Randy's Warm Winter Socks

 These socks are so warm for winter!  The pattern is Classic Socks by Melinda Goodfellow.  The yarn is Opal 8 ply sock yarn.

 I enlarged the sock pattern a bit.  I cast on 52 stitches with the German Twisted Cast on, and I knit a k2, p2 ribbing for 2" with size 3.5 mm needles.  

Then I knit a pattern of k3, p1 for the leg using size 3.75 mm needles until 4.5" long, including cuff.  This allows a lot of stretch for the foot and leg.

I love this sock pattern.  It comes in lots of different sizes.  Randy really likes his new socks!

Notes:  Heel turn:  Sl1, p14, p2tog, p1, turn (8 left)   sl1, k5, ssk, k1, turn (8 left)

Repeat, dec over gap.  Finish with 16 stitches left on heel.

Pick up 13 stitches and 1 in gap on each side.  Dec. next round and following round because of extra stitches.  Knit plain round, Dec round, etc. until 13 stitches on each needle:  52 stitches.  Keep top of foot in k3, p1 until toe.

Knit foot in pattern until 9 1/4" long.  Foot 10.5-10 3/4" long.  Toe almost 2"  Making it longer in case of swelling.  

Toe:  Dec. round and knit round until 28 stitches.  Knit 1 round then dec. to 24 sts., then dec. to 20 sts.  Kitchener 10 and 10.  

Wash in lukewarm water with Ivory clear or other mild detergent and a little hair conditioner.  Let soak for awhile.  Place in lukewarm rinse water and let soak.  Rinse again if needed.  Press out excess water and lay flat to dry.  The conditioner softens the socks.

 

J's Christmas Stocking

I saw a pattern for a very pretty Christmas stocking called Yuletide Monogram Stocking by Clare Lakewood and decided to make it for my daughter.  She will have a fireplace soon, and it will look so pretty on the fireplace this Christmas.

 

I used Rauma Strikkegarn, 2 balls each of red (144) and white (454).  Strikkegarn is Norwegian 100% wool.  I used needle sizes US 1 1/2 (2.5 mm) for the cuff and US 2 1/2 (3 mm) for the stocking.  

Strikkegarn is a heavier yarn than called for in the pattern, but I had some in my stash.  So, the Christmas stocking ended up larger.   Strikkegarn is a DK weight yarn. 

I knit a k2, p2 ribbing for the top edge instead of a hemmed cuff.  I also put her initial on both sides of the stocking instead of just the front.  I knit the alternate chart. 

I-cord loop:  I used 4 stitches for the I-cord.  To end the I-cord, take the tail of the yarn through the stitches from right to left twice.  Sew the I-cord on very securely about 1/2" down from the edge.  I sewed it also along the I-cord sides to make it more secure.

It will look so pretty on her fireplace!

 

 

My Phoenix Afghan is Finished! Love it!

 I finished my Phoenix Afghan, which is a challenging project.  Each round is different, and there's lots of counting stitches.  There are lots of specialty stitches, too--puff stitches, clusters, back post and front post stitches, and more.

I worked into Part 9 and then stopped because my afghan was big enough.  So, I ended after Round 84.  The pattern is by Hooked on Sunshine.
 

I used a size H crochet hook.  I used Red Heart With Love and Red Heart Super Saver yarns.  I love the yarn colors.

I have two previous blog posts about this afghan with more pictures.

 

I decided to finish after the beautiful shell pattern from Rounds 83 and 83.  I added a round of SCs around the edge to finish.

I love the finished afghan and really enjoyed crocheting it.

 

A Flamingo for K!

 I had so much fun crocheting this flamingo for K!  She loves flamingos.  The pattern is from Theresa's Crochet Shop, and it is called Flossie the Flamingo.  The designer includes some short videos for some of the steps.

It's a very good pattern.  I used a size 3.75 mm hook (size F) and Michael's Loops & Threads Impeccable yarn.  I really like working with this yarn, and the colors are so pretty.

The eyes are size 12 mm safety eyes.  I added some extra eyelashes. 

I'm really happy with how the flamingo turned out.  And she loves it!  It's so funny.  It always makes me smile when I see it or a picture of it.  :)

 

Red Panda for Sweet N

I loved crocheting this red panda for N!  I hope she loves it.  The pattern was designed by Kezma Kilian, and I made a few changes.  I used Premier Chunky Parfait yarn and a size I 5.5mm crochet hook.

