yarn – Page 2 – Windswept Knits

Posted on July 15, 2013 by Admin

May Flowers Baby Dress

A lovely little dress in stockinette stitch, knit from the top down with a bottom floral lace border and picot edge bindoff.

Buy on Ravelry. Buy on Craftsy

We recommend knitting this beauty in cotton to keep it light and breathable for your little one. This pattern uses multiple yarn overs to create the larger circles in the center of the flowers. In the following row, the 1styarn over is knitted while the 2nd is purled.

Pattern includes 3 sizes, 3 month, 6 month and 12 month. Sizes based on children’s clothing size, NOT age. For a sizing chart, please visit: http://www.windsweptdesignsonline.com/sizing-chart

Buy on Ravelry. Buy on Craftsy

Also, we recommend NOT using a variegated yarn for the floral border. Below, you can see why. The floral border gets lost in the myriad of colors.

If you choose not to use the recommended kitchen cotton, you may want to adjust the straps. The kitchen cotton will keep the stockinette stitch straps flat, but a different yarn may not.

All knitting patterns are sold through third party sites Ravelry & Craftsy. With Ravelry, once payment is complete your pattern will be emailed to you immediately; you do not have to be a Ravelry member to purchase through Ravelry, but we highly recommend it as it is a vibrant community of knitting and yarn enthusiasts. With Craftsy, once payment is confirmed you will have a download link available from your Craftsy account.

Posted on July 11, 2013 by Admin

Blocking Acrylic

People have told me for years that you can’t block acrylic yarn. As my British friends would say, that’s bollocks. Of course you can block acrylic – you don’t see acrylic sweaters at the mall with an unsightly roll at the hems.

The problem is that you have to block them differently because acrylic is essentially plastic so methods you use to block plant and animal fibers just won’t work.

I stumbled upon this wonderful blog post on BeadKnitter Gallery’s blog a while back outlining a simple and effective way to block acrylic: steam.

I encourage you to read the whole article for it has lots of pointers and visual examples, but it boils down to these simple steps:

pin/blocking wire the piece into the desired shape
set your iron to full steam ahead

There are two VERY IMPORTANT things to remember – 1) NEVER touch the piece with your iron or the yarn will melt, and 2) the blocking is permanent. So be sure to test it first on something you don’t care too much about, until you get the hang of it.

I spent this morning blocking about 7 toddler shirts and dresses that I had lying around. It’s quick and easy and the results are magnificent!

Posted on July 5, 2013 by Admin

Shades of Blue

Two new shawl patterns are in the works. Here are the delicious shades of blue I’m planning on knitting them in. CoBaSi by HiKoo is a cotton/bamboo/silk/nylon blend. Queensland’s Sugar Rush is 100% sugar cane viscose. I’m really looking forward to both of these ocean-themed patterns.

Posted on June 14, 2013 by Admin

May Flowers Shawl

The new May Flowers Shawl pattern has been released!

You can buy it now on Ravelry – no need to be a member to purchase. Add to cart. Show cart.

A lovely floral shawl featuring 4 different floral patterns – 4-petal, 6-petal, 8-petal and 12-petal with a ruffled edging.

This pattern features multiple yarn overs in a row to achieve the larger floral patterns. When working the next WS row after the yarn overs purl every stitch except the 2nd yarn over –knit this stitch instead. These are noted in the instructions. All rows, RS and WS, are listed in this pattern to make remembering these knit stitches easier.
Pattern is knitted on circular needles to accommodate the large number of stitches.

Pattern is knit on circular needles to accommodate the large number of stitches.

Gauge is not critical. Any DK yarn will likely work fine. For reference, this pattern is shown in Classic Elite Firefly which achieves 6 sts per inch on US size 5 3.75 mm needles. I highly recommend Classic Elite Firefly for the slight sheen it gives the pattern. It drapes beautifully and really makes for a great shawl.

All knitting patterns are sold through Ravelry. Once payment is complete, your pattern will be emailed to you immediately. You do not have to be a Ravelry member to purchase through Ravelry, but we highly recommend it as it is a vibrant community of knitting and yarn enthusiasts.

Posted on June 13, 2013 by Admin

Floral Handkerchief Pattern

A soft floral hanky that will look great in either a formal setting or with a period costume. Finished Measurements: 9.5”x9.5”.
Buy on Craftsy
Buy on Ravelry

This pattern features multiple yarn overs in a row to achieve the 6-petal floral patterns. When working the next WS row after the yarn overs purl every stitch except the 2nd yarn over – knit this stitch instead. Only RS rows are listed in this pattern to make it easier to read. Chart is also included in this pattern.

Sample is knit in Queensland Sugar Rush which has a lovely, soft feel to it.

Buy on Craftsy – Buy on Ravelry

Posted on June 11, 2013 by Admin

First Circular Shawl

Even though I design my own patterns I still patterns by other people – there are so many talented designers out there, how could I not??

I’m always looking to try something new, improve my technique and learn new skills so I am VERY excited to start my first circular shawl. I’ve knitted several half-circle shawls but never a full circle before.

I just started the Evenstar Shawls by Susan Pandorf (available for purchase on Ravelry.com). It’s a beautiful shawl inspired by the Lord of the Rings which is one of my favorite books (and yes, I like the movies, too). Actually, since my husband has to work late tonight, I’ll probably pop Fellowship of the Rings into the DVD player and this once my little guy heads to bed.

I also had to learn my first circular cast on for this project, which, since I don’t know how to crochet, was completely new to me.

My finished piece will come out a bit different than Susan intended because I couldn’t track down a laceweight yarn that wasn’t wool. I’m allergic to wool. You don’t want me to knit with it. It’s not pretty. After half an hour I get hives.

Swatches - size 3 (top) and size 5 (bottom) needles — Swatches – size 3 (top) and size 5 (bottom) needles

So I’m knitting the shawl in a DK weight cotton – Kertzer’s Down to Earth Cotton in 0035 a pale pink. It’s nice to wok with and affordable when you have to buy 1500 yards worth! I also had to increase the needle size. The pattern calls for lace-weight yarn on US size 3 needles. I knitted the swatch and blocked it but the more complicated pattern designs (a 7-fold increase inside a k3tog) were murder on size 3 needles as those are the recommended size needles for this yarn. I knit the swatch again last night on size 5 needles and life was MUCH easier. And frankly, after blocking, it looks better, too.

Here are my swatches – you can judge for yourself, but I’m going with the larger needles for this lace shawl.