Eye Candy

Bangle Cozies

Now that I have fully recovered from the Christmas sock-knitting mayhem and an early January birthday deadline, I think that it is about time to share this little whimsy with you. For lack of any stellar ideas for my sister's Christmas gift this year, I turned to that beloved of all gift-giving sources: knitting. I needed a small project that would be cute, yet wearable in the warm Southern California weather. The result looked something like this:


I have seen pictures of knit-covered bangles before, but as such things rarely get bookmarked, I decided that I would whip up a few of my own design. After some experimentation with yarns and stitch patterns, I finally came up with what you see below--a seed-stitch bangle and a garter-stitch bangle. Two simple, yet sophisticated accessories.


I am increasingly amazed by the range of shapes you can create ad hoc, given a little patience and a healthy dose of frogging. So when I start knitting toilet paper roll covers, please stop me. My husband will appreciate it.

Free Pattern: Case In Point

I love to knit with double points, which means that I have a number of sets in a range of sizes. With such a large collection, it soon became apparent that I needed a practical way of storing and organizing all of them. Being a thrifty knitter, I set out to knit my own double point case and this pattern is the result of that effort.

Case In Point is a knitted version of a rolled double point case, with seven pockets in varying sizes. It can comfortably store 10 sets of dpns; I usually have a few sets of socks needles and other dpns up to size 11 in mine. While this version is knitted out of Schoeller + Stahl Ole, any sport weight yarn in a sturdy wool or cotton will suffice.


Gauge: 24 stitches = 4”, 36 rows = 4” in stockinette
Yarn: Schoeller + Stahl Ole (sport weight cotton-wool blend, 50 g/ball)
2 balls pink (MC), 1 ball off-white (CC)
Needles: US #5, straights and double points

ABBREVIATIONS
LK2tog: Lift corresponding stitch from “case body”, place on left needle. Knit together with 1 “pocket” stitch.
LEK2tog: Lift stitch from “case body” inner panel edge (next to seed stitch border), place on left needle. Knit together with 1 “pocket” stitch.

CASE BODY
In main color, CO 73 st. Work 5 rows in seed stitch. (You can run a lifeline through the stitches at this point, which will aid in picking up the pocket stitches later).
Main pattern:
Row 1: K1, P1, K1, P1, K across to last 4 stitches, K1, P1, K1, P1
Row 2 and all even rows: P1, K1, P1, K1, P across to last 4 stitches, P1, K1, P1, K1
Row 3: K1, P1, K1, P1, K1, [K3, P1] to last 8 stitches, K5, P1, K1, P1
Row 5: Repeat row 1
Row 7: K1, P1, K1, P1, K2, [P1, K3] to last 7 stitches, P1, K3, P1, K1, P1
Work these 8 rows for a total of 8 repeats of the overall pattern.
Work 5 rows in seed stitch. Bind off, weave in ends.

POCKETS
Pick up 65 st on WS on bottom edge of case body, just above seed stitch border and between side seed stitch borders. Each pocket stitch will correspond to one case body stitch (excluding seed stitch border). With contrast color, work pockets:
Row 1: LEK2tog, K12, LK2tog, K11, LK2tog, K9, LK2tog, K9, LK2tog, K7, LK2tog, K5, LK2tog, K4, LEK2tog
Row 2: Purl
Repeat these 2 rows 21 times.
Row 43: LEK2tog, [K1, P1] 6 times, LK2tog, P1, [K1, P1] 5 times, LK2tog, P1, [K1, P1] 4 times, LK2tog, P1, [K1, P1] 4 times, LK2tog, P1, [K1, P1] 3 times, LK2tog, P1, [K1, P1] 2 times, LK2tog, [P1, K1] 2 times, LEK2tog
Row 44: P1, [K1, P1] to end
Repeat these 2 rows once.
Bind off, weave in ends.

TIE
With contrast color, work 30 inches of 3 stitch I-cord. Sew middle of I-cord to large pocket end of case body, halfway up the seed stitch border.


Questions or errata? Contact me at brineydeepdesigns_at_gmail_dot_com!

Blog.v3

I have been thinking a lot lately about this blog and what content I want to present here. The internet is full of wonderful knitting blogs and I feel that my contributions to this community have been mediocre thus far. 'She Knits It' simply lacks focus as a knitting blog and, despite being an updated version of my first knitting blog, it never really fit.