The yarn is very soft and plush, but it frays very easily.  It is suitable for amigurumi that isn't very detailed.  When sewing details onto the animal, you have to sew around the stitches because the yarn is just made of fluffy bits on a string.  The tail of yarn that you sew with can also fray very easily.  But, this pattern worked very well.  

I added the black heart since red pandas have black fur on their underside.  I stitched the eyebrows just over the eyes and made the white cheeks smaller than the pattern instructions.  This pattern was really fun to crochet.
 

I used size 16 or 18 mm eyes and 18 mm nose.  I spaced the eyes a bit closer with 10 sc between the eyes.  I skipped the bobbles on the legs and made them 3 rows longer than the pattern. I sewed the arms and legs a bit angled on the body.  I spaced the arms farther out than the pattern instructed.  

I can't wait to give it to N!  

My notes:  The Heart is the Large Heart from Love Hearts by June Gilbank of Planet June.  Acrylic worsted weight yarn and size H hook.

Arms and legs:  slip stitch to 1st sc to end and leave a long tail.  Sew the top edge closed.  Sew the arms and legs by sewing one thread of sc on top edge of arm/leg, and then around underside, also sew one thread of arm/leg to body to make it secure.  I also sew the ears closed and sew each front/back edge to the head. 

A Bunny for K!

 I loved crocheting this cute bunny for K.  She loves it!  The pattern is by lestescrochet, and the yarn is Parfait Chunky Yarn.  I used a size 5.5mm I crochet hook.

 I crocheted a heart for the bunny and added flowers to her ears.

My notes:

I added a tail in white Parfait Chunky.  Magic ring:  6 sc.  2:  Increase around to 12 stitches.  R3 and R4)  12 sc.  Join with a slip stitch and leave a tail for sewing.

15 mm blue safety eyes

Flowers for Bunny ears:  2 layer flowers.  Cotton yarn.  3.5mm hook  Pink, purple, deep pink, turquoise blue.

1) Light Pink.  Ch. 5.  Join with a slip stitch into the first chain to form a circle.

Ch1 (doesn't count as a stitch) (SC, Ch3) into the ring until you have 7 loops.  Join with a slip stitch to 1st. sc.

2) Petals:  (Sc, ch1, 2dc, ch1, sc) into each loop.  Slip stitch into the first sc.  7 petals.

2nd Layer:  Dark Pink.  (You can use the same color if you chain 1 and turn to the wrong side.)

With the back facing:  Insert the hook behind a spoke and work a slip stitch.  Chain 5.  (Slip stitch into the next spoke, ch 5) around.  7 loops.

Ch1 and turn flower over to front.  Each petal:   (Sc, ch1, 3dc, ch1, sc) around.  Join with slip stitch into first petal. 

Cut and leave longish tails for dark pink yarn.  Bury the tails a bit to fasten them securely and then use them to tie onto the bunny's ears.  One flower had turquoise blue and deep rose color yarns.

Ears:  I flatten and sew the ears closed with a few stitches.  I sew on arms on the top of the arm and on the lower layer of the arms for more security. 

Join pieces with a slip stitch into the first stitch to end off.  Cut the yarn, pull the tail out, leaving a long tail for sewing.  

 
 

A Crocheted Cow for A!

 I really enjoyed crocheting this cow for my granddaughter.  She loved it!  

The yarn is Sweet & Snuggles, and it's a very bulky yarn.  It frays easily, and it's a bit hard to see stitches, so it was a little bit of a challenge to work with, but it's very snuggly and soft.  I used hook size 8 mm (L).

The pattern is by kaysplushies.   I crocheted a heart in place of one of the spots.   I used Parfait Chunky yarn for the spots with size 5.5mm I hook.  The eyes are 24 mm safety eyes.

My notes:  

Heart Patch:  Ch2.  In the first chain:

2 DC, 2 HDC, DC, 2HDC, 2DC, ch2, slip stitch into chain stitch.

Another heart:  Magic Ring:  Ch2, 3TC, 3DC, ch1, 1TC, ch1, 3DC, 3TC, ch2, slip stitch into ring.  Pull tight. 

Snout in pattern was difficult to figure out.  I did this:

1) Chain 7 stitches.  SC in 2nd, 3rd, 4th, and 5th stitches.  6th stitch:  3 sc.

