Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

I’m about 3/4 of the way through a new rectangular lace wrap that I’m knitting in a fingering-weight Blue-Faced Leicester wool in a carbon monochrome. Design/pattern in progress and should be ready to go by the end of the week! It’ll be a much more attractive pattern after it’s blocked (and easier to see).

In other news, I just started The Knitting Guild Association’s Master Hand Knitter program. I’m looking forward to critique of my work by the experts and improving my skills as I work my way through the 3 levels. I have set a goal of achieving Master Knitter status by the end of 2017!

The program requires quite a bit of research, and I thought I’d start to share some of the hints, tips, and techniques I come across.

That leads to this new section of the blog that I’m calling…

Did you know…?

Tension in knitting terms quite often refers to gauge, but it also refers to how consistent your stitches appear throughout the knitted piece.

Actually tension relates to the way the yarn feeds from the ball to the needles and subsequently the stitches. Uneven tension can result in  taller, shorter, looser, or tighter stitches in parts of your knitted piece.

I’ve come across a few tips for improving tension and I want to share the first of these this week (and some other, more specific, tips next week):

Yarn bowls are a great way to keep tension even as you knit. The bowl pictured above is a re-purposed rice/noodle bowl holding a ball of the fingering-weight yarn I’m using for my current wrap project.

The slot and holes in the bowl are for holding chopsticks, but do just fine with yarn as well. It helps if the bowl is glazed, as the yarn slides more smoothly off the ball and to your needles!

Did you know…? next week will provide tips on

Improving tension in K2P2 ribbing
Improving tension at the beginning and end of rows in stockinette stitch

Until then,
Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

On the Wing – This shawl design was actually inspired by the hand-dyed, light, and lofty yarn I purchased from WooSheeps, an indie dyer in Scotland. What a joy to work with!

It’s a 4-ply baby alpaca, silk, and linen blend in a semi-solid strawberry color (coral, to my eye). 

It spoke to me of flight and this pattern that’s meant to resemble the wings of a bird took shape.

The first photo best represents the color.

Measures: 56×22 inches/ 142×55.5 centimeters

Elevate your style to a whole new level!

On the Wing is for sale on Etsy and the pattern is available on Ravelry.

Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

I live by sea in Thailand and have been trying to get plants to grow here for a number of years now. Waves tend to splash on whatever we plant and we’ve learned over the years what will – and will not – tolerate salt!

In a tribute to this effort, and the hardy and colorful shrubs, plants, and trees that now share this space, I’ve designed this Garden by the Sea triangular shawlette that’s meant to represent the leaves, flowers, and waves that I see from where I knit.

This casual Garden by the Sea shawlette is a practical accessory to wear when you’re gardening and for other outdoorsy activities as well.

The easy-care accessory was knit with a wool-blend yarn (80% wool, 20% nylon) in a medium to dark teal. It measures 49×21 inches/124.5×53.5cm

Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Garter and Lace: Silky Wool

I used a bit less than 100 grams of DK weight yarn for this scarf that’s knit from the top down (or sideways, if you prefer), rather than the traditional way of knitting from one end to the other.

You’ll see that the first half is knit in garter stitch and the final half is a lace pattern.

The pattern is written and should be quite easy for someone who has done a bit of eyelet/lace knitting.

This design is the second of two in this series. The first is called Garter and Lace: Fruitcake and is available on Ravelry as well.

The finished size, after blocking, is 6.5×66 inches / 16.5×167.5cm.

It’s also available for sale in my Etsy shop if you don’t have the time or inclination to knit one yourself.

Happy Knitting!
MikeH

Patterns available on Ravelry
Accessories available on Etsy

Garter and Lace: Fruitcake

This unique and fashionable scarf is knit from the top down, rather than the traditional way of knitting from one end to the other. You’ll see that the first half is knit in garter stitch and the final half is a lace pattern, with a simple picot stitch adding a bit of flair to the bottom edge.

A benefit of this top-down approach to construction is an accessory that has a more tailored appearance, and is much more likely to keep its shape.

The Fruitcake part of the name comes from the colorway for this hand-dyed yarn, and it’s called Fruitcake because the colors resemble one! It’s a fingering weight yarn called Bert, and comes from Woosheeps, an indie dyer in Scotland. It’s a blend of merino wool (80 per cent) and bamboo (20 per cent).

Overall the scarf measures 7×62 inches / 17.75×157.5cm.

It’s also available for sale in my Etsy shop if you don’t have the time or inclination to knit one yourself.

Happy Knitting!
MikeH