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!

 

 

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.  

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.