Underside:  Sc in next 4 chains and 3 sc in last chain.  15 stitches.

2:  Sc in next 6 sc, 3 sc.  Underside:  SC in next 5 stitches, 3 sc, sc.  19 stitches.  

3)  SC in 19 stitches  Finish with a slip stitch in the first stitch.  Cut and pull loop out leaving a long tail for sewing.    

Invisible Decrease:  Insert hook into the front loop of the next 2 stitches.  YO and draw through 2 loops.  Yarn over and draw through next 2 loops.  

2 balls of Sweet & Snuggles white, 1 of gray.  One brown ball of Parfait Chunky yarn for spots.  

K's Traditional Norwegian Selbugenser

 I loved knitting this Selbugener for K, and I loved taking Patricia's (Knitography Farms) online class.  The pattern is 227-R Selbugenser by Rauma Designs.  The pattern was in Norwegian, and Patricia translated it for us and taught us the traditional Norwegian techniques.  K looks so pretty in her Selbugenser!

The neckline was knit using a very small steek and shaping the neckline by using increases on each side.  I reinforced the steek before cutting it.  The neckline ribbing is knit 1, purl 1 until it is long enough, then a purl round for turning, then a facing of k1, p1.  The facing is sewn by hand to the wrong side of the neckline, covering the steek stitches.  

The body is knit in the round from the top down.  The Norwegian motifs are very traditional.  The sleeves are knit until about long enough, and then put on a holder.  I used wool thread to reinforce where the sleeves will go into the body, and then cut the body to insert the sleeves.  The sleeves are knit with a facing at the top, which is sewn down over the steek stitches on the wrong side. The length of the sleeve is finished after the sleeves are sewn in to be sure it is the correct length.
 

                                                                     Sleeve Facing

I really enjoyed knitting this sweater for K, and K loves her sweater!  I love the finishing techniques used in this sweater.  I can see why Norwegian sweaters last a lifetime.

Notes:  Size small.  Rauma Finullgarm, 3 skeins white and 7 skeins red.  Needles:  Size  2.5 mm for ribbing and 3mm for sweater.  I made the sleeve cuffs smaller--60 stitches, and the sleeves longer.

K's Fair Isle Style Hermione's Scarf

 Hermione wore a beautiful Fair Isle style scarf in the movie, "Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince," and I knew my granddaughter would love a scarf like it.  

Freshisle Fibers on Ravelry came up with a knitting chart and posted about her scarf on her blog.  The colors of the motifs on the scarf are difficult to see in the movie, but it's fun to knit a scarf similar to Hermione's scarf.

I was going to use KnitPicks Palette yarn, but they were out of the purple, so I am using a Norwegian wool yarn called Strikkegarn.  There are lots of colors available, but the yarn is heavier, so her scarf will be thicker and warmer.  I'm using 3.5mm needles.

There are online pictures of Hermione wearing the scarf, and knitters are coming up with various shades of colors for their scarves

The scarf is knit in the round and then the ends are sewn closed.  This is a very fun knit!

Randy's Socks

 These socks are great for fall, early spring, and warmer winter days.  They are hand knitted using Paton's Kroy sock yarn.  Kroy yarn is a bit thicker than some fingering weight yarns, and it wears very well.  I love knitting with it.  It makes a really nice pair of socks.

I used the pattern, "How I Make my Socks," by Susan B. Anderson.  On her blog, she has instructions for making the men's socks larger, which I used.  

So, I cast on 72 stitches with size US1 (2.25mm) needles using the Norwegian cast on.  My gauge was 9 stitches and 11 rows per inch.  I knit ribbing of k2, p2 for 2", then switched to size US 1.5 (2.5mm) needles and knit the leg in k3, p1.  I knit the leg for 4.5" total.  I used 2 balls of Paton's Kroy sock yarn.  When knitting a longer leg, I would need 3 balls of yarn.

 

                              Two pairs of Paton's Kroy socks and Opal 8 ply socks.

Randy loves his warm socks!

Notes: 
Leg:  4.5 inches total.  Stop after needle 3.  Heel flap:  36 stitches, needles 4 and 1.  18 slipped stitches.  Heel flap:  2 3/4".  Gusset decreases to 72 stitches.

Heel turn:  sl 1, p19 (20 stitches), p2 tog, p1, turn.  Slip 1, k5, ssk k1, turn.  You will end up with 20 stitches on the needle after heel turn.

