Italian Dish Knits

Baby Sweaters

January 20, 2018

Baby Sweater Collage.jpg

I’ve been knitting a lot, but not posting about it and so I thought I would do a little roundup of all the baby sweaters I’ve done this winter. You may get inspired to make one – I’ve included links to all the patterns! They were very fun knits. They all used my favorite construction method, which is top down and seamless. And for all the sweaters, I used Magic Loop on circular needles for the sleeves. NO double points!

Fisherman's Baby Sweater

Fisherman’s Rib Baby Sweater

Fisherman's baby sweater on needles

The first one I finished was the Baby Fisherman’s Rib Sweater by OGE Knitwear Designs. This pattern was totally seamless, with the collar and button placket knit all together, with no stitches to pick up. I knit the 6-12 month size in a gorgeous blue Schachenmayr Merino Extrafine 85 wool that is really a dream to knit and a perfect yarn for baby knits – it’s machine washable. I loved the texture on this pattern, because it knit up into a really thick sweater. And I really like the cute little white trim. My Ravelry page for that project is here.

Minty Green Sweater Full

Minty Green Sweater lining

Minty Green Sweater on Needles

The next sweater was a minty green Baby Raglan Sweater by Carole Barenys. This is a FREE pattern! I knit the 12 month size with a few modifications. I love the pretty neckline and raglan sleeves. Instead of straight stockinette, I did a little purl stitch every 4th row, staggered for a little texture. I also knit an extra long hem and flipped it under for added weight. Here is my Ravelry page for that project. If you look at the pattern page for this on Ravelry, there are all kinds of colors and ideas that other people have knit to give you lots of inspiration.

Elwood Sweater

Elwood sweater collar on needles

The next little sweater is one of my favorites! SO fun. This was the Elwood Sweater pattern from the “Little Old Man Collection” from Jenny Wiebe. Adorable sweater for a little boy, with the shawl collar. I knit the smallest size on extra small needles, because this sweater was for a preemie baby. My Ravelry page is here and here is where I have all my notes for that project if you want to read them.

Norwegian Fir Full

Norwegian Fir Baby Sweater

Norwegian Fir sleeve Nowegian Fir Yoke on Needles

And last but not least, I just finished this Apricot Norwegian Fir sweater for a little girl that is going to be born in the spring. This is another pattern from OGE Knitwear Designs. This is a very popular pattern, with over 400 project on Ravelry, so you can get a lot of different color ideas for this pattern. I knit the 3-6 months size and here is my Ravelry page for this so you can see my notes. This was a very fun knit, with a cute lace accent on the raglan sleeves.

Hope you’re making something!

Elaine

Posted in baby stuff, finished objects, knitting | 3 Comments »

Knit Christmas Stars & Elves

December 9, 2017

Christmas Stars & Elves

I wanted to share some fun little Christmas ornaments to knit up quickly. It’s such a busy time of year and we all love fast little projects to knit. The stars are an old favorite pattern and they are really fun to make. The little elves are adorable and will require you to drink some wine 🍷 because you stuff them with corks. So double the fun!

The little elves knit up very quickly. These are based on a pattern called Korkinesse, in Norwegian. There was an English translation but that’s no longer available. So I used a modified version on Ravelry and then modified that version to come up with a pattern. You can visit my Ravelry page for more details. Here is how I knit them:

Using fingering weight yarn and US #2.5 circle needle. I used the Magic Loop method.

CO 4 st. Join in the round.
1) *kfb* (8 st )
2) *K1, kfb* (12 st )
3) *kfb, k2* (16 st )
4) *k2, kfb, k2* 3 times, k1 (19 st)
5) P19
6-17) k12 rows
18) k5 BO 9, K4
19) K5, CO 10, K5
20) P13, P2 tog, P5 (19 st)
21) K
22) P
23 – 26) K (4 rows)
27) K2 tog, K3, K2 tog, K5, K2 tog, K2, K2 tog, K1 (15 st)
28 – 29) K
30) K2 tog, K1, K2 tog, k4, k2 tog, K1, K2 tog, K2 tog (10 st)
31-32) K 10 st
33) K2 tog, K1, K2tog, K2tog, K1, k2tog (6 st)
34) K
35) K2 tog, K1, K2 tog, K1 (4 st)
36) K2tog, K2tog
37) K2 tog

Pull yarn through remaining stitch. Leave a 10” tail. With a crochet hook, chain about 10 stitches. With a tapestry needle, attach tail of yarn to chain base, forming a loop. Secure. Bring CO tail up through bottom with a crochet hook.

