Bella Knitting

A New Pattern and a Sneak Peek

Sarah

I have been a  busy little bee lately, and I'd like to share some of what I've been working on. First, I'm very excited that Ravelry has started up its pattern-hosting service -- it's just one more great feature on an already awesome site. I've opened a pattern store for some of my original designs, which you can check out here. I've put up the pattern for this sweater, which you may recall from a post a few months ago.

It now has a name -- it's the Woodside Pullover, named after a charming little nearby town -- and the pattern is available for download via Ravelry for $7.50. The six sizes given in the pattern range from a 32 to 48 inch chest measurement; I think it's a good unisex pullover, so I wanted to include the smallest and the largest sizes I could without having to do weird things to the stitches. (I do have some tips in the pattern for extending the size range by working at a slightly smaller or larger gauge, for the knitter who loves to modify.)

Of course, not everyone is equally keen on the Noro Kureyon which I used, so I included some suggested substitutions in the pattern. When Bella Knitting starts carrying the complete project in a few weeks, you'll be able to choose from Karabella Aurora 8 or DiVe Autunno, both of which are very soft. We carry the former in a lot of great solid colors, if you want a sweater that's all about texture, and the latter is a super-soft self-striping yarn with wide repeats. I'll let you know when this option becomes available, of course.

And now for the sneak peak promised in the title of this post...you know how I did a tutorial on yarn overs the other day? Well, I've designed something for Bella which uses a lot of them! It's being test knit, and we're working on the pattern, so it should be ready soon! The version shown here was knit in Cascade Venezia Worsted, which I swear knits like buttah. It's a totally dreamy 50-50 wool-silk blend. Of course, since Bella Knitting is all about the options, there's going to be a second great yarn choice and an option for using beads...but I think I'll leave it at that for now. I'll share more when there is more to share.

 

Provisional Cast-On Tutorial

Sarah

As promised, here's a tutorial on the crochet provisional cast-on method. This is a really useful technique, applicable to any number of project types: making a bottom-up sweater, but you don't know what type of edging you want? Use a provisional cast-on and you can easily pick up your stitches and work the bottom edge when you've finished the rest of the knitting. Want to knit toe-up socks? Use this method and work a short-row toe. Interested in knitting a shawl? Many, like the Flower Basket, ask you to start with this cast-on to create a tidy top edge. I could go on, if I didn't have a nasty cold making my brain not work good. Anyway, I hope you find this useful!

Steps 1 & 2: Make a crochet chain using waste yarn -- preferably, something smooth and in color which is readily visible against your working yarn, in approximatley the same weight. To make your chain, just grab the strand of yarn with your hook...

...and bring it through the loop. Always make the chain several chains longer than the number of stitches you need to pick up, so you have some room for error.

Step 3: When you're done making the chain as long as you need it to be (plus a few extra) cut the yarn, bring it through the last loop, tug gently to close (gently! You're going to have to undo that later) and tie a knot in that end, to remind yourself that this is the end you'll be "unzipping" from later on. Now flip your chain over and take a gander at the bumps -- they kinda look like purl bumps, right? -- on the back side (assuming the front side is the "v's" you see as you are working the chain.) You are going to pick up stitches through these bumps.

Step 4: Start picking up stitches through the bumps. I "pick" at stitches to pick them up, wrapping each one around the needle...

Step 5: ...and bringing it through. (Leave a long tail so you can weave that end in later.)

Step 6: Hooray! You have picked up your stitches. Now you can do whatever the heck you want to do -- work a short row toe, knit your sweater front, whatever.

Step 7: I was boring and just knit a few rows of stockinette and bound off.

Step 8: Remember how I mentioned in Step 3 that you should make a little knot so you will know from which end to unzip your cast on? Don't you feel smart for doing that? Pat yourself on the back, and maybe go pour yourself a glass of wine to prepare yourself for the next steps, which involve stitches being all naked and loosey-goosey.

Step 9: Take the end with the knot in it and bring it back out through the loop you drew it through to close your chain -- thus re-opening your chain. Now give that end a tug (a gentle tug, just in case there was some snaggage when you picked up your stitches.)

Step 10: I told you there would be naked stitches.

Step 11: You might want to put them on a needle, for decency's sake.

Step 12:  Yay! All done. You now have a whole whack of live stitches, ready to do your bidding!

Return to Sleeve Island

Sarah

When last I posted, I'd left Sleeve Island for the Land o' Lace -- and friends, I had a great trip. The Flower Basket Shawl (from the Fall 2004 Interweave) was a nice little vacation from miles of stockinette, using less than 300 yards of Noro Cashmel. Even though it's 100% cashmere, the Cashmel isn't quite as soft as I expect from such a loosely spun yarn, but Noro has never been known for making buttery-soft yarns. Laura stocks both Karabella Margrite and Boise for Bella, and I think either of those would work really well for this shawl -- if I make it again, I may have to get a couple balls of one of those.

Uh-oh, gotta go -- I hear ominous noises from the direction of Measure's diaper. Stay tuned, though: I'm working on a crochet-chain provisional cast-on tutorial which I think will be really cool!

ETA: So yeah, I'm back on Sleeve Island, but I'm just going to keep at it. I've got a couple other garter and stockinette projects on the needles (secret projects, sorry) so I really needed the break...but I'm also going to cast on for another lace shawl, because variety is the spice of life.

Escape from Sleeve Island

Sarah

Yesterday I was plugging away on the Minimalist Cardigan, pretending I might be the kind of knitter who is capable of project monogamy (nothing else on the needles was in the same room -- who's going to tell?) when I began to feel a twinge, then a sharp tug, then a complete feeling of being whacked in the head with a half-brick swung in a sock: a half-brick made of boredom. I was a castaway on the dull, dull shores of Sleeve Island, without even an anthropomorphized volleyball to keep me entertained. When all you're knitting is row after row of plain stockinette, Sleeve Island can be a very desolate place.

"What would Survivorman do?" I asked myself. I've been watching a lot of Survivorman on the Discovery Channel lately, in which Les Stroud (the Survivorman of the show's title) spends a week alone in deserts, on mountaintops, or in forests, surviving with a minimum of technology aside from the 60 pounds of camera gear he totes along to document everything. I don't think he's ever spent a week on Sleeve Island, but maybe they're working their way up to that. He often mentions that when you are in a survival situation, it is very important to keep your mind occupied. He usually says this as he is setting traps for scorpions (yes, to eat), weaving himself a bed out of grass, or fashioning himself a little desalinization plant out of a Dixie cup and a piece of plastic.

Immediately, my course of action was clear.

I cast on for the Flower Basket shawl. I'm using the Noro Cashmel cashmere I got for my birthday, and I've already finished it except for the last repeat and the edging. It's taking the edge off of my craving for a lace project, and I'm using stash. Don't judge me -- it was a survival situation. I did what I had to do.