Happy Father's Day!

Happy Father's Day...hug your Dad..he'll love you for it!

Wet Iron Blocking 100% Cotton Tutorial

From time to time the question comes up in knitting groups about blocking your knits. There are different types of blocking to pick from. For 100% cotton dishcloths this is the method I prefer. It's fast, it's easy, and works quite well.

Why block dishcloths? Well, two reasons really. First, I like to block them before taking pictures when posting the patterns. and secondly, when giving them as a gift it makes them more presentable.

Step one: get out the clean dishcloths and towels you wish to have blocked. Make sure they're knit from ONLY 100% cotton-no acrylic! (If you have any dirty marks or oils in or on the fabric, they will be set once the iron/heat hits them).

Step two: lay a white towel on your ironing board. The thicker the towel, the better. I choose to use white to avoid dye color transfer onto the dishcloth.

Step three: using the spray setting from your iron, lightly spray the RIGHT side of your dishcloth. Don't soak it-that would create a much longer dry time needed.

Make sure you get the edges and the corners of the RIGHT side of the dishcloth moist.

Step four: flip the dishcloth over, so the RIGHT side is facing DOWN onto the towel.

Step five: gently iron the back of the dishcloth with the steam setting OFF. (You don't need to add any more moisture to the dishcloth.)

Step six: change positions of the iron and directions you are ironing. This will help to even out the back of the cloth. Slightly adjust the corners and sides as you are ironing to make the sides and corners straight and even. You're looking for great lines. The back should look rather flat. You are in essence pushing the front of the stitches down into the loops of the towel.

Step seven: let the cloth sit for a few moments to cool down.

Step eight: flip the dishcloth over, RIGHT side UP, and let it sit until it's completely dry on a flat surface. You can also use a cookie rack as well. It helps the air to circulate from underneath as well.

Step nine: pair up your dishcloth with a towel and wrap it up as a gift!

This technique works well with cross stitch blocking as well. Because you are ironing your cloth face down, the stitches will 'pop' out into the loops of the towel. Thus, when you flip it right side up, the stitches will be 'raised' so you can see the texture/picture you have knit.

Puffy Basketweave Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel

Puffy Basketweave Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel
© Cathy Waldie, June 13, 2009
for your NON-commerical, non-profit, personal knitting use

(US) 5 (3.75mm) and (US) 7 (4.5mm) needles
100% cotton yarn, 4 oz.
1 button
pre-blocking gauge: 18 sts/26 rows
(US) 5 (3.75mm) needles

1-4: With smaller needles, cast on 58 stitches and knit 4 rows for the bottom border, slipping the first stitch of all rows in cloth as if to knit.

(US) 7 (4.5mm) needles
Change to larger needles and begin the pattern.
5: K3, (K4, P4) 6 times, K7
6: K3, (P4, K4) 6 times, P4, K3
7: K3, (K4, P4) 6 times, K7
8: K3, (P4, K4), 6 times, P4, K3
9: Knit
10: K3, P52, K3
11: K3, (P4, K4) 6 times, P4, K3
12: K3, (K4, P4) 6 times, K7
13: K3, (P4, K4) 6 times, P4, K3
14: K3 (K4, P4) 6 times, K7
15: Knit
16: K3, P52, K3

17-80: Repeat rows (5-16) 5 more times for a total of 6 pattern repeats. Then repeat rows (5-8) once more.

81) Sl 1, K28, M1, K29 (59 sts)
82-84) Sl 1, K across

Begin decreases for the Towel Top
85) Sl 1, K7, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K7* 4 times, end, (Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO) K8. (49 sts.)
86, 88, 90, 92, 94, 96) Knit (slipping the first stitch)
87) Sl 1, K6, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K5* 4 times, last 10 sts: Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K7 (39 sts.)
89) Sl 1, K5, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K3* 4 times, last 9 sts: (SL1 K2tog, PSSO), K6. (29 sts.)
91) Sl 1, K4, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K1* 4 times, last 8 sts: (Sl 1, K2 tog, PSSO), K5. (19 sts)
93) Sl 1, K2, (K2tog) 3 times, K1, (K2tog) 3 times, K3 (13 sts.)
95) (K2tog) 3 times, K1, (K2tog) 3 times. (7 sts.)

Tab Section of Towel Top

97) Knit, slipping the first stitch
98) Sl 1, K1, P3, K2.
99-113) repeat rows 97 and 98 of the tab section.
114) Knit, slipping the first stitch
115) Sl 1, K1, P3, K2
116-129) repeat rows 114 and 115 of the tab section
130) Sl 1, K1, Bind off center 3 sts, K to end (4 sts) (creates buttonhole)
131) Sl 1, Kfb next st, Kfb next st, K1 (6 sts)
132) K2 tog, K2tog, K2tog (3 sts)
134) Knit 1, K2tog, pass first stitch over. Pull tail through last stitch.

