Do I ever love Tilted Duster…..

I think the Tilted Duster is one of my favourite knitted garments so far.  It’s in a beautiful Tomato red colour of the Cascade 220 yarn, it’s warm because it’s wool, not to mention the lovely pattern.  It’s really easy to follow and a lot of times I just knit in front of the TV shows without looking at the pattern.

I originally thought I didn’t have enough yarn so I made it a bit smaller than it supposes too, end up I have more than half a ball left! Now I got to figure out what to do with the leftover stash.

Pattern: IK Fall 2007
Yarn: Cascade 220 4.5 balls Colour 9422 Lot 2299
Needles: 4mm

I also made a neck warmer in a record time to give to my DH’s aunt as x’mas present. The yarn was in my stash so I don’t even know what it is.

I also added some buttons to make it a little unique.

This beautiful Christmas tree was decorated in the middle of Eaton Centre in downtown Toronto. It’s decorated with Swaroski Crystals ornaments. Look at it shines!

Have a happy holiday everyone.

Sad Habu……

I had a visit to NYC in the summer and I bought some Habu yarns.  One of them was the Kusha Kusha Scarf……I was thinking of starting the kit last night and I tried to wind it into a ball…..guess what’s happened, it got tangled BIG TIME!

It started with an uneven wind, then once I started to untangled it, it just got out of control. I cut, cut, and cut, but it just got worst. I guess it’s a love and hate relationship. I spent over 3 hours trying to untangled it involving a lot of cut, but still…..it’s just sad.

On the other end, I have a FO to show. It was a scarf I made for my manager. It was a easy quick original design, with cable pattern at both ends, and K3P1 for the rest of it. A keyhole was also added so the right cable ends can show off easily.

It’s made with RYC Cashsoft in Dark Purple (SH430). It was knitted double strands so I was able to use 5.5mm instead of single strand at 3 1/4mm.

It’s so soft to touch and I just want to keep it for myself! Well, I bought enough balls to make a cardigan in the first place, so after used half of the stock, I am able to make another scarf for myself with the left over yarns.

Original pattern: CO 30, cable pattern from a Japanese book, body in K3P1, beginning and ends with P4.  A key hole was created.  It was knitted for 10 rows at one end.
Yarn: RYC Cashsoft 3 balls, held 2 strands together
Needle: 5.5mm
Dimension: 5″ x 58″

FO: Le’ Slouch

A fast FO to show off!  It’s a free pattern from Knit’n Tonic. I just love how it sits on my head. It’s a comfortable fit and it’s a fast project too. Perfect if you need a break in between a couple projects.

Blurried back view:

I just want to take a picture of the hat but it’s hard to do without taking a picture of myself. Then my hands keep shaking so it’s look horrible.

Yarn: Scotian Silk - part skein
Needles: 6.0mm

I also took a picture of a crocheted stole I did last year. I tried to use it as a shawl and it’s surpsingly elegant! I will definately wear this out more often.

Guess what…

….the Knitty Winter 2007 is out!!!  The feature pattern is so beautiful that it almost took my breath away!  Click here to look at all the free patterns! Gosh, I love them all. Which one should I start first?!

Speedy Bind Off and more WIP

I always have trouble to bind off properly.  When they say “bind off loosely”, or you have to bind off A LOT of stitches, do you struggle?  Well, I do!  I have been experiencing a very tedicious bind off progress - 250 stitches in a row!  I then realized a speedy bind off tip - use a crochet hook!!!  Probably you have already doing so, but I didn’t know until now, and this is actually very helpful for the loosely BO or BO a lot of stitches.  Are you ready?  Here we go:

1) when you try to bind off, instead of using a needle, use a crochet hook instead.  If you want to BO loosely, use a bigger hook. Now, knit with a crochet hook and the stitch goes on the right hook:

2) Knit another stitch and this second st also goes on the hook as you normally would in a BO process:

3) Now pass the first st over to the second st on teh crochet hook. Use the shape of the hook to help you. Normally on the needle you would be using your needle to help you, but here we use the hook, it’s like crocheting a chain.

4) We now have one st on the hook, one st actually got bind off!
Continue to knit with the crochet hook and repeat the bind off process. I find it a lot faster and easier and I hope you find the same! If you have never crochet before, or need any more clarification, feel free to discuss with me!

Here’s an updated picture of my tilted duster with the cascade 220 wool.

The picture doesn’t do a good justice because it’s not as bright as it looks. Now I am working on the skirt which is the last part, but I only have about a skein left. I am afraid it will be a short cardigan instead of a jacket. Oh well, I will be happy with this red cardigan for the x’mas!

Lots to share about knitting….

A lot of stuffs are going on in my life lately - both work and personal life, but I haven’t forgotton about knitting and you guys!  Hold on tight, I got lots to share!

First of all is the new yarn store in Toronto - Purple Purl.  It’s a cute store with a lot of special yarns.  You can find some photos here shared by Amy Singer. My mom spotted a lovely yarn from Indigo Moon, but my mom will be leaving for a long trip; so she decided to buy them later when she’s back in town. I couldn’t hold on to the temptation so this is what I bought:

It’s a lovely plum coloured yarn with a combo of mohair and wool. I am planning to make a shawl with it.
I finished the top front and back of the tilted duster from Interweave Fall 07 and here’s a picture:

I am more than half done with the shrug I am making for my colleague’s wedding. Once she tried it on, I will be able to see how it fits and I will take it from there like adding the princess collar.

