Lap Blankets For Armenia

May 14, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

As our collection of winter woolies for Chernobyl draws to an end we are happy to announce our next charity project.

Global Missions Ireland (Charity No: CHY13718) is a Cork based charity that undertakes in missions both at home and around the world. Locally they run feeding programs to reach the people in the City of Cork.

On foreign missions they work with the local church to reach out to the most vulnerable and marginalised in society. The charity’s main aim is to run mission trips, which provide people with an avenue to work abroad or help a community, which they feel, are in need. They send people from the medical field, construction industry, teachers, housewives any sector that they find will help in the country that they are working in.

This year Global Missions have got a team going to the ‘House of Hope’ retirement home in Vanadzor, Armenia. Here there are 80 men and women taken out of deplorable conditions to live in safety and comfort. It was set up to house the elderly community who had been living in derelict buildings and containers since the earthquakes in 1988.

The team will be running feeding programs, giving bread made in the ‘ House of Hope’ bread factory to those in the community that are in need. They will also visit with social workers other in the locality that are in need of help to try and rehabilitate and rehouse them into better conditions.

These elderly people need our help as they have very little and Global Missions has specifically asked if we’d be interested in making lap blankets. These will help to keep the residents that little bit warmer whilst at the same time giving them a gift of kindness they can cherish.

Calling all of you that knit and/or crochet for your help. We’d also welcome those of you that sew or can be a little creative with felting old jumpers.

What we’re after?

As we’re making lap blankets these can be either the complete, finished article or 20cm/8″ squares which we will sew together to make blankets 100cm x 120cms/40″ by 48″
Squares can be made using any yarn however, please remember these blankets will need to be washable and warm. Chunky yarn will knit up quicker and remember that you can always use more than one strand of yarn together. Two strands of double knit worked together is the same as using a chunky yarn.
Squares can be in any pattern/design of your choosing and we have no colour preference. knit, crochet or as I mentioned before sewn or felted it really doesn’t matter. Take this opportunity to use up your leftovers.
Spread the word – we’d love to hand over as many blankets as possible. Tell other knitting groups, schools & colleges, residential homes, church groups, etc.
The closing date for our collection is Saturday 3rd August. It would helps us enormously if you are making squares if you could send them in sooner if possible to allow time to sew them up. Even if it means giving them in in batches.

There are absolutely loads of lap blankets available on www.ravelry.com

There are also loads of patterns available for 20cm/8″ squares out there in cyberspace, just type ‘knit a square’ into your web browser.

The Knitter/Simply knitting Magazine ran a campaign for Refuge last year in which they asked for squares the same size to be donated. You may well have a copy of the magazines neatly filed on a shelf. Crocheting a square should be simple enough as you just stop when you’ve reached the right size.

I intend to pop up a few square patterns when I’ve knitted some examples but I wanted to get the collection underway.

Technically speaking if your tension is correct, casting on 28sts (loosley) with chunky yarn on 6.5mm needles will give you 20cms horizontally. Knit in stocking stitch until square is 20cms vertically and cast off loosley.

Hint: I’m terrible for casting on/off too tight so I use a needle at least one size larger

If you want to have a closer look at what the charity does checkout their Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/pages/Global-Missions-Ireland/119741718073281

Knitty Spring+Summer is Out

May 1, 2013 LeftFootDaisy1 Comment

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss13/index.php

The latest issue of Knitty has been released and as ever there are some truly beautiful patterns so be sure to go and have a look for yourself.

My three favourites in this issue are:

Lunatic fringe by Jennifer Dassau is a beautifully, quirky shawl knitted in Terra by The Fibre Company which is an aran weight yarn. Knitted from the bottom up, creating the fringe as you go to form an unusual, asymmetrical shape.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss13/PATTlunaticfringe.php

Easy As Pie is a technicolour blanket by OneHandKnits and is knitted in Sirdar’s Baby Bamboo which is a standard double knit yarn. Clever use of short rows and colour work creates this vibrant, funky blanket.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss13/PATTeasyaspie.php

Last but not least and one that I have had to add to my ever extending ‘to knit’ list is Buttonbox by Elizabeth McCarten. This beautiful waistcoat is knitted in one piece using Brooklyn Tweed’s Shelter yarn which is an aran weight. The shaped waist and shawl collar make it a very flattering style, whilst the little box stitch pattern adds enough interest to the overall look of the knitted fabric.

http://www.knitty.com/ISSUEss13/KSPATTbuttonbox.php

If these patterns haven’t been enough to tempt you (why?), it might just interest you to know that there is a new coloum in the magazine – ‘Techniques with the Neurotic Knitter’. Kristin Fraser aka The Neurotic Knitter has a look at cast ons this issue via videos. The techniques she covers for Spring/Summer are the Backwards Loop, Cable, Knitted and the Long Tail methods. Great if you only know the one cast on method.

i also urge you to check out the Templeton Square Competition Winners to see just how ingenious some knitters are.

