rostitchery

doggie sweater on the knifty knitter

it's been a while since i posted something for the knifty knitter.  i get away from it and forget how much fun it is, and then when i take it up again for a project i remember how much fun it is!

anyway, i needed a gift for my friend brenda who recently got a very cute little puppy and with winter coming of course i thought her cute little puppy needed a sweater. 

no, your eyes do not deceive you, this is not a cute little puppy, this is an irritating little stuffed cat but the cute puppy and the stuffed cat are about the same size, and the stuffed cat will sit still for pictures.

i knit this sweater right under brenda's nose, in the green room during an opera last month--she asked me what i was making and i said it was a gift for a dear friend which was not only not a lie, it was the exact truth. 

brenda had been asking for instructions on how to make such a sweater on the KK looms so here they are:

i used the blue loom, you could use any loom that is the right size for your dog.  the yarn was something fuzzy in my stash--i had already wound it into pull balls and had tossed out the label/band, but the red was chenille and the body was some bulky-weight stuff that ella picked out on a shopping trip this summer.  

cast on and knit several rounds to make a collar.  i chose to make a rolled collar but you could also do this with K2P2 ribbing to make a flat collar, or you could make a brim that is pulled up as for a hat.  change colors/yarns after you knit the collar, if you so choose.  then knit until the piece looks long enough to fit your dog from neck to front legs.

to make leg openings:  at the beginning of the next round, bind off enough pegs to fit your dog.  for this little sweater i bound off four pegs--for a larger dog, do more (i can't be more specific as i haven't tested on other sizes--but it is pretty easy to hold up the work to the dog to check).  then knit the same number of pegs as you bound off--if you bound off pegs 1 thru 4, then knit pegs 5 thru 8--and bind off another set of pegs for the other leg, in this case pegs 9 thru 12.  then finish knitting the round as usual.

ok, i hear you asking how to bind off and still have the working yarn at the right peg to knit--i do it like this:

wrap and knit peg 1--move the loop from peg 2 over to peg 1 and knit--then move the remaining loop back to peg 2.  repeat until you have four empty pegs.  your working yarn will be ready to continue knitting pegs 5 thru 8.  this makes a stretchy edge which matches the stitches that will be cast on in the next round to complete the leg openings.

on the next round, wrap the entire loom as usual and knit the pegs that have two loops.  after that, you just knit around as usual until the body is as long as you like.  to finish, i recommend K2P2 ribbing so as not to make a lumpy roll for the doggie to lie on.

that's it!  if you don't have a doggie to knit for, please consider knitting one or more sweaters to donate to your local animal shelter, they make very nice going home outfits for doggies that get adopted at christmas. 

give a little, get a little

with one exception, i give away pretty much everything i know.  that's because pretty much everything i know was given to me.  for my entire life i have had the good fortune to be surrounded with talented, generous artists who have shared their knowledge and expertise with me simply because they loved what the did and they wanted to pass that on.

i will continue to do this--further down in this post is a project that i hope you will enjoy--but today i'm asking you to give something back.

i'm doing something really important this holiday season that you can help me with. i'm working to end hunger by raising money for heifer international.

i'm counting on you to pitch in and help reach my goal. any donation large or small will help us get there!

i chose heifer international to help because they are a wonderful organization working to end hunger and poverty in the world. for more than six decades, heifer has been helping poor families around the world become self-reliant by providing animals and the training to care for them. each recipient family promises to pass along offspring from their animal to another family in need.

heifer's simple but effective solution has helped more than seven million families -- 38 million people -- in more than 125 countries including the US, where more than 10 million people are chronically hungry.

rudi and i have been heifer supports for a number of years now--donations to heifer are our traditional christmas gift to each other--and we invite you to join us in this important campaign.

thank you in advance for taking a moment to go online and help me help heifer.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

and now, today's gift to YOU.  this is a simple little wrap that i made on the knifty knitter with just two balls of fluffy yarn and a little over an hour of time.

using the yellow knifty knitter loom, cast on and knit just three pegs for 30 rows.  this creates the first tie.  starting on the next row, wrap the three pegs, skip one peg, and wrap the next peg (K1, 2, 3, skip 4, K5).  knit these pegs, then knit one row plain to get back to the beginning.  from then on, continue skipping one peg and adding the next peg at the end on every other row. knit the rows inbetween without adding any pegs--until you have filled the entire loom.  then continue wrapping and knitting back and forth on just the wrapped pegs until you get to the end of the first ball of yarn.

