Knitting Pattern #4: Abby Cowl

I finally managed to design another knitting pattern...this time using my very own handspun!

Originally I knit up this pattern using Knit Picks Galileo, but the cowl was too wide and I wanted to re-do it.  I wanted to spin some of the new merino/mohair roving I had just gotten processed at the mill where I work, so I decided to spin some of it into sport-weight yarn for this cowl.

A bad picture, but here is the cowl in progress.

As I was taking pictures of the cowl, I couldn't manage to get a good one using either a mannequin or myself, but my dog Abby made a great model, so I decided to name the pattern after her.

I just didn't like how the cowl looked on the mannequin.  I won't even post the terrible picture of myself wearing it!

Abby Cowl

Abby modeling the cowl.

Finished Size: 9.5" wide (19" around), 6.5" tall.  Should fit a child or woman.

Autumn Hill Llamas Sport Weight, 1 skein (or ~110 yards of any sport weight yarn)
#4 needles - circular or double point
22 sts & 36 rows = 4"

Cast on 102 sts.

Knit edge:

• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row
• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row

Start stitch pattern: (work 2 full repeats of pattern)

1. purl (and all wrong-side rows)
2. k3 *ssk, k5, yo* k1
3. purl
4. k3 *ssk, k4, yo, k1* k1
5. purl
6. k3 *ssk, k3, yo, k2* k1
7. purl
8. k3 *ssk, k2, yo, k3* k1
9. purl
10. k3 *ssk, k1, yo, k4* k1
11. purl
12. k3 *ssk, yo, k5* k1
13. purl
14. k1 *yo, k5, k2tog* k3
15. purl
16. k2 *yo, k4, k2tog, k1* k2
17. purl
18. k3 *yo, k3, k2tog, k2* k1
19. purl
20. k4 *yo, k2, k2tog, k3*
21. purl
22. k5 *yo, k1, k2tog, k4* - end the last repeat as k3 (rather than k4)
23. purl
24. k6 *yo, k2tog, k5* - end the last repeat as k3 (rather than k5)

Repeat the edge:

• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row
• knit 1 row
• purl 1 row

Bind off loosely in purl.

A close-up of the stitch pattern.

I hope you enjoy the pattern, I really like how it came out.  Handspun yarn for this project can be found in my Etsy store, and the pattern is listed on Ravelry.  Please let me know if you find any errors, I'm still a new designer!

Busy Knitting Month

January has been a very busy knitting month.  After spending most of November and December knitting big projects (namely my first handspun sweater and the convertible thrummed mittens that I designed and knit for my sister), I was ready for some instant satisfaction-type projects!  I'm trying to build up inventory for the farmer's market this fall!

My first goal was to finish a cabled scarf that I started back in undergrad.  I took it back to Indiana for Christmas to be my plane knitting project, and managed to get most of the second half finished.  Another few days of knitting and it was done!  After checking my Ravelry page for the project, I realized it took me 5 years and 9 days to knit the scarf!  Don't worry, there was a HUGE hiatus in the middle!

Before Christmas, I bought 4 skeins of blue-face leicester yarn from the fiber mill where I'm working to make my husband a fair-isle ear band.  The project only called for about 150 yards of yarn, but I needed 4 colors so I ended up with 4 times that much!  For the past year or so I've really been trying to use up scrap balls of yarn rather than buying new, so after I finished his ear band I decided I should use up the remaining 4 balls of yarn.  I figured that I would have enough to make 2-3 more hats, so I found some cool striped patterns and got to work.

I made 2 adult-sized hats, and then decided to make a toddler-sized one in case I ran out of yarn.

But I finished that hat and still had more yarn!  So I took the softest of the bunch and made a cute (and semi-original) bear hat.  With the remaining dyed colors I made an ear band, thinking that would definitely use up the rest of the yarn.

NOT!  By the end of the 4th project I still had parts of 2 balls left...not enough for an entire project, but more than I wanted to waste.  Luckily I had some gorgeous tan handspun llama yarn sitting around waiting for a project, so I cast on yet another striped hat!

Technically I still have 5-10 yards left between the two colors, but I'm calling it quits!  Eventually I'll make a few flowers and leaves out of the scraps, and use them to decorate other projects.

In between the knitting projects I got a little spinning done.  I had been wanting to sample one of the roving blends I had processed at the mill back in September, but never quite found the time.  So I broke out 8 ounces and went to work!  I really love how it spun up!  This is 80% llama, 10% turquoise merino, and 10% firestar, and is available in my Etsy shop!

In early January I was able to get 4 more fiber blends made into roving.  One was a gorgeous fawn alpaca/black baby cormo blend, and it really spoke to me.  So of course it had to be my next spinning project!  I just finished spinning the 8 ounces of singles this morning, and sometime this week I will get around to plying it all.  It is a bit more uneven, but oh so soft!

It looks like my last project of the month will be one of my own design.  I'm trying to design a few more patterns this spring, so that I can offer kits with my handspun yarn or rovings.  The project I have in mind will be a simple lace and texture cowl knit with sport weight yarn.  I should be able to post the pattern here and on Ravelry in a few weeks!

Knitting Pattern #4: Convertible Thrummed Mittens

A conversation with my mother-in-law today reminded me that I should publish this pattern, so here it is!  I designed this pattern because my sister is hard to please...she wanted a pair of thrummed mittens for Christmas, but she wanted convertible mittens.  And to make things even more complicated, she wanted half-fingers inside the mittens, rather than just a cuff.  I searched high and low for a pattern, but couldn't find anything close, so I decided to create one myself!

This pattern has not been test-knit, so please let me know if you find any errors!

Now available on Ravelry!

