[knitting] Totally Biased #12

The recently finished Totally Biased cowl:

I checked my Ravelry projects and this is the 12th time I've knit this pattern.

I used one ball of Knitting Fever Painted Desert. I'm not exactly sure but this is probably the Salt Fish colorway. I cast on 70 stitches provisionally and knit with US 4 needles. 

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I made a lot of progress on my D'Artagnan socks at the Green Mountain Knitting Guild meeting in Saturday. The meeting was good- it was nice to meet more members and discuss/give input on programming for the coming year.

It was a good cooking weekend, too. I made some Instant Pot yogurt, which I haven't done in quite a while. I strained the whey to make it extra thick and will use the whey for a bucket of no knead dough and other things. 

The chocolate chip cookie dough didn't get mixed until yesterday- it's resting in the fridge and I'll try baking a sheet tonight. 

I got a large lamb roast at the grocery store for $12. We had a nice roast dinner last night and I'll be using up leftovers the rest of the week. Lamb gyros and (probably) shepherd's pie.

And I knit up the cutest little rat toy for the cats on Sunday, for the lunar new year.

[knitting] Totally Biased with Hand-dyed yarn... finished!

Finished the totally biased cowl:

The yarn is bulky hand-dyed. I cast on 52 stitches and worked this up on US 9 needles. I used two skeins (prob... 350 yards?) and remembered to do my garter ridges at equal intervals.

Long enough to wrap around my neck twice. I love the yarn- it is a soft two ply (I love the nubbly texture that two-plies have). 

Ready to take this on my work trip next week.

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TGIF but I have a metric ton of work to finish up before I can relax. I'm getting my hair dyed tomorrow (something spooOoooOOoooky). Chores and football Sunday. Packing and stuff. Leaving Monday midday. Back next Friday.

[knitting] Lush Brioche Cowl

My finished brioche ribbed cowl:

I finished this a while ago and I've been wearing it ever since. The house is still cool- we almost had a frost last night. High today in the 50s and another possible frost tonight.

I used acrylic Caron yarns for this- not wanting to splurge and use nice yarn from the stash for my first ever brioche project. Acrylic yarn be damned, this is my favorite knit thing right now. It's soooo sqwooshable. I love this texture. I cast on for another cowl right after this one- which is also complete, I just have to finish sewing in ends.

[knitting] Totally Biased Rainbow Cowl

I finished this a while ago but only got a chance to take pictures over the weekend.

The pattern is Totally Biased (rav link). This is at least my 9th time making this pattern and I love it. It's easily customized to different weights of yarn and widths. The only hard part is the grafting at the end but that can be meditative.

I used one skein of Knitting Fever Painted Desert in a marled rainbow colorway. 

It's a fingering-weight sock yarn. I provisionally cast on 70 stitches and placed my purl ridges randomly (trying to roughly line them up with the color changes).

The cowl was taken on my work trip to DC last week and worn around the Metro area.

[knitting] Totally Biased Nebula

Finished the Totally Biased cowl in striping sock yarn:

Yarn: Berroco Nebula, one ball (Purchased at Sin City Yarn shop in Las Vegas!)

Needles: US 4

Notes: Cast on 60 stitches

My kitchener join between the blue and brown yarn is spot on:

Blocked around a large cardboard box.

Love how this turned out. Perfect width (after blocking) and circumference. I should have this pattern in a pair of needles all the time. I don't even stress about the purl ridges if I forget to do it until I'm halfway down the row- I just remember to do it the next time- I like the irregularity of the purl ridges then (and I'm not wasting time tinking back).

I'm going to dig in the stash and pile up "Yarn for Totally Biased Cowls" so I always have some ready to go.

[knitting] Mitered Cowl

Working on a mitered cowl with my handspun:

[knitting] Disco Moss Cowl

Pattern: Totally Biased (rav link)

Yarn: 'Adele' by Stacy Charles Fine Yarn, 3.5 balls

Needles: US 8

Mods: Cast on 76 st. Knit until loop would be long enough to be worn doubled around the neck, then grafted both ends closed.

I've made this pattern so many times; I love it. It's a good yarn-eater and customizable. 

