Geo Modern Throw C8

The yarn came first.  I found some chunky Icelandic yarn in a charity shop.  I knitted with similar yarn some years ago, and I think it is lovely, so I bought it.  Then I found more similar single ply chunky yarn to complement it.

I came across the pattern on the Knit Picks website last year.  The thing I like about it is the stripes, that you can vary the widths and it still looks good.  And that's why it is suitable for using up different kinds and colours of yarn.  There are two versions of the pattern, the Geo Modern Throw and the Retro Throw.  The main difference between the two is that the Geo Modern has two stitches between the decreases and the Retro one.  I liked the sculptural effect of two stitches, so mine is a Geo Modern Throw.  The pattern also uses chunky yarn - it gives  a choice of several - so the tension will be similar to mine.  (Knit Picks have changed the site since I printed off the patterns.  They are both called Retro Throws now.  My pattern is the purple green one.)

But tension doesn't matter.  You cast on stitches working in the round from the outside, decreasing until you run out of stitches - or get to about ten - when it should meet in the middle.  I went for large blocks of about 40 cm, and cast on the number of stitches I thought would achieve this.  The blocks curl up around the edges, so it is impossible to say if they will now.

The other yarns that I included are:

The Annabel Fox Chunky Donegal.  I found eight 100 gr hanks of this eight years ago, and I have finally found a use for it.  It is thicker, more solid than the chunky yarns you find now, and it is thicker than the other yarns used , so it is a shame that I included it.  I like the brown tweedy colour.  Annabel Fox designed for Rowan at the end of the eighties and she published at least one book of patterns and obviously went on to do her own brand of yarns.

Two Patons yarn: Husky and Moorland.  The shetland type Moorlandhas a note to say that it is distributed by Susan Bates in the USA, so at some stage it has made the journey back to the UK.  I think both yarns originate from the 1970s.







Some Icelandic yarn spun in Great Britain.  This is slightly thinner than the real Icelandic yarn.












I enjoy knitting this and it is so easy.  The only tricky part is making sure that the stitches aren't twisted when you join the cast on row.  The pattern does not specify how to cast on.  I didn't want to use my usual method, long tail cast on, because I would end up with a lot of ends from tails too long.  I tried cable cast on but mine was too tight.  In the end I went for the simple single cast on.  I will have to see what it looks like when the blocks are joined.

The first long rows are peaceful, and they soon get shorter.  I started with 80 cm circular needles, and I had 60 and 40 cm ones ready but I found I can get straight on to 20 cm double pointed needles.  When you get that far the rows take no time at all and the block is soon done.  It is nice to plan the colour bands.  I try to limit the bands to an even number of rows because it is easier that way to keep track of the decreases every other row.  Stitch markers are essential.  Mine come from the markers from electric toothbrush heads.  I saw an even better suggestion in Adelheid's blog - rings from discarded bras.  They have a nicer feel.  The beginning of the row is marked with a loop in a different yarn.

About this blog and blanket #140

It is many weeks since I last wrote.  First I bought a new computer - because the old one was old - and it took a while before I could get the new one to handle pictures the way I wanted.  At the same time I was unwell.  It need not have stopped me from sitting down to write a blog entry; it did not stop me from knitting, but I was annoyed at having my routine interrupted.  Then I went away for a brief holiday, and that did me a lot of good, but it took me away from my computer and the internet as well.  Now I'm back and I have decided to put mind over matter, ignore any pains and continue as I used to.  It doesn't help that I think it more important to keep up with other people's blogs than to write my own.

About my own blog - so often I wonder if I should stop writing, as it is so difficult to get down to it.  When I started I imagined I would get some followers, and I thought I had several when I wrote in Swedish.  Now it seems there are only one or two left, so is it worth it?  I do very little exciting knitting any more.  I feel stressed by the extent of my yarn store, and that I can't stop adding to it, so I have decided to knit what I like knitting, rather than knit to use up the yarn I should.  I want to continue to write this blog, for my own sake because it is useful to have an account of what I have knitted, and what I thought about it at the time.  It seems so laborious to update my Ravelry page.

I have had time to start and finish blanket #140.  I unravelled this tunic type sweater.  I bought it several years ago, and I wore it for a while, despite the garish burnt orange colour, because it fitted me so well.  Even the sleeves were the right length, ie shorter than normal.  The yarn is light, and it has the same silk smell as Rowan Summer Tweed, but it is much lighter, so I think it is Jaeger Trinity - a cotton silk nylon blend according to Ravelry.  I don't like using bright yarns like this in my blankets because they stand out too much, so I thought I would knit a different type of blanket using just three yarns.  But when I unpicked it I found that the yarn was thinner than DK, so I had to reconsider.  I decided to knit a thicker blanket instead, and adding a 4 ply to this and to other DK yarns, using size 4.5 mm needles.  Usually I go for size 4 mm and DK weight yarn, so using two 4 plys together.  It has occurred to me earlier that my blankets could be thicker, so it would be a useful experiment.