Pick up 18 sl stitches plus one in the corner.  Decrease twice in a row because of the extra stitch.  Then decrease every other row.

Toe decreases every other row to 40 stitches, then knit 1 round.  Then every row to 32 stitches.

Men's pattern says work foot to 2" shorter than foot.  Toe to 32 stitches (16 plus 16).  Kitchener 16 and 16 together.

I worked the foot to 9 1/4" then did the toe.  He needed a bit longer length from the last sock.

The socks turned out very nice.  It used almost the whole 2 balls of Paton's Kroy sock yarn.

Really nice socks!

K's Norwegian Kofte, the Gammel Sandvik

I'm really happy with how the Norwegian sweater turned out for K.  She looks so pretty!  She chose the colors, and they look beautiful on her.  I love the flower design.  It will keep her warm this winter!  It was very fun to knit for her!

 

This pattern was quite a challenge since I had never knit a Norwegian sweater before.  I learned a lot of new techniques.  The pattern is over 100 years old.  Norwegian patterns were an oral tradition, taught from mother to daughter, so much of it wasn't written down.

This was an online class from Patricia of Knitography Farm in Norway.  She is an excellent instructor, and she provides videos, handouts, pattern translations, and zoom meetings.   It's wonderful to be able to learn the traditional Norwegian knitting techniques.  The pattern was in Norwegian, and she translated it for us and gave us much more information that isn't included in the pattern.

I'm so glad the sweater fits K.  Since the pattern was given to us in stages, I didn't know the finished number of stitches for the circumference until we got to that point in the pattern, so I didn't know it would be so close to the finished chest measurement.  So, I added 2 inches of ease to the body of the Kofte when I split the arms from the yoke.  So, I added 2 stitches into each flower motif to increase the chest measurement a total of 2 inches (12 stitches), which was just enough.  

I learned so many new techniques.  We raised the back of the neck of the Kofte with Norwegian short rows, which works wonderfully.  It makes a sweater much more comfortable to wear.

Patricia taught me to take my time and make my work as neat as possible.  There is a lot of finishing work by hand in this traditional Kofte pattern.  She recommends handsewing the steek (the stitches where you cut the sweater open) to stabilize it with wool thread, as the knitters did long ago.  She prefers handsewing because a sewing machine can distort the stitches, and also with handsewing you can use wool thread, which matches the sweater.

The vertical buttonbands are knitted with a knitted on facing, and then sewn down by hand.  Then the facing is sewn by hand over the cut steek.  You can add a woven ribbon over the facing, too, if you choose.  

I really enjoyed knitting this sweater for K and learned so much about Norwegian traditional sweater knitting. 

My notes:  Cascade Sport, 2.5 and 3.5 mm needles.  24 stitches/inch.  Size XS/S, increased 2 inches at chest.  

Buttonhole:  I cast off 2 stitches in ribbing pattern.  Next row, I turned to the other side and cast on stitches using cable cast on a little loose.  Before placing the last cast on stitch onto the left needle, take the yarn to the front.  I took the left needle under the stitch to put it on the left needle.

Norwegian short rows:  2 per side of neckline:  at 28 stitches left, 24 stitches left, and 20 stitches left.  Before shaping with short rows, purl one row so short rows start with a knit row.

Cast on 4 stitches for steek (plus the 2 edge stitches which no longer count as stitches for the pattern)  Beginning of round will start after steek stitches.  Increase to 164 stitches (162 plus 2 edge stitches).

Cast on steek stitches with back loop.  Next round, knit them through the back loop.  So, 6 stitches will be the steek (4 plus 2 edge stitches)  I ended up adding 2 extra stitches (6 plus 2 edge), but next time I wouldn't do that--too bulky.

Cut the contrast yarn at the steek for the plain background rows between motifs.  You can catch them in the sewing.  Machine sewing seems more durable.  Or weave them in.  I machine sewed one line of stitching and handsewed another line on each side of the steek.

Before splitting for the arms, I finished Chart B except for the 4 plain rows.  First row after dividing is first plain row.  The yoke is almost 9.5" long, not counting the ribbing.

K's arm is 11".  I added 2 inches to the sweater body width.

Before dividing, there were 288 stitches, 8 repeats.  After splitting the sleeves, there would be 204 stitches, which would be 34 inches plus one buttonband width, not enough ease.

