Get Well Soon Present for my Granddaughter Maddy!

My granddaughter Maddy had her tonsils out on Tuesday December 16th.  She is one little trooper, no complaints just getting through the process day by day.  I was able to spend a few hours with her on Thursday the 18th and lo and behold she with her mom and dad came to visit us last evening.

I had just finished a little sweater she wanted so I was able to get a photo of her wearing it home!
It is just a basic set in sleeve, crew neck sweater with a shorter body length that she wanted.  Not sure of that but who am I to argue!

Here she is wearing her new sweater.  Looking a little solemn but understandably as her throat is still pretty sore but she is talking!

Got a smile from her with the next one!

 

Finally here is a shot of the sweater laying flat -

 





 

This little project was made on my Singer 360 with ribber.  Used Bramwell 4 ply and the color is a medium grey mix using a basic Knitware pattern for her size with minor adjustments.  The next one we will do for Maddy will be in blue - either blue denim or medium blue to wear with her jeans...  Iwant to try something with a little more texture to it.  Saw a couple of photos the other day and thought one of them might be just the ticket.  Stay tuned! 

 

Checking out my stash to see what I have on hand.  It only takes about 300 grams to knit this sweater so one cone is usually plenty for this petite young lady.  She is 15 and doing very well at school.  Even scheduled her surgery so she would only miss 4 days but had all her work done up beforehand.  Great work ethics for such a young person.  So proud of her!

 



 Our Knit Club Christmas Luncheon 2014

On December 8th we got together for a Christmas Luncheon.  This is the hall we use provided by the Cambridge Street Baptist Church which gives us lots of room to "play" with full kitchen facilities and of course washrooms plus free parking area for our cars.  We love it here and feel so blessed to have this available to us for our monthly knit club meeting and knit-ins.

We ordered Swiss Chalet Festive dinners which were delivered so we didn't have to cook or bring anything (except a few brought some lovely dessert goodies)  We have been doing this for the past few luncheons (in June and December) and it really works well for us.

Here are some of the photos I took and as you can see we are having a very good time indeed.

 

This is Krys who made a whole pile of little dolls - one for each of us with the rest going to the Women's Resource Centre - see them in the following photos.  There was a huge bag of dolls in all sizes and shapes - a real labor of love by Krys.

 

 

She is holding another gift for each of us made  by Nancy which was a cute marshmallow with a candy cane in the centre then dipped in chocolate with crushed candy cane applied.  All done up in a bag with a lovely little Merry Christmas card attached. 

 

 

This is Betty holding one of the many dolls made by Krys

Betty brought her place mat made of Christmas cards and then laminated to keep them nice for many years.

Margaret is enjoying her little doll and note Nancy is hiding behind.  Nancy made some great cupcakes and the little marshmallow gifts for each of us.  We are so spoiled.

Here is Nancy's cupcakes and marshmallow treat - aren't they amazing!

Here are more of our members, Bernadette, Marian (hiding), Krys, Mary and Marion
See the little Christmas trees I made for our serviettes for the day.
I gave a little demo so everyone could make one too!

A few more members, Betty, Margaret, Nancy and Pat

So you can see our day was full of laughter, great food and the best group of ladies one could ever ask to be associated with in this world of machine knitting.

 

 

So from my house to yours ~ ~ ~ ~

 

 



&

A year full of wonderful machine knitting adventures!

 

A Little Boys Sweater

Finally have a photo of the little cardigan I made for Justin - the new baby boy that got the little elephant I hand knit.

This sweater was fun - even tried a buttonhole and button band vertically which worked out just great.  Had never done one of those before or if I did I had long forgotten how to do it.  Checked by ribber manual and followed the instructions which worked out without a hitch.

Here is the little guys sweater - I used Knitware for the pattern and Bernat Softee yarn.  The yarn does split easily but is so soft and cuddly for a wee baby that I thought it would do for this project.

 

This sweater was done on my Studio 155 with ribber in a size 3 months.

An Elephant for a new little baby boy - Justin

My grandson Patrick has a new little nephew - namely Justin.  Patrick asked if I would knit a hoodie or sweater for Justin and I decided I would add a little elephant toy for him as well.  Sweaters are in the works and should be done shortly.

The elephant I did after seeing a course to make "Wee Ones" on Craftsy.  I bought the program and thoroughly enjoyed working along making this little elephant.  You can watch or follow the pattern on your own or both - whatever works for you.

I have done a few of the courses on www.craftsy.com and although it is hand knitting I have learned all kinds of things that I either had forgotten or never knew anything about!  Such fun to have a hand knit project on hand when just sitting watching TV or waiting around while hubby has a doctor's appointment... 

Here are some photos of this little fellow/gal - you can also make a hippo or a bunny with this same pattern - that's three different heads that fit on the same body - just the tails and heads are different but lots of fun to make and super fast.

 

Front

 Side

 Back

Side with eyes!

