rostitchery

knifty kitchen knitting

this knifty knitting is ADDICTIVE.  last night i made a little kitchen set, they are prototypes and i have some kinks to work out but basically i think i'm on to something workable.  the first was this "knifty" little pot scrubber made from nylon yarn used for plastic canvas projects.  the pattern couldn't be simpler:  on the blue loom, using two strands of  yarn, e-wrap and knit 15 rows, making sure to leave at least a 12" tail on the holding peg.  cast off using the gathering method, gather the cast off end and tie.  then using the long tail from the holding peg, gather the cast on edge and tie.  hide yarn tails, and you're done!   i made two while nursing ella and watching an episode of "blue's clues".

the other thing i made was a kitchen towel topper, which pattern i have to refine but this one at least shows the idea i'm working with.  i folded the top hem of the towel to the back then i sewed a running stitch across the top of the towel, using a tapestry needle and one strand of cotton yarn:

word to the wise #1:  when choosing the towel you will use, look for one that has large or loose weave so the yarn can pass easily when you make your running stitch.  huck towelling is great, so is monk's cloth.  the towel i used was one i got at the dollar store, and i had the ball of yarn and the button, so basically this was a free experiment.

then i put the towel on the blue loom using the running stitches as the cast on row:

from there, i used two strands of yarn and started e-wrapping and knitting as usual until the topper was about 3" long.  then i made a decrease on the beginning and end of each row until i was down to just 3 stitches which would become the tab for buttoning the topper to my oven door handle:

at which point i realized that when i folded down the tab, the back of the knitting would show, so i turned the work by moving the loop on peg 1 to peg 5, and the loop on peg 2 to peg 4(essentially the third peg was the pivot point):

 

when turning, you have to be careful to move the working yarn back into the center of the loom.

i continued knitting these three pegs until i got a tab long enough to go around the handle of my oven door.  i used the flat panel bind off method, leaving a long tail which i crocheted into a loop.  i stitched on a button and it was all done!

folded and buttoned:

word to the wise #2:  choose a button that has holes big enough for your yarn to pass thru--and make a pretty big yarn shank when you sew it on.  :) 

this the towel topper took less than an hour to make, once i figured out the little details.  this little kitchen set is probably going to be on my list of quick and easy hostess gifts.  i guess now i'll be compelled to figure out how to make one of those tacky little dresses for the dishwashing liquid bottle.  :)

and lest we forget:  for the SRC i'll take 10 points for materials, and 100 points for selflessly offering up one of my kitchen towels for lab testing.

i'm a knifty knitter!

it's taking a while to get pictures of the opera costumes, but i've been SO eager to get back to regular posting that i'm just going to move on and post pictures as i get them.

the fallout from the opera--all 72 costumes of it--is that i can't bear the thought of sewing right now, so with the cold weather coming, i've been KNITTING!  and not just any knitting either, i picked up a set of knifty knitter looms and just as usual, i've been trying to figure out ways to do things on my own.  actually, i've been forced to do so--there is a pitiful dearth of patterns or techniques available for these neat little gadgets, so naturally i had to come up with something.  my first completed project was this little bumblebee hat for ella (click to see enlargement):

so far, i have not seen any pattern that uses the method i developed to make these ear flaps--they are not on the edge of the hat, they are under the brim.  it was so simple, i am almost embarrassed to explain it............i knitted the brim first, then i knitted the earflaps, then i continued the hat as usual.

there--i hope you are duly impressed with my ingenuity.  :)  whether or not the techniques i used to make this hat are "legal", i don't know, but they worked, and here is the pattern as best as i can explain it:

you need:  1 ball of yellow yarn, 1 ball of black yarn, the red knifty knitter loom, loom tool, tapestry needle

time:  this one took about 4 hours, the next one took only 3--an easy evening's work

use two strands of yarn held together for each color.

BRIM: with the black yarn, e-wrap and knit 8 rounds.  drop black yarn but do not cut.

FIRST EAR FLAP:  count 6 pegs to the left of the holding peg, then using the yellow yarn *make a 3-peg I-cord (see below for instructions).  i made this cord 30 rows long, about 9", this is long enough to tie under the chin.  then e-wrap and knit one row (3 stitches).  increase one stitch at the beginning and end of the next 3 rows (see below for instructions), giving you 9 stitches.  e-wrap and knit 5 rows even, then cut yarn leaving a 4" tail.*

SECOND EAR FLAP:  count 9 pegs to the right of the holding peg, then repeat above between *'s.

this picture shows the ear flaps being made on another hat, thus different colors (click to view enlargement):

BODY OF HAT:  starting back at the beginning peg and using the yellow yarn, e-wrap one row, then knit.  when you get to the ear flaps, knit 1 over 2 (black loop over both yellow loops).  e-wrap another row, knit, this time when you get to the ear flaps, knit 2 over 1 (ear flap loops will now be knit into the hat).

e-wrap and knit a total of 4 rows yellow, then pick up the black yarn and e-wrap and knit two rows black.  repeat two more times, for a total of three bands of yellow/black.  end with 4 more rows of yellow.

HINT #1--as i am wrapping the pegs, i wrap around the loose ends of yarn that i cut when i made the flaps.  i do this for several rows then i snip the remainder of the yarn tail--the weaving in is now all done!

HINT #2--i don't cut the yarn when i change colors--i carry it inside the hat and pick it up when needed.  i do twist the colors together when changing so that there is not gap.

REMOVING FROM LOOM:  take hat off the loom with the gathering bind off. 

FINISHING:  with two strands of black yarn, make an I-cord 12" long.  fold it into two loops for wings and sew to top of hat.

if these instructions are not clear, please feel free to ask questions--this is the first knitting pattern i've ever written, so i'm pretty sure i'm not good at it yet.  :)

oh, the other hat--the one on the green loom--that one was going to be for me, but ella likes it and it actually fits her pretty well--probably better than the first one, because it has room to grow for the winter--so she'll get this one too.  the body of the hat is a different stitch pattern but the method of applying the ear flaps is the same:

 

3 peg I-cord:  wrap three pegs, then take the yarn back to the first peg SKIPPING THE SECOND PEG, rather than knitting back over it to get to the first peg. e-wrap the three pegs again.  knit.  repeat until cord is as long as needed.

increasing:  wrap the empty peg next to the beginning or end of the row TWICE, and knit this additional stitch with the rest of the row.