add on your next ball of yarn, then start decreasing:  take the last loop off it's peg, put it on the next wrapped peg, then knit just THAT PEG.  you have just decreased one stitch.  wrap and knit one row plain.  decrease one stitch at the end of every other row until you are back down to the original three pegs.  wrap and knit these three pegs for 30 rows to create the second tie, then bind off.

there you go, another quickie gift done!  already today i could have sold this one off my own back several times, so when you wear yours plan on having mobs of people begging you to make one for them too.  just don't tell them how easy it is--let them labor under the illusion that you slaved away just for them.  :)

toe up sock on the knifty knitter

for years, i wanted to learn to knit socks.  last winter, i finally did it, using 5 double pointed needles and a lot of dove chocolate.  i learned to knit the traditional cuff-down, heel-turn-gusset-stitches-picking-up, graft-the-toe-together-when-you're-done sock, and what i would call the logical toe-up, no-seams-anywhere, no-gusset-stitches-to-pick-up, never-run-out-of-yarn sock.  i like the latter.  :)  since then, i have been ruminating and cogitating and stewing on how to do this on the knifty knitter.  earlier this week, it came to me, and i spent this afternoon making a prototype to test my theory.

the idea was that i could make the toe exactly like making a heel--i knitted one row on half the pegs of the blue loom (12 pegs), then started short row decreases until i was down to half the original number of pegs (6 pegs).  i then did "long row" (i have no idea what it is called in reverse) to add stitches until i was back to the original 12 pegs.  this gave me a cup shape for the toes to fit into, and there was no seam.

then i lifted the original 12 stitches and put them on the empty pegs--i forgot to take a picture of this--but basically it made a whole piece with stitches on all the pegs.  then i started knitting around as usual to make the foot:

close up of the toe:

i knitted until the piece was long enough for the pegs to touch my leg when i tried it on, then i did the exact same short row-long row as before to make a heel.  once that was done, i knitted around again for a while to get a leg (the little piece of green yarn is my row marker):

on the whole, this sock is pretty good, although the gauge on this loom makes the sock pretty thick.  my mama got a set of the new long knifty knitter looms for me (thank you, mama!), they are smaller gauge so i'll try again on one of those.

since finishing this sock earlier today, i found a yahoo group for loom knitting socks--duh, i should have looked there first.  oh well, i like figuring stuff out on my own--it makes me feel smart.

dolly

two christmases ago, i made ella a little dolly to match a dress i had made for her.  but since i didn't know diddly about making dolls (and still don't) the hair wasn't very pretty.  ella was concerned because she could see the dolly's scalp between the strands and she was sure the dolly was going bald.  :) 

last week, it dawned on me what to do.  i took off the dolly's hair, wetted it, and wound it on barbeque skewers.  i put the skewers in the oven to heat set--dolly hot curlers.  :D

meanwhile, i knitted a cap of hair for her on the green knifty knitter loom.  i did it by wrapping pegs 1-3-5-7-9-11, knitting them, then wrapping 2-4-6-8-10-12 and knitting them--repeated over and over--making a much looser piece of knitting than wrapping every peg.  i decreased in the back to make it fit the head better, then i loosely stitched the cap to the dolly's head:

this morning, i took the old hair off the skewers, cut each strand in half, then crocheted the strands one by one onto the wig.  a couple of hairbows later and voila!

ella loves the new hair!  "she got hairbows too!  she wooks gorgeous, just wike me, mama!"  which i believe is the nicest thing you could ever say about a dolly.

simple sweater for the knifty knitter

right after christmas, there is always a huge influx of newbies on any sewing, knitting, quilting, or other craft list, and we see the same questions being asked over and over----"does anybody know how to make XYZ?" and i can't help but thinking, "of course, somebody knows how to do anything", and every time, i take it as my personal challenge to figure out how to make it.

the following is a copy of a post i made in response to such a question, it was a request for a simple sweater pattern that could be made on a knifty knitter loom, however this sweater could be made on needles too, or with crochet, or in fabric.  in fact, one of my favorite sweaters was made exactly like this, i made it as a thank you gift to my husband for helping me buy a serger with coverstitch function, but i wear it more than he does because he doesn't actually get cold.  :)

my reply to the request for a sweater pattern:

measure the front half of your body over the widest part (bust, waist, or hips).  measure the length you want from shoulder to hem.  make a flat panel to these measurements.  repeat for back half of body, being aware that the back panel will probably measure shorter than the front panel because the back of the body is generally flatter than the front.  seam these two pieces together at the shoulder, leaving an opening for the head.

measure the desired arm length.  measure the circumference of the bicep.  make two panels to these measurements (count rows so they are the same size).  find the center of one short end, place that at the shoulder seam, and stitch.  repeat for other arm.

