Watercress Leaves pooling stole

Would you like another pooling pattern? I bound this off last night. It was so much fun to work on. You may recognize the leaves from the Flower Power Stole — the were a little lost in that one, and I loved them so much that I thought they deserved their own full pattern. This one's going to Teri, who donated the gorgeous bags to our Ride2Survive cancer fundraiser — thank you so much, Teri!

The yarn is Wollmeise 100% merino, and the colourway is called Bob. The colour is described as:
Green, yellow and orange like nasturtium (literally "nose-twister" or "nose-tweaker"), as a common name, refers to a genus of flowering plants.

Wikipedia's comment: The name Nasturtium comes from the Latin nasus tortus, meaning "twisted nose", in reference to the effect on the nasal passages of eating the plants.

As an aside: I did think about calling this the Twisted Nose pooling stole, but then I realized that people probably wouldn't want to knit something with that name.

Note: If you're new to the pooling technique, please read the first pattern in this series to get a good idea of how to figure out where your yarn will pool. Also, if you need any additional support, there's now a Pooled Knits discussion group on Ravelry (registration required), which has quite a few people who are experimenting with different pooling projects, and are happy to help out with beginners to this technique. 


Watercress Leaves pooling stole

Using an "e" or backwards loop cast-on, cast on 83 stitches onto a US7 needle. Please see my previous posts about figuring out your own "magic number" to cast on, depending on your tension on the needles you've chosen.

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Start working with the chart below. The stitches in orange are your garter edging. My edging had 2 edge stitches on either side (4 total), but your edging will be different depending on your stitch tension, so please add or subtract stitches as you need to.

(Click on the chart to get it in a larger, more printable size.)

Jan 19, 2021 - / is k2tog (knit 2 together).

End with a Row 1 or Row 7 (to close off a leaf tip).

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Bind off very loosely using a sewn bindoff, to maintain the pooling.

Block and pin out the stole.

True Love pooling stole pattern

You've already seen the auction for this stole -- now here's the pattern! (And there are still two more days to bid on it!)

Note: If you're new to the pooling technique, please read the first pattern in this series to get a good idea of how to figure out where your yarn will pool. Also, check out this thread on Ravelry, where people are sharing their pooling projects and tips.

This pattern is a little different from my previous ones because I did a little bit of needle juggling to get the candleflame edging to work out properly. There's also going to be a kitchener join, while pooling. (If you know how to do the Kitchener stitch, it's just a wee bit fussier than the sewn bindoff.) You'll be able to tackle this pattern if you've done previous pooling projects and know what your gauge is and which needles you'll need to get gauge.

Using an "e" or backwards loop cast-on, cast on 87 stitches onto a US7 needle. Please see my previous posts about figuring out your own "magic number" to cast on, depending on your tension on the needles you've chosen.

Knit one row. (Note: this line was added on May 23, 2010.)

Start working with the candleflame edging chart below. (Note: There are no garter rows on this pattern as the first few rows are in "reversed" garter.) Click on the chart to get a larger version, or download the edging chart PDF.

The stitches in yellow are the edges and the stitches in white are the centre repeat of the candleflames. Follow the yellow stitches, then do five repeats of the candleflames (in white), then the final yellow stitches.

If you need to add more stitches to keep the colours pooled, add garter edge stitches to each edge. If you need to subtract stitches to maintain colour pooling, try going down a needle size. I had to go down a needle size (to a US6) for the 87 stitches in the edging.

Row 30 (back): K2, purl to last two stitches, K2
Row 31 (front): Knit all stitches
Row 32 (back): Knit all stitches (will be a row of purls on front of work)
Row 33 (front): Knit all stitches
Row 34 (back): Knit all stitches, decreasing 4 stitches evenly across the row (K2tog every 15 stitches works well), to 83 stitches total. If you went to a size smaller needle for the edging, try going up one needle size for the body chart.

After Row 34, start with row 1 of the body chart below. Click on the chart to get a larger version, or download the body chart PDF. (The purple squares are only colour-coded to show you the "flow" of the pattern; you will purl or knit them as indicated.)

Do the first 16 stitches (this is the right ripple edging). Repeat the 13 stitches in blue 4 times (these are the flames/ribbons in the middle), then continue to the 16 stitches of the left ripple edging.

