Knit Alone Together

2012

2012-01-12T16:15:00.000-08:00

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Back to the Blog!

2011-09-28T00:54:00.000-07:00

After a long hiatus we are officially back to blogging! This may have something to do with the change in weather (we are entering prime knitting season after all), but who knows! Things that we have missed since the last blog include:

Haven & Liz in Hotsprings, MT.

I visited Haven and we got to knit ~~alone~~ together!

Summer in Alaska and some lovely road trips.

And fall in Fairbanks.

I also published a new pattern called Andromeda, which I can finally start to wear now that winter is coming! Other recent knitting projects include Veera Välimäki's Wanderlust Pullover - it's blocking now and I'll share pics once I get the buttons sewn-on. Can't wait to share more patterns, and pictures of life and new knitting. Sorry again about lack of blogging but we're back at it!

Happy Knitting,
Liz

Class Update

2011-03-19T10:20:00.000-07:00

The Powder Eights class at Stix has been moved to March 29th and April 5th.

P8 Class

2011-03-14T15:17:00.000-07:00

Well down here Montana way, we're fixin' to give some more classes. We had a very successful Newsprint Cowl class at Stix last week.

The pattern was published again in Tangled Online Magazine, where their focus is bi-craftuality. One of Stix's knitters in residence figured out a brioche crochet stitch, and made a cross-threaded pattern that corresponds with the Newsprint Cowl - the Radicowl.

On March 22nd and 29th, I'll be giving a class on Powder Eights. The first session will include a review of the brioche stitch and an introduction to brioche cabling. The second session will focus almost exclusively on the two pages of decreases. Experience with brioche knitting is required. Call Stix in Bozeman to sign up!

Liz just completed her first Powder Eights in a beautiful indigo color. I covet it.

Flyte

2011-02-16T23:44:00.000-08:00

Hey Knit Friends,

I finished and published my newest pattern, Flyte, on ravlery a few days ago! Flyte is a paneled cabled hat that I’ve been dreaming-up over the past few years. I’ve been trying to make a cabled hat in which the cables taper to meet at the top of the hat, and I finally worked it out! The name 'Flyte' is a vague reference to one of my favorite books, "Brideshead Revisited" by Evelyn Waugh. Flyte is written for a worsted weight yarn and can be made in two different sizes. Flyte is available for purchase here on ravelry.

Special thanks to Greta for her excellent knitwear-modeling skillz and for tromping through deep snow with me!

xoxo
Liz

Powder Eights

2011-02-16T11:33:00.000-08:00

Powder Eights has been published and is available as a Ravelry download! Want to try? This hat has served me well for over two years. Try as I might, I have been unable to knit anything to replace it for winter weather. It's a fairly complicated knit, with over 20 decrease rows, but the cabling is continuous to the top, which was a design feat.

The lovely model in these photos is Mari, author of No Project Left Behind. I'm hoping that she'll be a guest designer here soon. I also have to thank my co-author, Liz, for having done all of the .pdf files for my designs. Would that I had her skills and information!

Happy knitting!

Haven

Aspen Extreme

2011-02-04T10:46:00.000-08:00

Heeeyyy Knitter!

The journey began two years ago, with a skein of Malabrigo Chunky and a seriously cold job as a snowboard instructor. The destination? A cabled brioche hat.

I finished the first without ever writing down the decreases, so here I am now, knitting a second Powder 8s. The basic pattern repeat is currently being test knit, and I'm hoping to finish writing out the decreases in the next two days.

What are Powder 8s? Watch and learn:

Look for the pattern just after Valentine's Day.

Knit knit knit,
Haven

Newsprint

2011-02-01T23:18:00.000-08:00

Hi Friends,

I just finished my first Newsprint Cowl (by Haven)!

I love it, and I say 'first' because I'm hooked and I'm going to start another in creamsicle colors right now! I'm thinking Malabrigo Worsted in Pearl and Cinnabar.... Yum.

xoxo
Liz

Boardwalk Hat

2011-01-31T00:09:00.000-08:00

Hello Blog Friends!

Welcome to my first official post on our blog! I'm going to jump-in and unveil a new pattern of mine that I finally completed this evening. It's a quick knit cap in worsted weight yarn with a slightly wavy edge. A downloadable .pdf version of this pattern is available for free on ravelry.

