Amanda Knits

Electric Combo Beret and Bag set is knit with 480 yards of Cascade 200. Easy to learn cables create undulating waves over the bag and beret—like electricity from one of those static electricity balls you find in a science museum.

The twelve page .pdf pattern contains patterns for an adult-sized hat (circumferences of 14 1/2 or 18 1/2 inches, diameter of 11 1/2 inches) and a matching bag. The pattern is easy to follow and easy to read (size 12 font). The cable patterns are given both chart form and written form. Multiple cables and a quick finish keep interest high.

This pattern was first published in Janet Szabo's newsletter, Twists and Turns.

Click on the photo above or the Patterns tab to purchase. Instant gratification!

On the way to and from class tonight I was knitting. On the subway.

We all know ow adventuresome that can be in South Korea.

A pack of ajummas+ (meaning ajummas on the cusp of being halmonis) were staring at me, fondling my knitting (why do ajummas do that?), talking about it. They started asking questions, in Korean, of course. I think I said I was working on that sweater for 6 years. Oops.

One asked if I was knitting the sweater for my husband. "No, I am not married."

She looked at me, her eyes getting wide, "How old are you?"

"Don't ask her that," another one scolded her. "Women hate that!"

"Twenty-eight."

"And not married! Oh, oh," she started clucking her tongue.

A third woman asked, hopefully, "Do you have a boyfriend?" while a fourth said in English, "Ah, miss? You miss?"

"Yes, Miss. Yes, I have a boyfriend."

The pack of wild ajummas gasped. "Is he Korean? Is he handsome? How old is he?"

I blushed as I answered all of their questions.

When they were satisfied, the primary woman said, "Ah, 28. I remember 28. But now I am a halmoni [grandmother]."

One of the great things about this purple yarn is that you get mega yardage out of it. More than 10 inches of fabric per ball. And while I haven't finished one ball yet, I've only found one knot.

I have started working on a second version of the dobok sweater.

Same yarn, nearly same style.

I'm making it a tad smaller, but not decreasing the waist as much. Sleeves will be narrower, neckline higher and narrower.

Let's see how this goes...

I finished the photography gloves.

Well, I didn't get my jacket unzipped or get thrown into a seat, at least...

A few days ago I dropped one of my dpns on the bus. They fell into a crevice, never to be seen again.

Yesterday I was sitting on the middle seat in the section on the subway. Three people to my left and three people to my right stared at me as I was knitting my second photography glove.

I finished the first photography glove.

I knit the ribbing extra long (3 inches). I made the thumb, forefinger, and middle finger fingertipless and ribbed. This way I can move my fingers and manipulate my camera but the fingers are still warm. Ring and pinky finger are knit normally.

Now I just have to knit the second one.

I started a new project yesterday, when I was stuck at home sick. I'm knitting some photography gloves. It was way too cold this weekend when I was out shooting!

I've never knit gloves before, though I knit really simple mittens once. I'm heavily modifying a pattern based on this calculator.

Why, why, why does it have to hurt so much?

When I knit with non-mercerized cotton (like I am now), it's like ropes in my hands. It's hard to work with and it burns.

When I work with mercerized cotton, it's like fiberglass in my hands. It's hard to work with and it burns.

Yet I LOVE the look of cotton.

Why? Why must cotton torment me so? Yoo yoo. Yoo yoo.*

(*That's the Korean noise for crying. Its letter actually looks like tears. ㅠㅠ Love it. See the tears running down the closed eyes?)

I'm apparently on a purple kick. I'm currently working on a purple top-down cardi with a lace butterly motif from Walker's 4th on the back.

This is my first cardi of any sort.

I bought some thick, almost rope-like cotton for 10 or 15,000 won. It works up to about 4 sts to the inch. I don't know how long I can make the sweater. Am thinking hip length with 3/4 sleeves. We'll see...

Falling Nights is knit in Elann's Endless Summer Lara cotton. A beautiful lace pattern knit from the top down is made to skim over a woman's curves.

The ten page .pdf pattern has two different hem width options (I suggest wider for a swingy, romantic piece of lingerie and a narrower hem for a slimmer fitting tunic), and comes in sizes 30" (36", 42", 48", 54"). The pattern is easy to follow (no need to "circle your size") and easy to read (size 12 font).

The lace pattern is perfect for a new lace knitter. The stitch count stays the same on each row, and the pattern is easily memorized. The lace pattern is also given in both chart form and written form.

Want to see more photos?

Click on the photo above or the Patterns tab to purchase. Instant gratification!

Falling Nights

Ethereal

Detail

(Falling Nights is intended as a play on words, as well as one of the possible colors of the sky as night falls.)

I'm currently finishing up the Twilight Zone purple thing with an applied I-cord edging. I love the way applied I-cord looks, hate how long it takes to do!

When I moved to Korea I brought very few knitting books. I brought Duncan's The Complete Book of Progressive Knitting, Lavold's Viking Patterns for Knitting and Martingale's 365 Knitting Stitches a Year Perpetual Calendar. While I've been here, I've received Walker's Fourth Treasury and The Best of Vogue Knitting Magazine: 25 Years of Articles, Techniques, and Expert Advice.

