Box Stitch Blanket - Gambling With a Side of Fixes

I stumbled across this pattern the other day and wanted to give it a try.  This pattern has a picture with it and the blanket looked so cozy and cuddly.  I was a bit chilly that day and thought it would be nice to have a cozy, cuddly blanket to snuggle up with.  So I decided to give the pattern a try.

The pattern is written for a preemie baby blanket.  Well, I am not "preemie" sized so I needed to increase this blanket considerably.  I chose to strive for a lap blanket. Something about 45 inches by 60 inches would be good.

The pattern also calls for DK weight yarn doubled.  This means that you knit with two strands together. The yarn they actually used was a baby weight or sport weight.   I had some medium weight but not enough to double so I decided not to double it. I also chose a size smaller needle because I wasn't doubling.  The pattern calls for a size 10 knitting needle.  I went with a size 9.

Currently, I have not measured the blanket yet.  I have about 22 rows on it.  I really should have started on circular needles but I didn't have any the same size.  So I went with straight needles.  I casted on as many stitches as I could.  I have 160 stitches.

I also decided NOT to add the border on the blanket that they called for in this preemie blanket.  I decided I wanted to crochet a border around it later.

I had a bunch of Loops and Threads Impeccable yarn laying around in various colors so I chose to use that for my blanket.

That is it so far.  Once I get a bit further I will change colors and make stripes of color for the blanket.  My thought is that if it is not quite as wide as I would like it then I will add a thicker border on it to make it wider.

The moral of this story?  If you see a pattern that you like the looks of but it doesn't quite fit your needs, make it fit!  You can use the basic pattern or stitch and make it work for you.  Use the gauge and it will help you figure out how many extra stitches you need to make it the length or width you need.  Also use the pattern to help you.  In this case the pattern repeats every 4 stitches.  Knit 2, Purl 2, then you repeat.  So you need 4 stitches to complete the pattern.  Therefore, I multiplied by 4.

If you choose to add a border to it while you are knitting then add the border stitches to the total multiples of your pattern stitch.  For example if you want a border of 5 stitches on each side then add 5+5=10. So your total would be 10 + the number of multiples of 4 you want.  Easy???

So for my blanket with 160 stitches I expect the blanket to be a bit over 42 inches wide.  The gauge for this pattern is 15 stitches = 4 inches.  I divide my 160 by 15 then multiply by 4.  Now I know that my needles will make the gauge a bit smaller and if I were a precise knitter I would have knitted up a swatch to create my own gauge to figure out exactly how many stitches I would need for a 45 inch wide blanket.  But I am more of a gambling with a side of fixes kind of girl, so I gambled with the number of stitches and used their gauge and will opt for a crochet border to make it a bit wider when I am done.

Do you ever????

Do you ever see a pattern and fall in love with it?

Do you ever know that this pattern is EXACTLY what will look awesome on you????

Do you ever choose a yarn that you love, but feel like you spend too much money on it, but realize it is worth it and you will LOVE the finished product and use/wear it all the time??????

Do you ever realize about half way through that you HATE this for you????

Do you ever just set it aside because it is no longer worth working on?????

This exact thing happens to me ALL. THE. TIME!

I love the yarn, I love the pattern, but when I am working on something, I begin to hate it, for me.  If I am making something for someone else I will continue to love it.  But if it is for me. Nope. HATE. IT!

Here are two of the many unfinished projects in my house right now.  I know I have at least three more but can't seem to find them right now. They are packed away somewhere.

This (above) is a pretty pattern, pretty hand dyed yarns that I paid $20 a skein for and bought 5 of them.  I loved the sample in the shop. It is a shawl. It looks so pretty on the mannequin. I am about 40% done and I don't like it anymore. I haven't worked on it in a month. I am thinking I should unravel it out and make a sweater or something for my daughter instead. Hmmmm......

This was going to be another shawl.  More of a wrap that would go over my shoulders on cold days.  Honestly, I end up wearing a sweater and I don't use wraps too much.  It is made with fun chunky yarn in a pretty blue and lime green pattern. I now HATE it. It is sitting on the floor in my closet and will probably sit there a while longer.  It is about half done and I have no intention of finishing it. I am thinking about ripping it out and making an afghan out of it. I will give it away or sell it if I can.

