Dice Roll Cap: Truly Random Stripes

I was going through my stash on New Year's Eve and decided there were way too many scraps. I keep a small basket with odds and ends in it for adding stripes to things, provisional cast ons, etc., but didn't think it would necessarily work nicely into an even and predictable pattern.

While reading through The Opinionated Knitter I found a section where Meg Swansen talks about her mother creating tams from random colors. Essentially, EZ would make a pile of light colored yarn and a pile of dark colored yarn and randomly pick from each pile and knit one stripe of each yarn to create a tam. Meg describes her mother as being very dedicated to being truly random when closing her eyes and selecting the next yarn to be knitted.

I decided I'm not good at closing my eyes and randomly selecting a yarn. I find myself cheating in the back of my mind. To avoid this, I decided to make my project into a game.

I selected six yarns from my stash and assigned each one a number. I even made a chart to keep myself honest. I then rolled a die and wrote the numbers down. Whatever number was chosen was the yarn to be knitted. If the number rolled more than once, then I knitted that number again. One number (number 2) rolled once very early, but then didn't roll again until 20 rolls later. Number three (red) kept rolling over and over and has become a very vibrant stripe in the hat.

I chose to do a simple cap, but to add a little bit of excitement to it. Casting on 100 stitches and knitting three inches of K1P1 ribbing, when I got to the stockinette portion of the cap, I added a slipped stitch every ten stitches. This has added regular ridges on my otherwise very random cap. I haven't QUITE decided how I'm going to do the decreases, but I'm looking forward to the challenge.

Oh! I really don't know who I'm going to give this hat to. I'm certainly not going to wear it. The one person who has seen it so far thinks it's "neat," but I'm not sure that means it's attractive.

Market Bag

I wanted to create a market bag for a friend who really enjoys farmers' markets. I like some of the patterns I saw, but wanted to create one from scratch. What you'll see here is what I did, obviously you can change it to suit your needs.

Yarn:
Lily Sugar 'n' Cream

Needles:
US#9 set of 5 double-pointed needles, US#9 and US#10 circular needles.

Gauge:
Approximately 18st over 4 inches on US#9 in stockinette

BASE:
On three US#9 DPN, cast on 9 stitches (3 per needle).

Row 1: Knit around.
Row 2: (KFB, KFB, K1) three times (15 stitches)
Row 3: Knit
Row 4: *K1 (KFB) three times, K1, repeat from * to end of round (24 sts)
Row 5: Knit
Row 6: *K1 (KFB) six times K1, repeat from * to end of round (42 sts)
Row 7: Knit
Row 8: K1, KFB, K to last three st on needle, KFB, K2, repeat for next two needles (48 sts)
Row 9: Knit
Row 10: Repeat Row 8 (54 st)
Rows 11- 18: Repeat rows 7 and 8 until there are 78 stitches on the needles.
Row 19: Knit
Row 20: Purl

BODY:
Switch to US#10 circular needle.

Row 1 of body: Knit
Row 2: YO, K2, to the end.
Row 3: Knit

Repeat rows 2 and 3 for approximately 11 inches (or to desired length).

TOP:

Row 1 of top: Knit
Switch to four, US#9 DPN
Needle 1: 19 sts
Needle 2: 20 sts.
Needle 3: 19 sts.
Needle 4: 20 sts.

Decrease row: (K8, K2tog, K9, K2tog, K16, K2tog) twice. There should now be 18 sts on each of the four DPNs

Next two rows: Knit
Next row: Purl
Next four rows: Knit

STRAPS:

Row 1 of straps: K12, P9, K6, P9, K12, P9, K6, P9
Row 2: Knit
Row 3: Repeat row 1
Row 4: BO12, K9 and hold on first DPN, BO6, K9 and hold on second DPN, BO12, K9 and hold on third DPN, BO6, K9 on fourth DPN.

Starting with the 9 stitches on the fourth DPN, knit every row until desired length of strap (the straps on the original are about 20 inches long). Once the first strap is to desired length, use a three-needle bind off to knit the 9 stitches on the DPN number four to the 9 stitches on DPN number one. Break yarn and weave in end.

Join the yarn and knit the second strap starting with the stiches on DPN number two. Knit to desired length and use a three-needle bind off to join the strap to the nine stitches on DPN number three. Break yarn and weave in end.

FINISHING:

There may be some places where the stiches seem loose around the top. If this is the case for you, use duplicate stitches to reinforce any "weak" areas on the bag.

The bag itself is very stretchy. I was able to roll up a beach towel and put it in the bag. You'll notice the bag will become very long when heavy objects are placed in it. This may be a reason to make your straps shorter than the ones I created. You may want the body of your bag to also be shorter.

Leftover Small Wallet

Leftovers: Small Wallet
Designed by: tclarkeee@gmail.com

This project is another “leftover” project that will have different results depending on the yarns and needles you use.