So, I added 12 stitches when I divided the sleeves for 2 more inches=216 stitches.  Continue with Chart B, so 36 stitch motif, 6 times around.

Front 45,  Cast on 20, 86 for back, cast on 20, 45 front.  Take off 56 stitches for sleeves.  216 for body = 36 inches plus buttonband.  So, sleeves will end up a little wider, too.

Body of Kofte: 4 complete flowers for the body length.  From the beginning of the steek to the end of the last flower is 20" before the ribbing.

I used 2.5 mm for ribbing of k1,p1 for 2" wrist cuff and bottom ribbing.  Cast off in pattern using 2.75 mm needle so it's not too tight.

Underarm:  Picked up 20 stitches at underarm, 3 stitches at corners and decrease to 78 stitches.  Knit using Chart C.  Decreases down sleeve: k1 (or p1) k2tog....ssk.

You can do an underarm seam starting about 1/2" from beginning.  Either purl underarm stitch each round, or k underarm stitch one round, p underarm stitch next round.  Repeat.  

Right buttonband is buttonhole side.  Left is button side.  7 buttons, 5/8".

Buttonholes: First is 3/8 inch from top.  Each buttonhole is about 3.5" apart. About 30 rows between buttonholes.  Last buttonhole about 1-1 1/4 inches into ribbing.

 

K's Norwegian Kofte Sweater

Patricia of Knitography Farm has wonderful online classes for traditional Norwegian knitting of socks, mittens, and sweaters.  I've been taking her class on Norwegian Kofte sweaters, and I'm knitting the Gammel Sandvik sweater for K.

The Gammel Sandvik pattern is over 100 years old and is a traditional Norwegian sweater.

I've been learning so much about Norwegian knitting techniques.  We've learned to knit Norwegian short rows to add length to the back neck of the sweater.  This improves the fit of the sweater.  We started with the neck ribbing and then added in stitches for the steek.  The steek is made up of stitches that will be cut open later to turn the sweater into a cardigan.

 I knit the XS/S, but I didn't realize the measurements were the finished sweater measurements, so I added in 2 inches to the body of the sweater when I split off the sleeves.  This pattern is difficult to add width because the motif is so large, so I added 2 stitches into each motif, which added 12 stitches, or 2".

This sweater gives lots of practice in stranded knitting.  The sweater motif has long stretches of one color, so I trapped the other color now and then.  This always takes me longer to knit than motifs without long stretches of color. 

I knit the sleeves using double pointed needles.  Patricia said we could knit a "sleeve seam" under the sleeve by knitting the underarm stitch on one round, and then purling the underarm stitch on the next round, and repeating this pattern.  I didn't do the underarm seam on this sweater.   She said to start the sleeve seam about a 1/2" or inch after beginning the sleeve.

I really like the length of the sleeve and will add a 2" cuff.  I added another motif of the pattern for length on the body after this picture.  The body will also have a 2" cuff.
 

I'm really enjoying knitting this traditional Norwegian sweater.  The buttonband will have a knitting on facing, which will hide the cut stitches.  This will be an interesting technique.  I love learning new historical techniques in knitting.  

Bible Bookmark Cross

 I am enjoying crocheting these Bible Bookmark Crosses.  I am making them for my granddaughters and for two girls my daughter and I are sponsoring in Uganda.

The pattern is an old one, and it looks like it is a copy of perhaps a Leisure Arts pattern.  I like it because the crochet is continuous, so there is no stopping and starting like the patterns I've seen today.  The border moves from one arm to the next which connects it.  The pattern was from Etsy:  BCFunkFactory.

I used a size 6 thread Clover crochet hook and size 10 DMC cotton thread.   

I attached one tassel with a larkshead knot, and the other tassel with a crochet chain.

Tassel with Crochet Chain:

Attach the thread to the top or bottom of the bookmark with a slipstitch.  Chain about 20 or however long you would like your chain.

Tassel:  Wrap crochet thread around a card 25 times or so until the tassel will be as thick as you'd like it.  Cut one end of the threads.  Place the bundle onto the end of the chains and with the end of the thread, wrap it tightly around the center of the bundle and tie it well and tightly next to the last chain.

Fold all the threads down into the tassel shape, and wrap another thread about 3/8" from the fold of the tassel.  Tie it tightly, wrap around the tassel several times and tie it well.  Take the ends into the tassel with a needle.  Trim the tassel.