 

Ready for his/her new home!



Christmas Stockings

Every year our Knit Club make up Christmas Stockings for the Women's Resource Centre to be filled by donations from local merchants.  So this year I did three and just have great fun playing around with designs.  Used my LK 150 mid-gauge machine for all three this year.

Here they are hanging on my yarn tree:

 

 

 The green one is the basic sock with a MK snowflake attached later

 Playing with fairisle using my fairisle carriage

 I really like this topper for the stocking rather than the picot one I have used in the past.

Some more fairisle and another topper - not crazy about this one but still something different.

If you want to make some of these up yourself here is the basic pattern. 

Basic Christmas Stocking Pattern

Got my mittens done!

(Click on photos to enlarge)

Each year our knit club members try to get at least 5 pairs of mittens done during the summer break.  This year I decided to try to get 10 done and I did.  The pattern I chose is done on my bulky with ribber (for cuffs) and a pattern that I'm putting in here in case you want to do some mittens for family, friends or charity projects.

 

Here is the link to the .PDF file ~ Flat MK Mittens for Bulky

 

If you don't have a ribber then of course you can relatch or do mock rib cuffs instead.

 

This is a great little project to use up odds and ends of yarn.  It really takes very little yarn to make a pair of mittens.



 

Betty a very good friend and also a member of the club decided to crochet her mittens this year and they turned out to be amazing.  I love her bright cheery colors and also I'm impressed with how nice and thick these mittens are.  They will keep some hands warm this winter for sure.

 

Okay now I have to knit up a few more pairs for the grand and great grandkids plus some slippers for my basket at the front door for guests to wear when they visit.  Usually they take them home with them but frequent visitors keep theirs here for future visits.



Sweaters ..... (Click on Photos to enlarge)

Over the last little while I have been busy and not doing as much knitting as I would like but sometimes life just gets in the way.  However I have managed to get a little done and have plans for more this summer.

My granddaughter Maddy wanted a red sweater so she picked out the yarn and I was able to get this one done for her.

 

This was a basic pattern with set in sleeves and a wider neckline (which she really likes) made with Forsell 4 ply Superwash Wool which was a joy to work with.  The "red" is more like a maroon shade but she chose it and was really happy with the final result.  I used my trusty Singer 360 standard machine with ribber for this one and it was a pattern I created using my Knitware program. 

 

While sitting in waiting rooms over the past couple of months for various appointments and tests for my husband I got some hand knitting on the go to pass the time.  I saw these cute patterns in KP (Knitting Paradise) and just had to give them a go.  Also wanted to see if I could convert these patterns to my knitting machine and I really think it is do-able!  A lot of increasing in the yoke but that could be done with a garter bar.  Another project to tackle.  I do love this little sweater and then tried another similar but with sleeves that turned out nicely.

 

The pattern for this one is available at:

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/all-in-one-baby-top

 

Took this photo before buttons sewn on.

 

Did both sweaters with the same yarn which is so pretty when made up.  I used Bernat Softee Baby - 100% Acrylic (worsted weight #3) using 4.5mm needles. 

 

Here is the yoked sweater with sleeves:

 

Again no buttons.... 

 

This little sweater can be found at: 

http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/seamless-yoked-baby-sweater

 

Finally one of my Knit Club buddies has been very busy and has made three of the little all in one baby top pattern and brought them in to our final get together in June for our Knit Club.  Note she has buttons on hers!

 

Thank you Marian for such sweet little gems
 

All of these sweaters were donated and so well received at the Pregnancy Crisis Centre along with a couple of blankets I had made earlier.  I did get the buttons on before donating them!

 

Mittens:

 

Now my current project is mittens for our Red Cross charity Winter Warmth Program.  I like to get them done up in the summer as they knit up quickly.  I try to get at least 10 plus pairs done before our first Club meeting in September.

 

Here is the first two off the machine:-  Two down and eight to go!!!!  These were done on my Studio 155 with ribber.  They are tied together to keep them from getting separated when all donated to the Red Cross project.

 

Thumb Side of Mittens

Top Side of Mittens

The pattern is very simple so if you are interested you can find it here: Mittens - Knit Flat



Blue Bulky Cardigan Project

I had some heavier yarn and wanted to make up a blue cardigan for my great granddaughter.  She wanted long sleeves, three buttons at the top and it had to be blue to match her jeans!  I did make it for her and sent it off in the mail as she loves to get parcels.  At five years of age this is pretty much a big deal to get a parcel just for you!

I had a lot of the yarn left over so I make another regular cardigan in a larger size with six button closure.  Our little GGD Evalynne will be able to grow into this one. 

This is the first time I have make the button and buttonhole bands separately and sewn them on after the fact.  I know a lot of machine knitters use this technique and I figured it was about time I gave it a try.  Do like the appearance and it wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be at all.