When I decided to knit something new, I wanted something slightly lacy and see-through but not too holey. I chose a pattern from the perpetual calendar. I'm pleased, so far.

Every single time I measure this thing I'm knitting right now, the size changes.

Once, it's 2 inches long. Then it's 3. Then the same piece is 1 and 3/4 inches.

It's as if there's a space warp between my couch, the bus, and the dentist's office. Whoooo ooooh ooooh. There is a fifth dimension beyond that which is known to man. Next stop...the knitting zone.

Seriously. It's making me crazy.

I finished the bamboo lilac ribbed top that I was working on.

The ribbing pattern looks like 1 by 1 or 2 by 2 in the photos, but it was a variation of that. (K2, P1, K1, P1 pattern.)

This is a simple V-neck pattern with a lower V-neck back. The front is knit two repeats larger than the back to account for bust size. And the front was knit longer than the back to prevent riding up as well. The extra length was then eased in near the armhole seams.

It's a bamboo acrylic blend, so it's a bit heavy, but it feels great on.

I have one full hand length of the front of this tank/shell finished.

Does anyone else measure knitting with their hands?

This week I ended up sitting next to one of the strangest ajummas I've ever met. Two of them, actually, though only one was a bit strange.

I was knitting and she was very curious. She wanted me to slow down so she could watch, she was chatting with me in Korean. OK, fair enough. Then she started stroking my hands and saying that they're so soft and if I keep knitting they'll get "mountains" (veins) like her hand has. Then she held both of our hands out to compare the skin color. She complained that she was black next to me. She gave me some lotion, then grabbed my hand to smell it. She forced me to take the lotion ("gift, gift!" she said in Korean). This all sounds somewhat sweet, right?

I was wearing a lightweight jacket and a v-neck t-shirt. She asked if I was wearing a shirt. I said yes and then she unzipped my jacket to check.

I so wish I were kidding.

Today I cast on and knit one row for a tank I'm making. I am using a very thin yarn, double-stranded, that has a tendency to twist upon itself. It had gotten into a tangled mess.

While at a friend's house, I started to untangle it. His wife gasped and asked me where I learned to knit while she helped me untangle it.

Afterwards, she brought out four beautiful sweaters, dresses, and outfits that her daughter has. Her mother made them. I sneaked a look at the seams—breathtaking.

Master said, "My wife mother, used make hanboks [the traditional Korean clothing]. Not now, but before."

I complimented the work as best I could in Korean and said words in English knowing the intent would be understood even if the words weren't.

This work was beautiful.

If I knit 3 inches with 2 balls of yarn doubled, how much yarn will it take to make a sleeveless sweater 24 inches long, considering that after 5 inches of work I will start decreasing on both sides and after 15 inches of work, I will split for the armholes? And how much extra yarn did that crazy-intensive 415 stitch I-cord cast on (thus, over 1600 stitches) take and how many more rows can that account for for the rest of the sweater?

Shoot, how many balls it needs it moot since I have 9 left.

So. How do I make this work?

For the record: when designing a sweater designed to wrap across the front, the number cast on should actually be 1 and a half times the desired overall circumference of the sweater (wrapped closed).

It's a pain to realize this "duh" moment after you've already done an I-cord cast on and knit 2 and a half rows.

Duplicate stitching has come up on Knitters Review a couple times. Here are some ideas that may help.

For better coverage, split the plies, then turn a few plies upside down and put the plies back together side by side. Do not try to retwist the plies into yarn, just put them next to each other. This helps fill in the stitches. (Anyone familiar with cross-stitching or embroidery will probably be familiar with this idea.) You may even want to use some extra plies to help fill it in, or a slightly thicker yarn.

Another idea that can be used for duplicate stitching as well as making color charts, making cable charts, etc, it to use Excel. For stitching my name in Hangul for the Dobok Sweater, I fiddled with the cell sizing a bit, and used cell shading to mark the squares I wanted to chart out. This way I was sure that the letters would fit and were centered on my sweater. While Excel cells are not usually the exact same as knitting square ratios, it's certainly closer than using square graph paper, and you can save the chart and rework it as needed.

I changed the cell sizing and shading as follows. Your mileage may vary. I was using Microsoft Office Excel 2003.

Go to FORMAT. Then ROW, then HEIGHT. In this sample my height was 13.2.

Go to FORMAT. Then COLUMN, then WIDTH. In this sample my width was 5.44.

To change cell color, go to FORMAT, then CELLS, then PATTERNS. Click on the color you want to use.

If you want to add a border to help see each cell clearly, go to FORMAT, then CELLS, then BORDER. Choose the style you want and click INSIDE and OUTSIDE to get all cells bordered. (For the record, my chart had lines between each cell too, it's just that resizing the image made the shading funky looking.)

Go back to Excel and click where you want to fill in that color. Ta da. Chart done!

Six more rows on the Old Sweater done...

This weekend I managed to get 6 rows done on the front and back of a Lavold sweater I've been working on for ages.

Where's my cookie?