Insulate 1,000!

My INSULATE! Hat has reached 1,000 projects on Ravelry - that's a huge milestone for me, and I'm thrilled that so many people liked my hat enough to knit their own! You can see a few of these fabulous projects (in an amazing array of colour combos) on the pattern's Ravelry page.

The INSULATE! Hat was one of my early-ish knit designs from mid-2012, and I offered it as a free pattern to other knitters who share my geeky love of Daleks. Its stranded colourwork design is nice and simple, and every now and then I receive a lovely comment from someone who used this hat as their gateway to knitting colourwork, which really warms my designer heart!

If you'd like to make one of your own, you can download the free pattern here.

Ombré crochet: How to make a gradient square

I've started a new 'relaxation project'! I really like having something uncomplicated to work on when I want to pay attention to conversations/tv or when I'm tired - I'm all for multiple works-in-progress with a variety of techniques and difficulty levels.

I'm making another crochet blanket, this time made up of squares which I'll seam together later. In each square, the colours will radiate from dark-to-light or light-to-dark, alternating like a chessboard.

My inspiration is a delicate granny square blanket featured in Jared Flood's blog post about the Icelandic Textile Museum. I tried out a few different kinds of squares, and decided to go for super-simple solid crocheted squares rather than classic granny squares.

The small square I made as a swatch (with only one round per shade) is the perfect size for a coaster. :)

I've had some undyed corriedale wool from the Little Wool Company in my stash for a couple of years, which I'd intended for a cardigan but couldn't get gauge for the pattern I had my eye on (as this is quite a thin 4ply). I think a blanket like this will really let the natural sheepy colours shine! I have 200g cones of natural white, oatmeal, and silver. The yarn will be held double, with two crocheted rounds per colour or colour blend.

Here are all the details, if you'd like to make your own gradient squares...

Materials: 

• 4ply yarn in three colours, about 31g or 140yds total per square. I'm aiming for a 5x7 blanket (about 40"/102cm x 56"/142cm), so I will need about 1200g or 5,472yds of yarn which should include enough for seaming and adding a border. Holding it doubled definitely eats yarn!
• a 4mm crochet hook (or size that makes a fabric you like).
• a needle for weaving in ends.
• a blocking board (optional).

Tips: 

• If I'm using a wool yarn, I like to crochet over the yarn ends as I go to reduce weaving-in later.
• It's nice and easy to spit-splice 4ply wool, especially non-superwash. I do tend to dip my finger in my water glass (or tea cup or wine glass) rather than spit, however - I'm prissy like that. :p
• After I finish each square I wash it, squeeze out the water, and stretch it out on my homemade blocking board: four nails in a piece of scrap wood, with 8 1/2 inches between nails as you go round the square. The corner-holes of the crocheted square go over the nails (see photo below).

Abbreviations (in US crochet terms):

• ch = chain
• dc = double crochet
• sc = single crochet
• st = stitch

Note: If you're more familiar with UK crochet terms, there's a handy translation chart here. The relevant terms for this project are US dc = UK tr, and US sc = UK dc.

- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -

How to make a square (about 8"/20cm wide): 

With colour A held double, make a magic ring OR ch 5 and join with a slip stitch.

Round 1: Ch 2, 3 dc into ring, *ch 3, 4 dc into ring, repeat from * twice more, ch 3, join to top of initial ch 2 with a slip stitch.

Round 2: Ch 2, 1 dc into each of the next 2 sts, *(2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) into corner space, 1 dc into each of the next 3 sts, repeat from * twice more, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) into corner space, join to top of initial ch 2 with a slip stitch.

Break yarn and fasten off. With colour A and colour B held together, join yarn to any side of the square.
Rounds 3-4: Ch 2, *1 dc into each st until you reach the next corner space, (2 dc, ch 3, 2 dc) into corner space, repeat from * three more times, 1 dc into each st until you reach the initial ch 2, join to top with a slip stitch.

