Pattern #52 Cabled Scarf Hat

Hey It's Em!

I'm working on the Cabled Scarf Hat right now. I am using Berant Alpaca Yarn and Patron's Wool for this project. (It wasn't my idea! I'd use 220 but I needed a thicker Alpaca Yarn that was within my tiny tiny tiny yarn budget!) At first I was a little worried about starting this project. To me, it looked a little strange to have a scarf attached to a hat. It also looked hard. I'm not good at following cabled charts. Well, when my co-worker Cathie wanted me to make one for her, I figured I could try to keep an open mind and try something new.

I really like this pattern because it is a great cabled pattern to work with. If you are learning how to use a chart, it is a great beginner project to do. I recommend using a post-it note to track your progress. This way you can move it while seeing the work you did in the previous row as seen below.

(I purposely kept the rows hidden from the camera because I fear that somebody will interpret this photo as me giving away part of the pattern. The intention is to show how the post-it note works with a cabled chart.)

It is a quick knit. I did one tail of the scarf in a weekend. The pattern is simplistic. The bobbles were also very easy. It is one of those patterns where you have to do what it says and you won't know how it works out until you finish your first one. Now, after doing a few bobbles, it makes a lot more sense. I recommend using a sharper needle to do the bobbles. I had a hard time preventing my yarn from splitting when I had to P3 tog.

I will be blocking this scarf, which I am looking forward to doing with one of my good friends. (If she's willing to help me!)

Connecting the scarf to the hat was frustrating for me. First of all, the pattern requires you to CO 44 stitches, k 2 rows and then put these stitches on a holder. Then, repeat. Then use a circular needle to add all the things together.

I decided to do this in one step.

This is how I did it.
CO44 Stitches, place one scarf onto the circular needle, knit/purl stitches as they come, CO44 more stitches, place the second scarf onto the circular needle. Knit/Purl stitches as they come, place marker and join round.

P44, knit/purl stitches as they are for the cabled scarf section,
P44, knit/purl stitches as they are for cabled scarf, sl

K44, row 1 of scarf pattern, K44, row 1 of scarf

and so forth.

I had to change the needle size for my hat too. I used a size 7 but the hat was becoming too large. I ripped out the hat and started again on a size 6. This time, it works a lot better.

I am still working on the scarf pattern. I will be writing another blog entry about the hat once the hat section is complete. However, I know there are people out there that are wondering how the scarf part of the pattern works.

This pattern has a few downfalls. First of all, it is too short. The scarf part that is. All of the people who made this scarf on Ravelry, made the scarf part of the pattern longer. I hypothesize with the popularity of long scarves today, it is possible people just want longer scarves. For me, the original 3 pattern repeat did not work as a scarf. Instead it worked as long ties. I did a four pattern repeat and the scarf works for Cathie. (I would have done one more repeat.)

Over all, I am enjoying the adventure I am having with this scarf!
Happy Knitting!

E

Pattern #22 Bobbles & Cables Cap

Hello readers, this is Brittany! Yesterday, I finished the bobbles and cable cap. This pattern was another pattern that I knew I had to make almost from day one. It could have been the purple in the book (as I have an addiction to the color purple) or the texture and look, but I just had to make this hat!

As I do with almost every pattern, I first did a little research. This step is something I encourage everyone to do. If you are going to invest your time in making something it is good to see what other people found about the pattern and learn from others mistakes. After all, many people that blog about their projects or write descriptions on Ravelry are not just putting it up there for their health. They are documenting their mistakes or things they would change for themselves (in case they want to make that pattern again in the future) and in hopes that they can save other people from the mistakes they made. If you are looking to do some research on a particular pattern, I would definitely suggest first checking out Ravelry. I am sure if you are reading this you probably already know all about Ravelry, but if you do not you should definitely check it out. You can learn a lot and meet a lot of interesting people.

