the Henley swatch

After learning my lesson with Aranmor I am now a dedicated swatcher. I hope so, anyway. I have purchased yarn & a pattern for a sweater (Henley T-shirt, by Knitting Pure & Simple), and since the pattern calls for it to be knit top down, in the round, I am also swatching top-down, in-the-round. For my swatch I chose a contrasting color of the same yarn, and am knitting a hat. So far I've ripped it back two or three times. Began again today.

The yarn is Classic Elite, Provence, 100% cotton. I cast on with 3.75mm clover dpns and after finishing the increase rounds switched to a lovely 29" 4.00mm Boye Balene II which I bought at Kanawha City Yarn Company specifically for this pattern.

The pattern calls for #5 and #8 needles, with a gauge of 18spi on the larger needles. So far it looks like I made a good call and am getting 18spi on the Boyes (US6). I'll decide what method of wash- and drying I'll be using after the swatch-hat is done.

This incarnation of swatch-hat was cast on as 7 stitches, increasing in the first & every other round to 63 sts. My increases I did as yos which I ktbl in the following round.

Since 63 is an odd number I may increase or decrease 1 st before beginning the ribbing (body of hat, in this incarnation, is stockinette), or --more likely-- use a K2P1 rib pattern.

All I know for sure so far is it's a pretty color and I'm impatient to be done with the swatch and on to the sweater.

2007 FOs and 2008 WIPs (already!)

I'm beginning the year with the following still OTN:

* coral socklets
* the My So-Called Scarf
* green sox
* Aranmor
* Log Cabin comforter
* wolf puppies cross stitch
* sewing room cross stitch
* Rambling Leaves shawl

...but the pile of FOs for last year is much larger:

24 December 2007: house sox for th'Mr
24 December: Dave's fishing bear
23 December 2007: Cody's scarf
19 December 2007: Tom's scarf
17 December 2007: house sox for Dad
16 December 2007: fingerless gloves for Mom
7 December 2007: modular jacket #3
24 November 2007: basic garter stitch bib
11 November 2007: toboggan (or "watchcap") for th'Mr
3 November 2007: Celtic Cable Scarf, in Vanna acrylic
10 Oct 2007: blue flannel curtains for the apartment
7 Oct 2007: red & black socks for th'Mr
7 Oct 2007: illusion cloth
3 Sep 2007: EZ modular jacket for grandnephew Q's "black bear," in scrap acrylic
3 Sep 2007: blanket bunny buddy in mustard cotton
27 Aug 2007: socks for th'Mr in Paton's Kroy Whitecap, in the BBS pattern
19 Aug: mini blanket bunny buddy in black sock yarn
14 Aug 2007 "yarn harlot" scarf in k2-kb-p1 pattern, in weird old Mary Maxim acrylic
6 Aug 2007 a changepurse for grandniece C in Paton's merino denim - I mailed it unfelted
21 Jun 2007 "Amanda's Squatty Sidekick," in Paton's Merino red, denim, retro, for grandniece C
9 Jun 2007 five 8" squares (and five more from Larissa) mailed to Kansas
1 Jun 2007 Socks for Soldiers #1, mailed 7 Jun 2007
26 May 2007 Janlynn bears cross stitch pillow cover
20 May 2007 two more squares for Kansas
16 May 2007 two squares for Kansas in wool-ease
5 May 2007 wool-ease sox in tan for FIL
13 Apr 2007 twisted rib socks in Paton's Kroy Jacquard
14 Mar 2007 worsted weight wool-ease sox in green & wheat
11 Mar 2007 felted "project tote"
3 Mar 2007 worsted weight wool-ease socks in cranberry & wheat
1 Mar 2007 double diamond dc in greens
17 Feb 2007 ug rug (crochet)
12 Feb 2007 turtle (crochet)
6 Feb 2007 trivet in purples (crochet)
5 Feb 2007 tissue cover (crochet)
5 Feb 2007 trivet in green & white (crochet)
13 Jan 2007 at least nine butterflies (crochet)
13 Jan 2007 N's Pillsbury Doughguy (crochet)
7 Jan 2007 catnip mousie
7 Jan 2007 BiL D's red scarf
6 Jan 2007 niece C's glittery blue scarf
6 Jan 2007 BiL D's red hat
6 Jan 2007 T's niece's blue hat
6 Jan 2007 aunt J's UK Wildcats hat

another bib pattern

This is a basic bib pattern, with a blank stockinette field on which you can "draw" a picture using knit/purl stitches or intarsia, or turn it over for a reverse stockinette field where you can put cables.

