Cabled Cowl [Knitting Pattern]

I mentioned a couple weeks ago that I was sucked in to the Downton Abbey Knit Along,

and then in my excitement proceeded to crochet (and finish) my project in the very first episode.










All has ended well, though,
because I started a new project,
knitting this time.



















I was in the mood to knit,
and more specifically,
make a project that included some cabling.

So here's how it turned out!

If you've been following along, you'll notice that this pattern is very similar to my cabled wrap.
Another project which I love and wear all. the. time.

 

Reasons I like this project:





It's cabled (I love cables).

It's toasty warm.








It's long enough that you can wear it long like in this pic
(blurry, yes, but you get the point)









lazy eye

or you can wear it doubled up for super warmth.











So here's what you'll need:
Yarn (duh). I used less than one skein fisherman's wool (medium/4)
Size  9 (5.5 mm) circular knitting needles
cable needle
yarn needle to weave in ends

Abbrevs:
st- stitch(es)
rnd(s)- round(s)
K- knit
P- purl
C6B- place 6 st on cable needle and place at the back of your work, K6, K the 6 st on your cable needle


Cast on 144 stitches. Join the end to the beginning so you have a loop.
Rnd 1: Knit
Rnd 2: Purl
Rnd 3: Knit
Rnd 4: Purl
Rnds 5-19: *P4, K12, P4, K16, repeat from * around until you reach the beginning (4x total)
Rnd 20: *P4, C6B, P4, K16, repeat from * around until you reach the beginning (4x total)
Rnds 21-32:*P4, K12, P4, K16, repeat from * around until you reach the beginning (4x total)

Repeat Rnds 20-32 twice more (you will have cabled this sequence three times total).
Next 15 rnds: *P4, K12, P4, K16, repeat from * around until you reach the beginning (4x total)
Next rnd: Purl
Next rnd: Knit
Next rnd: Purl
Next rnd: Knit
Last round: Cast off and weave in ends.

Boom. Finished.

Downton Abbey Knit Along {and Pattern Review}

I saw the teaser for Luv In the Mommyhood's

Downton Abbey Knit Along

a couple of weeks ago, and I wasn't going to do it.

I really wasn't.

Too much going on....

But then on TOP of the teaser,

Shannon posted (via a Pinterest board) many a Downton inspired knit and crocheted projects,

and I saw this:

photo credit and pattern

I die.

Here's my finished product

Soooooo..... I'm in.

Put Meg down for one crocheted cowl, please.

because, yes, I need another cowl.

I have to be competely honest with you all, though...

We're only one episode in, and in my excitement...

I already finished.

In my defense, it was a 2 hour ep... sooo....

I know, I know. Less of a "knit along" and more of an "I just knit that".

Oh well. What are you gonna do?

The good news is

I. Love. This.

Love the yarn.

Love the pattern.

Very very simple and quick thanks to all of the negative space that makes this cowl look lacey.

It's a less than one skein project (hooray!)

The one con I can think of:

not exactly practical for Pittsburgh winter... but Spring Still Winter is just around the corner, right?

I believe that the yarn in the pattern is an acrylic.
I chose a natural wool because I don't always like how some acrylics are "slippery" when you're working with them.
You'll see right off the bat that there are some pros to working with an acrylic yarn for this pattern.
Because it's smoother, it lays a little more nicely (see pattern pic above).
You can also see the stitches more clearly, giving the pattern a more gentile, lacey look.

And here's some pics from the unintentionally
patriotic photo shoot

The wool is stiffer, which I don't mind at all.
It also has a rougher feel, which I also don't mind.
While I love the look of the pattern's pic, I don't know that I'll be wearing mine with a tank, so the wool will not really be against my skin.

To get this crochet pattern, click here.

Highly recommend.

To check in to the knit along and see what everyone else is up to, click this there button below.


My Biggest Fan

Is my mom.

(She's that one person who comments on my posts)

Hi Mom!

My second biggest fan is, perhaps, Grace.

Her blog is, after all, my largest traffic source.

I'm guessing because oodles of people read her blog.

Which was why I was so happy that she won my giveaway earlier in the year.

A giveaway for a knitted cowl scarf, the pattern for which can be found here.

I was even more excited the other day when I saw this...

