Challenge knitting complicated patterns

Another challenge for me was to dig into new, rounded patchwork knitting à la Horst Schulz - I had tried to understand one of his more intriguing patterns - 'An African Adventure' (here's the free pattern pdF - in English) - a couple of years before, but had failed - and now I gave it a new try - and suddenly it came all clear!

I also found this new book by of on his 'scholars', showing further variations on this adventurous knitting technique: ('Patchworkstricken' by Liane Schommertz - in German).

A funny thing about these patterns is that you only have to deal with one or at the most two colours at the same time, and that you (except for the borders) only hold very few stitches on your needles for every patch, which are even decreased constantly while working.

It's also a splendid opportunity to use up lots of yarns from your stash, awakening the pattern to life without the feeling of producing a 'patchy' look.

So I started two new projects, the first one maybe turning out to become an afghan in the end, with 5 mm needles -



- the second project with 4 mm needles and double 4-ply sockyarn, aimed to result in a sleeveless vest some day (although at the moment, it looks more like a frog to me :-) -



At Ravelry, there is even a 'Horst Schulz Fan Group' where you can find more information on the patterns.

(German summary: Meine neue Herausforderung sind die gerundeten Patchworkformen à la Horst Schulz - so langsam begreife ich endlich das Prinzip und erfreue mich an dieser witzigen Stricktechnik!)

Hibernating in a pile of sockwool ...

Oh dear, this year seems to run even faster than the last one ... and although hibernating regarding my postings (and I'm sorry for that!), I haven't been idle at all, but quite industrious -

So where shall I begin?

Well, it started with me finding an on-line provider of high-quality and non-expensive sock wool ... and as you know I love making anything but socks with that interesting, variegated yarn, I was tempted enough to buy a couple of kilos ...

As I had bought packages of unspecified colours, it was an even bigger challenge to find suitable projects - pink/rosé isn't really what I use to wear, but in combination with that green ...



anyway, it turned out to become a vest, a very comfortable one, which I'm already wearing.

The pattern, which is actually a kind of 'granny square' with distinct 'holes' at the corners, not only shows the colour variegation well but also produces a diagonal pattern which I find quite attractive. I found it in 'Sock Yarn One-Skein Wonders' by Judith Durant, where it's originally used for a shoulder bag.

Then I had some of that greenish 6-ply wool left - and together with some scraps of Noro Silk Garden Sock Yarn from my stash, I decided to crochet a little neck bag, using Lucy's 'Granny Wheel' at Attic24.



My bag is about 14 x 13 cm, and I can use it both sides.

The next thing I want to show you is the second version of the 'Japanese Flower Shawl' - exactly the same pattern as in my previous posting, still very different-looking as I used a 4-ply sock wool with very long colour sequences this time (found at a local shop) and a smaller hook. I also deliberately made a colour change for each round to get a more distinct appearance.



Here you have another picture featuring the Noro shawl to the left, the sock wool shawl to the right, for comparison.



As you can see, I've become really hooked on crocheting with variegated sock yarn - both the 4-ply and the 6-ply yarns are very comfortable for that purpose, and choosing smaller and bigger hooks makes the work pieces sturdy or soft, whatever intended.

And of course I started more projects than these just presented ... but I will show them later on, when accomplished.

Finally just another triangle shawl which I've just finished - knitted with a multi-coloured yarn I spun myself - a dear friend of mine will receive it as a birthday present.



(German summary: Es tut mir leid, daß ich wieder einmal so lange gebraucht habe, um aus dem 'Blog-Winterschlaf' zu finden - gefaulenzt habe ich trotzdem nicht, sondern mich vor allem mit Sockenwolle und verschiedenen Häkelprojekten beschäftigt: eine Weste, eine kleine Häkeltasche und noch eine zweite Version des Blumenschals - ja, und ein gestricktes Tuch aus selbstgesponnener Wolle ist auch noch dabei.)

Another sleeveless vest!/Noch einen Pullunder!

Yes, I enjoy this way of knitting very much - this time, I tried doing a more graphic pattern in a colour scheme which I have never chosen before.

As I'm just knitting strips with quite few stitches at the time, I prefer using (wooden) double-pointed sock needles. The finishing rows at neck and arms are crocheted, and for the waistband I then needed a circular knitting needle, of course.



