Cowl Kerchief

I had a hank of Berroco Campus that I purchased as souvenir yarn at ImagiKnit in San Francisco a few months ago that I'd been trying to decide what it was meant to be.  I'd finally gotten some downtime from my 'real' job this weekend and set out to create what I'd come up with in my mind.

I love the shawls that can be worn as triangle kind of scarves but they don't usually stay in place or fit around my neck right.  I thought something like a cowl would be good to fix those aspects.

Since I just created as I knit, and only have the one example, I'm posting my directions as a free pattern here.

Berroco Campus is a 130 yard wool/acrylic/alpaca blend bulky yarn.  I used size 11 circulars as I have a tendency to be a tight knitter.



CO 54 stitches and join in the round, place a marker at the join
Knit one row, *purl one row, knit one row, purl one row, knit four rows, purl one row*, knit six rows, Repeat * to * one more time
Place a marker on stitch 27
Knit six rows, increasing on the first stitch, the stitches before and after the markered 27th stitch, and the second to last stitch
Purl one row, knit one row, purl one row, knit one row, BO stitches between markers and knit the rest of the row

The cowl portion is complete and the triangle part will be worked next

Purl one row
Work decrease row as follows K2tog, k to last two, slip one, knit one, psso
[Knit one row, knit one decrease row, purl one row, knit one decrease row, purl one row, knit one decrease row, purl one row *Purl 2tog, purl to last two, slip one, purl one, psso, purl one row*, Repeat * to *, knit one decrease row, purl one row, knit one decrease row] two times
Knit one row, knit one decrease row, *purl one row, knit one decrease rows*, repeat
BO last three stitches

Optional fringe: Cut 38 12 inch long pieces of yarn, use a crochet hook to add on at the purl rows as well as three evenly spaced in the 6 knit rows

How I pretend I'm greener and make plarn

I am one of those bad people who still uses plastic bags for their groceries... and being a family of 5, we get a large collection of plastic bags in a short time.  I am nice enough to feel a little bad about all these bags and just throwing them out... I know that some shopping centers have bins that you can put your used bags in, but do I ever remember to bring them back with me???  Hahaha...  So, my solution to be a little greener was to make PLARN.  Sounds kinda fun, for a knitter, right?  I went in search of a tutorial that would help me take my plastic bags and cut them into strips to knit with.  Surprisingly enough, most of them were really just that, cut the bag all the way across several times and end up with tons of strips that need to be attaches to each other.  They did have clever ways of attaching the ends so it wasn't too bulky, but I really wanted to make a continuous strip out of one bag.  Finally I did find one such tutorial, but I could not follow it all the way through.  Something about my brain just did not get the instructions.  So, I took what I could from that and started practicing my own method.

In just 15 pictorial steps you too can have plarn!  You may be wondering what you will do with all this plarn, well, make a bag of course :-)  DH thinks it sounds quite silly to make a bag out of a bag, like I'm just looking for an excuse to knit or something...  But, this knit bag will be sturdy and reusable.

I'm not really one for strict measurements so my instructions below are more of a guide.  I've tried to take pics that truly represent what you are doing, however in my rush to get more plarn (I need to finish my bag!) I used my phone's camera.

Step1: Lay the bag flat with the sides folded in 

Step 2: Cut off the handles

Step 3: Cut off the bottom seam

Your handle-less, bottom-less bag

Step 4: Pull out the folded in sides

Step 5: Start folding the uncut edge up, about 1 inch width

This is a wider shot of what you are doing and your bag orientation

Step 6: Continue folding up until you're about 1-2 inches from the other uncut edge

This is a wider shot of what you are doing and your bag orientation 

Step 7: Start cutting the folded section only, about 1 inch from the cut edge, stop the cut at the top folded edge, leaving the 1-2 inch at the top alone for now

Step 8:  Continue cutting approximately every 1 inch across the folded section only

Step 9: In the 1-2 inch top section, slip your scissors under the top layer so you are cutting only the bottom layer.  Cut at an angle that starts at the bottom left and goes across to the top right at approximately the same location of your folded section's 1 inch cut were to extend out.

