Tag Archives: minervakal2020

Minerva KAL wrap up

Posted on April 28, 2020 | 7 comments

Here’s my Minerva that I knit for the KAL! I love how this gradient version turned out. The yarn is Huckleberry Knits DK Gradient, Practical Tactical Brilliance colorway. This is my favorite of my three Minervas.

We had a small but intrepid group of knitters for the Minerva KAL. Participants included knitters from Australia, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Canada, and the Pacific Northwest including Portland. That’s pretty cool!

Two of the colors that I love on this Minerva meet up right at the seam, and I don’t really want to feature the seam when I’m wearing this. What’s a knitter to do?

Tiny Shawl Belt to the rescue! This is a very tiny shawl cuff. I purchased it online from Indigodragonfly last month. It hides the seam, and it looks good, too. It’s made by purlandhank.com.

I had misplaced the Tiny Shawl Belt in my studio (it was with all my shawl pins right where it belonged; I don’t remember putting it away), so I ordered another one. And because I was afraid it wouldn’t get here from Canada in time for this photo shoot, I also ordered this Thinline Wrist Ruler from Crossover Industries here in Portland. It wraps twice on my wrist, three times on Minerva. It has quarter inch measurements, but it’s also available in a centimeter version. I love it.

Now I’ll have two Tiny Shawl Belts (second one still not here yet), so I’m giving one away as a KAL prize.

Other prizes include stitch markers and shawl pins. I’m messaging participants for their addresses, all over the world. Thanks for knitting along! I love seeing your projects on Ravelry, Instagram and yuur blogs. You can see more Minervas on this Ravelry page, and you can also see Minervas on Instagram with #minervakal2020.

Now my needles are empty again. I usually have one or two projects going at any time, but I just finished both of them. I’m ready to work on a new shawl design. I think I needed to work through some pandemic anxiety knitting and sewing first, and now I’m finally ready.

Also on the agenda this week: tidying up my studio so that it looks good for Zoom classes, and reviewing my classes and handouts to make sure they’re Zoom ready, too.

Back to work!

7 Comments

Posted in KAL, Knit

Tagged Minerva KAL, minervakal2020, Tiny shawl belt, wrist ruler, Zoom classes

Minerva KAL home stretch status check

Posted on April 18, 2020 | 4 comments

I finished the knitting on my Minerva KAL cowl this week. I used my yarn scale to maximize my yarn usage; I wanted to use as much of this glorious gradient as possible.

First, how much yarn does it take to knit a rectangle unit? A triangle? And then multiply by the number of remaining units. Some quick math told me I had enough yarn to knit that last set of left and right leaning tiers before finishing, but it still felt like yarn chicken at the end.

It’s easiest to block Minerva before seaming. I steam blocked it to relax things a bit, but I didn’t want to completely flatten it. This went from 31” long to 33” long, and stayed at 7” wide.

The next step was to remove my provisional cast on. I love how the crochet chain provisional cast on unzips.

Next up: Seaming my cowl into a loop using 3 needle bind off. You could also kitchener stitch/graft your seam, but I always have to look up the instructions, and I’m feeling lazy.

Did you enjoy the hedge trimmer sound effects in the background? With everyone home for the coronavirus shutdown, and a gloriously beautiful day, there was bound to be some shared sound in the neighborhood. Oops.

Finished pictures coming soon. I ordered a Tiny Shawl Belt from IndigoDragonfly for this project, and now I can’t find it! I may have to photograph with something else in the meantime.

How are you doing with your Minerva? I see projects on Ravelry and Instagram, and some blogs, too. I’m going to let the KAL play out through the end of April, and then give away some prizes. You don’t have to be completely finished to receive a prize, but finishing is sweet.

Please show your projects on Ravelry or Instagram (or both!) if you’d like to be included! Make sure your Ravelry project page is linked to the pattern so I can find it. Tag your Instagram posts with #minervakal2020 and #pdxknitterati so I can find them there, too.

Have I tempted you enough? It’s not too late to cast on, if you’d like to join the KAL. Here’s everything you need to know:

Previous Minerva KAL 2020 posts:
Introducing Minerva Entrelac Cowl/Scarf and KAL
Minerva KAL: Choosing your yarn
Minerva KAL: Casting On
Minerva KAL: Base Triangles
Minerva KAL: Tier 2
Minerva KAL: Finishing Tier 2
How’s your Minerva KAL progress?