Happy knitting!

Super Chunky Mistake Rib Cowl

January 31, 2013January 31, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Having managed to persuade my usual model to pose for a picture, you can no doubt see how she feels about it.

Mistake rib is a great stitch pattern to use for scarves/cowls as it gives you a double sided fabric rather than one with a definite front and back (like stocking stitch). The easiest way to remember the pattern is to cast on an odd number of stitches, in this instance I used 17. With an odd number of stitches every row of your scarf will be the same.

We managed to wrap the cowl around Dina 3 times, but the friend it was made for is very tall and tends to wear it wrapped round her neck twice. if you want to make it wider and a little shorter cast on 2 extra stitches (the pattern remains the same).

Cowl Dimensions

Length 180cm/70″

Width 23cm/9″

Materials

5 Balls Sirdar Big Bamboo

10mm Needles

Darning Needle

Abbreviations

k – knit

p – purl

st(s) – stitch(es)

Pattern

Using thumb method cast on 17 stitches.

Work every row as follows – knit 2 stitches, purl 2 stitches repeat these 4 stitches to last st, K1

Work until almost all of your yarn has gone ensuring you save enough to cast off loosely (approximately 3 times the width of your knitting).

Sew cast on edge to cast off edge in order to make a large ring and sew in ends.

Tip – When joining in a new ball of yarn try to do this somewhere along the row rather than at the beginning of a row as usual. This will help to keep the edges of the cowl tidy and means your ends can be better hidden.

Moody Blanket Pattern

January 8, 2013January 9, 2013 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

Blanket Dimensions

Length 72″/183cm (hopefully)

Width 7.2″/183cm (hopefully)

Materials

2 strands of aran weight yarn are used held together.
You will need approximately 2400 metres of your base yarn and then the same amount again in your chosen combination of yarns. I am using Sirdar Bonus Aran and Sirdar Bonus Aran Tweed and will need 3 x 400g balls of my base shade 929 and probably 2 x 400g of shades 822 & 817 and 1 x 400g of 994. (I will have loads left for charity knitting)

You will also need around another 20 to 50 metres (doubled) to work your applied i-cord if doing so at both your cast on and cast off ends.

I also used scrap super chunky yarn for my provisional cast on and a 12mm crochet hook.

8mm Needles

Darning Needle

Tension

12sts x 18rows on 8mm needles with 2 strands of aran weight yarn held together in garter stitch

Abbreviations

k – knit

st(s) – stitch(es)

co – cast on

wyif – with yarn in front

sl – slip next st

sl3 – slip next 3 sts (for applied I-cord)

psso – pass slipped stitch over

K3tog – knit next 3 sts together

Applied I-cord cast off –

*k2, sl 1 k-wise, k1 (this will be 1 of your live sts at the cast off end or from the provisional cast on), psso, sl all 3 sts back onto left needle and rep from* until all sts have been worked. Three I-cord sts remain on needle, K3tog, break yarn and draw through your final st.

Pattern

For the i-cord edge you need to use a provisional cast on method and you want 222 sts for the blanket.

I prefer to use the crochet chain provisional cast on, so I chained 228 sts with a 12mm hook and super chunky yarn.

1st row – knit all stitches

For every subsequent row you knit until the last 3 sts, wyif sl3

I’m hoping to knit at least 324 rows or 162 garter stitch ridges. I shall be knitting 2 rows per day.

The I-cord edge is optional. If you are making the blanket without it – using thumb method and holding the 2 strands of yarn together cast on 216 sts and knit every row without slipping the last 3 sts.

If you follow the instructions in Moody Blanket part 1 & 2 you will hopefully end up with a beautiful and personal blanket.

I shall be using an I-cord cast off on my cast on and cast off edges. Work on your cast off edge first by CO 3 sts using cable cast on method, work I-cord cast off as per instructions above.

Slip cast on sts onto needle and work as for cast off end above.

Sew in your ends, hiding them in the I-cord if you’ve chosen to make it.

