Make One

2011 Year End Wrap Up

2012-01-16T11:37:00.000-06:00

First a bit of sewing………….

My daughter pointed out that Mug Rugs are all the rage in blog-land. She knows that quilting is not favorite type of sewing but thought I might like these as they are a quicker project than doing an entire quilt (which is true – but these are smaller pieces and still take quite a bit of time).

This was my first attempt, a quilt block known as Cathedral Windows, sewn mostly by hand. There are no insulation layers in this block. It’s actually a pretty cool pattern – the idea is to use a lightweight background like batiste and then holding it up so that light shows through you achieve a stained glass effect.

I wanted to make a gift for my awesome fellow GSLKG Board members and these Mug Rugs are the result of that effort. Whenever I attempt quilting I fail in choosing prints that contrast enough to see the various pieces, but they still turned out cute and useful.

Next up is a robe made with a pile fabric from JoAnn’s, an imitation of the fabric known as Minky. This fabric was not fun to sew even with a walking foot and basting. It took three attempts to insert the zipper and in the end I did a hand-picked zipper. It was not easy to find a fuschia color separating zipper but I was able to order one from Purl Soho. They provided great service and I wouldn’t hesitate to order from Purl Soho in the future.

For Christmas I ordered a set of bamboo crochet hooks for Jess and wanted to make a case to go with them. I wanted to make one similar to this one by Lantern Moon but similar in fabric/look to Vera Bradley products.

The first version did not work out the way I envisioned and it ended in the garbage can. The issue was with the zipper – how to make it zip all the way around yet lay flat when it's opened. The key is that the zipper needs to extend beyond the juncture at the spine. To stiffen the case I used a layer of plastic canvas between two layers of light weight batting.

On to the Knitting…………

The last time I was in NC with Emily and family her socks kept sliding off. I looked and looked for socks that I thought would fit her better and then it dawned on me that I could make custom socks (DUH!). These five pair were done with leftover sock yarns. Hope they fit!

Many months ago I promised my son-in-law a more practical pair of socks than the fair isle version I did for him previously. I worked the first sock and then set it aside for six months or so. Finally got the motivation to work the second sock in time for their after Christmas visit. Not sure that he will have much use for wool socks in Florida but he liked that they were a perfect fit.

Lana Grossa Meilenweit Solo, 80 stitches, Size 0 and 1 needles, toe-up, short row heel worked over 44 stitches, stitch pattern Knit 7/Purl 3 rib.

Ruffle yarns were all the rage toward the end of 2011 and I just had to make one. It’s simply garter stitch (knit every row) using the holes in the edge of the flat wide ribbon type yarn as the stitches. Truthfully the knitting wasn’t much fun; I did undo the skein and wound it flat around a toilet paper core and also worked purlwise as Brooke suggested but it was still a tedious knit although the result is a fun looking scarf.

Katia Triana from Kirkwood Knittery. Don’t remember how many stitches I used but it wasn’t very many and the needle size really makes no difference.

Currently I’m working on ‘Blathnat’ socks, a mystery knit-a-long by Irish Girlie Knits; it’s fun to occasionally follow someone else’s instructions. Working the project in sections as the clues are published makes it enjoyable in that the socks are completed a portion at a time. I’m working one sock from each end of the skein. In the photo below the one on the left is the first clue portion and I’ve finished the second clue in the sock on the right. I’m using the 72 stitch version until a couple inches from the ankle and then decreasing to follow the 64 stitch size for the remainder. Also I am working an additional repeat as I like my sock legs longer than the pattern instructions. The yarn (Studio June Starstruck from The Loopy Ewe) is very glittery; it has quite a bit of fuzzy and thick/thin areas.

I’m also working on the ‘Mitered Cardigan’ from the recent book ‘Knit One Knit All’ published by Schoolhouse Press. This is a great book of patterns by the knitting guru of all time - Elizabeth Zimmerman. She often wrote that garter stitch was her favorite and according to information from Schoolhouse Press she always wanted to write a book based on garter stitch designs. After EZ’s death her grandson put together this new book sometimes working from sketchy notes. There are several designs in the book that I would like to make including the Chambered Nautilus Tam, the Zigzag Jacket and Sideways Gloves.

The Mitered Sweater calls for 6 sts per inch sport weight yarn; naturally I have had to recalculate the instructions since I decided to use worsted weight Ella Rae Classic from Little Knits that I had in my stash. First the band is worked in garter stitch beginning at the bottom front, up the front, around the neck, down the opposite front, along the bottom and then grafted together. The sweater is filled in with stockinette and then stitches are picked up and the sleeves are worked down to the cuff.

Recently I finished this project which is my own design and appropriately named ‘RobynHood’. I used Naturelle 8 ply DK 100% New Zealand Wool. The front band was knit vertically in garter stitch then stitches picked up along the length of the band and the cape/shawl was then worked sideways in garter stitch short rows; there are 39 sections per half. The two halves were grafted together at the center back. Then stitches were picked up at the neckline to knit the hood. The edging is an 8 row stitch pattern known as Godmother’s Edging. After blocking I added the buttons. I love how it turned out - it is quite warm and cozy.

Finally – I have to share a few photos of our adorable Granddaughter celebrating her first birthday……..

Annis, Rag Quilt, Baby ‘Leaf Pattern Set’ Sweater/Hat and Lace Leftovers

2011-11-11T19:01:00.002-06:00

Here is the Annis that I wrote about in my last post.
It’s one of the ‘viral’ patterns – seems that nearly everyone on Ravelry has knitted one.
It turned out pretty but very small – more like a scarf than a shawl.

Another baby is on its way in our family.
My niece asked if I’d make a rag quilt for the baby:

I also made the baby-on-its-way a Leaf Pattern Set cardigan and hat;

I put a few beads on the stems, a little hard to see in this photo:

Ever Since I saw this stitch pattern: Double Water Lily - I’ve been thinking I need to come up with a project to use this pattern.

I love all the stitch patterns that Olga Jasnovidova has posted on Ravelry and on her blog (http://newlace.blogspot.com/). How generous to provide these charted patterns!

It occurred to me that I have quite a bit of leftover laceweight yarn in various colors and wouldn’t it be fun to see how it would work out to use this stitch pattern with the leftover yarn in an entrelac design similar to the Dianna shawl and my friend Brooke’s design Nuppopoly.

Then I decided to omit the four center squares which would make this a poncho. I can wear it with the opening like a v-neck or as a square shaped neck.
Worked a few rows or garter around the neck opening and a simple ruffle pattern (k1, p3 for first round, then increasing to either side of the knit(s) at every second round) for the edging. I really wanted the ruffle to be longer but after 7 increases there were so many stitches that it was taking about 40 minutes to knit each round; just couldn’t do any more. At that point there were: 4 sides x 8 motifs per side x 16 ruffle repeats per motif x 18 stitches per repeat = … well never mind – I really don’t want to know exactly how many stitches that is, I had reached my limit.

Next I'm working on making some socks for Emily; when I was there last month her socks kept falling off which says to me that they are too small so I've looked everywhere and the next size looks too big. Finally it dawned on me I could make her some socks - duh - and then they'd be just right (kind of sounds like a Three Bears story about socks).

