Posted on July 11th, 2011
Working with Lilypad Arduino is something I’ve wanted to try for a while now – but simply haven’t found the time! Knowing that BarCampGeelong was only a few weeks away spurred me into action. First, I read up on the Lilypad Arduino tutorials from Leah Buechley. Running Ubuntu, I had already installed the Arduino IDE from the software manager, so I was good to go.
So, what sort of project was simple enough to allow me to get the hang of this new technology while still presenting enough of a challenge to be interesting? I decided on a scarf that would detect light levels, with the aim of turning on some bright white LEDs if light levels were too low.
First, I needed a scarf. I decided on this Dropped! lace openwork pattern so that the components could be sewn in with conductive thread and not look out of place. I also thought about what type of material to make the scarf out of – in case any of the electronic components overheated and melted or caught on fire. I chose a 98% wool blend – ‘Beulah’ by Sean Sheep – nice and cheap too in case the project didn’t work out.
Next, I needed some Arduino Lilypad components – which are now available in Australia from Little Bird Electronics. For this project, I used;
Then, I needed some Arduino code to read in the light sensor and do the logic for turning on the LEDs –
you can get the code from my page on GitHub. Once the Arduino board was programmed, it was time to sew in the components with conductive thread. It was here that some problems arose. My original plan was to have 5 LEDs on the scarf, which all lit up at the same time. When sewing the conductive thread, I found that I could only sew in one LED to the -tive terminal (ground) petal on the Lilypad Arduino.
NOTE: Andy Gelme (@Geekscape) has since given me some advice on working around this, by finding alternative methods to ground the LEDs. I just haven’t implemented it yet!
The other problem was that due to the openwork design of the scarf itself, some of the conductive thread was prone to crossing – which meant that the circuit didn’t work as designed. I unpicked the thread and it was resewn, with care given to making sure the wire did not cross.
The presentation given to BarCampGeelong can be found on Slideshare here;
UPDATED: Photos!
http://www.flickr.com/photos/kathyreid/sets/72157627158152752/
Posted on February 8th, 2011
Having had a bit of time on my hands lately, I was looking for a fun and easy project that didn’t require too much concentration. This scarf, constructed almost entirely of garter stitch – was the perfect candidate.
Using one strand each of Habu Stainless Steel and K1 Linen, I cast on roughly 200 stitches, then knit 10 rows. On the next row, I K1M1, essentially doubling the number of stitches on the needle. After another 10 rows, the stitches were again doubled, and so on, until ending up with 800 stitches on needles and roughly 40 rows. After casting off, the edges were finished with double crochet just to even them up again.
The final touch was a lovely pearl brooch – and voila! – a classic ruffle scarf done using garter stitch and increases.
Posted on December 28th, 2010
This was a quick hat, designed to provide maximum coverage while still fitting quite close to the crown. Having managed to get my hands on some lovely Noro Kureyon sock yarn, only to be dissatisfied with it for socks (it’s not very hard wearing, being a single ply yarn), I thought it would make a lovely hat. A quick stash dive yielded 3 x 100g skeins, however the hat all up used only around 75g – there’s about a quarter of the skein left. I suspect a matching scarf may be in the works. The Noro Kureyon knits up beautifully – my only concern was a tendency to tangle, but in fairness it is a centre-pull skein, which I *was* pulling from the centre!
The band is doubled over and secured to the inside using crochet, then wide elastic is used to help the hat stay in place. This also makes the band seem to be quite dense – which I think adds to the design.
Yarn
75g Noro Kureyon sock yarn, shade S149 Brown/beige pictured
Notions
2.75mm circular needle (for knitting magic loop) or 2.75mm DPNs, 6 x stitch markers, approx 50cm of elastic which is 2-2.5cm wide for threading through band, safety pins, yarn needle, 2.75mm or similar crochet hook for doubling over and securing the band, buttons or other accessories to decorate if desired.
You may need to use a different yarn to get gauge, gauge for finished hat is 30 stitches and 48 rows to 10cm (4 “)
Pattern
- Cast on 9 stitches, join in the round (magic loop or DPN)
- * Knit front and back (kfab). Repeat from * to end (18 stitches) (this is a bit tricky over 4 DPNs, you might want 3 needles then move to 4 when there are more stitches after the increases)
- Place 6 stitch markers evenly through the stitches (every 3 stitches)
- Work for crown of head by * knitting to stitch before stitch marker, kfab, slip stitch marker from left to right needle, kfab*, repeat from *, knit to end of row. Essentially, you are increasing 12 stitches on each round.
- Repeat this pattern 41 times more until you have 270 stitches.
- Leaving the stitch markers in, work 20 rows without increasing (270 stitches)
- Decrease 12 stitches in each of the next 8 rows as follows: *knitting to two stitches before stitch marker, knit 2 together (k2tog), slip stitch marker from left to right needle, k2tog*, repeat from *, knit to end of row.
- You should now have 174 stitches.
- Work 24 rows of 1 x 1 rib (knit 1, purl 1), case off loosely.
- Fold the ribbed band over from the right side of work to wrong side of work, essentially doubling the band over. Using crochet hook and slip stitch (or stitch of your choice – you could sew if preferred), affix cast off edge of band to wrong side of work. Leave about 2.5cm (1″) unaffixed (for threading through elastic)
- Measure elastic to desired fit and cut. Using safety pins, thread elastic through doubled over band and sew elastic together.
- Sew in any loose ends, in particular the cast on (9 stitches) will need to be closed over properly.
- Press or block if desired.
Top view of hat
Bottom view of hat
