Ok! So I finished the funky scarf over the weekend and now I get to share the big secret.

First, the swap person I got

I’ve been working on the illusion version of my fleur des lis washcloth this weekend and wanted to see if the pattern made sense to other people too. I’m sending an illusion cloth as well as two knit from the regular pattern off the the Louisiana state museum on friday along with the patterns to give away (or sell for charity) at the exhibit.

I’m working on a chart but right now just have the text file that goes row by row. I was really surprised to find that it was five pages long when I printed it out.

Knitting this shouldn’t take long at all - three or four hours for a moderately fast knitter and 1 ball each of cotton yarn in 2 contrasting colors. Anyone interested?

Do you guys remember the Fleur de Lis dishcloth pattern I designed for the Katrina dishcloth fundraiser? Well, someone’s converted it to an illusion pattern. Which is cool.

Kind of annoyed that I don’t get any kind of credit since yeah it’s pretty much from my chart written in October and this wasn’t published until December.. But since I’m learning illusion knitting with the shadow shawl it might be fun to try sometime. At least they’re not charging for it.

When I was done with the Clapotis I was happily surprised to find I had leftover yarn. For a while there I wasn’t even sure I’d have enough yarn to finish! But I ended up using about 5 1/2 skeins out of the 6 I’d bought. The half a skein I had wasn’t from the same ball because I’d been cutting in and chopping up different skeins to fit the striping pattern. So I had a bunch of small balls of yarn to play with. And a new shawl that needed a pin. What to do? Well, I made a flower pin! When I showed it to Beverly she said I had to post the pattern because it was the prettiest knit flower she’d ever seen. I love that kind of flattery don’t you?

So after a week of keeping you guys in suspense here it is. Sorry but I was a bit intimidated about writing out exactly what I did because, as you’ll see, it was a bit weird and very hard to explain.

This knit flower is very similar to this pattern and the flower washcloths in Last Minute Knitted Gifts and I’m sure there are others out there. But I made up a funny little trick for joining the petals of this flower that I hadn’t seen before - although now that I’m writing it out, I’m thinking there might be a reason for that. So we’ll see if I can explain it properly. I’m sure ya’ll will let me know if you’re confused!

You’ll need:
US 6 needles (preferably circulars)
US 8 needles (preferably circulars)
A set of US 6 or 7 double-pointed needles
about 1/4 a skein of Silk Garden or roughly 30 yards of a comparable yarn
a small metal stitch holder (the one that looks like a giant safety pin) or a coil-less safety pin
a tapestry needle
cable needle (optional)
seed beads or button, matching needle and thread (optional)

Gauge really isn’t important here this is a “make it work” (hee! Tim Gunn!) kind of pattern. Just have a smaller needle, a larger needle, and a medium set of double pointed needles

Abbreviations:
CO: Cast-on
K: knit
kfb: knit into the front and back of the same stitch
pfb: purl into the front and back of the same stitch
K2tog: knit two stitches together
DPN: Double pointed needle

To give you a good idea of how much yarn it takes for this pattern here’s a photo of how much yarn I had leftover after finishing the clap. And I still had about 1/4 - 1/2 of this ball left after making the flower. So it really doesn’t take much at all.

Making the Petals
Using the US 6s (or whatever your smaller size needle is) and a long tail cast on with at least a 5 inch tail, CO 2 stitches.
Row 1: kfb, kfb (4 stitches)
Row 2: k1, kfb, kfb, k1 (6 stiches)
Row 3: k1, pfb, purl to last 2 stitches, pfb, k1 (8 stitches)
Row 4: K1, kfb, knit to the last 2 stitches, kfb, k1 (10)
repeat rows 3 and 4 until there are 16 stitches (or the petal is as large as you’d like)
Leaving stitches on the needle, cut yarn leaving approx 5 inch tail.
Move petal to the end of the straight needle or to the center bottom of the circular needle.

Make 2 more petals on size 6 needles (so there are 3 altogether).

Make 2 petals in the same way using size 8 needles (or whatever size your larger needle is).

Now there are 5 petals altogether. Don’t cut the yarn when you finish the last petal.

Note: You don’t have to make petals different sizes but I think it adds some interesting variation to the flower.

