Furballs' Flying Cranes

Furballs' Flying Cranes series is a collection of one dishcloth and two beanies.  The flying crane knit patterns come in one size in dishcloth and two sizes in beanies.  The cranes are arranged to fly in an upward right and upward left direction to create a sense of movement.  In time of COVID pandemic when a lot of us are homebounded for various reasons and a feeling of helplessness, I find that the the flying crames bring us the feeling of freedom with control.

This design is originated from Holiday Tree in June (as of today, it is still pending for test knit).  The idea is sea, sky and sunny weather.  From there, I drew my inspiration form an earlier dishcloth piece, My Sprouting Catnips, and modified the stitch pattern adding the head and the tail.  The more I looked at it, the more it reminded me of Asian drawing with cranes soaring in the sky with a pine tree background.  Of course, just to sidetrack a bit, from this pattern, I also made up the Phoenix sttich pattern.  This is really the "original" I thought to use on a beanie, but considering a lot of knitters (or perhaps maybe test knitters only, I don't know) are not keened at relief stitch, I tried out with a more conservative route and here came the cranes.

You can say Furballs' Flying Cranes dishcloth is like a large swatch for the beanie but it looks so good that I decided to test knit and published the pattern.  If you are organizing a Southeast Asian theme dinner party, the dishcloth could be a nice piece of decoration and gift for the attending guests.  I can also see it as a nice gift for the expected mother in the baby shower party.

The Furball's Flying Crane Beanie comes in size M (Medium) and size S (Small).  The beanies are knitted from bottom up and made up of three (3) repeated design panels for the body and they are different in crown construction  ,The design in the panels for the two sizes are slightly different for fitting and with the crown construction different, I decided to publish them as two separate patterns.

This knit pattern is a good alternative to colourwork knitting to draw up this large bird.  It is primarily a k and p pattern so when knitting a hat and choosing a size for fitting, it is better to knit up the hat on the loose side because the wings of the bird will not pop out as much when the piece is stretch out excessively.

Happy knitting and meow meow until we meet again :D

Club in Hexagon

Club in Hexagon is the third in the collection in Furballs' Deck of Cards.  It is also most dragged one to write for me.

Club has even more details than spade, and to limit in a framework of Hexagon of a certain size (I need to fit the size to the other coasters in the set), and I was doubting I could do it.  Just like everything, anticipation is 90% of the whole thing lol.  Once I started, I did not find it too hard to make up an illusion pattern that I like and look like a club.

To my surprise, the difficult part is not the club shape but the hexagon frame work.  Although on the chart, it looks hexagon, when knitted out, it looks more like oval than hexagon pre block.  So May be I should call the pattern "Club in Oval", so blocking is recommend to obtain shape.  For hexagon shape to make it perfect, I think either to knit it bigger in flat or do short row one with center point.  The short row one will be perfect without blocking but I do not even knot where to start with the illusion pattern lol

Club in Hexagon is now available in my Ravelry store.

Happy knitting :)

Heart in Circle

It all started with an abstract concept dishcloth.  I had chosen the stitch pattern and knitting techniques, and that included illusion / shadow knitting.

Now, my experience in illusion knitting was just knitting up a scaredy cat dishcloth following a free pattern on Ravelry.  At the time, the link between the knit and purl combo and the pattern it created was not there.

So in order to make my dishcloth creation reality, I went and tried learning illusion knitting.  After watching a video on illusion knitting, and slept on it for a night, I went and wrote up the heart pattern from scratch.  Got it in my second trial :) It is heart in a rectangle.  I wrote down the pattern for my own interest, but since there are so many heart in rectangle illusion knitting patterns, free or paid, out there. I will not join in the circus lol

And then ambition rose, and naturally tried my hand on some other images.  Spade, club and diamond came to mind immediately.  Once I made up the spade, I then relooked at the heart one.  After a little research on illusion knitting and dishcloth, I find that illusion knitting patterns for dishcloth / coaster are usually in square or rectangle.  So I think it will make a contribution to the knitting pattern world to write and publish illusion knitting (no matter how simple the pattern is, things always start small) outside of the square and rectangle, and there came the Heart in Circle.

Heart in Circle is the first of the four (4) patterns in the collection, Furballs' Deck of Cards.  The illusion heart is centre in a flat knitted disc to make a medium size coaster good for beer mug or bowl for snack during a friendly card game.  It does not take a lot of yarns to make and good to use up those small yarn balls left with big projects.

Heart in Circle is now available in my Ravelry store.

