FO: Pokemon Hat & Scarf Set

 

The final hat and scarf set was for my 11 year old nephew and I decided to make it Pokemon themed. He's been into Pokemon for years, so I knew this would be well received. I also knew I had the perfect yarns in my stash to make this happen, which is always nice.

The scarf was actually the first thing I made out of all of these gifts. I made it on the Sentro machine first, but I didn't like how the front yellow section had so many tucked stitches and it looked sloppy. When the Ravenclaw one came out so great on my flat bed machine, I decided to unravel this entire scarf and redo it on the Babylock machine and I'm so happy I did. 

I knew I had this almost full skein of Red Heart Super Saver yarn in yellow - I had only used it for little details here and there on toys over the years and it was in my Ravelry stash as 0.98 skeins left - but I had one heck of a time actually locating the skein. I found it amongst some skeins I had decided to donate years ago and then apparently never did. Good thing I didn't! I made this 50 stitches wide and just knit the yellow until it ran out, which didn't give me quite as long as I wanted it to be. Personally, I like my scarves to be long enough to easily double wrap around my neck and still show the end details, and my nephew is very big for his age, so I wanted this to be 72 inches. When the yellow ran out, I just color blocked in some black. This lead me down the very weird Mandela effect rabbit hole of whether Pikachu's tail has a zig zag of black at the end, which I always thought it did. Turns out that regardless of our personal thoughts on if it was changed at some point, the current games all have his tail as being all yellow and since that was what my nephew would know I just went with a straight transition to black instead of zig zagging it like I thought I would initially. he black is also Red Heart Super Saver, so the transition went well. I knitted about 15 inches more in black and then bound off.

I used kitchener stitch at the ends and mattress stitch along the sides - and man do these take a long time to seam together when they are so long. I took a photo of the kitchener end just to show how it looks. It does have a bit more bulk, but I just steamed the daylights out of it to lay as flat as possible.

The final touch was my home stitched Pikachu patch. I searched through the available Pikachu embroidery files and settled on this one because he looks so happy. This stitched out beautifully if I do say so myself. I used my same black linen scraps for the base and stabilized it well and he looks very professional. I just love him. He definitely makes the whole scarf.

Next up came the hat. I had seen a hat online that looked like a Pokeball and decided that would be my nephew's favorite. The inspiration hat has the button done with intarsia, which I could technically do on my machine, but I didn't know how yet and it would have taken me too long to learn and plot out and probably make this hat a few times to get right, so I decided to just knit the base colors into the hat and then figure out a way to add the circles after. Doesn't this beanie look so late 90s without the circles? How trendy am I? lol This is a picture of the mattress stitched back, which turned out great.

And here is the inside because I think it just looks to cool, lol. It came out very clean and I'm always shocked by how precision the knitting machine makes things look inside. 

Once the hat was made, I had to figure out how to add the button. I had thought of just crocheting one, but that would have been really bulky, as would knitting one. Then I thought about finding an embroidery file and making a patch of just the button, but that would have been hard in the size I needed it. Then it hit me that I could just use a white base fabric and embroider circles of different thicknesses in black. This didn't require any files to do - I just used circles on the machine - and I think it turned out fantastic. The base fabric is a white denim my mom had on hand. Because this was just fabric, it was much easier to sew on than the thicker patches. 

This was the final item I was hurrying to finish so I could pop it in the mail, so my finished hat photos were all taken late at night, thus the lighting in the photos. I think the hat turned out great. If I was to make it again, I would do about 2 rows less of the white, but other than that I am so happy with this one.

And I had to get a photo making the same face as Pikachu, lol. This set is definitely my favorite of the bunch and I was really proud of it. I think the design idea was good as well as the execution, which is just always a nice boost. My nephew loved it on Christmas, which is also the icing on the cake. He now has a custom made but professional looking accessory set for the chilly weather and I hope he loves it for a long time.

Summary:

Yarn: 1 skein of Red Heart Super Saver in Yellow - $ 0.25, 0.23 skeins in Black - $ 0.25

Pattern: None

Notions: Pikachu embroidery file - $ 3.00

Time: 4 hours

FO: Spiderman Hat & Scarf Set

 Are you noticing the trend yet?