The color in the pictures is a little washed out. It's a bit darker in real  life with small rainbow sequins all over. Very nice and sparkly in artificial light. Will definitely get a lot of wear this winter. 

[crochet] Moroccan Midnight

I started a new filler project last week:

It will be a long infinity scarf. I have some skeins of Cascade Yarns' Casablanca which has long color repeats like Noro. I was thinking about something mitered but the color lengths are so long, the squares would end up being quite large. I found a pattern called Moroccan Midnight, which I felt apropos given the name of the yarn.

The pattern was a bit of a struggle. I had to watch several videos on how to do the Moroccan Tile Stitch. The yarn combo looks nice but the cone of brown tweed I'm using is a bit rough and thin- I'm hoping it's spinning oil from the mill and that the yarn will bloom when I wash it.

Anyway, I'll get back to it once I finish the most recent pair of Sock Madness socks.

[knitting] Blue Biased

The last biased infinity scarf was knit during the trip home. I used the same yarn as the previous one (Regia Hand-dye Effect) but made this one completely in stockinette and a bit more narrow.

It definitely rolls at the edges when you wear it. I would recommend keeping periodic purl ridges to maintain the width of the cowl.

I knit it this way because the boucle biased cowl was made as plain stockinette and stays completely flat. Apparently this was just an added benefit to the texture of that yarn. This smoother sock yarn didn't work that same way. Still, I like it. It's long enough to wear doubled and matches one of my favorite winter hats.

[knitting] Rainbow Biased

For my trip out to Palm Springs, I had a bus ride down to Boston and two flights- i.e. a lot of knitting time. The bus and flights were completely full. I furiously knit this entire project in one day to keep my mind from fixating on things like (a) why won't the girls in front of me avidly talking about nothing SHUT UP, (b) why are neither guys giving me either armrest even though I'm in the middle seat, (c) should I offer the woman next to me who is sniffing every 4 - 15 seconds, THAT'S RIGHT I COUNTED, a kleenex, (d) STOP WHIPPING ME WITH YOUR HAIR EVERY TIME YOUR TURN YOUR HEAD, (e) WHY ARE YOU STICKING YOUR LEG INTO MY FOOT AREA, (f) AAAAGGGGHHHHHHHHH!!!!!

So. Obviously I do fixate. I just don't like to be crammed into a can with a hundred strangers. I didn't have the two things with me which would have solved all my problems- earbuds and lorazepam. But I did have knitting. I made another Totally Biased with sock yarn- this is a perfect project for self-striping sock yarns with wide bands of color. I'd love to make another with Noro Silk Garden Sock. The yarn I used for this was one ball of Regia Hand-dye Effect.

This one was knit as 80 stitches on size US 8 needles. It can be wrapped around neck twice but it's a little tight. I haven't blocked it yet, which should make it longer. I worked a purl ridge every 8 rows.

[knitting] Boucle Biased

I love the pattern Totally Biased. I made one for me and then one for my sister. Scarf weather is almost over (YYYYAAAAYYYYY) but made some new versions for next season. Here's a quick one:



Yarn is Knit Picks Quarry, an alpaca wool and nylon boucle blend. This yarn is so very discontinued. I can't even remember when I bought it but I've had two balls kicking around my stash forever. Finally, it's put to good use.

It was worked as 34 stitches on size 10.5 needles. So quick- it only took a few nights to complete.



This is plain stockinette but the edges not roll in due to the biased shape and the boucle yarn. It so soft and looks great on. I think this one might actually turn out to be a gift for my mom next Christmas. After I wear it a few times.

[knitting] Totally Biased

My handmade Christmas gift for my sister:

Patten: Totally Biased (rav link)

I love my sequined Tiara-lly Biased so much, I wanted to make another. 

Yarn: DyakCraft (formerly Grafton Fibers) batts:

Handspun yarn:

I really like this mix of colors- brick red, autumn orange, teal. 

Here's my sister modeling the cowl:

And doubled-up:

Good pattern for handspun yarn. I think I'll need to made another. For me.

