Friday, 10 November 2017

"Too many hearts, too little time", said Moo Moo

All roads lead to Rome and Sixth Heart in One String is my latest attempt to knit a piece of heart dishcloth using a very different approach.  Instead of mitering, I changed to knitting in bias which is a more familiar technique to dishcloth knitters.  But to make sure everyone on their toes, I changed the normal increase pattern to make it interesting.


Just like all my previous hearts, the Sixth Heart is knitted in one string of yarn from start to finish without breaking or adding yarn to construct the shape.  It guarantees the integrity of the piece and less yarn tail to weave in.



This piece also let me find an ideal place to use the modified kfb and an unusual bind off  technique (at least for me, I don't do it that often and didn't see a lot of it in other patterns).



Sixth Heart in One String and my other heart patterns are now available in my Ravelry store

Enjoy the knitting :D

Saturday, 4 November 2017

Working Cat

Cat Mat was conceptualized after knitting the bias Grandmother's Favourite Dishcloth a few times and started to realize its potential.  GFD has inspired me to write out 3 knitting patterns, and Cat Mat is the first one.


It is called Cat Mat because my two furballs lay on it as soon as it was off the needles, so my friend said should name the piece Cat Mat.  The design is of a sophisticated cat looking back at you ...... and you can see his wavy tail and one could tell the mischievous thought in that little brain that is wired for world domination 😁.

Instead of using the tradition knit and purls stitches to construct the cat, I opted to use modified cable slip stitches, bobble stitches and picot stitches to create a 3D space from a 2D surface of the dishcloth. Also being a perfectionist myself, I make sure that the purl bump selvedge is all round without interruption which made it different from the GFD.  That requires a different cast on and bind off from GFD.


During the test knit, the testers gave me valuable input for improvement and thus the addition of a mini photo tutorial to guide the knitters through the two  most difficult rows in the pattern.

In the pattern, I also include simple instruction in making a stockinette and seed / moss stitch body.  This is also inspired by the testers. To say the least, this is a one string piece - no cutting or adding to yarn and only two yarn tails to weave in. 😃

The pattern, Cat Mat, could be purchase from my Ravelry store and I hope you will enjoy as much as I have knitting up the cat knowing they will probably be sitting on the kitchen counter looking pretty and cute lol