Itty Bitty Bags... Featured in the LKC Spring '10 Issue
I just thought you might like to know that there’s a Loom Along going on in Ravelry for the Itty Bitty Bag project!
It’s in the newly formed group for the Loom Knitter’s Circle Magazine. If you’re not a member yet, you should pop on over and join in on the fun! 🙂
I’ll see ya’ there!
Bethany~
I’ve recently had the opportunity to re-create the Pooch Parka, a submission of mine for the Loom Knitting Pattern Book.
As I was knitting this project for the 2nd (& 3rd!) time, I realized that there are some things that I wanted to actually do different to make things a bit smoother as I worked through the project. I decided that it would probably be a good idea to share those tips with you, in case you had a canine buddy that you were planning on creating this really quite adorable little sweater for. **Keep in mind that you’ll actually need to refer to the original pattern in the book to be able to follow along~
So here we go:
In creating my 2nd “Santa Parka”, I actually used only one strand throughout, which made the project a little less dense. This is a good way to go if you don’t need such a thick parka. Also, the white furry trim was a tad bit thinner (#5 bulky) than the original choice of yarn (#6 super bulky), so the number of rows differed just a bit for the body of the project.
The next thing I changed up was in the shaping of the front chest area, when the project begins to be knit in a flat panel.
Row 22:
Row 23: In order to make this work with the 2 strands of CC, after your decreases, you’ll need to go backwards with your first strand again, twisting loosely around MC so as to not pucker, from peg 8 of the previous row to peg 5 of this row. You’ll need to do the same at the end of the row for the 2nd strand of CC, from peg 3 to 23 (crossing backwards over pegs 2,1 & 24).
After this maneuvering, you should be able to now use your -CC strand at each end and MC strand- interchangeably as you panel knit back and forth for each row of the pattern….whew! It’s a mouth full, but as you are working the project, you’ll clearly understand what I mean (I hope, lol). 😉
With the change of yarn types, I actually only knit in the pattern until Row 50, then increased the # of the thinner CC yarn to a total of 10 rows for the base.
Again, for the difference in yarns, I changed the strap rows to 48.
Row 54: Peg #3 will only have 2 loops (not 1) and will therefore not be KO.
Row 55: Peg #3 will be KO 2 loops over 1 (not 1 over 1).
Weave in all ends…with the extra yarn maneuvers listed here you’ll have a few more ends to weave in, but the results are definitely better when all is said and done.
Okay…that should do it! I hope this helps you when creating this project, and gives you the freedom to create your Pooch Parka in other styles and colors of yarns for an unlimited variety of finished looks. 🙂 As always, I’d love to see your pictures, and would be honored to post them in the Clique Pics Page! ***Also, please feel free to post any questions you might have about this pattern right here in the comments section of this post, and I’ll answer here as well, so that we can keep all the learning process in one place for everyone’s benefit.
Happy Looming!
Bethany~
This past weekend, all four of us managed to escape the hub-bub of the big city to explore the beautiful and enchanted Whidbey Island! It was the first time for all of us; amazingly so, since I was born and raised here in Washington State, and my hubby has lived here since he was 10 yrs old…well, except for the 5.5 yrs we spent in breathtaking Bend, Oregon. 😉
I can say without any hesitation that everything was an absolute delight…a perfect trip from start to finish! The weather was just right; warm and breezy, yet not overpoweringly so, with bright blue skies the entire time. We drove first to the northern tip of the island on Friday afternoon and stayed in Oak Harbor. We spent through Saturday exploring the general vicinity, including Deception Pass State Park, Deception Pass Bridge, and the local shops. The Beach at the park was fabulous: calm and sheltered, no massive rush of wind that you normally get when you head to the coast…needless to say we thoroughly enjoyed our visit there! We enjoyed the pool and jacuzzi at the hotel to it’s fullest as well. 😉
On Sunday morning, we checked out out of our hotel and headed south down the length of the island, ready to stop at anything that looked interesting. What a delight this trip was! So full of wonderful views of foliage, farms, flower filled meadows, mountain vistas, all framed by the sparkling blue water of the Sound. We soon saw signs about the Loganberry Festival at Greenbank Farm, and turned in to see what it was all about. We had a great time exploring this festival that was filled with fun market booths, artist demonstrations, live music and great food! There was even a building that housed homey type of crafts such as weaving, spinning, block printing, and silk painting…needless to say, I stayed here a while, ooohing and aaahing, lol! The funny thing about this festival was that there was (that we could see) not an actual loganberry in sight, lol! There were loganberry wines, jams, pies and syrups, though. 😉
After the day was spent at the festival, we continued along the island, traveling through quaint villages and more scenic views, and generally getting a feel for what we would love to make sure to spend more time doing when we make this trip again. We ended the day by getting onto the ferry at the southern tip of the island and heading to the mainland. This was fun, as it was our girlies’ first trip ever on a ferry, and many years since either one of my hubby or I had gotten to ride one. It was a lot of fun…and could have been much longer for us to truly enjoy it to the fullest!
I’ve put together a little slide show detailing our trip…I hope you enjoy the views as much as we did! 🙂
Gettin' It Pegged...Loom Knitter's Clique 