Friday, May 09, 2008

Small Knits - Basket Liner!

Thank you for all your comments on my Mohana shawl. Special thanks to those who were so generous and donated. I wish you all a lot of fun knitting the shawl! :o) Before we move on, I'd like to share some stats with you. I have four of my free patterns up for download. As of this morning this is how many times they were downloaded:

Kyla fingerless mittens - 2989 x
Grasshopper scarf - 1192 x
Have a Heart scarf - 281 x
Mohana shawl - 199 x
Isn't that awesome? I just found this feature today, and I couldn't believe my eyes! :o)
Now lets move on: Mother's Day is approaching. Since I have to mail my gifts I have to think about what carefully, since postage is so very high. I've decided my mom NEEDS a new basket liner for her bread basket. I don't have one, so I can't show it as it was intended to be used.
I found this pattern in the book : The Knitters Book of Yarn by Clara Parkes. The pattern is actually by Amy King. It's called Ripple Linen Basket Liner. Don't go looking for it though, because I made modifications. Mine does not look like the one in the book.
You knit this in the round from the inside out. I found the start very awkward, ripped it out, and started over with another technique, I've used before. I used DP's to a point where there were too many stitches, so I switched to magic loop method, since I only had a long circular needle in the right size. It worked really well. By the time I should have started the ripple stitch pattern I didn't like it at all. I decided to make one YO row, knit a few and end it with a picot edge. Easy, and I like it better. I did not like to knit with this linen yarn. I lost the ballband so I can't give you any more information about it. It's from Louet though, you might figure it out.

I was inspired to knit this basket liner, when I saw Claudia's lovely green basket liner. I actually like hers the way it is.
I followed her lead and made it a little bigger, so it turned out 15.5 inches square.

You'd like to know more about the lovely coffee pot, and cup, and saucer? Well, when we came to Canada, we drove around in the country side, to get a feeling of where we are. One day, there was a barn with an "Antique" sign on it. I wanted to know what goes for Antiques around here, so we went in. I was not looking for anything specific, just browsing, when I saw a lovely set of dessert plates, cups, and saucers, a sugar bowl, and the coffee pot. When I turned it over it said "Made in Austria"! Can you believe it? I had to have it. Imagine coming from Austria, and finding this in a barn in the middle of nowhere. :o)
My creation
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Whatever else is unsure in this stinking dunghill of a world a mother's love is not.--James Joyce
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Making the decision to have a child is momentous. It is to decide forever to have your heart go walking around outside your body.--Elizabeth Stone
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Have a nice weekend!

18 comments:

Frieda said...

Love your photos ! What a gorgeous basket liner, I'm sure your mom will love it. Happy Mother's Day ...

Anonymous said...

It's lovely, Monika! This has been on my to-knit list for awhile, but I think it just moved up a space or two.

The Kelly Green Rogue said...

beautiful! I'm sure your mom will love it!

Claudia Bugh said...

I absolutely adore it in the pink with the picot edgeing!!!! So soft and feminine looking and such a great match with the china. I know your mother will love it. It's ashame that the linen is a pain to knit with or you could make one to keep :(

Anonymous said...

Oh, a beautiful basket liner: we don't use those here at all really. I like it's simplicity!! I like the way the stitches have a kind of grain.
It is Mothers' Day here tomorrow!! I hope my mum's present arrived in time....

Angelika said...

Looking at this stats shows you how generous you are by providing those patterns for free. Thanks. See how talented you are? The basket liner is very nice and I'm sure she'll use it too.

Anonymous said...

I really like your basket liner. I think I saw it on Ravelry earlier maybe? I remember seeing someones and thinking I should've made that instead of the dish towels I did make. I bet we used the same linen yarn. Your pot is very pretty. It was meant to be that you own it. :-)

hakucho said...

Love your basket liner...very pretty :) Your mom will love it!!

Anonymous said...

What a beautiful basket liner. It would never have occured to me to knit something like that. Your mother will love it.

DAWN said...

I like your basket liner much more than the one in the book.

Anonymous said...

Happy Mother's Day! The basket liner/tea cloth is really gorgeous, as is the teapot and teacup.

A serendipitious find indeed! Made in Austria and all the way over here, just like you!

The picot edging the yarn overs is very pretty w/the linen. It might have been a bear to knit but it'll last for eons.

Susanne said...

Monika, Deine Fotos sind allein schon wunderbar.Aber auch ohne die Deko ist Dein Deckchen wunderschön, allein die Farbe und das Garn sind schon toll.
Ein tolles Geschenk für Deine Mutter.
Liebe Grüße
Susanne

Anonymous said...

I've been lurking on your blog for awhile (I'm not one for commenting much), but I was wondering if you have a moment you could give me some advice. I'm trying to cast on for the Katherine Hepburn Cardigan, which you've already knit, but I'm having problems. I'm knitting the 40 1/2 inch size. The pattern says to cast on 147 stitches and to follow the set up row for the back. I've been repeating the 13-stitch repeat 5x as it says, but I always end up with too few stitches. Did you have any problems with this? I can't seem to find any corrections or evidence online that anyone else had any problems with it. I don't know how to fix it without modifying the number of stitches cast on... I may just be missing something. Thanks for any help you can provide. LainaJM1@hotmail.com

Anonymous said...

Beautiful basket liner!

herzlichkreativ said...

Ach wie schoen. Und so wunderbar zu dem romatischen Geschirr passend.

Anonymous said...

very pretty. beautiful color.

Firefly Nights said...

You made some very pretty changes to the basket liner. I like yours better than the one in the book.

Violiknit said...

Beautiful basket liner! Your mother will be so pleased!