Once I worked out the sizing and kinks of making the Ravenclaw hat and scarf set, it was time to churn out a few other variations. My 5 year old nephew is very into Spiderman lately, so I decided to make him a set to feel super cool. I was inspired by a red and blue striped hat and scarf I saw online that I knew I could recreate and I dove in.

The hat came first on this one because I was making all the hats back to back. This set worked out to be a bit of a stash bust. I had various partial skeins of red and blue acrylic yarn that was given to me or leftover from other projects, so this was the perfect opportunity to use those up. The blue yarn is Red Heart Super Saver in the Delft Blue colorway, which I used up entirely, and the red in an unknown acrylic from a friend (I suspect it's I Love This Yarn) and I only have a small ball of that leftover. The hat was made with the same YouTube Video as the first hat and it worked great for this one too. The only difference is that I had to change the yarns myself since this wasn't self striping. I did 6 rows of each color for the striping and I think that was the perfect amount. The back is mattress stitched together and it's almost seamless, which I'm happy with.

The spiderman emblem was also made by me! Well, by a machine that I directed, which counts, right? I swear as more machinery is involved, I don't really know how to refer to things anymore, you know? Anyway, I searched online for Spiderman files for my mom's embroidery machine (I have an older machine that does embroidery, but my mom's is fancier and she has all the threads on hand to make whatever AND I was too lazy to set mine up, lol). The file only took about 15 minutes to stitch out, which wasn't bad. I used some black linen scraps as the base fabric and then we used several stabilizers to get this crisp look. I think the patches turned out really great. Once the file was stitched out, I just cut very close around it like a patch and hand stitched it to the center front.

Next came the scarf. I made this 50 stitches wide (same as the Ravenclaw one) and I just kept knitting until I ran out of yarn. Since my nephew is 5, he didn't need an adult sized scarf. The red yarn in this scarf is Premier Yarns Everyday Soft Worsted in the Really Red colorway, which I only have a small ball of left now. The blue is the same Red Heart and I ran out mid stripe, which was a bit of a bummer. I wanted the stripes to at least be the same width throughout, so I added a bit of black just to finish out that 6 row stripe. I think it still goes fine and no one has asked why it has a stripe of black. Design feature! 

I cast off when I ran out of yarn and tried it on my kids (who are one year older) and the length seamed just fine. I used a mattress stitch to close up the sides and a kitchener stitch at the ends and then steamed the daylights out of the edges just like before. 

And then I sewed my home-stitched patch at the bottom on the side with the black - I think this makes the black seem a bit more deliberate, don't you?

So that's the Spiderman set :) My nephew was very excited when he opened it - much more so than I thought a 5 year old getting clothing of any kind would be - so that was really nice. It's always nice to feel like the gift recipient appreciates what you gave them, which is so hit and miss with kids. I'm glad I could make something cool enough to make him that happy.

Summary:

Yarn: Red Heart Super Saver in Delft Blue - Free, Premier Yarns Everyday Soft Worsted in Really Red - $2.00, Unknown Acrylic in Red - Free

Pattern: None

Notions: Spiderman embroidery file - $3.00

Time: 3 hours

FO: Ravenclaw Scarf & Hat

 

In deciding to knit hat and scarf sets for all the kids, I first started off with a pokemon one for my nephew. I used the Sentro 48 pin machine and cranked out a yellow and black version, which was mostly fine except the machine had tucked stitches no matter what I tried to avoid it. I had a heavily tucked section in the most visible area when worn and I really wasn't thrilled with it. I decided to try the second scarf on my flat bed knitting machine to compare the two - if I couldn't get the flat bed machine to do better then I would just use the pokemon one as it was. Anyway, this was what started my adventures in finally making things on my flat bed machine, lol. 

The scarf was my first project even though I finished it last. Since I was trying to make the same size as the Sentro machine, I made this 50 stitches wide - 48 stitches and then 2 stitches as seam allowance for sewing it into a tube. I like a scarf that is long enough to really wrap you up, so I made this 72 inches long. 

