katie knits

Olive/Vesper

2010-04-04T11:58:00.000Z

I've been desperate to knit this Olive sweater for ages - but the pattern is from Denmark and very tricky to get hold of. So I'm going to use the pattern for Vesper (using Roko's clever mods) and add the garter yoke on afterwards, for a hopefully-similar result. Just ordered the yarn (bargainous Patons Diploma gold 4-ply, with garter bands in Rowan Sparkle) and looking forward to casting on.

Tatty Devine 'knitted' jewellery

2010-03-16T17:01:00.000Z

Aww, how adorable is this mitten collection by jeweller Tatty Devine? Layering an acrylic necklace on top of a snuggly knit looks pretty cool.

FO: Copycat cardigan

2010-03-09T20:59:00.002Z

I just finished this cardigan that I cast on for back in early December. It got a bit delayed due to running out of yarn halfway through (it ate 17 balls of Rowan Cashsoft Chunky!) and a brief hobby-detour away from knitting and into Japanese cookery.. but at least it's still cold enough to get some wear out of it this year.

I started out following the pattern for Sedum but then decided to copycat a cardigan I'd bought at H&M - waffle stitch, super-long arms, curved front edges and chunky button-and-collar detailing. The beauty of knitting top down is you can mod this way as you go - and try on as you go, so shaping is a breeze. It sits fairly snug on my ribcage then flares out as the curved edging starts - the buttons only go midway down the front. Blocking did this piece a big favour; it was worryingly lumpy and a little too small beforehand but it's smoothed out nicely.

I'm pretty happy with it. It's a bit heavy due to the aforementioned 1.5+ kilos of yarn required, but beautifully soft. The arms are a bit too long but I can live with it. Also the collar isn't quite as snuggly and chunky as I was hoping; I'm trying to figure out if there's an elegant way to add another couple of inches without ripping out the rib border, but I don't think there is (and I don't fancy ripping and re-knitting all that 2x2).

Excuse my sulky face in the photos by the way, I'm ill!

Ravelry link
More photos

Tunic inspiration

2010-02-11T11:38:00.000Z

Love this sweater tunic/dress (found here) - a bit late in the season to be considering more chunky knits though, I suppose.

Felted scarves

2010-01-17T20:25:00.002Z

Very lovely scarves made from felted recycled sweaters, by Kelley Deal.

Wild Things hoodie

2010-01-15T11:43:00.000Z

Awwww, check out this Where the Wild Things are-inspired hoodie - complete with crown! - by Ravelry user tinyowlknits. Max's suit was one my favourite things about the film. I think I need one.

Totoro mittens and cardigan WIP

2010-01-11T22:57:00.000Z

I just finished these Totoro mittens as a slightly belated Christmas present for my boyfriend's brother's girlfriend (phew). I used leftover Sirdar Balmoral from my Christmas sweater, and the pattern is this chart and this knit-flat mittens pattern , both from Ravelry user brella.

After taking this photo, I took a chance and threw them on a warm wash because I wanted them to felt down just a little, partly because they were too big and partly to welt down all the loose fair isle strands. It worked pretty well but unfortunately the colours bled a little - they are still give-able though and I hope the recipient likes them.

My current WIP is this grey cardigan, knit in beautiful Rowan Cashsoft chunky. It started out wanting to be a Sedum but as I knit it, it worked out more fitted, then I decided to add a curved hemline. It's looking rather like a petrol blue cardigan I bought in H&M a few months ago and wear to death, so a similar grey one will be a good wardrobe addition. This yarn EATS like crazy though, the 10-pack I bought is all gone and I haven't even started the arms yet, so I need to buy more.

FO: Owls

2010-01-06T20:56:00.000Z

I bashed this sweater out in under 2 weeks, using yarn in my stash (Sirdar Donegal Tweed). A fun little project and a cute, comfy sweater as a result. The pattern is of course the popular Owls by Kate Davies - two other girls from my knitting group are also knitting it right now!

As is my way, I made quite a few modifications to the pattern. I was using DK yarn so that affected my gauge, and I decided to knit it top-down instead of bottom-up which involved various pattern tweaks (I accidentally twisted the first cable the wrong way so my owls don't have tufty ears) and missing out most of the clever shaping that the pattern incorporates. Anyway, it came out a nice relaxed fit which suits my post-xmas belly and I think I'll get a lot of wear out of it.

Ravelry link

Snow day hat

2010-01-05T13:47:00.000Z

This snow day hat is super cute, and best of all, incredibly simple to make - just a head-sized rectangle!

Cashmere collar

2009-12-11T12:03:00.000Z

Love these classy and elegant cashmere accessories by lowie, available at Labour of Love.

Festive sweater - FO

2009-12-07T21:16:00.000Z

I finished my festive sweater last night - I love it!

So, the construction is standard Zimmermann percentage system, but with the addition of a scoop neck (increased about every 8 rows, then every 4 rows). The body shape is snug at the top and flared out at the bottom, and long like a tunic. The bottom hem has a purl-turned row (decided the picot was too fussy) and the neckline is simply edged in reverse stocking stitch which curls neatly in on itself. The super-long arms have a smaller snowflake motif taken from the main chest pattern and are edged in 1x1 rib.

The Sirdar Balmoral yarn washed and blocked beautifully and it's incredibly warm. It will be getting airings at my work and knitting group Christmas parties, and maybe even an appearance on Christmas Day.