Lapghan, Crayon Quilt, Baby Hoodie

2011-10-23T23:04:00.001-05:00

I left this out of my last post because it really needs a good blocking; but since I never did do that here it is with all its crooked lines. This is a rayon boucle yarn from Numei and the pattern is a Lion Brand free pattern 'Circles to Squares Afghan'. It’s a nice summer weight ‘lapghan’.

Last year I saw this cute blanket pattern, Crayon Blanket by Melissa Dominguez, and purchased the pattern to make in the future.

Last month I spent an hour or so at Joanns choosing an array of brightly colored acrylic yarns (did you know that it's hard to find a bright yellow unless you're willing to use RedHeart).

Three days later I had almost finished the first crayon – it was basically like knitting a scarf. I tried to do the lettering in intarsia as written in the pattern (changing colors across the rows with bobbins of yarn hanging from the back of the work) - intarsia is my least favorite knitting technique; no way could I keep that up for 5 more crayons. I ripped it back and decided to do the letters in duplicate stitch (embroidering over the knitting). But I ran out of yarn before completing the last two letters. Rather than spend more $ on 6 more skeins of acrylic yarn, I decided to ditch this project and returned the rest of the yarn. (If you have the patience this really is a nicely written pattern and makes an adorable kid size blanket).

But it was a such cute idea - I really wanted to make a crayon blanket for Emily. I decided to sew one instead. Back I went for another couple hours at Joanns to choose coordinating fabrics, followed by an internet search to see what current Crayola wrappers looked like. Measured an actual crayon for proportion and drafted pattern pieces. Cut all the pieces, fused interfacing to the satin portions and batting to the lettering, appliqued lettering to the black 'seal', appliqued the black sections to the color wrapper, sewed the ends and points to the wrapper, sewed the crayons together, made a quilt sandwich of backing/batting/crayons, basted it all together, and lastly machine stitched vertical lines between the crayons and horizontally at the joins.

A few days to sew vs. a few weeks to knit.

Em's Crayola quilt:

I went to visit in NC the week before last (brought the Crayon quilt with me).

I started a small shawl waiting for the plane on Thursday and finished it on Sunday - a quick and fun knit: Annis. Its for a holiday exchange - a group of knitting friends bring a skein of yarn to a holiday gathering, everyone randomly chooses a bag of yarn sight unseen; then each knitter is to make something with the yarn to be donated to charity and bring it to the next year's holiday gathering. I was lucky to choose a bag that had a generous skein of hand-dyed sock yarn by local St. Louis dyer, Dyeabolical Yarns. I love the way this shawl is shaped and am inspired to make another in a larger version in the future. Haven’t blocked it yet so will include a photo in my next post.

After I finished with Annis, there were several days left of my visit. I had packed a beaded lace project to work on. What was I thinking!! - a bowl of beads and a nine month old walking around the furniture - definitely a recipe for disaster. Instead I went to Michael's and bought yarn to make a jacket for Emily, almost finished it before it was time to get back on the plane and head home. Michael's had Vanna's Choice Baby on sale that week and the pattern is the Storybook Baby Hoodie by Lion Brand. Hard to see in this photo but we found some very cute polka dot and striped buttons at Walmart (there are not many fabric notion shopping options in or near Havelock, NC).

It's fun being Nana.

Of course there's never been a cuter, smarter or more beautiful baby ever:

Summer 2011

2011-09-15T08:04:00.001-05:00

My camera broke last month just when I was ready to write a new post;now I have a replacement so here are a summer's worth of projects.

To pass the time in anticipation of my little girlfriend's visit, I made her a few toys.

This is Celestine, a free Berroco pattern by Nora Gaughan, knit with Panda sock yarn, don't remember which flavor (type) it was.

I think these Amish Puzzle Balls are cool and used this free pattern. The fabric is from JoAnns.

My daughter introduced me to 'taggies' - someone noticed that babies like the tag as much as the toy and came up with this idea that is used in blankets and toys, this was an easy and quick project and Emily loves it:

I thought this Kwik Sew pattern #3109 was adorable:

The only place to buy it locally is at Hancock's; at over $11 for a sewing pattern that rarely goes on sale, I hesitated. But I really wanted to make it for her so her mom and I chose the fabric, also from Hancocks.
For the sun hat I used the Baby Sunbonnet pattern. She looked so adorable we had a photo shoot.

We liked it so much I decided to make the top as a dress in a larger size for the Fall with the look of an Osh Kosh jumper. The diaper cover was at the request of the Mama.

Carolcp inspired me with her hat covered in paillettes; this is intended as a chemo cap - I used Lion Brand acrylic and Size 6 needles and 80 stitches - not large enough for an adult but hopefully will fit a child.

Jess and Emily attended the August meeting of the Greater St. Louis Knitters' Guild.

Enamored with the yarn available for charity projects, Jess took some home and sent back this blanket:

And Emily was so impressed by all the knitting going on she is now a future fiber artist and a Yarnie:

Two for Baby, One for Me

2011-05-27T16:35:00.001-05:00

When my daughter and her daughter (still funny to think my daughter has a daughter!) were here recently we stopped in at Kirkwood Knittery and she (my daughter) chose a pretty skein of pink yarn so that I could make something for her (the baby).

Auracania Ruco is made of 100% sugar cane - appropriate for a sweet baby!

This is 'Baby Shrug' by Debbie Bliss, a free pattern available here. I thought there wouldn't be enough yarn but there was plenty even though it is a finer gauge than that called for in the pattern (can we say recalculate, of course we can because when do I ever do anything that matches gauge).

In case her (the baby's) legs get cold in the summer a/c she (my daughter) thought that she (my grand-daughter) ought to have some custom made leg warmers. Inspired by the free pattern Little Legs by Susan Mullikin, these little leggings took only two evenings to create with some J. Knits yarn that's been knit and unknit several times prior as I searched for what it wanted to be.

So two for her and one for me....a short sleeve cardi of my own design knit with Cascade Pima Tencel (love this yarn) (don't ask where I bought it because I have CRS [can't remember s**t]) incorporating the body shaping into the diamond lace stitch pattern.

Remember the flower hat from my last post....

...she's destined to be a movie star:

Almost forgot to mention... my Hexagon Scarf pattern is now available at KnitPicks:

Sorry about the double post earlier - don't know what happened but it's back to just one entry.

Hats for Photography

2011-04-15T06:05:00.001-05:00

My daughter asked if I would make a few cute hats for her to use as props for photography. She takes beautiful baby portraits like these:

This week I made two cute hats.

The first reminds of swimming caps from the 70's (I had one with flowers on it).

It's the Garden Party Hat by Lisa Akers. The hat is crocheted and I used one skein of Sirdar Snugly Baby Bamboo (very nice yarn - I'd use it again). The flowers used to be a lei from the dollar store.

The second is Giraffe Hat by Amanda Dean, crocheted with two strands worsted held together or one strand bulky. The yellow yarn is Lion Brand Baby's First in Honey Bee (bulky). Very soft but annoyingly splitty.

It seems I am on crochet trend, finished this blanket recently too, Heartwarming Wrap by Terry Kimbrough worked in Reynolds Baby Utopia.

