Tuesday, March 24, 2009

Master Knitter Level III Update

Here is the knitting I will be submitting for the TKGA MK Level III:

Tubular Cast On/Bind Off




Double Decreases:





SSP:





P2tog tbl:





Yarn Overs:




Brioche Stitch:




Herringbone Stitch:



Smocking Stitch:




Elongated Stitches:





Traveling Twisted Stitches:




Entrelac:



Slipped Stitches:






Mosaic:




Charted Symbols (Lace and cable):




Intarsia:




Duplicate Stitch:




Short Rows:





Doily:




And the
Aran Hat:




Nordic Style Stranded Sweater(blocking):





I reviewd 2 magazines:
Piecework
Interweave Knits
2 design books:
The Handy Book of Patterns by Ann Budd
Colorful Knitwear Design by Threads

I wrote 2 reports:
1. Description of 6 fibers covering the 3 main fiber types.
and
2.Traditional Knitting Report
a. Traditional Technique: Yoke Sweaters. Here I included 3 swatches of tradtional yokes:




b. Tradtional Regional Knitting: Traditonal and Ethnic Knitting in Finland.

Saturday, March 14, 2009

Cherry Tree Hill Socks...The Men's Version

I've gotten a few requests for an update and resizing so here it is:




Cherry Tree Hill Socks...The Men's Version


Download a PDF of Cherry Tree Hill Socks...The Men's Version

Size: men’s med(9.5” circumference)/large(10” circumference)

Materials:
450 yds of Fingering weight sock yarn
One set Size US2 DPNs or size needed to obtain gauge.


Gauge: 28 sts and 38 rows = 4” or 10 cm in st st. To save time, take time to check gauge.

Abbreviations:
DPN: double point needles
St(s): stitch(es)
Rnd: round
St st: stockinette stitch
K: knit
P: purl
Sl: slip
k2tog: knit 2 sts together
p2tog: purl 2 sts together
Ssk: slip slip knit.
st st: stockinette stitch

Cuff and Leg:
Cast on 68/72 sts. Arrange sts evenly on 3 dpns. Join in the round, being careful not to twist sts.
Cuff—Broken Rib stitch as follows:
Rnd 1: K1 P1
Rnd 2: K
Repeat rnds 1 & 2 until piece measures 2”. Continue Leg in st st (knit every rnd) until leg is desired length.

Heel:
Knit across 17/18 sts, turn work and purl across 34/36 sts. These are the heel sts. The other sts will be the instep stitches and will not be knit until later.
Work back and forth on heel sts as follows:
Row 1 (RS): *Sl 1 k1* repeat across row
Row 2 (WS): Sl, purl to end of row
Repeat rows 1 & 2 until 34/36 rows have been worked (end on a WS row)


Turn Heel:
Row 1: Knit across 19/20 sts, ssk, k1, turn
Row 2: Sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1 turn
Row 3: Sl 1, k 6, ssk, k1, turn
Row 4: Sl 1, p 7, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 5: Sl 1, k 8, ssk, k1, turn
Row 6: Sl 1, p 9, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 7: Sl 1, k 10, ssk, k1, turn
Row 8: Sl 1, p11, p2 tog, p1 turn
Row 9: Sl 1, k12, ssk, k1, turn
Row 10:Sl 1, p13, p2tog, p1 turn.
Row 11: Sl 1, k14, ssk,k1 turn
Row 12: Sl 1, P14, p2tog, p1, turn
Row 13: Sl 1, k15, ssk,k1 turn

Row 14: Med Sl1, p16, p2 tog p1, end (20 sts)
Large: Sl 1 p16, p2tog p1, turn
Row 15: Large: sl 1, k17, ssk, turn
Row 16 Large: sl1, p18, p2tog end (20 sts)


Gusset:
Knit across all heel sts and with the same dpn pick up and knit 17/18 sts along selvedge edge of heel flap (This is needle #1)
With another dpn knit across all instep sts (This is needle #2)
With another dpn pick up and knit 17/18 sts along the other selvedge of the heel and then knit 10/10 stitches from needle #1 (This is needle #3)
The rnd now begins at the center of the heel.
Rnd 1: Needle 1: k to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1
Needle 2: k
Needle 3: k1, ssk, k to end
Rnd 2: knit (no decreases)
Repeat rnds 1 & 2 until 68/72 sts remain

Foot:
Work even in st st until foot measures 2 1/2” less than desired length.