Break yarn and fasten off. With colour B held double, join yarn to any side of the square.
Rounds 5-6: Work as established in Rounds 3-4.

Break yarn and fasten off. With colour B and colour C held together, join yarn to any side of the square.
Rounds 7-8: Work as established in Rounds 3-4.

Break yarn and fasten off. With colour C held double, join yarn to any side of the square.
Rounds 9-10: Work as established in Rounds 3-4.

Round 11: Ch 1, *1 sc into each st until you reach the next corner space, 4 sc into corner space, repeat from * three more times, 1 sc into each st until you reach the initial ch 1, join to top with a slip stitch.

Break yarn and fasten off. Weave in any remaining ends, and wet block the square.

When the time comes, I'll write a post about seaming the squares together and adding a border. I think picot stitches around the edge could look really pretty - but I'm getting ahead of myself now. 2 squares down, 33 to go...

New pattern: Liquid Honey

So happy I can finally share this with all of you! Liquid Honey is my second pattern to be published in Knitty, and it's one I'm super proud of.
And that's not all... my face is on the cover of the Spring + Summer issue! I've been making 'cover girl' jokes all day, it's been quite surreal... :)

I love yellow, and I love knitting lace, and I'm totally fascinated by bees. Put it all together, and you get a sunny yellow shawl inspired by honeycomb dripping with honey. I thought its cheeriness would make it a great fit for Knitty, and a nice gift for my fellow knitters.

Features:

• honeycomb lace with a zigzagging lace border
• top-down triangular construction with garter-tab cast on
• no special stitches: just knit, purl, single and double yarn-overs, k2tog, ssk 
• a decorative picot bind off
• requires 1.5 skeins of Malabrigo Lace (700yds of laceweight yarn)
• suitable for solid or semi-solid colourways
• one size: 63" wingspan, 29" along spine
• both charted and written instructions. 

The main part of the shawl is very repetitive and intuitive to knit, perfect for an on-the-go or tv-knitting project. The edging requires a little more attention, and I do recommend using needles with nice sharp points, for example Addi Lace needles. They kept me sane!

Shout out to my best photographer Dad for doing the photoshoot with me, and finding all the summery-looking flowers in the garden and around the town. And another shout out to Mum & Dad's 'Fortune' plum tree for co-starring in the photos! Since then, the plums have ripened and been turned into a couple of dozen jars of sauces and jams. Go tree.

The pattern is available for free here at Knitty.com. Its Ravelry page is here.
You can also read my post from last September on the story of Knitty and me.

Free pattern: Droste Effect

I have a hat pattern in the latest issue of Knitty! This is really exciting for me, as I first got lured into knitting as a hobby by the fun, free patterns in Knitty. This is Droste Effect, a hat covered in cables inspired by the structure of stockinette stitch: 

Features:

• all-over cable pattern designed to look like stockinette stitch
• crown decreases are integrated into the cable pattern
• two sizes: adult small + large
• a one-skein project: requires up to 185 yards of DK-weight yarn
• full charted and written instructions
• available for free!

The yarns I chose are two NZ yarns which have excellent stitch definition, perfect for knitting cables. The brown hat (size L) was knit using 2 balls of Skeinz Silver Lining in 'Clifton Stone', and the sea-green hat (size S) was knit using 1 skein of Vintage Purls Max in 'Abel Tasman'.

The name 'Droste Effect' is taken from the visual effect of a picture-within-a-picture, because the hat's cables represent a large-scale stockinette stitch (it's a knitting pattern that looks like knitting). Tins of Droste brand cocoa famously feature a nurse holding a tray with a cup and the same tin on it:

 

The photos were taken by Jos, my dad, when I was visiting Whakatane last. We went to one of my old childhood haunts - the playground by the river at The Heads. Bay of Plenty locals might recognise the rocks and Moutohorā/Whale Island in the background...

