Cell Phone Sock

This is a miniature sock with thick yarn, big enough to protect your cell phone from scratches and dust. It’s a great way to practice short-row heels for beginners. It knits up in just over an hour from scraps, and is a great stashbuster, last-minute gift and instant gratification project in one!

You’ll need:

– 3.5 mm (US4) DPNs
– scraps of yarn recommended for needle size – I used two colors, red (MC) and yellow (CC) nondescript cheapo cotton yarn leftovers from washclothes. If you just use one color, disregard the color instructions.

Abbreviations:

k: knit; p: purl
k2tog: k next two stitches together
ssk: slip next two stitches seperately as if to knit. Insert right needle back into the stitches and k through them

How-to:

1. Leg

CO 24 in MC – long tail cast on, or any kind of stretchy cast on, works well on this. Distribute evenly on 4 needles, join into round, being careful not to twist.

k1, p1 for 6 rounds in MC

*Switch to CC, and continue in stockinette for 5 rounds. 1 round of MC. Repeat once from *, add another 5 rows of CC but leave off MC row.

2. Heel

The heel is worked over the 12 stitches of needles 1 and 4 in MC

Review the Wendy Johnson’s Generic Toe-up Sock recipe for the heel. Work first half until you have 4 stitches wrapped on either side and 4 “live” stitches in the middle, then work second half until you are back to the original 12 stitches. Work the single MC stripe color.

3. Foot

Work foot in stockinette stitch, repeating the 5×1 striping twice before cutting CC.

4. Toe

The toe is worked in MC.

Round 1: k to last 3 sts on needle 1, k2tog, k2 (one on needle 1, one on needle 2) ssk. K to last 3 sts on needle 3, k2tog, k2, ssk.

Round 2: k

Repeat these two rounds until you are down to 8 stitches.

5. Finishing

Cut yarn, thread the tail through the leftover stitches and pull tight. Weave in ends. Insert phone.

If you want to and if your phone is small enough, you can add a crocheted loop on the one side of the ribbing and a button on the other side of the leg. However, this might take away the “authentic sock feeling”.

Hat! Hathathat!

I finished the teal hat today. This is my first project that was largely done in public, due to a very frustrating shoe shopping trip with my dainty-footed mother and sister. Sigh.

Any way, this hat doesn’t look anything like the Odessa hats I’ve made before, and I have no idea why. Although… I only CO 85 stitches instead of 110 cause the yarn was thicker. Maybe you’re supposed to use a number divisible by ten? Or eleven? (the decreases go in steps of eleven) Yeah, that might be it… oh well. It’s all pretty and girly though (not that the Odessa hat isn’t). The decrease looks like a star, or the sun, especially cause I felt I’d screwed them up so royally that for the last couple of rows, I ditched the pattern and decreased in stockinette. So… yay!

Plus, it looks pretty cool inside out, which is another advantage over the Odessa hat.

Honestly, I should make this into a pattern. There’s no copyright on stitch sequences.

Pictures? Pictures!

inside out

the crown

Give yourself over to absolute pleasure…

I started an Odessa hat with the teal Piace yarn. Sigh. I didn’t want another WIP – two pairs of socks and a scarf (plus the sweater I need to frog and redo the arms that I’m not even thinking about) should be enough, shouldn’t it? Well, apparently not, and I just couldn’t resist I suppose?

Anyway, the Piace is a luxurious knit – unsurprising with 60% Merino and 40% microfiber, and the color really appeals to me. It will also look good with my more or less undyed/growing out brown hair as much as it will when I’m a firetruck-colored redhead again. Complementary colors! :D September will also be the time I’ll slowly be needing hats again, anyway. Anyway, this is my procrastinating-from-everything WIP: Procrastinating from Bio, the Q sock (damn the day I fell in love with the pattern) and sort of Express Lane. That is, Express Lane is supposed to be my train knit, apart from maybe the toe, so I need to stave myself off that. Though I should really do Q on the train to get it over with… oh well.

This means I’m basically using all the yarn I bought in Dortmund the other week. Ooops.

Also, apparently my second Leo cozy got lost in the mail. Which is sad, cause I don’t have anything of the red yarn left and it was so nice and variegated and perfect for a lighthouse-stripe wool condom.

Still haven’t ordered the Erdbeerbecher. If I have money left after Leipzig, I will though. Good plan.

The best (wrist)band in the world!

While waiting for the 2007 ‘Es Wird Eng’ tour of my favorite band Die Ärzte to start, I made a total of four pairs of logo wristbands from scraps, two big sets for myself (I thought I’d lost the first pair) and two smaller sets for friends of mine, in hot pink/rose and blue/green, respectively. They were super simple (obviously), finished in under an hour each, and made great presents. I realize the Es wird Eng design is a little too late – but it would still make a nice memorabilia gift if you embroider the date on the back (like I did with my first pair), or just make two with the DÄ logo. I wish the Jazzfäst tour had a good logo, but sadly, it doesn’t.