Long Time, No Post

2011-03-25T07:16:00.003-05:00

It's been a longtime between posts. Haven't been knitting as much as usual due to tennis elbow since early December. Also there was all that baby anticipating,and going to visit baby and at the moment baby is visiting me! Since I'm on baby duty I decided to take aclue from my daughter and write a post while the rest of the world is stillsleeping. The following is not necessarily in the order worked (mostly because I haven't taken the time to master how to layout posts on blogger!)

Column of Leaves Socks

These socks were rather disappointing. Designed by myself. Made with Marks & Kattens Fame Trend which I didn't care for at all. The yarn had many thick and thin spots as well as fuzzies and is impossible to match from one sock to the other.

Baby Party Decorations

My Little Girlfriend arrived yesterday with her parents for her first trip to St. Louis. We are having a party for her this weekendand I had a lot of fun making this diaper cake and flower arrangement with rosebud socks as centerpieces.

Felted Slipper Repair

Hubby loves his felted slippers so much he wore holes in the heel. Fran had some roving and lent me a felting needle to try and make a repair. That didn't work as well I had anticipated somy next bright idea was to cover the soles with leather. So far so good. At Michael's they sell bags of scrap leather, a couple pieces were large enough for these soles. I blanket stitched them on by hand which required a thimble, some time, and pauses to nurse my elbow.

Hexagon Scarf in Chroma

Hexagon Scarf knit in Knit Picks Chroma, color: Lollipop. Worked this scarf upfor Knit Picks Independent Designer Program. The pattern has been available on Ravelry for a while, and soon will beup on Knit Picks site for $1.99. This was not my first, second or even third choice of color but my daughter said 'It's Fun! - I like it'.

Big Snow Pillow

Last fall I bought a skein of Katia Big Snow Print at Weaver's Webb in New Bern, NC. I thought it should be ascarf but it wanted to be a pillow. I used Size 7 US needles and worked 17 stitches in stockinette until it was as tall as it was wide. Then I sewed it to anexisting sofa pillow. Then I sewed it tothe pillow across a few rows. Then I sewed it to the pillow down a few columns. My son's girlfriend said it looks 'retro'. I like it anyway.

Passepartout
I thought this hat(Passepartout) worked in brioche stitch was cute and would look great knit in some yarn that I saw at Kirkwood Knittery. (I can't find the label or remember the name of the yarn!) Naturally the yarn doesn't work at the same gauge as the pattern so adjustmentwas called for. Mine's not as cute as the pattern looked. And it is really hard to take a good photo of yourself in the mirror.

Cafe Au Lait Mitts

Another NC purchase this skein of Blue Sky Alpacas sport weight was in a clearance bin at the Salty Sheep. These are Café Au Lait mitts withone minor change - I added an index finger. This yarn was so soft to work with and feels nice but it pills badly, glad there was only skein in the bin.

In The Pink

In The Pink, a free pattern by IzzyKnits, was a fun project and although a bit confusing it turned out well. I had 2 skeins of JoJoland Melody in my stash which coordinated with 3 skeins of JoJoLand Ballad also in my stash (which was going to be a cabled tam). Both yarns were purchased at Knit and Kaboodle. I used the solid color fingering for the edging. Edgings usually seem to takeforever and this one was no different; I put it down about half way through the edging and didn't pick it back up again for a couple of months.

Current Projects
Socks for David;
Romper for Emily;
Heartwarming Wrap baby blanket.

Revolving Seasons
Typical of St. Louis weather, three days ago it was a sunny perfect 82 degrees and the trees were blooming. Goodbye Winter, So Glad to See You Spring!

Just hold on a minute there.. not so fast.....this is the current view out my front door:

Winter - sadly it's back again.

My Little Girlfriend...

2011-01-02T05:02:00.001-06:00

...and me

October/November/December 2010

2010-12-19T18:58:00.000-06:00

Finally finished the second sock, Bayerische by Eunny Jang:

Messed up and used Size 1 after the ribbing for the second sock (first sock was all Size 0), therefore the second sock has a shorter toe so at least the length matches. Glad to have these done, they are beautiful. If (very big IF) I ever did these again I would do them two at a time. The yarn is Cascade Heritage.

Made a Multnomah, a free pattern by Hello Knitty, an enjoyable and quick knit resulting in more of a scarf than a shawl which has been gifted to my daughter. The yarn is Zauberball.

I like everything symmetrical even it doesn’t really matter; didn’t want to have the increases one on top of the other; and didn’t want holes on either side of the 5 center sts, so I made a few modifications to the pattern:

Odd # Rows:

k1, k1f&b, k to marker, k1f&b, k5, k1b&f, k to last 3 sts, k1b&f, k1, sl1wyif;

Even # Rows:

k1, k1f&b, k to last 3 sts, k1b&f, k1, s1wyif;

Border:

Worked increases same as above;

Worked across center stitches in k or p

(same as whatever rest of the row was);

Worked directional inc/dec and a multiple of 17 instead of 18:

(k2tog) 3x, yo, (k1, yo) 5x, (ssk) 3x.

Added in a 1/2 repeat after every 9 increases....

At start of row or following center stitches:

k1, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, ssk, ssk, ssk;

Just before center stitches and at the end of the row:

k2t, k2t, k2t, yo, k1, yo, k1, yo, k1.

Saw this yarn: Red Heart Shimmer at Joann's Fabrics and just had to make something the glittery fuchsia for my little girlfriend. Found this adorable pattern: Knit Lace Leaves for Baby by Jeannine LaRoche. The shoes are based on Saartjes Booties.

This week I spent a few days in NC with my almost nine months pregnant daughter and her awesome husband (he has been waiting on her hand and foot).

Just before I left there on Thursday we paid a visit to The Salty Sheep in Swansboro, NC.

We bought an Addi Bamboo circular and some nice yarn; then we went to lunch and while I ate Jess was inspired to learn to knit. When we went home she got a quick lesson in purl, yarn over, knit two together, cast on and bind off - makes me such a proud knitting mom!

on his blog

Happy Holidays!

Not Much Knitting Going On Here...

2010-11-06T21:35:00.000-05:00

Instead I've been working on a few more baby things:

...crocheted blanket stitched in panels, part of Soft Shells Baby Blanket, a free pattern by Marilyn Losee published by Caron International.

and a few crochet hats from a very cute and easy pattern shared with me by one of the ladies in the Guild:

...plus quite a bit of baby sewing:

Receiving blankets and burp cloths:

Gowns, Onesies, Jumpsuit and Top/Pants (cute print from JoAnn's Fabrics):

and every girl needs a few pink flowered headbands:

September 2010

2010-10-01T09:16:00.021-05:00

Virginia & North Carolina

The trip to visit my daughter and son-in-law was fun. We visited Williamsburg and Jamestown in Virginia, then headed back to NC where we spent a day in New Bern and another at the beach.

In New Bern, NC we went to a paint your own pottery which was fun and a new experience for me. These were the three projects we completed: a mug by my Daughter, a dragon by my Son-in-law, and a devilled egg plate by moi.

Yorkshire Terrier

Before we left I had been working on this project for my daughter. The pattern is "Perfect Pups, Yorkshire Terrier" by Alan Dart; although the pattern calls for Sirdar brand yarn, I substituted Bernat Satin for the body and Lion Brand Homespun for the fur.