Happy knitting :)

Calico Furball

Calico Furball was written up in December 2017 and tested later but never got to the revision stage.  So finally, taking a break from knitting and creating, I took another look at the pattern with a fresh eye. I made some improvements with the goal to make it easier to follow and less guess work for inexperience knitters.  With that, I redid some of the photos to accompany the new instructions.

It uses modular knitting technique by adding one triangle after another to form the square.  To give this piece a modern look, I avoid using the traditional edge border to tame the curling edges but instead use "selvedging" in such a way that the curling is within control and forming a near to cliff like border (above).  It also added in stitch patterns for the triangle to make the piece looks more interesting, not just visually, but also for the knitting experience.  The patterns are specially chosen to match each other in stitch length and height so as to maintain a square appearance.  Each triangle is knitted a bit different and thus so many pages in the pattern.  The surface texture is very rich and the ridges make it a good a scrubbing type dishcloth.  It is also suitable to be used as hot pad  / coaster.
 

 

It is written for one colour only, but do not let it stop your creativity.  Adding colours is possible (above), and to me, the lazy way out is to use variegate (above) or striped yarns (below) :)
 

 

Calico Furball is now available in my Ravelry store.

Happy knitting

High Level CopyFurball

Think I am knocking out two patterns from one though I am not saving any creative juice nor time to write up the pattern.

High Level CopyFurball is conceived as a dishcloth pattern to highlight (guess in a very strict term, copy and reuse) the chaotic woven fabric stitch which I fall in love with.  I like the look it builds up and it retain the feel of tradition woven fabric stitch.

It will be too boring to just have the stitch pattern repeated so many times to make a square dishcloth.  I wanted more excitement and gave it a new look comparing to where it morphed from (More Heart from Furballs).  So I tried to pair it up with another stitch pattern and it was not that easy.  The woven fabric stitch has the characteristic of shrinking at all direction so when merging with another pattern, special care is needed to retain a straight edge up and down.  I finally took the easy way out and decided on linen stitch.  And with linen stitch, I just could not but knitted it in at least two colours.  It is a match in heaven. 

The free and disorganized chaotic woven fabric stitch contrast well with the highly organized and delicate linen stitch.  The best part is that they are both in the category of woven fabric stitch, so maintaining the tension and stitch number across the row to knit into a square / rectangle piece is a breeze.

If you like the fabric feel of the linen stitch, but are tired of knitting the linen stitch every time, and want some variation, High Level CopyFurball is for you.

The pattern is now available in my Ravelry store.

Happy knitting

Love is in the Air

Maybe it is springtime, my furballs (although they are both fixed) would love to send out more love to people around them.

More Hearts from Furballs is a continuation from another dishcloth, From Furballs with Heart.  The latter I have not published yet.  I do not know why but do not think it is good time for it.

There is a long story in the creation of More Hearts from Furballs.  Starting with some negative energy from the virtual digital world, I tried to prove that creation / design is not about copying old stitch pattern and giving it a different colour work.  There is no added value in those patterns whether they are free or paid, and if they are paid patterns, (sigh).

After doing a little research, I found the woven fabric stitch.  I think the characteristic is that there will be yarn in front of the slip stitch in the stitch pattern and thus creating a woven pattern.  The stitch also makes a very nice feel in the hand.  I then proceeded into some causal and random knitting of the stitch to try out some strange combination and eventually settled with the woven fabric stitch in More Hearts from Furballs.  I was totally captured by the texture this stitch created visually and that it retained the classic woven fabric feel.  I named the stitch Chaotic woven fabric stitch because I can not yet find a visual or pattern match to mine.  It might be known as something different to you.

The next step was to pair it up with other stitches to create an interesting surface and this proved slightly more challenging.  After several trial, eventually came up with a nice heart edge to finish the cloth. I also added in colours to make the cloth visually more interesting.  The piece could be knitted in one (1), two (2) or three (3) colours.  The pattern is basically written for three (3) colours with six (6) yarn tails to weave in.

Half of the dishcloth is in the Chaotic woven fabric stitch giving a very interesting look, the other half is mainly the interaction between stockinette and reverse stockinette stitches.  I also put in picot stitch to highlight the hearts motifs and stop the stockinette rolling with some beautiful hatch stitches. To top it up, the two half pieces and the edge is knitted in different direction, so the Chaotic woven fabric stitch look even more intrigue.

This dishcloth knit pattern is now available in my Ravelry store.

Hope you enjoy this new pattern and happy knitting :D

My Sprouting Catnips

Spring time should be here any minute and My Sprouting Catnips is a way to celebrate the warmer weather to come.

