrrrl.livejournal.com/ and the pictures at http://brieza.livejournal.com/19896.html Figuring that it's a good thing to have the pattern posted in several places, I'm going to post it here as well. Thank yous to Yarngrrrl and Brieza for keeping the pattern alive.  

Tessellating Fish Knitting Pattern

1. Cast on 6
2. K6

From this point forward – slip the first stitch purlwise. Trust me, you'll appreciate this when its time to seam!

3. Slip, Kfb, K2, Kfb, K1
4. Slip, K7
5. Slip, Kfb, K4, Kfb, K1
6. Slip, K9
7. Slip, Kfb, K6, Kfb, K1
8. Slip, K11
9. Slip, Kfb, K8, Kfb, K1
10. Slip, K13
11. Slip, Kfb, K10, Kfb, K1
12 Slip, K15
13. Slip, Kfb, K12, Kfb, K1
14. Slip, K17
15. Slip, Kfb, K14, Kfb, K1
16. Slip, K19
17. Slip, K19
18. Slip, K4, P10, K5

Here is the change!

19. Slip, SSK, K1, Kfb, SSK, K6, K2tog, Kfb, K1, K2tog, K1
20.Slip, K4, P8, K5
21. Slip, SSK, K1, Kfb, SSK, K4, K2tog, Kfb, K1, K2tog, K1
22. Slip, K4, P6, K5
23. Slip, SSK, K1, Kfb, SSK, K2, K2tog, Kfb, K1, K2tog, K1
24. Slip, K4, P4, K5
25. Slip, SSK, K1, Kfb, SSK, K2tog, Kfb, K1, K2tog, K1
26. Slip, K4, P2, K5
27. Slip, SSK, K1, Kfb, SSK, Kfb, K1, K2tog, K1
28. Slip, K10
29. Slip, SSK, K1, Kfb, K2tog, Kfb, K2tog, K1
30. Slip, K9

This is the end of the change.


31. Slip, K3, K2tog, K4
32. Slip, K8
33. Slip, K8
34. Slip, K8

35. Slip, Kfb, K5, Kfb, K1
36. Slip, K10
37. Slip, Kfb, K7, Kfb, K1
38. Slip, K12
39. Slip, Kfb, K9, Kfb, K1
40. Slip, K14
41. Slip, Kfb, K11, Kfb, K1
42. Slip, K16
43. Slip, Kfb, K13, Kfb, K1
44. Slip, K18
45. Slip, Kfb, K15, Kfb, K1
46. Slip, K20
47. Slip, Kfb, K17, Kfb, K1
48. K23
Bind Off

 

Grandma's Dishcloth Pattern

This is the pattern for the dishcloths that I've been knitting. The sample in the picture was made with three kinds of cotton worsted: Lily, Bernat and Bear Brand.

Grandma's Dishcloth
An easy to do pattern and that gives a classic look, Grandma's Dishcloth is a garter stitch square with a openwork edge created with a yarn-over placed at the beginning of each row.

Remember when you make the dishcloth that 100% cotton yarn will shrink when washed (10-15%), so make it a bit bigger than you want the finished piece. I figured I wanted a 12 inch cloth so I'm making it 13.5 inches before washing. Thirteen and one half inches will give a maximum width of 60 stitches using worsted weight yarn on 3.75 mm needles. (I have found these to remain HUGE, so I now do a 40-50 stitch dishcloth. 25 stitches makes a drink coaster. Make it larger and stop at the last increase and you have a shawl!  I have also found my favorite yarn for dishcloths is Sinfonia from Hobby Lobby. It is a sport weight instead of a worsted weight cotton yarn. The cloths made with Sinfonia are tighter and more delicate.)

The pattern: 

Cast on 3 st.

Increase Row: K1, YO [yarn over], knit to end

Repeat increase row until cloth is desired width (I use 40-50 for dishcloth).

Decrease Row: K1, YO, K2 tog [knit 2 together], knit to the last 3 sts, K2 tog, K1.

Repeat decrease row until row is 3 sts.

Bind off loosely.

I've seen variations of this that knit three or four stitches before the YO, then do the YO three or four stitches before the end. I have also seen variations that did rows of alternating YOs every 1 1/2-2 inches in the cloth. I tried both of these variations. The wider border was easy. Decreasing and doing the YO rows took more concentration. If you aren't careful you have added instead of decreased at the end of the row. Knowing how many stitches I should have at the end and counting each row kept me on target.

YO (Yarn Over) = wrap yarn around the needle from front to back and proceed to next stitch. This equals one increase. This will leave a opening in the next row. In this case it creates the eyelet edging for the dishcloth.

K2Together = insert needle in the first and second stitches at the same time. Yarn over and finish knit stitch. This equals one decrease.

This is a very versatile pattern. The baby blanket shown at the right is a 36" dishcloth made with cotton worsted.

Barbie's shawl, made with Sinfonia, is a dishcloth that stopped at the largest dimension just before the decreases began. Fringe was added in each of the eyelets. 

