Baking and Knitting

Hi everyone! :) I'm back from the Thanksgiving holiday and let me update on what I've been up to! 


Baking CHOCOLATE CHIP COOKIES! Yay!

Yum yum yum... The day before Thanksgiving (Weds.), I made a batch of crispy chocolate chip cookies from this recipe. Its perfect if you do not have time to refrigerate the dough and if you have limited baking supplies on hand. These cookies were terrific when dunked in a glass of lowfat milk. :) They're also not too sweet, so I followed the recipe exactly. Except it does not specify what type of chocolate chips are ideal, although I used half a bag of Ghirardelli Semi-Sweet chocolate baking chips, but I'm sure regular milk chocolate chips will work as well.

I also started and completed a pair of socks! These socks were very simple (with some mattress stitch/seaming involved, but it wasn't too bad from the sewing hater (me) ).

I named them my Caribbean Bed Socks, since the original pattern is Turkish Bed Socks, as the colors reminded me of the wonderful blue-green waters of the Caribbean.

I used one skein of Malabrigo Sock in Caribeno to knit the Bed Socks and also the socks below (I made them in March).

Well, that's a wrap! :)

Shrimp. Sock. Love. SOCKS

Made Avaliable November 21st, 2013

PDF of pattern available

This pattern is dedicated to my pet, Mr. Shrimpy, a ghost shrimp.

With their transparent bodies, cute little faces, and varying personalities, ghost shrimp are very entertaining and deserve a unique design of their own. I realized that there wasn’t even a ghost shrimp toy, so I decided to make socks, because my pet shrimp make me feel warm inside my heart, and these socks will do the same for your feet!

Shrimp. Sock. Love. is a combination of: Ankle socks with a repeating stranded colorwork pattern of ghost shrimps and hearts, and perfect for Valentine’s Day.  

Why ankle socks in the dead of winter? Here in Florida, we can only wear ankle socks in the 60F degree winter weather. Also, Suripaco’s Springvale collection yarn from Maine is made out of a blend of Suri Alpaca, and is sure to keep your feet toasty during winter time, even in ankle sock form. Shrimp. Sock. Love. can also be modified into mid-calf socks (with one more ball of each color).

Supplies:

[MC] Suripaco Springvale Collection [55% Alpaca, 30% Wool, 15% Silk; 208yds/190m per 49g skein]; color: 1205; 1 skein

[CC] Suripaco Springvale Collection [55% Alpaca, 30% Wool, 15% Silk; 208yds/190m per 49g skein]; color: 1200; 1 skein

24” US #2/3mm circular needle for magic looping.

Scissors

Yarn needle

Split ring or stitch marker (to keep track of where you are in rows)

GAUGE:

 36 sts/ 40 rows = 4 inches of stockinette stitch

Abbreviations:

LLinc: Left-leaning Lifted Increase

LRinc: Right-leaning Lifted Increase

A great tutorial is here for lifted increases: http://dailyskein.wordpress.com/2008/09/13/lifted-increases/

W&T: Wrap and Turn

K2TOG: Knit two together (decrease)

Instructions:

You will definitely need a second ball of MC yarn if you are making a longer sock.

I find ankle socks usually have trouble “staying” on the leg. This may be fixed by cutting a 17 inch length of CC yarn and sewing through the top of the k2,p2 ribbing of the sock and tying a bow at the end of it when it is on your leg so it stays. For an example, see the picture.

PATTERN:

Using Judy’s magic cast on:

CO 22  sts (11 on each needle) with MC. Knit from first needle only.

TOE:

Row 1: k3, LLinc, knit to last three sts, LRinc, k3; k3, LLinc, knit to last three sts, LRinc, k3.

Row 2: k all sts.

Repeat rows 1 & 2 until stitch count reaches 66 sts (33 on each needle) ending at row 1 after increasing.

FOOT:

CLICK HERE FOR SHRIMP CHART

Follow the shrimp chart and add on CC. The shrimp chart is 28 rows long and 33 stitches wide. Please follow from bottom-up and right-left.

End at row 14 or 28 when foot measures 2” less than desired foot length (I did the shrimp chart exactly 2x until the heel).

Continue on to short row heel.

SHORT ROW HEEL:

Knit first half of stitches with MC (33 sts).

Now working flat with the last 33 stitches and working with MC only and cut off CC:

Row 1 (RS): k to last stitch, wrap & turn.

Row 2 (WS): p to last stitch, wrap & turn.

Row 3 (RS): k to last wrapped stitch, w&t.