The yarn was a very fortuitous situation. I was planning on buying some navy blue yarn and striping this scarf myself with some gray I already had, but one day on a visit to the local library one of the lovely ladies asked me if I would like some yarn. She knows I'm an avid knitter and brought me into their classroom where they stored yarn for knitting classes and pulled out 5 trash bags and a few tubs filled with yarn and told me to take whatever I wanted. They had too much on hand and people tend to bring their own to the classes, so this was all going to go. It was mostly all acrylic, but I found 3 skeins of Red Heart Team Spirit yarn in Navy and Gray stripe. This is a self striping acrylic yarn and I immediately knew it would be perfect for my Ravenclaw project. My boyfriend's son discovered Harry Potter this past year and he saw he is a Ravenclaw, so I knew I had to facilitate this. Sometimes the universe just makes certain projects a possibility, you know?

So I made this using my 1988 Babylock knitting machine. I watched the series called Know Your Bond by Cheryl Brunette on YouTube and just knitted until it was 72 inches long. Since I didn't have to change colors, it went extremely smoothly. I think I made this in about an hour on the knitting machine. I'll admit it probably took me another 30 - 45 minutes to seam it up and then another 30 minutes to sew the patch on, but still for a plain stockinette scarf that's 72" long, I'm fine with that time frame, lol. I originally wanted to add tassels, but in the end I didn't think they were needed. I ordered 2 of these patches from Joann because they were on sale for $3.25 each and that's cheaper than I would have been able to buy the embroidery file let alone spend the hour to stitch them out myself. Work smarter, not harder, right? For the scarf, I just used a mattress stitch along the sides to sew it into a tube and I used a kitchener stitch to close up the end, then I steamed it heavily on the seams to get them to sit flatter.

Next up - the hat! I actually made this hat twice. At first, I used my own numbers for how many stitches it should be and it turned out way too big even for my head. It was good practice though and I was able to make the next one according to the numbers I got from this YouTube video. I was grateful to find this video made on the machine I was using. It was a nice walk through. When making this hat on the flat bed machine, at least 75% of the time is making the brim. You cast on every other stitch, knit a few rows, then add in all the rows and knit some more, then you go in with a latch hook tool and drop down every other row and re-knit them by hand to be knit stitches on the wrong side, giving you a ribbed brim that is already cast off when you're done. It's very much worth the time and effort, but it just feels like it takes forever in comparison to the time of the entire hat.

Once the knitting is done, you draw up the crown to cinch in and seam the back. I try to be very accurate when seaming anything striped and I think it turned out really well for this one.

I used a mattress stitch for the seam, which leaves a very small seam in the center back. It actually looks very clean inside thanks to this being machine made.

Once again I added the patch from Joann - I did sew these on even though they are iron on. The iron on always fails eventually and I want this to be easy to wash and wear for an 8 year old.

And there you have my first scarf and hat set of this Christmas :) I love how this turned out and the recipient seems to like it as well (even if the scarf was a bit large, lol). Even though I knit these first, they weren't "finished" until after everything else because I was waiting for the patches in the mail. C'est la vie, eh? They didn't arrive until 2 days after Christmas, but they were done and in the mail before the mailing cut off, so I still count that as a success.

Summary:

Yarn: 3 skeins of Red Heart Team Spirit in Navy and Gray = Free

Pattern: Scarf - None, Hat: Here - Free

Notions: 2 Ravenclaw patches - $6.50

Time: 4 hours

WIP Wednesday: Christmas Knitting Begins

Man, the holiday has me with a backlog of posts :/ I have been plugging away at various projects, but I just haven't sat down to write about them. Silly, right? I promise after this week, things will become regular again. 