It doesn't much resemble my real yorkies (Dorie & Buddy) but was an interesting project and a change from shawls, socks and sweaters.

More baby hats

This one is a pattern I just made up, worked top down, notes on my Ravelry Project Page.

The yarn (Plymouth Yarn, Oh My!) was really soft, I would use it again although I did read on Ravelry where several people stated that after washing projects from this yarn holes developed in the finished object.

This hat was fun to do, it's called Poppy Baby Hat;

yarn is Plymouth Yarn Dreambaby DK Prints.

Another Baby Blanket

Spiderweb Baby Afghan by Carole Rutter Tippet published in Leisure Arts #3205, Snuggle Up Baby Afghans.
The pattern calls for DK weight but I used 9 skeins of Phildar Pegase +, a worsted weight acrylic.
This afghan could have been a little larger if I hadn't left the 10th skein in the seat pocket of the plane my earlier trip to North Carolina.

In The Pink

I've been working on this shawl (In The Pink by Izzy Knits); I am using Jojoland Melody for the swirled sections; the edging will be a solid color of Jojoland Ballad.

Summer Knitting

2010-09-06T09:51:00.002-05:00

Embossed Twining Vine Leaves
This is a stitch pattern in A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns (and other stitch pattern books) that I have long admired.

This yarn (Swiss Mountain Sea Sock by Hand Maiden) is beautiful so I decided to marry the yarn to the stitch pattern.

A lot of ripping and re-charting went on; still the socks did not turn out as well as I planned.

Actually these were done in April/May but I was too annoyed with them to post it.

Soon I'll try it again.

Baby Projects
My daughter is having a baby in January:

Good thing I made this pink sweater with matching socks and headband because it's a girl (yay for PINK!).

This is the Wool Eater Blanket by Sarah London (crochet), the yarn is James C. Brett Baby Marble Double Knit, Shade 3M 9, it took 3 skeins in order to make it crib size.

Next is Kisses and Hugs Blanket of my own design. The X's and O's are cabled. The main yarn is three colors of Schoeller Stahl Baby Micro mit Glanzfaden, Wool/Polyester/Acetate, 12 skeins @ 25g. When I ran out of that yarn I used lavender Bernat Baby Solid, 100% Acrylic.

Seems like it took forever to knit this and I don't even want to talk about how many ends there were to weave in.

Technology today is amazing, they already know that the baby will need surgery right away. Since she will be spending a couple weeks in the NICU I thought it would be nice if she had her own hat wardrobe for the duration. She is surely going to be a fashionista [a designer, promoter, or follower of the latest fashions]. Later we can donate the hats to the hospital. There are numerous preemie hat patterns on the internet, this one is my favorite to date.

I'm having a lot of fun shopping for pink baby bargains and trying to guess what size she might be next spring and summer.

Here is her very first 'photo':

My daughter said "she looks exactly like me" !

Daughterly News

2010-06-01T08:56:00.001-05:00

Last month I travelled to visit with my daughter and son-in-law in North Carolina which was a lot of fun, wish I could have stayed longer.

It was only for a few days so I brought only two projects to work on. A baby blanket and the second Bayerische sock.

On the way there on the plane I put a ball of yarn in the seat back in front of me and naturally walked off the plane without it so I couldn't work any more on that project. When I picked up the Bayerische sock I remember too late that one of the needles had broken, since I forgot about that I hadn't brought any extra needles in that size.

Now I was project-less.

Not to worry - daughter took me to three local yarn shops. At one I bought a skein of Malabrigo sock yarn which the shop owner wound for me and I was back in business. By the time I got home I had almost finished the first Pomotamus sock. I really like the Malabrigo sock yarn - very nice to work with and the colorway is pretty too.

My daughter learned to crochet within the past year and likes to do amigurumi.

She designed and worked this dragon up herself - isn't it adorable?

For Mother's Day she made this sheep for me - it is just too cute.....

A few weeks ago I started a pink baby sweater with this pattern from Garnstudio......just as I was closing in on finishing the sweater my daughter and son-in-law called to let us know that we'd become grandparents next January - yay! Double yay for someone to wear the sweater (ok, I know it could be a boy, I'll just have to make a blue sweater too).

Rona Shawl Redux

2010-06-01T08:56:00.000-05:00

My fuschia beaded Rona shawl at 56" diameter was just too small, no way around it except to frog back and add more rows before the edging. I still had almost a full skein of yarn left.

It took several weeks and lots of playing in Excel to figure out how to enlarge this shawl.

Finally it dawned on me that what I needed to do was increase until there was a multiple of 16 (the repeat for the edging) and then do the edging. The original pattern has 48 sets of 16 sts at the start of the edging. The edging on the first version was really tight so it seemed to me that there needed to be a lot more stitches allowing for increasing the diameter. I decided to work a simple stitch pattern with increases until there were 96 sets of 16 stitches and then work the edging. This would add about 20 additional rounds.

That went fine for a while and then it became apparent that with twice as many stitches I would soon run out of yarn. So I reworked my spreadsheet eliminating several rounds in the edging pattern but keeping the 'integrity' with the quintuple yarnovers in the edging design.

That decision made it also became apparent that I would soon run out of beads. Back to LadyBug Beads for a third tube of fuschia beads. Surely that would be enough, wouldn't it?

At the start of the final edging row it seemed there were still quite a lot of beads and I decided I might as well use them up, they give the shawl better drape due to the weight and why save them. It was very difficult though to add the beads at the same time as the crochet bind off, so I worked a round slipping two, adding a bead, slipping two, adding a bead, etc.

As I neared the end it seemed there were barely enough beads to finish. Now I had to go fishing down the side of the sofa for whatever beads I could find there (plus three dpn's and assorted crumbs and dust), then my son moved the sofa so I could hunt down more beads that were hiding in the carpet.

Just when I was thisclose to adding the final beads things got a bit hairy. First I accidentally knocked over the container of beads and they went hither and yon across the floor and I had to gather them all up again! Then as I neared the very end I could see I'd be short about a half dozen beads. There had to be more of those little buggers in the carpet. With Ott Lite in hand I went behind the sofa to hunt down more escapees. It's close quarters between the sofa and the bay window and when I stood up I stepped down on the plastic vent cover which shattered on impact. While picking up pieces of the vent cover I noticed red stains on the carpet and thought one of my dogs must have bled on it until it dawned on me it wasn't the dogs - duh - my toe was dripping blood - I had sliced it on the vent cover!

Could anything else go wrong? I so wanted to get this shawl done and over with.

Finally I began the crochet bind off which was taking about 5 minutes for each repeat even when I didn't accidentally drop a stitch or two and have to take time to recover the stitches, that meant it would take about 8 hours just to bind off! Not only that - the yarn supply was getting suspiciously low.

In the end there were two beads left and several yards of yarn - whew! I decided I had better carefully check if there were any dropped stitches at the bind off before blocking the shawl. Good thing I tugged on it all the way around not once but twice and found a couple dropped stitches the first time around and a few more the second time around. Quickly repaired those with a length of yarn at each occurrence and then spent a couple hours blocking.

I am pleased to say that this Rona Shawl is finished for the second and last time...........it now measures 60" across, only a few more inches than before but the extra stitches made all the difference.