When doing research on this pattern I found out the following information: First, there is an errata in the pattern. You can find information on many erratas in the book here. However, you will notice there is no errata for this pattern. The errata for this pattern would be the fact that there is no bobble pattern. This is quite a problem as it is a Bobbles & Cables Cap. The errata is mentioned in the pattern notes on the Ravelry pattern page. It states that you should make the bobble as follows:
K1, p1 twice in same st, making 4 sts from one; slip these stitches back to left hand needle and knit them again; then pass the 3rd, 2nd and first sts over the last st made.

Then after doing a bit more research I found that the pattern was used over 30 times on Ravelry. Many reviews talked about the bobbles and stated things like this:
Noreen1009 - The bobbles the pattern calls for are pretty puny--just increase 4 in one stitch (K1, P1, twice) and then pass the stitches over the last one in sequence. To me, it doesn’t look right. I’m doing a two row, 4 stitch bobble instead. (k1, p1, k1, p1 into one stitch; turn work and knit 4, turn work and purl 4, and then pass the stitches over the last one in sequence).
Hatlover - Modifications: Used Noreen’s Bobble to make it stand out more.
Pprincess626 - Bobbles not big enough - but turned out cute!
Bdorner - Got all the way to the decreases and decided the bobbles were too small.

Since I saw so many comments about the bobbles I looked at pictures and experimented with different ways I could do the bobbles. I finally decided to make my bobbles the same way I did on the starfish cap. If you would like to do the same thing I did, here is the bobble pattern I used: K1, p1, k1 in same st, making 3 sts from one; turn. P3, turn. K3, turn. P3, turn. SK2P.



In the end I really liked the way it came out. I would agree with some comments made on ravelry that it is a little big. I would have liked it to be a little bit more snug, but I do not feel as though it will fall off my head.

Yarn Information: Cascade 220 - #9924 (Blueberry Bliss)

I hope you learned a bit about the importance of researching and I hope that my post helps you with your own project. If you would like to see more pictures of this project or any of my other projects check out my Flickr Account.

Brittany

Pattern #39 Cables & Stripes Mittens

Hey Everybody It's Em!

Brittany and I are going to try to introduce ourselves at the beginning of the entry so you know who is talking! We are sorry if there was any confusion in prior entries. We will do our best to identify ourselves in the future!!!!

Now onto the knitting...

The reason I bought this book...was because of these mittens!!!

I love the cable mittens!

Two of my friends in school requested for me to make them a pair. The first pair I finished are used with Eco Cascade. I won it last year at Stitches Midwest:) Since the yarn is a little finer (at least I felt it was) than the worsted 220, I feel my personal pair of these mittens are a little thin. If I could go back I would have made these with an actual worsted weight yarn.


I think that is why the mittens are much smaller than the other pair too. I followed the pattern exactly and the mittens came out two difference sizes. I don't have a picture of the other mitten, but when I finish them, I'll post a picture!

The pattern is a little misleading. I thought the pattern went all away around the mittens. Turns out, it is only the top of the hand that gets the awesome pattern.

That is okay, I enjoyed the fact it was only on part of the hand. When the other hand has just the st st it makes them different. Plus, it makes things fit in the hands nicer. Once I got the pattern down, the knitting went by quickly. I liked how the cables were layed out like a checkerboard. It kept things interesting during the knitting.

The thing I don't like about this pattern? The color changes. It's not the pattern's fault, I just don't like don't color changes. While Brittany doesn't mind the sewing, I do. That is because I am an epic failure at it. When I join yarn, there is always some kind of hole that I have to resew up. There have been times my knitting has come apart because the ends were cut too early. Now, I try to weave all my ends in, but I detest it greatly. I am just not a fan. Therefore, I was glad with my friend Angie mentioned she wanted these in one color.

I didn't find these difficult. I would encourage first time mitten makers who are going to go beyond st st for the first time to try this knit. The cabling is simple and it looks so flashy!

Over and Out!
Em