New Project for a New Year

It's only fitting that we begin the Fifth Year of Knit Theory with a project for a new baby.

Here's Katy, our grandmother-to-be, getting us started.



We had a very special guest who showed us how to knit on the Knifty Knitter Loom. This is Aubrey and a hat she made for her new baby cousin.



Pretty awesome for a first grader! Obviously she takes after her crafty mom, Julie.

Here's an afghan that some of the knitters made for charity.











Rapti showed of her recent FOs (finished offs).



Here it is again, along with her beautiful lace scarf modeled by her friend Marley, Bob for short. Marley is from Jamaica.



Thanks for inviting us over, Rapti!

For instructions to the Baby E pattern, scroll down or click on the link to the right.

Blanket for Baby E

Hi gang! Our new project is a blanket for Baby E. We'll be knitting 64, 5 inch squares using the reverse mitered square pattern with a stockinette stitch. Katy bought fun colors in Brown Sheep Company's Cotton Fleece. They match the colors in the curtains she's making for Baby E's nursery. Since each skein has 215 yards and each square only takes about 15 yards, we will be dividing the skeins.

The fabric for the nursery.



Fabric and yarn minus the green shown below.



Instructions are posted below. Read instructions before you begin and please follow the instructions carefully. It's important for each square to be the same size and to use the finishing techniques noted since we will use a sewing method that's different from past projects.

Baby E Blanket: Reverse Mitered Square


Materials:
• Size 8 knitting needles
• Worsted weight yarn (Lamb's Pride Cotton Fleece)
• Stitch markers (optional)

Finished size: 5" square

Pattern Notes:
• To make a nice finished selvage, slip first stitch (sl st) of each row as if to purl.
• All wrong side (WS) rows are purled.
• After a few rows, you may want to place a stitch marker on the right side row after the first YO so that you don’t have to count stitches. This will remind you to YO right before the stitch marker.

Cast on 3 stitches

Row 1(RS row): sl st, YO, k1, YO, knit to end (5 sts on needle)
Row 2 and all even rows (WS): sl st, purl across (do not increase on this row)

Row 3: sl st, k1, YO, k1, YO, k to end (7 sts on needle)
Row 5: sl st, k2, YO, k1, YO, k to end (9 sts on needle)
Row 7: sl st, k3, YO, k1, YO, k to end (11 sts on needle)







Continue in pattern until side of square is 5 inches. (about 33 sts on needle)

• Bind off using the Stretchy Bind off Method in this tutorial.



• Block to exactly 5 “ square, Here’s a tutorial on blocking Do not crochet around the edges as you have done on past projects. This project will be joined in a different manner so as long as you slip the stitches as directed at the beginning of each row, all of the edges will look the same.



Have fun!

Take the blog tour!

Have you ever taken a blog tour? Faina and Dawn are touring the blogosphere with their new book, Casual Elegant Knits. Check it out and see what people are saying about the book. If you haven't seen it yet, here's a peek at one of the patterns.

Visit my blog for more photos. The tour schedule and links can be found on Faina's blog.

August Event

Our next event is on Friday, August 15th. It's a Yarn Crawl in the Sacramento area. Julie suggested Filati Fine Yarns in Rocklin and we are adding lunch and Babetta's Yarn in Fair Oaks. Be sure to mark you calenders.

Munching (and knitting) at Marcia's

Summer in northern California has been difficult for many because of the early summer fires, but even for those of us who don't live in the the affected areas, air quality has been terrible. So, today was a wonderfully welcome change. The sun is shining, it's not too hot, and the air is cleaner. Lunch on the patio and visiting with friends was lovely!

And then came the knitting....

Margaret showed us some new sock yarn made from corn fiber.


Julie's working on a scarf for her mom and Pam's working on her French Lace and Ribby tank for the Tour de France knit-along.


Sue's done a beautiful job on this sweater for her sister. It's only her second sweater ever and she's learned the mattress stitch as she finishes seaming it up.


Julie's our newest member and she recently finished this mobius caplet from her stash, a perfect design to show off to the math gang.


Shigemi didn't have a knitting project today, but she's sewing some cleaning rags from old dish towels. She also brought some cool knitting books she picked up while in Japan this past year. I must say, the designs are very depeche mode, however, the directions were all Greek (uhh Japanese) to me.

This is Robin's first top-down sweater. It's her own design, but she's using some elements from a Stefanie Japel pattern. Robin's not sure what kind of sleeves she'll add yet, but she's doing a beautiful job on it so far. This photo doesn't really do it justice, you have to feel this yarn to know what I mean.


Rapti's experimenting with some lace patterns and gauge. She's not sure what she'll be making yet. Marcia's making a quilted wall hanging. She's an awesome quilter and a great cook!


Margaret is making a pair of lacy socks, but I think they fit her hand perfectly... gauntlets anyone? These are gorgeous socks!

I promised everyone a contest with prizes. I've seen some amazing examples of Fearless Knitting, but only one person can win the prize.

Here are the rules:

• Post a comment below or send me an email telling why you should be considered Most Fearless Knitter in the Knit Theory group. (You must be a member of Chico Knit Theory to enter.)
  
• Visual aids (photos) are encouraged and may be emailed.
  
• Entries will be judged on creativity and how far you've stepped outside of the knitted rectangle.
• The winner will be decided by the KT executive board.
• In order to give everyone an opportunity to enter, the contest will open on Monday, July 21st and close at midnight on Sunday, July 27th.

Thanks again Marcia, it was fun!

Wedding bells rang

We've done a bit of secret knitting in the last 2 years. One of the projects was a wedding afghan for Debbie. I don't know how we pulled that one off, but somehow we did.

Here we are with the finished product.



Sweetpea loves her new blankie.



The most difficult part of this project was not being able to include Debbie when we put it all together at Margaret's.

Cinco de Mayo Tricoteria

Tricoter is the Spanish word for knit. Debbie had us over to her wonderful cottage in the woods on cinco de mayo. The theme was 'Show and Tell.'

Debbie showed off her pre-felted clogs.

I think they're a little big for you Robin!

Sue is almost finished with her first sweater!

Margaret's husband made her some needles for those extra special BIG projects. Here are Mary and Lori giving them a whirl.

And just to prove that I finished the project that I started on Monday night in time for the Friday baby shower....

Taa daa