Parade of Finished Objects

2010-04-07T08:57:00.001-05:00

Looks like I've got some catching up to do since I'm a Blogger Slack-off.

Haruni Shawl

I've been forever trying to decide what to do with two skeins of Malabrigo variegated laceweight, when I saw this pattern (Haruni by Emily Ross) go up on Ravelry it was destined to become a Haruni. Maybe not the best choice for showing off the pattern stitches but it turned out okay (remind me not buy this type of variegated color, not really my style, always looks better in the unwound skein than it does knitted up). The revised version of this pattern is easy to follow and fun to do, didn't take too long either.

Bayerische Socks
This pattern is by Eunny Jang, currently the editor of Interweave; the pattern is here.

I think this sock pattern is gorgeous and tried several times to begin these socks. The problem was that there are four charts and it was tedious and confusing to work from one chart to the next without losing your mind. Finally I took the time to chart it myself in excel and once I printed it out it was smooth sailing........one sock done and one to go. The yarn is Cascade Heritage which I really like for this type of pattern as it shows the stitches nicely.

Starry Night Baby Blanket

Two neighbors' daughters are having babies soon, this will go to one of them for a shower gift. It is really cute but a bit puckery, not sure how great it will look if it just gets tossed into the dryer, I'll put a note with it that it should be dried flat for best results. It was fun crochet project, took a little longer than I thought it would and got a little tedious/boring once I got past the cloud section but I'm happy with the way it turned out. Pattern here.

Carol's Clever Little Shawl

I thought this was a nice idea but it's written for worsted or DK weight and I wanted to use Dream In Color Baby that I recently purchased. I only had one skein and wasn't sure there would be enough yarn (I worry about that for every project!) but there was actually plenty. Had to make some adjustments to the pattern to accomodate the lighter weight yarn and also to mirror the edging in a left and right direction, notes on my Ravelry project page. The flower is from my Flower Scarf pattern and it still needs to be steamed.

Shetland Shawl Redux

I love my fingering weight brown Shetland Shawl but as I wrote in a previous post it was not large enough, I want to be able to wrap/snuggle into it. So I'm glad that I took the time to add some length to the edging, it's much better now. I'm working a better version of this pattern as I'm still trying to work out a nicer transition of the interlocking diamonds around the corners.

CableKnot Scollar

2010-03-25T08:57:00.002-05:00

I have a new pattern up on Knit Picks through their Independent Designer Program.

I'm excited that they are offering this program for several reasons...

the Designer retains all rights to the pattern;
Knitpicks has a phenomenal customer base through their website and catalogs which will provide a lot of exposure;
the Yarn is provided;
the project is returned to the Designer;
photographic assistance is available.
all monies for sold patterns go to the Designer.

I didn't think my photos were so great but they did use them.

I designed this piece a few years ago when the Greater St. Louis Knitters' Guild participated in the Fall Folk and Fine Arts Festival at Faust Park by holding their first Knit-Out. There was a scarf contest as part of the Knit-Out; the scarves were later donated to a Women's group.

The design was inspired by an idea in Knitting Over the Edge by Nicky Epstein in the section titled 'Cords' and the pattern named 'Love Knots'.

I used the Love Knots idea for a scarflet/neckwarmer that begins with intertwined cords , the cords become cable, the cables end as intertwined cords at the opposite end of the scarf and the cords serve as buttonholes for the ball buttons (idea for ball buttons also taken from one of Nicky Epstein's books - I love her creative ideas).

CableKnot Scollar was posted last week the Knit Picks website.

It is also available in my Ravelry Store.

Ariel Socks - Updated

2010-03-25T08:57:00.000-05:00

The Ariel Sock Pattern is now available on Knit Picks through their Independent Designer Program.

This pattern has been updated with a redesigned toe - I think it looks much better.

This is the fourth time I have knit this sock design and it is fun every time, these socks really seem to knit quickly and fit very well (Stacey at Knit Picks tried them on for a photo for this blog post and told me that they fit her perfectly). I really liked the new Knit Picks Stroll Tonal yarn.

Ariel Socks are worked cuff to toe, instructions are given for double pointed needles, and the stitch patterns for the panels on the front and back are charted but the two charts are very easy to follow as there are only 7 patterned rows/23 stitches/very few symbols.

Check it out on Knit Picks or in my Ravelry Store.

A good day to write a blog post....

2010-01-07T08:58:00.002-06:00

....because this is the view out my front door:

I apologize for the photo quality - I am having issues with my camera.

For example, even after consulting my photographer daughter I couldn't figure out how to deal with all the whiteness of snow.

The next two photos were taken with my camera phone because that day I couldn't get the digital camera to work at all and I needed to get these gifts wrapped.

Katie's Scarves
Two scarves for Katie (son's very sweet girlfriend):
First is another pompom ( Gnocchi by Lana Grossa) scarf in turqoise;

Second is a scarf knit in fisherman's rib with a ruffle at the edge. The yarn is Kollage's Glisten (although you can't see the 'glisten' in this photo) purchased at Kirkwood Knittery.

During my last blog photoshoot I managed to break the tripod, so the rest of these photos are not as clear as they could have been and obviously it's too snowy and cold outside to shoot in natural light.

Isager's "The Fan"
This is Marianne Isager's "Viften [the Fan]" from Japanese Inspired Knits

This sweater is knit in Southwest Trading Company's "Optimum DK"purchased from Flying Fingers. Other than the sleeves being way too long it was a satisfying project and a sweater that I might actually wear.

Rona Lace Shawl
Next up is "Rona Lace Shawl" by Anna Marie Jensen, knit in Jade Sapphire Lacey Lamb from Kirkwood Knittery.
I really like knitting with this yarn although I had to take care not to snag it, especially withe tiny crochet hook that I used for beading.

The yarn is really fine and I'm a loose knitter so I used a Size 4 needle even though the pattern called for Size 5 for a 52" diameter shawl. I admit that I didn't swatch. It was a fun knit and the first shawl I have done that I added beads. It is gorgeous; however - it seems too small even though it blocked to 56" before I unpinned it, which is larger than noted in the pattern. I plan to undo the bind off and enlarge it somehow, there is plenty of yarn left on the second skein.

A gift for me...

I received a lovely pair of hand knit mittens from Fran and she even knit them in my favorite color: Pink. Luckily she takes better photos than I do (photo swiped from Fran's blog).

Barb and I modelling our new mittens:

A few more things..

2009-11-10T08:58:00.000-06:00

Twisted Stitch Socks
I love the look of twisted stitches (knit through the back loop); that really makes the pattern stand out.

Ordered this book from Knitpicks:

The stitches look best if all rows are twisted so an object knit flat would have to have stitches that were 'purl through the back loop' and that can be awkward, so it would be easier to work twisted stitches in a project done in the round i.e. hats, socks, mitts, etc.
I am looking forward to playing with some of the stitch patterns in this book for a pair socks soon.

In the meantime I knit this sock design using two similar type of stitch patterns from other books in my library. Loved the feel of the yarn, not crazy about the pooling but I do like the colors. It is really difficult to take a decent photo of your own feet!!

