Tag Archives: knitting blog

The Summertime Market Bag Pattern

Posted in June 2023, June 29, 2023 by


I am all for window shopping and retail (yarn) therapy.

You sometimes find the most unexpected things that just have to be purchased.

A market bag is a useful thing to take along for these shopping trips especially if you live in a place where plastic bags are not easily available.

These knitted or crocheted market bags can be for personal use as well as for gifting. They are also reusable and eco-friendly.

For me as a knitter and crocheter, making handmade market bags gives me one more reason to continue yarn therapy.

The Summertime Market Bag Pattern (text and images for personal use only)

Yarn: YarnspirationsTM Caron Cotton Ripple Cakes yarn in the French Vanilla colorway. The yarn is discontinued but may still be available at Michaels etc. For the Summertime Market Bag 1 cake (240 g) of this yarn was used. 
Tapestry needle to weave in ends
Gauge: Not really needed since the center out crochet moss stitch squares can be customized to any size.
Crochet hook: US size F-5 or 3.75 mm for the crochet moss stitch squares and US E-4 or 3.5 mm for the shoulder strap
Abbreviations:
sc: single crochet
[…]: pattern repeat

The Summertime Market Bag is crocheted in the round using the center out crochet moss stitch pattern. The crochet moss stitch square starts with a crochet magic ring.


In a crochet magic ring pictured above (there are many tutorials available online on how to make a crochet magic ring) pull up a stitch with the US F-5 crochet hook, sc once into the ring, chain 2, place marker, sc into the ring, chain 2, place marker, sc into the ring, chain 2, place marker, sc into the ring, chain 2, place marker, and sc. Pull on the yarn tail to tighten the gap (pictured below).


Round 1: Insert the crochet hook into the chain 2 space of the first marker and sc, chain 2, sc, chain 1 all in the same chain 2 space (see below). Remove the first marker and place it as the beginning of the round marker. [Insert hook and sc, chain 2, sc, chain 1 into the chain 2 space of the second marker. Remove second marker]. Repeat […] this for the third and fourth marker in their chain 2 space.


Round 2: [Sc, chain 2, sc, chain 1 all in the same chain 2 space of the first corner with the beginning of the round marker. Sc in the next chain 1 space between the first and second corner (see picture below), chain 1]. Repeat […] for the second, third and fourth corners till the beginning of the first marker.


Repeat the Round 2 till preferred size is reached ending with a sc in the chain 2 space at the beginning of the round. Cut the working yarn and pull through the sc stitch. There was a total of 34 round repeats for the Summertime Market Bag.


Make another crochet moss stitch square of the same size.
Wash and block the two squares (wrong side pictured below)


The two sides and the bottom of the two squares are then joined together using two strands of the yarn and the crochet zig zag slip stitch method.


The Shoulder Strap: Insert US E-4 hook from right to left on top of one side of the joined square, pick up and single crochet 11 stitches (pictured below) for the shoulder strap for about fifteen and a half inches ending with the right side row. Cut yarn and pull through the stitch. Repeat the same on the other side of the joined square. Join the two shoulder straps using the crochet slip stitch join method.

Weave in the ends to complete the Summertime Market Bag.

~coffeeteaknits.com

© Coffee Tea Knits. All text and images for personal use only. All Rights Reserved.

Sheltering Tree Shawlette with Indie Dyed Yarn

Posted in June 15, 2023, June 2023 by

I knit another Sheltering Tree Shawlette with hand dyed super wash merino yarn by Cozy Color Works in the Jersey Peach colorway. I purchased this yarn about 4 or 5 years ago at either a wool walk or the NJ Sheep and Wool Festival. Each hank of hand dyed yarn by Indie Dyers is unique and a work of art. This 550 yards of fingering weight merino yarn is unique in its colorful speckles, its softness, its warmth and lightness.

The yarn also shows the stitch definition of The Sheltering Tree Shawlette Pattern well. There were some modifications made to the pattern. I knit this shawlette with US Size #5 circular needles, added a few more garter stitch rows for the border and omitted the eyelet row. This Sheltering Tree Shawlette is wider and longer than the previous one. The speckles in the yarn added pops of color and made knitting this shawlette fun.

~coffeeteaknits.com

© Coffee Tea Knits. All text and images for personal use only. All Rights Reserved.

