Several projects finished

I finished several projects these last couple of months:

These first two projects I made as quickly as I could to prepare for spending several hours out in 20 degree weather, for the Inauguration.

1) Black wool fingerless gloves - I bought some cheap wool from Joann's and made fingerless gloves that I could wear over a pair of regular cotton gloves as extra insulation against the cold. I used one strand for the cuff and two strands for the main body of the glove because it seemed that one strand was just too thin. I used a simple 1x1 rib stitch all the way, and a #6 needle. The thumb hole I made by working the knitting as a flat work instead of a round work for about 8 rows, and then resuming knitting in the round.

2) Black wool socks - I used the remained of the same wool to make socks that I could wear over regular cotton socks, again, to provide extra warmth. I did these toe-up, and actually finished them on the plane to DC. Luckily, the TSA people didn't hassle me over the dpns. I had a little trouble binding off at the cuff - I just couldn't make them stretchy the way I wanted to, and also look nice over the ribbing. The cuff tended to come out wobbly looking or too tight. Oh well.

Both the socks and the gloves worked wonderfully well and my hands and feet were nice and toasty. With all the other layers I was wearing, I was reasonably comfortable - as much as can be expected anyway, with 18 degree wind chill...

3) Cotton string bag - I used the basic pattern found at http://sewintriguing.blogspot.com/2008/09/string-bag-instructions.html

I used one ball of yellow crochet thread (I think it was size 3), and it turned out reasonably well. This was my first project involving a circular needle and I had a little trouble manipulating the stitches over the cable. I don't know if that's because my needle is of inferior quality, or if that's just the way circular needles are.

It's amazing how little space is taken up by the bag and how large it stretches out to be.

New projects
1) The pink variegated socks I made for my daughter accidentally ended up in the dryer and don't fit her anymore. Oops. So I unraveled them, and I'm going to reknit them and see how it turns out. The yarn is felted but not too badly, so I think it might be ok. This is largely experimental.

2) I read about unraveling yarn from a thrift store sweater recently, and I decided to try it out. I bought a 100% merino wool medium sized sweater for $4.50 and unraveled it. It was made of 4-ply (the strands weren't twisted together) yarn, and it seems to be of good quality, as though the sweater wasn't worn much or at all. It's about 25 wpi (wrapped around a pencil), so I'm calling it fingering weight (fingering weight has approx 125 yds/oz). I estimate (roughly) that I recovered 3500 yards of yarn. I will weigh it once I'm sure it's dry and see if I can get a better estimate. But still, that's an enormous amount of wool for $4.50!

I'm going to try to make some socks with it and see how it goes. I knitted up some scrap on size 1 needles and it looks like it will be nice. The color is a semisolid reddish-brown.

Maybe I can separate the ply and make a laceweight shawl or something...

mittens

Tutorial for making mittens.

The Measurements
You need the following measurements:
- Wrist circumference in cm
- Palm circumference in cm
- Distance from wrist to base of thumb, in cm
- Distance from base of thumb to top of little finger, in cm
- Thumb length, in cm
- Gauge of your yarn, worked in the round. I recommend going down a needle size or two, to create a denser and therefore more windproof fabric.

The Calculations

Cuff stitches:
- (Wrist circumference less 2cm) x (number of stitches per cm) rounded up to the nearest even number.

Body stitches:
- (Palm circumference) x (number of stitches per cm), rounded up to the nearest even number.

Thumb stitches:
- Body stitches divided by 6. For a woman's hand, subtract 1.

Closure rounds:
- (Difference in length of little finger and longest finger) x row gauge, rounded up to the nearest even number.

Closure stitches:
- Body Stitches divided by 3, rounded up to the nearest even number.

----------------
co 44
size 1 needle
cuff ~2" (20 rows) 2x2 ribbing
1 round of knit
increased to 47 in purl, except for pattern - begin pattern on this round

10 rounds (~1" from cuff), then mark thumb - 7sts for thumb
knit 4.5 repeats of pattern then begin decreasing for closure

11 closure rounds; end with 15-16 sts
8 decrease rounds. Alternate even round with decrease round for first 5-6 rounds, then decrease each round.

