knitty know how...

my quest for a large sized pebble vest is on going ...

two weeks ago i did the maths, i checked it thrice 

(you have told us that before Tif)

i cast on with a hope and a prayer to the knitty gods

and it would appear i was rewarded for my good knitty intentions

for a large sized pebble vest grew on my knitting pins

till eventually it came off my knitting pins

and oh glorious day of days

it fit ....

until that is, i blocked it

then oh glorious day of days

turned into an oh pants day of days

of course there will be many who upon reading this

will shake their heads with an all knowing sort of a shake

for only a rookie would make such a knitty faux pas.

thus it was back to the drawing board for me and my pebble vest ways.

i took into consideration my loosey goosey knitty ways
i took into consideration i wished to make a higher neckline

i took into consideration how much soft donegal expands when wet

i took into consideration my novice blocking ways and seeked advice
and
i took into consideration this was a learning experience,
thus making me wiser for the next time
(however before all this consideration, i confess i did hang my head
and weep a tad upon discovering my pebble vest
was all baggy and saggy upon my bod)

so i pulled up my knitty knee socks once again,
and armed with my 'learnt mistakes', cast on yet again
with even bigger hopes and bigger prayers.
as much as i loved the soft donegal in the slubby cream
i knew i could not, would not be able to make another
in the same colour without getting sidetracked
so i picked a super duper grolly green to keep my interest high.

a week on and many many hours,
 attempt number two is now blocked and lying out to dry.

and this time...
this time, i just know my high hopes will not be in vain
and if this is the case, if it truly is a small miracle
then next week i will share what i did
(with kind permission from the original designer)
to make an itty bitty pebble vest into a bigger one for grown up folks.

a 'small beings' dottie angel smock frock ...

on sunday i made a smock frock for myself

on monday i pondered a thought

on tuesday i went to work still pondering

and on wednesday, that pondered thought

became a dottie angel smock frock for small beings

complete with grande handy dandy pocket 

for squirreling things away...

a 'little knits for small beings' charity blankie...

hello hello! Colin the Computer is feeling peachy and thus i may continue with what i wished to be doing on friday. so as i mentioned previously, a lovely dearie suggested knitting for small beings in need, and therefore i thought it quite spiffy to make a easy peasy blankie for club dearies if they wish to join in with a bit of donating. if you are not a club dearie, do not feel left out, you are still welcome to make this blankie, for others or for yourself. 

as i said, easy peasy, so let us begin...

nitty gritty:

*my blankie measures approximately 18.5"/47cm x 23.5"/60cm

*i am a loosey goosey knitter, if you are not, consider casting on a few more stitches

*crochet terms are USA terminology

*if you do not knit, consider doing a double crochet for the main part of the blanket

*if you do not crochet, consider finding a nice knit edging pattern for the edge of the blanket

*consider only using easy care yarns so wherever your blankie ends up, it is easy to be cleaned by another

*consider making this blankie on a tres grande scale

*consider just how muchly there is to consider...

ingredients:

left over yarns from other projects, preferably DK or worsted in weight

size 10 knitting pins

size H/5.00 mm Mr Hook

tapestry needle

recipe:

1: take all your leftover yarns and lay them out in a pleasing order. pick your first one in line and start rolling into a ball, when it is almost at the end, tie on the next yarn in line. tie together using a surgeons knot (if you do not know this knot, take a ganders at YouTube, for it tis a handy knot indeedy to know). after you have secured your knot, you can bravely cut off the ties close to the knot or you can leave them to weave in later. continue upon your ball winding ways adding a new colour of yarn with your spiffy knot every time you come to the end of the previous yarn. you will end up with a huge ball of yarn in multicolours and if you are like me, the chances are quite high, you will not even recall what colours are in your ball which adds an element of surprise to your knitting

(word of consideration, change colours quite frequently, this is an itty bitty blanket)

2: cast on 60 stitches using the long tail method and your knitting pins. continue on your knitty way only doing garter stitch for 21 inches and slipping the first stitch of each row. every time you come to a new colour, just keep on knitting, even if it is in the middle of a row.

3: if you dared to cut off your tails, then move onto #4. if you did not dare, then weave in your ends

slanted shell stitch border:

4: pick a jolly coloured yarn for your edging along with your Mr Hook and with right side facing, join the yarn, chain 1 and single crochet evenly around the edge of your blankie, trying hard to come up with a total of stitches divisible by 4 plus 2. if its off by one or two stitches, do not fret, crochet is forgiving and so is this blankie, you can fudge a few stitches to make the shell edging fit

5: do not turn work, (single crochet, chain 2, 4 double crochet) in first stitch, *skip next 3 single crochets, then (single crochet, chain 2, 4 double crochet) in next stitch; repeat from * until you are all the way around your edge and with a bit of luck you can just slip stitch the ending shell to the beginning shell, if not, then do a bit of fudging a few shells away from the end so it meets nicely and not pantsly. 

if the slanted shell stitch border is too complicated, fret not, then consider a straight forward shell stitch border or even a picot would be peachy

handy dandy loop:

6: for the twiddly loop, join yarn in top right hand corner, chain 16, slip stitch into beginning chain, turn, chain 1, single crochet into each chain, slip stitch into beginning of loop and fasten off securely. (this could be done whilst you are doing the slanted shell stitch if you prefer)

if need be, wash your little blankie through to make it soft and then find a worthy cause which helps small beings, whether it local or nationwide, and donate your little blankie. 

 please do make this blankie for charity or for personal use but please do not make it to sell unless it is for charity

 and if you do make this blankie, considering sharing over here if you so wish as that would make me most happy :)