The Reverse Side Dishcloth Pattern

Posted in May 26, 2023 by

In knitting patterns there is a right side and a wrong side for a row or a round. It does not mean that the wrong side (the inner side) pattern can’t be reversed and be on the right side (the outer side). I sometimes like the reverse side of the pattern just as much as the right or outer side. The Comfy Hat Patterns are an example of patterns with both the right side and wrong side as the outer side of the hats. When I completed knitting the Spring is in the Air Dishcloth last month, I liked how the two different colors of yarn gave a striped textured pattern on the reverse (wrong) side of the dishcloth (pictured below). The striped textured pattern on the wrong side led to the Reverse Side Dishcloth pattern.

The Reverse Side Dishcloth pattern is the reverse side of the linen stitch pattern in two different yarn colorways. In this pattern I used Capri Eco Cotton™ by Loops and Threads® yarn made from recycled cotton in two different colorways. Stitches are cast on, the round joined and the dishcloth is worked by knitting towards the center with decreases every other round till 8 stitches remain. It is then finished with the duplicate crochet stitch running diagonally beginning at each corner and moving towards the center. Reverse single crochet stitch pattern is used as an edging for the border.

The Reverse Side Dishcloth Pattern (text and images for personal use only)

Yarn: Capri Eco Cotton™ by Loops and Threads® yarn in Yellow (Colorway 1) and Pewter (Colorway 2)
Knitting Needles: US #10 for cast on and US #8 circular needles to knit the dishcloth
Crochet hook: US size 7 or 4.5 mm crochet hook
Tapestry Needle to weave in ends
Gauge: 5 stitches/inch
Abbreviations:

  • K: Knit
  • P: Purl
  • K2tog: Knit the first two stitches on the left needle together
  • ssk: slip slip knit (slip 2 stitches to right hand needle then insert the left needle in front of the two slipped stitches and knit them together
  • pm: place marker
  • sm: slip marker
  • BOR: beginning of round
  • wyif: with working yarn in front
  • *…*: pattern repeats within a section
  • […]: repeat pattern for each of the 4 sections within brackets

With US #10 knitting needles cast on 148 stitches with Colorway 1 (Yellow) yarn using the long tail cast on or the thumb method.
Transfer all stitches to a 16 inch US #8 circular needles, place a BOR marker and join round to knit the following making sure the stitches are not twisted. 

  • Setup Round 1: With Colorway 2 yarn (Pewter): [P1, pm, ssk, (*K1, slip1 wyif* repeat *…* 16 more times), K2tog, pm] repeat […] 2 more times, P1, pm, ssk, (*K1, slip1 wyif* repeat *…* 16 more times), K2tog, slip BOR marker – place all the yarn tails on the right side of the knitting (pictured below)
  • Round 2: With Colorway 1 yarn (Yellow): [P1, sm, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till marker, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, P1, sm, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till BOR marker, slip BOR marker  
  • Round 3: With Colorway 2 yarn (Pewter): [P1, sm, ssk, *slip1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before marker, K2tog, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, P1, pm, ssk, *slip 1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before BOR marker, K2tog, slip BOR marker 
  • Round 4: With Colorway 1 yarn (Yellow): [P1, sm, *slip 1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till marker, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, P1, sm, *slip 1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till BOR marker, slip BOR marker 
  • Round 5: With Colorway 2 yarn (Pewter): [P1, sm, ssk, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before marker, K2tog, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, P1, pm, ssk, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before BOR marker, K2tog, slip BOR marker 
  • Round 6: With Colorway 1 yarn (Yellow): [P1, sm, *K1, slip1 wyif* repeat *…* till marker, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, P1, sm, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till BOR marker, slip BOR marker 

Repeat Rounds 3 – 6, seven more times. There are 20 stitches left on the needles after these repeats. For the next two rounds knit the following:

  • Round 1: Colorway 2 (Pewter): [P1, sm, ssk, K2tog, sm], repeat […] 2 more times, P1, sm, ssk, K2tog, slip BOR marker – 12 stitches remaining
  • Round 2: Colorway 1 (Yellow): [P1, remove marker, p2tog, remove marker], repeat […] 2 more times, P1, remove maker, p2tog, remove marker, P1, slip BOR marker – 8 stitches remaining

Cut the working yarn (yellow – colorway 1) and pull it through a tapestry needle. Remove the BOR marker and insert the tapestry needle through the remaining eight stitches and pull them tight to close the gap and secure yarn on the right side of the dishcloth.