Ravelry link
More photos

Festive sweater: progress

2009-11-30T21:57:00.000Z

Some progress on the festive sweater. The body is finished - I added increases from the bust, creating a kind of empire line to suit my body shape, and cast off with a picot edging. I think I made up the technique for the picot - I did a row of (yo,k2tog) then a few rows plain, then I folded at the yo row and stitched the live stitches down to the inside to create the seam and bind off in one go. It worked quite well and made a nice stretchy edging. I hate when the bind-off row feels too tight.

I've started the arms now using Magic Loop, just trying to decide how to shape and finish them - probably picot edging to match the body, maybe with a smaller fair isle motif around the cuff.

Tea cosy

2009-11-30T14:26:00.002Z

I was commissioned a few months ago to knit a tea cosy for a digital agency, to use as their logo/branding. Here's the finished result.

Festive sweater WIP

2009-11-22T18:24:00.001Z

I've just started on a festive sweater that i'm hoping to have finished to wear on Christmas day! The pattern is just based on Elizabeth Zimmermann's percentage raglan, and I made up a reindeer-snowflake-hearts-tastic fair isle pattern for the chest using Photoshop (I've even made sure the pattern centres on the front, which is quite advanced forward thinking for me). The chart's below if you'd like to use it - it's worked over 48 stitches which worked handily into 3 repeats around my 144-stitch chest.

Ravelry project link

Sara Carr

2009-11-12T16:17:00.000Z

Beautifully cute knitted items from Sara Carr! Check out her Folksy shop to purchase.

Whistles A/W09

2009-11-10T11:06:00.000Z

Delicious knitwear from Whistles getting me excited about winter dressing. Love the chunky zips paired with lurex and mohair, and the moody ink blue and charcoal colour scheme.

FO: Ishbel

2009-10-15T19:15:00.000Z

I'm on an FO roll! It's another navy blue snuggly neckwear item - Ishbel by Ysolda.

I used lovely Blue Skies 100% baby alpaca with slightly bigger than recommended needles (4.5mm) to make the knit a bit looser and airier.

I actually messed up the pattern - you're supposed to knit sections A, B, A, C but I totally forgot to do the second 'A' and went straight to 'C'. A bit of fudging with stitch counts was required and luckily it doesn't look too noticeable.

Ravelry project link

To-knit: fair-isle cardigan

2009-10-15T11:17:00.000Z

I bought some blue and cream wool/alpaca mix recently which I imagined would become a striped Breton sweater, but now I'm thinking it might want to be a lovely Christmassy fair-isle cardigan like this one instead.. decisions, decisions.

Sweater clock

2009-10-15T09:50:00.002Z

Aww, look at this adorable knitted clock from Anthropologie!

Fez Cowl

2009-10-12T18:32:00.000Z

I finished knitting this little cowl in 2 days - an evening in and a train ride up to the north. It only took 2 balls of lovely Debbie Bliss Fez, a snuggly merino/baby camel(!) blend.

Here's a rough pattern.. with the yarn held double (a strand from each ball), cast on enough stitches to fill a 16" 8mm circular needle, making sure your number is a multiple of 4 + 3. k2, p2 around (you'll reach the end of the round with a purl left over, just carry right on over the end of the round). Keep k2, p2 around until you have a few yards left, then bind off loosely.

My cowl is about 32" around and hangs pretty loose, for a snugger one cast on fewer stitches or make a pompom-trimmed drawstring pull (I might add this to mine).

Ravelry link

Skull Breton by Sibling

2009-09-21T08:55:00.004Z

Loving this skull op-art Breton sweater by Sibling London, a cool men's knitwear label. A Breton sweater is on my to-knit list for autumn, this is a nice twist on the classic.

Their other stuff is pretty cool too.

Intarsia camo

A take on the catwalk shoulder-pad trend with super-chunky yarn

A big twisty bow.. this could be pretty wearable.

Buttercup progress

2009-09-12T14:28:00.002Z

I've been slowly making progress on Buttercup at knitting group every Tuesday.. it's such slow going though, and stocking stitch in the round is so boring! It's looking nice though, and a good fit - apart from being a bit low at the neckline but I think a firm border should sort that out.

The bamboo yarn is snuggly soft - Yoni approves too.

New WIPS...

2009-07-19T10:45:00.002Z

Here are my current WIPs!

Ysolda's Ishbel shawl, knitted in Colinette Jitterbug - Ravelry link

Buttercup, a very popular pattern at the moment - Ravelry link

Here's why my knitting has been rather slow of late! - can't knit at home any more due to this little monster, so I have to rely on my Tuesday night knit group to make progress.

Knit the City

2009-07-16T10:22:00.002Z

Knit the City are the latest group of guerilla crafters to take knitting to the streets, this time in my home city of London. I love their latest project, a cosied-up phonebox in the heart of Parliament Square.

Casting on Ishbel

2009-06-20T17:03:00.003Z

My Tuesday night knitting group has inspired me to pick up sticks again lately - more specifically, to knit a shawl since they all tote such gorgeous examples. To this end, I picked up the above yarn from Loop earlier today (the store is a dangerous 5 minute walk from my house). I picked up some Blue Sky Alpaca in a lovely smoky navy blue, and some baby pink Colinette Jitterbug, which will become my Ishbel shawl.