Free Cowl Pattern for Xmas

 

To cheer up a rather bleak December, I thought I would post this pattern for a quick knit chunky mobius cowl. It also has the advantage of being a stash buster of a knit using only 2 x 50g balls (198 yards) of bulky 12 ply yarn. Here I used Debbie Bliss Glen as the colour gradient in the yarn gives a nice texture to the double seed stitch and allows it to be soft and snuggle friendly at the same time. So for those of you looking for a last minute knit for the big day this could be right up your tree :)

Materials:
 Size 6.0 mm (10 US) circular needles
1 Stitch marker
2 Skeins of bulky 12ply yarn
Contrast waste yarn for I-cord if required.

Gauge: 16 sts x 20 rows = 4 inches in double seed stitch.

Double Seed Stitch Pattern:
Row 1: K1, P1 to end of round
Row 2: P1, K1 to end of round
Row 3: P1, K1 to end of round
Row 4: K1, P1 to end of round.

Pattern Instructions:
1. Cast on 100 stitches using the moebius cast on.
2. Start the double seed stitch pattern as described above and work in pattern until piece measures 6 inches. (At this point due to the yarn I rotated each ball every 2 rows to obtain an overall blended effect)
3. Knit one round (use one ball of yarn from now on if using gradient yarn this allows for an edging trim contrast colour).
4. *K8, K2tog, yo* to end of round
5. Knit  one round.
6. Bind off loosely.

If you want to place the I-cord as shown opposite, cast on 3 sts and work an I-cord until it measures 12 inches in length and sew on as shown opposite or use your creative side, you never know what happens when you start to play with an I-cord.

   

~ Pattern Launch and KAL (A Guide to Scarf Knits....) ~

Well I guess this has been a long time in the making but a few of my patterns are available for download from here or you can browse my pattern page. As more objects finish testing, more links will go live but for now I just wanted to say a huge thank you to whirl123 and Rosmeary for all your help over the last few months. Whirl123 (aka Wendy) your amazing and one day I aim to be as web efficient as you, it just may take me a while.Over the next while I will add more patterns slowly to Ravelry but for now with everything that is happening I'm delighted with the mails and response from people (its all helpful).

To change the subject ever so slightly, my KAL project is taking its time but now that I have a little free time this week, Ill get right back on the needles. So for those of you who don't know the constant knitter is running a KAL this November and it is the gorgeous lace-ribbon-scarf by Vernoik Avery (Knitty spring 2008) . Now scarf knitting to me has always been a little tedious because I get halfway and I'm bored but this scarf is actually a fun TV knit with changes every 11 rows to keep you interested. I myself had a few false starts with the pattern but if you check out the forum, you will see that almost everyone had some problem or other, so without further a do here is my guide to scarf knitting:

1. Always have tea / chocolate and a stash of movies / tv you want to catch up on.
2. If need be, use your scarf project to convert your unsuspecting housemate / loved one into learning the craft and end up getting them to knit/ crochet some of it for you (heh heh)
3. If number two fails try bribery with chocolate from step one, ensuring the person that the scarf knitting will be "therapeutic".....................
4. Order your children to do a few rows as punishment!! (warning this only works on scarves that are easy to knit and your child may end up hating the craft altogther)
5. You could conduct a scarf swap with someone (again bribery works well here).
6. Teach your pet how to knit or crochet ( I have actually thought long and hard about whether or not I could teach Berry how to hold needles or if I tied them to her paws would she make anything)
7. Use thick yarn and large needles the project will go faster.
8. Find a friend who wants to knit the same scarf as you and have a sort of buddy system, this works really well.
9. Now this final step should only be used if your making the scarf for a friend or loved one who wanted the scarf because of a magazine or some famous person was wearing it and its "the" new hot fashion trend... knit/ crochet the scarf so they can see you working on it and say how much you would love that cup of tea or dinner *ahem* and say you would stop knitting but this scarf is has to be so long it will never be finished in time for *......insert relevant event here........* (use puppy eyes at your own risk) they will feel guilty and offer to make you tea or dinner or if your lucky offer you something nice in return for your knitting / crochet skills

and finally because I think this blog post is too long already, just enjoy the mindless knitting of a scarf, if you can't, just remember all those times you worked long and hard on intricate lace details or figuring out new cast - on or bind off methods, use the scarf as a treat to your knitting self. It will be over all too soon and in the end we all love our scarves anway, just look at these happy faces:

~ Pattern Designs & TCK KAL Nov 2010 ~

As most of you know I have been a bit behind with getting my patterns up and out there. Theres has been so much going on  personally with family and friends and with temping that I'm sorry to say knitting took second string, but over the last while these patterns have all been uploaded and are now going through the last few tweaks. I have to say, I had no idea how much work it would take to link a few sites together and those of you who know me personally, know that I lack website design skills, but thanks to a lot of work by whirl123  (and a very steep learning curve for me)  we are almost there and updates will be announced through TCK website. 