 I recently (2017) made a full-sized shawl using the same technique as the Barbie shawl. I added the continuous row of eyelets about every 25 rows. The eyelet row was made this way: K1, *YO, K2together*. Repeat between the *s until the end. Finish with K1. The YO adds a stitch and the K2together removes the extra stitch so you end up with the right count at the end.I will post a photo of the finished shawl soon.

Results of Cotton Yarn Investigations

All of the knitting samples have been finished.

I washed the three test subjects. The Lily yarn shrank the most -- which wasn't a whole lot, perhaps 1/2 in. on each side. The Lion Brand showed the least shrinkage. Bernat was the softest before and after washing.

Knitlist has had some discussion about Bernat Cottontots pilling badly, particularly with the colored yarns. My sample is off white. There isn't any serious pilling with it, but I would be careful to test colored yarn before making a large project with it.

Lion Brand impressed me because it was pretty "string-like" before washing, but washed up a bit softer than the Lily. It also lightened in color after washing. I'm going to show my testers to Steve and see which yarn he wants for his sweater. I'm leaning toward the Lion Brand because it's color is nice, it's has a good texture and is reasonably priced. The Bernat it definitely the softest, but I'm concerned about the possibility of pilling in the future.

I will be attaching photos of my test pieces and controls, plus close ups of the various yarns, as soon as I can get my husband to break out his good camera.

NEXT BIG PROJECT will be designing an Aran vest for my husband, Pat. I have the yarn for this in my stash, but have never developed my own pattern before. When I have mastered the vest, I'll be ready to take on Steve's full Aran sweater.

PRESENTLY ON THE NEEDLES: Double-knit hat for son, Joe. I knitted a watch cap for Joe for Christmas. He likes it but says it's not warm enough when the wind chill is around 10 degrees. I found the pattern for a double-knit ski cap through Knitting Pattern Central. Here's the link. http://alison.knitsmiths.us/pattern_double_knit_cap.html

I'm enjoying making the double-knit hat. I was afraid the 162 stitches cast on would make the hat too large. Trying on the first pass of 162 stitches saw my knitting falling down past my ears and landing like a collar around my neck. I subtracted 8 stitches (about 1 inch) and find this a better fit. The hat fits loosely around my head without expanding the stitches at all. Since I wear a small hat and Joe wears a large one, this should work for him. I hope to have the hat finished and in the mail to him by Wednesday.

Cotton Yarn Investigations

I have finished 4 of 6 sample dishclothes -- 2 Lily Sugar 'n' Cream and 2 Bernat Cottontots. I've the first of the 2 Lion brand cloths in progress.

Keeping back the "control" versions of Lily and Bernat, I tossed the other two in the washer with a towel load -- warm/cold water, regular wash, Downy fabric softener, heavy duty dry. There wasn't a lot of shrinkage, less than 1/2 inch all around. The Lily yarn had felt scratchy and stiff, more like butcher's string, when I was knitting with it. It softened and fluffed considerable during washing. The Bernat softened a bit, but had a nice "hand" even in the skein. The Lion feels very string-like. The thread is dense and looks quite a lot like butcher's string. It will be interesting to see how it washes.

Further research on these three yarns : Lily comes in three sizes : Regular ball 120 yds; Superball 200 yd.; Cone 805 yds. Bernat only comes in a 200 yd. ball. Lion Brand "Lion Cotton" comes in a 236 yd. ball and a 775 yd. ball. If there is no significant difference in the yarns after they are washed, the Lily cone is the most yarn for your money. The Bernat Cottontots is the most expensive of the three yarns. It can range up to $6.00 a skein. That's pretty expensive when you need over 2000 yds. of yarn for a sweater.

Starting Blog -- Feb. 2, 2006

Starting Blog -- Feb. 2, 2006

Knitting has become my passion this winter. I've already completed 12 scarves, 2 dog sweaters, 2 hats, 2 baby blankets and a neckwarmer since Halloween 2005. I currently have two projects working : a Barbie outfit for my granddaughter and a cotton dish cloth.

A dish cloth seems so prosaic, but there is a method to my madness. I want to make a cotton sweater for a friend, but don't know what yarn I want to use. I'm testing yarns by making dish cloths. I will make the first 2 of Lily Sugar 'n' Cream. The second two of Bernat's Cottontots. I want to sample Lion Cotton as well. I'll keep one of each "as knit" for control pieces and wash the other two. That will let me see how much they shrink and how the textures changes.

The Lily and Lion yarns appeal to me because I can buy the yarn in quantity in cones. It appears I'm going to need somewhere between 1800 and 2000 yards of yarn for the Aran sweater. I need something economical when I'm buying that much. And why cotton for an Aran sweater? Because wool is far to hot to wear in Texas!

Other projects in the wings are a WWII watch cap for the friend and an Aran vest for my husband. If my eyes don't give out I'm considering more Barbie clothes. (There ARE five granddaughters in the family. ) Making Barbie clothes with size 2 needles is a bit of eye strain. Yes, and I've promised to make a shawl and two more baby projects. Looks like I'll stay busy for a while.