Here’s another picture:

I also have some bind off information to share in my next post. Sit tight and come back later!

Bookmark Leaflet & Kid Mohair Shrug

It was my manager’s birthday and she’s a bookworm.  In order to show a little of my appreciation to her kindness and being the greatest mentor to me, I made her a bookmark - Flourist.

It’s a free pattern available here. I found this free pattern through Ravelry; I wondered if it’s the yarn I chose…it doesn’t look the same like the original picture. Oh well….she really liked it so I guess I will not show her the original. Here’s another picture:

Other than the quick bookmark project, I have changed my mind on the yarn choice to make a shrug, I am now using the SRK Kid mohair & silk instead. This is the yarn I was trying to look for! Thanks to Lynn at Mary’s yarn. It’s soft and light, with a light sheen to it because of the silk. Light as cloud!

I am using a lace pattern in the Interweave and create my own little creation to be a shrug for my colleague’s wedding in January. Hopefully I will get it done by then! It’s because I have started another project…..the tilted duster with cascade 220. Well, I will show more pictures once I get the fronts finished.

Two FOs and on-going project

I have a lot to show today!  I guess it’s a good sign because my hands were busy knitting!

The first FO is the Short-sleeved cardigan with ribbing in Fitted Knits.  I made the sleeves longer so it has more use especially fall/winter is coming.


Noticed the necklace on me? It was another lovely birthday gift from my girlfriend Rose….so sweet of her. I can’t wait to wear it so I can show off!
Yarn: Needful Flash 11 balls
Colour: Black with purple stripes
Needles: 4.5mm and 5.5mm
I knitted the sleeves in round and using two circular needles. It’s so much faster and easier! I am thinking maybe I should do that with the socks project that I started like a year ago!

Second FO:
Shrug for my ex-colleague’s daughter Takara. Since it’s a pre-teen fit, so I am asking my teddy bear to be my model again.


Yarns: Knit Picks Gossamar Carribean 1 skein
Needles: 4.0mm & 3.75mm
I used the pattern in the Phildar and made it a bit smaller since it’s for a little girl, and by the end I picked up stitches and knitted ruffles to make it more girly.

The last thing I’m showing is the shrug (another shrug!) I am making for my colleague’s wedding in January. I had a hard time finding the right yarns. Finally I chose a sheen cotton from Gardnstudio called Cotton Viscose .



I am using a lace pattern from a Japanese book; but I have no idea how big it should be. I ended up borrow my colleague’s sweater so at least I have a rough idea. Wondering if it’s good…..I keep thinking maybe I should use kid-mohair, or mohair so it’s a bit warmer than cotton/viscose blend! But then the sheen of this yarn is going to look sharp on her wedding day.
What do you think?

Getting there….

Knitting sleeves is tedicious because after finishing one, there’s a second one to finish.  And knitting sleeves in round with the dpn gave me headache!  I was cheap, I just used my mom’s ancient aluminium looonnnggg needles to knit in round.  Gosh was my fingers sored!  Then I figured a way to knit in round by using two circular needles!  I basically used two circular needles in the same size, have half the stitches on one needle and the rest on the other needle.  Then knitting like the dpn way but as for the circular needles, use the other side of the same needle to knit in round instead until you reach to the end of one side….  Daada!  Problem solved.  I should have realized it earlier so I didn’t have to spend 3 hours to knit 3 inches and one row has only 36 sts!    Well, here’s a picture of where I am right now:

Here’s a picture of showing the two circular needles:

My dear buddy lillian told me it’s actually common for knitters to use circular needles to do in rounds. Well, I thought I was such a creative inventor! Oh well, at least I am not the odd ones.
Thanks to Lynn from Mary’s yarn….I can’t believe I ran out of yarn to finish off this short-sleeved cardigan since I have modified it into a “long-sleeved” cardigan. She is so nice and she stayed late today so I can rush to her store after work to pick up the one ball of yarn to finish off the sleeves and also the buttonband. Thanks Lynn!

I am also trying to knit this shrug for my colleague’s daughter. I name it after her: Takara shrug. It’s her favourite colour: green, blue, yellow….I hope she will like it!

The last thing to share is my birthday gifts! My boyfriend went to a LYS at his area and bought me this set of lovely Cascade wool 220 in wine red colour. I am planning to make the Tilted Duster from the Interweave magazine fall; Lillian got me this yarn winder and the knitting organizer….perfect for my liking! My sister also got me some yarns and my parents gave me money so I can get my own yarn…….Thank you all!

 For the past week I was also busy with updating my profile at Ravlry!  I finally got the invite and my user name is angelknits.  Any friend’s welcome!

New Design - Vest on the needles

With only 4 balls in my stash of the Lana Grossa Numero Uno in blue, I came up the idea to make a vest.  I searched all the patterns in my library and couldn’t find anything I like.  I wanted something with cables at the bottom, but not at the top because it looks “old”.  Then I thought of the idea of putting leaves on the top to make it “elegant”.  Here’s my try so far:

Not bad so far! However, whether it fits well or not I am not too sure although the gauge seems alright by calculations. I will see…..

I just came back from a short trip…..I also bought some yarns and it’s my birthday gift from my honey. I will take a picture and share later!