Cape for Pagan Pride 2015

Cape for Pagan Pride 2015

Pagan Pride Nottingham is a great event and gets better every year. I normally wear my dark green pure wool cloak which was custom made by my good friend Sascha Semmler. It has come in very useful in previous years when the heavens opened at the end of the day complete with hailstones.

However this year I decided I would like to make a summer cloak especially for the occasion. Although Lammas colours are traditionally Gold, Red, Orange and Yellow I decided that I would go for greens and browns mimicking the trees and grass of the Nottingham Arboretum.

To make the cloak nice and cool I decided I would use Bamboo Cotton. This was purchased locally at the Award Winning Knit Nottingham Yarn Shop owned and run by the talented Eleanor Burke.

The needles I used were 5mm however since I was making the pattern up as I went along and had to make a lot of adjustments I won't given the amount of cast on stitches.  I suggest that once you have selected the yarn you want to use that you cast on roughly 20 stitches to work out your gauge. Remember that for the flat sections to add an extra 2 stitches at the beginning and end of the row for the Selvedges.

For the flat sections I used Stocking Stitch (Knit a row Purl a row).  For the sleeves I used Garter Stitch (Knit rows) on a circular needle.

I cast on more stitches than I needed (not intentionally but during the process I lost weight so had to improvise) plus 4 stitches extra. Therefore decided whether or not you want to put a pleat in as this will affect how many stitches to cast on.

For example
With pleat cast on 200 stitches plus 4 extra
Without pleat cast on 160 stitches plus 4 extra.

The pattern including a double garter edge is as follows:

Slip a Stitch knitwise, Knit 1 stitch (Selvedge)
Knit to the last 2 stitches, Knit last 2 stitches (Selvedge)
Slip a Stitch knitwise, Knit 1 stitch (Selvedge)
Purl to the last 2 stitches, Knit last 2 stitches (Selvedge)
Carry on until you reach the length you require then cast off.

Back Panel

Next put the panel with its knit side facing. See diagram below to make the Box Peat. If you are not adding a pleat skip this step.

Back Panel Wrong Side

Armhole Panel

Use the same process as for the back panel until you reach the bottom of the armhole. See diagram below for instructions

Once you have the complete row of stitches carry on as normal until you reach the required length then cast off.

Next make the Front Panel using the same process.

Front Panel

Now you can sew these sections together.

Rectangles sewn together Purl view

Here you have a choice. You can sew the back to the front section and add the edging straight away or you can add a hood or sleeves. I added both. First adding a hood.

The hood is made out rectangles with selvedges. Therefore the process is the same expect the rectangles are shorter.

 Sew Brown Hood rectangle into place

Before you go any further sew the Side Panel to the Back as shown below

Side Panel Sewn to Back

Knit and add further rectangles to one side then the other.

Hood Added 

Fold and Sew Hood Together

Add the edging

The edging is up to you. As I was short of time I used a very simple border I found on Ravelry.

Edging

The next part is the sleeves. I decided on a tapering effect with three colours (not including the border). This was achieved by casting on a circular knitting needle and joining the first stitch with the last stitch. After a few rows of knit I began to slowly decrease for another few rows. Once I was happy with the effect I began to decrease sharply to match the circumference of my my arm.

When the first yarn (I started with brown) had reached past my elbow and a few inches onto my lower arm I changed colour to grey. A few more inches of this colour until finally changing to green yarn at the wrist. This was embellished by adding more edging again in the grey colour.

Sleeves

Next sew the sleeves on to the cloak. This finishes the cloak though you can add a belt like I did using alternative colours of edging as a pattern.

Finished Item.

 

All Photographs Copyright Shani Oates August 2015



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Hats for the Homeless

Hats for the Homeless

First of all let me apologise for the lack of blogs but I have been struggling with life in general. Therefore events are happening quicker than I can cope with so my blog posts will be out of chronological order for awhile.

I have recently met a lady whose attitude has inspired me to focus more on the positive things. After meeting her I had an idea for a new project and you all know what my little ideas turn into!

Due to poor health I have had in recent years had to scale back any kind of voluntary work. However this idea allows me to work when I feel able to. Anybody that has read any of my previous blogs knows that I like to try my hand at crafting albeit in my own particular Blue Peter style.

As any good crafter knows that at the end of a project there are often surplus materials left. In my case this odds and sods of wool. In addition to these remnants I also have acquired over the years balls of yarn I cannot use as they do not suit my skin.

With this in mind I decided to put these resources to good use. I began to work on making scarves. This is my first effort.

Red, White, Black and Russet Brown Scarf

As you can see I have used varying colours. The target audience are males so I tried to use more bold colours rather than pastels. The style is somewhat reminiscent of a football scarf.  As you can see the red appears to be larger than the rest. This is due to the fact it is a thicker gauge of yarn hence the reason for placing it at both ends rather than in the middle.

The scarf was knitted in a simple garter or plain stitch. I used a 5mm needle and the red, white and black yarn is acrylic. The brown yarn is reclaimed wool (wool that has been previously used and unwound) and is 75% wool and 25% acrylic. This means it is warmer than the acrylic which is why I placed it in the middle of the scarf.

This simple design is perfect for knitting quick items without having to concentrate and therefore ideal for beginners. Here is another scarf I knitted with a slightly different colour scheme.

Red, White, Blue and Russet Brown Scarf

Next I decided to make some hats to accompany the scarves. I used an alternative striped pattern. The yarn used was a mixture of wool and acrylic and again on 5mm knitting needles. I used a circular needle for ease. Since I was not certain of the size I was knitting for I estimated the number of stitches. I decided to cast on 120 stitches and knit in a loose garter stitch.