Weave in ends, wet/spray/steam block. Sew button into center stitches on tab decrease row #96.

Towel matches the Puffy Basketweave Dishcloth.

getting closer, the countdown is on..

After spending a couple of years all bunched up in a zip lock bag, tucked into a box and shoved into the corner, the actual knitting on Mom's vest has been completed. And it definitely needed some blocking time. Even if it's not 100% wool. Therefore, rather than doing a whole dunk kind of block, I wanted to try out the wet towel laid on top method. And I have decided that I like it.

Now, keep in mind that I have had this process going for a couple of days. After 2 days with the 'sunny side up', I flipped it over and laid the damp towel on the back. It seems to have relaxed the stitches and smoothed out the stitches that needed to be 'fixed'.

Here's the back...

...and here's the front. All that's left is to get buttons. Well, that and to decide if I want to do the embroidery down the left front panel. There are several choices to pick from. It's similar to Huck stitching on towels. I'm still trying to make up my mind. I have 4 days to decide or finish. It would be nice to have it all settled and done before I get home.

Some decisions are much easier to make than others. Like how good it feels to be finishing up some of these old wips. They're not shouting at me from the other room anymore. We just won't talk about the many others that are still singing in chorus trying to gain my attentions.

Details: Knitter's Fall, 2004, Patchwork Vest by Betty Monroe, Size Small, Lion Brand Wool-ease, Turquoise and Black, Size (US) 6 (4.0mm) and 7 (4.5mm) Addi turbos.

Changes I've done to this pattern thus far: a) obviously, I added the Black color to the edgings. b) I have also opted out of making the pockets. The original pattern called for feltable wool to knit the whole vest out of, and then felting the pockets. Since Mom and Dad's apartment is generally too warm in the winter (keep in mind I picked this pattern years ago prior to their cancer treatments) I didn't want to make something that warm. This was made out of the leftovers from the Guy's Guernsey afghan I'd given to my Mom for Christmas, 2006-her favorite color. (and yes, I STILL have a bunch left over!)

c) and lastly, I'm still deciding on the embroidery.

Four days to go. Decisions, decisions, decisions...

oy!

1:15pm Michigan time today

Mom's first round of radiation (glow in the dark I call it), begins this afternoon in Michigan. If we call wish/hope/pray at the same time, can we knot it out of the park this time? NO MORE "C" WORD????????????????????

NYD '05 pattern has been rewritten, plus more

Recently, while knitting up a particular pink baby sweater, I thought that this was nuts. There was so much purling on the sweater that it actually hurt my wrists and I don't want to knit the pattern ever again. Now, it's not that I disliked the sweater, but rather the manner in which the pattern was written. However, the daughter who was going to gift it and the new mommy who the sweater was given to, really like it. So the chances of me knitting it in the future, are still there. The more I thought about it, the more I got to thinking that it could have been written better. Much better. Rather than a ton of purling rows, it should have been flipped over with knitting the rows and purling only the one row of the pattern to give it it's shape/texture. Had it been written that way, my wrists would have been spared the twisting that I must be doing while knitting those directions. Something to be thought about down the road and I tucked that idea back into my brain to find later on.

Shortly there after, I went to knit up one of my old 'standby' dishcloths'. My NYD '05 Dishcloth. Mmmmm, my wrist started to 'feel' the pattern. And the lightening bolt hit. I had written the pattern with the same issues I found in the pink sweater. More twisting and purling in the pattern than it needed to be. Looking at the pattern itself, it dawned on me that there was no reason to re-write the pattern and keep the stress off of my wrists. As someone who has been knitting since I was 7 years old, knitting is a big part of my life, and I don't want to do ANYTHING to interfere with my knitting lifestyle. (Which leads me to ask you, how many of you are taking breaks every 15 minutes and stretching your hands, arms and shoulders? hmmm...) So, I challenge you to look at the 4 dishcloths here. Which ONE is from the old pattern, and which THREE are the newly written one? Can you tell the difference from the textures? Click on them and make 'em big, and see if you can tell which is which. Which one is the old pattern?

Is it the Red one?

Is it the Blue one?

Is it the White one?

Or is it the Americana one?

I'm not going to tell you which one it is. I'll let you decide. I MAY tell you down the road, as soon as you have time to look them over.

But I will post the pattern for the newly written dishcloth ( NYD '05, Ver.2 Dishcloth ) in a few moments for you to use. AND then, I knit up and wrote out the pattern for NYD '05 Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel, too. I've been meaning to do that ever since I started knitting towels to go with the dishcloths. Now, I'm glad I waited this long. I wrote it with the new wrist friendly directions.

