A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 8

A Twist In The Tail 2025 Part 8

Now I have finished the Tail and broken the back of the project I am quite looking forward to the next Section.

Fin Begins

Here we have yet another Yarn. The Tail Bag had been reasonably muted colour wise. I am going to go all out for the Fin.

Red Start

I had been toying with the idea of picking up the Stitches of the Bag and carrying on. However I have decided against it as it is already so Heavy. Consequently I have Cast on 120 Stitches.

If my memory serves me the Tail was 180 Stitches in total. That makes it 90 each side. These extra Stitches should help create a wave look. This should be accentuated by using a Plain Knit Stitch.

Knit Front and Back

I thought a Bright Yellow would go nice next to the Red. I have Knitted a two Rows. I am Increasing with a Forward and Back at each end.of this next Row.

Which Way

Hell. I had finished the Yellow and started back with the Red when the Stiches came off. I don’t normally just use a Plain only Stitch so not sure which way to Pick them up.

Sneaky Pearl

Lots of rude naughty words!. Now I am in better light I can see that I have Picked up wrongly. A couple of Pearl Stitches have Sneakily snuck into the mix. I need to try and sort this before continuing.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 6

 Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 6

I have Picked Up as many Stitches as I could. 

Holes in Bag

 

Hmm. Things haven’t gone too well. I have created Holes in the Bag. I am going to have to sort those later. I want to crack on. 

Mark End of Row

 

Right the first thing is to make sure that I know where the End of the Row is. I have tied a piece of Wool around. Not sure where my Stitch Markers are.

Hunt the Needle

 

Then next part is tricky. I am going to have to find my other Needles, Stitch Markers and Stitch Holders.

This should have been easy but of course it wasn’t. My Needles had decided to slip out of their Covers. In the end I had to use a Needle Gauge on every single Needle to sort it.

First Stitch Holder

 

What I want to do is Pick Up 30 Stitches so I can carry on Knitting the Strap. Easier said than done. This is because I have to Pick Up 15 Stitches either side of the Marker.

I decided to do the most difficult Pick Up first. I therefore took a Stitch Holder and began to Slide it through the Stitches. I had to start at the 15^th Stitch and work back towards the Marker.

Too Tight

 

Have hit a Snag. It is Too Tight to get all the Stitches on the Stitch Holder with the other Needle still inside. 

So I have had to add a Second Stitch Holder to try and easy the pull from the back.

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 5

Autumn Cape Bag 2022 Part 5

It just gets worse!

Sew up Sides

 

I had to think how I was going to Sew up the Sides. This is because the Edges did not match Colour-wise. In the end I decided to Sew up using Brown all the way. I Sewed the Tails in that were near the edges on the way.

Gap at Top

 

When I got near the Top I finished Sewing leaving a Gap. This is because I had reached the point where I had got it Twisted when joining together. I decided that I would just have to Bite the Bullet and Sew.

When I got to the Twisted Part I Sewed as Tightly as I could and created a slight Overlap. It made it a little Bulky but apart from that it wasn’t very disenable to the eye.

Pick up Stitches

I hate Picking Up Stitches at the best of times however to my Horror I realised that when I came to do so I had made a fundamental error. I frantically read through all my blogs.

It was no use. It must have been due to being so poorly but I had neglected to put down how many Stitches I had Cast On. Therefore I didn’t know how many to Pick Up.

I am going to have to Improvise.

Autumn Cape A Long Term Project - 2018 More Hood Part 1

Autumn Cape A Long Term Project - 2018

More Hood Part 1

I know it seems like forever since I blogged about this project but there are several reasons for this one being the time of year. It is very hot and playing with this much wool just isn’t fun.

Another reason is I am at a difficult stage in the project and therefore do not want to rush. Last but not least since I have no pattern to work from I need peace and quiet in order to do so and frankly with my neighbours being so noisy I cannot concentrate.

Daytime Hood Pick Up 42 Stitches 

I have to admit I have been dreading this part. If there is one thing I hate it is picking up stitches. This is particularly difficult when it has been cast off but I fought through it and picked up 42 Stitches on a 5mm circular needle 

Daytime Hood 2 Rows Rib

The section I have picked up is from the Daytime Front Piece. I am using Dark Brown wool so with luck it will mimic a branch. The idea is to add a few rows of Rib and then slowly decrease at the open edge and pick up and knit onto the Hood.

Before starting the Rib I need to be at the correct place. I therefore have purled across so I am starting at the open end.

1^st Row

Knit 2 Purl 2 repeat until the end

2^nd Row

Purl 2 Knit 2 repeat until the end

Night Time Hood 2 Rows Rib

I am simultaneously working on the Night Time Front Piece. I again pick up 42 Stitches on 5mm needles and using Dark wool.

However in picking up I have ended up at a different starting place therefore this time I Knit until the end of the Row. This side I use the following formula

1^st Row

Purl 2 Knit 2

2^nd Row

Knit 2 Purl 2

I now need to check how much Rib I need to Knit

Autumn Cape 2017 A long Term Project 2017- Rib Bottom

Autumn Cape 2017 A long Term Project 2017- Rib Bottom

It is beginning to feel like I am nearing the end of this long term project with the addition of the Rib

Wool for Rib

I had a bit of a think about what colour to use for the Rib. Naturally it would have to be some dark colour. I toyed at first with finishing off with black which I had plenty of in my collection.

When I put it against the dark brown it just didn’t look right. So it would have to be an earthier colour. I had now received the same brown as I had used earlier but I was reluctant to use it. I wasn’t sure how much of that I would need to finish of the branches.

Then I had an idea. I remember when gardening that the topsoil was darker than the drier earth below. Therefore I picked a lighter brown colour – Merino Blend DK Shade 23 Chocolate (Dye 56813)

Picking up Stitches for Rib

This is always the part I hate as I am not very good at it. I picked up with a 5mm needle. Since it was a great deal of stitches I decided I would do it in sections.

Daytime Front Piece and Side Rib

I picked up the Front Piece and the Side Panel. Since I was knitting downwards I started with a knit row. I knitted the Rib in blocks of five.

Night Time Front Piece and Side Rib

I did the same with the both the other Front Piece and the Back section. I must admit I was very lucky as when it was sewn together the Rib carried on flawlessly. So that is another section finished.

Autumn Cape 2017 A long Term Project Hood Extension Part 4

Autumn Cape 2017 A long Term Project Hood Extension Part 4

Autumn Cape Hood Extension Start

This is how the Extension looks at present. It might seem a bit peculiar as it is sideways on.

  

Pick up Stitches For Middle Extension

I have decided rather than knit separately and sew on I shall pick up stitches. I start with picking up 4 stitches. I am using the same size circular needle 5 mm only this one is made of bamboo.

There is no particular reason for using this type of needle it is the only 5mm one I had left. One problem with it is that it has a very short length on it so hopefully it will hold all the stitches.

30 Rows Middle Extension Written Chart

Naturally I am keeping track of my rows as before. I am only noting down the knit rows as the purl will be the same. To clarify what I am doing I started with 4 stitches which I knitted and purled.

On the Second Row before I knitted I picked up a stitch from the Daytime side then knitted the 4 stitches I had on the needle. I then picked up a stitch from the side of the Night Time side. I then purled back all Six stitches.

I proceeded to pick up a stitch either end so each knit row added two stitches each time.

30 Rows Middle Extension Pictorial Chart

On the above Pictorial Chart you can see a reversed triangular pattern developing. I didn’t bother numbering the chart I mere put a nought at the starting point. I then put the 2 stitches on the chart either side of the 0. I then added one square each end as I went along.

30 Rows Middle Extension

You can see how the middle part is building up. However as I said picking up stitches is not one of my strong points. I therefore found for some reason that as I was knitting one side seemed further along the side than the other.

This I had to rectify by trying to make one pick up side smaller and the other side larger to compensate and get back on track. It took me until nearly the end to get it level.

60 Rows Middle Extension Charts 

You might not be able to tell from the photograph but I made a couple of mistakes whilst filling in the Pictorial Chart. I think my eyes got tired and I miscounted some of the stitches. The good thing was this was only a clerical error and my stitches on the needle were still correct.

60 Rows All Across Hood Extension

I now have both the sides and the middle part of the extension at 60 Rows and I think it is looking pretty good.

Hood Extension Cast Off

I did a few rows of rib then I cast off. The Hood is not entirely finished but I need to check how the other parts will work in conjunction with the Hood. I will come back to the Hood later.