Step 10: Fold out your angled cut and continue your cut straight across to the cut in the folded section

Step 11: Continue the angled cut on the bottom for all sections

Step 12:  Followed by the straight cut across the top for all sections

Step 13:  For the last section, you will cut only the angle on the bottom layer and you are done

On the left is the ball of my first cut bag, on the right is the pile of the bag I just cut, and the ends of each 

Step 14:  I just tie a knot with the two ends to secure

Step 15:  Wind the cut bag into a ball (it turns out more like a pancake for me)

The ball of plarn (2 bags worth)

This is the bag I started (and need to make more plarn for!)

To knit this bag, I cast on 100 stitches using size 15 circular needles.  For the first 5 rows I knit.  Then I began this simple pattern:

     R1: K2tog, yo, repeat

     R2: K

     R3: K2tog, yo, repeat

     R4: K

     R5: K2tog, yo, repeat

     R6: K

     R7: K2tog, yo, repeat

     R8: K

     R9: K2tog, yo, repeat

     R10-R14: K

Repeat R1-14

I just finished my third K2tog, yo section when I ran out of plarn.  My first plarn making session consisted of 20-25 bags.  I plan on making about the same amount to be sure I don't run out again.  When I finish a K2tog, yo section and the bag looks to be of a good length, I think I'll knit 10 rounds, then begin decrease rounds to get my number of stitches down to 10, then weave the tail through those stitches and finish it all off.  I still have to figure out handles, as I'm not sure if I'll make those out of plarn or something more sturdy (used jeans?).  Then I'll have a nice roomy bag that I think will be perfect for farmer's market or even the beach!    

 

  

Another pattern available

I am so pleased with the number of "hearts" my free pattern has received on Ravelry, I  had to put together my next pattern right away!

Presenting, The Penny: Cable and Rib Slouched Hat

This is a pattern that I'm charging for and I hope to have as much love for it as the free one...  Check it out on Ravelry or buy it now - 

FREE Pattern!!!

I have created the pattern for my Twisted Rib Fingerless Mitts and have published it to Ravelry as a free pattern...  Feel free to get it here or there and try out my designs for yourself :-)

Awareness Ribbons Stitch Pattern

As October nears I am busy knitting up items with a Breast Cancer Awareness theme.  I searched for something that resembled the Awareness Ribbon shape and didn't find exactly what I was looking for, so I pulled out my new notebook of graph paper and got to work making my own stitch pattern.  It can be used for any kind of Awareness cause, just use yarn in the appropriate color.  I'm sharing the pattern here and on Ravelry for free.

This pattern is worked in multiples of 6 + 1.

R1: Knit
R2: *P1, K1, P3, K1, repeat from *, ending with P1
R3: K2, *P1, K1, P1, K3, repeat from *, ending with K2
R4: *P3, K1, P2, repeat from *, ending with P3
R5: K3, *P1, K5, repeat from *, ending with K3
R6: *P2, K1, P1, K1, P3, repeat from *, ending with P2
R7: K2, *P1, K1, P1, K3, repeat from *, ending with K2
R8: *P3, K1, P2, repeat from *, ending with P3
R9: K3, *P1, K5, repeat from *, ending with K3
R10: Knit

Repeat R1-R10 until desired length.

It's a somewhat subtle pattern, but it is recognizable as well.  Enjoy!

Thriftiness strikes again!

Not sure if it's the warm weather today or what but I was itching to check out the thrift shop for yarn...  So I set out and I was in luck!  

As you can see this is a rather eclectic group :-)  A dig to the bottom of a bin of "crafty" magazines found the 1960's vest pattern leaflet.  Then I went through the yarn they had on the shelf.  There were a good amount of skeins compared to previous excursions but no extraordinary finds this time.  I did manage to keep in the retro mood and grab two Kmart brand yarns along with a couple other more current brands and some unknowns.  

I skimmed through the pattern enough while in the store to know it was one knit and one crochet, however I did not realize until later that the flower motif on the knit vest and hat were not incorporated into the pattern but added later.  Now I'm not sure that I'll be using this pattern but I'm still happy with the find!

I know at least two of the yarns will make a good purse but not really sure what I'll be doing with the others.  The red Kmart yarn is a pretty big skein so I'm trying to think of a larger project it might be nice for.  I'm lucky to have found two skeins of the blue Red Heart so that can be something a little larger as well.