Doesn't this look like a great Red, White, and Blue set? Don't forget your Tribbles! I can't wait to knit up some more of these for some gifting moments. That will have to wait a little bit, since I've been working on catching up with some finishing of projects that are hollering for some attention. I don't know if it's from Reading Major Knitter's [ http://majorknitter.typepad.com/ ] Finish or Frog it Fridays, or knowing that I was going home in a couple of weeks and want to bring my Mom her hat and vest I've had on the needles for far too long! Both avenues have been yelling quite loudly these days.

I finished this off on Sunday afternoon but it's not blocked yet. It needs to be washed and put over a plate to dry. Now I ask you, how easy is that?

Here's the flip side. Again, pre-blocking of the hat. It's the Tam hat from the book, Hat's On! I've made it for Mom in the past and she loves the hat. This is really close to the other one that I'd done in the Peacock color, but this time made it in Too Teal, both from Paton's Classic Wool. The Too Teal is the same wool I made her cabled sweater for her birthday last November. The difference between the colors is just enough to make the two clash (in my opinion). This is from the multiple skeins I have left when I'd found the color had been discontinued at an AC Moore store. Knowing it was Mom's favorite color I grabbed all they had figuring after a sweater I'd find something to use it for.

I picked up 22 skeins initially.

I have 13 left. Give or take. hm... Now what?

Since I now have 3 more of these to finish before August, I'm trying to get at least one of these done before flying home. Just in case my daughter can come at the same time for a visit I'd like to let her carry it back to New York rather than shipping it. Less mailing money = more yarn money. Right?

I still want to finish off Mom's vest, too. But I'm going to post this right now so I can give you the two new patterns in separate postings so you can print them without the whole long stories that I've been known to post in the past. I'm trying to save on trees. Ya..my story!

NYD '05 Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel

NYD '05 Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel
© Cathy Waldie, May 29, 2009

(US) 5 (3.75mm), (US) 7 (4.5mm) needles
140 yds/128 m 100% cotton yarn
Samples knit with Lion Brand Lion Cotton using Crystal Palace Bamboo needles

C/O = Cast On
K = Knit
P = Purl
Sl = Slip
M1 = Make 1, increase stitch
Sts = stitches
Tbl =Through back loop
Kfb = knit through the front and the back of the same stitch, increase stitch
PSSO=Pass Slipped Stitch Over
* *=repeat the directions between the *'s
tog = together
( ) = repeat directions inside parentheses the given number of times
B/O = Bind Off

(US) 5 (3.75mm) needles
C/O 58 Stitches
1-5) Knit across, slipping the first stitch of each row

(US)7 (4.5mm) needles
begin Pattern:
6) Sl 1, K2, P52, K3
7) Sl 1, K across
8) Sl 1, K2, P1, *K2, P1* across to last 3 stitches, K3
9) Sl1, K across

10-77) repeat Rows (6-9) 17 times for a total of 18 pattern repeats.

78) Sl 1, K across
79) Sl 1, K28, M1, K29 (59 sts)
80) Sl 1, K across

Begin decreases for the Towel Top

81) Sl 1, K7, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K7* 4 times, end, (Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO) K8. (49 sts.)
82, 84, 86, 88, 90, 92) Knit (slipping the first stitch)
83) Sl 1, K6, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K5* 4 times, last 10 sts: Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K7 (39 sts.)
85) Sl 1, K5, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K3* 4 times, last 9 sts: (SL1 K2tog, PSSO), K6. (29 sts.)
87) Sl 1, K4, *(Sl 1, K2tog, PSSO), K1* 4 times, last 8 sts: (Sl 1, K2 tog, PSSO), K5. (19 sts)
89) Sl 1, K2, (K2tog) 3 times, K1, (K2tog) 3 times, K3 (13 sts.)
91) (K2tog) 3 times, K1, (K2tog) 3 times. (7 sts.)

Tab Section of Towel Top

93) Knit, slipping the first stitch
94) Sl 1, K1, P3, K2.
95-109) repeat rows 93 and 94 of the tab section.
110) Knit, slipping the first stitch
111) Sl 1, K1, P3, K2
112-127) repeat rows 110 and 111 of the tab section
128) Sl 1, K1, Bind off center 3 sts, K to end (4 sts) (creates buttonhole)
129) Sl 1, Kfb next st, Kfb next st, K1 (6 sts)
130) K2 tog, K2tog, K2tog (3 sts)
131) Knit 1, K2tog, pass first stitch over. Pull tail through last stitch.

Weave in ends, wet/spray/steam block. Sew button into center stitches on tab decrease row #91.

Add a couple of NYD '05, Ver. 2 Dishcloths and a few Tribbles to your Towel and have a complete Kitchen set to use, or give as a lovingly hand made gift to someone very special.

