SWEATER & SCARF PATTERNS

Last year at this time, I was finishing two sweaters for my nephews, Matthew and Joshua, who were 12 and 10 at the time. They live at a distance, so sizing was tricky. Here are pictures of these two handsome young men wearing their sweaters.

Joshua in his two-color Berroco
Pure Pima Cotton sweater

Matthew in his sweater
(pattern)

Since I have more projects in mind than time to flesh out patterns, I unfortunately tend to delay writing up patterns. But I have gotten a pattern together for Matthew's sweater (on the right)--complete with sizes. I really liked how this sweater turned out. 

My sister-in-law had asked for cotton sweaters, which is not my favorite yarn to work with, but allergies required no wool.

Joshua's sweater (on the left) is made from Berroco Pure Pima (shades 2245 and 2263). I had originally thought I'd purchased enough yarn to make both sweaters from the Berroco, but realized after I got the measurements that it wasn't enough. Unfortunately I'd had the yarn for a few months and knew it would be next to impossible to get matching dye lots, so I designed Joshua's to use both colors.

Of course that meant hunting for new cotton yarn for Matthew. I found Lily's Sugar 'n Cream and chose the color denim. It's a thicker yarn than the Berroco, but is a workhorse and can be washed and thrown in the dryer, unlike the Berroco. I wanted Matthew's sweater to have some give and to yet have an interesting design. I tested several stitch patterns before finding one that seemed to work well with the yarn. It combines ribbing with a seed or basketweave stitch. Although I call it a boy's cotton pullover, it will work equally well for girls.

Double Cable Scarf pattern

SCARF
Recently I put together a pattern for a man's scarf for a friend. It was going to be her first venture into cables. About a month ago, I started a scarf from the same pattern, but using a lighter weight yarn. I think it's a lovely pattern and wanted to share it with you, too. The pattern is written so that you can adjust the width according to the type of yarn you are using. And, to me the pattern is gender-neutral.
Happy knitting!

Reah Janise

FELTED ELF SLIPPERS

Well I've found another fun thing to knit. In between socks and sweaters, I found a really sweet set of patterns for felted slippers. Slippers were how I was introduced to knitting because my grandmother always knit slippers for her grandchildren. She would have us place our feet on a piece of paper and would draw a pattern. That's all she needed. This was a pattern she had in her head. While I've looked at slipper patterns on an off over the last few years, one came through Facebook that were so darling that I just had to try them.

The e-book is by Cat Bordhi and is called The Art of Felfs: Felted Footwear for families. It is downloadable from Ravelry for $20, the proceeds of which go to support Dr. David Krag, a cancer researcher.

The designs are fun. I started with the quick-start felfs to get the hang of the process, and I must say that they are absolutely going to be the start of a beautiful relationship. I already have in mind Christmas presents for some friends.

In the meantime, I completed a cardigan for a friend for her Christmas present. Unfortunately as she reads my blog, I can't post a picture. But once I give it to her and take pictures, I will be posting it and the pattern.

Happy felfing to all!

Reah Janise

COAT OF MANY COLORS and MORE



Coat of Many Colors

I don't want to keep saying this, but, yes, it's been awhile. I wanted to wait until I had actual patterns to post ... and now I do.
First off, featured in this blog are two sweaters. Coat of Many Colors was my first commission (that I accepted). It is a baby sweater for about a 1 year old. To me, the charm of the sweater comes from the terrific yarn: Adriafil Knitcol Trends 50 gram. This is a lovely washable wool, made in Italy, and is soft enough for a baby, even though it isn't considered a baby yarn. 

Because the yarn makes such a smashing pattern, I kept the pattern itself simple: stockinette with a small cable, some right, some left, to add a wave-like feature. The pattern is sized for 6-9, 9-12, and 12-15 months. The pattern is published in Ravelry and Scribd.


Ready 4 Adventure

In my last blog, I promised to post the pattern for Ready 4 Adventure, another baby sweater. That pattern is now also available in Ravelry and Scribd. I knit a hat to go with the sweater from the leftover yarn, but did not make a pattern for it. I assume that most knitters have a baby hat that they can use. 

Atom Cable Men's Sweater

And, as you may remember, I was knitting a sweater for my dear husband. That has also been completed, but I'm still getting the pattern together for it. I will post it, with sizes, when done.

Happy knitting to all!

Reah Janise


Hadan wearing his sweater

LONG TIME

Back of Ready for Adventure

Whew! It's been a long time since my last post. The problem hasn't been for lack of knitting projects, but for lack of time. I also had wanted to be able to post at least one completed pattern.