Yarn:

Twinkle Toes by Chameleon Colorworks Dyeworks & Fiber Studio; Merino/Tencel, 1 skein, 100g equal 360 yards, Color: Peacock

Pattern:

My own design

Son In Law Socks

Finished the second sock, although these look like argyle they are actually fair isle.

Remind me not to knit with three colors on the same row again.

Here's David showing off his new socks:

Life is better with good lighting.......

Last week I bought the cutest little "Mini Ott Light" at Tuesday Morning.

It is so much easier to knit in the evening with the bright light that this provides, should be easier to knit dark colors - I'd like to make a black shawl one of these days.

Gnocchi Scarf

The other day at Kirkwood Knittery, Susie was working on the cutest scarf made from Gnocchi by Lana Grossa.

It reminds of cattails and looks like cotton balls when knit up.

This is the simplest and quickest project, it is nothing but garter stitch.

You knit the chain between the puffs.

You would think it would have been easy but I can make things so hard

I cast on too many times to count:

Didn't see any option but to use a backwards-e cast on.

Very bulky stuff, first needle I tried (size 9) too small to keep control.

Also I am a continental knitter but found that it was easier to work this 'yarn' by throwing with from my right hand. Frog.

Change to Size 11 Denise needles, cast on and knit a few rows. Too tight. Frog.

Settle on Size 10.5 Denise needles, cast on and knit a few rows.

Still seems loose, maybe I should twist the stitches. Frog.

Cast on, knit a few rows with twisted stitches, still not right. Frog.

Cast on and knit a few rows regular.

Looks weird along the side edges, puffs sitting vertically v. horizontally across the row.

Don't remember Suzie's looking this. Frog.

Look up this yarn on Ravelry. See 8 similar projects. One is by my friend Anita who noted that she slipped the first stitch of every row. Cast on and knit slipping the first stitch - should I slip knitwise or purlwise? Try a few rows both ways. Decide on purlwise. Frog.

Cast on and knit about 8". Hold it up to check my progress. Slipped stitches are tighter than the other stitches causing the scarf to bow/arc at the bottom edge. Frog.

Decide that life would be easier if I'd ever learn to put KISS into practice (keep it simple, stupid). Keep it simple: Cast on 8 stitches with backwards 'e' method. Knit 8 sts. Turn. Knit 8 sts. Turn. Finally - success! Well, success until I reach the bind off....

Regular bind off, too tight, frog the bind off

What would work? Needs to be loose like Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off.

Couldn't remember exactly how that went and I was too lazy to look it up.

Decided that my bind off needs backwards 'e' 's to be similar to the cast on.

Here is what I came up with:

  *Knit one.
  Create a backwards 'e' stitch with the chain between the next two puffs.
  Pass the knit over the 'e'.
  Knit the next stitch.
  Pass the 'e' over.**
  Repeat from * to ** to the last stitch.
  Bind off previous stitch and draw the tail through the last stitch.

Final step: Sew (with matching thread and needle) in all the ends.

Voila - Finished!!

Fall Finished Objects

2009-11-08T08:58:00.000-06:00

Beaded Scarf

This was a fun project, nice yarn, pretty colors, easy pattern:

Very Pretty Yarn:

Swiss Mountain (65% Cashmere/35% Silk) by Handmaiden from Loopy Ewe.

Beads:

Size 8 from Ladybug Beads.

Pattern:

Center portion of Waves of Grain by Rosemary Hill available free at Knitty, Fall 2008.

Recipient:

Lovely daughter.

Twisted Candle Flame Cardigan

As I wrote in a previous post My friend Gerta lent me her copy of "Omas Strickgeheimnisse" and I was enchanted with the stitch pattern "Tulpen mit verschrankten Maschen". Not sure what that translates to but I'm calling this Twisted Candle Flame Sweater:

Yarn:

Adrienne Vittadini Alexa,

100% cotton tape yarn, worsted weight;

16 skeins, 50g and 100 yards per skein,

purchased at Kirkwood Knittery.

Stitch Pattern:

Twisted Candle Flame from Omas Strickgeheimnisse.

Buttons:

From Joann's.

Designer:

Cute Baby Sweater

I saw this cute ball of yarn at The Weaving Dept. at Myers House - tucked inside the ball are darling little buttons and two sweater patterns (cardigan and pullover). It isn't the greatest yarn (lots of thick and thin) but it turned out cute, it's machine washable and was quick to do - now we just need someone in my family to have a baby who can wear it!

Yarn/Pattern/Buttons:

Cotton Kisses by Plymouth Yarn Companypurchased at

The Weaving Dept at Myers House.

One skein, 200g, 396 yards

Stitch Pattern:

Made it up.

Recipient:

To be determined.

Sock in Progress?

I love the glitter sock yarn from Berroco and bought a skein in pink/green/orange.

Of course after many swatches I couldn't settle on stitch pattern.

In the meantime I ordered some Gloss sock yarn in Black from Knitpicks.

I thought it would be nice to have some black handknit socks - what was I thinking?

Very hard to see to work on black yarn. Need to try some better lighting.

It occurred to me that I could combine these two yarns and came up with this. Finished the first sock but it is loose at the ankle even though done on 64 stitches with Size 1 U.S. needles; the Gloss sock yarn is a bit on the heavy side.

This may end up in the frog pond.

More to follow soon...............

Poor Neglected Blog

2009-09-11T08:59:00.000-05:00

....it was a busy summer; that's my excuse for neglecting this blog for so long.

It was also the best summer ever in St. Louis for gorgeous weather.

Most of our summers are excessively hot, humid and miserable.

This year there was only one week in June that was miserable.

Other than that week the rest of the summer we have had the most gorgeous tolerable summer weather anyone can remember.

So to pick up where I left off.......our daughter was married on July 11, 2009:

They are so cute together! I think they both look so very young.

It's hard to fathom that we have a married daughter.

Her husband is a U.S. Marine and returned to duty in Iraq shortly after the wedding,

so our daughter continues to live with us until he returns to the States (could be October).

She has started her own blog and is working on making jewelry (including stitch markers!) and fimo clay characters (trying to convince her to do buttons!)

My friend Fran is not only a knitter but a spinner and weaver.

She wove this lovely dishtowel and dishcloth for me:

My friend Barb is an amazing knitter, quilter, embroider.
For my birthday last week she made this darling tote bag for me,
it even has my name embroidered on it:

It's a very cool turnabout to have hand-crafted objects made for me!

Finally finished the second entrelac sock. But there was not enough yarn to finish the toe so I substituted a plain off white sock yarn which is why the toes look different color-wise than the rest of the foot.

This sweater is really comfortable, I'm very pleased with the way it turned out.

It hangs better on me than my mannequin since she is way smaller than I am.

The yarn is Southwest Optimum DK purchased from Flying Fingers. It is so soft
and drapey that it feels more like cashmere than 100% wool.

I began at the bottom and by the time I had knitted to the waistline I had tired of
knitting the German Herringbone stitch pattern (First Treasury of Knitting Patterns
by Barbara Walker) even though it is one of my favorites.

So I chose a coordinating stitch pattern and worked the bodice in two pieces:

left wrist to center back/front and right wrist to center back/front, joining at the center back.

This meant that unblocked there were little poofs of stitches at center back, but they blocked out flat (yay!)