 We also played around with the picture-within-a-picture idea... :)

Droste Effect is available as a free pattern here at Knitty.com.
Its Ravelry page is here.

Free pattern: On the Record

I made a batch of these crocheted record coasters as a house-warming present for Chloe and Celena, who have recently moved into a new flat:

 

They're quick and easy, require only small amounts of yarn, and they're reversible too! I used the half-double crochet stitch for most of the rounds, because I like the ridges it creates (perfect for a record). Each coaster is about 4.5" wide, which is big enough for a large mug. If you want smaller coasters, omit Round 5 in the instructions.
 
If you're new to crochet or would like a refresher, there are some good tutorials out there. I like the detailed photo-tutorials at the Attic24 blog (e.g. Flat Circle), the clear diagrams at How to Read a Crochet Pattern, and the beginners' series Crochet School. As for actual books (gasp), my favourite is Debbie Stoller's The Happy Hooker.

Photos of each stage in this pattern can be found on my Ravelry project page: House-warming coasters.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

On the Record 
by Amy van de Laar

This pattern uses US crochet terms for slip-stitch, dc, hdc, and sc.
A simple conversion chart for UK terms: Crochet Stitch Comparison Chart.   

Materials: 

• DK or worsted-weight yarn in black plus one or more contrasting colours. I used Morris Norway 8ply in 'Black', and Bendigo Classic 8ply in 'Silver', 'Cherry Red', and 'Tasman Blue'. You will need about 16 yards of black for each coaster, and smaller amounts of the contrast colour(s).
• a 4mm crochet hook,
• a needle for weaving in ends.

Pattern: 

Round 1 (Colour A): Make a slip-knot, chain 4, and join with a slip-stitch to start of chain. Ch2, and work 11 dc (double crochet) into the centre of the ring. Join to the top of the initial ch2 with a slip-stitch, and fasten off Colour A.

Round 2 (Colour B): Join Colour B, ch2, and work 1hdc (half-double crochet) into same place. Work 2hdc into each stitch of the previous round. Join to top of initial ch2 with a slip-stitch, and fasten off Colour B.

Round 3 (Black): Turn to other side of coaster, and join Black. Ch2, 1 hdc into same place. *1hdc in next stitch, then 2hdc in next stitch,* repeat from * to * until 1 stitch remains, 1hdc in final stitch. Join to top of initial ch2 with a slip-stitch.

Round 4: Ch2, 1hdc into same place. *1hdc, 1hdc, 2hdc,* repeat until 1 stitch remains, hdc in final stitch. Note: the 2hdc will fall between the 2hdc of the previous round. Join to top of initial ch2 with a slip-stitch.

Round 5: Ch2, 1hdc into same place. *1hdc, 1hdc, 1hdc, 2hdc,* repeat until 1 stitch remains, 1hdc. Join to top of initial ch2 with a slip-stitch.

Round 6: Ch1, 1sc (single crochet) into same place. Sc into each stitch of the previous round. Join to first sc with a slip-stitch.

Fasten off yarn, weave in ends, and block to help them lie flat.

A side

B side

© Amy van de Laar 2014.

New pattern: INSULATE! mittens

I designed some Dalek mittens to go with my hat. :)
You can download the pattern for free on Ravelry: INSULATE! mittens

I used the same yarn as for my INSULATE! hat, which is '8ply Pure Wool Naturals' from Little Wool Company, in the shades 'Papa' (a greyish brown) and 'Pumice' (oatmeal). I still have over half of each 200g ball left, even after making a hat and a pair of mittens. This yarn is great for colourwork - it's fuzzy enough that the strands on the wrong side felt down slightly with wear, and its 2ply structure helps with stitch definition.

The thumbs are knit plain, with the Dalek's 'weapons' (the famous egg-beater and plunger) completed afterwards in duplicate stitch. Doing stranded colourwork in such a small circumference would be fiddly, so duplicate stitch to the rescue! For an extra touch of whimsy, I added a little heart above each 'weapon' - they could be omitted or replaced with laser beams if you prefer your Daleks evil.