I love the curves in the pattern that is framed by a garter stitch edge square.  I love the curves so much I decided to squeeze in three stalks - one full and two partial, instead of two full stalks.  The reverse stockinette leaves wonderfully stand out from the background and fit well with the slip stitch cable stalk.

When I was designing it, I had a confidence problem knitting the wrong side rows.  This pattern is very compact and busy, so it does not have any rest row and each row, be it the right side or wrong side, has a change in stitch pattern.  It is not that difficult when knitting the right side as I can see the change, but the wrong side, oh well, it is like turning the piece every few stitches to make sure all the knits and purls fall in the right place.

This pattern is now available in my Ravelry store.

Happy knitting :)

Diagonal Ruffle

Diagonal ruffle is my latest pattern release featuring an alternative way to pick up stitches along a knitted surface.  Usually, when picking stitch from a surface, there will be a noticeable purl bump at the base.  If using the same colour yarn as the surface, this will not matter much, but if using a different colour, the purl bumps (same colour as the surface) will show prominent as in colour change in garter stitch.

In this dishcloth pattern, the pick up stitches seem seamlessly coming out from the surface.  When finished, you will not find any visible purl bumps.

This beautify and  easy dishcloth pattern is available at my Ravelry store

How can you teach an old furball new trick ... like fishing lol

Ice Fishing is a dishcloth pattern inspired by the two furballs at home.  Everyone knows that cats like fish and with being winter in here now, the best recreational activity for the furballs will be ice fishing for them. And yes, you can give the cat a fish to feed him for a day or you can teach him to fish to feed himself the rest of his life ;), but having superior intelligent than us mere mortals, my furballs know better that they don't need to do anything to earn their living.

In this dishcloth, the twisted rope edge (bottom right) is a honest attempt to mimic the crochet version (top left).  Think I can do better but I love the final version none the least.

 The rope gives the 3D effect to a 2D dishcloth which is part of my present design concept.  The simple diamond pattern works well with the free twisted i-cord rope and I am sure the free dangling fish will be something the furballs like playing with too :)

The twisted rope edge might takes a bit of time to make, but it worth the time and effort. The whole project will take about 4 - 6 hours to complete. It is in both written instruction and knitting chart. Simple photo tutorial is also incorporated to assist in making the twisted rope edge.

It is now available in my Ravelry store

Furballs and Hearts :)

The two furball CEOs in the "office" is hurrying me to publish the latest heart pattern so that they will not need to model with the hearts anymore, and as I wrote this blog, one of them is sitting next to me pawing me for attention.  Sometimes, I wondered why my progress was that slow.

Eighth Heart in One String is my second last pattern in the Heart / One String series.  In this pattern I explored surface texture by incorporating a seed / moss stitch pattern.  I also experimented with a different set up in knitting in bias and it turned out nice.

It is not a pattern for colour work.  The purl stitch will make it impossible to have it both sided using two colours or more. Also with the pattern repeat, it became very difficult to find a repeated pattern to change the colour yarns.

This pattern is a quick knit as gift for holidays and special occasions.

The pattern is now available on my Ravelry store .

Happy Knitting!

Long Fish or is it Unagi?

One late night at home while I finished the sample for a new design, we held an adhoc conference and the furball CEOs insisted on naming the dishcloth in something they like ...... like catnip, mouse, fist, etc.  They said the special edge resembled a long fish, so we finally decided the name to be "Modern Unagi"

Modern Unagi is my latest dishcloth design with a special two colour "flat twisted" edge.  The main bodies is constructed with a sharp corner wave pattern that accentuatse the corners of the twisted edge.  Also since the wave pattern is made with knit and purl stitches (no slipped stitches like the herringbone), so the rectangular shape is maintained pretty well without blocking. 

The three sections of the dishcloth is held together seamlessly by intarsia.  Although there is a right side and wrong side to this dishcloth, the intarsia in the wrong side is well arranged and presentable (meaning there is no need to hide :p)

The pattern is now available in my Ravelry store.  It is in both written instruction and knitting chart. Mini photo tutorial is also included to help in explaining the intarsia technique.

Happy knitting!

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

"Heart Fatigue" for Furballs

I am too happy to publish two patterns at the same time, Second Heart in One String and Third Heart in One String, but looked like my furballs were not as enthusiastic as me (facepalm). I think they were tired my heart knitting.  They are now napping and not helping in photo bombing (sigh)

The Third Heart is particularly suitable for a two colour combination (half and half). The two decrease columns in the centre make a decorative focal point compatible with the knit stitch column in the Second Heart.