seam the sides closed, easing in the front fullness.

you can adjust these instructions to make all sorts of other sweaters--if you want a cardigan, you just make two narrow panels for the front instead of one wide panel.  if you want a collar, you make a panel the width and length needed.  you can make the sleeves long enough to turn up for cuffs, or you can make contrasting cuffs and seam them on.  you can make several smaller blocks of different yarns or different stitch patterns, seam them together to make bigger panels, this would be a great way to try new techniques without investing a lot of time or yarn.  if you make the body long enough, you have a coat!

the knifty-est knitter of all

like mother, like daughter.

ski mask on the knifty knitter

a member of the kniftyknitterlooms group at yahoo asked me to come up with a pattern for a ski mask.  having never actually worn one, i had to do a little online searching to make sure i knew what it truly looked like--the only image that came to mind before the search was the thing that bank robbers wear, and i didn't want to find out if that was the intended purpose.  turns out, there are all kinds of ski masks--some with an opening just for the eyes, some with an opening for the eyes and mouth, some with separate openings for each eye (although so far i haven't found one with an opening for the nose--which seems like a more logical place to have an opening than the mouth but what do i know, i've never been snow skiing).  anyway, my point is that since there are all kinds of ways to make them, i will describe the simplest way and then some variations.  (i won't get around to making a sample for quite some time, so this description will have to do).

i would knit the mask being more or less like a long hat.  start with 2 X 2 ribbing for several rows so that you don't have a rolled edge (unless that is what you want, in which case knock yourself out), then you can change to regular knitting if you like.  knit in the round until the mask is long enough to reach from the mouth to however far down the neck you prefer.

to make a slit for the mouth (or for the eyes, for that matter), you simply bind off as many stitches as needed at the front of the mask.  for example, if using the green loom, you could knit 16 pegs, bind off the next 4 pegs, then finish knitting the remaining 16 pegs.  you could bind off fewer for a smaller person, or more for a larger person.  then you would wrap the loom again as usual, including the pegs you bound off.  you knit the pegs that have two loops on them, and then you are back to knitting as usual. 

continue to knit until the next section is long enough to reach from the mouth up to the eyes, then make another slit--this one a bit wider--and finish by knitting until the top is long enough.  bind off with the gathering method.

you could crochet around the slits to reinforce them, and that would give you an opportunity to create a bridge between the eyes if you so choose. 

you could also go all out and embellish an actual face on the mask--you could make a pirate with an eye patch (oops, i bet depth perception is pretty important for snow skiing), you could make a braveheart warrior design, you could be one of the characters from "cats"--let your imagination go wild!  there was an infamous set of ski mask patterns at the swapatorium that made the rounds online for a while, but i recommend them only for very small children--who do not really care yet what other people think of them--or for those who don't really like people anyway.  :) 

to the member of the kniftyknitterslooms list who needed this pattern--if you're planning on robbing a bank--go for bland.  you'll be harder to identify. 

knifty knitter pattern speculation: tea cozy

a member of the knifty knitters looming list at yahoo asked for ideas on making a tea cozy.  i don't have time to make testers right now, but i wanted to share my ideas before the brain cells holding them meet their untimely (but regularly-occurring) demise.

the simplest idea i have is to make a cozy that covers the entire pot, handle and spout included.  it could be as simple as a flat panel made like a very short scarf, folded in half and the sides stitched closed.  this would make a cozy that is square on top, and could be a chance to try fancy stitch patterns with little investment of time or yarn. 

the next idea i have is for a cozy that still covers the whole pot, but is rounded on top.  to do this, you could just make a large hat, taking it off the loom with the gather method.  or you could make two flat panels that are straight on the sides from the bottom up to the point where the spout ends, and then you would decrease on each side until you have knit all the loops off.  then you'd seam the two pieces together.

the person asking for help wanted a tea cozy that had openings for the spout and handle.  for that, i think you could use the same two flat panels, and when you stitch them together you just leave openings where needed.

one idea i have is that any of the above cozies could be felted, which would make them hold in heat better and they could be used for oven mitts or hot pads when not in use on a tea pot.

all these cozies are slipped over the top of the pot.  to make one that is like a bag to put the pot in, i think you'd do exactly as above for the flat panels, but you might want to knit a flat piece for the bottom (not sure if that is necessary--these might work fine as is).  of course you'd just make the openings in a different place.