First, I finished this baby sweater set for a one-year old. I'm getting close to completing the pattern, but ... well, it does take time.

Ready for Adventure
 

As you can see, each piece is different. The back is blocks of color. The front are two colors, and the sleeves are stripes and blocks. The body is about 23 inches around and 11 1/4 inches long. The sleeves are 7 inches long (to the underarm) and the wrist is 4 inches around. I used three balls of Classic Yarns Cashsoft 4-ply, 50 grams, 197 yards each: one of each color. and used size 3 needles. Gauge is 18 stitches for 3 inches and 17 rows for 2 inches. The front is angled past the middle where a big button goes and then almost straight to the neck edge. The edging is a simple seed stitch over 3 stitches.

I've also begun a sweater for my dear husband. I was thrilled to get Interweave's special "The Unofficial Harry Potter Knits" edition and poured through it for patterns. They are so lovely and I really wanted to knit the Sorcerer's Sweater for him, but I had already purchased yarn and it was a worsted, which would not work. So I went to work looking for a cable pattern that might be as magical. I found one in Continuous Cables. Unfortunately Melissa Leapman did not give it a name, but Hadan thought it looked like an atom. And since he's a chemistry teacher, that seemed perfect. I made a couple of modifications on the outer edge and bottom edge. 

I completed the front and back recently, but have not yet blocked it. The side is done using a wrapped stitch, and I have a twisted stitch as the border, and there are three six-stitch cables running up the middle to the atom. I'm using size 7 needles for the ribbing and size 8 for the body.

The yarn is Knit Picks Full Circle, a worsted weight, made with recycled fibers, 220 yards per skein. Color is Blue Moon.

The back is knit without the atom. I've started the sleeves, which will continue with the wrapped stitch on the sides, but just one cable running up the side, with the twisted stitch running alongside the edge.

My goal is to finish the sweater by this weekend. 

Let the knitting commence!

Reah Janise

 

MULTI FUN SOCKS

So here's the deal. After knitting socks for the last, hmm, dozen years, I have lots of small balls of leftover sock yarn. Some are enough to make one sock, but definitely not another two.

So when I finished the last shawl and while I was working out the pattern for the next thing--a baby sweater--I picked up three leftovers, two multi-color and one simply red. and started a pair of socks. To let the color be the pattern, I stayed with a simple rib stitch.

And here they are!

Having fun,

Reah Janise

SHAWL TIME

Last year I started knitting triangular shawlettes and absolutely adored working them. Then I came across a crescent shawl, where you start on the longest outside edge row and work your way smaller. I keep doing modifications to the original design (Annis shawl), and just this week completed another shawl that simply thrilled me.

Because of the way lace works up, you almost have to go on faith as to how the finished piece will look. I'd used a white sock yarn with  size 5 needles. I've seen some patterns using beads. Since I've never used beads before, it seemed like a good time to try, so I worked a sample to see how it would work. I got 36 crystal beads and used 30 of them.

By the way, when working with beads you have to string them on your skein before beginning a piece. This can make it a bit awkward because you are always having to shift them down the yarn until you are ready to place them.

I'd decided on replacing the stockinette portion of the Annis shawl with a trellis lace pattern (6 stitch pattern over 4 rows). I thought it would be open enough and also allow for relatively easy decreasing. The decreases were sometimes a bit tricky, and because of it I am not putting up the pattern.

Rather than nupps, which are worked over two rows, I experimented with bobbles.

The other change I made was to use a picot bind off. Cast on two stitches onto the left hand needle. Bind off four stitches. Place the remaining stitch onto the left needle. Repeat. This bind off takes time, but is well worth the lovely edging.

cheers,

Reah Janise

NORO SOCK HUGS

OK, so two of my knitting friends LOVE Noro yarns. I've watched them knitting scarves and bags and just having a delightful time with this kicky yarn.

Well, recently a friend was diagnosed with a difficult illness. I wanted to do something to let her know that I cared--something more than flowers or a card. Since she lives across the country, I wanted it to be something lasting that would remind her she was loved.
So when I was picking up an order from Knit + Stitch = Bliss in Bethesda, I bought a skein of Noro Taiyo sock yarn. This friend loves fun socks and few yarns are as fun as Noro. One reason is that each sock comes out different because that's just how the yarn colors come through.

I used an overall cable pattern, interlacing the cables--like little hugs. Will post the pattern shortly.

XO,
Reah Janise