Size: Women’s Medium

Yarn: Knit Picks Wool of the Andes Worsted (2 skeins)

Ashland Bay Merino roving (1 oz)

#4 Double Point needles

Gauge: 5.5-6 sts = 1”

Pattern notes:

• k=knit
• co=cast on
• bo=bind off
• pu=pick up stitch
• k2tog=knit 2 stitches together
• sl=slip a stitch
• psso=pass the slipped stitch over the last worked stitch
• 2x2 rib=*knit 2, purl 2*

Cuff
Cast on 40 sts

Join in the round

Work 2x2 rib for 2.75”

Knit 4 rows

Thrum row (*k3, thrum1*)

To work a thrum: Insert the right needle into the stitch below the next stitch to be worked (on the left needle).  Fold a small piece of roving in half, and place the fold over the right needle.  Pull the roving through to the front of the piece (using the right needle), and leave the roving on the right needle.  Using yarn, knit the next available stitch on the left needle (this is the stitch right above the one with the roving pulled through it).  Pass the roving over the last worked stitch and pull snug.

Thrums as viewed from the inside of the mitten top.

Thrum pattern: Throughout the entire piece (other than the ribbed sections and the half-fingers), use the following pattern:  *knit 4 rows, work thrum row (*k3, thrum1*), knit 4 rows, work alternating thrum row (k1, thrum1, *k3, thrum1*, k2)*.

Start thumb gusset (continue thrum pattern in the thumb gusset)

At beginning of next round purl 1 st, knit 5 sts, purl 1 st, knit to end of round

Work 3 more rows in this pattern

Increase row: p1, m1, knit to next purl st, m1, p1, knit to end of round

Knit 3 rows even

Repeat last 4 rows until 11 sts between purls (ending with the increase row, don't knit the 3 rows even)

Work 5 rows even

At beginning of next round slip first 13 sts to holder.

Using backward loop cast on, CO 11 sts to right needle, join with rest of round and knit to end (44 sts)

Continue knitting in pattern until palm reaches the base of pinky finger

Fingers (don't thrum these!)

Right hand

Rearrange sts so that there are 22 on each needle

1^st finger: k6, co2, k5, m1- work 10 rounds even, bo

2^nd finger: pu2, k6, co2, k6- work 10 rounds even, bo

3^rd finger: pu2, k6, co2, k6- work 10 rounds even, bo

4^th finger: pu3, k9- work 8 rounds even, bo

Left hand

Rearrange sts: knit 11, place next 22 sts on one needle, last 22 sts on another needle

1^st finger: m1, k6, co2, k5- work 10 rounds even, bo

2^nd finger: k6, pu2, k6, co2- work 10 rounds even, bo

3^rd finger: k6, pu2, k6, co2- work 10 rounds even, bo

4^th finger: k5, pu3, k4- work 8 rounds even, bo

Thumb (continue thrum pattern for thumb)

Move 13 sts from holder to needle, pick up 15 sts from around the thumb hole

K2tog, k9, k2tog, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1, k2tog, k1, sl1, k2tog, psso (20 sts)

Work even for 2-2.5”

K2tog until 5 sts remaining- thread yarn through and tie off

Mitten top (continue thrum pattern for mitten top)

Pick up and knit 22 sts on back of hand (between last 2 thrum rows)

Using backward loop, co26 more sts (48 sts)

Work 2x2 rib for 6 rows

Work in thrum pattern until tip of fingers (3.5-4”)

Decrease: *k1, k2tog* across every round until 6 sts left- thread yarn through and tie off

Building the Compost Pile

It seems like this entire summer/fall has been spent bouncing around from one project to another!  First it was the really important stuff like fencing and the barn, and now we've moved on to smaller secondary projects.  Of those, one of the most important was getting the compost pile constructed.

For those of you who don't know, I clean up the llama manure on a daily basis (or every 2-3 days).  This is mostly for parasite management, but it also allows me to harvest the manure for use in the gardens.  For the first month or so after the llamas moved in, I was dumping the llama manure around the established fruit trees in our small orchard.  Llama (and alpaca) manure has the wonderful quality that it can be used fresh- it doesn't have enough nitrogen to "burn" plants so it can be applied directly.  Composting is good (especially when there is hay or grass mixed in with the manure), but not always necessary.  It quickly became evident though that there weren't enough trees to fertilize, so we got to work building the permanent compost pile in the fenced garden area.

My compost-building companion, Abby.

In addition to using the manure/compost in our gardens here on the farm, I would also like to sell some starting next year.  So we definitely needed a permanent place for the compost to "brew".  I had seen plans on Pinterest for compost bins built with t-posts and wood pallets- this seemed like the easiest way to go, and I had already found a place to buy pallets pretty cheap.  I chose to put the compost pile in the corner of our fenced garden.  That way it would be out of the way, protected from the dogs, but still easily accessible with the tractor (so I can turn the pile with the front-loader).  Originally I wanted to build the pile so it was 2 pallets wide and 2 pallets deep (it would be 3-sided).  This was wide enough for the front-loader to easily turn the manure.  However, after a month of adding manure to the pile this looked much too small, so we expanded it another pallet wider.  It currently only has 2 sides…I'm waiting to see how it works this winter to decide if I want to add the 3rd side in the spring.

Pallets ready for use.

First we had to set some t-posts.  I measured the spacing for the t-posts by using the pallets, so they would fit snugly.  Then my husband set the posts in the ground with a manual post driver.

Metal t-post after being set.

Next we lifted each pallet over its t-post, and set it in place.  I later went back with some 14-gauge high-tensile fence wire and wired the edges of the pallets together for extra stability.

One side of the compost pile wired together.

The corner wired together.

And that's it!  It was really easy to build, and it looks to be very functional.  Only time will tell how well the pallets manage to keep the manure/compost contained.

The finished compost pile (version 1).  It now has an extra pallet on both sides.