For my Wollmeise 100% merino yarn, there were 18 repeats of this chart. If you're using the same yarn, you may want to stop at row 11 of your 17th repeat until the next step is done. (I only had about 3 yards of yarn left over; it was a bit of a squeaky finish.)

Now, here comes the tricky part.

Knit another edging piece. I cast on from the other end of my working ball of yarn and used another set of needles.

After you've knit your second edging:

Row 30 (back): K2, purl to last two stitches, K2
Row 31 (front): Knit all stitches
Row 32 (back): Knit all stitches, decreasing 3 stitches evenly across the row (K2tog every 20 stitches works well), to 84 stitches total. (This will be a purl row across the front of the work.)

When you've finished knitting the second candleflame edging, take a look at your working ball of yarn.

If you think you have enough yarn to do an 18th repeat of the body chart, go for it. For your final repeat of the body chart, end with a row 11.

Knit one row (will be a row of purls on the front of the work).

Now you'll put the two pieces together and join them with a Kitchener stitch, while maintaining the pooling colours. (Knitty Kitchener tutorial here, and video demonstrations here.) This kitchenered row will become the knit row between the purl rows.

Block and pin out the stole. Wear with pride because you've deciphered my pattern.


Pattern notes:
I designed this pattern and knit this stole to fundraise for the Canadian Cancer Society. I wanted to create something that evokes strength, beauty and the power of each of our lives.

The candleflames at the ends of the stole serve as symbols of individual lives, and the woven lace motif in the body of the stole speaks to how all of our lives are braided together. There’s a ripple-like lace at the edges, which speaks to me of how all of our lives can have ripple effects well beyond our immediate experience.

The body of the stole reminds me of smoke from the candle flames, and also contains hearts in it -- an unintentional creation, but completely appropriate to the True Love colourway.

If you like it, I'd ask you to donate to the Canadian Cancer Society or, once our husbands' fundraiser is over in a few weeks, to your local cancer charity.

Flower Power pooling stole

I took on the challenge of designing a new pattern from scratch for the Ravelympics. What do you think?


(Note: If you're new to the pooling technique, please read the first pattern in this series to get a good idea of how to figure out where your yarn will pool.)

Using an "e" or backwards loop cast-on, cast on 84 stitches onto a US7 needle. Please see my previous posts about figuring out your own "magic number" to cast on, depending on your tension on the needles you've chosen.

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Start working with the charts below. The stitches in yellow are your garter edging. My edging had 2 edge stitches on either side (4 total), but your edging will be different depending on your stitch tension, so please add or subtract stitches as you need to.



(Click on the charts to get them in a larger, more printable size, or download a PDF with the charts from google docs.)

There are five charts. The only difference between the charts is the bead placement — depending on where you want to place the beads in your stole. I did randomly coloured bead-flowers for the flowers in the first three repeats, then solid bead-flowers, randomly placed in the body of the stole. (Chart 1, then chart 2, then chart 1 again.)

As a bonus: the solid bead-flowers look like single Olympic rings, which was a rather nice piece of synchronicity, as this was also my Knitting Olympics project.



End with a Row 1.

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Bind off very loosely using a sewn bindoff, to maintain the pooling.

Block and pin out the stole.

recipe for warm hands

Ta da! They're done and stored in my car.


Pattern: my own; see below for instructions
Yarn: Knit Picks Imagination; colour Pixie Dust; used 1 skein (50g; 219 yds) with only a few yards leftover
Needles: 2.5mm dpns
Notes: Not a lot of yarn leftover. Perfect project for 50g of fingering yarn.

Since these fit a lot better than my first attempt at sock yarn mittens, I thought that I should write it all down so that I don't forget. The mitten & thumb tip decrease is adapted from the Round Toe in Nancy Bush's Knitting Vintage Socks. This results in mittens that can be worn on either hand. As with any sock toe, feel free to substitute your own favourite mitten tip.

These instructions have NOT been test knit! You have been warned.

My gauge: 8 sts/inch on 2.5mm dpns

My mitten's finished size: 10.25" long from bottom of cuff to mitten tip (8" long excluding cuff), 8" diameter, thumb is 2.25" long. If you want to make your mittens larger, you'll need more than one skein (50g) of yarn.

Abbreviations
pm - place marker
sm - slip marker
m1 - make one (increase a stitch using your favourite method)

Cast on 64 sts. Join in the round placing marker to indicate the beg of the round. Knit in 2x2 rib until cuff measures 2.25" long.