Grace's husband wearing the aforementioned cowl...
and a (maybe too small) polo.



Whether she talked her husband into wearing it willingly

or he did this of his own volition,

I am just not sure.

But they are equally amazing.

Virtual high five, Grace!

So there you have it. A blog post about a blog post.

If you missed one of the gazillion links to her blog above, click here and check it out.

She'll have you laughing (out loud) and  headed to the store to buy chia seeds in no time.

Have a great day!

And Clearly I Have a Problem

I'm a little embarrassed about this...

 

I recently set out to reorganize what I fondly refer to as my "studio space",

what my husband calls my "sweat shop,"

and what is, in actuality, a spare room on our third floor where I store all of  most of my crap.

And just as I was about to pat myself on the back for being so awesome about cleaning just like a good little new year's resolutioner...

I found a project that I didn't even remember having begun.

I couldn't even give you the details if I tried.

It must have been that long ago.

If I had to guess, judging from the other things I found in that general stash, I would say I started this about 2 years ago.

Yikes. I know. It's horendous, really.

But the good news is this:
I could tell what I had done,
and even better, where I was going.

So I was able to finish.
Thank goodness this isn't a total tragedy.

Here's what I do know:
The yarn is Loops & Threads "Impeccable" in true gray.








This was one of my first projects (if you're counting start date, of course) that I cabled.
I love cables.









I love buttons.
This is actually a functioning buton. It has what I'm calling a "prosthetic" botton on the front that is good-looking.






It has sew-on snap buttons on the inside that are not as good-looking, but very practical, indeed.










So that's it, folks.
Sorry I can't give you a tutorial.
I know the pattern, of course, but I'm almost certain it is not my own, so I can't share.
sad face.

Hope it inspires anyway.
It's at least inspired me...
to finish the things I start
because let's be honest: this is ridiculous.

Have a great weekend!

Quick Knitting Project for Nasty Weather

Mmmmkay, so I'm about to get real with you and say...
This is NOT a fashion blog.
In fact, if I'm to be perfect honest with you all,
my idea of a fashion victory is when I "accidentally on purpose" match my tank top to my yoga pants... no really.
Having said this, however,
this is my take on one of my favorite accessories of the season:

To say that I'm liking the eternity scarf/cowl/snood trend

might be an understatement.

I love it.

You've seen them all over Pinterest right now.

I'm particularly enjoying the selection of cowls with cables and buttons.

I LOVE buttons.

http://www.etsy.com/shop/KittyDune?ref=seller_info
via Pinterest

Anywho, my beautiful sister-in-law and I were looking at a few for inspiration before Christmas.

She wanted to maybe make one for a friend as a gift, and I offered to "guide" her in the process.

So we hopped in the car and went down to Joann for some yarn.

We found this beauty...

So it was decided.

She already knew how to knit, I reminded how to purl, and we ended up with a really quick and SIMPLE cowl.

I actually loved it so much that I made a two button version for my own friend, and even had enough yarn left to make another, slightly larger one for myself.

So I thought I would share

mostly because I've been prodded by a few of you to post some more beginner-friendly projects.

Trust me, this is definitely beginner-friendly.

If you're not sure how to knit or purl and would still like to give this a whirl (that rhymes!),

there are some fairly good you tube videos out there. I found these:

How to Cast On
How to Make a Knit Stitch
How to Make a Purl Stitch
How to Cast Off

I'm fairly certain that I would love anything with this yarn,

and the great news about this project is:

it's really quick.

you can do it if you know how to make a knit stitch and purl stitch (no increasing/decreasing/cabling/etc)

it uses less than one skein of yarn

the yarn is so chunky that it hides mistakes REALLY well!

What you'll need:

one skein of chunky yarn (I used Lion Brand Wool-Ease "Thick and Quick" in Grey Marble)

size 13 knitting needles (or size to obtain tension- just look on the label)

a big ole button- the bigger the better in my opinion

*Note: You may need a little more than one skein to make your scarf long enough to wrap around your neck comfortably, mostly depending on how tightly you hold/knit your yarn.

Step One:

Cast on 35 stitches.

Step Two:

Purl 1 stitch in every stitch on this row and every alternate row.

Knit 1 stitch in every stitch on the odd rows.

This is called a stocking stitch.