Joining the Petals
(This is where it gets complicated)

To prepare, arrange all the petals on their needles so they’re facing in the same direction - for example all petals having the “right side” facing away from you.

Using 1 DPN, move 12 stitches for one petal from size 6 needle (Petal A). For the last 4 stitches from Petal A: Hold the needle with the size 8 petals (Petal B) with the right side in the same direction as Petal A. Hold Petal B so the right side overlaps the left side of Petal A. Alternate moving last 4 stitches from Petal A onto the DPN with moving the first 4 stitches from a petal (Petal B). Be sure that both petals have the right side facing the same way.

So the stitches look be like this on a needle: AAAAAAAABABABABABBBBBBBBBB

This makes the petal overlap in a more flowery-looking way. Continue moving stitches from Petal B onto DPN to the last 4 stitches. If you’ve run out of space on your first DPN , use a new DPN to alternate the last 4 stitches from Petal B with the first 4 stitches from the next Petal A. Again, with the right side facing the same way and the new petal’s right side overlapping the old petal’s left side.

Change to a new DPN when you’ve run out of space. Continue moving the stitches in the same way for the next two petals, overlapping with the last 4 stitches with the first four stitches of the next petals. Again, you don’t have to use a specific order with the sizes of the petals from the different sized needles. Just be sure to be consistent in how you overlap the petals each time. I just think that using different sized petals adds a more organic feeling to the project.

When you’ve gotten to the last 4 stitches of the last petal..Use the cable needle (or stitch holder) to move the first four stitches from the very first petal. Holding the first petal in front of the last, alternate the last 4 stitches onto the first needle with the first four stitches on the first petal.

So basically, you’re joining the flower in the round before you even start knitting them together. You really don’t need a marker or anything. This isn’t an exact pattern because really, you just need to do what you think would look good.

Knitting the center in the round
Using the yarn tail still connected to the yarn ball , start knitting the stitches in the round.
Knit 1 complete round.
Next Round: *K3, K2tog*, repeat between *s.
Next Round: Knit
Next Round: *K3, K2tog*, repeat between *s
Next Round: purl (adds a little texture)
Next Round: Knit
Next Round: *K2, K2tog*, repeat between *s

Continue repeating last two round until you have 6 stitches or so. Cut yarn with 8 inch tail, thread the tapestry needle with the tail, run needle through last 6 stitches and pull to close.

Finishing
Use remaining tails of yarn and tapestry needle to stabilize the petals in the way you’d like and to whip-stitch the flower onto the small stitch holder or safety pin. I didn’t block mine or anything but you can if you’d like!

Voila! It’s a flower pin!

A few optional variations:

- Use a needle and thread to sew seed beads or a button in the center of the flower.
- Alternate the petals so some have the “right side” facing up and other have the “wrong side” facing up.
- Or make a larger and a smaller version of this flower and sew the small one on top of the other. Like I did for this one:

Ok, hopefully this is fairly to easy to understand. Let me know if it’s too confusing! At some points I felt like I was typing Esperanto. But I’ve read it out loud a few times. And it seems to make sense.

So this is the variation on the Rustic Scarf from Last Minute Knitted Gifts that I made for my sister’s husband. Really the only similarity to the pattern in the book is the yarn I used and the fact that it’s knit lengthwise. Otherwise I just made this up as I went along.

I’m writing this out as I anxiously await an ebay bid to finish. I decided to surprise the crap out of my husband and buy something he is totally not expecting for giftmas so I have some nervous energy to spend.

This pattern is easy peasy breezy mccheesy.

I used:
- two skeins of Rowan’s Yorkshire Tweed Chunky - one in string (beige) the other in stout (dk brown)
- a pair of 52″ circulars in size US 11

With beige yarn CO 150 stitches
Knit every stitch (the whole scarf is garter stitch) for 6 rows
Change to dk brown yarn and knit 8 rows
**Change to beige yarn and knit 2 rows (center row)
Change to dk brown yarn and knit 8 rows**
Change to beige yarn and knit 5 rows
Cast off loosely while knitting the 6th row

There will be a total of 30 rows - the yarn will be changed on the same end every time - creating a “right” and a “wrong” side but the stripes look really cool on either side.