Russet Brown and Oatmeal Striped Hat

This design was knitted by eye rather than following a pattern. Roughly I knitted half a dozen rows then decreased every 11 stitches by slipping a knitted stitch over. I did this for the first few stripes then after testing I steadily increased the amount of decreasing the stitches. 

Russet Brown, Oatmeal and Purple Hat

This is the last piece I have knitted for this project to date. I added some more colours to this hat for a bit of variation.  I cast on 5 less stitches and made the length a touch longer.

Hopefully I will be able to continue making various other coloured items by time the winter period arrives. I will let you know how I get on.

Egg Cosy Part 3 Extras - Dragon Pattern

This is a continuation for the Extras for the Twisted Shape Egg Cosy made in Part 1.

Extras

If you want to continue to add the extras to make a more advanced Egg Cosy here are the instructions. First of all I found it easier to check placement if I had a model to place the Egg Cosy upon. It isn’t strictly necessary but useful. Here is a picture of what I used but normal Hard Boiled Eggs are fine.

Eggs in Cups

Dragon Egg Cosy

I am using 2.75mm Double Ended Needles

I suggest that you may want to read through and practise some of the stitches beforehand if you are not familiar with increasing stitches and making and I cord.

Cast on 2 stitches

Green and Purple cast on

Knit one row

Purl one row

This will give you a firm base to continue. From now on there will be a great deal of making and decreasing stitches.

Knit one stitch

Now we are going to make a stitch. First we put the needle through the remaining stitch and wind around the yarn as we would for a normal knit stitch.

Making a stitch

Next continue moving the needle through as you would do normally but DO NOT PULL OFF NEEDLE. Instead pull the loop you have on your needle and slip over back onto the original needle. Then knit the stitch you have just made.

Made a Stitch

Knit the remaining stitch.

Purl three stitches.

Made 3 stitches

Knit one stitch, make a stitch Knit 3 stitches.

Purl four stitches

Made 4 stitches

Knit one stitch, make a stitch Knit 4 stitches.

Purl five stitches.

Made 5 stitches

Now we will start to begin the decrease stitches, you already know how to do this from the other patterns.

Knit the first two stitches together.

Knit the remaining stitches

Purl 4 stitches.

Decreased to 4 stitches

Knit 2 together, knit last stitch

Purl 3 stitches

Knit 2 together, knit last stitch

Purl 2 stitches.

You will have now made one spine for the dragon. Continue the process if you want to make another. See below in picture. However make sure that your final decrease leaves 3 NOT 2 STITCHES ON THE NEEDLE if you are going to include the I Cord. You may prefer to cast off now and omit the I Cord. Alternatively you could cast off and sew on spines and then cast on 3 stitches and do the I Cord separately.

1 & 2 Spines

When you have the length you want and have purled the last 3 stitches we can begin the I Cord which will be the Dragon’s tail.

Read this part carefully before beginning.

The process is the more or less the same whether you have just cast on 3 stitches or are continuing on from the spines. However if you have just cast on you may find it easier to PURL 3 stitches first. This is the part why you see I have chosen to use Double Ended Needles.

Make start of I Cord

If you look at the above picture carefully you will see the Green spines are on the Right or Knit Row and the Purple are on the Wrong or Purl Row. Normally after a Purl row we would turn the work around. In this instance we will NOT do this.

Purl side movement

In the above picture you will see that the Purple is placed on the needle as it would be on a normal finished Purl Row before turning. I want you to slide the spines or cast on to where the Green position is situated.

You should now see that the first stitch and the yarn are at opposite ends of the work.

Take a needle and slip it through the first stitch

First Stitch

Take the yarn and wrap around and proceed to do a knit stitch. Knit the other two stitches. DO NOT TURN but slide the work to the top of the needle and repeat the process. You will find that after a few rows you can clearly see a round cord forming.

The question of how long to make the cord is up to you. What I did was after I had knitted at least an inch of cord I sewed the spines into place on the egg cosy. This way I could judge how long the cord was in comparison to the pattern I had in mind.

Sewn on Spines

I then was able to continue to knit the I Cord and work out the length of what I needed. When I thought it was long enough I simply slipped the needle through the 3 stitches and pulled through and off the needle to cast off.

Slip needle through

Next sew the I Cord or Dragon’s tail to the cosy in the way you want. I sewed the tail part way along the bottom for easy before curling upwards. I also spread the cotton a little at the end to make a bit of flair.

Sewn Tail

Then I sewed on the shape of the Dragon’s head and added teeth and eyes to it.

Dragon Head

For the Dragon’s wings Cast on 2 stitches

Knit 1 Row

Purl 1 Row

Continue with this (Stocking Stitch) process and you will begin to see a thin strip developing.

Long Strip

When you have knitted about 4 inches sew the tail end to the roughly the top of the spine. Make sure this is on the same side of the spine as the head.

Top of Spine

This will give you a firm point from which to measure. If you are not confident about sewing at this point you can pin the wing into place.

The length of the strip depends entirely on your wing design. I have tried to make mine sharp and pointy and a bit bat like.

Front View of Wing

Back View of Wing 

Completing the Dragon

This part is all sewn. Sew the Jaw and Neck of the Dragon on the front.

Jaw and Neck

The wing design depends on how you want it. I have sewn sections but you may prefer to sew scales.

Back View of Wing

This completes the Dragon Pattern and it is now ready to be washed and dried.

Embellishments

You can be as intricate as you like in adding to your Dragon Cosy. Suggestions for more detail include Beads for the Dragon’s eyes or adding another wing or the addition of a horn. If you really want to go to town try adding overlapping sequins on the wings for scales.

Finished Owl and Dragon 4 Piece Set