I’ve knit the stars many times. This year I wanted some cranberry and snow white stars. A quick and easy project, you begin by knitting in the round and then just working on 10 stitches at a time for the individual star points. Here is the free pattern for the stars. The pattern has you stuffing the stars just with the loose yarn ends, but I filled mine with a bit of polyfill, for plumper stars.

Stars Collage

IMG_E0116

Thanks for dropping by. I wish you a wonderful Holiday Season and a Happy New Year! And, as usual, I hope you’re making something!

Elaine

fireplace decoration

Posted in gifts, holiday stuff, knitting | 7 Comments »

How to Pick Up Dropped Stitches in Your Knitting

November 7, 2017

Beginning knitters very often will confront dropped stitches at some point in their knitting. This can strike fear in them, if they don’t know how easily this situation is rectified. Even several rows of dropped stitches is not a problem to fix. Below I show you how to pick up single dropped stitches and then I show you how to pick up several dropped stitches.

I thought about breaking this post into two different posts, one for knit stitches and one for purl stitches but then I decided to do it all in one single post. So this post is long. If you are only interested in how to pick up dropped purl stitches, scroll halfway down the post for that. I do knit stitches in the first half of the post and purl stitches in the last half. I also have a video in the post to help you.

It helps to knit a swatch of stockinette and practice dropping and picking up stitches, until you are completely comfortable doing it.

Knitting without fear!

PICKING UP DROPPED KNIT STITCHES:

First, you need to know a knitting fundamental – how a stitch should sit properly on your left needle. Each stitch has a “left leg” and a “right leg”. In a knit stitch, the right leg will be in the front, like this:

twisted knit stitch.jpeg

Why do you need to know this? Because when you pick up stitches, very often they are twisted and you will have to place them back on the needle the correct way. It’s a no brainer, once you know how a stitch should properly sit. So, after you have picked up a stitch, make sure it is not twisted, as you will see at the end in this photo tutorial:

How to Fix a Single Dropped KNIT Stitch:

Dropped Knit Stitch 1

Dropped Knit Stitch 2

Dropped Knit Stitch 3

Dropped Knit Stitch 4

Dropped Knit Stitch 5

Dropped Knit Stitch 6

Dropped Knit Stitch 7

Dropped Knit Stitch 8

How to Fix Several Rows of Dropped KNIT stitches:

Dropped Knit Stitches 1

Dropped Knit Stitches 2

Dropped Knit Stitches 3

Dropped Knit Stitches 4

Dropped Knit Stitches 6

Dropped Knit Stitches 7

Dropped Knit Stitches 8

Dropped Knit Stitches 9

And here is a video to help you. (First half of video is knit stitches, last half is purl stitches) Purl Stitch Instruction starts at 3:20.

PICKING UP DROPPED PURL STITCHES

How to Pick Up a Single Dropped PURL Stitch:

How to Fix Several Rows of Dropped PURL stitches:

I hope this post helps you never to hear dropped stitches! Refer to video within the post if you need more help.

Happy Knitting!
Elaine

Posted in knitting, techniques | 4 Comments »

Pink Sideways Knit Baby Cardigan

September 1, 2017

Here is another little baby sweater from OGE Knitwear Designs. I love her patterns – nearly seamless being the key feature for me but just so cute! I wish she was on Instagram (how can she not be!) so I could tag her, but she just doesn’t have an account. This little sweater was a really unusual construction – it’s knit sideways and then you just sew up the sleeves.

There are two stitch versions you can do and I chose the Hurdle stitch. This was a fun pattern and created a really interesting texture.

I used a Superwash Merino yarn from Cascade Yarn. It’s nice for a baby project, so you can just throw the sweater in the washer and dryer and not worry about it. And the merino is super soft for babies.

The pattern maker does a great job writing her patterns – they are clear and have photos showing you exactly how to do this unusual construction. She makes it easy for you.

Knitting this on circular needles made it easy to pick up and put down and the project, since there was a lot going on here with stitches on holders for some of the construction.