to close the top, you could just crochet a loop and add a button, or you could use a ties.  if you want to put in a drawstring of some sort to keep the top closed, you would need to make an i-cord, and then either crochet loops on the outside of the cozy to thread it thru, or make eyelets in the band at the top, which can be easily done with a simple yarn over technique (you can be see a video of this technique at yarn gear).  you could also felt the cozy and then it just cut slits in the top for the cord.

my last idea is for someone who has a lot of wool yarn to use up:  knit a flat panel, felt it, then cut out a cozy and stitch it up.  with the scraps, you can cut out coasters for the pot to sit on, or mittens or ear muffs or shoe insoles or christmas ornaments or cat toys or.....

we have tea parties around here every day, so maybe what we need is a set of tiny tea cozies to go with our tiny tea pots.  i'll be back with pictures when i get some done.  :)

toddler leggings prototype

i've been wanting to try something like this ever since my friend catharine designed a diaper cover pattern using the knifty knitter.  but want i wanted was tights or leggings.  i tried a prototype this past weekend and this is what i came up with (click to enlarge):

these fit my 2-year-old great, but she didn't want to model them--it was jammie day and she wanted nothing to do with anything that wasn't jammies.  :)  they took about 3 hours to make from start to finish.

catharine worked her pattern from the waist down, but that makes the stitches upside down, so i worked from the bottom up.  the following is what i did, with suggestions for adapting for a larger or smaller child:

materials:  two balls of worsted weight yarn;  knifty knitter loom (red for infant, green for small toddler, yellow for large toddler--sorry, yellow doesn't show up well on a white background).  knitting tool of your choice;  tapestry needle

first leg:  using two strand held together, cast on 14 (16; 18)  pegs and knit 2 X 2 ribbing for 4 rows.  this forms a non-roll cuff at the ankle.  then e-wrap and knit for a flat panel, as many rows as needed to make a leg that is the length of the child's inseam (i knit 50 rows, for a 12" inseam--measure your child and knit accordingly).  cut yarn but do not bind off.

second leg:  move over 2 pegs, cast on 14 (16; 18) pegs and make a second leg.  when you have the desired number of rows, DO NOT CUT YARN.  instead, begin knitting in the round, from that leg to the other, including the pegs inbetween.  wrap only one row--then knit the pegs that have two loops (the leg pegs).  from there, continue wrapping in the round and knit as usual, until the trunk is long enough to reach from the child's crotch to the waist (i knit 30 rows).

NOTE--on the red loom you will have two pegs between the legs on one side and only one peg on the other.  on the green loom, you will have two pegs between the legs on both sides.  on the yellow loom, you will have two pegs between the legs on one side and three pegs on the other.  the uneven number of pegs does not affect the fit, so don't fret.

waistband:  here is a place where i wish i had done something different.  i knit 1 loop over 2 for 6 rows.  this created a rolled waistline, which i thought would be cute.  i wish instead that i had knit 2 X 2 ribbing, because i discovered that i didn't really care for the roll after all.  you might like it, and if you do, then by all means, use it, but if you want a flat waistline, use the 2 X 2 ribbing.

bind off:  use the super stretchy bind off method.

finishing:  using a single strand of yarn and the tapestry needle, seam the legs closed, starting from the hem of one leg, up to the crotch, and back down the other leg.  (if you had an uneven number of pegs between legs, just fudge it at the crotch).

knifty knitter wreath

knifty knitting gets out of hand

or more like, hands get into knifty knitting.  i've been seeing all kinds of these wrist warmer thingies and decided to figure out how to make them on the knifty knitter.

these couldn't be simpler, the pair took about an hour.  these would make a great last-minute gift.

using the blue loom and your chosen yarn, make a flat panel using all the pegs on the loom.  knit until the piece is long enough to go around your wrist--my wrist measures 6", i knitted 24 rows--if your wrist is larger or smaller, adjust accordingly.  (how did i come up with 24 rows?  i wrapped the piece around my wrist to see if it was big enough). 

NOTE: the yarn you use will make a big difference in how long a piece you will knit, so if you are at all worried about it, make a small sample for gauge.

now--reach into the loom and bring up the cast on row, just as you would for making a turned brim, putting the bars from the cast on row back on the pegs SKIPPING PEGS 6 & 7.  knit the pegs that have two loops on them.  then finish and remove the whole piece using the crochet method.

that's it!  the pegs you left without the cast on bars will be the thumb opening.

SRC addendum:  i used about 1/2 of a small skein of some sport weight yarn that i bought years ago,  i'll take 5 point for that, and for making up the pattern i'll take 10 points because really i don't plan to even wear these but i'm so pleased that i figured out how to make them on the loom.