Studio, Finished

This was a long-term project. The rows and rows of garter stitch are perfect for long car rides and movie watching. I love Hanne Falkenberg's designs--her play with lines and construction is amazing, and fun to knit. Unfortunately, even though my Dacapo came out perfectly sized, for some reason I had a hard time getting the proper row gauge on this one. This sweater is knit in two halves. I knit the first half and found it would be too small, so I went up a needle size and knit the second half, thinking I'd then decide which half was the best one to keep, and I'd reknit a third, matching half accordingly. Interestingly, both first halves, while on different needle sizes, were nearly identical, so I finished the sweater using both and gave it to a petite friend. The coloring is perfect on her--I think it was meant to be hers from the start. Someday I’d like to reknit this in another colorway for myself (in a larger size!).

Drying

Arch-Shaped Socks

EZ's & Meg Swansen's pattern (Schoolhouse Press Pattern #2), 1.5 skeins of Wendy Guernsey 5ply, size 3.0mm metal dpns over 64 sts. The shaping of these is really wonderful--fun to knit and they hug the contours of the foot so well.

Drying

Two-Color, Reversible Baby Brioche

My friend Sarah has posted her notes for a two-color version of Baby Brioche. Go look, if only to see how adorable her Ada is. Sarah's variation is ingenious as it allows one to knit a garment for either gender (if you care about such things) and/or allows for quick costume changes. Thanks for sharing your notes, Sarah!

Stained Glass Bubble Mittens

Meet the latest member of the Stained Glass Bubble family:


These colorful mittens, each wearable on either hand, are knit in the round cuff-to-tip and feature a doubled cuff for extra warmth and stretch. Like the other SGB patterns, the easy bubble stitch combines the look of two-color knitting with the ease and speed of only knitting one color per round.

The pattern is written for a range of sizes from child to adult.


Notes for knitting a fingerless version are included.




This pattern is best suited for intermediate or ambitious advanced beginner knitters.


The pattern is seven pages. The stitch pattern is written out (there are no charts) and the pattern includes links to on-line video and photo tutorials for certain techniques.


Yarns pictured are Noro Kureyon Sock and Louet Gems Super Fine fingering weight, 1 skein of each, both 14 wpi. Another variegated yarn could be used in place of the Kureyon, although it may not give the same finished look. Or pick your two favorite colors and go solid!


Gauge: 30 stitches and 52 rows = 4 inches in bubble stitch

Suggested needles: US 1/1.5 (2.5mm)

Sizes: Child S[Child M, Child L/Adult S, Adult M, Adult L]


At the above gauge,
~Length: 5.5 [6, 7, 7.5, 8] inches excluding cuff (or to desired length).
~Width: 3 [3.25, 3.5, 3.75, 4] inches (unstretched; measured above thumb & below fingers; multiplyby two for circumference).
~Cuff & hand length are adjustable.

The pattern sells for $6 US. If you are in Portland, Oregon you can pick up a paper version at Twisted on NE Broadway. Or, from the comfort of your own home, you can purchase the PDF either through Ravelry (search for "Stained Glass Bubble" or see my profile under sunnydayknitter) or here:



(Note: clicking the button above will take you to Ravelry's Paypal site. Ravelry will delivery the PDF to your email address. If you have any problems, please let me know! And I'd love to see photos of any Stained Glass Bubble Mittens, in progress or finished--please share!)


Huge thanks to my test knitters from the Free Pattern Testers group on Ravelry and to Stephannie Tallent (StephCat on RavelryTM) for tech editing the pattern. Many thanks to Vivian Aubrey for her gorgeous photographs, all pictured here.

Finishing a Doubled Cuff

These instructions are to supplement the Stained Glass Bubble Mitten pattern, although the method can be used in any case where you are finishing a doubled cuff (whether for a mitten, sock, sleeve, etc.).

Begin with cuff worked to twice final length, with provisional CO sts at the bottom (in these photos, the waste yarn is dark brown and the provisional CO sts are light brown).


Fold cuff CO edge up into inside of the cuff and align the CO sts with those on the working ndl such that the ribbing is straight, not skewed. (Because you are looking at both ends of one ribbing, the CO edge as well as the sts currently on the working ndl, as well as both sides of one ribbing because it is folded in half, remember that a knit st at one end will have a corresponding purl st at the other end.)


Place a small number (10-25%) of CO sts (light brown) onto a provisional ndl and hold the provisional ndl behind and parallel to the working ndl, with both ndl tips pointing in the same direction.


You are now going to do what is akin to a three-needle bind-off, without binding off any sts: Working together one st from the front working ndl with its corresponding CO st on the back provisional ndl, *k2tog, k2tog, p2tog, p2tog* to the end of the round.

k2tog:


p2tog:



I prefer to leave the waste yarn in until I have finished joining the cuff edges. Removing it after the process is complete allows for the provisional CO sts to remain hooked to something; should something go awry in joining the two edges, the join can be easily undone with the provisional CO sts remaining safely on the waste yarn.

Here is a photo of the back side of the join, with joined sts on the left and sts to be worked on the right: