There's Hope!

I've started shaping the knit tank top and I'm beginning to believe my crazy scheme just might work!

I started from the bottom by casting on 65 stitches. I worked 7/8" knit 1, purl 1 ribbing then in stockinette stitch until the piece measured 9-1/8". It is progressing much faster that I had expected but even so, it's much slower project than anything I've ever knitted in the past.

It's a little hard to see since it hasn't been blocked, but I've started shaping the arm scyes on either side of the piece using McCall's 5573 as a guide. You can see in the photo where I've drawn in seam allowances and other guidelines.

I'm not sure, yet, about the best way to finish off the arm scyes and neckline. I'm open to suggestions if anyone has an idea.

Just Call Me Crazy

A while back I purchased a cute piece of turquoise twill fabric embroidered with bumble bees, thinking it would make a cute skirt for my soon to be seven-year-old granddaughter. Her birthday is coming up in April so I've started thinking about digging the fabric out and making the skirt.

Since the fabric will be the focus, my intention is to make a simple a-line, no-pattern-necessary skirt. Orginally I had thought to purchase a yellow t-shirt to go with the skirt, but out of the blue I was hit with the crazy idea to knit a sweater to go with the skirt.

I wanted a short-sleeved cardigan sweater but while searching for a pattern, I noticed a disturbing trend; most all the patterns I could find were knit with chunky yarns on large needles...instant gratification knitting, whereas I wanted to use Lily's Sugar 'n Cream cotton and #3 knitting needles (this is the first crazy part).

Faced with the prospect of trying to produce a sweater without a pattern, I opted to scale back my design and knit a tank top using a sewing pattern as a guide (this is the second crazy part). Shaping will be limited to just the armholes and neck, as I'm planning for the tank to have straight side seams.

The photo represents my progress so far; it measures just about 6 inches long. I won't say it's a breeze, but it does go a little faster than I expected. Right now I'm just waiting on a measurement from my daughter before I proceed.

I'll keep you posted on my progress.

The Good, The Bad, and The Ugly...

...Today focusing on The Ugly.

One promise I'll make to my readers is to share my crafting failures as well as my successes. Over the weekend, I tried my hand at entrelac knitting. As I mentioned before, I'm not an expert - or even an advanced - knitter. Advanced beginner, maybe so entrelac represents a rather significant challenge.

As you can see from this photo, which is surely not the product of my efforts over the weekend, entrelac is a very beautiful technique. I started out using instructions I found at About.com, which, although very detailed, weren't quite detailed enough and I was soon hunting for instructions on how to purl into the front and back of a stitch (PFB), which sounded simple but for some reason wasn't simple at all.

I searched a bit more and soon found this video which led me to Criminy Jickets and the garterlac dishcloth pattern. (And doesn't it just figure that I would discover that excellent blog just as it goes into a possibly permanent hiatus?) Since the dishcloth was knit all in garter stitch, I decided to give it a try, figuring at the very least it would give me a chance to pick up the feel for the pattern without having to struggle with those pesky PFB stitches.

I did manage to produce a serviceable dishcloth but, like I said at the beginning of this post, it's not pretty. Do you remember your first attempts at knitting? When you were nine years old? My dishcloth resembles it.

All in all, I wouldn't call this a failure, but it is something other than a resounding success. I'm going to keep trying until I perfect this technique because it's just too cool to pass by.

Open for Business

Welcome to Hearts and Crafts.

This is my inaugural post here so thanks for checking it out. Please take a moment to visit my other blogs as well; they're listed in the right sidebar under "More...."

I have several friends who have remarked that they like to knit, but can't follow a pattern. This tutorial is intended for people who have knitted multiple scarves for themselves as well as all their friends and family members but who are having difficulty making the transition beyond basic knit and purl. I'm not a knitting expert by any stretch, but I do love to knit and love to share my enthusiasm.

In this tutorial, we'll be knitting a 16-point dishcloth with eyelets.

Materials:

One skein of worsted weight, cotton yarn such as Lily's Sugar 'n Cream. Sadly, Lion Brand's excellent Kitchen Cotton appears to have been replaced with Cotton Ease, a cotton/acrylic blend.

Size 8 knitting needles

Gauge: Not critical

Instructions:

Cast on 20 stitches.

When you cast on your stitches, make sure to leave a long tail; you can use it to gather the center when you're finished.

Row 1: Knit across, 20 stitches.

Row 2: Knit (K) 4; Yarn Over (YO)*; K 13

At this point, 3 stitches remain on your left-hand needle. You're going to turn your work without knitting them. This is what your knitting will look like when you complete Row 2, before you turn your work.

Row 3: K 18

You're knitting all of the stitches on your left-hand needle. When you finish, you'll have 21 stitches on your right-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 4: K 4; YO; K 11

6 stitches remain on your left-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 5: K 16

22 stitches on your right-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 6: K 4; YO; K 9

9 stitches remain on your left-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 7: K 14

23 stitches on your right-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 8: K 4; YO; K 7

12 stitches remain on your left-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 9: K 12

24 stitches on your right-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 10: Bind Off (BO) 4 stitches. Knit across.

20 stitches on your right-hand needle. Turn your work.

Row 11: K 20

Ta-dah! This is what your work will look like when you complete Row 11.

Repeat from Row 2 until you have 16 points. Bind off. Draw the center together. Sew the cast on edge to the bound off edge. Weave in the ends.

When working rows 2 through 10, you may have trouble seeing how your dishcloth is going to turn out like the one in the photo. No worries, it will if you follow the instructions exactly. As soon as you complete Row 11, all will become clear. I promise. Above all, remember that this is a dishcloth, so minor imperfections won't affect it's use!

Since this is my first knitting tutorial, I'd appreciate your feedback, so please leave a comment on ways I can improve in the future. I'd also like to see photos of your dishcloths (warts and all) for a future post. You can e-mail me at sewconfused at live dot com.

*You need to scroll down all the way to the bottom for the Yarn Over videos. Separate videos for English (yarn held in right hand) and Continental (yarn held in left hand) knitting.