** for a wider scarf repeat the stripes between the sets of asterisks as many times as you’d like.

weave in ends

That’s it! I cast this on Tuesday morning and worked on it while waiting for Cody at the dentist. My hygenist saw it and ordered one for her husband on the spot. I took a nap after the appointments and still finished it that same night at the Stitch n Bitch. Love projects like this. It’s a very appropriate brother-in-law scarf and it just takes a few hours overall. I’ll probably make one for Cody’s brother’s birthday as well so it really will be the official brother-in-law scarf.

I won the auction! Oh my god Cody’s gonna plotz when he opens his present! (shhhhit’sanipodshhhh)

Basic Baby Mittens in the round

You’ll need:
size US 4 double-pointed needles (dpn) (I used bry-flex plastics)
about 200 yards of worsted weight yarn (I used some unknown but fairly soft cream acrylic)
a tapestry or darning needle

note: These mittens were knit specifically for a small one year old with approx 5 1/8 inch wrist circumference and a wrist to fingertip length of about 5 inches. At the mom’s request I made these a bit small at the cuff so the baby couldn’t slip them off that easily. So I’m going to give the numbers I used then the recommended number for a slightly larger size in parentheses. The smaller size should work for a large six month old or average 8 month old. The larger size should comfortably fit a one year old.

on one dpn CO 20 (26) stitches

divide evenly over three dpns.

Join stitches and knit in a knit 1, purl 1 rib stitch for 1-1/4 inches.

Knit 6 rounds in stockinette stitch (knitting every row in the round).

Put first 4 (6) stitches on a holder.

Cast on 4 (6) new stitches. (I used a cable cast on but whatever method you’re comfortable with should work)

Continue with Stockinette stitch until the mitten measures approx 3 3/4 inches overall.

*knit 2 stitches together, knit2* repeat between asterisks to the end of the round - 14 (20) stitches remain

(larger size only repeat previous *k2tog, k2* row (14 stitches remain) )

k2tog all around - 7 stitches remain

break yarn and use a tapestry needle to run through the remaining stitches.

Bring yarn through small circle, turn mitten inside out and sew in ends.

To make thumbs:

Still using size 4 dpns, pick up 4 (6) stitches on the holder

Using additional dpns pick up 2 (4) stitches on opposite side of thumbhole and 1 stitch on either side - totalling 8 (12) stitches spread evenly on 3 needles.

knit 8 (10) rounds

knit 2 together all around - 4 (6) stitches

(larger size only, knit 2 more stitches together)

Break yarn, use tapestry needle to thread through remaining stitches, sew yarn through, turn mitten and thumb inside out and sew in ends, reinforcing any loose areas or holes.

For opposite hand: put the middle 4 (6) stitches on the holder instead of the first 4 (6)

Adding the Kitty Face

You’ll need:
1 pair US 1 straight needles
the same yarn you used for the mittens, but not that much at all
a darning or tapestry needle
Scrap yarn for face - I used blue ( cotton left over from ballet t) for eyes, a dark navy blue acrylic for the pupils and whiskers, and a pink acrylic for the ear highlights and nose.

How to make ears (make four)
Using same yarn as mittens, CO 2 stitches onto US size 1 needles
Knit in the front and back of the 1st stitch, K1 - 3 stitches total
K1, KF&B, K1 - 4 stitches total
K2, KF&B, K1 - 5 stitches
K2, KF&B, K2 - 6 stitches
Bind Off all stitches, break yarn leaving a long tail to sew onto mitten.

Using tapestry needle, sew the yarn from the cast on “tip” of the ear down to the base, on the opposite side from the tail left from binding off.

Using yarn tails sew ears onto the top of the mittens, with the inside of the ears facing the fingertips - with the base of the ears approximately in line with where the thumb starts.

Optional: Using pink or white yarn (or whatever you choose) sew a few stitches that will show only on the front of the ears, to give it a little depth.

Turn mitten inside out and sew in remaining ends.

Shape ears to suit your taste.

Nose: using pink yarn (or whatever color you chose) and tapestry needle, sew a series of parallel stitches in the middle of the top tip of the mitten, I made the stitches smaller the closer they got to the tip for a triangular kitty nose effect.

