Seed Stitch Cowl

The Finished Product

Here’s my latest knitted thing: another cowl sort of thingy. You wrap it around twice when you wear it.

The cowl in action!

I realize my knitting isn’t exactly a thrilling topic, but it is something I’ve come to find pretty enjoyable, and I find that with each thing I make I really do push myself to pick up new skills.

I found the pattern (free!) on Ravelry, and it was my first attempt at ribbing, moss (seed) stitch, and knitting in the round, which is where you actually knit a seamless tube.

The biggest lesson from this one? When knitting in the round, make sure the stitches are straight when you do the second row, as I had to rip out the first 12 rows (2400 or so stitches) and start over when I found I was knitting a möbius strip instead of a column.

Knitted Shawl

I made this shawl for my friend, Vera, who recently had a baby.

My thought was that this would be pretty handy to keep in the bottom of a pram, as one could wrap up a baby in it, use it for a bit of privacy whilst feeding, etc.

The pattern came from a book of my mother’s from the 70’s, which she showed me while I was visiting her. It’s all knit stitch, using two different needle sizes. It also gave me an opportunity to make my first fringe, some of which had to be redone due to the cat’s love of chewing on bits of yarn. All it took was a minute of inattention for her to turn a pile of carefully measured and cut potential fringe into a slobbery mess.

 

Blackberry Snood

All Done!

Blackberry Snood sounds like something to eat, not something to wear.

Me in Snood

Anyway, I made this based on this pattern from The Guardian, and it is the first thing I’ve ever made from a pattern. It’s garter stitch (which is alternating knit and purl rows) and I had to decrease the number of rows as I went, so lots of new things. (Admittedly, I messed up a bit and forgot one of the decreases and just fudged it later.)

If you know me and you ask me to make you one, I’d probably say yes. It only took me two days. You’ll need to pick your color, though. (Mine is blackberry.)

Red and Multicolor Knit Stitch Scarf

The whole thing, folded.

So, I’ve finally finished a second thing, which is an accomplishment, given my tendency to start 5 things at a time.

I made this scarf for my friend, Elisabeth, who visited us for Thanksgiving. When I saw this yarn, at the store, she immediately came to mind.  The picture on the left better shows the yarn’s coloring.

The Details

It’s all knit stitch, using a US 15 sized set of needles. There was no pattern, just 44 stitches across and two skeins of yarn.

I found that using larger needles, it was much easier to identify the cause of mistakes, as well as fix them, because the stitch is a bit more loose.

Next, I’ll actually make something that involves purling.

Orange Scarf

 

I made it!

 

I’ve been teaching myself to knit, with a little help from the internet and more recently, my mother. After many attempts, I finally stopped unpicking everything I made and decided to finish something.

That something is this little scarf, which I made for my friend’s son. I’m not 100% sure I’ll send it, as I’m also making one for his sister, and I won’t be mailing them for a little bit.

I think a little more practice and maybe some stripes would be a good idea.

This scarf is all knit stitch, as I’m better at knit than purl. I probably should have practiced the stitch to remove the scarf from the needles beforehand, but it worked out well enough.