Larkshead Knot Tassel:

Make the tassel bundle as above.  Tie a long thread around the center of the bundle well.  Then take the long ends of the threads and tie them together with an overhead knot or two about 1/4" from the ends.  Make the ends as long as you'd like them for attaching to the cross.

Place that knot into the middle of the tassle and fold the tassel ends over it.

With another thread, tie and wrap several times around the tassel about 3/8" from the folded end to complete the tassel.  Take the ends into the tassel and trim the ends.

Take the long thread loop through the center of the cross at the top or bottom with a yarn needle.  Then take the tassel through its loop to connect it to the cross.
 

K's St. Patrick's Day Bracelet

 I love how this bracelet turned out, but it was challenging.  The pattern is called Swirls Chainmaille Bracelet by Tanya Hlabse, and it is available as a kit from Weave Got Maille.

The green four-ring mobius is made first, and then attached to the large wider ring with tiny silver rings.  It's difficult to hold the mobius since the rings want to flip around as you are trying to attach it.

So, I decided to join two green rings together, and then attach each of those to the larger ring.  Then add a 3rd ring to the first two and attach it to the larger ring.  And finally, weave a 4th green ring into the center of the 3 green rings and attach this ring to the outside ring.  This made it so much easier.  You have to make sure the rings lie in the correct direction, with each ring on top of the previous rings.  

It's difficult to weave the tiny silver rings between the green rings and the wide outer ring.  They have to be opened quite a bit to go over the wide ring, and there isn't a lot of room for the pliers. So, it takes some time to make this piece, and I used my thinnest pliers.

I made her bracelet adjustable by adding a few rings.  It was a fun and challenging piece.

My notes:  K's wrist about 6 1/4".  Bracelet almost 7" plus 3 or 4 rings to make it adjustable.  7 Swirls, then each side: 3 green, 3 silver small swirl, 3 greens.  Then one silver ring and clasp for one side; 4 silver rings for the other side.  I may take off a ring or two if she doesn't need the extra  length.
 

J's Sterling Silver Byzantine Rose Bracelet

 I love making chain maille bracelets, especially Byzantine bracelets and variations of Byzantine.  The design is so beautiful and fun to make.

This bracelet is called Byzantine Rose, and it is made out of sterling silver rings.  I used a sterling lobster clasp with an adjustable chain.

The sterling rings are 16 gauge, 4.5 mm and 7 mm.  I really love how it turned out.

My notes:  1 oz. 4.5 mm 16 g.  1/2 oz. 7 mm, 16 g rings.  One whole segment Byzantine separated by a rose.  6 roses, 7 byzantine segments. Oval Lobster SS 16.8.  5 rings, adjustable.  About 7 5/8" - 8 1/2" finished.  

Silver 4.5 mm 16 g. 22 per inch in Byzantine.  Byzantine rose:  14 rings byzantine per inch  Flower, 3 rings per flower.  Smaller byzantine 18 g. 3.5 mm= 28 rings per inch.   2, 2, 2 rings, then flip.  Flower, then 2,2,2, flip. 

K's Harry Potter Mittens

 K loves her Harry Potter Mittens!  The pattern is Expecto Patronum!  Mittens by Dianna Walla.  She loves the Harry Potter books and movies.

There are many very long floats in the stranded knitting, so I made a few changes. In addition, her hands weren't as long, so I had to take 3 rounds off the top of the mittens and 4 rows off the bottom of the thumb.  Some mitten patterns are easier to adjust, based on the design since you don't want to cut off too much of the picture.

I used Knit Picks Palette wool yarn and size 2.25 mm (US 1) needles.  Instead of the colorwork cuff, I knit a rib cuff of k2, p2 to help keep out the cold weather.

This is a fun pattern to knit!  

My notes:

Palette yarn in red and black.  Needles 2.25 (US1).  Cast on 60 stitches with Norwegian cast on.  Cuff k2, p2 ribbing for 2 1/4" then knit one row and increase 2 stitches.

Thumb, row 25, 13 stitches to scrap yarn.  Cast on in pattern with backward loop, 13 stitches.  Thumb gusset 2 5/8" - 2 3/4" long, ok.  Pick up one stitch in each corner in black--framing stitches.  K's thumb, 2 1/2" long, so about 22-23 rows.  So start on row 5.  Make sure pattern matches to thumb.