4 Comments

Posted in KAL, Knit

Tagged 3 needle bind off, Minerva entrelac, Minerva KAL, minervakal2020, provisional cast on

How’s your Minerva KAL progress?

Posted on April 6, 2020 | 10 comments

I haven’t been knitting a lot; I got sidetracked by sewing face masks this weekend. More on that later.

But I love how entrelac gives me a little feeling of victory, each time I finish a rectangle or triangle. Progress! I can tell as I cycle through my colors that I’m getting somewhere. And I love seeing what’s to come, too. My Huckleberry Knits DK Gradient is knitting up into a shimmering rainbow, rather than individual squares, just as I envisioned.

How are *you* doing with yours? Do you have any questions? The pattern is meant to stand on its own, but my little video tutorials can help light your way.

If you’ve downloaded the pattern, please do give Minerva a try. I offered special introductory pricing as a way to help in these troubling pandemic times. I’d love to know that it’s helping you! Please post your projects on Ravelry or Instagram and let me know. Use hastags #pdxknitterati and #minervakal2020 so I can find them on IG.

The Minerva Entrelac Cowl or Scarf pattern is available through Ravelry. Come knit with me!

10 Comments

Posted in KAL, Knit

Tagged Minerva entrelac, Minerva KAL, minervakal2020

Minerva KAL: Finishing Tier 2

Posted on March 30, 2020 | 7 comments

Oh, that last bit, the right edge triangle. It sounds a little tricksy at the end, but it’s not hard. Just keep following the directions, to the end, which is a slightly tricky part. Here’s a video for you:

Then it’s on to Tier 3, which is a piece of cake! 🍰

When you’re finishing Tier 4, with another right edge triangle, picking up the last stitch can be a little tricky. I like to pick up here, in the outside of the first V on the outside edge, so the corner of the triangle doesn’t stick out as a bump on the lovely straight edge.

Now it’s just a matter of knitting away and watching your colors change. Have fun!

You can find the Minerva pattern here on Ravelry. Come knit with me!

If you’re on Ravelry, please make a project page for your Minerva; I’d love to see them there. Ravelry makes it so easy to find them all together. And post on Instagram using #minervakal2020 and #pdxknitterati too. I love seeing your progress.

Just keep knitting…

Edited to add:
All Minerva KAL 2020 posts:
Introducing Minerva Entrelac Cowl/Scarf and KAL
Minerva KAL: Choosing your yarn
Minerva KAL: Casting On
Minerva KAL: Base Triangles
Minerva KAL: Tier 2
Minerva KAL: Finishing Tier 2

7 Comments

Posted in KAL, Knit, tutorial

Tagged Minerva entrelac, Minerva KAL, minervakal2020

Minerva KAL: Tier 2

Posted on March 27, 2020 | 7 comments

How are your base triangles looking? Not really triangles, are they? But they’re close enough, and they’ll look good as we go on.

I forgot to ask: If you’re on Ravelry, please make a project page for your Minerva; I’d love to see them there. Ravelry makes it so easy to find them all together. And please post your progress on Instagram using #minervakal2020 and #pdxknitterati so I can see them there, too.

Here’s a short video on how to start the left edge triangle.

And here’s a video on picking up stitches for the first right leaning rectangle.

You can find the Minerva pattern here on Ravelry. Come knit with me!

Knit on…

7 Comments

Posted in KAL, Knit, tutorial

Tagged Minerva entrelac, Minerva KAL, minervakal2020

Minerva KAL: Base Triangles!

Posted on March 26, 2020 | 15 comments

Did you cast on and purl your setup row?

I used a crochet chain provisional cast on. If you’re doing it right, you’ll see the chain. See on the last 3 stitches, I did it wrong? Don’t do that!

Here’s a short video to walk you through the beginning of the first row.

And a video of the transition between the first and next triangle.

Let me know how you’re doing with your project; post on Instagram and use #minervakal2020 and #pdxknitterati so I can see them. And please make a Ravelry page for your project if you’re a Raveler; I love being able to check in on your projects. And post on your blog if you’re a blogger and let me know!

