Orange Road ~ Review on Cascade 220

Hi knitters,

As I mentioned in previous blog post, I purchased three skeins of Cascade 220 and made a baby sweater.  Now I have to think about what to make of the their ball of yarn.

Cascade is made of 100 % wool. The yardage is 220 yards each. It's certainly not enough for a scarf or another sweater.  In that case, I will probably make another hat. But this time I would like to challenge myself. With a bucket of ice? No!

It was very lovely yarn, as my cat comments.  I used the left over to make a small blanket for my cat.  She loves it.  Somehow I thinks my cat (one of the three I live with now) is good at valuing the cost of yarn.  She ignored the stuff I made with acrylic yarn and adores this pattern with 100% wool. 

I don't think this wool yarn is very warm.  But it is quite soft to be touched on human skin and cat skin.  I do recommend this yarn to knit for children and pets.  

Anyhow, will share more about yarn and craft.

Happy knitting and crocheting!!!

My fav color and my first sweater

Hello knitters,

I'm so excited to tell you that I've just finished my first sweater that is made out of the Cascade 220 wool yarn bought from Nine Rubies.  

The pattern I followed is called "Sea Shells", included in Heirloom baby knits by Deborah Newton. It's a popular book on Amazon mainly due to the baby picture in the cover. hahaha.  The patterns in this book is all for intermediate knitters too. 

Let's talk about the pattern.
Difficulty level? I would give 3 stars out of 5.  Fun level? 4 out of 5 in my opinion.  

Anyway, it's perfect for first-time sweater knitter.  The techniques required are for intermediate crafters.  Therefore, it's NOT for absolute newbie. (Be patient, my dear newbies)

The reason I choose a baby sweater is simply because "I just wanna get the basic concept of combining pieces into an entire knits.  If my work have turned out to be a disaster, I would not have wasted too many skeins of yarn.  Also, there are many many cute patterns out in the world.  Never done with knitting them.

Sea Shells is combined of 4 pieces: front, back, left sleeve and right sleeve.

The knitting part is not 

Warning for first-time sweater knitter:
READ THE WHOLE PATTERN CAREFULLY!

Isn't it a motto for every single knitters? Yes, it is.  But if you don't obey this golden rule, I'm sure your work will end up a mess.  

Anyway, I just wanna share my joy as a sweater knitter with you all.  Will talk about more about Cascade 220 next time.

HAPPY KNITTING

Op. 14 Hat Knitting Pattern

Hi Knitter,

I'm so so happy to announced that Op. 14 Hat Knitting Pattern is finally finished.  Though the skills needed for this patterns are not difficult, writing out this complicated pattern made me dizzy...and it would be very easy to make mistake in the pattern.

Well, it does not mean that knitting Op. 14 is difficult at all.  It was the writing,  not the knitting that held me back.  Skills required are in intermediate level: Cast On, Sewing for bind off, Knit, Purl, K2tog, P2tog, Cable knitting, twisted cable knitting.  Nothing difficult.  Just follow the instruction step by step and you will be fine.

And as I mentioned, I did it in Magic Loop style.  It is not a must.  You can always do it with double-pointed needles as the pattern says, or with circular needles.  

I do encourage you to use stitch makers for this pattern.  And put marker wherever I have it "spaced out" in the written pattern.  It helps understand the structure of the pattern.

Material: On Skein of Plymouth Yarn Company 
Encore Colorspun colorway #7750

Tools: US#7 (4.5mm) double-pointed needles
US#8 (5.0mm) double-pointed needles
A cable needle
Stitch Markers (Optional)

Size:         Fits head of 50-55cm circumstances

Gauge: 17 Stitches X 25 Rows = 10cm X 10cm

Unfortunately I didn't take any pic of the yarn before I started working on Op. 14.  My fault.  This lovely yarn is made of 75% acrylic and 25 % wool.  Product of Turkey.  Like other worsted yarn, this Encore Colorspun is a little bit rough, not as soft as Uptown Worsted.  That is probably before there is wool in it.  And as you can see, it's very good for cable knitting.  The colorway is named Lime Frost.  Fresh....

And what did I put beside the left yarn?  That's a tillandsia.  Cute?

Oh, almost forgot to mention.  Op. 14 pattern is now available on both Ravelry and Etsy.  Go for it!!!

