Wolkig Cowl

Wolkig... it's reversible.  Looks great right side out (above) and it looks great inside out (below).





Wolkig

I've been knit, knit, knitting along on a number of projects and I've finally finished something. This is a FREE pattern on Ravelry called "Wolkig".  It's a pattern by Martina Behm and most of the projects I am working on currently are Martina Behm designs.  I just love them!  Other Martina Behm designs include Hitchhiker (I've made five of them), Trillian (I've made two of them), and others.

The yarn I used on this project is from "Lilliput Yarn" in Beaverton, Oregon.  I got the yarn at a yarn shop that was in a person's home.  The place was a three story town home and you had to go down a few stairs to enter the lowest level, which is the space the yarn shop occupied.  Anyway, the yarn is called "Clifford"... as in "Clifford the Big Red Dog".  The clever yarn name made me love the yarn even more.

The Wolkig design is a very fun knit.  Let me tell you how simple it is.

Cast on 200 stitches. Join to knit in the round.
Place markers every 50 stitches.
*Purl 6, purl 3 together, knit until the last two stitches before the marker, kfb in the last two stitches.*  Repeat around and around until you run out of yarn or until the cowl is the desired length.

I noticed that the finished Wolkig is reversible. It looks nice from both sides.  You can see that in the top two photos above.  It's amazing that this simple pattern repeat in the round creates the cool ruched look.  I am not sure how much I will enjoy wearing this cowl; it's a little floppy.  Perhaps it will make a nice gift.  Whatever the case may be, I am tempted to cast on another Wolkig right away now that the needles are available because I just enjoyed knitting this pattern so much.  If you have a luxuriously soft skein of sock/fingering weight yarn in your stash, you might want to give this pattern a try.  It looks nice in all kinds of yarn... solid yarn, variegated, gradient... so many choices.  I am sure I have some other yarn in my stash that would work up well in this pattern.

Here is the link for the Wolkig pattern on Ravelry (click HERE).

Oil Well Flats Hitchhiker

Hitchhiker #4 with Beads



I think this is the 4th Hitchhiker I've made; this time I added beads.







This yarn is very special!  This yarn was hand dyed by Andromeda Sock Yarn especially for my local knit shop "Yarned & Dangerous".  This yarn has a pretty cool story too.

I was at my local yarn shop and the owner, Ann, was excited to tell me that the Indie Dyer from Andromeda Sock Yarn was willing to hand dye yarn especially for the shop. Ann asked if I had any suggestions and I did. I said that I thought it would be cool to have yarn with colors that reflect the geography of our local area... the places where I love to walk... the places that make our county (Fremont County) so unique and special.  I suggested places such as Skyline Drive, Tunnel Drive, and Oil Well Flats.  I even sent some photos from my recent hikes in the areas to Ann and I think she might have sent them to the yarn dyer.

A few weeks later, Ann announced that the yarn was in and I raced to the shop and snagged two hanks.  This yarn is called "Oil Well Flats", which is a place north of Canon City, Colorado.  It's a great place to hike and mountain bike.



Here are some photos of the Oil Well Flats area from a hike a few months back. I think the colors in the yarn reflect the colors in the Oil Well Flats area very well.  What do you think?

Tri-Corner Baby Hat

Tri-Corner Baby Hat from Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders

A fun little pattern knit up in a few evenings.  For this Tri-Corner Baby Hat, I used left over sock yarn from Knit Picks.  I love how the yarn made a cool pattern in the hat. The pattern is from my FAVORITE book called "Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders."  The pattern called for tassles on each of the three points and a little I-cord in the center of the hat.  I added a little pom pom instead. 

Woven Fingerless Gloves



Woven Fingerless Gloves
Pattern from book "Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders"
Yarn:  Jojoland "Melody" superwashwool (fingering weight)





What a super fun knit.  I had these done in a little over a week and I loved that I could actually memorize the pattern, which is rare for me!  If the woven pattern does look familiar, I recently used the same textured pattern in a coffee cup cozy. I can see myself making this pattern over and over.  The gloves fit me perfectly!



Glove #1 had great color variation



Glove #2 had very little color variation.  Great pattern just not the best choice of yarn for this project.  Gloves fit great and I love them despite the color flaws. 



Cheerful "Cable My Big Toe" Socks are Complete!

I cannot believe I forgot to show off my latest socks!  These are my cheerful new socks. The pattern is called "Cable My Big Toe" and it's found in the "Sock Yarn: One Skein Wonders Book" that I got awhile back. This was my second effort with this pattern. On the first go around I could not adjust to the small needles and the number of stitches in each round.  The socks are knit on US size 1 (2.25 mm) needles and there are 72 stitches per round.  While that is a small, tight knit and a lot of stitches, it creates a very nice fabric and a terriffic fitting sock on my feet.  It's not that easy to see but there is a cleft between the big toe and the remaining toes so one can wear these socks with flip flops (when I was growing up, we called these sandals "thongs").  I love my socks!  I actually wore them to my knitting group with my flip flops last Thursday. I felt a little silly but I LOVED showing off my latest socks!  I can see myself making these socks again.