Special thanks to all the test knitters to make this pattern error free (if you find more error in the pattern, blame it on the furballs, HAHA)

You can find the pattern on sale in my ravelry store.

Enjoy the knitting and thank you for your support :)

Counting SHEEP ............ZZZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

While I was enrolled in a pattern testing works (which I might, time permitted, write about the experience in the blog later), I also came across this popular Baa-ble Hat by Donna Smith.  After looking at hundreds of beautiful finished project pics, I just had to try my hand on it.

Even Dave the duck falls asleep with the baa baa :D

I took the modified route as suggested by a few knitters that find the original pattern produces a hat that is on the big side, and knowing my knitting is on the loose side, I casted on 88 sts.  Still, 88 sts for the circumference for a hat could be a little bit tight with my experience, so to be on the safe side, at least I could put it on, I used German twisted cast on (instead of the normal long tail cast on) just to make sure the tightness on the cast on rows were kept to a minimum.  It works perfect.

Since the body of the hat is 90 sts (instead of the original 120 sts), the distribution of the flecks along the rows would need to be adjusted as well. The only two numbers that will give a even number after dividng 90 is 3 (30) and 5 (18), that will be the number of the pattern repeat for the flecks along the rows.  So the repeats are every 2 and 4 sts, you do a different colour.  When we got to the crown decrease, there was really no set number to evenly spread out the sparkles but need to look at the sts in between the 2 decreases and work from there.  It might be easier to set up a quick knitting chart and experiment it from there before actual knitting if wished. Also try not to put the flecks below the k2tog (I am using k2tog decrease, but we can be different too and do a ssk decrease; as long as we keep it consistent).  This will give you a half stitch colour look, but if that is what you are looking for, go ahead :p

Every sheep has its day :D

Or have a look at Susan Anderson's blog, she has all that written :)

Also the measurement from the top of the ribs (k2,p2) to where you want to start the crown decrease should be kept at around 4".  For my small head, it is a good fit in circumference and a slightly relaxed fit in length.  It will look perfect with a yarn or faux fur pompom.

It is a 2 colour work for any single row and easy knit for a lazy afternoon watching movie :D

Oscar counting sheep, made it to 1 ..........

Then came the Baa Ble mittens. You know, have to make a set :)



Happy Baa Baa !!

This took me a some time to decide on the final plan.  Although it will be consistent to do a normal ribbed type mittens to echo with the ribbed hat, but the problem with the position of the gusset and the sheep pattern bothered me.  I read a few comments and saw the pic. In order to have the sheep pattern around and near to the wrist, and they did it by using the afterthought thumb technique, not the normal gusset technique. Normal gusset should be starting immediately to 4 - 5 rounds above ribs for a good fit, while afterthought thumb opens up higher in the body of the mitten. I am not a fan of afterthought thumb for its fit and the overall appearance of the mittens as they were worn. Sometimes pattern will get  distorted. Remembering this is also a colour work, there will be not be enough ease to "give" for the fitting. So moving on ...... :p

If one wanted the sheep pattern around the wrist, it will not be joined but punctuated by the gusset stitches. So I decided to try again with the arch gusset technique that I saw on Purl Soho's website whereby it is a rolled up knit edge and gave me enough rounds to knit the sheep pattern before starting the gusset. 

Outside and inside of the mittens

I tried to knit the arched gusset mittens once before but the left thumb opening somehow made no sense to me then and I did what I thought best and that was it. This time the light bulb turned on and the instruction finally make sense to me but I still think it need rewriting.

So here it is my clumsy attempt :) 

After increasing up to 56 sts
Next rnd knit all the way to the marker, remove marker, slip the next st (unknitted st); then slip all the following sts till the end of rnd (15 in total) onto a piece of contrast colour yarn to hold; slip the unknitted st back onto the left needle and k2tog with the next st following on the left needle (that should be the start of the rnd st).  The resulting k2tog stitch will be the new start of the rnd st (40 sts)

You will also find that the thumb hole in the left is a round lower than the right to start, so when knitting the thumb, be sure to add 1 row more on the left side; or alternatively knit to length instead.

Moo Moo adding his hairs to the pieces as bonus :D

Enjoy !!!

Good Luck Charm

Cat tail or shark fin?

Cyrus the Luckie Sharkie is taking "Fish and more fish" pattern a step further to make a cute little shark for kitties.  I am sure it will go well with the shark hat I made :p  Nice gifts for kitty and his / her human companion for special occasion :p

Shark infested coffee table ... Run for your life !!!