Toe:
Rnd 1: Needle 1: Knit to last 3 sts, k2tog, k1
Needle 2: K1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts,k2 tog, k1
Needle 3: K1, ssk, knit to end.
Rnd 2: knit (no decreases)
Repeat rnds 1 & 2 until 24/28 sts remain, then repeat only rnd 1 until 12/12 sts remain.
Knit sts from needle1 onto needle 3. Cut yarn leaving an 18” tail. Using Kitchener st, graft remaining sts together.

Finishing:
Weave in loose ends. Block if desired.

Wednesday, March 11, 2009

Garbage can liner:

For the Wednesday afternoon girls:

Garter stitch garbage can liner.
A boring and worthless project.
Remember 5 year olds can make this in their sleep.

Finished measurment: each one is an individual
Materials: yarn you you hate.
Needles needed to get gauge.
Gauge 16 sts = 4”/10cm To save time, take time to check gauge.

Cast on 160 sts.
Knit every row until the piece fits your garbage can. Seam side and bottom .Weave in ends. Put in the garbage.


He's not making a garbage can liner:


Tuesday, March 10, 2009

Writing a book review TKGA style

From my moment of wisdom:

This is from the post so many people have pm'd me about on Ravelry. I added a few notes to it. Hope it helps you out. Writing a book review isn't that hard especially with an organized format to follow:

Here’s a list of items I put together (from searching the internet) before I wrote the book reports:

1.Write a statement giving essential information about the book: title, author, first copyright date, price and ISBN number of pages.

(I put this information at the left top of the page)

Then began the prose with:


2.State the author’s purpose in writing the book. Sometimes authors state their purpose in the preface or the first chapter.

3.Talk about the contents. What topics the book covers. Describe any thesis or themes at this point.

4.Explain the layout/organization of the book. How the chapters are arranged, etc.

5.Evaluate the book for interest, accuracy, objectivity, importance, thoroughness, and usefulness. What did you agree/disagree/like/dislike. Is the book relevant. Is there anything new or special to this book or does it retell (better or worse) information.
Include the Front matter which would include table of contents, preface, introduction by someone else etc.

6.Discuss the book’s format. layout, binding typography, quality of pictures and diagrams.

7.Check the back matter: Is the index accurate. Does the book provide a good bibliography. What sources did the author use.
Backmatter would include appendices, index,glossary,sources, bibliography.

8.Summerize/Analyze the contents. Do you recomend the book and to who. State any other opinions you have about the book. Do not introduce new material at this point

9.Provide information on the author.

Good luck to you all!!





As far as magazine reviews go… 
I wrote mine using the format of the Book Review with a few changes. First you must decide whether you are going to write about the magazine in general or a specific issue. I did one of each, that way I wrote two different types of reviews. Today I might choose to write about a print magazine and and online magazine. But it really doesn’t matter.
Basically you want to observe the magazine, just like you would observe anything, notice the makeup both physical and content. Just use words to describe it.
There is a whole lot more to write about a magazine than a book, which was a surprise to me.Here are some ideas in no particular order, but your magazine may have something else worth discussing as well:
Introduce the Magazine being Reviewed. How often is it published and by whom? What is the main content dedicated to? 
What issue or issues are you using for the review.
Who is the editor? Who writes the mag intro?--usually one of the editors. 
Typically there will be “departments” or columns? What are they and who writes them? Are they good/bad/ useful/fluff? 
Where are they located in the magazine?
What else in the magazine occurs on a regular basis? Is it helpful. I’m thinking about the list of errata from previous issues, “knitting instructions or school”, glossary of terms, etc. Classified section--what’s in it? Letters to the editor? Table of contents.
How user friendly is the magazine. How hard is it to find something using the page number. Do I need to flip pages when working a pattern or are they fairly easy to follow. How well written are the patterns? Riddled with errors that we master knitters pick up right away?
What about the advertising? I found some magazines did not include advertising with the patterns? Useful or not? Is the advertising something of interest to the reader? or totally off topic? Distracting? Is there a list of advertisers at the end? 
Sometimes the advertising is more useful than the magazine.
What about the patterns? Types? Who are they for? Trendy vs Classic? Levol of experience? What about listing of supplies for the patterns?
Talk about the quality of the photos, charts, schematics etc. Glossy vs Matte pages. How sturdy is the magazine.
Who would enjoy the magazine--target audience.
Any online supplements? How does one access them?
Where can your reader get the magazine? How much does it cost per issue/ subscription? How about those annoying cards that constantly fall out?