The bodice stitch pattern is Reverse Fern Stitch (Charted Knitting Designs; a Third Treasury of Knitting Patterns, also by Barbara Walker

I started a lace sweater design using stitch patterns from Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush, and cashmere laceweight yarn from Colourmart, but so far only one sleeve is complete:

I saw these these darling slippers here on Ravelry.

The pattern is written in several languages (including English) and was actually quite easy.

The heel is worked first, then stitches are cast on for the foot and the rest is worked in round ending at the toe.

The pattern begins by casting on at the top of the heel section, working decreases to the center of the heel, then increases to the bottom of the heel, and finally seaming the heel along the sides before casting on additional stitches for the foot.

I worked it a bit differently casting on at the base of the heel and working increases
in the round.

I was a little disappointed that the gray yarn in the kit is several shades lighter than what is pictured above, therefore the fair isle detail does not show as well since there is not enough contrast between the two yarn colors.

There are often projects that are unsuccessful which I have not included in this blog.

Last spring I did a tank top that was just awful and now I can't find it so I'm not sure if I ripped it out and hid the yarn or simply trashed it.

Now here's another work in progress tank top and I'm not sure if I want to finish it or not. I would need to rework the bottom of the skirt for a few inches. The yarn is bamboo that I bought from the mark down bin at Kirkwood Knittery. There were several skeins of turqoise and two skeins of multi blue/white color. The crossover portion is inspired by a design that was in Knitter's magazine. The top is knit in a slip stitch rib and the skirt is the 'wrong' side of Half-fisherman's Rib.

This sock is for my favorite son-in-law, David.

Hopefully he will like them.

Hopefully they will fit.

Hopefully I am motivated to knit the second sock.

The yarn is by Universal Yarns purchased at Kirkwood Knittery.

My friend Gerta shared this book with me, which is written in German. I'm in love with several stitch patterns from this book, especially a version of the candle flame pattern done in twisted stitches.

In my stash I had 16 skeins of Alexa (a tape yarn by Adrienne Vittadini). This Twisted Candle Flame sweater is my current work in progress. I've completed the fronts and the back and have begun the sleeves.

And that concludes the synopsis of MakeOne's 2009 summer knitting......

Finished Objects....

2009-06-13T07:06:00.004-05:00

Shetland Tea Shawl

pattern by Dale Long
Published in "A Gathering of Lace"
Yarn: Alpaca With a Twist Fino, 2 skeins

Blocking:

Finished:

Arch-shaped socks
pattern by Jen Showalter
Yarn: Regia Design Line Kaffe Fassett
Based on this pattern, but worked toe up.

It is really difficult to take a photo of your own feet!

Handkerchief for Daughter's Wedding Day
Godmother's Edging from Treasury of Knitting Patterns

Yarn is 2/28 cashmere from Colourmart.

Embroidery design from old heirloom sewing/shadow embroidery patterns in my collection.

Fabric repurposed linen from a ribbon embroidery project that I never finished.
Sequins and beads are bridal alterations leftovers.

Daughter has decided that she will not actually soil this hankie as then
she would have to BLOCK IT (OMG).

Wedding Veil for Daughter
Veils at the bridal salons start at well over $100, plus my daughter wants to wear her veil vertically to complement the planned french twist hairdo.

So it was decided that Mom would try to make one.

This was so easy, and cost about $10.

Two yards of 72" wide tulle folded in half, then in half again.

Cut a 36" 1/4 circle with very sharp scissors, then cut another circle 3" radius from center point.

Unfolded, pressed, folded in half, ran two rows of stitching 1/4" and 3/8" from edger of inner circle.

Tied threads at one end, pulled up bobbin threads from other end, until edge was about 3/4" long gathered. Sewed a piece of ribbon over the rough edge.

Once we have tried the veil on with the dress I will permanently attach it and the trim with a glue gun to the comb.

Note:
This morning I posted the Hexagon Scarf pattern to my Ravelry Store.

It is priced at $2.50 and can be purchased through Paypal even if you are not a member of Ravelry. Just click the "Buy Now" button on my sidebar, this will take you to Paypal where you can purchase the pattern to download.

I had a hard time getting this to post and format correctly today, therefore....

Note to self: Do all Blogdrive editing from Internet Explorer, not from Google.

Lerwick is Finished!

2009-05-08T14:46:00.003-05:00

Blocking..........

Done Done Done ...................

Lerwick

By: Sharon Miller

Heirloom Knitting

Yarn: Wool/Silk from Colourmart

Worked on Size 1 U.S. 24" needle

The book is $43.00 plus shipping from Schoolhouse Press.
I will sell this book for $30.00, there are no marks in it, contact me if interested.

Lerwick

2009-05-01T23:31:00.001-05:00

My last post was when I had finished the edging of the Lerwick shawl.

Since then I have worked the border (completed 4/16/09) and the center which I completed today; all that's left is to graft and block.

This was the most time consuming project I have done to date. It was tedious and awkward to me to work with such fine yarn (oh yeah right - that's why I ordered a cone of laceweight cashmere so I can torture myself some more) . I made more errors in this shawl than any other project I have made to date but there was no way I was going to frog since the rows contained approx. 1,000 stitches; I fixed any mistake as best I could and moved on.

Maybe fine weight lace knitting is just not my thing and I should add it to my list of knitting techniques that I don't enjoy working: felting, entrelac, intarsia for example.

Deborah (RogueKnit) finished her Lerwick - it's gorgeous.

Next post: Lerwick blocked.

Progress

2009-03-03T14:38:00.004-06:00

After at least six weeks, I have finally finished the edging on the Lerwick shawl. Feels good to have made some progress.

The yarn is 2/20 or 2/30 (can't read the label) which means extremely fine and the stitch pattern is worked on both sides - those two factors really slowed me down, plus there were 128 repeats of the 16 row pattern (36,864 stitches) - no wonder it took so long.

The last step was to graft the two ends together. I wanted to graft it in pattern and knew that would be really confusing even though it was only 15 stitches. I decided to make a swatch in a heavier yarn with the row that was to be grafted knit with a contrasting color that I could follow when I did the actual graft:

After my sweet husband set up some lighting so that I could see what I was doing, I was ready to begin the operation (he said it looked like I was performing surgery):

I removed the provisional cast on and put those stitches on a second dpn, checked five times to make sure that I didn't have the length of edging twisted and was correctly matching up the ends, hitched up my glasses for optimal magnification and began..........

TADA!

The next process is to pick up stitches (1,200+) along the straight edge (only took three tries to get it right) and knit the mitred border which is about 100 rows long - this could take a while - so far the four rows that I have knit took about 2 hours per row.

On Sunday I went to a spin-in at Barb's (I don't spin but the nice fiber ladies let me bring my knitting). A couple hours of knitting, eating, chatting - before I knew it I was ready to knit the toe on the second sock of a pair I've been working on since the start of the year. Always glad to finish the second sock! The pattern is a 7-stitch twisted rib cable. The yarn is by Neighborhood Fiber Company (purchased at The Loopy Ewe):

I had a lot of fun designing and knitting this colorful modular scarf in Crystal Palace Mini-Mochi purchased at The Kirkwood Knittery. The pattern is being test knit and then it will be available on Ravelry and on my blog through Ravelry (you don't need to be a member of Ravelry to purchase a pattern). The scarf is knit in garter stitch trapezoids, there are no seams. One length is knit with the first skein and the second length is attached as it is knit with the second skein:

This yarn is a very loosely spun fingering weight wool. It's very soft and has a pretty halo (makes it hard to rip out) with long repeats of various colors.