This is what my blanket looks like after 2 days

Saturday was a good day whilst Monday was just ok. The red is my provisional cast on yarn. I shall try to update on the blankets progress weekly.

Happy Knitting!

Moody Blanket – Part 2

January 7, 2013 LeftFootDaisy2 Comments

If you read Part 1 http://knitmidleton.com/2013/01/07/moody-blanket-part-1/ , you’ll know that I had decided upon 3 shades of Sirdar Bonus Aran to use for my blanket. Each shade represents my predominant mood of that day.

The darker shade (top right) represents my OK days.

The lighter shade (top left) represents my good days.

The brighter blue (bottom) represents my very good days.

I will also have to include a colour or 2 for a totally ‘unexpected day’ which will probably be navy for a bloody horrendous day (hope I don’t have any of those) and maybe a baby blue or something else for a truly spectacular day, but it would have to be out of this world, super fantastic to make it into my blanket.

I’m assuming the bulk of my blanket will be made up of the darker and lighter shades as most of my days will probably be OK or good.

Tension next. The little sample squares above were knitted on 10mm’s and the tension seemed a little on the loose side, especially for a blanket. So I opted to use 8mm’s instead.

Based on this I was able to calculate that I would need to cast on 216 sts to achieve a blanket that’s approximately 6 foot wide. It will also take 324 rows or 162 garter stitch ridges to achieve the 6 foot in length that I’d like to achieve (although I might end up making it a little longer).

Ooops – The glaringly obvious problem is it’s not going to take me a year to knit is it? I would prefer to knit 1 garter stitch ridge or 2 rows per day to keep the blanket the same on both sides. Nevermind, if it works I shall knit one for each of my 3 children as per their mood, so now I have the next 2 years planned. Another way of doing the blanket could be to do your mood based on so many days per months, days of the week.

As an added design element also thought an applied I-Cord edge would tidy up the blanket, whilst providing the ideal place to hide the multiple ends whilst sewing them in. I’ve used it many times before on blankets and am currently trying to finish my Ravi (designed by Carol Feller) which uses it too.

To make finishing with the i-cord around all four sides, I decided to use a provisional cast on. I find it easiest to use a crochet chain and use each chain to knit through.

It’s easier if you use a hook a couple of sizes larger that the needles your going to eventually use and you need to make sure you add a few extra chains just to make it easier to put your stitches up.

I used a 12mm hook (because I didn’t have a 10mm) and some Wendy Serenity Super Chunky that I had left in my stash. The chain is 228 stitches long which is plenty for the 222 stitches I need.

There are a few more things that I needed to work out before writing the pattern up.

How much yarn will the blanket take? – I can get 30 stitches on my 8mm’s out of a metre of yarn, which means one complete row will take 7.4metres (there about) x 2 because the yarn is worked doubled. That means the blanket will take at lease 2398 metres of yarn, not allowing for the extra yarn for the applied i-cord at the cast on and cast off edges.
There are 840 metres in each ball of Sirdar Bonus Aran/Aran Tweed so I will need at least 3 x 400g balls in the base shade 929 and there’s no real way to be sure how much I’ll need in each of the ‘mood’ shades. Based on the size of the balls and my predominate moods I envisage it will be 2 of the lighter and darker shades (817 & 822) and 1 of the brighter one (994)

I also wanted to time how long it will take to complete a row, so I know I’ll have enough time to do a little each day. It took me approximately 9 minutes to knit all 222 stitches, but there is no weight or bulk to the knitting yet so I assume it will end up taking much longer as the knitting grows.

For the pattern see part 3.

More Has Arrived

September 20, 2012September 20, 2012 LeftFootDaisyLeave a comment

A second batch of Autumn/Winter goodies has arrived in.

TB Ramsden Yarn photography shot at studio 2-7-2012 — Nina

Some of you have probably already seen the post I put on the Facebook page about the new scarf yarn from Wendy – Nina.

005 — The caffeine had started to take affect.

I’m a little smitten with it myself and have been seen on several occasions sporting one of the scarves.

There were new shades in some of our favourites, of course I only remembered to photograph one – this was after the photo at the top of this post.

A lovely new sock yarn or 4ply depending on what you prefer – Wendy Roam Fusion. It’s available in 5 lovely shades, at least 3 of which have been subliminally singing my name since they arrived.

Celtic has also come in: 8 shades of tweedy, chunky yarn with great pattern support. It’s a blend of 30% wool and 70% acrylic. Knits to a tension of 14sts x 24rows on 6.5mm, the ball is 50g/85m.