Double Knitting & Lemon Tea

Hi knitters,

Staying Cozy?  I was enjoying a cup of lemon tea and a book.  A great book and a cup of warm lemon tea.  

The cute little knitted coaster was made a few years ago when I first learnt double knitting.  

According to Wiki, double knitting "is a form of knitting in which two fabrics are knitted simultaneously with two yarns on one pair of needles," and this feature is well demonstrated in the above photos. 

The texture of this two-layer item is proved to be very functional for a coaster.  Due to it's thickness, this square coaster which is made with cotton yarns absorbs spitted coffee or tea very well.  It can be placed on any flat surface such as desk and kitchen table.

To do double knitting, one have to know that it is a time consuming job.  You are doing double!!!  But it is definitely fun to do so.  It's always good to know new techniques.  I will try to squeeze some time to do it again.  How about you?  Are you ready for the challenge?

HAPPY KNITTING AND READING

Merry Christmas!!!

You better watch out
You better not cry
Better not pout
I'm telling you why
Santa Claus is coming to town

Ho ho ho
Merry Christmas!!!!

I just sent an email to Santa Claus and gave him my gift lift.  What I want most at the moment is another ball of this yarn.

Urgent!  I need another all of SMC Select Brioletto from Italy as I'm on my way knitting Op. 6.  Santa, please help!

Oh my goodness!!!This scarf is unbelievably soft even though  Brioletto contains 40% Polyester.  (Polyester is not always a negative 'ingredient')  The remaining 60% is Merino...oh, that's why the softness....

The appearance of this yarn  indeed is very interesting.  And due to the uniqueness of its outlook, one only knit to do something simple and the scarf will stands out by itself.  

Will let you guys know the progress of Op. 6.  Again,

HAPPY KNITTING

Yarn Tasting

Hi guys,

Merry Christmas!!!!  It's now holidays.  Everybody should be happy.  Although it rains like cats and dogs outside, I am still having fun inside doing yarn tasting and watching A Nightmare Before Christmas.  What a movie! What a holiday!  (I do wanna go see Les Misérables, and I heard that some members from a group in Ravelry will have a cinema meeting this Christmas seeing Lemis.)  Oh, the funny pic above was taken with an IPhone app called Manga Camera.  So funny..ho ho ho...

I'm testing some stitch patterns on the skeins which I bought a year ago.  Yes,  a scarf is in progress.  Hurray!!!

It will be a scarf with a combo of nice patterns as you see here.  Will show you more once I'm done with it.  Again, 

HAPPY KNITTING

What is Teddy Lemon working on?

This is Teddy Lemon.  Teddy Lemon is very busy at the moment.

Guess what he's working on?

He's helping me in typing the pattern for Op. 5 and export it to a  PDF file.  And Op. 5 is what he's wearing on his head.

I actually had Teddy Lemon as my friend over 15 years.   And for a long long time he has been put in a spell for a big sleep by an evil witch....

"No.  You are the one who put me in a plastic storage box."  says Teddy Lemon.

"..........................................................." 

Anyway, he's now working for me as a model and a clerk. 

"Mission accomplished.  I should reward myself a glass of lemon tea for working so hard."  says Teddy Lemon.

"So Mr. Lemon, the headband on your head is so cute.  Where can I get a copy of the pattern?"

"The pattern is now available in Etsy and Ravelry."

"Thank you Mr. Teddy Lemon.  I would like to make one in different colors for you."

"That's very kind of you.  If you don't mind, make me another glass of lemon tea too please."

".............................."

Op. 5

Hi Knitters,

Op. 5 is a headband which is stretchy and comfy to wear on your head.  As a headband, it needs to be elastic.  For that reason I tested several ways to cast on and off and finally decided to do it in the way that are especially useful for ribbing.

Size:        35.0cm X 7.5cm
Tools:       US #7 double pointed needles
                US #8 double pointed needles
Material:   100 yards Nation Bamboo Ewe color way Beach Glass 
                25g          Debbie Bliss Donegal Luxury Tweed color way 360010 
                30cm        Noro Cash Iroha color no. 117

Skill required: Cast On for ribbing, tubular bind off, yarn over, knit two together, SSK, knit, purl, make bobble.