The Duplicate Crochet Stitch*:

With size 7 (4.5 mm) crochet hook and colorway 1 (yellow) yarn make a slip knot and chain one.


Insert crochet hook from top to bottom and pull the chain 1 stitch through the corner stitch.


Duplicate stitch crochet by inserting hook top to bottom and pulling the yarn up and slip stitching it with the loop (stitch) on the hook.


Insert the hook for the duplicate crochet stitch in the colorway 1 (yellow) knit stitch and skip the colorway 2 (pewter) knit stitch. Continue with the duplicate crochet stitch till you reach the center, break yarn and pull it through the last stitch.


Reverse Single Crochet Edging and hanging loop* (Optional):

Reverse Single Crochet edging: Starting at the cast on edge and on the left of the center duplicate crochet stitch (see picture below),

pick up the cast on stitches and reverse single crochet in a clockwise direction with size 7 (4.5 mm) crochet hook all around the dishcloth edge with Colorway 1 (yellow) yarn. Slip stitch into the first reverse single crochet border stitch and crochet 12 chain stitches. Slip stitch into the reverse single crochet stitch on the other side of the center duplicate crochet stitch.

Weave in the ends, wash and block the Reverse Side Dishcloth.

* Several video tutorials for the duplicate crochet stitch and reverse single crochet are available on YouTube 

Happy Knitting!

~coffeeteaknits.com

© Coffee Tea Knits. All text and images for personal use only. All Rights Reserved.

To Knit an Impromptu Custom Sweater

Posted in 2023, May 9, 2023 by


Knitting an impromptu custom top down sweater is much like an unplanned journey to me. The final destination is known but the path taken and the process to get there is not clear.

The cotton yarn for this project was meant for a weaving project that didn’t happen.

I quickly cast on enough stitches to begin a custom top down raglan sleeved cardigan. Since both the yarn were variegated alternating them in stripes to prevent too much color pooling seemed like the way to go.

Several rows in I changed direction and decided to knit a pullover instead of a cardigan. So some more stitches were cast on, the round joined and the journey towards a top down pullover began.

The journey to a completed sweater body and sleeves went pretty smoothly. I washed, blocked and photographed the sweater.

The finished pullover:


Those uneven horizontal stripes (arrows) at the beginning of round where the yarn for the stripe pattern changed were pretty noticeable to me. I had to get some help from the crochet duplicate stitch pattern. The crochet duplicate stitch placed vertically fortunately made the uneven horizontal stripes less noticeable.

The finished impromptu custom sweater was not at all how I visualized it to be when I first cast on some stitches for a top down raglan sleeved sweater.

Reaching my destination of a finished sweater took much longer than I had anticipated. I had expected a journey of simple stockinette and 2 x 2 rib stitch patterns but then had to add a more complicated crochet duplicate stitch pattern in the opposite direction.

Knitting this impromptu sweater was quite a journey for me. I am pleasantly surprised and satisfied with how this unplanned sweater turned out.

Now having reached my destination I look forward to a chance to wear this impromptu pullover.

~coffeeteaknits.com

© Coffee Tea Knits. All text and images for personal use only. All Rights Reserved.

Spring Is In The Air Dishcloth Pattern

Posted in 2023, April 2023 by


Somehow the birds chirping, the bright blue sky, the showers, warmer days, new leaves on trees and the vibrant Spring flowers refresh and lighten my mood. I get motivated to declutter, clean and of course start new knitting projects appropriate for Spring and Summer. As the weather gets warmer, I start knitting more with cotton yarn. Spring is in the Air Dishcloth reflects this cheerfulness that comes with warm weather. The dishcloth was knit in the linen stitch pattern with two different colors of cotton worsted yarn. It was knit in the round moving towards the center through a series of decreases every other round. The knitting technique for this dishcloth is similar to The Toward Center Mitered Dishcloth but was knit alternating two different colors of the cotton worsted yarn in each round.

