Snake Belt

As I mentioned in my previous post..I felt it would be nice to add a belt to my aran hooded jacket. I had a look online and in a few of my patterns at home and could not find anything I thought would suit it so I decided to knit a belt just like one you would find on a dressing gown. Below I have posted some pictures of the belt along with the the pattern I designed myself...it is very simple and would probably make a great starter project for those learning to knit.

Measurements: To fit 27 inch waist. Final measurement 54 inches in length. To fit a different waist size, just measure smallest part of waist and double the measurements to get the final measurement of the belt. E.g. if you have a 24 inch waist, final measurement should be 48 inches, or if you have a 34 inch waist. final measurement should be 68 inches.

Materials: Aran wool. 50g ball.I used Robin aran with wool in colour oatmeal to match the hooded jacket. A pair of 5.0mm knitting needles. A darning needle. A measuring tape (preferably a tailors measuring tape and not a household one like mine..although it does the job since my proper measuring tape went missing).

Abbreviations:  sts = stitches; beg = beginning;  k = knit; p = purl; st st = stocking stitch (1 row knit, 1 row purl).

Belt

Cast on 10 sts. 

1st row: k

2nd row: p

Continue in st st until belt measures required length.

Ending with a p row, cast off.

To make up

Sew cast off edges wrong side out. Sew sides together wrong side out turning right side out a you go along i.e. pull the sewn part of the belt through the tube you are forming as you go along. This will mean as you are sewing, half of the already sewn belt (which is right side out) will be inside the rest of the sewn belt (which is still wrong side out) so that when you reach the end you will just have to pull the remainder of the sewn belt though so that it is all right side out. Sew up cast on edges right side out.

If you want you can press the belt before sewing it up to make it less round. 

Tip:

To make sewing seams together easier my mother told me to always knit the first and last st on every p row. I find it does in fact make it easier and gives a less noticeable seam.

HAPPY KNITTING

Helena

I am ready for camping!!!

As the title says...I am ready for camping. The 1977 Tivoli hooded jacket is finished!! It took a little longer than planned!! Had a few interviews for jobs since my last post which kept me busy!! Another interview tomorrow!! Busy Busy!! Hopefully I will have some good news soon!! I have had an offer but not telling people much yet. I want to play my cards close to my chest until it is confirmed!! So in the mean time my knitting has fallen by the wayside unfortunately.

And although it took me a while to get it completed, the jacket was an unbelievable pleasure to knit. The aran pattern panel was simple..to the point I knew it off by heart at the end and didn't even need to look at the pattern book. And it was rather quick to gain length due to the thick aran wool and large needles. All pieces of the jacket were knitted separately (see pic below), the back, the two sides, both sleeves and two separate pieces for the hood and then they were sewn together.

When all the parts were sewn together the pocket borders and side/buttonhole/hood border was knitted by picking up stitches along the edge. I have always had difficulty with this and ended up with lots of holes and gaps in my work, but this time I found an excellent video on YouTube on how to pick up stitches (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DF34R6KX-cc) and it showed me where I was going wrong. I was only knitting through one loop and not through two loops. Below are pictures of where I picked up and knitted stitches along the pocket edging. My silly dog Fred ran across the knitting while I tried to take the first picture...he really does love the camera...he sees it and insists on getting in the way! I have to admit I find it very adorable however annoying it can be at the time!

The final stage was to add the toggle buttons. I bought Vogue toggles in Hickeys, Galway, while running for the train home...I literally had two minutes and there were three sizes.. I grabbed the middle size and hoped for the best. I was waiting patiently at the till for my receipt and 1 cent change...I am sure the lady behind the counter thought me odd to be waiting for 1 cent with my paw out, but I was actually waiting for the receipt in the case that the toggles were the wrong size!! Luckily they were the perfect size! So I didn't have to go in and exchange them =D

Below are some pics of the finished jacket. It is so warm!! I had to take the photos myself in the mirror as the camera screen is cracked and can't use the touchscreen to set the timer. Nobody was at home to take them for me =(

                              This first picture shows the jacket with the hood up.

 

This second picture is with the hood down. (I look very cranky..haha..I was..I can't turn the flash off on the camera due to the cracked screen and the photos kept coming out to white to see any detail in the jacket)

This final picture shows the jacket tucked up underneath at the end. This is useful if I want to wear a coat over it and don't want it to hang down (and get wet if it is raining..which it is known to do quite often in Ireland).

I made this jacket in the smallest size according to the pattern..this was a 32 inch chest to measure 34 inch in total upon completion. I find it may be a little too big in places...under the arms is one example, this can be seen in some of the pictures. Another example are the sleeves. They are knitted so that there is a turn up. Even with the turn up at the end they sleeves are still very long..and I found that I needed to turn them up a second time (like a little child who's parent bought his/her jumper a size too big so he/she will get more wear out of it haha). I have shown some pictures below..the only problem with this is that the sewing was reversed at the end for only one turn up..so the sewing stitches can be seen when thet are rolled up twice. But who will be looking that closely only me right!?

                                          Rolled up twice. you can see the stitching

Sleeves rolled only once. It will be great if I am very cold..I can bunch my hand up under the sleeves without stretching the wool!! =D

So I decided once it was finished there was something missing...I felt it needed a belt...so at the moment I am knitting what I have nicknamed the "snake belt". It is very simple. When I have completed it I will post the pattern in a separate blog post.

I hope you like my knitted jacket..I am well happy with how it turned out. Remember if you want to make this
yourself I am selling a PDF copy of the pattern in my ETSY shop. The link is in the previous post and on my facebook page. Or if you like it and want somebody to make it for you..don't hesitate to contact me.