After finishing my Susan Shaw cardigan (which you will see soon), I picked up my Chuck sweater. I've been dutifully knitting just that sweater in the hopes of finishing it with enough time to wear it as a Christmas type sweater even though it's not a Christmas sweater. The color gives it the right vibe. I tried the sweater on after finishing the 2nd cable repeat and it was kind of comically too short. I actually looked at a bunch of other people's projects to see if I had done something wrong because mine was coming up so short, but I just have a long torso. In truth, I have a long yoke - the area between my bust and shoulders is longer than "standard" it seems. It's something I have to correct for frequently, but this left me with a dilemma. I liked the look on other people with the cropped length, but I was going to come up too short or a lot longer than that. In the end, I decided to just go for my natural waist. I did 3 cable repeats and then did 12 rows of ribbing to conserve yarn - adding to the length has now greatly lessened the length of my sleeves. I'm on the neckband now and then I will divide the remaining yarn for the sleeves. Hopefully this one is finished soon!

I've also started cranking out Christmas gifts - literally. This year I'm using my knitting machines to make scarves and hats. I tried with the 48 pin Sentro first knowing I could pull out the big legit knitting machine if that didn't work. I spent Sunday evening cranking.

I kept rolling the scarf up underneath the machine to prevent drag and the donut I got close to the end was pretty comical.

This is my finished first scarf - well the cranking is finished. I'm still on the fence about it. The first half went great, but there are a bunch of tucked stitches and irregularities on the side above the black. I'm trying to decide if this is fine or if I want to rip it out and do it on the Babylock machine.

So I'm now a scarf making machine until Christmas time. I have several items to make as gifts and I'm hoping that this helps me get them all done :) I'm also still mentally working on sewing, but I haven't actually sewed anything this week, lol. Whoops. It's a crazy time, folks. I hope to get back at that after Thanksgiving. Maybe then I won't fall asleep early every night.

Have you started holiday gift making yet? 

Machine Knitting: Buffalo Check Baby Blanket on the 22 pin Sentro Knitting Machine

If you've been involved in the knitting world on YouTube in the last year or so, you've probably seen the Sentro Knitting Machines. They are a circular, plastic, toy-looking knitting machine that is actually used by knitters (adults) for all kinds of projects. I had toyed with getting one or months, but it finally got me, and this project definitely helped me justify the splurge. My sister was having her first baby at the beginning of June, so I used that as the perfect chance to make this up.

I made this entire blanket on my 22 pin Sentro knitting machine in 2 days. Yes, really. I saw several tutorials and patterns making this same idea, but I knew I could figure it out on my own (controversial, I know). This entire blanket is double layered, because all the strips are knit in tubes and then flattened to seam them together. My sister really likes the black and gray baby trend that's been going around, so I decided to make this look like buffalo check. I used I Love This Yarn from Hobby Lobby in Greybead, Black, and White, and I made each square 17 rows, then switched to the next color, then switched back, etc until I had 12 squares per strip. This made my finished blanket 52 x 41 inches, so a good baby blanket size. Was the knitting perfect? Absolutely not, lol. This was my first actual project on the machine, so I learned a few important tips in making this:

• make sure the yarn is free flowing into the machine with no added resistance or you will get tucked stitches and weirdness
• snug your new color yarn after about 3 stitches, then tie it to the previous color after 4 or 5 rows
• don't crank too fast or you will drop stitches
• angle the machine on the edge of the table to the tube can fall freely and not bunch up or get twisted

Let's just say I'm thankful this project is double sided with the same color behind each square. If it didn't have that double layer, you would see ALL kinds of weird holes and spaced out stitches, but the double layer fills in the gaps. 

Seaming this beast took as much time (if not more) than cranking out the pieces. I tried out 2 methods of seaming the strips together- crocheting the edge stitches into each other, and mattress stitch. In the end, I liked the smooth look of the mattress stitch, so that is what I used, but man did that take a long time. Also being a double layer, this was quite warm to seam together in May/June in Florida. Just saying. For seaming, I started from the center of each line and worked outward, trying to make sure the squares lined up to give the plaid look I was going for. I think I mostly succeeded. This project is a major yarn hog though, so be warned. This baby blanket took almost the entire 4 skeins of yarn. Because of this, it's wonderfully squishy, but it is certainly a blanket for colder times.

