January 2017

Last year felt a bit like treading water skills wise, so this year I'm going to learn all the new things. ONWARD!

29/01/2017

Not the Knitting

I like to think I'm pretty good at knitting, which is probably why whenever I do a pattern it's not the knitting it that takes the time and puts me off, it's the writing up. Words are hard and they take extra long to get out sometimes.

That's why my keyring buddy pattern is only out today, despite being worked out before Christmas. It's another blank doll type pattern easily adjustable for any fandom. For example, Avengers...

20/01/2017

Cast On Magic

I've been working on designs for keyring buddies – small dolls with little loops on their arms and legs so they can hold onto a hoop. Here is a very technical diagram of the concept that I drew in Paint.

The body is a small pouch knitted in the round. I've been closing the top edge seamlessly using Kitchener stitch and closing the bottom edge with effort (provisional cast-on, picked up the stitches later, grafted them as for the top edge). I've been in the market for a NEW TECHNIQUE to make it easier.

I decided a good place to start looking for seamless cast-ons would be in patterns for toe-up socks. After all I first found out about Kitchener stitch as a way to finish cuff-down socks. The very first result I came across was for the Magic Cast-On Method. It's easy to get the hang of, quick to do and looks neat from both sides. In other words, it's perfect. On the whole this search was a lot less work than I was expecting it to be.

I've done a brief rundown of the method here for my own amusement.