Row 4 (WS): p to last wrapped stitch, w&t.

Repeat rows 3&4 until there are 10 right wrapped stitches, 13 unwrapped stitches, and 10 left wrapped stitches (20 wrapped stitches in all) in total.

Row 5: k to first wrapped stitch, k the stitch w/ wrap, w&t

Row 6: p to first wrapped stitch, p the stitch w/ wrap, w&t

Repeat rows 5&6 until there is only one wrapped stitch on each side (two total)

Row 7: k to last stitch, knit stitch with wraps, and continue working on instep. REMEMBER to pick up the first stitch after the instep. Continue on to leg.

LEG:

Row 1: K all sts

Row 2: *K2tog, k1, p2, (k2, p2) 7times. Repeat again across second needle. (64 sts)

Row 3-5: (k2, p2) around.

FINISHING:

Bind off with the “stretchy bind off” (Same as a regular bind-off but for the purl stitches, purl them instead of knitting them as you normally would while casting them off.)

Repeat for the second sock. Enjoy your shrimpy socks after finishing (sew in the ends)! :)

Please do not try to steal and say this was your pattern, no profit for finished product or pattern that is FREE. 

New Pattern

Hi everyone! Sorry I haven't posted in a few months. :( I've been extremely busy. Although I do have a reward for all of you. Soon, I will be releasing a new pattern! :) This pattern is a different venture for me. In the past year, I've been obsessed with knitting socks. Since I did not find many sock patterns suitable with what I wanted to do; I decided to create my own. 

The pattern is called, "Shrimp. Sock. Love." 

It was made using Suripaco's Springvale Collection. I bought it while I was in Southern Maine this summer. It's a local, Maine-made wool/alpaca/silk blended yarn. Every yarn store I went to in Maine carried Springvale Collection, but for "Shrimp. Sock. Love." you can use any heavy-ish fingering/4ply yarn, as long as you have 50g of each color (main and contrasting). 

I will release the pattern once the shrimp chart is edited. :)

Something very cool

My friend is writing a story and she stumbled upon a really cool website. It's http://myscriptfont.com and you can print out the template, write the alphabet in your handwriting, scan, and it churns out your original handwriting into a downloadable computer font! 

Here's mine:

(I wrote random things so you could see what it looked like)

Try it out, tell me what you think. Maybe if you send me your font, it will be held for consideration into her story! :) You never know!

Some handspinning

On Sunday (last day of the weekend before school starts up again for the week), I finished/plied up 4oz of organic merino that had been on my miniSpinner for a few weeks. :) I didn't have the opportunity to complete my organic merino because of school. 

Here it is as singles on the bobbin:

I then plied it. The yarn came in at about 480 yards and a light fingering weight. 

Beautiful huh? I still need to get a niddy noddy. A 2yd one to be exact. This is the second large skein made by me that I've had to wrap around a chair. :( Maybe soon I'll be able to say, "Chairs no more!" :)

I'm not sure what I'm going to make with this skein. I might make the second bump of roving (another 4oz) the same weight and do a large project, or just make the second bump a worsted weight so I can make more animals. I have no idea. I still haven't figured out what to do with the first skein I've made with my miniSpinner:

That's a braid (100g) of SweetGeorgia SW BFL in the colorway Cold Mountain. I think I'm going to do another pair of Let it Be with this striping yarn. :) As soon as I finished this skein, I started on the organic merino (in the pictures above of the white yarn). The merino is a huge improvement from the BFL pictured here. It's much more consistent.

Meow's Adventures!

Hello, this is Meow-Meow! :) I'm Sophia's (imaginativeknits) little stuffed cat. 

Let me describe myself. I'm originally from Omaha, Nebraska (where the company that made me is located). I'm eight (human) years old. I love watching my owner do her crafts. I'm also a contributor to this blog along with my owner, Sophia.

FYI, Sophia posts in VERDANA and I post in TREBUCHET (which is the font showing on this post right now).

This June, we both went through a road trip/adventure through the Northeastern United States and Canada. As you know, our website was deleted and I never got to continue my "Meow's Adventure" series. So I will start off from the beginning on here. The next few posts will be from me, revisiting our trip. :)

Cherry the Bunny

 
Made available March 23rd, 2011 
Cutest. bunny. ever. :) Hope you like it! It's my favorite creation so far. 

