Lego Knitting Machine

This is the most utterly incredible contraption I have ever seen--a motorized I-Cord knitter built entirely out of Legos. Somebody posted a link to the video in the GeekCraft group on Ravelry this morning, and I just had to blog it.

How to Design a Self-Striping Argyle Scarf

You may have seen my green-and-purple "Self-Striping Argyle Scarf". (Sorry, I don't know how to link the post with the picture, and Flickr is prejudiced against letting me blog the same pic twice.) Here's how to make your own with any self-patterning yarn you have on hand.

Swatching (yes, you must swatch):
Cast on a convenient number of stitches, a multiple of 4, minus one--I use 11, since it's easy to multiply by. Find the exact point in the color-pattern repeat where the working yarn meets the cast-on stitches; this is hard to explain but easy to point out. It might be "just before the purple meets the green", for example.

Mark this spot in the next color-pattern repeat, so that you have exactly one repeat marked off; a small hair barrette or alligator clip is good for this.

Now work in Mistake Rib--*k2, p2, rep from * across, end k2, p1. Try to keep your tension constant. When you've knitted up the single color-pattern repeat you had marked off, calculate the number of stitches it took. For your scarf, you'll cast on slightly less than half that number--the exact number of CO stitches can take some trial and error.

Example:
I swatched a yarn with 88 stitches to the color-pattern repeat. Casting on 43 stitches produces a scarf with the color stripes stacked vertically, no diagonal movement.

Casting on 39 stitches gives an extremely slanted diamond pattern--you may like this look, or you may not.

41 cast-on stitches changes the Mistake Rib pattern a bit; it now ends just k1. I found 41 stitches to give nicely proportioned argyle diamonds.

Obviously, this all depends on your specific yarn. If you have a very short pattern-repeat, you can experiment with casting on a whole repeat's worth of stitches, 1.5 repeats, or even two. (Let me know how it turns out.) Very long pattern-repeats, such as are found in Kauni or Noro yarns--don't even bother. The pattern depends on having at least two different colors in every row.

You can try this technique in ordinary 2x2 rib, of course; I use Mistake Rib because it doesn't gather in as much, so you can see the whole argyle pattern, and also because I like the way the purl-bumps in Mistake Rib break up pooling and make the colors "sparkle".

Guideposts Surprise Sweater

This is the "Guideposts Surprise Sweater" I've been working on for a while--it's based on the Classic T-Top Sweater pattern from Guideposts magazine's Knit for Kids Project, altered to work completely in the round. I made the smallest size, since this was a test run. Here's the basic instructions:

Cast on twice the number of stitches the pattern lists for the size you want. Work in garter stitch for 10 rows. Work in stockinette to appropriate length. Place end-of-round marker, and 4 other markers--two of them 1 stitch away from end-of-round marker. The other two should each be 1 stitch away from the exact middle of the round.

Work in garter stitch (which, in the round, is "knit 1 row, purl 1 row"), increasing 1 stitch on both sides of each marked stitch every other row for a total of 8 sts increased every 2 rows. You must use mirrored e-loop or lifted-stitch increases--knit-front-and-back is too one-directional and produces a badly twisted sweater.

To rephrase the above increase instructions, in hopes that my readers can figure out what I mean one way or the other: On knit rows only or on purl rows only--your choice--do two mirrored increases by each marker except the end-of-round marker. One increase on either side of the marker.

When the garter-stitch portion of the sweater is large enough for the size you're knitting, bind off beginning at end-of-round marker. Cut yarn. The sweater will now look something like this:



Fold the garter-stitch portion so it looks like the picture at the top of this post. With separate pieces of yarn, sew up shoulder seams. Weave in all ends.

Note: If some enterprising seam-hater wants to try three-needle bindoff on the shoulders, be my guest. Personally, I think it's impossible to do without breaking and rejoining the yarn way too much.

Itty Bitty Fire Brigade

see more crazy cat pics

MacGyver Returns

Okay, this is the YouTube recording of a commercial that Richard Dean Anderson (aka MacGyver) did for MasterCard a few years back. Since I've been watching MacGyver lately, I just thought it was hilarious!

By the way, I found it from Ravelry, in the brand-new What Would Mac Do? group. Which, no, I didn't start--just suggested that somebody else should.

Banana Berry Sock

Banana Berry sock
Originally uploaded by telcontar328

This is my first sock. My friend Hilary (FreezerFairy) adapted the pattern for worsted-weight yarn--it worked perfectly, except that the Red Heart Super Saver really chews up my feet! So I'm doing another one, with the foot in Bernat Super Value (much cuddlier), and just the cuff in RH SS. No photo yet, though.

I also have to use a stretchier bind-off on this next one. I can barely get the pictured sock on! But Vicki (SimpleKnits) and Anita (TheFiberArtist) both suggested stretchy bind-offs, so I'm good to go.

The cuff is so long because I like knee socks--while I have short legs, they're so thick that the cuff gets significantly shorter when I put it on!

Knitting Scout Badges

Holy cat, I haven't blogged in almost a month! Well, I've had better things to do, LOL--mostly Ravelry. Not to mention my computer was down for ages.

Did you notice my Knitting Scout badges, right under my profile? Want some of your own? Here's the link!

I'm going to insert a couple of the badges I haven't earned yet in this post and talk a little about them.



(Whoa, that's large.) To the left, you see the MacGyver Level III badge, which requires the recipient to "demonstrate clever use of a knitting tool in a non-knitting-related scenario working towards the Greater Good." Still working on that.







This next one is the "I've Knit Items With No Conceivable Practical Application". As you can see, it features a three-legged pair of tights; another example, mentioned on Ravelry, is felted jellyfish. I probably shouldn't be working toward this one, but... well, let's just say I like a challenge. As demonstrated by my first two MacGyver badges, I can come up with a use--not necessarily a practical use--for almost anything. So knitting something useless in my own estimation could get pretty stiff.