Since this was a gift for my new nephew, I decided to add one of my tags :) Then hopefully he will know where this came from when he gets older. Part of why I wanted to make this was just to learn the construction, but also to see how sturdy it felt with all that seaming. I'm pleasantly surprised at how together this blanket feels. I was afraid the weight of the other strips would cause them to pull away from each other and create gaps, but if I didn't tell people it was made in strips then I don't think they would ever know.

I let my other new nephew test it out before I sent it to the recipient, and it passed the cozy baby test with flying colors :) 

All in all, I'm really happy with this project. You can't beat the speed, and for baby gifts this will give me a very impressive look without all the time I would usually have to spend (which is why I don't ever knit blankets - I get bored). I am certain I will be making more of these blankets for other new babies in the future, and it really makes my purchase of this little machine feel more justified. I have the most ridiculous yarn stash, so I'm excited about the greater possibilities of using it quicker.

Summary:

Yarn: Hobby Lobby I Love This Yarn 2 skeins in Greybeard, 1 skein in Black, 1 skein in White: $14.96

Pattern: My own based off Koala Knits and Calumet Knits You Tube videos

Time: 2 Days

WIP Wednesday: Knitting Machines, Plant Based Sweaters, and Plans

Last week, I mentioned that I had a sudden desire to use some of my plant based yarn to make a summery project. This is an extremely spur of the moment notion, but it has stuck with me. So after thinking I would make a Hetty or Liesl with the Cotton et Lin I got at Hobby Lobby on clearance, I have now had to take into consideration how much yarn I would leave with each project and what I could do with it.

Because of this, I now think I've decided that the Apple Cider color will become a Liesl. The Liesl pattern is very lacy, and stretches A LOT with blocking, so it take a deceptively small amount of yarn. I only have 3 skeins of the apple cider colorway, but that should be enough for this project. Good stuff. I will be making my Liesl with longer sleeves than shown in the photo, but just how long will be determined by how much yarn I have left when I get to the sleeves.

I cast on Monday night and managed to make almost the entire yoke in a few hours. This is going to be a nice, quick project for sure, which I'm feeling right now. Considering that I don't even have the back piece done on my Susan Shaw cardigan yet, I could use some quick gratification.

For the additional skeins of this yarn, I'm still thinking of making a striped Hetty cardigan. So I'm officially separating the photo from last week, lol. There are several fingering weight sized projects I would love to make up, but I don't have any linen in lighter weight yarn, and I'm operating on stash right now so that will be for the future sometime. Will this second sweater actually get knit up this summer? Time will tell, folks. I'm inclined to think no, but who knows what tomorrow will bring?

In other things I've been working on, I have been playing a lot with my knitting machine. I have a standard gauge knitting machine now, so I can finally make a fingering weight or thinner sweater on a machine - something I have always wanted to do. These machines definitely have a different learning curve than hand knitting. Don't go into machine knitting thinking you'll get it right away because you know how to hand knit - no sir, that is not how it works, lol. But while I do make some mistakes and have to start over, I'm learning each time and will (hopefully) not make that mistake as often in the future.

When a friend of mine destashed her epic yarn stash to me this spring, she gave me 6 big cones of fine gauge yarn, so this week I've been making swatches on my knitting machine that I will use to decide what I want to make with them :) All of these were washed and dryed in the machine with a load of my kids clothes (crazy) except I also swatched some yarn I ordered from China (the flat beige one) that came in much finer than I anticipated when I ordered it. The knitting machine makes using that yarn so much less daunting. Love it. It's honestly been very fun to play with. It's a weird jump in hobbies, for sure, but I like it.

So that's what I have going on this week. Anyone else making summer sweater plans? Or playing with a knitting machine? Let me know!

WIP Wednesday: Vintage Knit Check In and Summer Planning

I'm not the greatest at diving into a fingering weight sweater and working on it monogamously until it's done. Fingering weight sweaters tend to be my background knits - the project I always have going that I can grab in between the gift making and other shiny things that take my fancy. Since starting this sweater on March 7th, I've knit a shawl and 2 amigurumi, finished a bolero and a different fingering weight sweater, and crocheted an amigurumi and a tote bag. Not bad, frankly, lol. But I've managed to get all those other projects finished so I've had more time to devote to knitting this up.

