Knitting a hat of Eriko Aoki's pattern

Hi knitters,

A few months ago, I've been knitting a hat, on and off, from a pattern of Eriko Aoki.  (Yeah, on and off, as I was quite busy changing my life. ) Eriko Aoki is a famous Japanese designer who has been contributing her patterns to many Japanese publications.   The pattern is from a book called House Knit, Outside Knit. 

 And I used knitting needles US #6 instead of the suggested on.  The the hat is smaller and suits children of 6 to 9 year-old.

Knitting this hat is a good exercise of cable knitting and learning Japanese knitting symbols.  I found that the advanced you want to go, the more you need to learn. And my reference book wasn't informative enough. 

Therefore, I sought help from YouTube again.

Here is one I recommend.  It is a YouTube channel called Keiko no Puppy, and it is official of the Japanese Yarn Brand Puppy.   You can find some instructions on how to knit and crochet.  The good thing about this series of YouTube tutorials is that you don't need to know Japanese at all.  The demonstration is in clear and done in slow pace.  You'll see Japanese subtitles at the bottom of the screen.  But you don't quite need that.    

And you can just look at the right top corner of the video and see the symbols.  

Here is a demonstration of k2tog.




Although this is a great help.  There are still so many symbols that I couldn't find.  I guess I need to find another reference book that contains information for rare symbols if I want to keep advancing.  I DO NEED THAT!  Please let me know if you have any recommendation.  Thank you!

So at the mean time, I finished another hat from a pattern of Japanese designers.  Will tell you more about it next time. 



Happy knitting!

Op. 17 Beret...finally....

My dear knitters,

I hope you guys are all doing well and staying warm this winter.  Sorry that I was not able to update my blog as I got tied up by personal business.  

Today let me introduce you to my first beret design.  Yes...Beret....  Elegant it is.  Yet, the knitting pattern is not difficult at all.   It is aimed for immediate knitters.  

Here is the basic info of Op. 17:

Material: 2 Skeins of Mochi Plus Colorway #555

Tools: a set of US #7 (4.5mm) double pointed needles

            a set of US #6 (4.0mm) double pointed needles

            a cable needle in the same size of #7 needle

                     

Size: 52 (58)cm head size  

Gauge:     20 stitches x  25rows = 10cm x 10cm (ribbing)

Besides basic knowledge of circular knitting, you will need to learn how to do C2B...AKA  Right Twist.  In the pattern, I will keep it C2B for convenience's sake.  Other than that, you may need to know how to do Pom Pom.  

See?  It's optional.   (Although many of you vote for the additional ornament on Instagram) 

I was trying to make Op. 17 as delicate as possible with limited skill set.  And here is how the ribbing looks like:

The color way I chose is called Tapestry Rainbow in text, 555 in number.  It's my beloved Mochi Plus yarn.  (The yarn I used to make Op. 12) You will need more than 1 ball.  

The pattern is now available on Ravelry.  Free feel to check this out.  At this moment, I so wanna knit instead of writing pattern up.  See you guys, stay warm and  

HAPPY KNITTING!!!

Op. 15 Hat : Spelled by magic loop and cable knitting

Hi Knitters,

I have to tell you how much I love doing magic loop now.  As I mentioned in another blog, when I first tried my hands on magic loop, I was surprised that it was not as difficult as it seems. And I do feel more comfortable that I do not to worry about stitch dropping.  Relieved!   Now I don't really knit with double-pointed when I do hats.  Oh...there is no turning back once you tried on magic loop!!!!!!  And I was 'warned' by some friends on Instagram a while ago.  Thank you guys!

Back to Op. 15.  I did it mainly to test out the cable needles I bought from Daiso.  Here is what I think about them.  One word: secure.  I didn't need to worry about dropping the stitch from the hook at all.  For this reason, I highly recommend needles in this shape for first-time cable knitters.  

However, the material these needles are made of, probably plastic, as not in good quality as those of Clovers.  Well, $1.5 for three hooks, what do you expect.  But they served me well and as you see, I finished a hat with them.  Mission completed. That's good enough.

I do recommended knitting with stitch makers.   Or you may get lost easily.  This is optional.

About the Pom Pom.  Isn't it cute? I made it with Hamanaka Pom Pom makers.   May blog about this in another entry.  So many things to blog about......... good to be busy.

Back to Op. 15 Hat Pattern. Again... Here is the basic info:


Material:                One Skein of Cascade Yarn Longwood
                          Colorway #12

Tools:                US#6 double-pointed needles
                      US#7double-pointed needles
                      A cable needle
                      A Pom Pom Maker with 7cm diameter 
                      Stitch Markers (Optional)

Size:                Fits head of 40-48cm circumstances

Gauge:             20 Stitches X 27 Rows = 10cm X 10cm

Skills you need to possess are: Casting on, Knit, Purl, Knit 2 together, Purl 2 together, Make 1, Pom Pom Making, Cable knitting.

Oh please note: I knitted with #7 Knitter's pride Cubics for the body of this hat.  The the gauge is bit tighter than knitted with #7 of other brand.  

I would say Op. 15 will be good for children of 8 to 14.  Not too big.  Not too small.  Pattern is now available on both Etsy and Ravelry.  Have Fun and

Happy Knitting

Secret weapon: tools for cable knitting

Hi knitters,

It is so good to talk about cable knitting.  Just by understanding the concept of cable knitting, you will be able to create a lot of irresistible knit.  Let's start.

