I just received my swap package from Jennifer today - the January swap organized via Crochetaholic Deb's blog, and I was fantastically spoiled! The theme was 'white' and I received plenty of goodies, between a white scented candle, white bathy things, and a skein of white yarn to make cabled wrist warmers! (And everyone knows how much I love to make wrist warmers!) Other great treats include an address book + note book, flavoured coffee (yurm!) and a bag full of chocolates! Yay!

fingerless again...

I can't seem to make enough pairs of knucks - although obviously w/o all the embroidery (I don't sew). This is my third pair this year. Thank goodness for Patons Kroy sock yarn.

well.

I've learned, this week, that not only can I not knit lace, but lace knitting - no matter how 'easy' the pattern, is the work of the devil.

I was asked to knit a pair of wrist warmers using a very pretty lacey pattern from a knit sock pattern, and either the pattern's missing a step or else I'm all thumbs. The thumb gusset pattern on this particular wrist warmer set was also quite wrong, and have no idea how one would wear it. (Much too skinny!)

Unfortunately, I lack in lace-knitting experience to figure out what's wrong with the pattern, so I frogged it and reknit it, thinking the fault was mine. It wasn't. So, I spent twenty minutes cursing at it. That didn't fix it, so I frogged it again.

Lace is the craft version of the spawn of satan, I'm convinced of it! Never again!

Urban Weave Sleeves

This pattern is an extented version of my Urban Weave Wrist Warmers - designed to cover more of the arm rather than just your wrists. To save time, make both sleeves at the same time on long needles. Also, the basketweave cable wraps all around the glove in this pattern, as opposed to just being on top like the other pattern.

Size: adult (one size fits all)

Finished Measurements: (unstretched) 13.5” (34.75cm) long, 4” (10cm) wide laying flat

terms used in this pattern:
k - knit
k2tog - knit two together
BO - bind off
BO2tog - bind off two together

Materials needed:
- 4 skeins Berella Whistler 100% merino wool in Denim Heather (50g/1.75oz, 65 yds/58m per skein)
- 1 cable needle
- US 10 (6mm) straight knitting needles
- crochet hook or needle to stitch up seams

Gauge: 15 sts, 20 rows with US10 (6mm) needle – 4” (10cm)

Pattern Notes: These are knit bottom to top, and flat to be sewn later. Make two at once to save time.

1) Cast on 48 stitches. Purl one row. (These were designed to fit my arms; I know that some may have thinner arms than I do, so casting on 42 sts instead of 48 may fit you better.)

2) Follow this woven pattern, over 8 rows:
Rows 1 & 5, knit.
Rows 2, 4, 6, & 8, purl.
Row 3: knit 3. *Put 3 stitches on cable needle in front. Knit next 3 stitches. Knit the 3 stitches on cable needle.* Repeat between *’s across. Knit last 3 stitches.
Row 7: *Put 3 stitches on cable needle behind. Knit next 3 stitches. Knit the 3 stitches on cable needle.* Repeat between *’s across.

3) Repeat step 2 seven more times. (There may be enough yarn, especially if you make the skinnier version, to repeat the woven pattern one more time if you wish to make the sleeves a little bit longer.)

4) Next row: *k8, k2tog* across to last 8 sts, k8.

5) Purl 1 row.

6) *Place 3 sts on cable needle. Twist so that 1st stitch becomes the third. (You may need to move the yarn behind to begin.) Knit across these three stitches.* Repeat across.

7) Purl 1 row.

8) Repeat steps 6 and 7.

9) *BO2tog, BO8* across to last 8. BO2tog, BO4.

When stitching up edges, fold in half vertically, with wrong sides facing out. From top, stitch up approx 1.5 inches. Tie a knot, leave about 1 to 1.5 inches for thumb, and then stitch along the rest of the seam. Turn wrist warmers right side out and block where necessary.

© 2008 by Sabrina Thompson - original design and pictures. Please do not sell pattern or materials made thereof, or copy my pictures. Pattern cannot be distributed for sale, or as a 'free pattern' promotional tool for selling yarn or knitting supplies. If posting Finished Items on personal blogs, please link back to this blog and pattern, thanks. :D

Urban Weave Wrist Warmers

This pattern is unisex, quick to knit (within a few hours!), and ideal for wear from late autumn through early spring. To save time, knit both simultaneously.

Size: adult (one size fits all)

Finished Measurements: (unstretched) 8.5” (22cm) long, 4” (10cm) wide

Materials needed:
2 skeins Berella Whistler 100% merino wool in Malt Heather (50g/1.75oz, 65 yds/58m per skein)
1 cable needle
US 10.5 (6.5mm) knitting needles
crochet hook or needle to stitch up seams

Gauge:
label gauge: 15 sts, 20 rows with US10 (6mm) needle – 4” (10cm)
actual gauge in pattern: 12 sts, 19 rows with US 10.5 (6.5mm) needle – 4” (10cm)
(If I can, I often knit with a needle a half-centimeter larger to loosen both the yarn tension and cable tension. It’s more of an esthetic thing for me, and makes cables a bit easier to make.)

Pattern Notes:
The back of the wrist warmer is cabled, but the palm of it is in stockinette stitch, so one wrist warmer’s pattern is knit in reverse. Because of this, each will be differentiated by RH (right hand) and LH (left hand). St st is Stockinette stitch, starting with a knit row. bo is bind off bo2tog is bind off two together. These are knit bottom to top.

Weaved Cable Pattern: (done over 24 sts)
Rows 1 & 5, knit
Rows 2, 4, 6, & 8, purl.
Row 3: knit 3. *Put 3 stitches on cable needle in front. Knit next 3 stitches. Knit the 3 stitches on cable needle.* Repeat between *’s three times.
Row 7: *Put 3 stitches on cable needle behind. Knit next 3 stitches. Knit the 3 stitches on cable needle.* Repeat between *’s four times.

Cast on 36 stitches. Purl first row.

For LH, make Weaving Cable on the first 24 stitches, and St st for the remaining 12. For RH, St st for first 12 stitches, and Weaving Cable for remaining 24.

Repeat all eight rows of the Weaved Cable Pattern 5 times, ending on a purl row.

Knit 1 row making two decreases:
For RH, bo 23, bo2tog, bo10, bo2tog.
For LH, bo2tog, bo10, bo2tog, bo23.
(When knitting cables, ends-of-pattern tend to flair a bit, so making two decreases tightens the top of the wrist warmer.) Place a marker to indicate this as the top of the wrist warmer.

When stitching up edges, fold in half vertically, with wrong sides facing. From top, stitch up seam along the first section of cabling. Tie a knot, leave about 1 to 1.5 inches for thumb, and then stitch along the rest of the seam. Turn wrist warmers right side out and block where necessary.

© 2008 by Sabrina Thompson - original design and pictures. Please do not sell pattern or materials made thereof, or copy my pictures. Pattern cannot be distributed for sale, or as a 'free pattern' promotional tool for selling yarn or knitting supplies. If posting Finished Items on personal blogs, please link back to this blog and pattern, thanks. :D

Cabled Galaxy Scarf

Materials:

1 pair 6.5mm (US 10-1/2) needles

1 cable needle

2 skeins Bernat Galaxy, each in a different colour (or more, if you wish a longer scarf) 77% acrylic, 8% polyester, 7.5% alpaca, 7.5% mohair. 1-3/4 ounces (50 grams) 60 yards.

tension: 11 stitches = 4"/10cm on size 6.5mm (US 10-1/2) needles

1) Pick the darker shade of Galaxy as your MC (main colour), and the lighter as CC (complimentary colour).

2) Cast on 18 sts with MC. Knit 5 rows.

3) Knit 9 stitches. Tie in CC, finish knitting the last 9 sts with cc. From this point on, knit all MC sts with MC, and all CC sts with CC.

4) Knit the first 3 sts of the next row. Purl 12 sts. Knit the last 3 sts.

5) Knit the next row.

6) Repeat step 4.

7) Repeat step 5, but incorporate cable with center 6 sts as follows: Place 3 sts (MC) on cable needle, hold in front; knit the next 3 sts (CC), knit the 3 sts on your cable needle in MC, and finish knitting across in CC.

8) Continue knitting rows 4-8 until desired lenth.

9) Finish scarf by knitting 5 rows of CC, tying off MC.

Try to use up as much yarn per skein as possible to avoid partial skeins. The length of the scarf is up to you. The two shades of Galaxy I used were Mercury (black/gray) and Mars (red).

© 2008 by Sabrina Thompson - original design and pictures. Please do not sell pattern or copy my pictures. Pattern cannot be distributed for sale, or as a 'free pattern' promotional tool for selling yarn or knitting supplies. If posting Finished Items on personal blogs, please link back to this blog and pattern, thanks. :D