The only things I love and wear are socks.  I love my socks that I knit and I do wear them all the time in the winter. Other than that, I really hate the things I make. Maybe I need to make a sweater for me instead.

So tell me what do you do with your unfinished projects that you no longer love???

Knitting Addiction

I have a favorite yarn store. It is in Kill Devil Hills, NC and called Knitting Addiction. I love this store because the owner is incredibly nice. She didn't bat an eye when I told her that I also crocheted. Then again, I was telling her of an experience with a lys in my town where the owner of that store DID bat an eye. I told that lady that I knitted and crocheted and she got all uppity with me and was really rude. Apparently you can't switch hit with yarn. LOL

Anyway, back to my favorite LYS and the owner Jeanne. She giggled a bit when I told her the story of my hometown LYS and the crochet story. I don't know if she didn't approve of crochet or not because she didn't let on. Good thing because if she had I would have to hate her too. People can "switch hit" with yarn, and I think it is a good thing. There are things that are better crocheted than knitted and things that are better when knitted instead of crocheted. If you can do both then you can have the best of both worlds. Right? Say 'right'.

Moving on. I don't get down to the Outer Banks but a couple times a year and I always try to get to the yarn store. She carries so many yarns that you just can't get in the big box stores. I love to touch and feel the yarns, wools, silks and cottons. They are just so yummy. Jeanne also displays incredible projects with the yarns that you need to make it as well as the patterns right there. Her patterns are $4.95 but if you buy enough yarn to complete the project the pattern is free. It is so good to actually see the project in true form so you know what it will look like before you begin. Jeanne is also so nice that she will sit down with you and teach you what you want to learn. Then help you with any problems that you have (knitting wise). She used to be a teacher so she is great at teaching knitting too. One can't help but fall in love with this store when they walk in. And if they don't then there is something wrong with them. LOL

I walked out with $113 worth of yarns and new knowledge of how to make cables. (Did I say I love this woman???)

Here is my first cable pattern that I made. It is a coffee cup cozy. It still needs a button and then it will go around a coffee mug. This will be so much fun to use in the winter time.

I made the cozy out of Peaches and Cream cotton yarn that I got at Walmart, in purple. I thought it would be a good practice yarn to use and I had just enough to make it. This pattern doesn't take much yarn. You could probably get at least three out of a skein of Peaches and Cream yarn.

I also bought these yarns: (sorry these photos are so dark and blurry. They were taken with my phone. It is all I have today)

Knitcol is a favorite yarn of mine. It is a little thicker than regular sock yarn but it feels so good. Knit them with #3 dpns. These skeins will be socks.

I really wish that these photos were a bit clearer. This yarn is so fun. It will also become a pair of socks. This is fun pretty colors AND sparkles. I love that I can make sparkly socks and with pretty colors. So fun! I had to buy it.

This is Princess by Elite, and it feels so snuggy. It is really soft yarn. Unfortunately Jeanne told me that this is discontinued by the manufacturer. I immediately went into mourning. I might need to get some more of this stuff.

This Mission Falls yarn is also being discontinued. I love this yarn too. I made a gator scarf with it and I love the way it feels. These skeins will become a pair of socks for my hunny.

This Merino 5 yarn is also soft but not fuzzy. Love it. It will be some more coffee cozies. I hope people like purple!

And finally, this is what I have been working on recently. This is a pair of socks using Red Heart Heart and Sole yarn. I love self striping/patterning yarns. I love to knit with them and see the pattern emerge. It is very motivating. I am knitting on #2 dpns and it seems to take forever to knit with #2's. I am about two inches from the end and then I have another sock to make. Then I can start playing with my new yarns I just bought.

I am hoping that I can make a bunch of presents for Christmas this year. I really want to make this a "handmade Christmas".

New Socks

I am knitting a new pair of socks.



I was going to knit them up with the same pattern I have been using. A basic sock, but on Friday I was reading the Yarn Harlot and she was talking about an "afterthought heel". She said that you can knit up the tube of the sock and knit the toe and then come back and add in the heel at the end. She said that you can pick up half the stitches and then cut a stitch under the row you picked up (gasp) and then pick up the row beneath too. Then you have a nice opening and you, ready for this?, knit another toe. YES, I said knit another TOE, where the heel should go. I did some more research and I was not liking the idea of cutting (gasp) a stitch. I was confused as to what to do with the cut strings on each side. Wouldn't they eventually make a hole? Nothing seemed to make sense to me.