Thursday, March 5, 2009

Noro Entrelac Scarf

I know, this is a This & That oldie, but always popular. A great project for learning entrelac.





Download a PDF of Noro Entrelac Scarf.

NORO ENTRELAC SCARF

Finished measurement: 6 ½ inches x 46 inches without fringe.

Materials: 3 skeins Noro Kureyon or Silk Garden yarn (more if longer scarf desired----each skein will knit about 17 inches of entrelac)
Size 10.5 needles

Gauge: 16 stitches = 4”/10cm in stockinette (gauge is not critical to this piece)

Abbreviations:
K: knit
P: purl
K2tog: knit two stitches together
P2tog: purl 2 stitches together
Ssk: slip one stitch as if to knit, slip another stitch as if to knit, knit these 2 stitches together through the back loop
Sl: slip stitch, slip all stitches purlwise unless otherwise directed
M1:make one stitch

Make 3 base triangles:
Cast on 15 stitches
Begin first triangle:
Row 1 (WS): P2 turn work
Row 2: Slip the first st, k1
Row 3: Sl1, p2, turn
Row 4: Sl1, k2
Row 5: Sl1, p3, turn
Row 6: Sl1, k3
Row 7: Sl1 p4, turn

Repeat above steps for second triangle on the next 5 stitches, then repeat again on the final 5 stitches for third triangle. Turn work.

Make body of scarf:

Make a right side triangle:
Row 1(RS): K2, turn
Row 2: Sl1, p1
Row 3: Sl1, m1, ssk, turn
Row 4: Sl1, p2,
Row 5: Sl1, m1, k1, ssk, turn
Row 6: Sl1, p3
Row 7: Sl1, m1, k2, ssk, do not turn.

Make a left leaning rectangle:
Row 1 (RS): Pick up and knit 5 stitches along the edge of the base triangle (or rectangle), turn
Row 2,4,6,8,10,: Sl1, p5
Row 3,5,7,9,: Sl1, k4, ssk, turn
Row 11: Sl1, k4, ssk, do not turn

Make 1 more left leaning rectangle along the next base triangle (or rectangle) edge.

Make a left side triangle:
Row 1 (RS): Pick up and knit 5 stitches along base triangle (or rectangle) edge.
Row 2: Sl1, p4, turn
Row 3: Sl1, k2, k2tog
Row 4: Sl1, p3, turn
Row 5: Sl1, k1, k2tog
Row 6: Sl1, p2, turn
Row 7: Sl1, k2tog
Row 8: Sl1, p1, turn
Row 9: K2tog

Make a right leaning rectangle:
Row 1 (WS): Slip remaining stitch to RH needle, pick up and purl 5 stitches along edge of last triangle (or rectangle), turn
Row 2,4,6,8,10,12: Sl1, k5
Row 3,5,7,9,11: Sl1 p4, p2tog, turn
Row 13: Sl1, p4, p2tog, do not turn

Make 2 more right leaning rectangles along the next left leaning rectangles.

Repeat the above directions until scarf measures 46” or desired length. End on the WS.

3. Make 3 Finishing Triangles:
With CC,
Row 1: Slip remaining stitch to the RH needle, pick up and purl 6 stitches along the edge of the last triangle, turn
Row 2: Sl1, k4, k2tog
Row 3: Sl1, p4, p2tog, turn
Row 4, Sl1, k3, k2tog
Row 5: Sl1, p3, p2tog, turn
Row 6: Sl1, k2, k2tog
Row 7: Sl1, p2, p2tog, turn
Row 8: Sl1, k1, k2tog
Row 9: Sl1, p1, p2tog, turn
Row 10: Sl1, k2tog
Row 11: Sl1, p2tog
Row 12: Ssk
Row 13; P2tog

Work 2 more finishing triangles along the edges of the next 2 rectangles.

Weave in ends and block to measurement.