Yo-yo heaven.

Is it just me, or is that pretty cute?
I love these little suckers, they take only a smidgen of yarn and the same amount of time. Oh, and a bobby pin (the one pictured is 2 and a half inches long). Yo-yo measures about 5cm/2" wide all puckered up.

Instructions are given for both fingering and sport-weight yarn.
Needles: set of 4 4mm/US size 6 double-pointed

[Both kinds of yarn:]
CO 9st; split evenly over 3 needles.
Knit one round.
Increase round: [M1, K1] around.
Next 3 rounds: Knit.
Work another increase round.
Next 6 rounds: Knit.

[Fingering weight only:]
Work another increase round.
Next 3 rounds: Knit.



[Both kinds of yarn:]
Cut yarn, leaving a tail around 30cm/12" long. Thread yarn through each live stitch and slip it off the needle. Pull tight. You will be forming a puckered donut-type shape.

Thread yarn tail through CO sts to tighten loop on base of yo-yo. Push bobby pin through base and secure with yarn tail. Weave in ends!

Disconnected.

I spent the week without the internet due to technical difficulties. At first I was embarassed to admit how much I missed it, as there are unflattering stereotypes attached to people with pale skin and spectacles who are addicted to the internet.

But as the week went on I missed it less, and there were no fits of rage, no twitches or shaky hands: the only withdrawal symptom was a sneaking suspicion that I might've been missing out on something.



But I still had the knitting.
I knit on some Christmas projects, wrote a few limericks, and found a jar for my buttons.
How was everyone else's week?

Order.

I had so much fun knitting the hat that I'm hankering for some more colourwork, just a small project or two. I've got a few options (mushrooms, red lights and herringbone among them) but I think it's only a matter of which to knit first.

In the meantime, here's a bit of texture.

Waterfall rib socks (stitch pattern can be found in Walker's Treasury and Sensational Knitted Socks). These were knit toe-up with a short-row heel flap (my favourite!).

Limericks for the sick.

Lest my posts become too prosaic
let me show you my knit mosaic:
it's for a teapot,
to keep the tea hot.
Is knitting tea cosies archaic?



My secret pal for an Australian tea cosy swap on Ravelry just went out and bought herself a new teapot. I am of the belief that no teapot should remain bare while there are knitters around, so this mod-looking piece of knitting will be a cosy for her.

However, I am stuck at home with a mean headcold today, and perhaps illness and knitting should not go together: this is how I began seaming in my befuddled state.



Instead of sewing right-front to right-back like I intended, I somehow managed to sew right-front and left-front together to form a little tube.
Hooray! Think I'd best be off to bed.

Stranded.

After two weeks of knitting stacks of cotton in gender-neutral colours for two sets of parents-to-be I was itching to knit something with a more complicated colour scheme.

Everyone loves a good bit of stranded colourwork, but my attempts so far have had suckily uneven tension. And so, this is the start of my fair isle practice.

And so, to begin.

Beginning a blog, like any new venture, is a little daunting. I feel like I'm throwing a high-school party: will anyone come? Will the cool kids tell their friends to come? Do I have enough snacks?

Speaking of snacks, I've been knitting a few of these for Christmas presents and they're pretty bite-sized: you can knit one in an evening, tops.



Stitches are picked up along one edge of a towel. I used facewashers 12”/30cm wide, but pattern can be adapted to suit any width. Yardage used will vary.

Gauge:

5 stitches to 1”/2.54cm in garter stitch.

Materials:

DK weight yarn, less than 100yd

OR two strands of fingering weight yarn held together, less than 200yd

I used about 25g of Vickie Howell ‘Craft’ yarn (65% cotton, 35% milk protein)for the green one or about 50g of Panda Regal 4ply cotton (2 strands held together) for the pink.

4mm/US size 6 needles, or size required to obtain gauge

Fingering weight yarn to whipstitch along edge of towel.

Darning needle

Button

Begin!

Using a 24” piece of fingering weight yarn and darning needle, whipstitch across top edge of towel, spacing each stitch about ½” apart. (40st across 12” towel, but this number is flexible)

Using main yarn and 4mm/US size 6 needles pick up stitches from the back of whipstitch loops as follows:

Pu 1; [Yo, Pu 1] to end.

Wrong side row: Knit all stitches.

Right side row: Ktbl, k1, k2tog, k to last 4; ssk, k1, sl 1 wyif.

Repeat this last row until there are 15st remaining, ending on a wrong side row.

Next row: Ktbl, k1, k2tog, k to last st; sl 1 wyif.

Repeat this row until there are 8 sts left.

Even row: Ktbl, k to last st; sl 1 wyif.

Repeat this row for 20 garter ridges, ending on a wrong side row.

Buttonhole row: Ktbl, k2, BO 2, k to last st; sl 1 wyif.

Wrong side row: Ktbl, k2, cable cast-on 2, ktbl, k1, sl 1 wyif.

Right side row: Ktbl, k2, [ktbl] twice, k to last st, sl 1 wyif.

Work another 4 garter ridges of the even row as above, ending on a wrong side row.

BO all stitches.

Fold loop over and position button to fit through buttonhole.

Sew button and weave in ends.