So Saturday night I got the tube knitted up to where the heel should go and I got scared. So I just knit the heel, turning it and everything. About halfway through the heel though, I realized that I had messed up and I thought if I just finish maybe it will look okay, but in the end it didn't look okay. In fact, it was way too wide of a heel and it didn't cinch up like it should. So Sunday morning I ripped out the whole heel.

I did some more research on the internet and others were saying that you can just knit a piece of waste yarn where the heel will go later and continue to knit your regular pattern to the end of the toe. Then come back and pick up the stitches above and below your waste yarn and voila you have a hole for the heel. This made more sense to me because you weren't cutting anything.

So this is where I am. I am half way up the foot part of the sock about two inches away from starting the toe. If I am lucky (I am a slow knitter) I will finish the toe tonight and if I am industrious (or impatient) I will pick up the stitches where the waste yarn is and begin the heel (or second toe).

So far this seems to be a very quick way to knit a sock. (except for the ripping out of a very wide heel and starting over again). Heels are so hard anyway particularly if you aren't really using a pattern. I can't remember how far over to knit (or purl is it) to begin the turning part of the heel. I never seem to pick up enough stitches on each side either once the heel is turned which then makes for a bit of knitting fudge later.

Do you think I am crazy about knitting another toe into a heel spot? Let me show you something. Are you wearing store bought socks? Take one off or if you don't want to take it off grab a sock laying around close by. Look at the toe and how it decreases down to a sort of point at the end. A blunt point. Okay now turn it over and flatten out the heel, wide-ways. See how it goes down to a point too like the toe? It is a toe in the heel spot. See? Clear as mud right? Well trust me it will work (even though I haven't actually done it yet), but it will work. Those experts tell me it will and today I am trusting them.

I will post more photos of the whole process when I am done.

Smiles for now!! :) And head over to Skip to my Lou and check out what others have been working on this weekend.

Or here for a great giveaway!

Tried and True Knit Washcloth Pattern

This is a tried and true knit washcloth pattern. It has been handed down through the ages and makes a great washcloth for the bath or kitchen.

Step 1:

Cast on 3 stitches. Rows 1-3: Knit 3.
Step 2:
Row 4: Knit 2, yarn-over(YO), K 1.Row 5: Knit 2, YO, Knit to end. Continue with Knit 2, YO, and Knit to end until you have 44 stitches on your needles.
Step 3:
Next row: Knit 1, Knit 2 together, YO, Knit 2 together, knit to end. Continue Knit 1, Knit 2 together, YO, Knit 2 together, and knit to end until you have 5 stitches on your needles.
Step 4:
Next row (with 5 stitches): Knit 1, knit 2 together, YO, Knit 2 together. Next row (with 4 stitches): Knit 1, Knit 2 together, knit 1. Next three rows: knit 3, Cast off and weave in yarn.

Lookie what my friends sent me! And other Random Thoughts.

I got these for Valentine's Day. I love them.

This one is from my friend Gay. She and I scrap together once a month and hang out together on the AMR message board.

This one is from my great Scrap Pal Cheeky! She lives way up north and is enjoying much snow while we are just wishing for it. She is so cute and I just love her card.

And now for some random thoughts:

I have been thinking a lot about those cute little crocheted flowers. I really would love to try them in a varigated thread. I am going to stop by the store tomorrow and check out their threads. I can't stand it. I think they may become addicting.

I posted a few cards for Cliff's Card Challenge (ha ha CCC) over on AMR MB. He is great and a scrapper too. He joins us for the crops over there and comes up with some fun layouts and some fun cards. He is so cute. His wife Melonscraps is an avid scrapper too. I guess in their family "if you can't beat em join em" fits. They are wonderful and I highly suggest you head over to Melonscraps blog. She has some great stuff over there. Okay, I am rambling. So I made two cards for the challenge. Here they are:

I started on my daughter's sweater and have chosen to do the child's size 6-8. She is petite and I think if the arms are too short I can lengthen them with no problem. I will measure her several times throughout the knitting process. Again like the last one, the back and front go so fast and then the sleeves just drag along. I am about a fifth of the way up the back already. She chose a bright blue and a coral color for her accent stripe. I think it will be cute and if she doesn't like it in the end I will give it to the other daughter and she will love it. I am not worried. Someone will wear this sweater.

