Irish Washerwoman and other squares

Since St. Patrick's Day is around the corner and in honor of my Celtic heritage, I decided to knit a square using Sugar 'n Cream Lime Stripes. The results is the Irish Washerwoman square, named after the traditional Irish jig. This is a fast-paced little melody that you will most likely recognize when you hear the tune played: Irish Washerwoman.  

The Irish Washerwoman eight inch square was knit using two strands of yarn on eighteen pegs of the Knifty Knitter 24-peg blue loom and incorporating what I call the 2-peg stitch double flat knit stitch, which is a variation of the mock crochet stitch. Oddly enough, this square can be knit to the beat of its namesake, but I strongly advise a version with a little slower pace. The 2-peg stitch double flat knit stitch has become a favorite of mine over the past couple of years since it produces a nice stitch pattern with edges that don't roll. Since I use this stitch frequently, I also developed a special cast on and bind off that matches the stitch pattern. In addition to the Irish Washerwoman square, I used the same stitch pattern with one strand of Loops & Threads Charisma chunky yarn in Sunny Day. The square below is a 10 inch square made using all 24 pegs of the Knifty Knitter blue loom. This square will be part of my Caribbean Dreams afghan:

I had been on a "squares" kick for the past couple of weeks, prior to knitting the Irish Washerwoman cloth and the Caribbean Dreams square. This was triggered by Kelly Jones latest LoomClass offering, Andalusian Washcloth.  Although this pattern was recommended for a fine gauge loom, I had decided to try it out on a larger gauge loom, mainly because fine gauge knitting tends to cause numbness in my hands. The Andalusian results are pictured below:

The smaller sherbet colored cloth on the left was made on the CindWood 1/2" gauge loom with one strand of Sugar'n Cream Over-the-Rainbow yarn. Using one strand on the regular gauge loom probably accounts for it's distorted hour-glass shape. The larger cloth was made using all the pegs on the Knifty Knitter 24-peg blue loom and two strands of Sugar "n Cream. I added a one inch garter stitch border to the beginning and end of the cloth. I actually meant to do a garter stitch border along the sides, but I didn't think of it until I had knit about 10 rows, so it only has a slip stitch border on the sides.

I've thought of another little project I would like to do for St. Patrick's Day, but as the old Irish saying goes:

“You'll never plow a field by turning it over in your mind!”

Knifty Leprechaun

After sharing a picture of my little "loomy amigurumi leprechaun" made on the DA small gauge Mini-WonderLoom, several folks on one of the Yahoo loom knitting lists wanted to know if he could be made on the Knifty Knitter Looms. The answer is: "Yes, Virginia, there can be a Knifty Knitted leprechaun!" Since the Knifty Knitters are large gauge looms, I thought they might not be the best choice for knitting amigurumi. However, I'm very pleased with how well the KK leprechaun turned out. Of course, the KK version is about six inches tall - an inch or an inch & one-half taller that his four & one-half inch small gauge cousin, but much of that is due to the oversized top hat.

Modifications had to be made to the original pattern. The first thing was to use two strands of yarn held as one instead of the single strand that was used on the small gauge loom. Two different Knifty Knitter looms were incorporated for the KK leprechaun above. The 8-peg end of the spool loom was used for the body and the I-cord hat brim. The 12-peg flower loom was used to make the head and the main part of the hat. Also, I used some different stitch techniques to shape the bottom of the body and the top of the hat. This time around I remembered to use black when knitting the hat brim and added a yellow chain stitched buckle. As for the beard and hair, I used two strands of carrot colored Red Heart yarn instead of the copper colored fun fur and loosely crocheted an eight inch chain, which was whip stitched in place. I decided "fun fur" is an oxymoron, because it really isn't much fun to work with. To me, the fun fur is a bit too fussy for the amigurumi style. Another change was the use of buttons for the eyes. Of course, this would not be recommended for use with small children, but I just wanted to see what they would look like on this one.

At the rate I get things done these days, the pattern might be available in time for next St. Patrick's Day. In the meantime, I plan on making other amigurumi characters on the Knifty Knitter Looms since they are quick knits and such a hit with the kiddos.