A few helpful links:

• Color stranding tutorial (with photos of different methods)
• One color in each hand tutorial (for two-handed stranding)
• Grafting/Kitchener stitch tutorial (for the tops of the mittens)
• Duplicate stitch tutorial (for the thumbs)

The best thing about my new mittens? Epic Dalek battles... teehee... ;)

Heatwave

It's been hot lately. A 'record heatwave' in fact. We're nearing the end (at last) of a run of ten days of over 32°C highs, and I'm pretty fed up. But icewater foot-baths and cold drinks have been helping, and I've been trying to distract myself with crafts while it's been too hot to go out.

I came across this excellent idea for making a scarf with 'random' stripes:
My Year in Temperatures by Kristen Cooper. It's a garter stitch scarf, with the different coloured stripes representing different temperatures over the course of a year. Naturally, I felt the need to jazz up the garter stitch a bit...

Mid-January (cast-on edge at the bottom) to March 9th (top).

I find it helpful to have a system of some sort for making random-looking stripes. A nature-related system like this one is especially good for giving a nice ebb and flow of colours.

I'm knitting this scarf for Willie, to record his year from one birthday to the next, in the maximum daily temperatures for wherever he happens to be. So far I’ve knit from mid-January to last Saturday, using temperature data for Melbourne from the Australian Bureau of Meteorology site. I'm knitting two rows (one garter ridge) to represent each day.

I chose a 4ply blend of cotton, angora, merino, and cashmere called 'shiny cotton', which I ordered as a skein set from ColourMart. The colours map to temperatures in 5° increments:

I haven't had occasion to use colours E or F yet...

I cast on 77 stitches using the long-tail method, on 4mm needles. This covers six repeats of 12 stitches, plus 17 stitches in total for the edges. This is the stitch pattern I settled on, which looks cool on both sides:

Garter zigzag stitch
RS rows: k2, k2tog, * k4, m1R, k1, m1L, k4, s2k1psso, * k4, m1R, k1, m1L, k4, ssk, k2.
WS rows: knit all.

Eyelet rows (for the 1st of each month)
RS: k2, k2tog, * (yo, k2tog)x2, yo, k, yo, (ssk, yo)x2, s2k1psso, * (yo, k2tog)x2, yo, k1, yo, (ssk, yo)x2, ssk, k2.
WS: knit all.

If you prefer to work from a chart (I do!):

(click to enlarge)

You can see the eyelet row here, marking March 1st.

I really need to learn a method for weaving in or hiding the ends as I knit, like this one: No loose ends. Otherwise I'll have a big job ahead of me!

I expect my brain will come back online once things cool down a bit, then I can try learning a new trick. ;)

New pattern: INSULATE! hat

My geek-tastic new hat pattern is now available - and it's free! INSULATE!

The Dalek design is quite stylised, so that it works as a purely geometric design too. I'm looking forward to wearing it out and about and seeing who spots the Daleks. ;)

For the colourwork, I've used stranding (or fairisle) technique for some rounds and mosaic (or slip-stitch) technique for the rest, to avoid having too many long floats on the inside. Using a combination of the the two also makes it a quicker knit than if it were all stranded.

For the stranded rounds, I used my newly-acquired two-handed stranding technique, which I'm getting more and more comfortable with. I made a larger one of these for Willie, with a variegated yarn for the Daleks and a solid colour for the background, which worked really well. I still need to catch him so I can take a photo of it!

The yarn I used is Little Wool Company '8ply Pure Wool Naturals', in the colours 'Papa' and 'Pumice'. It's undyed and subtly heathered, and really softens up after a warm wash. After blocking the finished hat, I can wear it next to my skin perfectly comfortably.

I also have a matching pair of mittens planned... :)