One Skein Wonder: Calabaza Calypso Complete



Calabaza Calypso Scarf



I started knitting this project in September, when fall colors were in their full glory here in Colorado. The colors in this yarn had me thinking of autumn leaves and pumpkin patches.  I had to take breaks from knitting to go to the kitchen and bake pumpkin pies and pumpkin bread. Yes, I had pumpkin on my brain!  I noticed on the can of pumpkin puree that "calabaza" is the Spanish word for pumpkin.  The pattern for this scarf is called "Calypso" and it's from the great book "Sock Yarn One Skein Wonders"... so there you have it... Calabaza Calypso.

This is made from one ball of Berroco Sox Metallic (do you see the little flecks of silver metallic thread?). It knit up beautifully... very nice yarn. I wish I had more in my stash!  The pattern called for making this project into a much wider stoll.  I reduced the number of stitches to 36 for a narrower scarf and I am happy with the results.  It's a simple pattern and I like the look of the drop stitches.  If you've not made a drop stitch scarf, you should.  I think it looks nice in colorful yarn but I think it would also look nice in a solid color.  The patter called for beads but I thought the metallic thread was enough bling for me.

Horizontal Rib Hat: One-Skein Wonder Project #3

Another project completed using my "Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders" book. This pattern,"Horizontal Rib Hat," calls for holding two strands of sock yarn together as you knit the cap from the brim to the crown.  As a result, it's a very quick knit.  On Ravelry, I saw a variety of completed caps and some commented that the cap was too short.  I opted to add to add an extra pattern repeat (the pattern calls for repeating rows 12 to 20 two more times, so I repeated rows 12 to 20 three more times). I think it's a nice cap which would cover one's ears and stay on nicely.  The yarn I  used is Knit Pick's Essential Sock Yarn in a colorway called "Plum Tweed".  It's sock yarn I purchased a few years back (a sock kit) when I first learned to knit socks.  The pattern recommends self-striping sock yarn for a cool stripe effect, which I think would also be really nice.  All in all, I am pretty happy with this hat!

One-Skein Wonder Project #2... Shibui Baby Socks

Remember this yarn...? I just used it for some mittens.  It was the last of a partial skein of yarn from my Mom's stash.  (Thanks, Mom!!!)  It's Bernat Sox (acrylic/nylon blend) in a colorway called "Crazy Hot".  I tell you, I cut it close... again.  I had just a few feet of this yarn left when I grafted the toe on sock #2... too close for comfort.  This is another pattern from the "Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonder" book I am enjoying so much.  The pattern called "Shibui Baby Hat and Socks"... I did not make the hat as I did not have enough yarn after making the mittens, but I sure enjoyed making up these little socks.  A very quick knit!  The pattern link and information about the "Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders" book is here.  Sorry it's not a free pattern, but I highly recommend the book. I am getting my money's worth out of it... for sure!

Right now I am making another pattern from the book called "Horizontal Rib Hat" and I am using sock yarn from Knit Picks (Knit Picks Essential) in a colorway called "Plum Tweed". It's another quick and fun knit.  More information about this pattern can be found here.

More Mittens... One-Skein Wonder Project #1a

A pair of mittens for my good friend, Tracy.  She and her Boston Terriers (Freckles and Leila) go for walks nearly every day at a great park just outside of town.  She'll need these to keep her hands toasty warm, as the weather is now turning cold.  I join the trio on Fridays when school is in session.  It's great fun!

I used the pattern from my book "Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders".  This is the same pattern I used a few weeks ago with some modifications.  The pattern is called "Handful-of-Color Mittens" (pattern information HERE: Not a free pattern, sorry!).  The original pattern calls for a sort-of rolled cuff.  In this pair, I completed 15 rounds of knit2, purl2 ribbing and then I completed 15 rounds of stockinette before starting the gusset increases.  This mittens are roomy and long. I like long cuffs on mittens so you can tuck them into the sleeves of your jacket without any gaps for cold air to sneak in.  When I make this pattern again, I might consider using smaller needles for the cuff portion.

This colorful yarn comes from my Mom's stash... Thanks, Mom!  It was a partial skein and to me it appears to be Bernat Sox in a colorway called "Crazy Hot" (a nylon/acrylic blend).   I do love Bernat yarns!

Smitten with my Mittens (One Skein Wonder Project #1)

I am smitten with my mittens! 

This is Project #1 from my quest to make lots of projects from the book entitled "Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders".  These mittens are made from two balls of wool in a self-patterning yarn called "Abiente" from the manufacture Schoppel Wolle in a color called "Heckenrosen".  Since this German yarn had an interesting name, I had to try to figure out the English translation.  I know "rosen" to translate to "roses" (plural) in German thanks to my many, many years of studying German.  I Googled "heckenrosen" and found beautiful blossoms which looked like apple blossoms.  I found a Wikipedia article and wouldn't you know... it was in German.  My best guess is that "heckenrosen" translates to "wild roses".  If I am wrong and you know differently, please let me know... I'd be curious to know!

I worked really hard to make these match!

I used this type of yarn (in a different colorway) for a pair of socks for my sister. 
Turns out this yarn, is actually sportweight and not sock weight. 
I did not notice that until I was typing in my project on my Ravelry. Duh!
Makes for some nice thick mittens (or socks).