These concerns were prompted by my desire to share some of my patterns with other knitters. They are not new ideas, but have gained momentum in the recent week as I am starting to jot down notes for my first pattern. I was in the midst of this writing when a Ravelry user asked if I was going to write up something for a previous, unrelated project. I was completely flattered that someone expressed interest in the things that I make and decided right then to take steps toward building a better blog and putting out my own patterns. So thank you ForestStryfe for being my spark.

And now, may I present Briney Deep Designs.

Goodbye November: Project Update

So the DH's first sweater is finished and I HATE it! The chest is not wide enough, which consequently makes the body to short when it stretches to fit. I also do not like the saddle shoulder look on him. Needless to say, I haven't touched it since finishing the neckline over Thanksgiving. When I have the heart, I will rip out the yoke, adjust the body, and make a raglan out of it. Then we will both be happy to show it in public.


So while ignoring the sweater, I have been working on a few smaller projects. I finished the Jaywalkers over the weekend and I think that they turned out nicely, thank you very much. I finally got them onto some KP Options and had no more drama with my DPNs. Whew! Also, I have to note that I don't understand the obsession over Socks That Rock. My Jaywalkers were done in the Fred Flintstone colorway, and while the yarn was quite nice to work with, it didn't live up to the hype. Still, a nice FO.


Another project that I have been working on is the Twist scarf from "Knitting New Scarves" by Lynne Barr. This book is amazing, with some intriguing architecture made into scarves; I want to knit half of the projects just to see how the 3D effect is acheived. For the first try, I settled on Twist, which turned out to be an ingeniously constructed pattern. It was also the perfect project to use up the last half of my handspun (original seen in the Two-Tone Shrug). I love how everything is progressing!


I am also working on a pair of Thudjas at the moment because I seem to have a strong case of Startitis. I blame Ravelry. Hopefully this will become a full-blown case of Finishitis before Christmas rolls around. One can only hope...

NaKniSweMo

Did you know I am doing NaKniSweMo? You might have seen the button on the right side of the page, but unless you are on Ravelry, you haven't seen my project yet! Well here it is:


Great, so what is it? For my sweater challenge, I have decided to knit my first Elizabeth Zimmerman pattern, the Classic 'Brooks' Sweater. And because I recently got married, this sweater is for my new husband--his first handknit sweater. I'm using Knitpicks Swish, which is a superwash Merino (the DH has to prove that he's not going to throw the sweater in the washer before he gets non-superwash). The yarn is fabulous to work with and I'm really liking how the sweater is shaping up! I hope the DH likes it too!

Besides the sweater, I have a few smaller projects that I am working on, mainly because I don't have the attention span to work on a sweater full-time. One side project is a pair of Jaywalkers, which have been traveling everywhere with me (including the volleyball game pictured below). I would really like to get them done, so I can move onto some holiday knitting. I'm on the foot of the second sock, so there is not much more to do!


I also knit up a fun little whimsy last week--a pear cozy. There is an apple cozy pattern floating around the internets and, as I only had pears, I adapted it to fit. The cozy has already made several appearances and gotten a few laughs and smiles. I think that it is super cute (and quick useful to protect my pears from bruising)!


I'm really looking forward to some time off at Thanksgiving, which will certainly be used for knitting. With the extra time, I will hopefully be able to finish this sweater in time!

The Tale of Two Needles

What an adventure! Between all of the sight-seeing, eating, and sleeping I did on my honeymoon, I had surprisingly little time to knit my Jaywalkers. Of course, for most of the trip, I did not have anything to knit with! Let's just say that I'm lucky to have returned from Europe with half of a sock.

I was doing really well at the beginning; I completed most of the cuff during the bus ride to Chicago O'Hare and even managed to start the heel before falling asleep on our overnight plane to London. But then, Heathrow happened. Apparently, airport security in Europe is more strict, especially about knitting needles. And Knitpicks Options DPNs don't exactly look harmless. So there went TWO sets of Options and all my stitches were left to wander free in my bag.

Progress on the specimen before leaving O'Hare

Luckily, I spotted 2 yarn shops in Siena, and the proprietress of one (who was definitely smoking inside her shop) spoke enough English to sell me size 2.5mm needles. Of course, they were straight needles. Great. Still, I was able to pick up all of my stitches and save my knitting. I even managed to turn the heal on our train ride from Siena.

The specimen on one straight needle

But trying to work in the round on straights, after turning the heel, proved to be my downfall. I think that I finished 3 rounds, and I will be lucky if I haven't connected the two sides. Sigh. And when my straights bend and poked a hole in my travel bag, I called it quits. So I packed the knitting in my checked luggage, and am now on the hunt for some new DPNs now that I am stateside again.

But then again, I have a few other things that I can work (that I actually have needles for) now that I am home.