Next project will not be a hat.  It will be a project that needs more than one skein of yarn.  Stay tuned and

HAPPY KNITTING

Encore! Sublime Extrafine Merino yarn in YELLOW!!!!

Hi Knitters,

I'm working on Op. 10 scarf right now.  The first half is made up by Noro Yarn and Patons Yarn. Just finished the first half of it. Wanna preview?

Op. 10, as I promised, knitted with the yarn ball "arranged" from a skein of Noro's Iroha.  Made of 50% of wool, 40% of silk and 10% of Nylon, Iroha in purple gave me a sense of warmth.  But I didn't sweat due to knitting it continuously for 2 hours.   Happy with that during so-called summer time in bay area.    Too bad I only got one skein of it.  I do like the yarn just the way I like other Noro yarn.  

The milky part you can see is made of Patons Moorland Shetland D.K.  Absolutely  yarn for cold weather. 

In the second half of Op. 10 scarf, I will knit with my beloved Sublime yarn.

Just a friendly reminder, I used sublime yarn in pink to knit Op. 8 scarflet.  

This time I will work with yellow color.  Shall I call it mustard? ??

Sublime yarn is just as gorgeous as usual.  So silky and soft to touch; so easy to knit with; so adorable to keep your eyes on....  Magnificent.  It's not only good for kids, adults will love it too....I just adore the colorways of this yarn.  Compared to Noro's Iroha, Sublime is much lighter in weight.  

Op. 10 is coming soon.  Stay in tune and

HAPPY KNITTING

Patons Moorland Shetland D.K.

Hi Knitters,

Today I'm gonna blog about the Patons Mooreland Sheltland D.K. yarn.  If I am only allowed to use one word to describe this yarn, that would be WARM.

Well, you may say wool yarns are all warm.  It's true.  But this Shetland yarn impresses me as the hat that made of it is so warm that it shields blowing wind in cold weather.  I would say it is one of the best knitting yarn for  knit  for elderly and newly born children.  Knitting something for SAVE THE CHILDREN may be a good idea.

Made in Scotland, Mooreland is in fact a rough yarn in texture.  It's not silky nor smooth to touch with your bare hands.  And it made me sweat a lot... it's a WARM yarn.  Plus it's not as easy to knit with as some blended yarn.  It takes time to get used to it.  Still, the result is amazing.  Op. 9 is a good example.

Anyway, I still have a few balls of the Mooreland.  Thinking of knitting a scarf out of it.  Cable knitting perhaps.  

HAPPY KNITTING

Op. 9 Hat Pattern

Hi Knitters,

I'm thrilled, and I hope you are thrilled to know that, the writing of Op. 9 Hat Pattern is finished and now available on Ravelry and Etsy. The following are the basic requirements and sizes.

Material: Patons Mooreland Shetland D.K. One Skein

Tools: US#6 double-pointed needles

            US#7 double-pointed needles

Size: Fits head of 52-55cm circumstances

Gauge: 22 Stitches X 24 Rows = 10cm X 10cm

The techniques required for Op. 9 are rather common for hat knitter except Knot Stitch:  Purl three stitches together, hold it; knit the same three stitches, hold it; purl the same 3 stitches, remove totally 3 stitches to the right needle.  Friendly reminder: Please don't forget to place the yarn in front while purling for the last time.

Everything else is very straightforward and stated clearly in the pattern. Op. 9 can be done with only one skein of Shetland D.K. yarn.  Yeah....I would say the finished item can fit the head of a teenage.  And the hat looks girly.  Boys, wait for me for another pattern!

The clothes used as the background is so lovely.  It costs only $1.50 plus tax and it works splendidly to make the hat stand out.  Ho Ho Ho. I also ironed the cloth before photographing.  How do you like the pics?

How about Op. 8 Scarflet Pattern?  Since the pics taken weren't not satisfying, I decided to redo the photography part.  Please bear with me for another day.  And for the Patons Moorland Shetland D.K. Yarn, I will blog for it in my next entry.

Thank you for all your support!

Happy Knitting!!!

Sublime Extrafine Merino DK Yarn

Hi knitters,
Happy Lunar New Year!
Glad that I got some new Italian yarn with my red-pocket money. (hm..I shouldn't opened the envelop until the 15th of the calendar)  And this time I got something lustrous.

This yarn is made of 67% of extra fine merino wool and 33% of nylon.  At first I thought it contains some silk as it is quite silky to touch.  I was wrong.  (it does look silky, doesn't it?)

