iPod Pouch Pattern

So here's my 2nd attempt, made in Rowan Denim. I made the top flap a bit longer, to close over the earphone pocket and it still needs a button. It's a bit overcast here today, so the flash kept going off when I took this picture, so that's not great either. Ho-hum!

But here's the pattern, written for the 1st attempt in Sugar & Cream cotton.

I used size 4½mm dpn's and got a gauge of (approx.) 22st x 30 rows : 4".

Cast on 18 sts. Start with a purl row and work 18 rows of st.st. This forms the earphone pocket - add more rows to make a larger pocket if you like.

Cast on another 10 sts and distribute the 28 sts on 3 needles like this: 1st 4 sts on needle 1, next 10 sts on needle 2 (this will be the back), next 9 sts on needle 3, last 5 sts on needle 1.

Join and knit 30 rounds. You've just made the main body which will hold your ipod.

Cast off 14 sts : the last 7 on needle 3 and the 1st 7 on needle 1. You will be left with 2 sts on needle 1, 10 sts on needle 2 and 2 sts on needle 3.

Put these remaining 14 sts on one needle and work 11 rows st.st.

Next row: K6, cast off 2, K6

following row: P6, cast on 2, P6 (you just made the buttonhole).

Work 2 more rows St.st, then cast off. That's the closing flap finished.

Sew the bottom flap to the main body of the pouch to form the earphone pocket. Sew on a button to close the top pouch.

And there you have it, your very own ipod pouch.

Please let me know if the pattern is unclear or unworkable - I really haven't made a pattern up before. And I'd love to see a picture, if you use this pattern for yourself - please leave a link in the comments.

iPod Pouch

I have an ipod which I very rarely use. A couple of weeks ago I put it in my handbag thinking maybe if it travelled with me, it'd get more use. Of course, it didn't. It just got grubby and the earphone wires got caught up in everything else in my bag.

I'm still running with the thought that if it travels it might get used, but I really wanted a pouch to put it in, to keep it all together and tidy - so I knit one. And here it is. The kitchen table shots are growing old, so I thought I'd spice things up with a poolside shot. The water looks inviting doesn't it? In fact, it's a bit chilly here right now.

This pouch is made with Peaches & Cream cotton. I'm making another one with Rowan Denim and some beads, left over from the tunic featured earlier. It's in the washing machine right now, so I'll post a pic of that another day, along with the pattern, which I made up in my head, and wrote down on some scraps of paper.

First FOs and VIP WIPs

After learning as a child, then producing nothing creative since, I took up knitting again when I had my first son 3½ years ago. I was tempted by the cute books and beautiful yarns every time I walked through the haberdashery aisle at my (then) local John Lewis store.

So I bought this Debbie Bliss book 'baby style' and haven't looked back. The lower jacket is made of Rowan's Handknit cotton and was the first thing I started. The upper jacket is made from Rowan's All Seasons Cotton and is the first thing I finished. I don't think you can see in the pictures, but I didn't know how to seam, so they are both finished terribly. But I love them nonetheless.

I have since made the toggled jacket for a nephew and the seed stitch jacket for nephews, a niece and friend's babies too.

Here's my first VIP WIP. This pic taken just a couple of days ago.

Teddy doesn't like looking at the camera, so this is a rare one.

He's SO into Cars the Movie, see Chick and the King on his shirt. Thinking about it, we haven't seen that movie in a couple of days now! But we did buy CTM valentines cards today for school. Gotta get them all before they're sold out.

And here's VIP WIP no.2, in action at the playpark

Matthew's wearing that shirt for the first time, it has a squeaker in its nose - very cute, courtesy of the wonderful and lovely Great Mo.

Also, see Teddy in action in the background

My first socks

These are the first pair of socks I made. The pattern was in Interweave Knits and called for a Mountain Colors yarn. Well, I used DB Baby Cashmerino and LOVE how they feel. They are super soft and wash like a dream. Love that yarn to knit with too.

I don't have sock blockers - maybe the shape would look a bit better for being blocked.

For Christmas, I made my friend Lucia, the Canyon Hiking Socks from the Knit Cafe book. I had just enough Rowan Wool Cotton to finish them and they looked great (imho, anyway). I really liked how they shaped over the calf. Wish I'd taken a piccy.

Walk the Line last night was brilliant. Loved Mr Pheonix and Ms Witherspoon.

