I Knit Weekender Design Competition

Oh my gosh! One month to go before the I Knit Design Competition closes.

I Knit is a great shop in Waterloo which is really much much more than a shop - it is more like a knitting community centre, really. They run the I Knit Weekender Event (10-11 September 2010) which this year includes a design competition, with an exhibition of entries at the event and prizes of £250/£100/£50 - plus yarn! Further details can be found on their website.

I have been working on my design, which uses this lovely Rowan wool, for a while now -

Not because it is especially complicated, but because I am also working on the Blanket of Doom, and that is taking me forever. But I'd better get a wriggle on if I'm going to get in completed and sent off in time!

Free Knitting Pattern - Zig and Zag Snakes

These are two dinky snakes I knitted using some yarn I had left over from socks. Zig is the plainer snake with the sewn on pattern and Zag the stripy one. They are a perfect size for little baby hands to grab, and light enough to be waved around. They also appear to be a hit with kittens!

Size: approximately 22cm long

Yarn used: Rowan 4ply Soft in 2 colours. This pattern used Cream and Linseed. It is best to use this pattern to finish up left over wool as you don’t need much of each colour – each snake uses around 10g of yarn.

3.75mm needles

Tension: 25 stitches and 30 rows of stocking stitch = 10cm²

Abbreviations:

S1 = Slip one stitch
PSO = Pass slipped stitch over knit stitch
K2tog = Knit 2 stitches together
M1 = Make 1 stitch

Pattern:

Both snakes – CO 10 stitches with Main Colour (M).

Row 1: Knit
Row 2: (and all even rows): Purl
Row 3: K1, M1, K3, M1, K2, M1, K3, M1, K1 (14 st)
Row 5: K1, M1, K4, M1, K4, M1, K4. M1, K1 (18 st)
Row 7: K1, M1, K5, M1, K6, M1, K5, M1, K1 (22 st)
Row 9: K1, M1, K6, M1, K8, M1, K6, M1, K1 (26 st)
Row 11: K1, M1, K24, M1, K1 (28 st)
Row 13: Knit
Row 15: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K7, S1, K1, PSO, K4, K2tog, K7, K2tog, K1 (24 st)
Row 17: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K6, S1, K1, PSO, K2, K2tog, K6, K2tog, K1 (20 st)
Row 19: K8, S1, K1, PSO, K2tog, K8 (18 st)
Row 21: Knit

Zig Snake – continue using M
Zag Snake – Row 23, join in Contrast Colour (CC) and then alternate colours every 2 rows.

Pattern block A:

Row 23: K4, M1, K9, K2tog, K3
Row 25, 27, 29: Repeat Row 23

Pattern block B:

Row 31: K3, S1, K1 PSO, K9, M1, K4
Row 33, 35, 37: Repeat Row 31

Rows 39-46 : Repeat pattern block B.

Rows 47-62: Repeat pattern block A twice.

Rows 63-70: Repeat pattern block B.

Row 71: Knit
Row 73: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K12, K2tog, K1 (16 st)
Row 75: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K10, K2tog, K1 (14 st)
Row 77: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K8, K2tog, K1 (12 st)
Row 79: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K6, K2tog, K1 (10 st)
Row 81: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K4, K2tog, K1 (8 st)
Row 83: K1, S1, K1, PSO, K2, K2tog, K1 (6 st)

Break off yarn with a c.40 cm tail. Thread yarn through remaining 6 stitches,and sew up snake body seam to head, and then stuff the body. I used Minicraft Supersoft Toy Filling (100% HiLoft Polyester). Sew up the head to the mouth and stuff the head, finish by sewing up the mouth.

Zig Snake: using CC sew eyes on either side of head, and also make body pattern at random points by sewing over individual stitches.

Zag Snake: using CC sew eyes on either side of head.

Work in Progress - The Blanket of Doom #1

My brother and his girlfriend are moving to Cornwall in August. I found this pattern for a blanket in a Debbie Bliss magazine - her Nautical Throw. It looks lovely, and also a bit like a cricket jumper (with the cable pattern and the stripes) so I thought it would be a perfect housewarming present for them. There is a bit more information about it on ravelry www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/nautical-throw

This is it as I was casting on at the beginning of May (it's a lot of yarn, I know) -


This is it, about 6 weeks later.... I don't think it's going to be ready for August.

It turns out I am not very fast at knitting. I can only do about 3 or 4 rows a night before my hands start to seize up - but it is already looking like it will be lovely and cosy when it's done. Maybe I should aim for a Christmas present, instead!