Whiskers: Cut two strands of dark yarn approximately 6 inches long. Using needle, at roughly 90 degree angles from the nose or wherever you think the “cheeks” should be, tuck both ends of each yarn to the inside on each cheek, by basically sewing two very small stitches on each side. Think of these as tiny dimples. Turn mitten inside out and tie ends of each strand in a small knot, then thread the yarn ends back through the exact same holes they came in. This secures the whiskers from the inside. Trim the whiskers to your preference.

Eyes: Using blue yarn (or whatever you chose) and needle, sew a series of parallel stitches below the ears in a cats-eye shape. Or round if you want a round-eyed kitty. Then use darker yarn to sew a single vertical line for the cat’s pupil. That vertical line makes this really look like a cat. Without it, it looks a bit more bunny-like.

Make sure the ends are knotted and sewn nicely. Put mittens on their hands and watch the kitten mitten fun begin.

Let me know if anything is unclear or I’ve royally screwed up the larger size - I’ve only knit the smaller size so there’s a chance I’m way off with that one.

I’ve been knitting washcloths for that Cloths for Katrina Yahoo Group I mentioned earlier and came up with a fun pattern especially for New Orleans.

In case you can’t tell, it’s a Fleur de Lis which is an image often associated with the French Quarter and also happens to be the symbol for the NO Football team, The Saints. It took a few tries to get it the right proportions but I think this version worked out pretty well. The image was kind of hard to capture since I finished this one after dark and the lighting in our house is fairly dark. I’ll try to get some daylight shots in the magical NM sun in the morning before knitting group.

This is a pretty easy pattern (despite how complex it might look at first) and a really quick knit (it takes me a little under two hours per cloth) if you’re in the mood to feel a quick sense of accomplishment - some days that just needs to be done.

So here’s the pattern all written out:

Reversible Fleur de Lis washcloth (doc) (pdf)

Yarn: I used Lion Cotton, a worsted weight cotton from Lion Brand but any kitchen cotton type yarn like Lily’s Sugar n Cream or that WalMart brand Peaches n Cream should work fine. I’ve found it’s a lot easier to see the pattern using a solid color.

Needles: I used Crystal Palace bamboos US size 6 but use whatever you’re comfortable with. I recommend a 6, 7, or 8.

Gauge: Doesn’t really matter. The number of stitches for the finished object will be 30 stitches wide and 36 rows tall. The size of the finished cloth depends on the yarn, needle size, and your tension.

CO 30 stitches (the garter border is written into the pattern)

Knit every stitch first three rows (garter stitch border)
4: K3 P11 K2 P 11 K3
5: K14 P2 K14
6: K3 P10 K4 P10 K3
7: K9 P3 K1 P4 K1 P3 K9
8: K3 P5 K14 P5 K3
9: K7 P6 K1 P2 K1 P6 K7
10: K3 P4 K3 P2 K1 P1 K2 P1 K1 P2 K3 P4 K3
11: K7 P2 K4 P4 K4 P2 K7
12: K3 P9 K6 P9 K3
13: K12 P6 K12
14: K3 P2 K2 P6 K4 P6 K2 P2 K3
15: K5 P2 K6 P4 K6 P2 K5
16: K3 P1 K3 P5 K6 P5 K3 P1 K3
17: K3 P4 K4 P8 K4 P4 K3
18: K8 P2 K10 P2 K8
19: K3 P24 K3
20: K30
21: K4 P22 K4
22: K3 P2 K6 P1 K6 P1 K6 P2 K3
23: K6 P4 K2 P6 K2 P4 K6
24: K3 P8 K8 P8 K3
25: K10 P10 K10
26: K3 P7 K10 P7 K3
27: K10 P10 K10
28: K3 P8 K8 P8 K3
29: K12 P6 K12
30: K3 P10 K4 P10 K3
31: K13 P4 K13
32: K3 P11 K2 P11 K3
33: K14 P2 K14
Knit every stitch the last three rows (garter border)

Bind off!

Buy some bars of soap and send an email to the yahoo group leaders that you have a set ready to mail!

If you prefer knitting from a chart here’s the charted image:

Yes it’s a little taller than wide but trust me it looks better that way.

The 3 stitch/row garter border is written into the chart. Knit every stitch of the first and last three rows. Then knit the first and last three stitches of each row, otherwise work in stockinette and knit or purl the dark area depending on what side you’re on. The neat part is its reversible.

