Tag: Knitting Projects

  • Stashbusting – The Purple Purse

    Stashbusting – The Purple Purse

    From some leftover purple overdye comes this little confection of a purse.  I had to laugh, though:  I showed it to someone at weaving class today and the first thing they said was, it\’s cute, but it\’s not big enough.  What would you use it for?  When I said it\’s a gift bag, they said they weren\’t that organized.

    Organized?  It doesn\’t take any organization at all to use up our stash in these little bags or other small projects.  Quite the contrary, actually.  If we use it up, then we don\’t need to organize or store it – and if it\’s a gift bag, we can give it away and get it out of our house, and make somebody really happy in the process.  A win-win, in my book!

    I figured out one thing, though.  I used the Woven Stitch from Barbara Walker\’s A Treasury of Knitting Patterns.  If you\’re a knitter, get this book and the other three in the collection as you can.  They\’re a treasure trove.

    But I digress.  So, Woven Stitch.  It calls for a K1 before the repeat begins on Row 2, and a K1 at the end of the repeat on Row 4.  I wasn\’t thinking, and knitted the bag on 3 needles in the round like a sock.  I did each pattern repeat distinctly, one on each needle, not thinking that when I took it off the needles it would be a tube.  In the front left of the image above, immediately to the left of the handle, there\’s a vertical stripe of stockinette (stocking) stitch going up the purse in the midst of the Woven Stitch; it\’s echoed on the other side as well.  I actually like the effect but had a \”derp\” moment when I took it off the needles and realized my mistake.

    If you\’re reading that and trying to figure out why it\’s a mistake, consider this:  even though you\’re knitting on three needles, you\’re knitting in the round.  You don\’t need the edge stitches to keep the integrity of the design the way you do in back-and-forth flat knitting.  I should have just omitted those extra knit stitches on either side of the design and then you\’d never be able to tell where I began and ended the row repeats (which, since I was knitting in a circle, were rounds and not rows).  Clear as mud?  Good.

     
    Here\’s a bigger picture so you can see what I\’m talking about and use my thumb for scale – it really is a cute little bag.  But, honestly, I would use it for keys and cell phone if I was going out for the evening somewhere casual but where I didn\’t want to drag my planner and ubiquitous backpack.

    The woven stitch when knit flat has a curl to it, so I decided to do a seed stitch for the handle instead so I didn\’t have to worry about edge stitches to keep it flat.

    Here\’s a detail of the handle and a look inside the maw of the bag.  Rowr!

    One more stash down; a lot more to go.

  • A Journey Into 3D Notebook – What I\’m Working On

    A Journey Into 3D Notebook – What I\’m Working On

    November is coming, and with it, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.  During the month of November, NaNo-ers write 50,000 words on a draft of a novel – some more, some less, and the madness that ensues is infectious.

    I wish we had a NaKnitMo, National Knitting Month.  Wouldn\’t that be awesome?

    I was lamenting recently to Rachel Wilder, my partner in writing crime, that my stash is reaching epic proportions.  I typed up what\’s under the bed in bins and showed her pictures of my shelves in my office, which overflowed from the huge apparatus over there to the top of the filing cabinet over here.

    Unperturbed, she said, \”Just think of it as hours of pre-paid entertainment.\”

    Blink.

    LOFF!

    In celebration of that, I figured I\’d share a few of the things I\’m working on or have recently finished.

    This is an Ojo de Dios, or \”Eye of God.\”  Made by the Huichol peoples of South America, they are prayers of blessing and good fortune.  Ojos are made and placed in the central village temple for blessings on a child, a new business venture, a marriage, and many other occasions.

    This one was fun to make since I usually make much smaller ones.  This one is about 12 inches on 1/2 inch dowel rods.  I sanded the dowels and then stained them using a combination of varnish and stain.  I skipped the recommended steel wool sanding in between the two coats and I think, in hindsight, I wish I had done it; on the next project I will use that as part of the preparation.  Overall, though, I like how the dowels came out.

    I used a large, bulky yarn with an overdye pattern, which is what accounts for the color variations.  I also varied the weave in making the ojo itself, which is what accounts for the visibility of the dowel in the middle of the design in parts.

    At the October Nightweavers meeting, a chapter of the Weavers Guild of the North Shore, we made snowflakes for the upcoming Fine Art of Fiber taking place at the Chicago Botanic Gardens November 8-10, 2013.  The designs are surprisingly easy to put together and look quite pretty in white paper.  I am across some colored origami paper that\’s white on the back, so I decided to try the design using six sheets of that, instead.

