Tuesday, March 29, 2011

Crochet New Project

I got another crocheted shawl in the making. Another triangle shawl that worked from the top down. This shawl really make me happy because it turned out exactly like the way I imagined it to be. The lacy and the solid sections worked like the way I planned it. It will become a stunning shawl.



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Monday, March 21, 2011

Tutorial: easier way to make p2tog tbl for tight knitter

When I made Narnia, one of the stitch that is difficult for me to make was p2tog tbl (purl 2 together through the back loops). It was because I am a tight knitter. After some failed attemps to do this stitch repeatedly, in the end I used the 2 steps method. If you are a tight knitter like me, you might want to try this method:

1. Slip 2 stitches purlwise from left needle to right needle.




2. Reinsert the left needle along side the right one so both needles come out side by side, points together. Remove the right needle.



3. You have twisted the stitches just like below picture. All you have to do is just purl them off like normal p2tog.




See, easier to do, just takes longer because there are two steps. Try it yourself!

Wednesday, March 16, 2011

Another Narnia Shawl

Yup, I made another Narnia. This time I used DK weight yarn to knit Narnia. Since I got total 400 m and didn’t want to waste the yarn, I took a risk to add one more repeat to make the shawl bigger. Guess what? I run out of yarn! I didn’t have enough yarn to do the bind-off. I didn’t want to waste money to buy another skein just so I could use a few meter from it. So, I did some adjustment for the bind-off. Instead using 5-chain, I used only 4-chain, and during blocking, instead of putting the needles on the 2 middle loops, I only put 1 needle in 1 of those middle loops. I think I like the slightly curvy effect.

This time, I managed to get the beauty of this shawl perfectly.












Pattern: Narnia ShawlMaterials: DK weight yarn 100% merino (2290 961 70616), 100g/200 m per skein in gray colorway.
Qty: 2 x 100 gram (200 m/100 gram, 320 m total).
Needles: Addi lace 3.50 mm
Start Date: 27 Feb 2011
Finish Date: 9 Mar 2011
Finished size: About 52” wide by 24” deep

Sunday, March 13, 2011

Gathering Leaves Shawl in Action

Finally I managed to take photo of Gathering Shawl on me. When I wanted to published this shawl last year, I never had opportunity to take a modeled picture. In the end I asked Lauri to model it for me. Although she did a good job, I always wanted to take model it myself as this is my favorite shawl. I love the process of crocheting it, love the yarn and love the result.

I managed to take many nice photos, but these two are my favorite. I really like the bottom photo.



Thursday, March 10, 2011

Cassandra as A Featured Pattern in Ravelry

Oh look, my Cassandra shawl pattern was picked as a featured pattern in Ravelry. As the result she was rank 5 of "The most active recently published designs" category in Ravelry (see the circle). No 1 - 4 are free patterns. So, it's quite an accomplishment as a paid pattern to be able to sit in no 5.



Actually this is the second time my pattern was selected as featured pattern. The first time was 2 year ago, they picked my Dahlia Top Pattern.

Sunday, March 06, 2011

Narnia Knitting Shawl Pattern for Sale

Narnia is a triangular shawl worked from the top down. This shawl was quite challenging for me as I learnt some new stitches that are quite a handful to do. This shawl is all about texture. It reminds me of the wood carving in my grandparents’ wardrobe, and I always imagine that wardrobe was the same wardrobe in the The Chronicles of Narnia story.

I used worsted weight yarn for this pattern to make the texture pop out. As a result, not only is this shawl beautiful to look but it is very functional.

As usual pattern includes charts and written directions. I also include a picture tutorial of how to make the crochet bind-off, and tips on how to make a larger shawl and calculate the yardage needed.







Technical Editor: Chaitanya Muralidhara

Yardage:
Fingering weight: 290 m (319 yards)
DK weight: 300 m (330 yards)
Worsted weight: 310 m (341 yards). The sample was made using worsted weight yarn.

Needle: Fingering weight: 3.25 mm (US 3)
DK weight: 3.50 mm (US 4)
Worsted weight: 3.75 mm (US 5)

Hook (optional):
For BO 3.5 mm (E)
For making nupp 3.0 mm (D)

Notions: Waste yarn for provisional cast-on, stitch markers.

Finished Size (aggressive blocking):
Fingering weight: 48” wide by 22” deep
DK weight: 50” wide by 23” deep
Worsted weight: 52” wide by 24” deep

Level: Advanced

All posts about this projects: click here.

How to Buy: Pattern is 11 pages in PDF includes charts and written directions. Payment by Paypal and delivery by Ravelry, no accounts required. Credit cards accepted.

USD 6.00,-

add to cart

Or you can buy the e-book. Consist of 4 patterns: Bella, Metropolitan, Poison Ivy and Narnia Shawls.

USD 15.00,-

add to cart

Correction:

Row 12 of chart shows “p2togtbl” symbol following a ptbl. There shouldn’t be a p2togtbl, it should just be a purl stitch. The written direction is correct

Row 37: there is missing cross 2 L on the chart. The written direction is correct.

Row 79: it should said lcd not special sts

Saturday, March 05, 2011

FO: Narnia Shawl

After showing a sneak peak of my new shawl in my last post, here is the finished shawl!

Photobucket

This was my first experience using worsted weight yarn to knit a shawl. I must say that I really like the result. Too bad that I don’t have enough yarn to make it bigger. I learned a few new stitches that I never did before, such as p tbl and p2tog tbl. These stitches are quite handful to do, esspecially for tight knitter like me. Luckily I used Addi lace needle with its pointed tip. Eventhough I used Addi Lace, in order to make p2tog tbl, I still needed to use the 2 steps method. The one that have to move the stitches to the right needle first and twisting it back to the left needle before p2tog.

Photobucket

Anyway, here are the important details:

Pattern: Narnia Shawl
Source: here
Materials: Worsted weight yarn 100% merino (2078224A18069), 100g/160 m per skein in orange colorway.
Qty: 2 x 100 gram (160 m/100 gram, 320 m total). I had about 10 m leftover.
Needles: Addi lace 4.0 mm (but I knit very tightly until my finger hurt)
Start Date: 19 Feb 2011
Finish Date: 24 Feb 2011
Finished size: About 52" wide by 24" deep