I’m Knitting As Fast As I Can

As you’re probably aware, MagKnits is gone and all the archived patterns have been deleted, including my Amber Hat and Lombard Street Socks patterns. I contemplated creating PDF files of the patterns and uploading them to Ravelry, but I know there are many people who aren’t yet on Ravelry. (As an aside, what are you waiting for?? Sign up now!!)

Jody graciously offered to host the patterns on her new ezine, Knotions and I quickly took her up on the offer.

You can find Amber here, and Lombard Street here. I’ve also fixed the links in my sidebar and on Ravelry.

Three cheers for Jody. The patterns look awesome!

Last Tuesday was the 4th anniversary of our Stitch ‘n Bitch group. Laurie, who started the group, has a great post about the festivities here. As part of the fun, we held a one-skein swap.

The premise of the swap was to knit something from one skein of yarn; that was the only parameter. In other words, you could make any item you wanted and use any amount or weight of yarn. All the yarn, though, had to be put up in just one skein or hank (or cone if you were really ambitious).

I considered and rejected several projects, purchased several different skeins of yarn, and swatched a couple of scarf patterns from books I own but I was never really happy with the result.

Finally, I grabbed a 50g skein of Knit Picks Suri Dream from the stash and tried a variation of the bee stitch.

I liked the finished scarf but so did my daughter!

So, I gave it to her and made this felted bag for the swap.

In the end, it was best that I didn’t contribute the scarf. The yarn was green and a notorious green-hater ended up with my contribution. She was much happier with the purple/pink in the bag.

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Oh No Scarf

Yarn: 1 skein, Knit Picks Suri Dream

Needle: U.S. #15

Gauge: not important

Finished Size: approximately 7 inches wide and 70 inches long

Instructions:

• CO 15 sts.
• Knit 2 rows.
• Row 1: Slip 1 wyif (see notes), *knit into the st below, k1; repeat from * to end of row.
  Row 2: Slip 1 wyif, k1, *knit into the st below, k1; repeat from * until 1 st remains, k1.
• Repeat Rows 1 & 2 until you are almost out of yarn.
• Knit 2 rows.
• Bind off.
• Block. It’s your choice whether to block lightly to keep some of the texture from the stitch pattern, or to block it severely so it looks more lacey.

Notes: The slipped stitches will give you nice, smooth edges. Slip them purlwise with the yarn in front. Then move the yarn to the back of your work and continue with the rest of the row.

You may be wondering why I’m calling it the “Oh No Scarf.”

On knitting charts, yarnovers are represented by a circle or “O.” This stitch pattern gives a lacy look without any yarnovers. Get it? The chart would have no Os.

There are lots of reasons why I love this stitch pattern for a scarf. Among them:

1. It’s nice and smooshy, almost like thermal underwear, so it’ll trap lots of air to keep you really warm.



2. There are no purl stitches! What, you didn’t know that I hate to purl?
3. It’s mindless, but not boring.
4. It’s reversible and it looks the same upside-down as it does right-side-up.
5. You can use it to make a scarf of any width. Just cast on an odd number of stitches and follow the instructions.
6. It looks good in all colors and weights of yarns. Use a needle about 2 sizes larger than the size recommended on the ball band. Experiment!

These baby socks are quick to knit and the pattern is simple to memorize because all the elements are based on multiples of eight. Please consider making a few pairs for newborns in hospitals local to you.

I used size 2.5mm needles and Knit Picks Risata sock yarn. The yarn was perfect for this pattern and it made a wonderful, soft and stretchy sock. You can substitute any yarn+needle combination that gives you a gauge of about 8 stitches per inch.

Cuff:

Loosely CO 32 sts. I like to use the German Twisted Cast On over 2 ndls held parallel.

Divide the sts onto 3 ndls and join into the round, being careful not to twist the sts.

Rnds 1-16: K1, *p2, k2; repeat from * to end of rnd, ending with k1.

Heel Flap:

Place the next 16 sts on waste yarn or 2 spare dpns. These are the instep sts; they begin and end with a knit stitch. Turn your work so the WS is facing.

Row 1: Sl1, [k2, p2] 3 times, k2, p1, turn.
Row 2: Sl1, [p2, k2] 3 times, p2, k1, turn.

Repeat Rows 1-2, eight times.

Turn Heel:

Row 1: Sl1, p8, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 2: Sl1, k3, ssk, k1, turn.
Row 3: Sl1, p4, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 4: Sl1, k5, ssk, k1, turn.
Row 5: Sl1, p6, p2tog, p1, turn.
Row 6: Sl1, k7, ssk, k1, do not turn. 10 heel sts remain.

Foot:

Divide the sts as follows:
Ndl #1: 5 heel sts
Ndl #2: 16 instep sts
Ndl #3: 5 heel sts

Beginning with Ndl #1, pick up and knit 8 sts along the side of the heel flap; work the instep sts in the established rib pattern; with a spare dpn, pick up and knit 8 sts along the second side of the heel flap; knit the 5 heel sts from Ndl #3.

You should now have 13 sts on Ndl #1, 16 sts on Ndl #2, and 13 sts on Ndl #3.

Rnd 1: Knit to within 3 sts of the end of Ndl #1, k2tog, k1, work the sts on Ndl #2 in the established rib pattern, k1, ssk, knit the remainder of the sts on Ndl #3.
Rnd 2: Knit the sts on Ndl #1, work the sts on Ndl #2 in the established rib pattern, knit the sts on Ndl #3.

Repeat Rnds 1 & 2 until 32 sts remain. Then repeat Rnd 2 only, 8 times.

Knit 8 rnds plain (i.e., knit all sts on all ndls).

Toe:

Rnd 1: *K2, k2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (8 sts decreased).
Rnd 2: Knit all sts.
Rnd 3: *K1, k2tog; repeat from * to end of rnd (8 sts decreased).
Rnd 4: Knit all sts.
Rnd 5: *k2tog; repeat from * end of rnd (8 sts decreased).

8 sts remain on the ndls. Break yarn, leaving an 8 inch tail. Thread the yarn tail onto a tapestry ndl and run the ndl through the 8 remaining sts. Pull tight to close the toe. Weave in yarn ends.

Make the second sock.

Find a baby who needs socks.

Thanks to Beth for test knitting!