I knew when I started this that it would be a background item because it would take a little more brain power than I'm used to. Being a vintage pattern from the 1940s, this doesn't exactly hold your hand, and I'm adjusting the size up for myself since this was only written for a 34-36" bust, which I am not. I figured the back would be the easiest piece to start with, and so far it's looking very nice. I'm about to shape the area above the arm holes. Also I just love this yarn. Knit Picks Stroll never disappoints with me. It's so smooth and soft, I just love it, so I'm very excited to have this as a finished object.

I also managed to make my first ever actual project on the Sentro knitting machine! It's so adorable, seriously, and I will share all the particulars here soon. I just have to weave in the ends before it goes to its recipient on Saturday.

In new ideas (or at least resurrecting of older ideas), I watched a podcast yesterday about plant based fibers for summer, and it really got me thinking about the Cotton et Lin yarn I have in my stash. I picked up several skeins of coordinating colors in the Hobby Lobby clearance this spring figuring I would make a striped cardigan of some kind with them. 

I have 4 colors - 3 skeins of Apple Cider, 2 skeins of Chintz, 1 skein of Fern, and 1 skein of Rouge. I'd rather not use the Apple Cider color simply because I have enough skeins to make a separate project on its own in that color, but I'm trying to decide. These are much more muted tones than I usually go for with knitting, but I am really liking the combo together. I'm trying to make a lacy cardigan so I can get decent wear out of it in Florida. I'm thinking either the Hetty pattern by Andi Satterlund (which I've made before here) or the Liesl cardigan by Ysolda Teague, which I've always wanted to make. 

I had still have the Tierney cardigan by Andi Satterlund in this lovely Bernat Cassino I thrifted several months ago on my mind. This one feels more fall in color than the Cotton et Lin, so who knows. We will see how the mood strikes me.

What are you working on this week? Anything exciting?

WIP Wednesday: Learning New Toys

So, I've been watching a lot of knitting on You Tube lately, and I finally succumbed to the online trend that is the Sentro Knitting Machine. I hemmed and hawed about it for a while - after all I am a knitter and therefor can produce much more detailed items than these little machines ever could. I also have a flat bed knitting machine from the 80s at my disposal. Do I need some "toy" knitting machines? Not really. Especially not for the prices they sell for on Amazon. THEN I found them on Temu.  I'll confess I've been mildly obsessed with Temu lately - They are a Chinese company that ships direct instead of you having to buy things marked up on Amazon. They ship for free, get things to you in about a week, and offer discounts on top of the already lower prices they sell for. All good things in my book. I've been going through a pretty hard time in my personal life, so late one night I bit the bullet and bought myself a few new toys.

I got the 22 pin, 48 pin, and a 4 stitch i-cord machine. I have seen some really cute ideas of things to make with these, so I'm not just jumping in blind and knitting hats for everyone. I'm hoping that this will help me churn out some good gifts in quick fashion as well as help me use up some of my ridiculous yarn stash.

The Sentro machines do come with some yarn that is the right size for you to try out. The bigger machine came with the same size as the smaller machine (maybe a DK weight), but the bigger machine also came with what looks like borderline bulky weight yarn. After cranking out this pink tube in the DK on the bigger machine, I think it does need a thicker yarn. So there is certainly a learning curve to getting things right, but I'm excited to play around with these and see what I can produce. I'm also excited about the idea of my kids getting to make things as well. They are 5 and not quite up to learning to really knit, but if they can turn a crank and make something I know they will be inordinately pleased.

Have you used a Sentro knitting machine? What kinds of things do you make? 

*If you are interested in getting one of these for yourself (and pay much less than you would in the states), click this link to get 30% off and free shipping on Temu. You only get that 30% off once as a new member, so it's a great time to snag a a machine or two for a deal. This is an affiliate link, but I purchased these machines completely with my own money and this post is not sponsored in any way. I just like to share things I think are fun at a good price :)