[knitting] Tiara-lly Biased

Finished a cowl:

Pattern: Totally Biased (rav link)

Yarn: Fame Trend Paljett by Marks & Kattens

Needles: US 8

The pattern is called "Totally Biased" because you create a biased shape- you increase one stitch at the start of the row and decrease one stitch at the end, to grow the fabric diagonally. This type of fabric doesn't roll at the edges, which is nice.

I was working on this project while waiting for my car to be serviced; when one of the guys came out to talk to me about work that my car needed, he saw me knitting something. As he approached, he joked, "Are you making me a sweater?" Once he got close and saw the project more closely, he blurted out the word "Tiara" for some reason. It was funny. I said, "I hope you like sparkly sweaters!" Anyway. Tiara. It felt so right, I call this cowl Tiara-lly Biased.

So I provisionally cast-on 80 stitches. Worked until nearly all the yarn was gone, then grafted the two ends closed. The grafted row is nearly invisible but you can see where it is- it's the one area between two purl ridges that is wider than all the others:

It's not noticeable when I'm wearing it.

Hey, you remember that feeling of utter frustration when you were a kid, when you'd lay in bed kicking the mattress with your heels and scream-crying to the point to hyperventilating? If you'd ever like to achieve that again, trying grafting closed 80 stitches with yarn strung with sequins. This project was so easy to knit but it was a nightmare to graft. 

Let's think about closing these 80 stitches. There's 80 at either end, so that's 160 stitches. And you're going through each one twice, with a needle threaded with yarn, so that's like working 320 stitches. 

Imagine you have 300 yards of rope and every 30 yards is a tire tied to the rope. That's 10 tires. Imagine pulling that entire length of rope through a manhole. By the way, the tires are only just smaller than the width of the manholes. Now pull all that rope through 320 manholes with every single tire getting stuck at every single manhole opening.

After I closed the first five stitches, I wanted to get up and kick a hole in the wall. I even thought, "I'll just wear it as a scarf. I don't need to close it." It took me HOURS to calmly and carefully and evenly graft this thing closed.

I'm so glad I persevered, I love this cowl. It's light, it's sparkly, it's just my taste. This is definitely a ME-ME-ME project; no way I'm giving it away. I honestly don't mind grafting- I plan on doing this pattern again. But I will NOT be doing it with beaded yarn or sequined yarn or yarn that has anything attached. Ever. Ever again.

[knitting] Milanese(ish) Loop

It took a few months, but I finished the sparkly cowl:

Pattern: Milanese Loop (rav link)

Yarn: Universal Yarn Star Light (now discontinued)

Needles: US 6

Mods: I cast on many more stitches than the written pattern because I was using a fingering-weight  yarn. After doing the garter stitch edge and the first round of the pattern, I realized that I added an extra stitch to each little shell stitch. I kept going and made it work for the entire project, but that's why my pattern doesn't look exactly like all the other finished projects. 

Pretty cowl. Subtly sparkly. Wraps around the neck comfortably twice. I don't mind that the yarn is mostly acrylic- it feels soft, it just didn't block out as severely as I would have liked it to.

[knitting] Milanese Loop

Working on a sparkly cowl:

I'm finally getting my winter tires off today, so I brought this project with me to work on at the service center. I usually work on some kind of knitting while I wait and a couple employees there always come out to see what I'm making. It's pretty sweet :)

I have all kind of knitting that I'd like to get done this month by my knitting mojo is currently at level "Meh".

[knitting] Colvert Cowl

Pattern: Covert (rav link)

Yarn: 50% angora/50% cormo handspun.

Needles: US 7

Notes: Pretty cowl! Did the pattern exactly as written. It calls for ~260 yards of aran weight yarn. I had ~280 yard of my handspun. I think my uneven yarn was a lighter weight than aran, so my finished cowl is only 40 inches in circumference (rather than 47") after blocking. Not quite long enough to loosely wrap around my neck twice. If I were to do this pattern again, I'd add one or two extra pattern repeats for a deeper cowl. And it wouldn't even be a chore- this was a fun, interesting, easy pattern to make. I would happily make it again.