    The white added a depth to the snowflake that I didn\’t anticipate and like very much.  I think it would look pretty, and very different, when done on paper that has designs on both sides, especially if the designs aren\’t identical.

    I nipped its ear when I was punching a hole to hang it with; you can see it on the tip of the red ear here.

    If you\’re curious, the location where it hangs is the Pumping Station: One, a hackerspace here in Chicago.  This is the art room and the view in the background is to one of the consoles for one of our 3-D printers.

  • A Journey Into 3D Notebook – What I\’m Working On

    A Journey Into 3D Notebook – What I\’m Working On

    November is coming, and with it, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.  During the month of November, NaNo-ers write 50,000 words on a draft of a novel – some more, some less, and the madness that ensues is infectious.

    I wish we had a NaKnitMo, National Knitting Month.  Wouldn\’t that be awesome?

    I was lamenting recently to Rachel Wilder, my partner in writing crime, that my stash is reaching epic proportions.  I typed up what\’s under the bed in bins and showed her pictures of my shelves in my office, which overflowed from the huge apparatus over there to the top of the filing cabinet over here.

    Unperturbed, she said, \”Just think of it as hours of pre-paid entertainment.\”

    Blink.

    LOFF!

    In celebration of that, I figured I\’d share a few of the things I\’m working on or have recently finished.

    This is an Ojo de Dios, or \”Eye of God.\”  Made by the Huichol peoples of South America, they are prayers of blessing and good fortune.  Ojos are made and placed in the central village temple for blessings on a child, a new business venture, a marriage, and many other occasions.

    This one was fun to make since I usually make much smaller ones.  This one is about 12 inches on 1/2 inch dowel rods.  I sanded the dowels and then stained them using a combination of varnish and stain.  I skipped the recommended steel wool sanding in between the two coats and I think, in hindsight, I wish I had done it; on the next project I will use that as part of the preparation.  Overall, though, I like how the dowels came out.

    I used a large, bulky yarn with an overdye pattern, which is what accounts for the color variations.  I also varied the weave in making the ojo itself, which is what accounts for the visibility of the dowel in the middle of the design in parts.

    At the October Nightweavers meeting, a chapter of the Weavers Guild of the North Shore, we made snowflakes for the upcoming Fine Art of Fiber taking place at the Chicago Botanic Gardens November 8-10, 2013.  The designs are surprisingly easy to put together and look quite pretty in white paper.  I am across some colored origami paper that\’s white on the back, so I decided to try the design using six sheets of that, instead.

    The white added a depth to the snowflake that I didn\’t anticipate and like very much.  I think it would look pretty, and very different, when done on paper that has designs on both sides, especially if the designs aren\’t identical.

    I nipped its ear when I was punching a hole to hang it with; you can see it on the tip of the red ear here.

    If you\’re curious, the location where it hangs is the Pumping Station: One, a hackerspace here in Chicago.  This is the art room and the view in the background is to one of the consoles for one of our 3-D printers.

  • A Journey Into 3D Notebook – What I\’m Working On

    A Journey Into 3D Notebook – What I\’m Working On

    November is coming, and with it, NaNoWriMo, or National Novel Writing Month.  During the month of November, NaNo-ers write 50,000 words on a draft of a novel – some more, some less, and the madness that ensues is infectious.

    I wish we had a NaKnitMo, National Knitting Month.  Wouldn\’t that be awesome?

    I was lamenting recently to Rachel Wilder, my partner in writing crime, that my stash is reaching epic proportions.  I typed up what\’s under the bed in bins and showed her pictures of my shelves in my office, which overflowed from the huge apparatus over there to the top of the filing cabinet over here.

    Unperturbed, she said, \”Just think of it as hours of pre-paid entertainment.\”

    Blink.

    LOFF!

    In celebration of that, I figured I\’d share a few of the things I\’m working on or have recently finished.

    This is an Ojo de Dios, or \”Eye of God.\”  Made by the Huichol peoples of South America, they are prayers of blessing and good fortune.  Ojos are made and placed in the central village temple for blessings on a child, a new business venture, a marriage, and many other occasions.

    This one was fun to make since I usually make much smaller ones.  This one is about 12 inches on 1/2 inch dowel rods.  I sanded the dowels and then stained them using a combination of varnish and stain.  I skipped the recommended steel wool sanding in between the two coats and I think, in hindsight, I wish I had done it; on the next project I will use that as part of the preparation.  Overall, though, I like how the dowels came out.

    I used a large, bulky yarn with an overdye pattern, which is what accounts for the color variations.  I also varied the weave in making the ojo itself, which is what accounts for the visibility of the dowel in the middle of the design in parts.