Beaded Denim

This lovely tunic is made from Rowan Denim, pattern out of their 'Denim People' book. The book shows it made in the cream colour with brass coloured beads. But this is more my colour. I've gotten to wear it a few times - a couple of times in winter right here and another time in spring in the UK.

I love the pattern and how my knitting turned out - this is one of the favourite things that I've knit.

And the colour really does fade with washing, just like an old pair of jeans!

I also made some Mason Dixon baby bibs with this yarn - they were cute as heck and I heard recently that mommy recipient loves them - they're the only bibs that 'stuff' doesn't leak through. Go MD and Rowan!

So we live only a mile or two, as the crow flies, from the beach. But we have to drive for 30+mins to get there. Our boys are not really beach lovers - the sand and the water bother them! So we don't go too often. We tried again today, approx. 6 months since our last trip - the sand and water still bother them. Although they were happy to sit on the pristine towels and play with the sand and their dump trucks. A small improvement, so we'll try again sooner next time.

Tonight we're going to watch Walk The Line and I'm going to start a Mason Dixon baby kimono.

FREE YARN!!!!

.....for me that is. I went to my MOMS Club moms night out last night at my lovely friend Julia's house. We had cheese and chocolate to dip in - my favourite was cheesecake to dip in the chocolate, although the brocolli and cheese was a close second ;-) And champagne too!

Anyway, Julia has a MASSIVE stash of yarn, inherited from her aunt - I mean HUGE bags and HUGE boxes of the stuff. She gave me this bounty from said stash....

There are 9 skeins of worsted wool in oat, jute, bisque and straw colours, 6 balls of cream Norwegian wool, 16 skeins of crinkly cotton from Scott's Woolen Mill and 2 skeins of a linen blend from same mill, 3 skeins of a silky cream acrylic and 2 huge skeins which were unlabelled, but look very silky with little yellow and brown flecks of wool.

And that was only the tip of the stash iceberg!!! What a treasure Julia is.

It makes you wonder what stash will be left behind when you finally drop off this mortal coil....

MOMS Club has been a wonderful organisation for me, helping the boys and I find other moms and children to make friends with in our area. Web address to find a chapter close to you and other info is: www.momsclub.org

See no evil, hear no evil, speak no evil....

These little beauties are Sock Monkey Hats, made from the free pattern published on www.knitty.com

I used Lion Brand's Wool-Ease worsted weight on 5½mm needles. The Wool-Ease is thinner than the recommended yarn, so the hats came out smaller, in fact, the small size is just about the right size for a baby.

So my intention in making these was to gift one to my beloved godson Hazza in England - he's mad on monkeys. I eventually made his using the recommended yarn and it came out great. I used a darker colour than this picture, so his is more 'manly' - at least that's what the DH says :-)

I just noticed how nice the trees look at the back of my house.

Dishcloths in the House.....

Here are some Mason-Dixon/Ballband dishcloths I made from peaches and cream and sugar and cream cottons. I liked the peaches and cream better - it turns out a bit softer.

The coloured dishcloth will be winging its way 'up north' tomorrow to my SIL in North Carolina - my MIL is going to visit her.

In other news...... it was nice to see so many British winners at the Golden Globes last night. I especially like Sacha Baron-Cohen, he was hilarious as Ali G and lived up to that with his Borat character. And Helen Mirren is such a great actress - I love her as Jane Tenyson in Prime Suspect - hopefully they'll show that in the U.S. sometime in the future.

And of course, my very favourite Dr House, Hugh Laurie. I remember seeing this when I first moved to the U.S. in October '04 and thinking 'that guy looks JUST like Hugh Laurie, but it can't be.....the accent is so good'. Who knew? Not me, obviously.

wilkommen, bienvenue, welcome......

.........to my brand new blog. Who knows how it'll turn out. Mostly, I want to use it for showing off my knitting, to other appreciative knitters.


So here's the only photo I have of anything I've ever finished. They are 'better than bootees' baby socks from Interweave knits, made in Lorna's Laces Shepherd Sock in the Grapevine colour.

I really enjoyed knitting these, the heel was very easy and didn't have holey gaps like some other patterns (or rather the one other pair of socks I've made!)

They were for a Moms Club friend, who should be giving birth to her third girl, er, any second now.


You can also see this pic on the Sandra Singh website, where I bought the yarn. She has a special part of her site for customer's FOs.

I'll try taking a better pic next time, but I'm no artistic photographer, that's for sure.