Spring Is In The Air Dishcloth Pattern (text and images for personal use only)

Yarn: Any Cotton Worsted Yarn in 2 different colorways – I used some Lily Sugar’n Cream yarn in White (Colorway 2) and Yellow (Colorway 1)
Knitting Needles: US #10 for cast on and US #9 circular needles to knit the dishcloth
Crochet hook: US size H- 8 or 5.0 mm crochet hook
Tapestry Needle to weave in ends
Gauge: 4 stitches/inch but is not needed for this project
Abbreviations:

  • K: Knit
  • P: Purl
  • K2tog: Knit the first two stitches on the left needle together
  • pm: place marker
  • sm: slip marker
  • BOR: beginning of round
  • wyib: with working yarn in the back
  • wyif: with working yarn in front
  • *…*: pattern repeats within a section
  • […]: repeat pattern for each of the 4 sections within brackets

With US #10 knitting needles cast on 140 stitches with Colorway 2 (White) yarn using the long tail cast on or the thumb method.
Transfer all stitches to a 16 inch US #9 circular needles, place a BOR marker and join round to knit the following making sure the stitches are not twisted. 

  • Round 1: With Colorway 1 yarn (Yellow): [slip 1 stitch wyib, pm, K2tog, (*K1, slip1 wyif* repeat *…* 15 more times), K2tog, pm] repeat […] 2 more times, slip 1 stitch wyib, pm, K2tog, (*K1, slip1 wyif* repeat *…* 15 more times), K2tog, slip BOR marker
  • Round 2: With Colorway 2 yarn (White): [K1, sm, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till marker, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, K1, sm, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till BOR marker, slip BOR marker  
  • Round 3: With Colorway 1 yarn (Yellow): [slip 1 stitch wyib, sm, K2tog, *slip1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before marker, K2tog, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, slip 1 stitch wyib, pm, K2tog, *slip 1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before BOR marker, K2tog, slip BOR marker 
  • Round 4: With Colorway 2 yarn (White): [K1, sm, *slip 1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till marker, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, K1, sm, *slip 1 wyif, K1* repeat *…* till BOR marker, slip BOR marker 
  • Round 5: With Colorway 1 yarn (Yellow): [slip 1 stitch wyib, sm, K2tog, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before marker, K2tog, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, slip 1 stitch wyib, pm, K2tog, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till 2 stitches before BOR marker, K2tog, slip BOR marker 
  • Round 6: With Colorway 2 yarn (White): [K1, sm, *K1, slip1 wyif* repeat *…* till marker, sm] repeat […] 2 more times, K1, sm, *K1, slip 1 wyif* repeat *…* till BOR marker, slip BOR marker 

Repeat Rounds 3 – 6, six more times. There are 20 stitches left on the needles after these repeats.

  • Round 31: Colorway 1 (Yellow): [slip 1 stitch wyib, sm K2tog, K2tog, sm], repeat […] 2 more times, slip 1 stitch wyib, sm K2tog, K2tog, slip BOR marker 
  • Round 32: Colorway 2 (White): [K1, sm, slip 1 wyif, K1, sm], repeat […] 2 more times, K1, sm, slip1 wyif, K1, slip BOR marker
  • Round 33: Colorway 1 (Yellow) : [slip 1 stitch wyib, sm, K2tog, sm], repeat […] 2 more times, slip 1 stitch wyib, sm, K2tog, slip BOR marker
  • Round 34: Colorway 2 (White): Knit all stitches removing all markers except the BOR marker (8 stitches remaining)

Cut the working yarn and pull it through a tapestry needle. Insert the tapestry needle through the remaining eight stitches and pull them tight to close the gap. Secure yarn on the reverse side of the dishcloth.

Single Crochet Edging and hanging loop:

  • Crochet edging: Starting at the cast on edge to the right of the center knit stitch (see picture below), pick up and single crochet with H-8 (5.0 mm) crochet hook all around the dishcloth edge with Colorway 1 (yellow) yarn. Slip stitch into the first single crochet border stitch and crochet 12 to 15 chain stitches. Slip stitch into the single crochet stitch on the other side of the center knit stitch.

crochetborder

  • Weave in the ends
  • Wash and block the dishcloth

Enjoy your knitting this Spring!

~coffeeteaknits.com

© Coffee Tea Knits. All text and images for personal use only. All Rights Reserved.