NYD '05, Ver. 2 Dishcloth

NYD '05, Ver. 2
© Cathy Waldie, May 29, 2009

53 yds/50 m 100% cotton yarn
(US) 5 (3.75mm), (US) 7 (4.5mm) needles
Samples knit in Lion Brand Lion Cotton on Crystal Palace Bamboo needles

C/O = Cast On
K = Knit
P = Purl
Sl = Slip
B/O = Bind Off

(US) 5 (3. 75mm)
C/O 34 stitches

1-5) knit across, slipping the first stitch of each row

(US) 7 (4.5mm)
begin pattern:
6) Sl 1, K2, P28, K3
7) Sl 1, K across
8) Sl 1, K2, P1, (K2, P1) 9 times, k3
9) Sl1, K across

10-45) Repeat rows (6-9) 9 more times for a total of 10 pattern repeats.
46) Repeat Row 6, once more

(US) 5 (3.75mm)
47-51) Repeat Rows 1-5 once more,
52) B/O in purl

Clip threads, weave in ends, wash dishes!

Next up, the NYD '05 Kitchen Hanging Hand Towel!

My first hoodie

Does this look a wee bit different from the last picture you saw? Yep...going to rename myself as Queen of Frogging. I had finished the two front panels with the wrong directions. Not only did I have to rip them out and reknit them, but even with the long tails I'd left, I ran short of yarn. I had to add some some (thank you Russian Join) to be able to complete the last 2 rows and bind off. Shesshhh.....However....

So totally worth it! Isn't this just too cute?

I want one in my size now.

Man, I wish I'd had these patterns when my kids were little. Someday, my someday Grandkids are going to have a LOT of sweaters! Hope they don't all live in a hot zone!

details:
Sirdar book 299: Toddler Aran Knits, Design "H", Size 3-6 months
Simply Soft yarn-white, .868 of a 7 oz skein= 274 yards.

Most definitely will make another one at some point. This one is off to New York!

Just My Size Baby Jiffy Knit Preemie Hats

Just My Size Baby Jiffy Knit Baby Hat

© Cathy Waldie, May 11, 2009

(US)3 (3.25mm) needles, DK/Sportweight yarn
C/O 72 stitches
1-6) *K2, P2* around
7-9) Knit 3 rounds
10) K2 Tog around
11) P1, M1P around
12 26)Repeat rows 7-11, 3 more times for a total of 4 pattern repeats
27-34) Knit 8 rounds
35) *K4, K2 tog* around (60 sts)
36) Knit around
37) *K3, K2 Tog* around (48 sts)
38) Knit around
39) *K2, K2 Tog* around (36 sts)
40) Knit around
41) *K1, K2 Tog* around (24 sts)
42) Knit around
43) *K2 Tog* around (12 sts)
44) *K2 Tog* around (6 sts)

Cut thread, thread through remaining stitches, secure, weave in ends.

Notes: this pattern came about after I knit up preemie hats using Carissa's pattern: http://carissaknits.blogspot.com/2007/07/preemie-hats-for-charity.html and the pattern for the Baby Jiffy Knit Baby Sweater: http://wishingiwasknitting.blogspot.com/2007/07/baby-jiffy-knit-sweater.html . Back some time ago, I used the texture from the Baby Jiffy Knit Sweaters to make some hats for newborn sizes and posted them under the Baby Hats pattern:
http://wishingiwasknitting.blogspot.com/2007/06/baby-hats-and-more-deliveries.htmldeliveries.html Hopefully these patterns will help you dress up your sweaters.

Here is a group of pictures to help you M1P (Make 1 Purl). Since I have written this pattern to be knit in the round, you're not going to flip it over and knit it flat, thus you will NOT be using a regular M1 stitch, which uses a Knit stitch.

1) K2 Tog (together) all around the row

2) Bring your yarn forward, as if you're going to purl.

3) with the tip of your right hand needle, lift the bar thread you find between the two stitches on your needles.

4) purl into that lifted stitch

5) purl the stitch on your left hand needle

6) continue with the M1P (Make 1 Purl), P1 all the way around

another view

view of 4 sets of the pattern repeats

Top of the hat while decreasing

Top of hat after fastening off.

Side view of preemie hat on my finger tips.

Prettiest Pink hat= 13”/33cm circum, 5.25”/13.5 cm depth, (US) 4 (3.5mm) 12” circular needles, 17 g/54.6 yards


Baby’s Blue hat=12.75”/32.5 cm circum, 5.123”/13 cm depth, (US)3 (3.25mm) double point needles, 16 g/52.8 yards


Surf baby hat=12.25”/31cm circum, 4.75”/12 cm depth, (US)3 (3.25mm) 12” circular needle, 14 g/49 yards