Next Rnd: k31, pm, k2, pm, k31

Inc Rnd: k31, sm, m1, k2, m1, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k4, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k4, sm, k31
Inc Rnd: k31, sm, m1, k4, m1, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k6, sm, k31
Next Rnd: k31, sm, k6, sm, k31

Continue increasing one stitch after the first marker and one stitch before the second marker, every 3rd round until there are 22 sts between the two markers.

Next Rnd: k31, remove marker, cast on 2 sts using backward loop cast on, slip the next 22 sts onto some waste yarn, k31

Continue knitting in the round until mitten is 2.5" shorter than the desired length.

Dec Rnd: [k6, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 6 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k5, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 5 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k4, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 4 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k3, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 3 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k2, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 2 Rnds: knit
Dec Rnd: [k1, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next Rnd: knit
Dec Rnd: [k2tog]; repeat til end of round

Cut yarn and draw through the remaining 8 sts. Pull tightly.

Thumb

Place sts on waste yarn back onto your needles. Join yarn to the first stitch. Knit all the way around and pick up and knit 2 sts between the thumb and the palm. Place marker. You should have 24 sts on your needles. Knit in the round until thumb is 0.75" shorter than desired.

Next Rnd: [k2, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next 2 Rnds: knit
Next Rnd: [k1, k2tog]; repeat til end of round
Next Rnd: knit
Next Rnd: [k2tog]; repeat til end of round

Cut yarn and draw through the remaining 6 sts. Pull tightly.

Weave in ends, blah blah, block. Show everyone in the house how lovely they look (even the cats).

counting down

Everything at my house is about numbers these days - 7 days til Christmas (eek!), half a sock left to knit (double eek!!), 4 days til the in-laws show up (triple eek!!!), 23 hours til the pest guy comes to evict an unwanted rodent from our attic (I think it's a rat because of the gnawing wood noises that wake me up at 5am), 11 cowls delivered, 2 cats sleeping off chasing said rodent (Phoebe was chittering at it this morning as if she was trying to lure it downstairs), 4 dozen gingerbread cookies baked and ready to be frosted, umpteen presents left to wrap, gajillion Christmas cards that still need to be written & mailed, did I mention that there's only a week left til Christmas?!?!?!? I think I'm going to pass out - where are my smelling salts?

So instead of tackling those things, I'm here to blog (and take a breather from all the madness).

Here's a cowl that I knit as a sample for a class that I'll be teaching in January:


Pattern: my own; I have a PDF for it but I haven't uploaded it anywhere and I'm too lazy to type it up here on the blog so email me and I'll send it to you.
Yarn: Malabrigo Chunky; col Charrua; 1 skein (104 yds; 100g)
Needles: 6.5mm circs
Notes: If I were to knit this again, I'd use a slightly larger needle like a 7mm. It's plied so has a bit more body than Malabrigo Worsted. It's soft yarn but not as soft as Mal Worsted.

And this is my last gift cowl:


Pattern: Birthday Cowl by Nova Seals
Yarn: Lion Brand Cotton-Ease; col Maize; 1 skein (207 yds, 100g)
Needles: 5mm Addis
Notes: I can't find my notes but I think I cast on an extra repeat. I changed the skp to ssk.

All 11 cowls were gifted yesterday to my quilting friends (waves hi to QHuackers). I got lots of goodies to eat, two lovely embroidered towels, a little notebook, a small duck that glows when you squeeze it, and a small paper pieced quilt of a duckie.

After I finished the last cowl, I whipped up two hand towels and two dish cloths.

Pattern: my own; the wash cloths are plain garter; the towels are some sort of waffle stitch
Yarn: Bernat Handicrafter Culinary Cotton; col Summer Resort; 1 skein (340g; 608 yds)
Needles: 5mm noname bamboo
Notes: I love how the colours zig zag across.

I've got to finish knitting that last Christmas gift and then I'm knitting for myself for a few weeks. I desperately want to finish my Mondo Cable Cardi before winter's over.


Phoebe sez, "I'm mad at you, Mommy! You unplugged my heating pad!!"

Pooling Rivulets Stole pattern

Dear Dotty, yes, it's been an awfully long time since I last blogged. But I swear I've been knitting, and here's another free pattern to prove it!

I last left you with this sneak peek photo — Wollmeise 100% yarn in the Okzident colourway.


Well, it's now turned into this pretty little stole.