Until again

Helena =D

A post christmas/new year update

It has been way too long since I updated this blog!! And it was not due to utter laziness that I didn't to begin with, the truth is I wound up with my sis in law as our family secret Santa this year and I knew how much she wanted a knitted Santa and a pair of aran gloves to match her hat and scarf she bought recently. So I spent the last couple of weeks in the run up to Christmas making them. It was a busy few weeks of knitting full of arm and finger cramps! Since then..it probably was just laziness...I wrote a bit here and there and saved it as a draft...finally here is the completed post :D

I finished the hat for my fiance that I mentioned in the previous post, as I hate to leave anything on needles...I really enjoyed knitting it as it was so different to the stuffed toys I am used to making. Even the crochet slip stitch around the edge (black stitch) proved no difficulty even though I have never used a crochet hook before. I used the British magazine simply knitting (www.simplyknitting.co.uk), the Dec 2010 issue, as a reference as to how to do a slip stitch. I have attached some pictures below of the unfinished and finished hat.

The Santa was the most time consuming due to all the sewing...I really don't enjoy the sewing part. I have attached some pics below of him when half done and when finished shown beside my first Santa..unfortunately I ran out of suitable wool for the buckle and couldn't get any in the shops. So I have to buy some once everything settles down and then finish him properly, knowing me it will be when he comes back out of storage for Christmas next year. My sis in law was still delighted with him tho!! She wanted one so badly and had offered to pay me to make one for her...lucky for her she didn't have to. But anyone else that wants one...I am afraid I will be seeking payment..as I REALLY HATE ALL THE SEWING :D :D

Also as part of my sis-in-laws secret Santa gift I made her a pair of aran mittens. She had recently bought an aran berghaus hat and scarf set with a double cable design and desperately wanted matching gloves. So using a vintage pattern from Emu for a pair of mittens that closely resembled her hat and scarf and Tivoli Celtic aran wool ...I got to work. Some pictures of the pattern and the finished mittens are below. It was the first time I knitted aran and used a cable needle so I was really excited to see how I would get on..I picked an easy enough pattern to start with so I was lucky there. I made the gloves in the lady's size but they were a little too big..I have promised my sis-in-law I will fleece line them for her..I have never done this and done know where to start so I am going to have to find a friend willing to show me! But even with that mishap (people 50 years ago must have had much bigger hands..lol..or my tension was off...hopefully not..the length was what is should be and they were still too long so I am using the former excuse =P)..they are still the cutest things ever and my sis-in-law was delighted with them!!

The mittens I need are the ones shown in the top picture.

After I finished making that Secret Santa gift..it was time to get to work on another secret Santa gift..this time it was for my secret Santa at Cafe create, Galway's stitch 'n' bitch group (stitchnbitchgalway.blogspot.com/).We had to give our gift at the meeting on January 8th...however I was very sick with cold/flu symptoms so I couldn't make it til the week after. The gift had to be one craft item and one shop bought item under 10eur. I made a knitting sheep (photos below) using scraps of wool around the house and gave a newbridge silver Christmas tree decoration. I found the pattern for the sheep on the Vogue knitting website, http://www.vogueknitting.com/free_patterns/knit_1_knitting_sheep.aspx. In order to view the pattern you will have to register with vogue knitting. This is free to do. I thought it looked quite hard to do but it was actually quite easy. I enjoyed making it. I used kebab sticks to make the knitting needles.  I didn't have any grommets for the top of them so I used blue tack rolled up in a ball and pushed onto the top..I then coated the blue tack in nail varnish. I absolutely loved this sheep and it stayed sitting proudly on my mantle piece until I had to part with her. I even named her...Sheila the Sheep. I didn't want to part with her. But I will make myself another one at some stage as a small project..and I have two names already decided which I will have to choose from...Eugene the Ewe or Seamus the sheep. If I can figure out how to place a poll on this blog, I will let my readers decide for me!! :D 

Currently on my needles, is an aran hooded jacket from a 1977 Tivoli knitting pattern booklet. I am making it for myself for when I go all the camping  outings with the ICCC (The Irish camping and caravan club) this spring/summer. So far I have the back, two sides and one sleeve completed. I am using Robin Aran with Wool as it is cheaper and softer to touch than 100% wool. So far I have used a 400g ball which cost 9eur in Hickeys Galway. I have attached some photos below.

                                                      Back of the Aran Jacket

                                                     Pocket of the Aran Jacket

I recently set up an Etsy shop..I haven't added much to it..only the pattern book I mentioned for this pattern. I am selling it as a PDF to anyone that is interested in purchasing it, http://www.etsy.com/shop/HelenaAgCniotail. Another purpose of my shop is to advertise that I can knit any of these projects especially for you as well. Maybe for yourself or as a gift for someone special. In other words..if you would like an aran hooded jacket or a knitting sheep or anything at all and can not do it yourself..don't hesitate to contact me and I will let you know if I am able to knit your request and give you an average cost with breakdown for materials and labour.


I have also set up a facebook page for those of you who wish to follow it. The link is http://www.facebook.com/#!/pages/Helena-Ag-Cniotail/119577521448024?v=info. You can also click like on the top of this blog. I will update this as soon as something new has been added to etsy or I have completed a project. At the moment I had added some pictures of some of the work I have done. Unfortunately I don't have many pictures of my work as alot of it was gifts for other people..I hope to annoy these people in their homes soon to get photos..haha =P


Well I think that is all my news..I finally got there with completing this post..Hopefully my next post will not take as long to be published and not be as long as this one! =O If anyone has any questions..you know the drill.....til I write again..


H xxx