    At the October Nightweavers meeting, a chapter of the Weavers Guild of the North Shore, we made snowflakes for the upcoming Fine Art of Fiber taking place at the Chicago Botanic Gardens November 8-10, 2013.  The designs are surprisingly easy to put together and look quite pretty in white paper.  I am across some colored origami paper that\’s white on the back, so I decided to try the design using six sheets of that, instead.

    The white added a depth to the snowflake that I didn\’t anticipate and like very much.  I think it would look pretty, and very different, when done on paper that has designs on both sides, especially if the designs aren\’t identical.

    I nipped its ear when I was punching a hole to hang it with; you can see it on the tip of the red ear here.

    If you\’re curious, the location where it hangs is the Pumping Station: One, a hackerspace here in Chicago.  This is the art room and the view in the background is to one of the consoles for one of our 3-D printers.

  • Stashbusting – The Jewel Scarf

    Stashbusting – The Jewel Scarf

    I have named my little scarf:  I shall call it, mini-scarf.  No, kidding.  The Jewel Scarf.  Why?  There aren\’t any jewels in it, and no beads, but the colors are shiny and remind me of jewels.  Ergo, the jewel scarf.

    Sadly, since it\’s metallic, it\’s tough to photograph because the lighting gets wonky; here\’s another shot with the flash so you can see it a little better.

    This pattern is kicking my butt, though.  It\’s deceptively simple:  Row 1, K1, *YO, S1 WYIB, K1, PSSO*, K1.  Easy peasy, right?

    Okay, if you don\’t read knit-speak:  Row 1, Knit the first stitch, then the pattern repeat is:  yarn over, slip one with yarn in back, knit 1, pass the slipped stitch over the knitted stitch, repeat until only one stitch remains; then knit 1.

    The purl row is identical, just with purls instead of knits.

    That\’s where the problem is – I keep forgetting to slip that first stitch, or I forget the yarn over, or I end up with 3 extra stitches by the time I realize I have a mistake.  I\’ve pulled this silly scarf out about five times so far and am about ready to throw my shoe at it.  Today I seem to have gotten it, though, as you can see.

    Stashbusting, I\’ve got your number.  🙂

    What are you knitting?  (Or crocheting?)  (Or making?)

  • Journey into 3-D: Notebook – The Jewel Scarf

    Journey into 3-D: Notebook – The Jewel Scarf

    I learned a valuable lesson when working in 3-D:  never take the knitting needle out of live stitches by accident, especially when working a lace pattern.

    I bought some lovely yarn on one of my trips and, since we just moved, I can\’t find the ball band to tell you about it.  But suffice it to say that it worked up into a lovely narrow scarf for use with a work outfit or something.  Just as I was trying to figure out how to cast off, I pulled out what I thought was the non-working needle and voila.

    It was the working needle.

    For those of you who don\’t know what I mean, in knitting, you have live stitches on a needle.  If you have experience, you can generally put them back on a needle.  It takes practice.  I can do it, if I\’m careful, with stockinette stitch – so-called \”plain\” knitting.  I can do it with rib stitches and garter stitches too.  But lace?  Not so much.

    Sadly, I fiddled and faddled and put the project away sometime last year or early this year.

    In moving, I found it again and decided to bite the bullet and start over.  Yesterday, I sat down with my trusty ball winder and took the scarf apart.  I\’m going to make it over again with a pattern from Barbara Walker\’s A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns, called \”Rick Rib.\”  It\’s a combination of rib stitch and lace.  It\’s very simple to work, just two lines, and can be made on any even number of stitches.  I\’ve cast on twenty and started.  Here\’s how it looks so far (there\’s not much yet, but from tiny acorns…)

    Here is the project with the yarn next to it.  The jumbled bits are because I did about six rows and realized I\’d made several errors and had the wrong stitch count.  Some knitting days are like that.  I started over this morning and it\’s going more smoothly.

    I love the way the knitted cast on looks like a series of sideways knit stitches.  I\’ll post more pictures once I have the pattern established so you can get a look at it.

  • Saturday Showcase – Upcoming Releases!

    Saturday Showcase – Upcoming Releases!

    I\’m so excited.  I\’ve been emailing around the interwebs and am tickled pink, purple, and yellow to report that I have TWO surprises for you coming in October!

    October 19th, author Tina Holland will be coming to KK to talk about her craft of scrapbooking.  Tina is a trip – she lives on a self-proclaimed \”hobby farm\” in Minnesota, writes sexy romances with the tagline, \”Have You Been Naughty Today?\” and hopes one day to open a bed and breakfast with her husband, a pilot and something of a mad scientist himself.  My kind of people!