Supplies: 
• 1 skein of Sublime Organic Cotton DK (50 gms= 120 yds): colorway- 96 bone 
• brown thread by DMC for eyes and mouth 
• 1 set of 4 DPNS: US size #2- 2.75 mm 
• stuffing 
• yarn needle 
• scissors 
• stitch marker (to mark where you started/end) 
• Clover pom-pom maker: 1 inch 



INSTRUCTIONS: 
I believe these instructions are fairly simple for the intermediate knitter. Although you MUST know how to knit with DPNs to do this pattern. 

And yes, I have no indication of how many stitches you should have each row. I don't since: 1. It's free! and 2. If you know me I'm too lazy to write it down anyways. xD 

Also, stuff the body, head, arms and legs before you thread through the remaining stitches. 



BODY: 
CO 6, separate 
1. k all sts 
2. kfb all sts (12)
3. k all sts 
4. kfb, k1 around (18)
5. k all sts 
6. kfb, k2 around (24)
7-13. k all sts 
14. k2tog, k2 around (18)
15. k all sts 
16. k2tog, k1 around (12)
17. k2tog all sts (6)
cut yarn, thread through remaining sts. 

HEAD: 
CO 6, separate 
1. k all sts 
2. kfb all sts (12)
3. k all sts 
4. kfb, k1 around (18)
5. k all sts 
6. kfb, k2 around (24)
7. k all sts 
8. kfb, k3 around (30)
9-14. k all sts 
15. k2tog, k3 around (24)
16. k all sts 
17. k2tog, k2 around (18)
18. k2tog, k1 around (12)
19. k2tog all sts (6)
cut yarn, thread through remaining sts. 

EARS (make two): 
CO 10 and knit flat 
1. k1, p1 across 
2. p1, kfb, *p1, k1 3 times, p1, kfb (12)
3. p1, k1 across 
4. kfb, *p1, k1, p1 3 times, kfb, p1 (14)
5. [RS] k1, p1 across 
6. [WS] p1, k1 across 
repeat rows 5&6 5 times (total of 10 rows) 
13. k2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1, k2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1, ssk (11)
14. k2tog, k1, p1, k1, k2tog, k1, p1, ssk (8)
15. k2tog, k1, p1, k1, p1, ssk (6)
16. k2tog all sts (3)
cut yarn, thread through remaining sts. 

LEG (make two): 
CO 6, separate 
1. k all sts 
2. kfb all sts (12)
3-6. k all sts 
7. k1, k2tog, k1 around (9)
8-20. k all sts 
bind off, cut yarn, sew onto body 

ARMS (make two): 
CO 6, separate 
1. k all sts 
2. kfb, k1 around (9) 
3-14. k all sts 
bind off, cut yarn, attach to body. 

TAIL: 
Using pom-pom maker, create tail and sew to body. 

Finish up by sewing up your new friend and sewing on some facial features! :) (you can use picture for preference) 



Please do not try to steal and say this was your pattern, no profit for finished product or pattern that is FREE. 

Scruffy the Cat

 
Made available August 21st, 2011 
Scruffy! The cat! :) I love him, and I hope you love him too. <3 

Supplies: 
• 1 skein of Rowan Summer Tweed (50 gms= 131 yards) colorway: 515 
• 1 set of 4 DPNS: US size #3- 3.25 mm 
• stuffing 
• yarn needle 
• scissors 
• stitch marker (to mark where you started/end 
• 2: 12 mm sized brown animal eyes 
• 1: 18 mm sized black animal nose 



INSTRUCTIONS: 

Head/Body*: 
CO 6, separate 
1. k all sts 
2. inc all sts (12) 
3. k all sts 
4. inc, k1 around (18) 
5. k all sts 
6. inc, k2 around (24) 
7. k all sts 
8. inc, k3 around (30) 
9-13. k all sts 
14. dec, k3 around (24) 
15. k all sts 
16. dec, k2 around (18) 
17. k all sts 
18. dec, k1 around (12) 
19&20. k all sts 
21. inc, k1 around (18) 
22&23. k all sts 
24. inc, k2 around (24) 
25-34. k all sts 
35. dec, k2 around (18) 
36. k all sts 
insert eyes and nose, stuff 
37. dec, k1 around (12) 
38. dec all sts (6) 
cut yarn, thread through remaining stitches. 

Arms: 
CO 6, separate 
1. k all sts 
2. inc all sts (12) 
3-7. k all sts 
8. dec, k2 around (9) 
9-18. k all sts 
cast off, cut yarn, stuff 

Legs: 
CO 6, separate 
1. k all sts 
2. inc, k around (9) 
3-14. k all sts 
cast off, cut yarn, stuff 

Ears: 
CO 12, separate 
1&2. k all sts 
3. dec, k2 around (9) 
4. k all sts 
5. dec, k1 around (6) 
6. k all sts 
7. dec all sts (3) 
8. k all sts 
cut yarn, thread through remaining stitches, do not stuff 

Tail: 
CO 4, knit i-cord style (as many rows as you want) 


Attach the pieces and there's your kitty! Enjoy! 