This vest is actually a de-stasher, as most of the yarn was either found in my stash or reclaimed from another garment - I only bought one single ball of sockwool yarn to get a bit of glowing turquoise into it!



A clever thing about knitting strips is that you don't have to worry about gauge and measurements until you've been knitting for quite a while - then there's still time to layer it onto one of your favourite sweaters and compare sizes.

Another advantage of this piece-work is that you can knit it almost entirely on sock needles - even knitting two strips parallel, if you want. The striping itself helps you count the rows easily when comparing lengths and sewing it all together.

And furthermore, the strips make it possible to re-arrange the design and the order of colours till the very end - you can even turn them upside down before mounting!

(German summary: Mir gefällt diese Art, Streifen zu stricken, sehr gut, da man wirklich bis zuletzt die einzelnen Teile neu arrangieren und ergänzen kann. Die Strumpfstricknadeln machen die Arbeit sehr handlich, und auch das Kombinieren verschiedener Wollreste- und stärken ist hier kein Problem!)

Reclaimed wool: Sleeveless vest/Pullunder aus Recyclingwolle

I like yarns. And I like repurposing things. So the idea of reclaiming yarn from non-fitting garments laid close at hand.

When I was given two bags full of hand-knitted garments which I didn't want to wear as they were, I decided to unravel them and use the wool for some new projects.

Out of an unravelled shoulder cape, I knitted this sleeveless vest -



I didn't really use a pattern, just knitted strips and sew them together, taking measure from one of my old vests.

I like knitting the front and the back the same - so I can wear it both ways.



When you've unravelled an old garment, it's important that you wind it to a skein, soak it in lukewarm water (I used a bit of soap too), rinse it thorougly and then dry it, eventually with a weight, in order to straighten out the 'curls' of the former knitting. If you don't, your new knitting will get uneven and ugly.

Shake the skeins several times while they are drying, and you will get an airy and fluffy yarn, good as new!

(German summary: Da mir sowohl Wolle als auch Recyling am Herzen liegt, ribbele ich gerne nicht mehr getragene Stricksachen auf und stricke daraus etwas Neues. Wichtig ist, daß man das aufgeribbelte Garn zu Strängen wickelt, und es dann im lauwarmen Wasser - auch mit Seife - badet, dann spült, trocknen läßt - evtl. mit einem Gewicht - damit sich die 'Wellen' glätten und die Wolle wieder ein schönes Maschenbild ergibt. Mehrmals ausschütteln, ausschlagen - und das Garn ist wie neu!)

Colourful vest with (mostly) handspun yarns

Today I've been experimenting a lot with 'handspun recycling' - that's really quite exciting - but before I dig deeper into that, I have to show you my colourful vest first, which I finished this morning!

Most of the yarns used are handspun, but I mixed them a bit with suitable scrap yarns from my stash, too.

After having finished knitting the second part, I decided to wear that one as a front instead (right picture), despite of my first plans - but I also deliberately made both sides equal at the neck, so I can change my mind which side to wear in front from time to time!

As usual, I didn't use any pattern, as I find it more convenient to knit freely, just checking the size on some suitable garment.



Do you recognize the 'liquorice' and scrap yarns from earlier postings?



And another small improvement on the flyer:

I put the "heads" of some plastic envelope clips on top of the hose covering the new screws, so that my yarn doesn't jump off when my wheel is going real fast ...

A crocheted vest with tutorial - a week-end project

During the holidays, I started crocheting a vest to wear while working. I used a black&white yarn from my stash, but of course you can use whatever left-overs you have - you might even want to stripe it or change colours in between ... Or use different shades of a certain colour range ... You can work an edge around neck and arms, or crochet a lace at the bottom or work a fringe ...

I used a 8 mm crochet needle, doing half double stitches with a fairly thick yarn, but when you've figured out the way how it works, you can do it anyway you like. But I think you should have crocheted before, not being an absolute beginner, as you need some experience of crocheting to get it smooth and even, especially if you're using different kinds of yarn.

My vest is 58 cm long and 55 cm wide, fitting a European size 40-44, I guess - but you can easily adjust the measurements by adding (or leaving out) some rows at the sides or at neck or bottom.
(Please click at the pics for better reading!)









I hope you've got the idea - I've never made a tutorial before, and explaining crocheting in English is a challenge as well!

If you're trying it out, I'd love to see your result!