Finished the Sweater

FINALLY!! It only took me almost 6 weeks to complete. That is way too slow for me. By the time I finish the next one it will be too warm to wear. I finished my son's sweater, and now I have the two girls to do.

I used Vanna's Choice yarn (2- 7oz skeins of Olive and 1/2 - 3.5oz skein of espresso). I used the Bernat pattern here "Berella 4-sweaters for the family". I didn't use a third color as I just wanted one small stripe on the collar and on the cuffs. This was an easy pattern to knit. The front and back was quick and the pattern was very easy to read. The only slow part were the sleeves which took longer because I had to count.

The sweater is a bit big. They have a child's size and then an adult size. My son needed the 10-12 size for kids but they had child's 6-8 and then adult small. So I opted for the adult small and he will grow into it.

Last year I knitted him a sweater using the Lion Brand Homespun yarn. A bulky yarn and the sweater knitted up quickly, however when it was washed the first time the yarn got matted up and looked horrible. I am hoping that this yarn will faire better in the wash. Thanks for reading and happy crafting.

What are you working on?

I have been busy working on my Disney album and making knitted dishcloths. I also made a cute shopping bag. It was crocheted and came together nicely in a couple hours. I think it took me about 3 hours to make start to finish. I am pleased with it but thought it might be a bit bigger.

I have also been thinking about signing up for a few more craft shows this fall. I have an email into one place and hope to hear from them soon. It is a "judged" event so they have to approve my craft before allowing me to sell.

I have only a few more days vacation before back to work for me. So with my precious few days I want to make the most of them and get my Disney album done, done, done!

Seasons of the year

Fall and Winter seem to be the times of the year where I tend to pick up knitting, crocheting, and yarn projects. Spring and summer are the times I lean towards scrapbooking and paper crafts. I figure it is natural and normal, plus it gives me variety through the year.

But this past week I have picked back up my knitting. I reached for it because I knew I couldn't take my scrapbooking with me to spend the weekend camping but could maybe do a little knitting. So I found myself dusting off the sticks with a quick little project. It is a dishcloth. Nothing big and mostly all knits. It is the traditional pattern K2 YO K to the end for a while and then K1, K2 together, YO, K2 together and K to the end. until you reduce to three and tie off. I love these little guys. They are great for dish cleaning, body cleaning and house cleaning. I use 100% cotton yarn and it makes for easy washing. The only thing I don't like is that the colors tend to fade with use but I suppose that is to be expected.

I will post a picture soon. Don't think that I have given up on scrapbooking. Now that I am on summer break I expect to get this Disney album done in the next week or so (if not shoot me...) and the back to 2004 pictures. Oh, I am so so behind. I envy those girls who say they are all caught up.

Update on the sweater

I have been working on my youngest daughter's sweater and I have finished the back and am working on the front. It is about half way done. This sweater pattern is very quick and easy. I would recommend it for any first time sweater maker who wants to break out of the "I only knit scarves" rut.

I have been missing my crochet though recently and have been tempted to pick up my hooks. I really want to finish one project before starting another but the urges have been there.

Does anyone else read the Yarn Harlet blog? Boy does she knit fast.

Oh my middle daughter had learned to knit. She can't keep with a project very long and she sometimes forgets to take the stitch off her needle and she ends up adding stitches here and there but she is getting very good. One day she will decide to sit down and make a scarf and then she will be hooked!!! Waaa haaa haaaa..... She's under my spell now!

Sweater DONE!!

My son's sweater is done and it looks great. It is a perfect play sweater. Done in Homespun by Lionsbrand, it needs to be washed and dried but at this point I can't get him out of it to wash it. So that will have to wait.

I have started a new one for my youngest. It is the same pattern without the stripes and is going to be in Homespun purply-blue color. I will double knit a pink heart on the front when I am done.

New Project, Well Old One Really

I tried the baby blanket two more times. I tried to crochet with the yarn and it still didn't turn out nice. I just don't think I like this yarn. I will use it to make some premie hats but it just doesn't have good weight for a blanket. So I am returning all the rest of it today.