*The "right" side of a piece using a stocking stitch looks like this------->

Step Three:
Put in a good movie (or two) and keep chugging along.

Continue in this manner until the cowl measures about 30 inches.
You may want to make yours longer if you want it to be looser around your neck.

End on a purl row.

Step Four:

Cast off knitwise.

Step Five.

Arrange your cowl and attach a button where you want it.
You can place it wherever you would like, obviously, but I put mine toward the top (see picture below).





Please note that I just tied the button on; it's not a "functioning" button.
I did this because
a) It's a lot quicker/easier
b) If you don't like where the button is placed or how the cowl falls, you can easily cut it off and relocate it.
c) Since it's "fixed", you don't have to arrange it each time you put it on. It just slides right over your head.

Taa Dah!

Nothing ground-breaking, I know,

but a great reward for little effort.

That's a win in my book!

Enjoy!

Sock Monkey Pattern and Tutorial

This has to be one of my FAVORITE baby/child gifts,

and I've probably made about a million of them.

Okay, maybe not a million, but A LOT.

The infamous sock monkey.

I found a knitting pattern a long time ago by Patons but have tinkered with it here and there to get what I believe to be the best pattern.

So I thought I would share.

For those of you out there that knit, this is not as difficult as it looks, but it does take some time, and isn't a project that is easy to start, stop, and start again.

For those of you that don't knit, I WOULD recommend that you start,

but I WOULD NOT recommend you begin with this project. :)

It would take a heck of a lot of pictures for this to be a full blown tutorial, so I'm including the whole pattern with some pictures along the way, so you know what it should look like as you go.

Abbreviations are at the bottom if you are not familiar, and as always, if you have questions or need clarification, just let me know by comment. 

You could obviously use whatever yarn and colors you want, but this is what I used...

Supplies:

3.75 (U.S. 5) Double-Pointed knitting needles (set of 4)

Stuffing (I use a polyester fiber fill)

Yarn:

I used Patons Classic Wool Yarn

2 skeins of grey marl (you'll actually need about 1.5-1.75)

1 skein aran (you'll actually need about .5)

1 skein bright red (you'll need very little just for the mouth)

Useful but not necessary: a crochet needle to hide all your yarn ends.

Step 1: Legs

**With a pair of double-pointed needles and aran yarn, cast on 6 stitches.

1st round: Inc 1 st in each st to end of row. Divide 12 sts onto 3 needles. Join in rnd. Place marker on first round (or let your "tail" from casting on hang out where you began).

2nd and alt rnds: knit.

3rd rnd: *K1. Inc 1 st in next st. Rep from * around. 18 sts.

5th rnd: *K2. Inc 1 st in next st. Rep from * around. 24 sts. Knit 8 rnds even. Break aran yarn. With grey yarn, knit in rnds until your leg measures 5.5 inches. Leave sts on a piece of yarn.

repeat so you have 2 legs (duh), but leave the second leg on the needles when finished.

Step 2: Join Legs

Join your tail yarn from leg 1 to the knitting yarn from leg 2 so they are connected.

Add the sts from leg 1 to your needles so they are evenly spaced (16 sts on 3 needles).

Step 3: Knit Torso and Shape Neck

Knit body in rnds evenly until the torso is about 5.5 inches long.

to shape neck, 

1st rnd: K2tog for the whole rnd. (24 sts)

2nd rnd: knit

3rd rnd: Inc 1 st in each st for the whole rnd. (48 sts)

Step 4: Knit Head

Knit in rounds until the head measures 2.5 inches from the neck.

Break grey yarn and with aran yarn, knit 8 rnds.

Step 5: Stuff

Stuff from the legs up to the neck to your desired stuffiness.

Step 6: Cinch Neck

With a yarn needles, run a length of grey yarn through the stitches of the neck all the way around (I recommend picking a back side at this point).

Tie the ends together and cinch until the neck is as narrow as you would like it to be. Not too much, just enough so you can tell where the torso ends and the head begins.

Step 7: Shape Head

1st rnd: *K6. K2tog. Rep from *around. (42 sts)

2nd and alt rnds: knit

3rd rnd: *K5. K2tog. Rep from *around (36 sts)

5th rnd: *K4. K2tog. Rep from *around (30 sts)

7th rnd: *K3. K2tog. Rep from *around (24 sts)

9th rnd: *K2. K2tog. Rep from *around (18 sts)

11th rnd: *K1. K2tog. Rep from *around (12 sts)

Stuff the head to desired stuffiness.

