Sweet! Chart and Pattern

A fast little knit for Easter. Thanks to Ang for test-knitting it for me.

Sweet!
Copyright © by Susan Mrenna 2007 Knit A Little http://www.knitalittlestore.blogspot.com/
Sample knit by Ang.
One ball of cotton yarn, size 7 needles Cast on 40 Stitches K = knit, p = purl.

Row 1-13 and all odd rows) knit all stitches
Row 14) k16, p8, k16
Row 16) k13, p14, k13
Row 18) k11, p18, k11
Row 20) k9, p22, k9
Row 22) k8, p7, (k1, p1) 4X, k1, p8, k8
Row 24) k7, p6, k1, p11, k1, p7, k7
Row 26) k6, p5, k1, p15, k1, p5, k7
Row 28) k6, p3, k1, p18, k1, p5, k6
Row 30) k6, p2, k1, p20, k1, p4, k6
Row 32) k6, p1, k1, p21, k1, p3, k7
Row 34) k8, p19, k3, p2, k8
Row 36) k10, p16, k14
Row 38) k13, p13, k14
Row 40) k15, p11, k14
Row 42) k15, p6, k1, p4, k14
Row 44) k15, p1, k2, p8, k14
Row 46) k17, p7, k16
Row 48) k15, p7, k18
Row 50-60) knit all stitches

Bind off and weave in ends.

Happy Pi Day

March 14 is known as Pi day. To celebrate at 3:14 this afternoon I cast on a Pi shawl in the Orkney Pi pattern.
The Orkney Pi is a KAL with the EZ as Pi Yahoo Group, http://groups.yahoo.com/group/EZasPi/
I am using Lion Brand Pound of Love in the color Antique White as mine will be a blanket rather than a shawl. I used a waste yarn I-cord cast-on that I have already removed the waste yarn from and closed the hole.
I have done the first two rows of the Tree section.
I followed Bonnie's idea of adding a few extra rows as she said in message 25304 on the EZ as Pi group.
My piece is distorted by the needles not holding it perfectly round, but really is okay.
For more on Pi Day see http://www.piday.org/

Introducing Bubbles

Bubbles is a very versatile little fish.
He can be a Baby Wash Cloth, a Scrubbie, a Dishcloth, a washcloth, a cat toy and more.
Bubbles may be made using any yarn that suits your intended purpose. Solids and varigated yarns both work well. Use scraps and make an exotic tropical fish. Use cotton for dish and wash cloths and acrylic or cotton for scrubbies.
Bubbles is easily adapted to many sizes by working more or fewer body rows. The mouth and tail are the same in all sizes.

Bubbles

Copyright © by Susan Mrenna 2008 Knit A Little
www.knitalittlestore.com

One ball of cotton or acrylic yarn, variegated or solid, size 7 needles K = knit, p = purl, yo = yarn over, k2tog = knit 2 together

Cast on 8 stiches
Knit 2 rows
Bind off 2 stitches, k1, yo, k to end of row
Repeat bind off row once more.
K2, yo, knit to end of row.
Repeat till piece measures 4 inches along a diagonal edge, or until it is the size you want.
On next row, k1, k2tog, yo, k2tog, knit to end.
Repeat this row until you have 4 stitches left.
Then k2, yo, k to end each row till there are 12 stitches on needle.
Bind off and weave in ends.

Bubbles as a cat toy.
Make 2 and stitch together for a cat toy. Make it smaller by knitting till the diagonal edge is 2 inches instead of 4. Put catnip inside a piece of old panty hose. Knot the ends of the hose to keep it inside. Put the catnip bag inside Bubbles and use the yo holes to stitch it up.

Bubbles as a scrubbie.
Make as directed.

Bubbles as a baby washcloth.
Make as directed using your softest cotton yarn.

Bubbles as a dishcloth or washcloth.
Do the increase row until you have the size you prefer for a dishcloth. Bubbles is square so knit till the diagonal edge is the length you like.

Check It Out!

I have been busy NOT knitting. I still have not finished the horse.
However, take a look at http://pictureandpattern.blogspot.com/ and you will see I have not been idle :)
I have had the idea for this for a long time and finally got around to implementing it. It is a LONG way from finished, but is a good start.
I would love if everyone would post links to patterns, dishcloth groups and designers that I may have missed. Please post them on the pattern blog. There are a LOT of designers that only have a few patterns. Thanks!

The Shepherd's Dog

The dog is from the Jan Messent Book, Knit A Fantasy Story.
I did make a few changes. I did not use a frame to build the dog on. (This will make sense if you have the book)
I also changed the legs. For the front legs I cast on twelve stitches and knit twelve rows of garter stitch and cast off. I rolled the legs tightly with the cast on and cast off edges being the top and bottom of the leg. Then I stitched the roll edge to the rest of the leg and then stitched it to the body.
For the back legs I cast on twelve stitches and knit six rows. On the seventh row I k2, kfb across, then knit five more rows and cast off. Finish like the front leg and the thicker end is the top of the leg.
I don't know if I just missed them but I could not find directions for a tail. I made mine by casting on four stitches and knitting I-cord for three rows. Then I k2tog, k2 on the fourth row. I knit the three stitches in I-cord for three more rows, then k2tog, k1 on row eight. I knit the two stitches in I-cord for three more rows, the k2tog and cut the yarn and pulled the end through the loop and wove it in. It made a pretty good tail.
So far the chickens and dog have been pretty close to the scale of the Jean Greenhowe figures for the Nativity. I may manage to finish the horse tomorrow.

Chickens!

The chickens are from my new book purchase, Jan Messent's Knit A Fantasy Story.
I LOVE chickens. I don't collect them or anything, but I do love them.
I think that there were probably chickens around the stable. I made six, but only put three in this picture.
I stuffed them with a cotton ball size bit of fiberfill. The combs and tails are loops of yarn and the beak is a crochet chain of five stitches. The eyes are french knots.
I did all the embellishing before sewing them up.

New Book

I have purchased a new book. I love it! It is Knit A Fantasy Story by Jan Messant. I have only knit one of the patterns so far, but it seems to fit the scale of my Nativity set. I am hoping to use patterns from this set to round out my Nativity scene.
The book has Enchanted Castle, Magic Forest and Farmyard Fantasia themes.