Basic Bib with stockinette (or reverse stockinette) field:

CO 19
Row 1: Slip 1, K across.
Row 2: Slip 1, YO, K1, YO, K2togTBL, K across.
Row 3-6: Repeat Row 2.
Row 7: Slip 1, YO, K1, YO, K2togTBL, K1, purl to last 6 sts, K6.
Row 8: Repeat Row 2.
repeat rows 7 & 8 to desired width, (I stopped at 36 stitches wide)
Next Row: Slip 1, YO, K2togTBL, YO, K2togTBL, K1, purl to last 6 sts, K6.
Next Row: Slip 1, YO, K2togTBL, YO, K2togTBL, K across.

...repeat these two rows to desired length (I stopped at 20 ridges long), then shape neck, working first one side then the other:

Slip 1, YO K2tog, K12, BO (Bind off) 6, K15, turn,
(now either just ignore the 15 stitches which are one side of the collar, or put them out of your way on a stitch holder. I do the former)

Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K12, turn
*BO3, K12, turn
Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K9, turn
BO3, K9, turn
Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K6, turn
BO3, K6, turn
Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K3, turn
BO3, K3, turn, switch to dpn and make i-cord thus:

...without turning needle **slide sts back to the right side of
the needle and knit3, repeat from ** till i-cord is the length you desire (I made mine 12" long), cut yarn & draw firmly through the last 3 stitches,

...then joining yarn where you began binding off stitches on the other side of the neckline, repeat the process from * to end.

bib pattern

Aranmor is... not exactly stressful... quite the contrary, I'm delighted with every row I manage... but I needed a small break before looking at what I'd done last night (fued with AppleJack, which is a mug of hot applejuice with a shot of Jack Daniels). In other words, the thought of looking at tipsy knitting done on a complicated pattern, now that's stressful. So when one of my newsletters suggested knitting some garter stitch baby bibs for the holidays --although at the moment I don't know anyone having need of baby bibs-- I complied.

Never being happy to just knit a simple pattern as written, and not liking the look of the squared-off bottom edge, I made some changes:



Adapted from Garter Stitch Baby Bib.

Basic Garter Bib:

Cotton yarn (I used part of the cone of S&C that's been acting as a bookend here on my desk)
Medium size needles (I used #7; they were the first ones I grabbed out of the needle vase)
CO in whatever manner you wish (I used the long tail method) for however many stitches you desire (I used 19, 'cause that's how long my tail turned out to be)

Row 1: slip first stitch knitwise. Knit across row, knitting into back of last stitch.
Row 2: slip first stitch knitwise. YO, K1, YO, K2tog, knit across row, knitting into back of last stitch. (this increases one stitch per row and makes a lacy edge
Repeat Row 2 until bib is the width you desire (I stopped at 36 stitches wide), keeping in mind cotton shrinks quite a bit.
then:
Next Row: slip first stitch knitwise. YO, K2tog, YO, K2tog, knit across row, knitting into back of last stitch. (this continues the lacy edge effect while keeping a uniform width)
Repeat "Next Row" until bib is the length you desire (I stopped at 19 ridges - 9" wide by 7" high) and then shape neck, working first one side then the other:



Slip 1, YO K2tog, K12, BO (Bind off) 6, K15, turn,
(now either just ignore the 15 stitches which are one side of the collar, or put them out of your way on a stitch holder. I do the former)

Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K12, turn
*BO3, K12, turn
Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K9, turn
BO3, K9, turn
Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K6, turn
BO3, K6, turn
Slip 1,YO, K2tog, K3, turn
BO3, K3, turn,

switch to dpn (at this point I realized I don't have #7 dpns at home and was forced to switch to #6)
make i-cord thus:



without turning needle **slide sts back to the right side of
the needle and knit3
repeat from ** till i-cord is the length you desire (I made mine 12" long),
cut yarn & draw firmly through the last 3 stitches,

then joining yarn where you began binding off stitches on the other side of the neckline, repeat the process from * to end.



Possible Options:

• Make all K2togs through back loops, this makes for faster knitting and a different looking "lace" edge.


• After three or four garter ridges switch to stockinette three or four stitches in from the K2togs, and "draw" a picture or "write" baby's initial in the center in reverse stockinette.


• After three or four ridges switch to reverse stockinette and embellish the center with a small cable or two or three.