Wedding Dress!

I am just soooo excited you guys! The blog looks great and I'm glad it's up and running.

Anyhoo, I know I'm going to see you all on Wednesday but I just had to share sooner, the outfit I'm making for my wedding is going great. In two weeks I've just about finished the front of the camisole. I should be done by July no problem!

Best wishes,
Larissa

Felted Bowls

Hey U-knitters,

For those of you who'd like to try felting and/or contribute to a UUC project (the gift of a felted bowl to the young people who've completed the Coming-of-Age program) here's a basic pattern. It's from Leigh Radford's book, One Skein: 30 Quick Projects to Knit and Crochet - a great addition to your library.

Basically, using yarn that's not meant to be washed, you'll make something which will look a like a little hat. Throw it in the washer and voila! You've got a bowl.

This pattern requires that you know how to knit in the round - an easy skill and one I'm happy to share at our next meeting if you need any help.

MATERIALS:

1. Chunky weight non-washable wool. I recommend Brown Sheep Lamb's Pride Bulky. When it comes to felting, this yarn is a sure bet; it felts beautifully. If you're going to experiment with other yarns, BE SURE TO KNIT A SWATCH AND TRY FELTING IT FIRST. Otherwise you may find that you've produced something which maintains its textural integrity. In other words, you won't have a felted bowl, but you will have a very cute little knitted hat. :-)

2. Size 15 24" circular needles and a set of double-pointed #15 needles.
NOTE: Some people find the 24" needles too tight for this project. It's true that the cast-on and first rows are a bit tight, but the work does loosen up as you go along. However, you can also easily start right off with double-points if this is more comfortable for you.
ANOTHER TIP: I finish my bowls with a smaller needle (#11). In my experience, the smaller needles produce a tighter result for the bottom of the bowl. It doesn't seem to affect the way the bowl felts, and I find the smaller needles less awkward to work with.

3. Stitch marker

4. Tapestry needle for finishing

Exact gauge isn't critical for this project - that's the beauty of felting! These directions are for a smallish bowl.

DIRECTIONS:

Cast on 45 stitches. Place marker and join for working in the round. Work even in Stockinette Stitch (knit every row) until piece measures 5 1/2 inches from cast-on edge.

Shape bottom: Decrease as follows, changing to double-pointed needles when necessary (I usually do it here, before the work gets too tight.):
Round 1: *Ssk (slip-slip-knit), k5, k2 together; repeat from * to end of round (35 stitches remain).
Rounds 2 and 4: Knit.
Round 3: * Ssk, k3, k2 together; repeat from * to end of round (25 stitches remain).
Round 5: *Ssk, k1, k2 together; repeat from * to end of round (15 stitches remain).
Round 6: *Ssk, k2 together; repeat from * to last 3 stitches, ssk, k1 (8 stitches remain)

Break yarn, thread tail on a tapestry needle, gather through remaining stitches, pull tight, and fasten off. Weave in loose ends. Felt and shape as desired.

FELTING 101:

Some experimentation may be required to actually get your bowl to felt to your satisfaction.

To begin, wash your bowl on a warm setting with a small amount of detergent, adding either a couple of pairs of jeans or tennis balls to the washer to speed up the felting process.

It's important that you check on your bowl every now and the to see how it's doing. (This will save you from the unpleasant experience of pulling something out of your washer that looks like a leprechaun's yarmulke.)

It could be that the warm setting will felt your bowl; it could also be that you'll need to set your washer to "hot" to really get a good tight felt.

In addition, you might find that one wash cycle isn't enough. Washers do vary.

DO NOT DRY YOUR BOWL IN THE DRYER. Simply remove it from the washer, wring out any excess water, and shape it by placing it over an appropriately-sized, overturned bowl or tupperware container. It will air dry within a day or two.

If you want to get fancy, you can add stripes and/or beads.

If you want to boost the colors a bit, you can give your bowl a haircut by trimming the fuzz. Or leave as is.

Felting is such a forgiving art form; any mistakes come out in the wash. It's also a process that's full of surprises. I've used this pattern with a number of different yarns and no two of my bowls are completley alike!

Have fun!
kpkppkkpS

We are launched!

It is indeed an exciting day when a middle-aged, self-proclaimed techno ignoramus launches a blog at the same time that fuzzy baby goats are romping on a field somewhere in Texas.
The author of "Fuzzy Babies" is one of the last people in the world who still calls me "Steph." I love this.
However, to you U-knitters, I'm known as Stevie. (Nancy cannot get used to this and will continue to call me Steph. We've been friends since the 1970's and Nancy finds the sobriquet "Stevie" way too caffeinated.)
I want to thank Nancy for giving me the courage to try this. She's a seasoned blogger, and if you want to bust a gut laughing and crying, visit her blog. (I'll figure out how to send you there later.)
She told me this morning that she hopes I'll use "Fuzzy Babies" as a learning opportunity. She expects it to be deleted by the time she comes home from work today.
I say, no way am I deleting that post. Having a seasoned blogger contribute at the git-go guarantees us success and good karma - to my mind, it's the cyberspace equivalent of cracking a bottle of Dom Perignon across the hull of a disembarking cruise ship.
I've got a great deal to learn about how this all works, but in the meantime it's thrilling to know that we now have an online gathering place where we can chat, share patterns, trouble-shoot, offer advice, and generally yammer on about the joys of spending an inordinate amount of time fooling around with yarn and sticks.
Here's another quote from Nancy: "Knit and you knit together; purl and you purl alone."
Welcome to the U-Knitarian blog.

Wristbands

For those of you interested in knitting wristbands for either the UUC kids or the Breast Cancer and Ovarian Cancer walks, here is a simple pattern.

Materials:
Fixation Yarn by Cascade (or like DK weight "stretchy" yarn)
Size 6 needles
Small button
Darning Needle

With yarn doubled, cast on 6 stitches, pull a 1/2" button hole loop (or just enough to get the button through) after the 6th and before the 7th cast on stitch and continue casting on until 12 stitches are on the needle. Work in garter stitch (i.e. knit every row) until cuff measures 1/2 inch from fitting around the wrist. Cast off and weave in ends. When casting off, attach the button between the 6th and 7th stitch by threading the yarn end through the button.

**If you are using a worsted weight yarn - don't double up but cast on the same number of stitches.

Fancier version:
(You'll need a crochet hook for part of this one)
With yarn doubled, cast on 12 stitches, leaving 12" tail to work with later.
Work in seed stitch (i.e. First row k1, p1 across, next row knit the purls and purl the knits) until cuff measures 1/2" from fitting around the wrist. Put the button on like in the simple version above.

Use a size F or G crochet hook to single corchet the first 6 stitches of the cast on end. Then chain as many stitches as needed to fit around the button (3 is good) and slip stitch join the chain to the first chain stitch. Single crochet the last 6 stitches and fasten off and weave in the ends.

Wristbands for the Cancer walks should be done up in shades of pink or teal and delivered to the Village Yarn & Tea Shop. The Ovarian walk is in July (teal) and the Breast Cancer walk is in September (pink).

Cheers!
Deb Barnes

Fuzzy babies

My friend Janie has thirty-one newborn goats on her farm east of Dallas, including one that she had to help maneuver down the chute, so to speak. My friend Steph and her Yukes have a new baby charity knitting blog! It's a very exciting day.