Most popular patterns on Ravelry

Browsing through my previous blog entries, I found my assessment of the top 100 Ravelry yarns, which got me thinking. How about the top patterns?

I picked out the most popular patterns on Ravelry as of today:

1. Fetching - yes, made these for my mother, and would make again


2. BSJ - this is hibernating - the knitting is finished, just needs making up


3. Monkey - not yet, but potentially


4. Calorimetry - have the yarn, plan to make


5. Clapotis - made it, but don't love my yarn choice so it doesn't get worn


6. Ishbel - no, not likely to


7. February lady sweater - maybe later


8. Noro striped scarf - I like it, but am worried that Noro is so scratchy. Unlikely to make


9. Turn a square - maybe later


10. Saartje's booties - maybe later


11. Swallowtail shawl - unlikely


12. Sock recipe - no


13. Ballband dishcloth - would like to make. Bought some Rowan Cotton Jeans to use for this


14. Starcrossed slouchy beret - hadn't seen this before, but I like it. Have added to my faves list.


15. Felted clogs - yes made this, but they come out huge!!


16. Koolhaas - maybe later


17. Bella's mittens - maybe later


18. One row handspun scarf - yes, and enjoyed making this


19. Baktus scarf - maybe later


20. Lace ribbon scarf - would like to make

Out of the top 20, I've made 4, have one WIP, would consider making 11 and have 4 I don't want to make. I wonder how typical that is of other Ravelers.

I also made a trip to the Liberty sale yesterday. There were some discontinued colours of Rowan cashsoft in various weights and felted tweed. I managed to resist although I was quite tempted!

Ten for 10 project

Saw this challenge in the Stash and burn group on Ravelry. The idea is to think of ten things to expand your knitting skills, and make something that tries these techniques. Here's my list so far:

1. Steeking
2. Entrelac - a quant headband or garterlac dishcloth look manageable
3. Make a granny square afghan - I've started Babette, so just need to pick that up again
4. Line a knitted bag - I'm keen on knitting felted bags, but not so much on finishing them...
5. Top down raglan -
6. Moebius cast on -
7. Knit something with yarn I've dyed myself -
8. Make a pair of more complex socks - I've only made very simple ones so far, and would like to try something from Cookie A or Cat Bordhi.

9 and 10 to be determined later in the year

Welcome to 2010

Knitting goals for this year:

• Take the '100 balls in 2010' challenge with the Ravelry Stash Knit Down group. This sounds achievable and is flexible about the types of projects as long as you use up 100 balls of yarn in the year.


• Improve my sock knitting by knitting more socks


• Finish some of the WIPs - if possible, take a finishing techniques class to help me deal with some of my finishing issues.


• Get more wearable garments into my wardrobe - I need to think hard about what I actually wear, and then make sure I finish the garment, not get it to the 90% stage!


• Make something out of yarn I've dyed myself

And a quick look at knitting achievements in 2009. NaKniSweMoDo did not work out for me. I planned to finish all my UFOs and whip through several new garments. Didn't happen. In the first half of the year I had other commitments, and couldn't handle knitting major projects too.

In the second half, I managed to knit all the pieces for a sweater for my sister, but failed to sew them together.

I did also manage a cabled jumper for my DH, which I just finished! He is wearing it proudly today.

My biggest challenge was knitting a Zhu shawl in laceweight cashmere. I intended it as a holiday project, following Elizabeth Zimmerman's advice about circular shawls being great travel knitting. Well it was, but then lasted for several months beyond the holiday..... I'm pleased I finished it, but am not in a rush to repeat the experience.

The personal small items challenge fared better, completing the following:

• one row scarf


• ipod cosy number two


• 


• fickle fingers scarf


• kitty pi cat basket


• felted clogs

So how big is the cat?

My sister's cat has issues. Displeasure expressed through inappropriate peeing on soft furnishings issues. However, when I came across Wendy Knits' kitty pi bed, I agreed to give it a go - as my DH points out, better the cat pees on her own bed than on my sister's...

The yarn is Patons Jet, which is a delight to knit with - very soft and lofty. In fact, I kept muttering throughout, "This yarn's too good for a cat". I made it to the specified base dimensions, but added a couple of extra rows to make the sides a little higher.

I then felted it in a newly acquired drawstring bag with dryer balls for friction, and took it out fully expecting to have to put it through another cycle as usual. To my horror, it had felted so effectively that it was much smaller than I expected! There followed lots of tugging and stretching to try and claw back a little size before it dried. Although the net result is beautifully soft and the colour very tasteful, I'm still concerned that the cat will need to be very small to fit inside. Diameter is just over 12" against a target size of 15". Which leads us the question - how big is the cat?

Long silence

Sorry about the long silence - sometimes life gets in the way. However, knitting progress has resumed in the last month, and I do have FOs and WIPs to report.

I tackled the famous Fibertrends felted clogs last month, using some wool that I originally bought for a jumper, but then decided was too coarse. The initial plan was to make a pair for my husband, then a pair for myself. In my enthusiasm, I started my DH's pair and got half way through the slipper before I test felted a swatch. When I did get around to test felting, I realised that the slipper was going to be way too big. I frogged, but was then faced with the dilemma of which size to cast on to try and achieve the right fit. I had originally cast on the men's medium, so was going to try the next size down, women's large.

At this point, I re-read the Knitnurse's cautionary tale of too-large clogs. I decided to set aside the men's clogs and work on mine. I chose the women's small, and figured that if they came out a little too big for me, I could find a willing recipient. Lots of furious knitting later, and a 60 degree wash later, I surveyed the result. Huge.

Not going to fit me, or any other woman I know. Tried them on husband. Too big even for him! And this is the women's small size... A quick purchase of some spiky dryer balls (for friction), another go through the washer, and some judicious squashing while shaping to dry, and they've shrunk enough to fit my husband. However, it doesn't look like I'm going to get a pair in a hurry, as the pattern just doesn't go down small enough! I daresay that with finer gauge yarn, it could work, but I think I'll postpone that experiment until the winter.

Unfelted





Felted


Modelled by DH


And a rather cute pair of knitted slippers I bought on holiday: