Cckittenknits's Weblog

Wow, it has almost been a year since I posted anything. I have not been knitting because my machine is in a room that is not bright or large. I was contemplating getting rid of my machines but I think I will move the passap to a larger lighter room and see what transpires.

Anyway, I was looking at a quilting sight and in the picture was a knitted pumpkin and I thought it was cute.  It isn’t the traditional orange one. I decided to just do a small one and see what it would look like. I knew the passap machine had a similar pattern built in.  So I sat down at the passap and knitted a square and gathered it at the top and bottom. Then I took jute and used it to make the veins. I have papier-mache in the house so I made my own stem. Then I hot glued the stem onto the top of the pumpkin. Of course, now that I look at the original, I should have done two rows of jute for the veins and really tightened the tension up. Oh well it was just an experiment.

Here is the picture that I saw.

On the passap I used the pattern 1301 on page 63 and I used technique 183. I only used 60 needles and knitted about 100 rows. I used tension 5/5 but if you want to make one lower the tension so the stitches don’t separate while stuffing it. I think if I had made mine larger it might look similar to this one.

Now, it is not a good idea to stay away from this machine because everything you learn goes out the window. LOL. I wanted to cast on single bed so there would not be a lot of material to gather. I managed to cast on single bed and went into double bed work.  At the end I transferred all the back stitches to the front bed, knitted a row and then transferred every other stitch to the next needle. I knitted a row and did the same and then took the remaining stitches off on a bodkin. When I took the work off the machine I had open back bed stitches where I had cast on(tee hee) and gone from single bed to double bed! I was lucky and just took a needle with a piece of yarn and gathered all of them.

This would be the easiest to do on my Brother machine. I would do a weaving cast on and then start the fairisle design . I would end with one row knitted plain and then transfer stitches and then gather. You can make this pumpkin on any machine. It is just knitting a square or rectangle depending on how large you want the pumpkin.

Of course, you could get creative and knit a five by five rib in a solid color and it would probably look just as cute.

Oh my gosh, can you stand it? Hearing from me twice in one week? Oh my gosh, thank you to everyone that emailed me and welcomed me back. Good to hear from all of you and that you are all still knitting. Unfortunately, I have turned to quilting and my second block of the month arrived yesterday so I will be going off the grid again. lol

Well, I had to hurry and knit another afghan so you could see my favorite clematis vine in bloom. Just kidding. This is another Michael Becker afghan called Onion. It is in dark brown and beige . It is another fantasy fairisle technique 186. Funny thing is that I don’t like this technique. The afghans come out large but are too prone to snagging. Not good with a cat or a dog in the house. I do like how they look on the back .

I have to tell you that I mostly learn from trial and error. If I would go read a lot on the yahoo groups I could probably save myself a lot of time. In Michael Becker’s instructions he tells you to break the Carmen router rule and put one back bed pusher up on the back bed so you don’t drop a stitch. On my afghan mist I had the right end stitch on the front bed and the edge came out nicely. So in making this one I put both end stitches on the back bed and did not like the edge on the right. So I changed it to the end needle on the right side on the front bed and the back bed needle on the end for the left side. I like how it came out. So, you might want to experiment ….or not. I am sure when giving these afghans away, most people would not notice.

I used two strands of 2/24 tension 5/5. When setting up the needles I programmed left 87 and right 88 and it came out centered. I always forget which side to put the extra needle on when there is an odd number of stitches. But then that is why I cast on and then do the set up with gx /gx to check. I should do it before I cast on but that would be too easy. 🙂

Well another year has passed and I would like to say thank you to all of you who follow my blog. As you have noticed, I have not been knitting. There are several reasons. One is that I bought a new sewing machine and I am really loving free motion quilting and doing appliqué work. Secondly, I am also into my sock machine and needle punch. And last, my husband was diagnosed with Parkinson’s . So the days are filled with more care for Jim than craft time but that is okay. I love being at home…….with him…..and Petey.

I also wanted to tell all of you that I have an article published in the October, November issue of Stitch Magazine . I was contacted in early April of this year about doing the article. It is how to make the felted Christmas ball ornament with the chickadee . I had a broken wrist at the time so my friend hand knitted the pattern I converted for hand knitting. I had to take pictures and do a step by step instruction sheet. The article is three pages and I am quite tickled about it. And I was paid to do it. 🙂

So if I don’t post anything for awhile, I hope that this does not stop any of you from being creative and trying things on your own. It has been my passion for over 30 years and maybe I just need a little time to be creative at something else. And besides, I will have to go back to knitting since I have yarn in every closet, in bins in the garage, under the beds . But, I don’t have it stored in my cars anymore. hahahaha

The picture below has the penny quilted candle mat I made with the same chickadee on it.

Happy New Year to all of you. Stay Happy and Healthy !

Hi, my Editor (lol) informed me that there was a mistake  in my directions for the diamond in a diamond on my previous blog. I corrected it . When you cast on the racking handle will be down so needles don’t hit one another. Then when you start knitting the diamond, the racking handle will be up.  I hope no one tried this yet since it would really make you frustrated. So sorry  😦

I know a lot of people like short rowing and this is how this pumpkin is made. It was easy and it came out cute. I would like to make one in wool and felt it. I have had this pattern for over 40 years and never made it . The pattern is hand written and  believe it was a hand out at  my knit club many years ago. I can barely make out the writing to see how the stem was done and I had to guess at it.

This can be made on any machine but I used the passap.   If you use the passap you have to use the pushers under the needles in work and LX on front lock. To short row, just put the pushers out of work and back in work according to the short rowing instructions. I used two strands of 2/24 tension 5 on the passap. The pattern called for Trenzado yarn and tension 7. My finished size is 5 inches wide and almost 3 inches tall.  If you use the Bulky machine you will have a larger pumpkin. Using Trenzado on the standard machine would probably make a larger pumpkin than this one also.

You can see the directions in my drop box link below

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/rvxi87d30kifhpo/AACAYIpuY5kjA4DB2YXAvuzEa?dl=0

Simulated Seed Stitch Neckband

This design of shadow lace can be done on any machine with a ribber. It is so easy to do. The purl side ends up being the right side of the knitting. To do the diamond design you will be knitting on the bb of the passap or main bed for other machines. When you want the design to start, this is how it is knitted. Row 1-4 you will put 2 needles into work on the front bed(ribber) and knit 4 rows. Row 5-8-put one needle into work on the right and left of the first 2 needles in work on front bed(ribber) and knit 4 rows. Continue to increase one stitch on each side until you have 12 needles in work and you knitted the last 4 rows. There will be a total of 24 rows. Now transfer the diamond stitches on the needles to the back bed(main bed ) and knit 10 rows. Then start your design again. This is explained in the book Simply Passap Volume1, Number3 August 1989 and the article is by Pat Wentzel.on page 11.

I knitted this tunic in  Tamm’s Diamonte in a deep royal blue . I chose this yarn since the pattern in the simply passap book was done in the same yarn. I knitted a 1/2 inch rib and put in side slits following Sandy Cherry’s instructions on a sweater pattern I have of hers. I like the way it is knitted and also the way it looks . To do the slits, you knit your ribbing. When you are finished knitting the ribbing, bind off 7 stitches on each side. Knit the length of the opening you want(mine was 4 inches) and then cast on those 7 stitches that were bound off. when you are finished with the front or back, you will knit a 1 by 1 insert.

I did not know what I wanted for the neck until I remembered doing a simulated seed stitch neck band that was in the Jan Wold and Jan Mills passap book. I have the band posted in this blog on March 26, 2015. If you go to that posting you will find the directions in my drop box on how to do the seed stitch band. I sewed the neck band off instead of binding off around the gate pegs just in case it would not stretch. I followed the directions for the sewing off in the book called Casting on and Binding Off by Grace Bengelsdorf. It took me probably an hour to do it this way but I think it looks nice and it is not tight.

If anyone decides to try this you can email me for my notes. I used tension 6. Stitch gauge was 7.61 and 12 rows to the inch. Mast set at 4.5 I will give you the length I used and the rows to start the diamonds on.

I also tried something else and it worked. I DO NOT like a lot of bulk in the underarm area. That is one reason I don’t like drop shoulder sweaters. I made the armhole opening 9 inches . So when the sleeve is knitted it usually has an 18 inch measurement when you get to the underarm . I decided to knit the sweater with a 9 inch opening but I made the sleeve 16 inches at the widest part and I love how much skinnier the arm is. I am glad that I tried it. I had no trouble hanging the sweater and the sleeve on the same needles for joining.

I did another thing that I have not done before. I joined  the side and sleeve seams by hanging them on the machine and binding off. I like this look much better than trying to sew the purl side by hand.

I managed to knit one of my slipper socks and it fits!! I used pattern 1131 and technique  176. The bottom picture is the seam that has to be sewn up because these socks are knitted flat. It is not that perfect but I did not pick a pattern and try to match since I just wanted to see if I could do them. I like them but now I need to see if I can knit them in can cun on the passap. Can Cun is such an elegant looking yarn with a beautiful sheen to it. This looks more like a sock in wool. I usually knit 2 inches after the cuff but ended up with three inches instead.

I used 2 strands of 2/24. I knitted 64 rows of 1 by 1 rib on 72 stitches at tension 3..  . Then I transferred the stitches to the front bed and hung a hem on every other needle. I then knitted 20 rows of the pattern with which is actually 80 rows. I used tension 5..   I turned off the console and placed the pushers on the left 36 needles in non working position. I then worked on the right 36 needles with all the pushers in work under them.I had the lock set at LX. I short rowed down to 14 stitches and then back out again. When I finished the heel I turned the console back on and it said row 80. I pushed enter and it went through setting the locks and put me right back into the pattern on the right row. So now the challenge comes making the other sock since the heel and toe will be done on the left side of the bed. I think I have it figured out though. I will knit the first row of 81 to get to the left and turn off the console. When I turn it back on I will see if it says row 80. If it does, I will knit the first row with Sx to get to the left, pick up the yarn, change to LX and continue. Hope it works. haha

I had something funny happen to me while knitting this pattern. While knitting my sample, I went to knit one of the rows and the yarn did not pick up and knit and the locks went across with the yarn. It took a few minutes for me to realize it was happening where there was a  row of solid cranberry . Well, because it is a solid row, the second color does not knit but you still pick up the second color and go across to keep the pattern correct. So… a word of caution…..if you use this pattern and  have to rip out some rows, don’t forget to include the non knitted 2 rows in the rows to return.