Diagonal Lozenge Cable (in the round)

(Adapted from 99 Knit Stitches)
multiple of 8sts + 4

odd-numbered rows are the wrong side
even-numbered rows are the right side

-----
C3F: (uses next 3 sts)
Slip next 2 sts onto cn, hold in front, K1 from left needle, K2 from cn

T3F: (uses next 3 sts)
Slip next 2 sts onto cn, hold in front, P1 from left needle, K2 from cn
------
1: P1 K2 (P6 K2) across to last st, P1
2: P1 (C3F P5) across to last 3 sts, K2 P1
3: P1 K2 (P5 K3) across to last st, P1
4: P1 (K1 C3F P4) across to last 3 sts, K2 P1
5: P1 K2 (P4 K4) across to last st, P1

6: P1 K2 (T3F P3 K2) across to last st, P1
7: P1 K2 (P3 K2 P1 K2) across to last st, P1
8: P1 K2 P1 (T3F P2 K2 P1) across

9: P1 K2 (P2 K2) across to last st, P1
10: P1 K2 (P2 T3F P1 K2) across to last st, P1
11: (P1 K2) twice, P3 K2 (P1 K2 P3 K2) across to last st, P1

12: P1 K2 (P3 T3F K2) across to last st, P1
13: P1 (K4 P4) across to last 3 sts, K2 P1
14: P1 K2 (P4 T3F K1) across to last st, P1
15: P1 (K3 P5) across to last 3 sts, K2 P1
16: P1 K2 (P5 T3F) across to last st, P1

Lion Microspun

An ultra soft microfiber sports yarn. Machine washable and dryable.
100% microfiber acrylic
2.5 oz/70 g/168 yd/154 m
24 sts and 32 rows in 4" with size 4 (3.5mm) needles

Made in Turkey

The color I have is yellow - Buttercup 158, lot 62680

Sensations Angel Hair

22% wool, 50% acrylic, 28% nylon
3.5 oz (100 g) 120 yds/110 m
12 sts, 16 rows in 4" with size 11 (8mm) needles

Hand wash with similar colors.

The color I have is a variegated orange/brown 4361. I used it all to make a sweater for my daughter.

Regia Cotton (4-fach haltbar)

41% superwash new wool 34% cotton
25% polyamide
50g (200 m)
42 rows and 30 sts in 10cm with size 2-3 needles
Machine wash 40 (celsius), do not bleach, cool iron, dry clean (do not use trichloethylene), tumble dry low

10-year guarantee

The yarn I have is black, 99, lot 22162 (I used it to make elogated corded rib socks)

Lion Wool Prints

100% wool
2.75 oz - 143 yds /131 m
Medium/4 (from yarn symbol)
16 sts, 24 rows, in 10 cm with size 8 (5mm) needles
Hand wash, lay flat to dry
Made in Turkey.

The color is have is a variegated pink/purple. Flower Garden 202, lot 35677. (I used it to make woven stitch socks and mittens for my daughter.)

Caron Simply Soft

100% acrylic worsted weight 4-ply
No dye lot.
Medium/4 weight (from the yarn symbol)
Machine washable and dryable. Machine wash warm, gentle cycle. Dry with low heat, delicate cycle.
6 oz (315 yds./288 m)
18 sts and 24 rows in 10cm with size 8 (5mm) needle

The color I have is Dark Sage, 9707. (I used it to make Snowflake fingerless gloves.)

Cottontail Reynolds Kids

60% cotton, 40% microfiber
50g = 116 yds (106 m)
20 sts and 28 rows to 4" (10 cm) in St st with size 6 (4mm) needles.
hand wash in cool water with mild soap. Roll in towel to remove excess moisture. Lay flat to dry. May be dry cleaned.

The blue color I have is color 4020, lot 5618. (I used it to make yo cable socks for my husband.)

Finished YO Cable Socks

I finished them last night, finally. They turned out pretty good, just slightly too big. It was difficult for me to determine exactly when to begin the short rows for the heel, so the foot is a bit long. Also, the bindoff at the leg is rippled, and I'm not sure why. I couldn't make it too tight because then the sock wouldn't stretch over the heel. Well, they look ok worn, which is what counts. I'll take some pictures and add them to this post later.

I used 1.5 balls of yarn per sock. I did a pretty good job of estimating half a ball, and so I only had a couple of feet of yarn leftover.