See?

Let me know if you catch a mistake!

Copyright info:

Feel free to share the pattern just please include this post’s address in the post or printout in case I need to update with a correction!

You are ABSOLUTELY given permission to knit and sell washcloths made from this pattern pattern as long as the money is going to benefit a charity. I’d really prefer one for Katrina survivors right now. Please let me know if you do because I might like to knit a few for it!

It feels pretty damned frivolous to write about my latest little knitting project considering what’s been going on. I can’t stop thinking about the Gulf Coast and all those people who have lost everything. And the people who are still stuck in New Orleans without food or water. Watching the people around them slowly go crazy.

I love that town. As a matter of fact, thirteen years ago this very weekend I was there, in my big thrift store wedding dress running the streets with the drag queens during Southern Decadance. When I lived in Birmingham I would try to get there every six months or so just to refuel my creativity. Not for the stupid frat boy parties on Bourbon but for the food, the people, and the atmosphere.

The little stories of the great human encounters I’ve had there keep running through my head. And I wonder how some of those people are doing. That jazz musician who gave me the expensive cigarettes, the homeless man I met early one morning at Jackson Square who invited me for thanksgiving dinner at the shelter, the “vacant house” man, the generous RC Cola guy on Prytannia.

It’s strange to read about Highway 90 too. I always selfishly thought that highway belonged to me and my friend Kim. The roadside carnival that sprung up in the night in Biloxi after driving east over the bridges and bayous seemed like it was just for us.

In 1999 I took my new husband to New Orleans for our honeymoon. He loved it too. We always said if we made enough money that someday we’d buy a house in the Garden District.

My friend Will (who was also at Southern Decadance in 92 and in our wedding in 99) lives there. And I’ve been trying to call his parents house in Natchez but haven’t been able to get through. I’m sure he evacuated. Pretty sure anyway.

I can’t believe the lack of help that’s been getting there. And the calloused comments about why they weren’t better prepared or leave when they were told to. This is a three-hundred year old city with actual functioning public transport and not everyone there can afford a car. It’s really hard to describe the levels of poverty in this part of the country. Government money does not go here - there are no clean rich white voters to keep happy.

The looting is, well, honestly? I don’t care about the looting aside from the guns. We’re all up in arms about people stealing stupid crappy stuff from stores while there are corpses right out in the open, people and babies starving, insulin-dependant diabetics without access to medicine, and no clean water to drink. Who gives a shit about commercialism at a time like this? I have no doubt they were overcharging anyway.

This is the most class-conscious disaster I’ve ever seen. I think a lot of things will change after this. I hope.

So. Back to knitting. I knit a ziggyzaggy scarf from some handpainted handspun yarn I bought on ebay.

It was a simple pattern:

cast on an even number of stitches
k every stitch for 2 rows
(Zigging) k2, *yo, k2tog* repeat to the last two stitches, knit 2.
purl odd rows
repeat for about 30 rows or so
(Zagging) k2, *sl1 k1 psso yo* repeat to the last two stitches, knit2
purl odd rows
repeat.
Just alternate these stitches until you have enough yarn to knit every stitch for the last two rows and bind off.

It’s pretty long and nice and soft. Because it is handspun from handpainted roving and knit without a specific pattern it is very unique.

The good news is if you’d like to buy it I’m going to be donating it along with several other finished works to the craft revolution etsy store where five thousand dollars has already been raised and donated to the Red Cross.

I also plan to donate the handspun kool aid dyed neck tube, the felted pink tiki purse and belt set, and the handspun kool aid dyed sunset yarn. These have gotten the most response on craftster so I think these are the most likely to sell. I will be covering the shipping expense for them.

I’ve also bought some fun handcrafted items at the store. There are some great things there.

Our Saturday knitting group will be bringing some knitted items to donate to the shop as well. And Cody and I plan to cover the shipping on these items too. It’s not a big deal but it’s something we can do.

We’re also going through our closets and getting clothes, videotapes, books, and canned foods. Now we just need to find an organization that’s accepting these kinds of things.

It’s something anyway. Better than me sitting around staring into nothing wondering what happened to the vacant house man.