Gauge per pattern:  9 stitches/inch, 10 r/inch.  Mine:  8.75-8.9 stitches per inch.  About 8.9 rows per inch.  I added some contrast stitches to reduce some of the long floats. 

2.75" = 24 rows then thumb.  Gusset length is fine.

K's hand is 7 1/2" long, 2 1/4" long thumb.  Take out 3 rows at the top of mitten, so had to lose a bit of the trees at the top.  Last decrease at top:  sl1, K2tog, psso.

 K's Guitar Strap Finished Pics

I realized I never put my finished pictures of K's Guitar Strap here.  I made it in her school colors of red, black, and white.  It was a very fun project.  Baltic pick-up weaving is easy, and the results are beautiful.  

I used size 3 Crochet Cotton.  The leather ends are from A Spinner Weaver.

I really enjoyed making this for K!

A Fun and Festive Christmas Hat!

 I love Christmas--the Christmas season, the decorations, the happiness, celebrating, everything about it.  I crocheted this very festive Christmas hat for my granddaughter.  

The hat is based on the idea of the "ugly Christmas sweaters."  But, it turns out so cute!  I love Christmas sweaters, too, and don't find most of them ugly.  :)

K loves her hat!  The pattern is the Ugly Christmas Sweater Beanie, by Hooked on Sunshine.  Every pattern round is different, and most rounds have a color change, too, so there are lots of ends to weave in.  There are lots of different stitches, too.  Hooked on Sunshine has amazing and beautiful patterns for afghans, too.

I really enjoyed crocheting this colorful hat, and K loves wearing it!  

My notes: Size 4.5 mm hook and Red Heart Super Saver yarns in red, green, and white.

The hat turned out too long, so I skipped rounds 25 and 26. I also skipped some of the last rounds, and my last round is Front and Back post HDC instead of DC.  9" long.  Width is fine.

If bringing up colors for the last few rounds, make sure to join to the top of the Chain 2 at the end of the round with the new color, and then chain 2, which counts as the first stitch.  R. 16, popcorn is into the middle of the SC.

Norwegian Selbu Socks

I love taking classes, and with the covid virus numbers, traveling to a sheep and wool festival wasn't possible this year.  But, I was so happy to hear that Patricia, of Knitography, was giving online classes for Norwegian knitting projects. Patricia lives in Norway.

I signed up for her Selbu Socks, and she showed us pictures of a number of different patterns she designed, and we chose the one we wanted to learn to knit.  I chose Design number 5.  I decided to make them for my granddaughter.

The classes consists of videos, blog posts, and Zoom lessons, if needed.  I really enjoyed the class.  Patricia even shared her Farmor's pattern for her Raggsokker, which are heavy woolen socks. Farmor is Patricia's father's mother.  The pattern was never written down until now.  

The pattern calls for fingering weight yarn, but I used sport weight yard for a heavier sock.  I used Wool of the Andes Sport in Winter Night, and Nature Spun Sport in Snow.

The color is a darker blue than the image.  We knit a pretty pattern on the underside of the sock, which Patricia calls a secret message.

I really enjoyed knitting these socks!  Someday I would love to knit more Norwegian socks from Patricia's ebook on Selbu Socks.

K loves them, and they are so warm!

My notes:

Cast on 64 stitches, Norwegian Cast on with US 1 (2.25 mm) needles.  K1, P1 for 1 3/4".  Yarn: 2 balls of each color, 50 grams each. Size 2 sock pattern.  Gauge: 7 stitches per inch.  Leg circumference in pattern: 9-9.5".  K's 9.5" about 5 inches above ankle.

Leg: U.S. 1.5,  (2.5 mm) needles. 2 repeats of the chart plus 3 rows, ending after an odd row.  16 rows of colorwork = 2" long.  8 rows per inch.

Heel and foot:  I switched to 2.25 mm needles because I thought the sock might be too big for her. About 8-8.5 stitches per inch.  8 rows per inch. 

K's foot:  9 3/4" long, size 8.5 shoe.  Heel flap should be 6-8 cm.  (2.36 to 3.14") 32 slip stitches for heel.  Pick up 16 plus 2 extra.  First stitch, pick up in pattern color.

K's foot: 7 7/8" long, then toe.  3 stolpe stitches remain each side, not decreased.  Decrease every other row until 40 stitches, one more knit row, then decrease every row to 24 stitches.  Kitchener 12 to 12 stitches.