So that is what I did.  This is what it looks like.  At a distance it does not look very different from the other blankets.  It feels better.  I saw other advantages as well.  Thicker yarn and thicker needles would mean fewer stitches and therefore quicker knitting.  It would also take more yarn, so my yarn store would get depleted sooner (in theory).  The one disadvantage that I have found is that I prefer the look of two 4 plys together, ie equal weight yarns, rather than one thin and one thick.  Although it would help if I took more care to match colours.  I still like to use my method of using yarn randomly.  And there are always yarns that are difficult to incorporate in any colour scheme, and finally I get exasperated and add it even if I know that it will add a note of discord.

I will show three charity shop bought yarns used in this blanket.  The white mohair, in a 1oz ball so pre 1971, is made in Scotland, and is the usual blend 67% mohair, 28% wool and 5% nylon.  It is lovely and it gives such a nice feeling to the blanket that I must make an effort to add mohair to all my blankets.  The Wendy in a nice apricot shade is also in a 1oz ball but probably slightly later because it has 28.35gr in brackets.  The third one is unlabelled.  It is a thin boucle of three threads spun together, possibly two cotton with one nylon.  These are the kind of yarns I must not buy any more.

The other garment that I unpicked for this blanket is another Kaffe Fassett Persian Poppies pattern, this time a waistcoat, I think from a kit, because it seems to have all the right Rowan yarns.  There was quite a lot of cotton chenille and other cotton yarns in it.  It is loosely knitted and large.  I thought it would be easy unravelling, but I found that the side edges have been zigzagged by machine and the sides sewn together by the same machine zigzag stitch.  I found it difficult to see why.  The edges were quite neat and did not flare in the least so it seems unnecessary.  There was a lot of lovely yarn in there though.  It is knitted in fair isle, except for the centre of the flower.  It is done as intarsia so it produces short lengths of yarn, too short to be reused, and it annoys me.

Finished at last

Blanket C3

Yarn: Hayfield Raw Cotton, Patons Paton, both 100% cotton, DK weight, various pastel colours
600 gr
Needles: 3.75 mm
Tension: 24 st per 10 cm
Size: 84 by 96 cm
Pattern: knitted diagonal squares, crochetted together
Knitted 010908 - 060311

I started knitting this blanket (C3) - as a bus knitting - nearly three years ago.  The squares were finished a long time ago.  The first time I got them out to sew them together one square was missing, either by miscounting or because it was mislaid.  It hasn't come to light, so perhaps I miscounted.  I didn't have any more of the cotton, so I waited until I could find more in  a charity shop.

The blanket was knitted from oddments of pastel coloured cottons, all from charity shops.  A lot of it were Hayfield Raw Cotton, a very pleasant yarn.  There were also some lavender coloured Patons Perle, a favourite from the 1980s, a mercerized cotton, which did not feel so nice here.  At the time I knitted a sweater from it, and that was nice.  So the yarn I found for the remaining square was also Patons Perle, this time in a pale turquoise.

I knitted the remaining square.  This time when I laid out the pieces I decided that the blanket could do with being wider, so I put the finished square aside and knitted some more.  Now at least there are enough, and I think it is a nice size, approx 84 by 96 cm.

This time I decided to crochet the squares together using slip stitch, and it worked fine.  The yarn is cream, unlabelled from a charity shop.  I think it is probably acrylic or an acrylic blend.  It is thicker than 4 ply, but thinner than the DK cotton yarns in the blanket, so it makes a nicer seam.  I also used it to crochet an edging, one row double crochet finished with one row crab stitch.

This was nice work.  I think the colours look good together.  It is slightly too thick for my liking, double knitting weight cotton in garter stitch.  At least there is some yarn gone from my yarn store.

When I knit the squares I slip the first stitch, and it makes a nice edge.  Unfortunately the edge stops the squares from lying flat when you sew them together.  For my next blanket I knit the first stitch - I will see if that works better.

Lamb's Pride basket

I didn't add the details for the basket in my last entry:

Lamb's Pride basket

Yarn: Lamb's Pride Bulky, wool 85%, mohair 15%, pale pink, pink, burgundy, blue, green, 500 gr
Needles: 6.5mm
Tension: 12 sts per 10 cm
Size: height 23 cm, diameter 30 cm
Pattern: Own after Mason-Dixon Knitted box pattern
Knitted 090211 - 240311

The basket is done

I finished the basket several weeks ago, and now it is in full use.  I was surprised that it turned out OK in the end.