Almeara

2009-01-30T14:05:00.002-06:00

In the latest Vogue Knitting (Winter 2008/2009) there is a pattern for a gorgeous pair of gloves, "Almeara", by Jared Flood (Brooklyn Tweed) and an accompanying article about Jared, "All you need is glove".

Here are my Almeara's knit in Elsebeth Lavold Angora which has been languishing in my stash for quite a while. They were a lot of fun to knit and went very quickly, taking a little more than 4 evenings and less than three skeins to complete.

This yarn is heavier than the recommended yarn (Rowan Scottish Tweed DK), so my gloves are a little bit large and bulky but they are warm and fit over my rings - I love them!

The gloves start with an i-cord cast-on. That is a new cast-on for me and it is very cool.

I am glad to have it in my repertoire and can't wait to use it on future projects/designs.

Before blocking the fingers curl toward the palm since the palm side is done in garter stitch - that makes them look good without even having any fingers inside!

There are a number of errors in this pattern. Also there are a couple decrease rows that I thought could be worked better than the instructions given, although these may not have been errors. Here are my notes, bold/red are the changes I noted to the pattern. I think that most of these were quite obvious and many knitters would be able to make these corrections on their own without too much confusion.

Left Middle Finger

Round 4: k9, p1, k4, p1, k1

Left Thumb - Round 4 was omitted.

Round 4: p3, k8, p8

Right Pinkie

I thought the cables should be reversed:

Row 1: 4 st LC, k2, p1, k8

Row 3: k2, 4 st RC, p1, k8

Right Ring Finger

I thought the decreases should be worked:

[K2tog] 2x, [ssk] 2x, [p2tog] 3x, p1

Right Middle Finger

First sentence... 'work 5 palm sts',

would be clearer if it read: purl 5 palm sts'.

Round 4: k1, p1, k4, p1, k9

Decrease round ends with 8 sts.

Right Index Finger

I thought the Decrease Round should read:

ssk, [k2tog] 3x, [p2tog] 4x, p1

Right Thumb:

Decrease Round should read:

[k2tog] 4x, p1, [p2tog] 5x -- 10 sts.

Maybe in my next career I'll be tech editor.

Looking for my knittting mojo....

2009-01-12T10:17:00.002-06:00

Haven't posted for a while feeling that I had nothing to say or show.

A couple weeks ago I was feeling uninspired and couldn't get interested in any of my works in progress or any new projects.

I had decided that the next day I would go to Kirkwood Knittery for some inspiration.

That evening I received an invitation from RogueKnits - she and Brooke had decided to knit the Lerwick Shawl by Sharon Miller and Deborah invited me to play too.

Isn't it funny how things like that work out? I was feeling so down on the knitting and at a loss of what to do next and the next thing you know Deborah comes along presenting me with a project challenging enough to help get my mojo back. (Plus the $1 skein bin at Kirkwood Knittery is always helpful too!)

Sharon Miller (Heirloom Knitting - click the link for some gorgeous shawl eye candy) wrote this pattern to copy an antique shawl, the finished shawl measures approximately 65" square and takes 2000-2500 yards of 2-ply.

Deborah anticipates that it will take her three weeks to complete this shawl - knowing how fast Deborah knits all those awesome lace objects, I believe that she will do just that.

I am just getting started on this project having the book and yarn in my possession for only a few days.

I have never knit with yarn this fine, I have never knit a lace stitch pattern that is patterned on both sides with a garter background - this will definitely be a challenge for moi.

The instructions give options for knitting the shawl from edging to border to center - or vice versa.

Starting with the sideways edging appeals to me as that is my least favorite part of a shawl to knit [I dislike having to flip the whole piece over every other row to attach it at the end of every second row to the shawl. I could knit every other row backwards if it was a plain row, but this edging is patterned on both sides and would take me forever (I tried it)]. In fact several times I have knit an edging separately and attached it by hooking the live stitches of the shawl to the chain selvage of the edging as per Joan Schrouder's instructions in Best of Knitter's Shawls and Scarves - the procedure is a bit scary but works fine.

I'll be using a 2-ply from Colourmart, color is Stone, a blend of 50% merino/50% silk. The pattern calls for a size 3 US needle but as an extremely loose knitter I knit this swatch with Size 1 US dpn's (now I need a find a source for a Size 1 US circ):

Naturally I have already decided to re-swatch and slightly change the edging. Why? Because the insertion is a four row repeat and the edging is given as a 14 row repeat, plus it's bugging me that the two little triangular sections between the edging and the insertion don't match.

Bring on the mojo.....

A few finished objects....

2009-01-12T10:06:00.002-06:00

Here are a few finished object's since my last post...

A pair of socks in J. Knits yarn, stitch pattern from Treasury #3:

One entrelac sock in two colors of Shibui, some day I'll knit the second sock:

A vest that began as a circular shrug that didn't work out: the gray yarn is Needful Yarns Disco; the Multi-color sparkly yarn is by Artyarns (this yarn used to be a tam that didn't work out due to the weight of the beads), still need to get a closure:

I also knit this beret by the Rainey Sisters for my sister, Beth and forget to take a photograph.

Lastly I've started another pair of socks in a multicolor pink yarn, not liking the yarn but loving the color[s] and I'm working on a Shetland Tea Shawl (Gathering of Lace) in Alpaca With A Twist Fino:

No Knitting Content Today...

2008-12-21T09:46:00.001-06:00

Being the proud Mom, I just have to share some photos of this milestone..........

Sorry for the lack of a post the last few weeks, and further for no knitting content this date. This week's excuse is that a) I had a cold and didn't do much knitting and b) I've been pre-occupied with DD's college graduation and the holidays.

Happy Holidays!

Fair Isle Mitts

2008-12-02T10:33:00.001-06:00

It's can be hard to find just the right shade of pink yarn. Recently I bought the perfect fuschia color of Cascade Heritage at The Loopy Ewe and was looking forward to making some socks for myself. I was having a fun time deciding if I wanted to design a pattern or use one of the other patterns I'd been admiring, like Clessidra or Bayerische, maybe even Baudelaire.

My daughter was to home to visit and I said isn't this the nicest shade of fushcia? She said, 'oh that would be perfect for those gloves you promised to make me'.....so much for my fuschia socks.

This pattern: Classic Elite Nederland Opera Mitts by Mary Jane Mucklestone

We decided I would use shades of gray for the fair isle patterning and conveniently I had just purchased cream, gray and dark gray sock yarn (Pace by Universal Yarns) at the Kirkwood Knittery.

The pattern is written for worsted weight yarn, so I adjusted the stitch counts for fingering weight. Instead of 48 stitches as given in the pattern, I used 72 sts.

She didn't want the gloves to go past her elbow as shown in the pattern, so I figured using the same number of rounds with fingering weight should end up just the right length. She is tiny and they are longer than I anticipated, but she seemed to be pleased.