Binding off is quite challenging.  But if you know how to knit socks, it shouldn't be a problem.

Besides the choice of pattern, I would like to give Op. 5 a taste of youth and cuteness by choosing the right colors.  Also I enhance the loveliness of this headband by knotting a string as a butterfly on top of the big bobble.  What do you guys think?

Op. 5 now available on Ravelry and Etsy. May it be your choice as a last minute present or just a quick project for fun.  

Thank you for all your support.  I am going to make a glass of lemon tea to celebrate the accomplishment of this project with my friend Teddy Lemon.  By the way, 

WHO IS TEDDY LEMON?????

The Ugly Duckling

Hi Knitters,

The "awful" picture above is in fact the draft of Op. 4 scarf.
Yes, it is.  I admit that I am never good at drawing.

I just bought the Rowan yarns from a local yarn store, then I didn't know what to do.
Hahaha...Then I decided to make a draft and test on the iPad app called SketchPro.  It was fun.

Well, I did know that I wanna knit a scarf.  Then I thought of making some bobbles.  Yes, the dark dots you see represent bobbles.  Then I wanna add some nice border.  Cable knitting then came up to my mind.  See the curves I drew..............

The result, as you can see here, is quite different.  They are not even in scale.  Ugly Duckling then became a Swan!!!

"I never dreamed of such happiness as this, while I was an ugly duckling."

I am surprised and very happy too.  You may want to meet the swan here:

http://eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com/2012/12/op-4.html

P.S. I forgot to mention in previous blog that I knitted with my beloved Takumi Velvet needles.

Thank you very much and

HAPPY KNITTING

Op. 4

Hi Knitters,

Scarf named Op. 4 is finally done.  Hohohohoho....

I'm just so happy that MISSION IS ACCOMPLISHED.  Surely a lot has been learnt: photography, pattern writing, color matching, using props....etc etc.  It was a time consuming project, but the result is, as you can see: A picture is worth a thousand words. Thrilled that I am for the great support from the public.  THANK YOU VERY MUCH.  I'm eternally grateful for all the support from my family and friends.  My cats were also very helpful for not sleeping on my lap while I was knitting and counting at all.

I purposely distinguished the two sets of patterns by using yarns of two different colors, kind of constrasting in the sense of the   The outcome is satisfying.  Surprisingly, the back sides of the two patterns look very pretty too, almost like reversible knitting, which was not in my plan at all.

The major technical challenges for this scarf are bobble making and cable knitting.  They are in fact easy to learn and can be recognized apparently when mistake is made. Once you get used to it, they are just two sets of repeating 4-row and 12-row patterns.  I may just use the pattern for two separate scarfs in the future.

If you like Op. 4 scarf, don't just look.  Try to knit it yourself.

The pattern is now available in both Ravelry and Etsy.

Thank you again and
HAPPY KNITTING

Working on the pattern

Hahahahahaha...

Hi Knitters,

IT'S DONE!!!!  Finally I've finished knitting this gorgeous scarf.  I spent a lot of them in design and knitting and I believe it is worth spending the time.  

After posting this blog, I will start working on the pattern.  It will be available in both Ravelry and Etsy very soon.  Besides the pattern, I'm also planing on filming some tutorials.  Don't you think it's a good idea?

Happy Knitting

Free Counting App

Dear Knitters,

I would like to recommend a free iPhone app for iPhone users.  It's simply called KNIT.
Press START:

First you add a project by pressing the "+ " sign:

Then you will be directed to this page:

Set up number of rows and stitches, then choose the category that you want to count.  In the above example, I chose to count the number of row for Op. 1 scarf project.   I then pressed the yarn ball on the right bottom corner:

Can you see the smile on the cute kitty's face and the change of yarn color?  It's red now!!! It means one row is done. How cute!!!!  Of course you can choose to count by stitch.  In the bar below the categories, there are three numbers: 1, 2, 10.  That's optional for one choose to count by every 1 row, 2 rows or 10 rows. So, do set everything right before you start.   