For those of you taking part in the November KAL for the Lace Ribbon Scarf on the constant knitter forums,
you know that I had to step down from running it due to my mums health and the lovely chicwithstix took over along with the constant knitter herself and they are both doing a wonderful job. Sadly my scarf is only on its third repeat  as you can see but I just can't seem to get into this project. I know ye have assured me that the more you do the more addictive this knit gets but I say thats because you don't live with a destructo-bunny and its obsessed male owner!!!! I was on my third repeat which I had to rip back as my lovely bunny and BF were having races up and down our living room floor.

now I think I have rambled on long enough and I am off for that cuppa and some peace and quiet knitting.

~ Knitting and Stitching Show 2010 RDS ~

First of all apologies for my blog being, well basically dead for the last 6 weeks a lot of things have happened so I never got a chance to post. Secondly, I am posting  about this years Knitting and Stitching show in the RDS, to give you guys a sample of the amazing things on display/for sale at this years exhibit. I was lucky enough to get to the RDS early this morning to grab one of the first glimpses of the exhibition. There are so many stalls to choose from but I will stick to my own personal favorites.

First of all it was lovely to see This IS Knit at K13 (if any of ye are looking for them). Their stand is easy to spot even from the gallery as this gorgeous dress above is on display, along with a scribble stole and some gorgeous Louisa Harding garments, personally the Louisa Harding shrug (long sleeve) in ribbon was my favorite. 

Also the gorgeous Laura Hogan is upstairs in the gallery, drop in and say hi, she has some gorgeous yarns for sale and a citron  on display for squishing. From up on the gallery one of my favorite designers could be spotted. The lovely Heather Finn had some gorgeous inspiring pieces, my favorite was this delightful petitcoat knitted dress, her stand is definitely worth a look.

For those of you who  are looking for a bargain the black sheep are back in their normal spot at R1, with some rowan and other yarns on sale per kilo. If your looking for something a bit different then I recommend taking a look at Knitting For Fun and Oliver Twists. Knitting for Fun have an amazing display of wool that has been dyed the most beautiful, eye-catching shades and Oliver Twists have some spun silk which is impossible to pass just take a look:

If you are looking for Stephanie of The Yarn Room, she is hidden by this pillar of fish but she has some gorgeous rainbow yarn for sale and some very nice knitting kits. Do pay her a visit she is lovely to talk to and very good at advising what to knit with the yarn on display.

I won’t blather on for much longer but I will post the rest of the pictures from today so you guys can take a look at the gorgeous things on display. There are some amazing bead shops including Dublin’s Beads and Bling and Yellow Brick Road and there are some amazing crafts on display I’m just partial to the knitting sections. Oh and keep an eye on the guys with the cameras, they were a bit snap happy earlier today. I hope you get to make it, at least for a browse, I managed to grab a few skeins of tasty yarn from TIK and Knitting for Fun but if you really want a yarn stash ask claire42 for advice she is amazing at devising a game plan for the show, I was so impressed. !!

~ Gold Top Ripping and Debbie Bliss Glenn ~

Its been a while since my last post as I have been trying to get some pictures taken while the bad weather is here and I have been a little busy trying to finish up some projects on my needles. With the cold weather creeping in I thought hmmmmmm its time for winter garments!!! Among those I came up with, I finally have the pattern down for my Debbie Bliss Neck warmers / Cowls (AKA presents for the DCU girls) I kept this one to an Irish feel combining a lace ribbing (more complicated than it looks I promise) with some Celtic Irish cables to give them a little Irish elegance this winter. There is a quick pic of the trial below but Im not giving away the whole cable just yet but keep an eye out for these quick knit gems!!!

I have also been trying to finish up my Gold Party Top (yes its still unnamed) but myself and my knitting have had more arguments lately then actual progress. After almost a days worth of knitting, the top had to be ripped back to before the decreases *sigh* if it wasn't for the pretty yarn dazzling me with its brilliance I would store this one away but at least it adds some sunshine into a rather wet and depressing week!! I have a sneaky pic where you can see the warm glow of the yarn and a little of the detailed edge. 

The rest of my patterns will be uploaded to to theconstantknitter.ie this month and the vine shrug is just coming to the end of its test knitting phase on ravelry and will be available soon. A big thank you to the test knitters mayogirl, grandmaKiss and shirlthegirl43 from ravelry and soon to join the camp Schnitter!! It is lovely to see the projects in different yarns. With this post coming to a close and the gathering dark clouds outside its time for a hot chocolate with marshmallows I think before I battle the weather for the trek to Brooks!!

~ Socks Ahoy ~

Ok so for those of you who know me and have been at knitting gatherings with me, you know that I am not a sock lover. I do not knit socks!! Yet I now believe that my mistake was that I always made toe up socks. Today I sat down while procrastinating (with coffee, cake and NCIS) and above is the result. I was trying out some different sizes, I'm a small but I'm wearing a medium size in the pic. I was trying out a pattern for gauntlets and socks and above is the result of my mathematical skills at work (or play its a fine line with me). 

