princessdeia

Last year, I decided to take part in the Pay it Forward scheme… well six months on I finally got around to sending out my parcels and a few months after that I finally get around to blogging about it!

As part of the One Skein Swap a few years ago I was sent a mini knitted bag, to this day the mini bag sits in my knitting kit, I use it to store hand cream, lip balm and a nail file for all my girly knitting emergencies! The bag has a special place in my heart, it was the first hand knitted gift I ever received but is also serves as a reminder of all the wonderful friends I have made via the knitting world and their generosity. I wanted to spread this reminder…

… So for the Pay it Forward, I made these little bags… each one is based on a sock pattern!

The “Pomatomus” Bag is done on 96 stitches on 3.25mm needles. I began with the twisted rib for 15 rows (including an eyelet row for the i-cord), then I started on Chart A from the pattern for 3 repeats.
Finally, I repeated rows 1-12 omitting the YO (therefore decreasing a stitch each round), the result was an amazing swirling pattern on the base.  Until 8 stitches remain.
Break yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread tail through the remaining sts and pull tight.

The “Jaywalker” Bag, started on 104 stitches on 3.25mm, 10 rows in stocking stitch (again including an eyelet row).
Row 1: K1 M1 K6 S1 K2tog psso K6 M1 K1
Row 2: Knit
Repeat rows 1 and 2 35 times, then omit the M1s until 6 stitches remain.
Break yarn, leaving a long tail. Thread tail through the remaining sts and pull tight.

The “Monkey” Bag is made in a similar fashion to the Pomatomus bag (with 96 stitches).

Yarn: Knitwitches Sock Yarn in Lavender Sunset.
Pattern: Pomatomus from Knitty.
Needles: 2.75mm.
Notes: With my first pair of Pomatomus socks I suffered from SSS, even though I loved the pattern, this time around they knitted up amazingly well.

Published with wonder of Wordpress, whilst I am away.

Yarn: NDS - ALBA Shetland 4ply, in Green.
Pattern: Baudelaire from Knitty.
Needles: 2.5mm
Notes: The last time I made these socks I had a few problems with the casting off - but this time I used the Tubular Cast off and it works. I brought yarn at Ally Pally last autumn, unfortunately it is no longer available.

Published with wonder of Wordpress, whilst I am away.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Tutu.
Pattern: Gretel Beret from Ysolda.
Needles: 3.75 mm & 4.5mm.
Notes: After I made my version of this beret last year, my sister has been bugging me to make her a version. She wanted something to match both her brown and grey coats so this pink is the perfect colour! This was a lot easier to make the second time around (as I now have the correct version of the pattern), and it was the perfect project to practice cabling without a cable needle.

Yarn: Knit Picks Palette in Navy.
Pattern: # One Husband Socks
from Whimsical Knitting Designs.
Needles: 2.5mm
Notes: After being with Jason for over ten years I thought I would test the waters around the boyfriend curse and knit him a pair of socks to celebrate our first wedding anniversary! These took forever to knit, I think part of it was me losing my knitting mojo and the other was the size (72 stitches per round).
Modifications:I knitted a plain heel instead of the textured heel in the pattern.

Yarn: Cascade 220 Heather - Purple Jewel.
Pattern: Fingerless Mitts.
Needles: 4.5mm
Notes: As I always seem to knit scarves as gifts, it was lovely to receive hand-knitted scarf from my sister! A simple garter pattern in chunky wool. I wanted to take it away with my this weekend, and figured I needed some simple gloves to go with it.
The fingerless mitt pattern is amazingly quick (about two hours per glove), simply constructed and I think look fabulous!

Yarn: Wendy Fusion in Fengreek.
Pattern: Short Row Rib Scarf.
Needles: 5.5mm
Notes:I do prefer the colours of this colorway to the other one I brought, and I think this pattern really shows off the variation well. I love the feel of this yarn, for me it is perfect for making a scarf with both warm and soft (I would actually say it is snuggly).

Yarn: Knitwitches Sock Yarn in Evening Sunset.
Pattern: Monkey from Knitty.
Needles: 2.5mm
Notes: For the last year, every socks knitter has made themsleves a pair of Monkey sock, as every reader of this blog knows I am always late of the starting blocks when it comes to knitting trends. What I didn’t realise was reason knitters love this pattern is the simplicite of the pattern and the amazing final product. Like with Jaywalkers socks, the pattern is easy to memorise and looks fantastic.

When we went to Ally Pally last summer, Laura had done her research and discovered Knitwitches, when we got to the stall all of us were amazed at the colours, at one stage I think I had six colorways of the sock yarn in my hand at one stage, this was one of the colors I came home with. I love the brightness of the purple.