Anyway, I first bought two balls of Sublime merino dk.  The yarn is such an woolly appeal and I was so eager to make something great out of it.   Must not have a wooly  head while I am designing the pattern.  The color is also wonderful.  I believe the white string around the merino is the nylon part.  It's almost a sin to take your eyes away from it.  Innovative appearance.

I was about to make something for this Valentine's.  Well, it's probably good for next year. My fault: slow progress. 

I knitted with US#6 needles.  Well, so far so good.  Easy to handle, soft to touch.  So far no complaint about it except it's high cost.  Yet, I would say: it is worth the price.  Will blog about the scarflet soon.

HAPPY KNITTING

Bamboo Ewe

Hi Knitters,

Here is the yarn I think is gorgerous to work with and it's a very good deal to purchase one.  It's Stitch Nation's Bamboo Ewe.  I usually buy my Stitch Nation yarn from Beverly's.  They have great collection of budget yarn.  One thing I found disappointing is that Beverly's no longer offers Full o'Sheep.  Does anybody know why?  Anyhow, Bamboo Ewe contains 55% viscose from bamboo and 45% wool.  Made in Turkey.  

Bamboo Ewe's reasonable cost does not stop it from being a great yarn to knit with.  It's very widely used to knit items for babies.  The sheen on its surface brings out a unique appearance to the knitted items while its silky touch texture makes the knits perfect to be worn on sensitive skins.  (for people who are sensitive to 100% wool, it's a good news)

This is headband Op. 5.  The edge is knitted with Bamboo Ewe with needles US #7.  And it"s worn by my friend Teddy Lemon.  Pattern available in Ravelry as well as in Etsy.

This history of knitting bamboo is rather short compared to the one of bamboo's other usage:  making musical instrument, chopsticks, food, home building.... etc. etc. Anyhow in recently years, the development of bamboo yarn progresses in a rather quick pace.  

Wool is not the only material is goes along well with bamboo.  Bamboo does very well blended with silk, cotton, nylon, as well as others.  I sincerely hope that the usage of plants for yarn making will be the trend of this generation.  It is eco-friendly.  It opens up more possibility of the art of knitting.  Can't really think of any negative impact of developing bamboo yarn in more varieties.  Anyhow,

HAPPY KNITTING

P.S. Yesterday I bought two skeins of  the Bamboo Ewe in two other colors: pink and grey.  Something new will come up soon.  Please stay tuned.

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

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

Worsted yarn from Japan

Hi guys,

Cute label huh... This is the yarn that I used to knit for the main pattern of Op. 1.

They are totally awesome.  Worsted, warm, 100% wool and easy to knit.  Compare to the ones I knitted for the first hat shown in this blog, they are not that soft.  (well, they are worsted)  I'm not sure if they are good for sweater.  The price was outrageously LOW.  $1.5/ skein.  Wow...

As the label suggests, I would say US #8 or 9 would be the best choices of tool.  What is it good for?  You may wanna check out the free scarf pattern here:

http://eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com/2012/11/op-1_10.html

I'm currently knitting a hat with this yarn.  Just finished 1/4 of it.  Yeah, I do like to have something finished quick. 

I was hoping this yarn will be available this year.  Did check two weeks ago in Ichibankan.  Nothing interesting available.  May try again.

Happy Knitting

Op. 2

Hello knitters

Here is Op. 2.  A scarf that is made of ONE-ROW pattern.  Easy, yet beautiful.  Well, of course it's due to the colorfulness of Noro Yarn from Japan.  

Width:          20 cm
Length:         170 cm

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

Material:
1 1/2 Skeins              Noro's Kochoran       Color No 81

Tools:
US# 15 needles

Pattern:

Cast On  24 stitches  (Multiple of 3)

Repeat these 2 steps for the whole row. 
1) With yarn in front, slip one stitch purl wise.  
2) With yarn in front, knit 2 stitches together.  

Repeat until you reach desired length.

Cast Off all 24 stitches.

Copyright 2012 by  eatinglemonknitknitknit.blogspot.com

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

As you can see from the pictures, the stitches of this beautiful scarf are loose as I used big needles to knit with yarn that is best knitted with US # 8-10.  This is a fast project for whom would like to make a woolly present in last minutes.  I hope you enjoy knitting it and stay cozy. 

HAPPY KNITTING