Break yarn, leaving a long tail and draw that through your loops so you can pull it up and secure. It should look like this...

Step 8: Arms

(same as legs, make two... duh.)

** With a pair of double-pointed needles and aran yarn, cast on 6 sts.

1st rnd: Inc 1 st in each st to end of row. Divide 12 sts onto 3 needles. Join in rnd.

2nd and alt rows: knit

3rd rnd: *K1. Inc 1 st in next st. Rep from *around. 18 sts.

5th rnd: *K2. Inc 1 st in nect st. Re from *around. 24 sts. Knit 8 rnds even. Break aran yarn and with grey yarn, knit in rnds until arm measures about 6 inches.

Cast off.

Step 9: Tail

** With a pair of double-pointed needles and aran yarn, cast on 6 sts.

1st rnd: Inc 1 st in each st to end of row. Divide 12 sts onto 3 needles. Join in rnd.

2nd and alt rows: knit

3rd rnd: *K1. Inc 1 st in next st. Rep from * around. 18 sts.

Knit evenly for 12 rnds.

Break from aran yarn and with grey yarn, knit until the tail measures about 6.5-7 inches.

Cast off.

Step 10: Ears

(make 2)

With a pair of double-pointed needles and grey yarn, cast on 8 sts.

1st row: knit

2nd row: Inc 1 sts in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. (10 sts)

3rd row: Knit

4th row: Inc 1 sts in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. (12 sts)

5th row: Knit

6th row: Inc 1 sts in first st. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 st in next st. K1. (14 sts).

Knit 4 rows.

11th row: K1. K2tog. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1. (12 sts).

12th row: knit

13th row:K1. K2tog. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1. (10 sts).

14th row: knit

15th row: K1. K2tog. Knit to last 3 sts. K2tog. K1. (18 sts).

Cast off.

Step 11: Mouth

With a pair of double-pointed needles and red yarn, cast on  8 sts.

1st row: K8, turn work upside down and pick up 8 sts on another needle. K8 on these sts.

Divide sts with 8 sts on first needle and 4 on the second and third.

1st rnd: K1. Inc 1. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (first needle). K1. Inc 1 in 2nd st. Knit to end of needle (second needle). Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (third needle). (20 sts)

2nd rnd: knit.

3rd rnd: K1. Inc 1. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (first needle). K1. Inc 1 in 2nd st. Knit to end of needle (second needle). Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (third needle). (24 sts)

4th rnd: knit.

5th rnd: K1. Inc 1. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (first needle). K1. Inc 1 in 2nd st. Knit to end of needle (second needle). Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (third needle). (28 sts)

6th rnd: knit.

7th rnd:K1. Inc 1. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (first needle). K1. Inc 1 in 2nd st. Knit to end of needle (second needle). Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (third needle). (32 sts)

Break with red yarn and continue with aran yarn:

8th rnd: knit.

9th rnd: K1. Inc 1. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (first needle). K1. Inc 1 in 2nd st. Knit to end of needle (second needle). Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (third needle). (36 sts)

10th rnd: knit

11th rnd: K1. Inc 1. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (first needle). K1. Inc 1 in 2nd st. Knit to end of needle (second needle). Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (third needle). (40 sts)

12th rnd: knit.

13th rnd: K1. Inc 1. Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (first needle). K1. Inc 1 in 2nd st. Knit to end of needle (second needle). Knit to last 2 sts. Inc 1 in 2nd to last st. K1 (third needle). (44 sts)

Cast off.

Step 12: Putting it Together!

Stuff and sew on your appendages. 

Step 13: Eyes and a Personal Touch

Sew on your eyes. I use buttons. (Make sure they're secured well so no one chokes!). You could also sew them on with black yarn or felt.

I like to give this little guy a heart. I mean, right?

So cute.

I also try to embroider the first initial of the child on his left foot if I know the name.

Hope you have fun making these! 

I LOVE 'em and they are a fan favorite! I would love to see your results! :)

Abbreviations:

alt- alternate

inc- increase

k- knit

K2tog- knit two together

rep- repeat

rnd- round

st(s)- stitch(es)