So depressed and disappointed, I went to my stash. I really wanted to buy some more yarn to make the baby blankets but my husband would shoot me (no not literally, but I wouldn't hear the end of it for a while), so up to my closet and to my stash. I really didn't find much that interested me at the time and then I remembered. Yes, that is right. I hadn't finished the sweater I started for my son. So I pulled out that bag with the sweater in it and started working on it last night.

It is a simple stripe pattern that I got off of the LionBrand Homespun inside label on one of the skeins. The problem is that I don't think it will be fitting my son anymore but my daughter will enjoy it, hopefully. I had already finished the back and am now working on the front. Yes, I know the front looks so much skinnier but it is just because it is still on the needles. They are the same width. The stripes are fun and I have three more before I finish with the front and am able to do the sleeves. The pattern calls for only two stripes on the sleeves but I may add a few more for length.

Have you ever...

started a project and then ripped it out? twice?? I just did. I wanted to start a baby blanket for a lady at work. She is in the beginning of her third trimester and she has had complications before in other pregnancies and I wanted to get this done kind of fast. I went out and bought the yarn, Bernat Baby Coordinates Twists in purple, and brought it home thinking it was good for this pattern. Boy was I wrong. It is too thin and too bumpy to see the pattern. So I ripped it out and thought to use the pattern on the inside of the wrapper that came with the yarn. So I began that baby blanket. Yuck. After three evenings working on it and struggling with the pattern it just looks horrible. So I ripped it out again. I wound up the yarn and I am going to take it back.

I am so disappointed because the yarn looked so cute and it felt so nice and soft but I just think it is too thin. Hmmm...maybe I will try to crochet with it. Perhaps that will work better. Maybe two strands at the same time will work.

Oh back to the drawing board...

Two Scarves Pictures and Pattern

This is a super easy pattern for new knitters and uses both the knit and purl. It is called the seed stitch because it gives you a bumpy texture like little seeds.

Pattern:

With Thick and Quick Lionbrand Wool-Ease and size 15 needles, cast on 15 stitches.

Row 1: K1, P1 across.

Row 2: K1, P1 across. (you are knitting the purls and purling the knits from the row before)

Continue until length is 52" or longer as desired. It usually takes me 1 1/2 skeins of yarn.

Shown in the picture is the navy and black wool-ease.

Two scarves

I bought the Lion Brand Wool-Ease in Thick and Quick size in both navy blue and black. Okay let me back up a bit. I first had one skein in my stash in navy blue and thought, hmm, I am going to make a scarf with this. So I begin knitting on size 15 needles, casting on 15 stitches. I did the knit one purl one pattern throughout the entire scarf giving it a seedy bumpy feel. I was going to give it away and when it was almost done my husband asked, "who are you knitting that one for?". I asked if he wanted it and he said "YEAH!" So it became his.

The next night my mother and step-father were over and my mom picked up the scarf and said "Who's is this?" and I told her my husband had already claimed it and she said it looked very manly and that maybe she would make one for a nephew. It got me thinking that I hadn't knitted anything for my step-father and had planned on making him a scarf in a brown and black varigated yarn but thought he might really like one of these in black.

So Wednesday I had to take my husband to the dentist to have some work done on his mouth and while I was waiting I ran over to the yarn store and grabbed two skeins of this wool-ease in black and came back and whipped out 3/4 of the scarf sitting waiting for my husband to be done in the dentist. I finished it last night and it looks great!! I can't wait to give it to him tomorrow when I see him next. But, before I give it away I will take a picture of it and post!!

Christmas Gifts

Today I got two new knitting books and I am so excited. I am a huge fan of Debbie Macomber and about a month ago I got one of her knitting along with Debbie books "A good Yarn" and I love the patterns in it. I have already made two scarves from it and want to make a baby blanket next. So a few weeks ago I was on line and found two more that I would like, so I ordered them and when the box came I gave the box unopened to my husband and told him to wrap it up just like that and give it to me for Christmas. I opened it today and while I knew what was in it, I was so excited to get them finally and look through them. I got the Back on Blossom Street and Cedar Cove Series, Knitting with Debbie. I have now found three more patterns I am dying to begin.