First of all, let's talk about our special tool required by cable knitting.

Unlike most of the stitch you can just deal with the knitting needles, you need something extra.  And the secret weapon is called "cable needle".

The shape of Cable Needles comes in two forms.  One is symmetric one with the middle part concave a little bit.  Don't know what it's called.  A picture is worth a thousand words.

And the other one is in a J shape with one side longer and the other one shorter.  I prefer J-Hook to the other options.  As a forgetful person, I made a habit to insert the stitches from the longer side and knit the stitches from the shorter side.  This is not what everybody does.  They often do the opposite.  Just suit yourself.

Is there any way you can save money by not buying any cable needle?  Yes, there is.  If you have double-pointed needles, you can just pick one of the right size.  But do use the short double-pointed.

So basically what you need to do is to follow:

1. Separate the stitches involved into two groups.  For example, when you see a C6F, there are 6 stitches involved.  Divided them into 2 groups.  Let's call them group A and group B.  Then it will make 3 stitches belong to group A and 3 to group B.
2. Insert all the stitches of group A into the cable needle.
3. Place the cable needle either in front or back of your project.  The abbreviation will tell you.
4. Knit all the group B stitches from the left needle.
5. Knit all the group A stitches from the cable needle.

Done.  Easy?  What you need to know is what the instruction says.

To reinforce what is written above, I made a YouTube tutorial to demonstrate how to do cable knitting. You will see how simple it is.

There is one more thing I would like to share.  I usually pick a cable needle with a bit smaller than the needles I'm knitting with.  For instance, when I knit with US #8 needles, I use cable needle with something like #6 needle.

There is no size mark on cable needle. However, it is very easy to tell which one is smaller.  No need to worry about that.   

Knowing how to do cable knitting is an invaluable benefit for every knitter who wants to have more fun.  There are some knit I create that requires cable knitting skills.  Op. 4 and Op. 13 are both good exercises.  Later I will talk about other kind of cable knitting.  Excited already?  Anyhow,

HAPPY KNTTING

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

Now You See Me: Op. 13 Hat Pattern

Hello Knitters,

I'm so happy to announce that Op. 13 is finally up...Yeah...finally...I've already finished knitting it for 10 days..but just feel more like knitting....literally..so..

Anyway, as some of you may know, Op. 13 is done in NEON YELLOW color while I had always wanna dedicated to careless bike riders who like to to ride in darkness without any flash light on the bike...But I have NOT tested it whether it works or not.  Errr..anyhow, here are some details for Op. 13.

Material:  1 skein of Uptown Worsted Yarn color way #337

Tool:        US #7  (4.5mm)Double-pointed needles
                US #8  (5.0mm)Double-pointed needles
                One Cable Needle

Size:         Fits head of 52cm-58cm circumstances

Gauges:     25 row X 20 stitches = 10cm X 10cm

Skills needed for Op. 13 are only a few: cast on, bind off by sewing, cable knitting, knit, purl, purl 2 together, Make Bobble.  

Sounds fun?  This simple cable hat pattern is suitable for beginners on cable knitting.  And they are now available on Ravelry and Etsy.

Thank you very much and 

HAPPY KNITTING

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

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

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

Mission completed

Finally I've finished this work.  I believe the tip is supposed to be a bit sharper.  I followed the instruction loyally, however, it does not look like what's in the photo of the pattern book.   Did I do something wrong?   Also, I found some mistakes in the instruction too.  Not 100% satisfied with this work.

Still it is a nice hat.  I will save it and collect some other baby hats to donate to Save the Children.  I hope someone will be benefited from it.

The knitting of this baby hat required a lot of cable knitting practices.  It was fun making it.

Oh, about the needles.  Since what I was looking for was not available in the store, I got a set of Knitter' Pride "dreamz".

I am happy about the needles.  They quality is good, price reasonable.  The matter that the tips are quite sharp which impresses me too.  There is only one thing I don't like about it:  it is made in 6" long.  I desire 6 1/2" or 7" that makes knitting bigger hat easier.

New knitting book!!!

Can't wait to share.  This is a knitting pattern book that I just got a few hours ago.

 Titled "Hand Knit Story", this lovely book is the third volume of the same series.  

To be honest. I also buy this book because of the model.

 Her name is Getter.  Sorry, I should give credit to the group of designers first.  

Anyway, the poncho on the cover is surely the killer pattern.  I do need to squeeze some time for this big project (Of course it is worth the time) .  

As usual, I wrapped this book in plastic.  See how much I value this book.....

About the patterns, they are 90% for knitting.  Only two works are for crochet.  And these patterns include snood, poncho, mitten, sweater, hat, etc, all previous.  If I may suggest, I would say the patterns are not for beginner. 

Happy knitting and 

Happy Halloween!!!!! 

Winter is Coming!!!

Hi knitters!

I'm current knitting hat, which requires some technique for knitting cable, which is my first work of this winter.
  
Yeah, 

WINTER IS COMING!!! Though I don't live in Winterfell, I do feel the need of warming up my hands.

It is a kid size hat.  I casted on 138 stitches.  26 stitches in one group.  

This to-be-a-hat is made of 100% wool yarn.  Made in Japan.  I bought the yarn last year in Ichibankan.  Too bad they no longer have online shopping services.