Loomy Amigurumi

Amigurumi is the art of knitting or crocheting little stuffed softies and it is quickly becoming one of my favorite pastimes. These little creations are so quick to do and children love them. Since I have limited time, four grandchildren under the age of four, and enjoy small creations on the knitting loom, amigurumi is perfect for me.

The little leprechaun pictured above was made during one of our Saturday day trips. Of course, I had to wait until I returned home to embroidery the face and stuff him. (That's the bad part about working on projects on the run, you always leave some of the stuff you need at home.) This little fellow is about four and one-half inches tall. He is made on the small gauge DA Mini-Wonderloom, which is the prefect loom for this type project. I used one strand of worsted weight Red Heart yarn and copper colored fun fur clipped short for the beard. He was worked in three separate parts (body, head & hat), then stitched together. I really liked the way the little hat turned out. I tried a new I-cord technique that worked really well on the hat brim, however, I forgot to change colors and add the hat band - oh well, maybe next time.

Since I used a specialty loom, instead of the Knifty Knitter, I won't be writing the pattern for this one. If you plan on getting into loomy amigurumi, I highly recommend using an adjustable small or fine gauge loom. If you decide to experiment with large gauge looms, I would recommend the Knifty Knitter Long Looms with loom clips and two strands of worsted weight yarn. However, the biggest problem I've found with doing stuffed toys on the Knifty Knitter looms is the stuffing shows through the stitches and this is easily corrected by using the small or fine gauge loom.

Now I'll leave you with an old Irish quote in time for St. Patrick's Day:

Leprechauns, castles, good luck and laughter
Lullabies, dreams, and love ever after.
Poems and songs with pipes and drums
A thousand welcomes when anyone comes.
~Author Unknown

Note: Since this post, I have written a general instruction sheet for making the Loomy Amigurumi Leprechaun. It has been added to the Pattern Box on the right, or by clicking here.

Tom-Tom the Leprechaun

It seems Tommy Turkey has a new cousin, Tom-Tom the Leprechaun. This new creation is compliments of April Taylor, one of the creative members of the Yahoo Knifty Knitter Loom Knitting Group. April has morphed the turkey into a leprechaun in time for St. Patrick's Day.

Here are April's modifications (thanks April) to the original pattern in case you want to impress your Irish friends on March 17th:

Leprechaun Hat
by April Taylor

(Adapted from Tommy Turkey Hat by Brenda Myers which is available from Loom Lore at http://loomlady.blogspot.com).

Materials:

KK 48-peg Adult Hat Loom
Peach, cream or light tan yarn (for face)
Green yarn (for hat)
Black yarn (for hat band, nose, eyes & mouth)
Orange yarn (for beard)
Knitting tool
Plastic yarn needle
Crochet Hook

Instructions:
Using the Knifty Knitter purple adult hat loom, cast on using a peach or flesh colored yarn and knit 14 rows. Change yarn to paddy green (Redheart) and knit 12 rows. To form the leprechaun’s hat brim, bring the first row of green up to the pegs and knit that row off. Form the “hat band” by changing to the black yarn and knitting 8 rows. Change back to green and knit 14 rows. Work a gathered bind off.

Finishing:
Work a single crochet edge around the bottom to prevent it from rolling.

For the eyes, use black yarn and chain 2; work 6 single crochets in the 2nd chain from hook, and join to form a small circle. Make two of the circles and sew to the hat.

For the mouth, use black yarn and chained 14. Sew this chain on with a yarn needle into the smile shape.

For the buckle, using yellow chain 32 and sewed it into a square shape centering in the front over the black “hat band”. (If I would have had a yellow pipe cleaner I might have tried to figure out how to shape it into a buckle and sew it on.)

For the beard, I use a size F crochet hook and chain 50 in orange. Work a single crochet in the 2nd chain from hook and in each chain across. Chain 1 turn and work a loop stitch by wrapping the yarn around the index finger and complete a single crochet while holding the loop.