YOU NEED

– scraps of worsted weight yarn (I used Lana Grossa Joker) in two contrasting colors

– set of 4 4mm (US 6) DPNs

Gauge: 18sts = 4″/10cm

Size: women’s (men’s)

***

With first color, CO 27(30). Distribute evenly onto 3 DPNs , join (being careful not to twist).

[k2, p1] for 2 rounds.

Continue in Stockinette stitch for 11(13) rounds.

[k2, p1] for 2 rounds.

BO loosely, weave in ends.

With second color, apply the ä design (or design of your choice) opposite of the join with duplicate stitch.

Make another band in the second color, and duplicate stitch either the ä or the ‘Es wird Eng’ logo (or, once again, your choice of design) on the front.

Sea life and other scary creatures of the depth

I hate sea food. I can stand fish if I don’t have a choice (except not have dinner, and that is just not a choice in my book), but then Sammy freaked out about wanting a Nautiloid toy and who am I to resist a gorgeous lady like that?

So I knit a freaking luxury nautie. I had a skein of each color left after I finished the Sooper Sekkrit project (the khaki, I barely kept a foot, so I can see why they called for twice the amount of yarn) so I knit the coiled shell in khaki Baby Alpaca, and the face in pink cashmere, and stuffed the whole thing with sheep’s wool. The eyes are black merino leftovers. So this is about the cuddliest and most luxurious nautilus of all time, period.

I also knit a small one with off-white sock yarn, it’s only about 2 inches since I BO with 15 sts on the needles. I didn’t knit a face for it either (since that was freaky) but just knit the head, and stuck it into the shell the wrong way before sewing it shut. So now there’s a little dip in the opening. Actually, for my spring/summer deco, I’m thinking about knitting some more of them, and maybe some cone snail shells or something, to put into a wood bowl of sand.

Concerning the Other Scary Creatures Of The Depth, the lacy thong. -.- I was all done last night, except for the crochet picot edge. And then I tried it on and I made it too big D: I CO 88 on each side and it was so huge… and the thing was too short. So I frogged the entire waistband (silent crying) and the back panel and crocheted some stitches between the front and back panel. Sigh. I stopped CO after 30 sts or something last night since I was just too dissatisfied and annoyed. I planned on finishing it tonight but I’m still so annoyed with it. At least the yarn (Lana Grossa Gala, 48% Silk, 24% Rayon, 17% Linen, 11% Polyamide, Color 13 red) is nice enough and there’s gonna be a lot left over. So maybe I’ll knit another thong (different pattern though) with it, or something entirely else. A hairband maybe :D But I already have a red one. But I could make a more elegant one with it, slip stitch pattern or something… we’ll see.

Segment Hairband

Another ridiculously simple hairband I made when I wanted to wear a green sweater but didn’t have a matching hairband.

SEGMENT HAIRBAND

You need:

– scraps of some Bulky weight yarn – I used some Lana Grossa Due I had left over from a hat

– 2 6 mm (US 10) needles

– needle

Gauge: isn’t really important, but mine measures 3 cm / 1 1/4″ across

***

CO8 RS: sl1, p1, k4, p1, k1 WS: sl1, k1, p2, k1, p1Rep 4 times. Then p RS, k WS.

Repeat from * until desired length (I did 8 repeats), bind off. Sew ends together.

Red Mesh Hairband

I love hairbands as a nice solution to spice up my short black hair when I don’t have the time to actually style it. Also, they’re a great stashbuster for all kinds of yarn – I’ve made hairbands from super chunky yarn as well as leftover sock yarn – and this Mesh Hairband is one of the latter category. It’s super simple, easy to remember, and almost instant gratification.

RED MESH HAIRBAND

You’ll need:

– some scraps of sock yarn – I used some red Lana Grossa Meilenweit I had left over from a pair of socks, and I barely noticed anything missing

– two 3.5 mm needles

– needle

Gauge: isn’t really important, since you’ll adjust the band to your head size individually. My hairband is about 5.5 cm (slightly more than 2″) across, stretched wide.

***

CO 14. Starting with a k row, work 2 rows of stockinette stitch.

Row 1 (RS): sl1 Yo, k2tog; rep from to last st, k1

Rows 2 and 4: Purl.

Row 3: sl1 SKP, yo; rep from to last st, k1.

Rep rows 1-4 to desired length (try to wrap it around your head from time to time), 2 rows in Stst, bo. Sew ends together.

Be careful with the length – this is extremely stretchy!