The cuff is ribbing which flows into my fake cable which then flows down the side of the sock, it has just enough going on to avoid the "boring sock syndrome" while the 4 row repeat pattern (which looks more complicated than it is) gives it a little bit of juice!! Its possible to knit these while watching tv which in my book is a plus :) I tried to grab some pictures but I know they arnt the best I will be knocking on johns door sometime soon with socks and gauntlets to be pictured. If anyone is interested in test knitting these can you send me a mail please?  to the side is a picture of the cuff and  below is a picture of the main pattern section. I think I am slowly being won over by sock knitting and I am starting to have dreams of  symphonie double points. This is also my" try and win Diane over" socks...... so my question is "will these make your needles leap into action"?

~ New Blog and Cruise Visitors ~

Well as you all can see the construction of my new blog is well underway , just my blog title and my bunny to go. I hope you all like it. The pages will go live in conjunction with the patterns going live in September here. Let me know what you all think and if there are any issues (loading times etc.) I can change things around.

As I posted yesterday, I had a little visit to Rosemary (to squish some yarn and to drop off some patterns) this coincided with afternoon tea and coffee (with baked goods :D) and a rather large visit from a number of knitting cruise members!!!!! Now the first thing that went into my head was "knitting cruise - Whats a knitting cruise?" Well a knitting cruise is apparently what it says on the tin, just like a bridge cruise etc except knitting is encouraged on board the luxury liner and these lucky ladies got to sale from port to port visiting new and exciting yarn shops at every destination. Some of these ladies had quiet the stash already but here in Dublin they visited This is Knit, The Jameson Distillery and finally for some refreshment and more yarn squishing The Constant Knitter. I didnt manage to grab that many photos between the laughter, baked goods and FO's the ladies had brought along, but here are a few:

Clapotis in Angora!!!!!!

Afternoon tea

Wool and Tea (Better than the boat I heard!!!)

Yarn and Whiskey!!!!!!!

I was also lucky enough to meet two lovely ladies Kim and Karen from Maryland, USA who loved my Vine Shrug so much they bought yarn to make their own!!!! So they made me a very happy bunny :)

~Construction and Morning Coffee~

Hi all, I am just sitting down with my morning coffee and I apologise for the mess that is my blog at the moment. It will be changing until I get it right. Though you will be glad to hear that my patterns will be going live very soon so stay tuned, but if any of ye would like a quick glimpse at an advanced copy, then you will have to visit Rosemary and she might let you take a peek. I'm off to Rosemary for a visit and a chat later today and I might just post what I find later on. You never know what is going to happen when you visit last time I got addicted to angora and made my first cowl which I will post later on.

~ Times are a Changing ~

Well there has never been a more apt saying to describe where I am right now. A lot of things over the last few weeks have driven me crazy or lead me to believe that for me there is definitely no way back to chemistry for me :) Im not too sad about this however but I shall none the less strive to find something to fill that void.

And so in looking for something too fill that void, I turned to knitting and fiber related things. Now recently I found Flick's (from Ravelry) blog and I have decided I was naive about my blog and its time for a proper change in a good way so if I stop posting its for all our benefits believe me.

My second realisation came when I got some what drawn to the picture above, now angora tweed hmmmmmm not that inspiring by itself and the projects on ravelry made me even more glum. But that picture stayed with me for a while, I love the mix of angora and viscose and I have decided that this week it is my mission to make this even more beautiful and I shall post my efforts when im done :) I have some musings on what I can do here and Im just a little excited :)

I think I am going to keep my projects a little under wraps for a while so no postings and no wip's for a while if i see you at the FFF meetings or any of the DKC gatherings you may get a sneek peek into what im doing but you will have to be very very good :)

My Visit to the Constant Knitter

Although the constant knitter is mainly an online yarn shop, Rosemary does offer the chance to call up and visit her collection (often with some wonderful tea on offer too!!!!) so having nothing better to do on a rainy Saturday,I visited the constant knitter and I was surprised by how much stock rosemary has. I tried to do it justice in the following pics and  I also tried to curl up in a few of those containers alas im too big sob Not to mention those shiny, shiny stitch markers by “MweaG” which are just stunning!!!! well done you !!!! (I tried to do them justice)

I was mostly surprised by the tweed and viscose mixtures looking so well together and how soft the tweed actually was, I’m used to scratchy tweed but this is beautiful.

Another yarn set I managed to spy is the vivaldi mohair mix. Now I think Rosemary is holding out and keeping all the good stuff at the back but I managed to grab this while she was making me tea…….

For those lace knitters among you I snapped these pics of the manos lace and kid silk bins and this is just a taste of the colours available. ( i also squeezed some drops dk weight in here too)

I couldnt even try and mention the craftspun, alpaca and countless other yarns in the ceiling to floor display.

Not to ramble on too much, I’m just going to post the rest of the pics I stole today, I hope they do it justice and at the end I just had to take a special pic of the dark purple nepal yarn because its just heavenly!!!!! Thanks for letting me visit for so long rosemary, I came away inspired!!!!!!!!! If your in the area I recommend seeing if you can call and visit!!!!!!!!!

~ Haze Shrug - Take Two ~

Yes I decided to adapt my Haze Shrug as I put up earlier and I made this one from sock yarn. I will be posting the pattern soon but here are some rough pics to wet your apatite. I love how this feels and I love how it changes colour depending on the light I tried to show that here..Enjoy.