    When I asked Tina what crafts she likes, she said none.  None?  NONE?  Well, scrapbooking.  It\’s really her aunt\’s passion, she told me, but from the sounds of it I think Tina qualifies as a crafter.  Have you seen some of these scrapbooks?  But I want to know more about why she focuses on writing and what niche it fills for her in terms of creative expression, and how that ties in with scrapbooking.  I can\’t wait.

    On October 26th, author and textile artist Maddy Barone will be coming to play!  I so want to marry Maddy and hide her away as my kept woman to write books and make stuff.  Multi-talented, she can design period clothing, knit, write awesome books, and I wouldn\’t be surprised to find out she can do magic too.  We haven\’t yet managed to meet in person, though we\’ve talked on the phone, but one day I will make her part of the Noonypod.

    Noonypod.  I just made that up.  I love it!  🙂

    Now, don\’t be like that.  You won\’t be assimilated, silly!

    At least not until October…  o.O…

  • Saturday Showcase – Me!

    Saturday Showcase – Me!

    Now that we are moved and almost all settled in, (I unpacked the last box of books today!), I have knitting knews – and it\’s HUGE!

    I\’m knitting again!

    That\’s right, sports fans, I started knitting again!  My carpal tunnel is still aching, but it\’s subsided enough to let me do some gentle tasks.  I also started playing the piano again and am doing some finger-strengthening exercises from the Hanon book that are really helpful.  I\’ve noticed my hands don\’t ache as much and I\’m getting strength back in my fingers, though I still get really numb.

    Wow.  Get me talking about my hands and I sound like a little old lady.  \”My bunions are…\”  Yeah.  Shaddup and git ta tha good stuff!

    I bought some very ridiculously expensive suri alpaca and Merino wool blend, one hank of cream and one of … hmm.  Mocha?  Sand?  Not sure.  It\’s pretty, whatever it is, and beautiful to work with.  I wanted to do a pattern that set off the colors well so I settled on making a short stole with one of Barbara Walker\’s patterns.  Take a look at how it\’s coming along:

    I figure it will be long enough to wrap around the neck like a collar and then be secured with a shawl pin or something similar.  I wish I had enough for tassels, because I think that would look cool, but there isn\’t enough of the stuff unless I want to take it apart and make it more narrow.  I don\’t really want to do that, so a pretty shawl pin (or maybe even a button) it is.

    Stay tuned.  I have weaving journal pictures to share but I\’ve been so busy with the move that I just haven\’t had time.  What WILL you do without me?

    Knit!

    Duh.

  • Happy Stashbusting New Year!

    Happy Stashbusting New Year!

    Welcome to 2013!  365 days to knit, crochet, weave, or play with your favorite craft; 52 weeks of inspired ideas; 12 months of possibility; 4 seasons filled with opportunities for enjoyment; it\’s a brand new year, kids, and we ain\’t gettin\’ any younger!  So LET\’S GET BIZZY!

    My theme for this year is Completion.  Here\’s my plan of attack:

    • Define the parameters (i.e. what is my stash, exactly?)
    • Define the weaponry (i.e. what tools do I have, and what, if any, are needed?)
    • Easy wins (what\’s already started or nearly done?)
    • Planned Campaigns (what\’s already planned but not yet executed?)
    • Contingencies (what can we come up with that\’s new?)
    There\’s a lot of play to do this year.  Today I\’m finishing the Celebration of Light and Color Shawl (it just needs to be washed and blocked), and working on the diamond wrap.  Weaving class is Thursday and Michael and I are planning our next item for the Wardrobe of 2013.
    What about you?  What yearnings have you got buried in your little crafty heart?  Trust that today is the day, and this is the year.  Craft on!

  • Humpday Update – Bryce Canyon Shawl and Prayer Shawl

    I finished the Bryce Canyon Shawl today. The last step was to add a 6 row garter stitch border to match the edges of the shawl and the bottom of the triangle. Then I used a knit one, purl one bind-off to make sure it would be elastic enough. The edge took a while to finish but I’m pleased with the results. I’ll share the bind-off here since I’ve used it a couple other times and really like it.

    1. Cut the yarn 3 times the width of the edge and thread a yarn needle. Insert the yarn needle purlwise into the first stitch. Pull the yarn through. With the yarn needle behind the next stitch, insert it knitwise into the purl stitch and pull the yarn through.

    2. *Slip the first knit stitch knitwise and insert the yarn needle into the second stitch on the needle purlwise. Pull the yarn through.

