Category: knitting

ZigZag

Published on by Carina

“There is a new spirit of optimism,” my boss wrote this morning from Chicago, “with the majority of the US population.” A new spirit of optimism?! – Hard to believe.

He attached a paper headlined “Germany in free fall.” Free fall – that’s more of how I feel. Not even knitting works for me right now.

Is it a coincidence that I am working on the ZigZag scarf? Zigzag is what my thoughts have been all of last week. Zigzag. I am confused, in shambles, wondering how I (and most of the world) missed the story. Is it that we did not want to see it? Was it there at all? Zigzag. It was definitly a wake-up call. Wake-up to what?

“It’s better to light a candle than curse the darkness,” Eleanor Roosevelt said. Hence, I started to look out for candles: there is definitly light on the Cozy Knits blog, with the #knitterspayitback intiative on Ravelry and all of Mairlynd‘s encouraging post on Instagram.

How have you been? Is there a light where you are? Would you be willing to share?

Marisa’s Patchwork Wrap

Published on by Carina

Right before Christmas Marisa knitted three (three!) Patchwork wraps. Just like that – all of them stunning. She showed them on her (German) blog Maschenfein and I wondered (a) how can she be so fast (b) how do you knit patchwork?

So when she asked online whether anyone would like to test knit her pattern my finger was up in the air. And later that week I would cast on.

Patchwork Wrap Maschenfein HäkelmonsterWhat can I say?

Once you have the perfect yarn and the pattern is well written, nothing can go wrong.

Those raspberry colored triangles are knit with Nomade by Wollfaktor. Two handdyed and flawless skeins of yarn (given to me by Rebekka) were in my stash, wonderful to work with, not a single knot in 840 meters.

All else is sock yarn from stash: Opal, Regia and some no-names. I took whatever I had as Nomade did the trick “pimping” my wrap with its beautiful color and texture.

Patchwork Wrap Maschenfein HäkelmonsterAnd the instructions?

Marisa’s pattern is downright wonderful: logical, accurate and beautifully written. Once you understand how to attach those triangles to one another (joining them as you go) knitting becomes easy. Plus, it is fabulous how lively garter stitch can be when changing directions with each triangle.

I am no designer – well, not a designer like Marisa. Whether it is her doctor’s degree in economic science or her infectuous enthusiasm for numbers and maths – I don’t know. But knitting her designs is fun! Right now she is working on translating this pattern into English.

If ever I am going to knit another one of these wraps (which I most certainly will) I might use just one color to highlight those shifts in direction and its impact on garter stitch.

For the record: I have used about 600 yards of Nomade and little less than 400 yards of whatever was there. After blocking, my wrap measures 6 x 4.1 x 4.1 feet (2.7 feet from top to bottom). I modified the pattern by adding an edging (one row of single crochet stitches) and I love the finished wrap!

Patchwork Wrap Maschenfein Häkelmonster

I apologize for the bad quality of those pictures. Somehow, my camera flatly refuses to reflect anything red true to reality. But I will try again! Therefore: more pictures to follow as soon as my favorite model (my son) agrees in modelling.

Very easy poncho

Published on by Carina3 Comments

This is not a pattern that spoon feeds you. It’s more of a write-up on how I knitted my poncho. That is to say, it may be used as a recipe for making a poncho from whatever weight yarn you have in your stash. Nothing more, nothing less.

PLEASE, don’t be offended but after 6 years I am no longer willing to answer the same questions over and again. Take some time to read the comments, it’s all there.

Thank you.

..

I knit a wide scarf in stockinette stitch – approximately 23,5 inches wide and 63 inches long. Once the knitted piece was finished, I blocked it and (when dry) folded it in half (closed edge to the right).

I joined borders according to chart: starting at the top left corner for the length of approximately 20 inches; making sure about 12 inches would remain open (that became the neckline).

That’s all there is to it.

To embellish your poncho you may want to add an iCord edging on all remaining sides and around neckline (that’s what I did). Purl Bee has a lovely tutorial on how to do this.

Tips & Techniques:

  • The width of 23,5 inches will be the poncho’s length (from neckline to bottom). If you’re taller than me or smaller (I am 5.7ft) you may want to adjust it.
  • The front of your poncho will be shorter than the back – that’s how I wanted it to be. If you don’t like that make sure the scarf is twice as long as it is wide. In my example it would have been 23,5 x 47 inches.
  • However, I would not downsize the neckline.
  • A different way to knit the poncho is to start with the long side, that is to say cast on stitches for 63 inches and knit until it measures 23,5 in height. Join sides using kitchener stitch and your seaming will be invisible. I thought about that too late …
  • No matter how you decide to knit your poncho – at the end the seam will run vertically all the way down your back.
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