(Note: If you're new to the pooling technique, please read the first pattern in this series to get a good idea of how to figure out where your yarn will pool.)

Using an "e" or backwards loop cast-on, cast on 84 stitches onto a US7 needle. Please see my previous posts about figuring out your own "magic number" for your tension on the needles you've chosen. For this pattern, it's pretty easy to subtract pairs of edge stitches if you need to use fewer stitches to get the pooling to happen. (Some people also cast on a couple of extra stitches for the garter rows, and then do a k2together to lose them when they get into the pattern rows. It all depends on your individual stitch tension.)

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Start working with the chart below. The stitches in yellow are your garter edging. My edging had 5 stitches in it, but your edging will be different depending on your stitch tension, so please add or subtract stitches as you need to.

(Click on the chart to get it in a larger, more printable size.)


End with a Row 11 or a Row 23.

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Bind off very loosely using a sewn bindoff, to maintain the pooling.

Block and pin out the stole. Wear it and get lots of comments and questions about where you got it, and "wow, did you make that yourself?"

I find this one to be totally hypnotizing to look at. The colours pooled perfectly with the waves.


And of course, here's a shot of the whole thing. Thank goodness for the Ott Lite you bought for me, Dotty. It was such a horrible, rainy day today that without it, I wouldn't have gotten any photos at all!

Pooling diamonds and fall leaves

It's fall, the season of pumpkins, pumpkin pie, turkey dinner (we've already had our Thanksgiving dinner here in Canada) and, of course, lots of knitting!

Andrew and I went to the pumpkin patch with his Grade 1 class. This photo was taken when the rain had taken a brief intermission down to a light mist. About 10 minutes after this, the skies opened, and the wind came on, and we had sideways rain and rain so hard that it actually bounced off the puddles and mud and you had to call it upside down rain. (Yes, we probably have about 50 different terms for wet precipitation in this town.)

And then last night, there was more rain and wind, and when we came out this morning, our cherry tree had dumped half its leaves into the yard. So the boys and I raked up a lot of it, and they had a little bit of a leaping competition. (Andrew won.)

And I've been knitting on another pooling project, so I'm pleased to offer up another pattern. This one's going to Angela in San Francisco. I first met her on Ravelry when I ran out of yarn for my Icarus shawl, and she offered to wind off some for me and send it to me.

She sent me this skein of yarn as a surprise treat for me, so I turned it into a stole and I'm sending it back to her -- and you get a free pattern out of it!

Pooling Diamonds Stole

Here it is on Ravelry!



(Note: If you're new to the pooling technique, please read the first pattern in this series to get a good idea of how to figure out where your yarn will pool.)

Using an "e" or backwards loop cast-on, cast on 83 stitches onto a US7 needle. Please see my previous posts about figuring out your own "magic number" for your tension on the needles you've chosen. For this pattern, it's pretty easy to subtract pairs of edge stitches if you need to use fewer stitches to get the pooling to happen.

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Start working with the chart below. The stitches in yellow are your garter edging. My edging had 3 stitches in it, but your edging will be different depending on your stitch tension, so please add or subtract stitches as you need to.

(Click on the chart to get it in a larger, more printable size.)

End with a Row 9 or a Row 19.

Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Bind off very loosely using a sewn bindoff, to maintain the pooling.

Block and pin out the stole. I added light scallops for interest, though you can also pin it out flat.

(For this project, I used Wollmeise 80/20 Twin yarn in Versuchskaninchen 1. It has a little less yardage than its 100% cousin, so this stole blocked out to almost 5' long, as compared to the almost 6' length that I get from the 100% superwash yarn. But it was worth it to discover that this yarn has a lovely, silky feel to it.)


And here's a sneak peek at my next pooling stole colourway -- Wollmeise 100% in Okzident.

bunch'o stuff

I am so pleased with myself. I finished sewing a little baby something tonite. It's a surprise so all you get is this little peek.


Lemme tell you that it's darling!


I promised P-la that I would type up the pattern for the flower motif in my previous post. So here it is:

Hook: 4mm/G
Yarn: DK weight
Finished size: approx 5" across
Yardage: ???
Gauge: ???

Rnd 1: ch6, join with slst to form a loop
Rnd 2: ch3, 11 dc in loop

Petal
Rnd 1: ch12, slst into first ch to form a loop.
Do not turn. Continue working in a counter-clockwise manner.
Rnd 2: sc, hdc, 8 dc, ch2, 8 dc, hdc, sc, (slst into next dc) twice

Repeat Petal (rnds 1 & 2) 5 more times. Break yarn.