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Boardwalk

by Elizabeth Pedersen

Yarn: Approximately 130 yards of worsted weight yarn. The pictured hats are both made from one skein of Malabrigo Merino Worsted, 210 yards/100 grams (3.5 ounces), in colorways Stone Blue and Pearl.

Gauge: 20 sts and 27 rows per 4 inches in stockinette on US size 8 needles.

Needles: 16” size US 5, 16” size US 8, and one set double pointed needles size US 8.

Notions: Stitch marker(s), darning needle.

Abbreviations:

sts - stitches

k - knit

p - purl

yo - yarn over

ssk - slip 1 as if to knit, k1, psso

k2tog - knit 2 together

sl - slip as if to knit

psso/p2sso - pass slipped stitch(es) over

sl2tog - sl 2 sts together as if to k2tog

* * - repeat pattern within *s

Pattern: With smaller size circular needles cast on 90 stitches. Place stitch marker at beginning or row and join in the round, being careful not to twist work.

Row 1: *k1, p1*

Rows 2 - 11: Repeat Row 1 ten times (11 times total) or until brim is desired length.

Increase Row: Switch to larger size 16” circular needles by knitting one row, increasing one stitch (M1L) after every 15th stitch (M1L - lift the bar between stitches with the tip of the lefthand needle from the front, then knit the back the of the bar you have lifted, like knitting through the back loop of a stitch). Six stitches increased for a total of 96 sts.

Begin Section A: Follow either the Chart or the written instructions. The sixteen stitches in row one are repeated six times around, working all stitches. Repeat whichever row of the patern that you are currently working in this manner. Repeat all eight rows of Section A four times, for a total of 32 patterned rows.

Legend:

Section A - Chart

Section A - Written

Row 1: *k1, yo, k3, ssk, k5, k2tog, k3, yo*

Rows 2, 4, 6 & 8: knit

Row 3: *k2, yo, k3, ssk, k3, k2tog, k3, yo, k1*

Row 5: *k3, yo, k3, ssk, k1, k2tog, k3, yo, k2*

Row 7: *k4, yo, k3, sl1, k2tog, psso, k3, yo, k3*

Begin Section B: Please note that the center decrease in Section B is different than the decreases in Section A - see Legend for details. Switch to double pointed needles when necessary.

Section B - Chart

Section B - Written

Row 33: *k7, sl2tog, k1, p2sso, k6*

Rows 34, 36, 38, 40 & 42: knit

Row 35: *k6, sl2tog, k1, p2sso, k5*

Row 37: *k5, sl2tog, k1, p2sso, k4*

Row 39: *k4, sl2tog, k1, p2sso, k3*

Row 41: *k3, sl2tog, k1, p2sso, k2*

Row 43: *k2, sl2tog, k1, p2sso, k1*

Row 44: *k1, sl2tog, k1, p2sso*

Row 45: *k2tog*

Finishing: After completing Section B there are 6 stitches remaining. Cut yarn leaving a 6” to 10” tail. With a darning needle run this tail through the remaining 6 stitches and cinch together. Weave in all ends and wash and block finished hat! If you wish to make a slouchier hat you can go up needle sizes for Sections A and B, and/or you can stretch the finished hat over a 9” plate while blocking.

©Elizabeth Pedersen, 2011

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I hope you like making my hat! Until next time, happy knitting and goodnight!

xoxo

Liz

Digression

2011-01-26T21:05:00.000-08:00

Hey Knitter,

I feel like this is somewhat knitting related, and entirely adorable.

Also, the brioche class last night went well. Brioche can be challenging. Picking up dropped brioche stitches is more challenging. Cao and I are working hard on Still Light in Swans Island fingering. What an amazing yarn in amazing yardage!

xoxo,
Haven

Newsprint Cowl

2011-01-25T09:50:00.000-08:00

Heeeyyy Knitter,

I'm teaching a class on the brioche stitch at one of our local yarn stores, Stix. I wanted to do brioche in the round, and I love the Honey Cowl that we've all made, and this is what I came up with:

The Newsprint Cowl

This is an oversized brioche cowl, knit in the round. Two skeins of yarn are worked in paired rows. During the first round, the dark is worked, and carried over the light, which is slipped, via yarn over. The next round, the light is worked and carried over the dark.

The width of this cowl may be adjusted by casting on any even number of stitches.

Please note: some abbreviations are not traditional.

Yarn: Two different colors of any worsted weight yarn. For the purpose of clarity, one skein will be called dark (D), one will be called light (L).