I gave two gifts that I made this year and my mother loved her scarf I made. I haven't given the prayer shawl yet to my husband's grandmother but we will get it to her soon. It was such an easy pattern and worked up so quickly that I am tempted to make another one and keep it.

While we were traveling on our trip to Disney World and back (14 hours each way) I did a lot of handwork. I finished the prayer shawl and made a scarf for me (a first project in over a year for me only!!) and I began a matching hat.

Now with the sales beginning tomorrow I am looking forward to sneaking out of the house for a little time in a yarn shop preparing for my next project, a baby blanket. My sister and brother in law are having a baby in July. I think I am going to make one in a bright green and yellow yarn, by Bernat called Tropics.

I will post some pictures soon!!

What I am doing now...

Right now I am working on a baby blanket for the family that my work has adopted for the holiday season. There is a Mom and three kids. The youngest is a baby of 7 months. I am working on a new pattern for the blanket. It is a zig-zag crochet pattern, "ripple". Let me tell you, I thought it would be easy and thought I could adapt an adult afgan pattern for the baby one. No way! I screwed it up twice and finally went in search of an appropriate ripple pattern for a baby blanket size. It still is a bit bigger than I anticipated but I used a chunkier yarn and a bigger hook. I found the pattern on Bev's Country Cottage site and you can find it if you click on "Bev's Journeys" on the sidebar. I will post a picture later this evening of it so far. If I have time I would love to make hats for the family as well.

I am about a fourth done so I expect it to be done in another week. I still have Nicholas' sweater to finish and I am only still on the back in knitting it. The blanket is more pressing right now.

I have a funny for you. Remember the pirate doll I made for my son for Halloween? He said yesterday that it looked like Tigger in a Halloween costume! It really does!!

Idle Hands

I have been a crafty person since I can remember. Some of my first memories of my grandmother is where I am watching her knit or crochet. My mother is crafty also, though not as much anymore. And I have been interested in handwork since a small child. It just amazed me that my grandmother could take a ball of yarn and make something useful out of it. We always enjoyed her Christmas gifts to the family. One year we all received Christmas stockings, another was sweaters, and then there was the "bootie" year. That year she made us all slipper like booties. We each had a different color. Then there was the doilies she made. As she grew older and I began to have children she made baby sweaters and hats and blankets. My daughters still love the white sweater she made and they wear it often. It still has no buttons but they don't seem to care.

With that said, I have found myself over my lifetime picking up a project for a while and then leaving it and picking it back up later. After my grandmother passed away, I got the urge to pick up knitting needles again. I had long since forgotten how to knit but I thought with a "how to" book and some motivation I would figure it out again. And so I did. However, I am left-handed and I actually taught myself how to knit "backwards". I made beautiful scarves and they served as Christmas gifts. Then I thought I would try my hand again at crocheting. Again with a book in hand and some yarn I figured it out again. One good thing about crocheting is that if you are left handed you can crochet left handed. I have made some great afgans and blankets that my children love. I have made hats for everyone, including donation hats for newborns. I returned to knitting and decided to attempt some more difficult patterns. At that point I realized that I needed to reteach myself to knit right handed. Where was my grandmother when I needed her most? Why didn't I think to pick up the needles while she was still alive? She would have loved to work with me on my projects and I remember she was a great teacher.

Well two years later and many projects complete, I have just finished my first knitted sweater. I will post a picture of it for you all to see. I am currently working on two projects. One is a sweater for my son. I am knitting it with Lion Brand Homespun yarn in Colonial Blue and Off white, which I believe is flax. The second project is crocheted stuffed critters for Halloween. I have three patterns that I got from the Lion Brand website and are featured in this past week's newsletter. One is a pumpkin, one is a fuzzy friend, and the other is a pirate thing. I am using Red Heart Soft yarn in orange, brown, black and two different greens, along with Lion Brand Fuzzy Fur in purple.

(Photos from the Lionbrand website.)

Welcome to my new blog. I hope you find it interesting and informative. Please feel free to comment and share your projects with me. You are welcome to email me your project pictures and I will post them along with mine. Please give me advice on how to improve my skills and handwork as I really have no one to turn to in my circle of friends and family. I am a lone soldier in this craft.