The design came to me as I knitted more fish and then the light bulb suddenly turned on ..... the opening could be the mouth and all was needed were teeth to make it looked menacing.  I would love to make a simple video with the Jaw's background music, but I am not too sure about copyright of the music :( So please play that music in your head while reading  this blog or knitting the sharkie :D

This creation is dedicated as a good luck charm for my friend, Cyrus, that had his surgery a week back. He is recovering and hope he will get back on his feet soon :)

I know it will be scarcely to  meet a big white shark in the open sea, but Cyrus the Luckie Sharkie is very different. He is totally friendly and will bring good luck and health to the human companion of the cat that "befriended" one :D

The pattern for Cyrus the Luckie Sharkie is available on sale in Ravelry pattern store at http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/cyrus-the-luckie-sharkie.  If you have no time to make one, have no fear :D  Let us help you for a small cost. Everything inclusive (shell, stuffing and catnip) at CAD $12.00 and the shell only at CAD $8.00.  Shipping and Handling extra. Everything is made from new material.  Please leave a message for further information. Thank you :)

EEKKKKKKKKKK ..... is a mouse

Ronnie the mouse is my latest creation of a line of refillable pet toys.  And yes, there will be more to come. 

Ronnie walking all over Moo Moo

My inspiration is from a story I wrote for self entertainment.  In the story, a magical world co-exists with ours.  Our animal companions (I call them fiends) talk and have great magical power.

Ronnie the mouse was featured in one of my story, Toads giving Thanks.  He is a magical animal that lives in the woods behind a Witch's home.  He loves cheese and will do anything for it. He has eight kids at home with his wife, so with that many mouths to feed he is always on the lookout for food. He likes to raid the treat stash of the fiends at the Witches home.  He is a very good actor and even fakes his own death in the story :D

"Hmm, where is my cheese?"

"Ronnie the mouse" is now available in my Ravelry pattern store.  The pattern is truly an one piece (excluding the inside pouch), knitting from the same yarn from tail to nose (ears included) without breaking, so it is safer for our companions on swallowing and choking.

Ronnie the mouse is also on sale now!  He is refillable any time for your pet's enjoyment and hygiene.  Ronnie is  machine washable (wash in wash bag, regular cycle, no tumble dry) CAD $12.00 inclusive (shell, filling and catnip) or CAD $8.00 for shell only, plus shipping and handling.  Shipping options are available from overnight to regular post so will vary along with cost.  Any inquiries are welcome.  Leave us a message :)



Want to see more ........ here you go ,

Fishing gone crazy

Could there be too many fish for the furballs? Definitely not in our household.  After the "Blue Dolphin" pattern, it was just naturally to move into developing the seamless version.  Once started out, I thought I could not stop knitting them.

Moo Moo, the security guard, watching over the fish

"Fish and more fish" is a refillable cat toy with a seamless design suitable for advance beginner and up that could not be bother to pick up a yarn needle to sew (though yarn needle is still necessary to wave in loose end or alternatively you can use a small crochet hook to do so).  Using one colour only, there will only be 4 loose ends (add 6 for fins and 4 for eyes) and with being a pouch design, all the loose ends can hide inside, so just a knot on the wrong side and you could be done :D

Although there is no small metal or plastic pieces, it has detachable pieces, like the fins and eyes, so strongly advised on supervised play with the toy to minimize swallowing and choking.

The star formation in team fish synchronized swim in the 2016 Fish Olympia :D

The "Fish and more fish" pattern is now on sale in Ravelry pattern store.

A few tips about the pattern:

1. Depending on a variety of factors, like the yarn you see, tension in your knitting, etc, the joining of the new cast on might leave some noticeable gaps as you knit through the 2nd or 3rd rows. You can leave it for now and later use a yarn need to tighten the tension around the gap by pulling the stitches around; or more reliable method is to pick up a stitich below and k2tog (something equivalent to what you do when you do the wrap and turn short rows).  I did it for a few fish but not all, so it is a judgement call :)

2. All embellishments of the fish is easier to do before knitting up the inside pouch. Fins and eyes are optional.  The shape of the piece with its tail gives the impression of a fish already.  I had made a few fish with different way to decorate: stripe, variegated yarns, simple intarsia and simple embroidery.  The last two might take more time, but it might worth the time as the piece is not a one off and throw away one.  You can always wash and refill

3. Now that we come to washing, best to wash the toy, with all the inside filling removed, and into a wash bag before putting into a washing machine.  Obviously consult the yarn label before proceeding to set the right washing cycle and water temperature.

If you have any problem following the pattern, please let me know. I will be happy to explain further.

Happy knitting :)