Seamless Willie Warmer

Seamless Willie Warmer

Finally, the utmost in warmth and comfort—a seamless willie warmer. This knits up very quickly and is a popular gag gift. If knitting one to wear, it might be more comfortable to knit reverse stockinette or 2x2 ribbing for maximum *ahem* stretch and versatility.

There are options for an open or closed end at the tip.

Yarn: Worsted weight, small amount
Needles: US size 7 needles for circular knitting or whatever size gives you a pleasant gauge

Tube: Cast on 28 sts and arrange on needles. Knit around (or work in rib) for 30 rows. Stitch and row count can be altered as needed to fit. If it comes out too small, it’s so quick to knit you can easily rip back and start with a different stitch number. There are two options for the end of the warmer, a closed end for modesty and warmth, or an open end for a quick response to nature’s call. Think of it as the difference between a ski cap and a cowl.

Closed tip: *K1, K2tog*. Repeat from * around. Cut yarn and draw through remaining stitches. Pull snug to bind off.

Open tip: Bind off all stitches.

Pouch: Cast on 44 stitches and arrange on needles. Knit around for 20 rows. *K2, K2tog* around. Cut yarn and draw through the stitches, and pull snug to bind off.

Joining: Hold tube and pouch together at open ends (anatomically correctly) and graft them together for 8 stitches. If you’d prefer not to join, you can knit the pouch by picking up 8 stitches from the base edge of the tube and casting on 36 more sts. If you use this method make sure the pieces are oriented properly when you start knitting!

Edging: Pickup stitches evenly around, treating the openings as one continuous circle.You will not pick up the stitches where the two pieces are joined together. The exact number of stitches you pick up is not important, but should be an even number

Work in seed stitch for 6 rounds with an eyelet round at rnd 4.

Rnd 1: *K1, P1* around.
Rnd 2: *P1, K1* around.
Rnd 3: *K1, P1* around.
Rnd 4: *YO, K2tog* around.
Rnd 5: *P1, K1* around.
Rnd 6: *K1, P1* around.

Make a drawstring of icord or twisted yarn and thread through the eyelet holes.Tie in a festive bow.

I have more yarn than I thought!

All knitters, especially sock knitters it seems, end up amassing a pile of oddballs. Those leftover half-balls of yarn that seem so potentially useful. Way too much to just throw away, and they're all the same weight yarn, together they must be useful! Surely there must be a use other than hexipuffs. One of the big problems is that you don't know how much yardage is left on any one ball - is it really enough to make anything? Here's a drawer of such yarn oddballs.

I finally got the idea to weigh them all and calculate how many yards are in each ball. I was surprised and delighted to find that the smaller ones were around 100 yards, and the larger ones around 160 yards on average. That's way more yarn than I was expecting. That's totally enough to combine maybe 2 balls and have a pair of socks or armwarmers or something! No complex trickery to combine a zillion little balls, just clever stripes and the like. I'm off to Ravelry to see what I can find.

Diva Challenge 178: Duotangle by the Letter

I planned on explaining the background behind why I'm posting this ink drawing since none of you know I do zentangling, but I figured it was easier to just post this now so I don't miss the deadline for the Diva Challenge. I've done them before, but never actually the week it was announced and in time to have it posted. Details will be coming soon. For now...

Diva Challenge 178: Duotangle by the Letter. Choose your patterns by your initials. Drupe & W2.