Here Fishy Fishy Fishy

Anybody remember this post? Well guess what?

hee, hee, hee, hee

I made him! For a bit there I was afraid that I had totally forgotten how to crochet (frogged 3 times) but he got done. He was a birthday gift, but I am suspicious that it won’t be the last of these little guys that I make.

But it did make me realize that I need to work crocheting projects in among my knitting projects. There is so much awesome stuff going on in crochet right now and I don’t want to fall completely behind. And truly, while there are many awesome designers out there making great knitted toys – amigurumi is so much easier in crochet. At least for me. Which craft do you like better for making wee critters?

Mini Mapes

Arrrgh, I just realized that I never showed y’all my Mini-Mapes! Inconceivable!

Deciding what yarn to use to knit the prototype for Mapes was a head scratcher. Part of me really wanted to use Malabrigo Worsted or Rios, but the madelinetosh just kinda jumped off the shelf and said Pick Me, Pick Me and it was done. But then came entering the pattern into the Ravelry database and the conundrum of deciding what yarns to suggest.

I don’t know that this pattern would work well with lace-weight yarn or a super chunky, but anything in between is pretty fair game. So it was thinking cap time. Being a “knit as long as you have yarn” type pattern it lends itself well to yarns with large or unusual yardage per skein. With the combination of garter, stockinette and textural elements – it is specifically designed to work well with variegated colorways.

Think, think, think.

Right off, and obviously – fancy pants colors + mega-yardage = Wollmeise. Pretty much a no brainer. Now I have listed a worsted (the tosh) and a fingering weight. My need for balance insisted that I add a sport or DK weight.

Think, think, think.

Eureka, I say to myself. How awesome would this look in Malabrigo Silky Merino? Super Awesome. Which rounded out my yarn suggestions and allowed me to proceed. But it also planted a little idea in my head.

An idea I couldn’t shake.

What would a single skein of the Silky look like? Only 150 yards of DK. I have said any yarn, any size for this shawl – how far can I push this?

Well, it looks like this!

I held off casting on for 2 whole days. I do have other things that I should be doing, but I couldn’t stand it. First I created a project page and hoped that would be enough – but it wasn’t. 2 days after casting on I had my Mini-Mapes. And I think it is crazy cute.

Bandito style.

It isn’t big enough to be a proper shawl (or even shawlette) but it works nicely as a kerchief or a cowl substitute on an adult. But it is also the perfect size to be a child’s shawl. My son (who is almost 5) was a relatively cooperative subject for the photographs – but I would love to see this on a pretty princess. Because it’s pinkness screams for a pretty princess.

He is such a good sport, isn't he?

Curiosity satisfied. And as an added bonus I got to try out the texture stitch from Mapes that I didn’t use in the protype. It gives a very different effect – but I really dig it’s look.

This is the YO texture option - worked non-alternating.

Want to knit this? Check it out on Ravelry or

Chart Crazy

Back in September I decided to get crazy with the cheez-whiz and learn how to knit solely from a chart. What is a chart you might ask if you were a question asking kind of person? Most patterns I have seen, up to this point, are written patterns. They are a set of instructions written in Knitting Kode that tell you what to do – k1, p2, yo … the ever popular p2togtbl … and such things. Like a recipe, you follow the directions for “ingredient” and quantity and eventually you get a finished object.

A chart is a method of visually conveying that same information, kind of like a map. You have a legend that tells you what symbol represents which stitches and then those symbols are arranged on a grid that you follow in a specific manner. Most commonly you follow the chart in the same way that you knit; starting in the bottom right hand corner and reading right to left. When you hit the next row you do not return to the right hand side but instead read the return row from left to right. Exactly how you knit.

The deciding factor for me learning this technique is that I fell in love with a pattern The Bromeliad Shawl by Nicole Eitzinger (sorry, Ravelry link). And so the first chart I decided to use:

Did I mention crazy?

I might have been smoking something when I made this decision, who knows?

On the plus side, the yarn that I decided to use for this? I only had one skein. So I had to modify the pattern a bit from a shawl to a scarf. In the above chart I kept the edging (the two columns on the outside edges) dropped the next two columns (coming in from both sides) and kept the 3 center columns. Then I knit and knit and knit and knit and knit ….

until I ran out of yarn. Which I did last week and now it is all blocked and finished!

The finished Scarf

The yarn is Socks that Rock in colorway Firebird and I was a little worried that it would be too busy for the pattern. But I think that the movement of the stitches really accentuates the color and vice versus.

The whole schebang

It was a bit of a pain in the ass, but I think it was worth the results. And now, now I am confident in my ability to use a chart to produce a finished product. If there is anyone out there that has been timid about using charts I tell you go for it. It really is a better way to navigate lace than a written pattern.

Anyone out there have a pattern that they have been eyeballing but afraid of because of a chart? Share it with us and I am sure we (the internet) can help you thorough the ordeal.