I used Knitware for the pattern using a child's 28" chest sizing for this one.  Did my swatch and then using my Studio 155 with ribber I knit it up very quickly.  Did the neckband in 1 x 1 rib and the shaped top of the sleeves I put together on the machine rather than hand sewing doing half at a time.  All the other seams were done by hand.

I have now an order from my 14 year old granddaughter Maddie for a red pullover with some interesting textures in the centre front panel.  A bit of a challenge but I'm going to give it a try.  I have the yarn in a beautiful cherry red.  Next I will have to decide what machine to use.  It is a much finer yarn so I may be able to work this one up on my Singer 360 with ribber or possibly my LK 150 and do a lot of hand manipulating. 

Here is a photo of the finished larger cardigan (sorry forgot to take a photo of the smaller one).

Click on photo to enlarge

Interesting Vest Project

I came across this hand knit pattern online, purchased it and decided to do it on my bulky (Studio 155 and ribber) instead of the standard bed.  I chose Paton's Décor yarn for this little project.  I then worked with the hand knitting schematics that were given with the pattern to establish a pattern that should fit me!  My thoughts were this vest would be great for après ski or just something to wear over a turtle neck sweater or long sleeve blouse during these cold winter days.

I did my swatch.  The pattern called for a lovely centre panel on the front with cables - I wasn't in the mood for cables.  I wanted some texture but also flatter than cables so I went with a simple eyelet pattern that turned out very nice. 

Next I decided to have a 1 x 1 ribbing then a 6 x 6 rib for the body of the vest.   On the each edge I had 4 stitches (3 for half of the 6x6 rib and one for seaming).  This worked out beautifully as the 6 x 6 rib just flows all the way around the vest.

 

So here are the two pieces as they come off the machine.  They have been lightly steamed as I still wanted some elasticity in the ribbing.

 

 

Now this was the interesting part!  The seam was made up of cast off stitches on the short section and side edge stitches on the triangle shaped part.  I found by pinning I could easily ease the row edge knots and loops into the cast off stitches.

 

Yoke seaming is now done with the opening rolled back to create a collar shaping.  It does tend to look like someone has very round shoulders.  The way it fits the shaping forms over the curve of the shoulder and seems to take that triangle shaping out allowing the fabric to sit on the shoulders nicely.

 

The side seams are now done - really very little sewing on this one!  The space between the blue yarn markers are the armhole openings.  I don't think I will do anything further at the sleeve openings as this is a very casual vest.  The three columns on the edge seems to be enough.

 

 

Here is the back of the vest

 

I changed the pattern quite a bit in that I wanted ribbing on the bottom and a different rib throughout the body and of course that centre panel but then that is what we are all about isn't it.  Experimenting all the time with new textures and the look of the fabric.  I do love the vertical ribs on the main body of the vest and the only horizontal section is at the top front yoke area only.  Especially nice for my mature figure.

 

 

Now I am deciding if I would want to actually add sleeves to this - why not....  I could work with this as a drop shoulder sweater if I wanted sleeves and put them in before I sew up the side seams.  May do that on the next one!

 

If you are interested in the pattern you can find it at http://www.berroco.com/patterns/aquari 

 



 



Catch Up Time:---

Now that Christmas and year end things are behind me I've been puttering with a few little projects.

Little Boy's Sweater

Firstly my attempt at a square neck sweater for my great grandson.  I find often the neck openings are not big enough to accommodate a child's head so I've been trying to improve on that with this little sweater.  He did try it on and it worked!  He always has a shirt with a crew neck or a sort of turtle neck piece under his sweaters so the square neck still keeps him warm but is much easier to get on.

 

Here is the sweater which is a set-in sleeve style

 

The square neck ribbing was done by hand as the moving on the machine proved to be a little too much for me on this project.

 

The yarn for this project was Paton's Décor and the pattern is a basic from Knitware for a size 8 child.  I used my trusty LK 150 at tension 4 + dot for this one.

 



SOCKS 

Now on to some socks I knit for myself!  I love these in the winter time to keep my feet warm and I also use them as bed socks.  This is the same pattern as the crazy socks I did before and if you want to give them a try just go to that section of my blog and you can download the pattern from there.  Look in July 2013....

 

 

 

BABY BLANKET

Now I have this little baby blanket finished which is measuring about 39 inches square.

 

I made this also on my LK 150 hand manipulating the cables and columns on the panels.  The outer panels were done by re-latching every other bar and the centre panel was doing the cable columns - creating a cable twist every six rows. 

 

Here is the pattern if you want to give it a go:  Baby Blanket

 

I did the centre panel first and as I knit the outer panels I did the sew as you go method to eliminate sewing later.   

 

I just made it with the pink yarn so had to settle for doing the trim in white but it looks okay and I'm sure the new mom/baby will not notice and it will be one of a kind!

 

The blanket is a pale pink and a nice crib size

 

Color is a little off (dark) but it does show the cables and relatched sections

 

 

Just went with a simple crochet edging in white