Penny helps me with the photoshoot:

[knitting] Lace Loop

I recently finished a loose cowl:

Yarn is Austermann Murano Lace. It's a nice size- not as long as an infinity scarf, not as tight as most cowls. Got to be a bit tedious to work on but it was a good project to work on during tv or a movie.

Dollar and I recently swapped his office and my craft room. His office area wasn't used much and the space was twice as large as my craft room (where stuff was kind of cramped and crowded). The move wasn't that big of a deal- in one afternoon I was able to take everything out and pile it into the dining room. The worst part of the deal for me was losing the closet. I had that closet stuffed with yarn, yo. Now... were to put it all in a room with zero closet space? I had to go out and get a new armoir and chest/bench. Which helped but... still... yarn... tubs... too much... 

Working on a few different things now. Also need to take some pictures of Dollar's handmade birthday presents this week- can't wait to give them to him!

[knitting] Bandana Cowl

Knit up a quick cowl for Dollar:

This is from yarn that I spun back in 2010:

It's superwash merino and after a warm wash in Eucalan before blocking, the yarn is so soft.

Here's the free pattern. 

Front:

Back:

Boring pictures, I know, but this is a great, no-nonsense, unisex cowl. 

[knitting] Post and Rail Cowl

Here's the cowl I made to go with the Undergrowth hat from yesterday:



The yellows are a good match (considering the yarn is different companies) but the sage green came out a little gray in this cowl, but that's okay. They're close enough.

Pattern: Post and Rail Cowl

Yarn: Plymouth Suri Merino, 1 ball yellow, 1 ball green. Used nearly all of both.

Needles: US 8 (5mm)

Notes: There are a couple errors in this pattern.

1. Pattern says to cast on 106 st and k2p2 for a number of rounds. 106 isn't evenly divisible by 4. Make sure YOUR cast on is evenly divisible by 4.

2. Row 10 of the pattern says: K3, *Slip 1 with yarn in back, K5, repeat from * ending with K2

This is wrong and your vertical lines of slipped stitches will not be centered above/below one another.

Row 10 should read: K2, *Slip 1 with yarn in back, K5, repeat from * ending with K3

Let me try to chart this (you would be reading the chart rows from right to left). This is what you want.

---s-----s-----s-- (row 10) green
------------------ (row 9) yellow
s-----s-----s----- (row 8) green
------------------ (row 7) yellow
s-----s-----s----- (row 6) green
------------------ (row 5) yellow
s-----s-----s----- (row 4) green
------------------ (row 3) yellow
s-----s-----s----- (row 2) green
------------------ (row 1) yellow

As written, you would get:

--s-----s-----s--- (row 10) green
------------------ (row 9) yellow
s-----s-----s----- (row 8) green
------------------ (row 7) yellow
s-----s-----s----- (row 6) green

The slipped stitches for row 10 aren't centered above the slipped stitches of row 8.

Also, guess what? This is pattern is a 6-stitch repeat. Guess what number isn't divisible by 6? 106.

So, make sure your cast on is divisible by both 4 and 6. Unless you want to fudge it a bit and do some increasing or decreasing from the ribbed edges to the main body.



Since I was using worsted-weight yarn, I cast on and worked 120 stitches. If you were to use a chunkier weight of yarn, you might want to cast on something like 108. For dk or fingering weight, maybe try 134. Just use multiples of 12.

[knitting] Infinity Scarves

Back in October for my sister's birthday, I made her an infinity scarf. I liked the pattern so much, I made one for me:



Pattern: September Circle

Yarn: Plymouth Zino, one ball

Needles: US 7

Notes: It's hard to tell the way it's kind of folded up there, but it's a loop about 40 inches around, give or take. It's just right to loop around my neck twice. Once I get where I'm going, it's nice to unloop it once and let it hang down. The long color variations in the yarn work well with the ripple pattern.

So I made another:



Pattern: This was my own pattern- just a simple scalloped pattern found in a stitch dictionary that I have. I just repeated it around 200 stitches.

Yarn: Lang Yarns Jawoll Magic, one ball

Needles: US 6

I blocked these cowls around a large cardboard box.

This pattern/style is perfect for single balls of sock yarn with long color stripes. I love how light but warm these are. I want to make 10 more.