Materials
• Crystal Palace Yarns Taos (color 15)
• US 7 Circular Needle (or needle to suit yarn)
• Darning Needle





Pattern
Gauge is approximately 6 sts per inch in stockinette stitch (in my version)
CO 33 st
FLAP:
Row 1: (RS)*K1, P1* repeat from * to end (seed stitch)
Row 2: *K1, P1 * repeat from * to end (seed stitch)
Continue for a total of 4 rows ending in RS row.
Row 5: (RS) K1, P1, K1, K27, K1, P1, K1
Row 6: K1, P1, K1, P27, K1, P1, K1
Repeat rows 5&6 until the work measures three inches from the CO edge. Knit next four rows as Rows 1-2 ending in a WS row.
POUCH:
Keeping flap on needles, CO 30 additional stitches (63sts)
Row1: K1, P1, K1, K27, *K1, P1 repeat from * twice more, K24, K1, P1, K1, join to knit in the round.
Row 2: P1, K1, P1, K27, *P1, K1 repeat from * twice more, K24, P1, K1, P1
Row 3: K1, P1, K1, K27, *K1, P1 repeat from * twice more, K24, K1, P1, K1
Repeat rows 2-3 until piece measures about 7 ½ inches from original CO
Knit the next 3 rows in seed stitch all the way around. Knit the last row. BO and sew bottom shut, or graft bottom to graft, you will have to K2tog once in the last three rows..
INSIDE:
If the inside lip of the pouch does not lay flat, PU stitches along edge and knit seed or garter stitch for three rows, then BO.

Leftover Bag Pattern

Leftovers Gift Bag
Designed By: tclarkeee@gmail.com

This was designed as a quick improvisation using some leftover yarn in my stash. I knew I didn’t have enough to do a large project, but I really didn’t like not having a destiny for this quarter ball of yarn.
I used Fiesta Yarns Kokopelli on size 8 needles, but it’s really a gaugeless project. The length of the finished piece will depend on how much yarn you have. If you went super long, you might even be able to fit a bottle of wine in the bag. For color variation you could easily use several yarns of similar weight to create a striped or patterned bag.

Materials:
• Size 8 circular needles (or needles appropriate for your yarn)
• Leftover yarn from your stash
• Darning needle

Directions:
CO 40 sts
Row 1: K2, P2 to end, join, place marker
Knit Row 1 for about 1 ½ inches.
Eyelets: K2, YO, P2tog to end
Knit the body in stockinette stitch until desired length (I went for about five or six inches)
BO, sew bottom together
Finish by stringing braided, bunched, or even an i-cord through the eyelets.

Pretty Close: Math Worked!

A few months ago I began work on a triangle shawl for a friend who was visiting from out of town. I asked a friend of mine at work--a math teacher--to project how large the piece would be when finished given the area of the piece after one ball of yarn. The estimation was that it would be about 28" from tip to shoulder and 48.5" from tip to top across the shoulders. In the end, the finished product measures 33" from tip to shoulder and 46" from tip to tip across the shoulders.

I think my friend's math was dead on given the measurements I had originally given to him. Also, he was figuring for a triangle, but he piece isn't a true triangle. There's and arc shape at the shoulders so it was slightly off.

I'm pretty happy with the finished product. I just hope it's as large as my friend had hoped for. It's kind of dainty for a wrap/shawl, so we'll have to see how she decides to wear it. If it's not large enough, then we may be on Ravelry trying to barter for another ball.

As soon as I get some better pictures, I'll post the actual pattern.

Back to those Slippers

Back in March, I wrote a post about an old pattern resurrected. I worked on them for a few weeks and was very pleased with the end result: a pair of vintage slippers to fit my roommate's much larger feet! I had stated in my original post that I was using the gauge of the slippers and some foot measurements to determine the size of the slippers for his adult foot compared to the original very small pattern.

Success! If you want an example of how gauge can be your friend, this is it. While gauge can be a very confusing concept (especially when it seems you just can't match the gauge on a pattern), I think this application of it really helped to consolidate in my mind how important it is to successful knitting. And since my last TWO posts have been about knitting math, this post fits in nicely with something that's been on my mind lately.

I didn't finish the slippers until April, so they're tucked away in his sock drawer until cooler weather makes its way back to upstate New York, but I'm confident they have passed the test. Now I need to hold on to the pattern for later this summer and make a set for his dad.

QUESTION TO ANYONE WHO READS THIS BLOG: I know an copyrighted, original pattern should not be posted on a website as it would conflict with copyright laws. What if my pattern took a copyrighted pattern and modified it to another size? For example, the original knitted slippers knitted up a child's slipper. The slippers I knitted are a larger size of that slipper. Can I post my version of the pattern so others could benefit from it?

Math Helps... if you can measure...

I think my math might be off... we'll see. I mean the math is right, but I think I may have measured wrong.

KNIT KNIT KNIT KNIT KNIT....