    3. Slip the first stitch purlwise. Go behind the next stitch and insert the needle knitwise into the next stitch. Pull the yarn through. Repeat from the * in step 2 until all the stitches are bound off.

    The next step is to block the shawl. It is stretched out of the way because of the lace. It needs to be stretched to allow the lace to lay flat. I’ll post pictures of that, but here are the images of the finished shawl (below).

    In addition, I finished the prayer shawl for a friend of a friend who has colon cancer. It’s a triangle shawl like the Bryce Canyon Shawl, but with an allover lace pattern that’s K1, *YO, K2T. The edges are a 3-stitch garter stitch border with a YO, which is where the shape comes from. I used a picot bind-off which is quite pretty, along with 3 tassels.

    This is an overall view of the shawl that shows the 3 lace diamonds and the lace outline, which is a vertical lace trellis stitch from Barbara Walker.

    This is the bottom, center, medallion, also from Barbara Walker.

    This is the medallion on the left.  When worn, this appears over the left shoulder and down the arm.

    This is the right medallion and, like the left, appears on the arm.

    This shows the bound-off edge with the garter stitch edge and the sewing needle bind-off.
    This is the first comprehensive picture of the Prayer Shawl.  I used Lion Brand Homespun, in Harvest colorway.  The shawl is too large to show flat (it\’s on a Full bed), so I folded the edges.  I used tassels on each of the 3 corners.

    I stepped back to show the shawl again.  I love the way the yarn stripes.

    This is a detail of the picot bind-off, on the inside left; ont he inside right you can see the garter edge with yarn-over increase.  The bind-off takes a while, but as you can see the results are worth it.

    The preparation of the Prayer Shawl will simply be to wash and dry it.  It doesn\’t require blocking, since the yarn doesn\’t pull out of shape.

  • Humpday Update – Pictures and Thoughts – the Bryce Canyon Shawl

    The Bryce Canyon Shawl
    You know, it\’s hot enough here in Chicago to fry an egg on the sidewalk (maybe not literally, but it sure feels like it), so working on a shawl that is reminiscent of my time in the desert is, perhaps, fitting.

    As I work on it, I am surprised by my progress.  It feels massive, like it will never be done; as I add new yarn only a couple inches from the last addition I worry I won\’t have enough yarn and will never get to work on my other projects.  My Puritanical Critic chimes in with, you\’d better not work on anything until this is done, and I despair.

    Yet I see progress.  There are four more inches over the last medallion, which surprises me.  When did I have time to add four inches?  I only just finished that medallion this last weekend!  But this is the magic of knitting.  Stitch by stitch, inch by inch, progress accumulates.

    Kind of like life.

    My husband is the professional photographer, which you can sort of tell since all you see of me is the top of my forehead.  And MAN can you tell it\’s hot by how shiny my head is!  What a pate.

    Oh, right.  The knitting, Noony, is why they\’re reading this.  ~blush~

    See how many inches I\’ve added above the ending of the center medallion?  Wowsers.

    Okay, this time I got my eyes, at least.  I\’m still wearing my old glasses, since my new ones had to go back to the doctor to be fixed and they\’re not ready yet.  This is one of the two medallions that will be on the top.

    And this is a close-up of that medallion.  I love Barbara Walker\’s sampler ideas!  These are so fun to make.  I\’m on row 84 here.  Only about 50 more to go before the end, then I\’ll add a few inches of the lace stitch.  (It\’s called \”faggoting,\” but I keep not typing that because it makes me blush and I don\’t want folks to think I\’m being rude.)

  • Journey Into 3-D

    This weekend I had an object lesson in the difference between 2-D planning and 3-D execution.  Namely, yarn estimation.

    When my baby Bryce Canyon Shawl was nice and small, it was easy to imagine I\’d only need a few skeins of yarn.  I\’d done other triangle shawls and wanted this one to be \”bigger\” (technical term) so I knew if I got more yarn, I\’d be fine.  So I got a few skeins.

    Then I threw in the wrinkle of the two extra lace medallions.

    But this also means that there are continuous increases, all the way up the shawl.

    Those of you who already knit know what\’s coming.  I ran out of yarn this weekend.  We went and picked up six more skeins, after running my new estimate by my husband who isn\’t as geometrically challenged as me.  We shall see.

    Here\’s a couple progress photos for you.

    The center medallion is now done, as of this weekend.  I put it on my dress form to take this picture, which turned out surprisingly well.  However, the fabric I already had on the dress form clashes horribly, which is why I\’m not showing you the view from the front.

    The side medallions are getting really big.  I love the way they get set off by the lace on either side; I think it\’s coming out really well.  I love it when a plan comes together!