Needle: Size 8 US (5.0 mm) 24” circular needle.

Abbreviations:

k - knit

p - purl

s - slip (as if to purl)

yf - yarn forward (bring your working yarn to the front)

yo - yarn over

st - stitch

p2tog - purl the slipped D stitch and its corresponding L yarn over together.

k2tog - knit the slipped L stitch and its corresponding D yarn over together.

Pattern:

With D: cast on 160 stitches using a long tail cast on.

Join L at the end opposite your working D yarn and begin next round.

Set up round with L: *k1, yf, s1* repeat between the *’s to end of row. Be sure to leave the yarn in back at the end of the row, laying across the slipped stitch. This maintains the last yo.

After completing this, you should see one knitted L stitch, then a L yarn over that crosses over the slipped D stitch, repeated around. There should be a yarn over that crosses over every slipped stitch throughout the pattern.

Being cautious not to twist, join in the round and begin.

The remainder of the pattern is knitted by repeating these next two rows.

Round 1 (with D): with yarn in front, *s1, yo, p2tog* repeat between the *‘s to end of row. D will always hang in front of the work at the end of the row.

Please note: When making a yarn over, because your yarn is already in front of the needle, the yarn will be going from front to back then around the needle to the front again - wrapped completely around the needle, and crossing over the slipped L st.

Round 2 (with L): *k2tog, yf, s1* repeat between the *’s to the end of the row. Again, be sure to leave the yarn in back at the end of the row, laying across the slipped stitch. L will always hang to the back of the work at the end of the row.

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 until the cowl has reached desired length (the pictured cowl is around 10”), then bind off loosely using the following technique:

*knit 2 together through the back loop, return the stitch to the left hand needle* repeat between *’s until end all stitches have been completed.

Weave in ends, and block, stretching width-wise to emphasize the stitch.

Enjoy!

Haven

By using this pattern, you agree to use it only for your personal non-commercial use. Please do not reproduce or sell the pattern without explicit consent from Haven Leavitt.

A Harbinger...

2011-01-25T08:53:00.000-08:00

Once upon a time, there were two young ladies, born and raised in the arctic. Many long, cold nights gave way to a passion for time-consuming crafts and woolen wares. Knit Alone Together sprung from their mutual affection for knitting.

On Ravelry:
Lidped
Havenaht

Man Hat Here

2010-11-06T14:43:00.000-07:00

Man Hat:

A no-fail hat, perfect for the man that is hesitant to wear knitwear. Both yarns are super soft for their ever-so-sensitive heads. Makes a fairly large hat.

Needles: 16” US Size 8 (5.0mm) circular needle, 4 US Size 8 (5.0mm) double pointed needles.
Yarn: Plymouth Yarn Baby Alpaca Grande or Malabrigo Yarn Chunky, one skein of either.

CO 64 stitches using a long tail cast on. (For smaller or larger sizes, add or subtract CO stitches in multiples of 8, or change yarn size.)
Connect and begin to work in the round.

Round 1: *k1, p1* repeat between *’s until the end of the round.
Round 2: knit around

Repeat until hat measures 7”, ending with a Round 1. Divide stitches evenly onto double pointed needles and begin decrease rows.

Decrease Rounds:
1: *k6, ssk* repeat between *’s to end of round.
2: *k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1, k1* repeat between *’s to end of round.
3: *k5, ssk* repeat between *’s to end of round.
4: *k1, p1, k1, p1, k1, p1* repeat between *’s to end of round.
5: *k4, ssk* repeat between *’s to end of round.
6: *k1, p1, k1, p1, k1* repeat between *’s to end of round.
7: *k3, ssk* repeat between *’s to end of round.
8: *k1, p1, k1, p1* repeat between *’s to end of round.
9: *k2, ssk* repeat between *’s to end of round.
10: *k1, p1, k1* repeat between *’s to end of round.
11: *k1, ssk* repeat between *’s to end of round.
12: *k1, p1* repeat between *’s to end of round.
13: *ssk* repeat between *’s to end of round.

Eight stitches remain. Break thread, leaving around 8” of yarn. Pull through remaining 8 stitches with a tapestry needle. Weave in ends.

Pattern copyright Haven Leavitt 2010. This pattern is for personal use only. By using this pattern, you agree to use it only for your personal non-commercial use. You may not distribute this pattern in any way, but you may sell items produced using the directions in this patten.