As shown in the right top corner, you can also take picture for your projects, take notes as well as setting the app. For more details, please go back to the homepage and press the little bar says "how to use".

This app is wonderful.  It's especially good for those, like me, cannot live without smart phone. One little thing I don't like about this app, is the long bar for ad.  Yeah, ads are as annoying as usually.  Well, it's a good free app.....hmm......  I'll stop complaining from now on.   Thank you cute kitty!!!!  And million thanks to the app developer!!!!!

HAPPY KNITTING

Op. 3

Hi Knitters,

Here is another easy scarf pattern.  This scarf was made several years ago.  It's for little kids aged 2-4.  Well, the selling point for this scarf is the subtlety of the pattern.  Due to the nature of the yarn this scarf is made of, you can hardly see there's a clear pattern of it.  But it looks much better than just garter stitch for the yarn is in one color.  Mode Dea's Cheerio is the chosen material.  Beautiful!!!

Sorry, I didn't take picture before I started knitting.  That's what has been left.  And here is the label.

And yet, it is actually made of a combo of three stitch patterns: garter stitch, square, and enlarged pattern stitch.

Length:  92cm

Width:  12.5 cm

Gauge: 16 stitches X 21 rows = 10cm square

Needles:  U.S. #6 (4.0mm)

Yarn:  2 skeins of Moda Dea Cheerio, color #8402

*******************************************************

Overall structure:

Cast on 20 stitches

Garter stitch  section          

Square section

Elongated section

Garter stitch section  

Square section

Elongated section

Garter stitch section  

Square section

Elongated section

Garter stitch section  

Square section

Elongated section

Garter stitch section

Square section

Bind off all stitches

***************************************************

Garter stitch:

Knit 20 rows

Square:

Row 1:      P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Row 2:      K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 3:      P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Row 4:      K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 5:      K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 6:      P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Row 7:      K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 8:      P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Row 9:      P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Row 10:    K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 11:    P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Row 12:    K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 13:    K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 14:    P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Row 15:    K4, P4, K4, P4, K4

Row 16:    P4, K4, P4, K4, P4

Elongated stitch:

Row 1:      Knit all 20 stitches.  But wrap the yarn twice instead of once.

Row 2:      Purl all 20 stitches.  Drop the extra wrap while pull off the needle.

Row 3:      Knit all 20 stitches.  But wrap the yarn twice instead of once.

Row 4:      Purl all 20 stitches.  Drop the extra wrap while pull off the needle.

Copyright 2012 by  eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com

                   *****************************************************

One thing I need to mention is to watch carefully when you knit.  With this yarn, it's somehow very easy to insert the needles into wrong place.  Also, once you made a mistake, it's not easy to find out (you may want to just pass), and thus not easy to fix.

But the texture of this yarn is so soft to knit.  I do love it!!!

Anyway,

HAPPY KNITTING

Hat Pattens from All About Knitting

Hi folks,

Here is the pattern book I followed to knit the hats below:

http://eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com/2012/11/knitting-cable-hat-while-watching-x.html

http://eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com/2012/11/mission-completed.html

There are more beautiful patterns from this collection.  Again, this is a Taiwanese Publishing.  All patterns are written in Traditional Chinese.  Models are from Western world (At first I thought it's a translation from western knitting world.  But no, it's not) And the most wonderful thing for me, as I learnt my knitting skills first from English written and visual instructions, is that it includes a table of translations of knitting terms.  I am sure it will be helpful for the future.  Awesome job!!!!!  

One thing I'm not too happy about is that the editors did not double-check.  Some instructions and number of rows are not clearly explained and they are misleading.  

Anyway it does no harm to my adoration to the patterns in All About Knitting.  They are all lovely.  The skills required are for intermediate level knitters.  

HAPPY KNITTING

First pair of Hand Warmers

Hi Knitters,

I'm so happy to tell you that I finally finished my first pair of hand warmers.  It was not as easy as I thought.  But, I DID IT!!!!  hohoho...

This is a pattern from Hand Knit Story.  I have mentioned this new book from Japan in the following entry:
http://eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com/2012/10/new-knitting-book.html

I really LOVE this book.  