To join the flowers together, work up to the ch2 on Rnd 2 of the Petal. Ch1. Take the hook out and insert it into the ch2 gap on a previous flower and then into the working loop. Ch1 and continue with the rest of the round to complete the petal.

I went to the pet store to pick up some food for Phoebe and they had these cool scratchy things so I impulsively bought one. It was in the house 5 mins and Ricky was already scratching at it. Phoebe is ignoring it so I sprinkled a little catnip and Ricky zoomed over and entered into a drugged stupor.


Ricky is enjoying walks with his new harness. On the weekend, he was so busy looking around that he didn't turn into our front walk like he usually does. He kept going down the sidewalk and when we got to our neighbour's driveway, he turned right, took 5 steps, and stopped. Ricky was looking around trying to figure out where he was. I could hear the gears grinding in his little head. I had to pick him up and put him back on the sidewalk facing our house. I coaxed him with my foot to get him moving but when we got to our walkway, he turned onto it and it was smooth sailing all the way to the front door.

I took Ricky out again tonite. A van came down the street and scared him silly. At first, he backed up and then he ran across the lawn - towing me behind him. For an 11lb cat, he is incredibly strong. He ran all the way to the front door and then pawed at it until I opened it. What a chicken!

whirlwind weekend

The long weekend was busy busy. We went to the PNE on Sat. We saw the Superdogs, extreme ATV racing, a draft horse demonstration, motorbike stunts, the prize home, Mexican dancers, a mariachi band, a ski jump demonstration, and mandolin players to name a few. And we ate - mini donuts, whales tails, corn dogs, pulled pork onna bun, Vietnamese rolls, and sampled a bunch of other stuff. Makes me drool just thinking about it.

On Sunday, we went to a farmer's market and bought some eggplant (for a Thai prawn curry) and a few gifts for upcoming birthdays. We were out longer than expected and the cats were pretty grumpy when we walked in the door.

Yesterday, I went out to lunch with a quilting friend who I haven't seen in ages. We talked about our cats, quilts, and life in general. It was so nice to see her.

And if that wasn't enough, I finished a pair of socks.


Yarn: Trekking XXL in colour 127; yarn was sent to me by Ann via the KTE swap
Needles: 2.25mm dpns
Pattern: Wendy's generic toe up
Notes: These socks have been hanging around for ages. I lost interest after I finished the first sock and realized that it was too small. I must've measured wrong and the foot is too short. Oh well... These'll go into the Christmas gift box.

Trish (she's commissioned me to knit her 12 pairs of socks) asked me to type up the pattern that I'm using for her socks because she's getting requests for it at the shows where she sells her yarn. I finally finished it this weekend and it's free. There is a link to the PDF in the sidebar. The pattern is just a top-down plain stockinette sock with a picot cuff and wedge toe. It's written for sportweight yarn. Enjoy!

keeping my neck warm

(my first self-portrait - not too shabby)

Yarn: 1 skein Malabrigo; colour velvet grapes

Needles: 7mm circs

Here's the pattern for this version:

Cast on 90 sts

Join for knitting in the round; do not twist

Round 1: Knit

Next round: k1, *yo, k2tog; repeat from * until it's long enough (remember it will scrunch down) and leave enough yarn to cast off

Cast off & weave in ends

This is big enough to fit over my head without taking my glasses off. You can adjust the size (to suit your yarn, etc.) by casting on an even number of stitches. This stitch pattern is called "Turkish Stitch with right bias".

It's the first time that I've knitted with Malabrigo and it's a very soft yarn. I'm probably going to buy another skein - maybe in blues and make myself another neck thingy.

I started another Tofutsies sock today - not a mate for the first one. When I bought another ball of it on Wed, I was asked to knit a pair as a store sample. That's what I am working on today. Unfortunately, the colours are pooling. (Before anyone suggests it - yes, I did cast on a different number of stitches but it still pooled and I do not have bamboo needles in any other size. I will probably knit the second sock from the other end of the skein.) The runs of colour are much shorter than the first skein - probably because it's a different colourway.

Remember the Clover/Takumi bamboo dpns that I bought last week specifically for knitting Tofutsies sox? They have developed a curve. All the needles are no longer straight. I don't know what I'm doing but I must be holding them too tightly. Sigh...