I’m using a bit of Knit Picks Chroma Worsted, I think in Pegasus, to show you this beginning, because I already used my Huckleberry Knits Gradient to do a little knitting last night. I had a Zoom meeting with the knitters who were going to come to my Minerva class that I had to cancel, so it’s a bit ahead of where we are right now.

Biscuit helped me set up my workspace. She was ready for her closeup, under the warm Ott light!

We had a good meeting, but it sure is a lot harder to have a knitting class when you can’t touch the other people’s knitting! And one on one is easier than a large group. So in a pinch, Zoom for sure. But I’d always choose in-person over virtual meeting, if possible.

If you want to join the Minerva KAL, you can find the Minerva pattern here on Ravelry.

If you need a private lesson or tutorial via Zoom, I can arrange that! Shoot me a message.

Knit on, with confidence and hope, through all crises. ~ Elizabeth Zimmermann

15 Comments

Posted in KAL, Knit, tutorial

Tagged Minerva entrelac, Minerva KAL, minervakal2020

Minerva Entrelac KAL: Casting on

Posted on March 25, 2020 | 8 comments

Ready to cast on? Almost! Are you planning to knit a cowl, or a scarf? It’s good to plan your ending before beginning.

Photo by test knitter Paula Sadler

If you’re planning to knit a scarf, you can just begin with a long tail cast on. The first row after that is a purl row, because when you turn to knit back after casting on, you’re looking at the bumpy purl side of your cast on. We’re knitting stockinette based entrelac, so we want all those purl bumps on the back! By purling the setup row, we’re getting ready to work from the public side, the right side, the knit side.

If you’re planning to seam your Minerva into a loop cowl, I’d recommend beginning with a provisional cast on. When you’re finished knitting, you can pick up the live stitches from the provisional cast on, and use these with 3 needle bind off to join the beginning to the end. I did this with my Noro Minerva; I’d always rather knit than sew!

The crochet chain provisional cast on is my favorite provisional cast on. I made this tutorial back in 2012; it’s not as pretty as more recent tutorials, but it still works! You can use whatever provisional cast on you choose, though.

And if you just use a long tail cast on because you thought you were knitting a scarf, and somewhere along the way you change your mind? You can also pick up stitches along the cast on edge, and join those to the end with a 3 needle bind off. It’s a little bit tighter, though, so I didn’t love doing that (on the 2 Chroma cowls). I used an elastic bind off, in combination with the 3 needle bind off, to make the seam more flexible. But that’s for later!

OK, let’s go! Cast on, and purl your setup row. We’ll go from there.

You can find the Minerva pattern here on Ravelry.

8 Comments

Posted in KAL, tutorial

Tagged entrelac, Minerva entrelac, minervakal2020

Minerva KAL: Choosing your yarn

Posted on March 22, 2020 | 10 comments

Let’s talk about yarn. For the Minerva samples shown here, we’ve used worsted weight yarns with a long slow color change. The colors are constantly shifting, but not as quickly as in a variegated yarn. The show color shift makes each block look like a separate color. But the yarn has done all the work; you don’t have a million ends to sew in. (Side note: Today is Calvin’s Gotcha Day anniversary; he’s been part of our family for one year. He’s a love bug!)

These two cowls are knit with Knit Picks Chroma Worsted. Chroma is a mirrored gradient, so the color change in one direction, and then back, around a central color.

This cowl is knit with Noro Silk Garden, a worsted to Aran weight yarn. Noro yarns have delightful color changes. Other options are Berroco Millefiori, Cascade Melilla, and Plymouth Gina.

If you don’t mind sewing in more ends, you could choose two or more colors, and knit each tier in stripes of color. You could even knit an entrelac rainbow! But you’d have a lot of ends to sew in.

For the KAL, I’m planning to knit with a slightly lighter weight yarn, Huckleberry Knits American Dream DK in the Practical Tactical Brilliance colorway. This is the same colorway I used for my Aspen scarf, and I love how it transitions in a continuous rainbow. I won’t get individually colored squares, but I’m hoping for a shimmering rainbow progression. We shall see! The DK yarn will give me a slightly narrower cowl (my worsted version is 8” wide) but I’ll be perfectly happy with that.