Back to the hand warmers. The ribbing and cable parts were not difficult, just that you have to read through the whole pattern carefully.  I used US #6 (4.0mm) double pointed needles for this project.  And this time I chose Lion Brand Baby yarn, color No. 184, Melon.  In fact the skein was a left over.  I knitted a baby beanie with it and still...a lot was left.

The above pic shows how much has been left after knitting this pair of hand warmers.  Let me check the original yardage: 459

The hardest part for this project was, as many of your have experienced, knitting the thumb.  Picking-up was not easy.  I undid it once and tried again.  Still not 100% satisfied.  Maybe I should have try to knit a mitten or hand warmer with bigger size needles.  Anyway, I went through this journey and glad that I've learnt a good lesson.

Happy Knitting

YouTube Tutorial for Op. 2

Hi knitters,

How is the long weekend?  I am very satisfied with Black Friday shopping this year.  I am also very happy to announce that a tutorial video is accomplished and posted on YouTube.  

Yes, now I have a YouTube channel.  Tutorials which are helpful for the patterns available in this blog will be posted.   The first one will be a tutorial for Op. 2 scarf.

http://eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com/2012/11/op-2.html

Happy Knitting! 

Doggy style

Hi knitters,

Just checked out a book called Knit Your Own Dog from library.  Published in 2011, this stylish knitting book contains patterns of 25 Pedigrees.  The dogs are just awesome, though not all of them resemble the real ones.

The majority of them requires US #2 double pointed needles as tool.  Rowan, I suppose, maybe the sponsor for this book publishing as various of Rowan yarns are the materials for the knitted dogs.  The instructions are rather clear and inspirational.  Looping will be one big lesson we can learn from this book as there are several ways of loop techniques for different pedigrees.  Cool.

If you ask me which one is my favorite from Knit Your Own Dog, my answer would be the English Bulldog.  The photographs are just stunning.  The bull shows affection towards knitters.....And I could recognize the pedigree with just one glace. 

My favorite pedigrees in real life are Malamute and Cocker Spaniel.  Disappointingly speaking, the previous one is not available in the book and the later does not resemble the image of Cocker as I expect.  

Anyway, Knit Your Own Dog is a must have book for dog lovers and so-want-to-be dog owner.  
I'm trying to squeeze some time to knit one dog.  Hm.... Still working on a pair of hand warmers.

Happy Knitting and LOVE YOUR PETS

******************************************************
Few minutes later...

Just found out the pattern for the English Bulldog is available for free as an except online:

http://www.canadianliving.com/crafts/knitting/knitting_pattern_how_to_knit_an_english_bulldog.php

Knitting a cable hat while watching X-files

Hi Knitters,

It took me quite some time to knit this cable hat.  I admit that I was distracted by Agent Mulder and Agent Scully's investigation, and redo several rows of this hat.  But...it was all fun.

This hat is a good practice for cable knitting as well as left-side decrease and right-side decrease.  I used U.S. #7 for the ribbing.  If I didn't do Norwegian knit and purl, the ribbing would be tighter.  Then I used use US. #9 double point needles for the rest.  

The pattern is from a knitting book published in Taiwan called "All about Knitting".  Instruction written in Traditional Chinese.  There are many wonderful hat patterns in this book.  However, a I noted before, the editor should have double checked the instructions.  Luckily I figured something out and did the math by myself.

  

The reason I had the above pic zoomed is that I want to show you this: I have the tapestry needle go thru odd number of stitch in the first round and even number stitch when I sewed the head edge of the hat.  It is one technique that can be used when you think the number of the ending stitches are just too many.  I just wanna try and see how things go.  It is good.  And this time I didn't knot it too tight.  Yeah...

Not bad isn't it.

The cable hat looks even nicer with the bottom fold up.    Oh, I almost forgot to mention.  This hat is knitted with the Ichibankan worsted yarn I blogged previously.

The X-files theme music composed by Mark Snow is still ringing in my head.  I'm up to Season 2, 7 more to go.   Anyhow, I will continue working on an original pattern.

Happy Knitting