*: Made in one piece 
Please do not try to steal and say this was your pattern, no profit for finished product or pattern that is FREE. 

Spearmint the Bunny

Made available October 2nd, 2010

PDF of pattern available

Spearmint is a cute little old-fashioned bunny with a spunky personality! :) He is an intermediate knit. 

Supplies:

• M&K: ECO baby bomull- in ecru and your favorite color (I used green) (100% organic cotton 50gms=160m)

o   If you can’t find this yarn, any fingering weight will do.

• Clover: Pom-Pom maker- extra small (use the one inch version)

• Brown embroidery thread (preferably DMC cotton thread)

• Set of 6 US size 0 (2.0 mm) dpns (Brittany has sets of 6 DPNS) for body (If you don't have 6 of one size, then use a stitch holder.)

• Set of 4 US size 2 (2.75 mm) dpns for sweater

• Scissors

• Yarn needle

• Stuffing

• Poly pellets for legs (optional)

• Split ring stitch markers (If you need them to keep track of rows)

Instructions:

Use ecru, a.k.a. color a.

1st leg:

Cast on 6 with size 0. Separate between 3. Each one has 2 now.

1. k all sts

2. kfb all sts (12 sts)

3. k all sts

4. kfb, k around (18 sts)

5-8. k all sts

9. dec, k around (12 sts)

10. k all sts

(lightly fill foot with poly-pellets or stuffing)

11. dec all sts (6 sts)

12-32. k all sts

Cut yarn, use 2 DPNS and separate. Now each one has 3.

2nd leg:

Do the same thing you did on the 1st one but don't cut the yarn.

Body/Head (all done in one piece):

First, connect the legs. Very simple if you think about it.. I don't have a picture yet, but if you need a visual aid, send me a message (imaginativeknits [at] gmail [dot] com)

33. inc, k, inc around (20 sts)

34. k all sts

35. kfb, k3, inc (28 sts)

36. k all sts

37. kfb, k6 around (32 sts)

38-58. k all sts

59. dec, k2 around (24 sts)

(lightly fill with poly-pellets or stuffing)

60. k all sts

61. kfb, k2 around (32 sts)

62-72. k all sts

73. dec, k2 around (24 sts)

74. k all sts

75. dec, k around (16 sts)

76. k all sts

77. dec all (8 sts)

(finish stuffing)

Cut the yarn and thread though the rest of the stitches. :)

Ears (make 2):

Cast on 6 with size 0, separate.

1. k all sts

2. kfb all sts (12 sts)

3-13. k all sts

14. dec, k2 around (9 sts)

15-20. k all sts

Bind off. Do not stuff

Arms (make 2):

Cast on 6 with size 0, separate.

1. k all sts

2. inc, k all sts (9 sts)

3-18. k all sts

Bind off, stuff

Tail:

Make tail with ecru and pom-pom maker and attach all of the pieces you did so far to the appropriate places. :)

Bunny Sweater:

Use your favorite contrast color, a.k.a. color b.

Body:

Cast on 30 with size 2, separate.

1-4. knit 2, purl 1 around

5. k all sts

6. k2, dec, yarn over twice, dec, knit the rest.

(that was the tail hole)

7-11. k all sts

12. k8, dec, yarn over twice, dec, k13, dec, yarn over twice, k1, dec

(those were the sleeve holes)

13&14. k all sts

15-19. knit 2, purl 1 around

Bind off, put sweater on bunny

Sleeves (make 2):

Cast on 9, with size 2, separate.

1-3. knit 2, purl 1 around

4-12. k all sts

Bind off, attach to the sweater body

Hope you like it!

This pattern and the finished product may only be used personally or entirely for charity. You may not sell the pattern or the finished product anywhere. 

Introduction

Hello everyone! :) 


This is the first post on my new Blogspot blog for Imaginative Knits. My old website (http://meow.sindlene.net) somehow went to the world wide web graveyard and no one can see the patterns I've posted on that website (or the website at all as a matter of fact). :( It makes me kind of sad because here I am: back to where I started with basic templates. This will take some adjusting to. I wish I could afford my own website domain and to keep it, but that will have to wait a while. So this is a temporary fix for people wanting to see any of my patterns. :)