decor archive at limedragon :)

Multiplicity

01.Feb.08 ~ 4:54 pm

I managed to squeeze in some time to knit a few hats for k3tog’s Preemie Hat drive.

My goal was to knit as many hats as I could get out of a 68-gram leftover ball of Bernat Softee Baby. So how many hats was I able to get from that 68 grams?

baby stuff, decor, knitting | 9 stitches

Kitsch

21.Nov.07 ~ 6:30 am

Happy Thanksgiving to those celebrating tomorrow!

I actually started this project several times back in late August-September. I made so many mistakes I finally frogged it and put it aside. An opportunity to try again finally came when I was in a lull between projects.

I hope I’m not causing any bad ’70s flashbacks with this color combination! I used these two colors partly because I was fairly sure the recipient would like them, and because their official names are Paprika and Thyme, quite appropriate for kitchen use.

It’s a fun pattern, simple but interesting at the same time. It’s also a bit challenging because the Gingham stitch pattern uses an odd-numbered row repeat before changing colors. I’ve done this before with other projects, but for some reason, I had a serious block with this project. I kept frogging or tinking back needlessly, or making too many errors. Things went much more smoothly after taking a break.

I made one modification to the second Grid section (the two-color section before the cast-off edge). I added in two contrast-color transition rows after the Gingham section (to prevent slipping stitches of both colors in the first row of the Grid section). I knit one row with the green, and then on the WS, *K1, S1 wyib*, and ended with K2. With these two extra rows, the borders seemed more balanced.

I couldn’t get the double-knit and crocheted handle given in the pattern to turn out properly. After ripping out several attempts, I tried a few new approaches until I finally settled on the reversible, uni-color version you see in the photos. I decreased the needle size to US 2.5 (3 mm) for a firm fabric. I liked how it looks, so I’m including the instructions here for future reference

accessories, decor, knitting | 19 stitches

Knittin’ with Noro

15.Jan.07 ~ 9:04 am

Thank you everyone for your nice comments on the Zebra socks! I really appreciated them all! :)

I finished up my Silk Garden hat, and also knit a Lizard Ridge square for Moirae’s afghan project.

accessories, decor, knitting | 14 stitches

Fickle

03.Jul.06 ~ 5:16 am

Now that my deadline knitting has completed, I should’ve returned to my other WIPs, like the Color Blox Sox, Rock and Weave socks, or the Cropped Cardi. But I didn’t.

Faced with a sort-of deadline for August, I dug out the Lion Brand Wool I bought earlier this year and started a stranded two-color swatch. I’ve done Intarsia before, but not Stranded or Fair-Isle, because I hadn’t been very interested in most of the projects I’ve seen. Saturday night, I went at it to see how I would do. Here’s my first swatch:

accessories, decor, knitting, stranded or fair isle | 2 stitches

Tentative Plans

10.May.06 ~ 11:31 am

ATTN Spring Feet Sock Swap Pal: I responded to your comment re: color; you can see it here at the post bottom. : )

I’ve been thinking about my current WIPs and what I want or need to knit this summer.

decor, knitting, secret pals or swaps, socks, sweaters | 1 stitch

A Two-Part WIP

21.Apr.06 ~ 11:04 am

Six Sox KAL update: I finished the Sixth Sense socks this morning! I tried a couple of quick snapshots but they were terrible. I haven’t been having much luck with pictures lately… I’ll try again later today.

I’m not going to start a new pair of socks just yet. I do have the orange Madder Ribbed socks OTN and will continue working on that (or frog and start over, I still haven’t decided). Meanwhile, I want to work on a larger project (both in scale and needle-size). I remembered that I had cast-on and knit two rows of the second cushion cover for my parents. Perfect. Since I haven’t blogged about that yet, here’s the 411.

My parents completed their new basement “rec room” just before Christmas 2005. The walls are Martini Olive, with one accent wall greenish-brown (I’ve forgotten the official name). Their new couch is a dark taupe microsuede. If you’ve seen the HOM Furniture commercials featuring Klik-Klak, that’s exactly what they got. It opens up for two storage areas underneath, or you can take off the arms and “Klik-Klak” the back all the way down for a sleeper/futon that sleeps one comfortably, and two snugly. They also got new shelves and TV stand in brown-black from IKEA. Mom kept her old coffee table (big square, great for jigsaw puzzles) that used to be Grandma’s old farmhouse table.

It was clear they were settled in happily with the new room, but I noticed that there wasn’t much in the way of accessories yet. I had just gotten 25 Cushions to Knit by Debbie Abrahams, so I gave it to Mom, saying, “Take a look at it, let me know if theres’s anything you like.” She picked the Hessian pattern and, not surprisingly, requested cotton.

After some searching around for cotton DK, I found Lana Grossa Lino for sale at Herrschner’s Yarn Sale, but it was 70% cotton, 30% flax. Mom liked it though, and chose tan, olive, and brown. Even though this color combination screamed ’70s to me, it’s a great match for the room.

The Hessian cover is formed first with a center square, and then the back panels are picked up and knit from either the bind-off or cast-on edges. I used single crochet to seam the sides together.

Originally, I thought I would be making only one cover, but it appears that I have enough for another cover if I change the back panels to tan and green. So, one down, one to go. : )

decor, knitting | Comments Off