number 8 finished – scarf with keyhole

I finished the scarf for my son.

It was easy enough. I used a twisted stitch and used two brown suede lanyards I had for when I was making jewellery. Then the split (key hole) knitted as two sections and then I knitted off for a few rows to bind the sections together.

 

I used two videos as my inspiration.

for the stitch

and for the keyhole

 

WIP: scarf with keyhole

I started with a new scarf for my son today.

I’m doing a double twisted knit (aka figure 8) with a keyhole closure. I’m using 2 skeins of an acrylic/wool blend, shetland chunky in an oatmeal colour (col 2103) by Patons (the picture makes it look grey). I bought this yarn at Value Village for $1.99.

 

I’m using the Martha Stewart loom set up as a double rake and using 14 pegs each side.

I really like how one side looks like normal knitting and the other looks criss-crossy.

number 7 done

Finally I finished the Lacy Infinity scarf WIP I was working on.

Worn loose

And wrapped twice around the neck.

The tutorial I followed is from Goodknitkisses (youtube= Lacy Infinity scarf),  showing three sections, but I repeated the pattern 5 times. I used 1 1/3 skeins of yarn (approximately).  And I found this pattern to be quite easy.

Basically, the pattern is like this;

using a bulky yarn
cast on 88 pegs (I used the crochet cast-on, same as tutorial)
**e-wrap and knit 88 pegs
purl 88 pegs
(working on one peg at a time) knit one then yarn over three times and knit the next peg and repeat on all 88 pegs
unwind the wrap over and purl each peg
repeat from **

repeat as many tines as you want it to be wide. I love uneven groupings, but I found three would be too skinny, so I went with five.

WIP – Lacy Infinity Scarf

I am currently working on an infinity scarf, on the Martha Stewart loom. I am using 88 pegs in an oval configuration.

I’m knitting it in this great Bernat acrylic/polyester blend yarn in Tomato color. It’s a bulky #5. I’ll be using both skeins which I got at Value Village for $2.99.

This is the stitch close-up;

I’m really liking this pattern, it is very meditative, the rows are long enough so that I really get into them before I need to change them. I also did my first crochet cast on with this project.

This is the video that I am using to follow along, by  Goodknitkisses.

project number 6 finished

I finally finished the scarf (I redid it actually) and I used the i-cord method to complete it. I really like it a lot.

 

 

I double knitted a rib stitch on a double rake, then I used the i-cord technique for the button closure.

 

Here is the link  to Lisa Clarke’s full tutorial.

I am very pleased with my big bad self!

project number 6 – scarf with i cord closure

I decided to combine two video tutorials to make one scarf.

The first one I used was the Martha Stewart ribbed double knit videos and then (my goal was to) finish it with an i-cord and button.

Here is what I ended up with.

I had two skeins of a green with a yellow twist yarn that I got from Value Village. It’s 100% acrylic, made in France and the brand is féria.

When I went to cast off, I made a mistake and ended up messing up the stitches and couldn’t get them back on the pegs correctly, so I will redo the scarf and then finish it with the i-cord and button.

Here are the videos I used.

casting on for double knitting

rib stitch for double knitting

casting off for double knitting

If you like to follow by reading along a pattern, here is the kink to the original neck warmer with an i-cord and button closure article. This article is for the closure only and not the nifty stitch.
http://www.lisaclarke.net/2011/11/02/luxurious-loom-knit-neckwarmer/. 

Fifth project

Once I started to really like loom knitting, I started to search the web, high and low, for loom knitting ideas. The idea of thumbs (let alone fingers) was stressing me out, until I found  a Youtube video on loom knitting mittens on one loom. I was fascinated by the idea of an all in one mitten.

These particular videos are for a child’s mitten but can be made for any size hand. I haven’t mastered the art of sizing yet, but I followed along and made a pair of mittens.

part 1:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qVl2ap_zQcs  

part 2:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6yLd4hbmzEI

part 3:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tzyk_l5Ja5s

part 4:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1qkUE2IOcOw

 

The mitten at the back was the first one I made and it turned out the best. The cuff is long and the thumb looks great. The mitten at the front, didn’t fair as well. Even though I counted rows, the cuff is shorter and the thumb doesn’t look  so nice. Although,  overall the stitching is better and tighter than on the first one, where I did mess up a couple of stitches so there are gaps.  

This yarn is some of that yarn I got from Value Village and it is meant to practice and improve. I am keeping these as is so that I can see my mistakes, learn from them and see my progress – eventually.

 

Fourth project

Now that I had a little experience under my belt,  and I had 6 skeins of this lovely cerise coloured acrylic/wool blend yarn that I got from Value Village (it originally came from Zeller’s (no longer exists) , it had cost $1.69 back whenever it was bought), I decided that I wanted to tackle double knitting.

So, I watched the Martha Stewart how-to video on double knitting on the MS loom and loved it!

Casting on double knitting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HNB743kC5Ng&list=PLi81LcTWU11YTeOKo31o8d7WvTDjaw4uz

Knitting the double knit

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RCKpznAltFY&list=PLi81LcTWU11YTeOKo31o8d7WvTDjaw4uz

Casting off double knitting:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WFjnLkGRcU8&list=PLi81LcTWU11YTeOKo31o8d7WvTDjaw4uz

I found this easy enough and loved the final look – and it is warm.

 

Before I finished the ends, I did notice that there were some errors. An entire row of stitches seems to be extra large, I think my tension was looser, and  the edges are wobbly. I noticed that while double knitting, one side tends to be tighter naturally and one side is looser. Not sure why that is and from some of the comments under double  knitting videos, that seems to be a common theme. Perhaps washing the piece would allow all the stitches to fall into place. But I really love it.

The final piece was 48 inches long.

Third project

For my third attempt, I decided on baby booties.

I followed along this video http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AuGNRh6AgwE and the screenshot picture shows tiny little booties and I followed along the video instructions and row counts, but I ended up with a slipper that was 5 inches long, so not a baby sized booty. But, they look nice and I am still learning the stitches and techniques.  And it was a lot of fun to make them.

 

This technique was super simple to follow along, I did one per evening.

2nd project

Now armed with different yarns from Value Village, I found another video that showed a double knit stitch on the Martha Stewart loom.

I decided to make a scarf for my son, he wanted a long scarf, but not Dr Who long scarf, in baby blue. I followed along the Martha Stewart loom video doing a double knit. I loved the look but didn’t have enough yarn for a double knit so I undid it all and started a single knit scarf that ended up being 5 feet long. The ends have white yarn in a knit/purl stitch  stripe fashion for contrast. He liked well enough. It isn’t perfect. And I wasn’t trying to make it perfect, I did undue it once and then decided that being such a new beginner, if  I started with the idea that perfection or nothing, then I’d be doing nothing.

There is no pic, I forgot to take one. But it is nice for my very first scarf, and I even blocked it so that it laid flat.

And the best part – no needles!