I finished the knitting by doing several rows of garterstitch at the top, striped, so that I could use up all the wool.  I decreased a couple of stitches at each side to make it turn inwards slightly.  How do you knit garterstitch in the round?  You purl every other row - simple really.  Then I knitted handles, in different colours because that was what was left, in my first ever i-cord, and not even from a pattern but from what I remembered from reading a pattern.  I did one with four stitches and it is just the right thickness. only slightly unevenly knitted.

Then I took some pictures, with the basket stuffed with towels.

 

Now I got to the exciting part - I put it in the washing machine.  After reading about felting I decided that there was no need to try a 40 degree wash - I went straight for the 50 degree, but gentle wash.  The instructions said to add a pair of (old) jeans.  My Gap jeans can only take 30 degrees, so I used the next best thing - a couple of old towels.  I added a little bit of washing powder to get rid of any dust etc.  My machine does not like being tampered with, so I let it go through all the rinses although probably not necessary.

And this is how it came out:

The sides are bumpy in places, but it is sturdier than I expected.  The handles came out really well; all the unevenness has disappeared.  I had hoped that the colours in the moss stitch would blend together more, but it is fine as it is.  The garterstitch rows seem to have shrunk more.  The arrangement of the colours could easily be improved on.

All in all I'm very pleased with it.  It is something that I can use, a big basket to keep knitting and wool in.  The handles really make it into a cross between a basket and a bag.

Even so, I can't help wondering what would happen if I put it back in the washing machine, perhaps even for a 60 degree wash?  Perhaps one day...  At least this has got me interested in felting.  The Mason Dixon book goes on to do a rug - I have got plenty of chunky wool that would be suitable.

A floppy mess

I have not written for a while, because I have done no knitting to write about.  I continue knitting blanket #139 with pleasure.

I took a long time fastening the ends on blanket #138, but now it is done, and now I can turn to the basket again.  It was funny how reluctant I was to pick it up while I was still working on #138, and as soon as it was done I had no problem at all in continuing with the basket.

I knew there was only a few more rows to do.  I put half the stitches on another circular needle to check the shape.  It resembles a big floppy mess.  I started having doubts about the sides standing up, and I was right, of course they don't.  The question is if felting will improve it.  I will have to wait and see.  I checked the Mason-Dixon knitting book again, and there it says that their first attempts ended up as floppy baskets too.  The basket bit I have no problems with, the floppyness I do.  I should have read the book more carefully before I started.  They solved the problem by using the yarn doubled.  Too thick I thought, and not enough yarn for the size I wanted.  The size is another matter.  Now it is much bigger than I thought.  As I have got this far, I will continue and then I will felt and see how it ends up.  Perhaps useless.

Dark, dark

The new blanket #139 is dark.  I like dark colours, but they don't come out well in pictures.  I have knitted more than 30 cm now, but the picture is very similar to the one I posted last week.  The texture gives me pleasure every time I pick it up.  You can just about see the thick brown chenille cotton yarn, not the mohair.

The sweater I unpicked is hand knitted, in a 1980s picture sweater style, or from the early 1990s.  It is hand knitted, quite loosely, and it is large.  When I bought it I thought it was a man's sweater, but the flowery pattern made me rethink, and the smell of perfume.  It is large - 128 cm chest circumference.  It has not been washed - that is ideal for unpicking, because the yarn comes out nice and smooth after washing, as it did here.  I wondered afterwards if I really need black yarn for the blankets.  I preferred the way this blanket looked before I added the black.  It is a shame that the green and pink chenille yarns are acrylic, but I will use them anyway.  It was a pleasure unpicking it, despite having to unpick thorough fastening of ends and impossible side seams.  Sometimes it was done loosely, sometimes thoroughly.  The flowers are done in moss stitch, and the yellow middles are knitted, doubled in places.  The shoulders have been joined using three needle bind off and it was cast on using cable cast on, so it has been knitted by an experienced knitter.

My basket is progressing, but much more slowly than I expected.  It is just knitting round and round, and you don't notice any progress.  Now it resembles a large floppy hat.  The joins are hardly noticeable, and the reverse has come out very neatly, without trying.  I worry if the moss stitch sides will be solid enough to stand up.  In the pattern the sides were knitted in garter stitch and in doubled yarn.  I wanted to see what the three colour moss stitch would look like.  Now I have run out of the blue yarn, so I will have to work out when and how I add the burgundy yarn.