Category: My Knitting Designs

A look at each of my designs from start to finish.

Knee Warmers and an Old Scarf

Marie Haigh5 Comments

After casting on and ripping out the knee warmers 3 times over, I am finally making progress on them.

Let’s see if I can recount all the things I did wrong that warranted the 3 frogs.

Well, first, I cast on too many stitches. And not just a few too many. Try 4 times too many. Math was never my forte. In my defense, I didn’t actually cast on all those stitches. Halfway through, I thought to myself “Gosh, Dan is bigger than me, but I don’t think anybody has knees quite this large.” Giggle.

The 2nd frogging was due to the fact that I was knitting the knee warmers in the round, but trying to follow the instructions detailed by Barbara Walker. Her instructions, of course, were for knitting back and forth.

Having been defeated while knitting in the round, I cast on the 3rd time for working straight. Two rows into the warmers, it donned on me how I could adjust the instructions to knitting in the round. At least the 3rd time, I frogged the project with glee.

This 4th time has not been without its problems. I messed up one set of the increases, but I refuse to rip it back. Nobody, except you and I, is going to know that I increased 6 rows before I should have. Though this mistake has decreased by desire to knit the knee warmers. Maybe I can just rip back to my mistake. Grr.

In other news, I would like to thank Lime & Violet for featuring my Cabled and Ribbed scarf on their blog, The Daily Chum.

I designed this scarf 3 years ago for a local alpaca farm.

From Cabled & Ribbed Scarf

Much to my chagrin, the design was rejected. The farm owner wanted a lacy scarf instead. After completing the lace scarf along with 3 other designs, I finally came back to the cables and ribs. Remembering how much I enjoyed knitting the swatch, I decided to self publish it. I’m glad I did.

Story of Double Happiness

Marie Haigh6 Comments

Do you remember this pillow front I had blogged about earlier this year?

From Double Happiness

The yarn weight was too heavy for the design. Plus, I had made a slight error in the portrayal of the Chinese character meaning Double Happiness. So, I revised it.

Here is the new and improved version:

From Double Happiness

My original plan had the back side of the pillow being an exact copy of the front version. The plan was scrapped for three reasons. (1), I hate knitting something twice, which is yet another reason why I don’t knit socks. (2), more important than my silly quirks, the plan didn’t allow for the removal of the pillow insert. (3), I wanted a way to embellish the pillow after having such a blast decorating the tree skirt.

The redesigned back with ribbons woven through the eyelets:

From Double Happiness

As you may remember, this entire crazy idea of mine came about from a framed Chinese paper cutting art piece that my cousin bought for Dan and I.

From Double Happiness

All I did was take the Chinese symbol and turn it into lace.

The pattern is now available on my website, on Ravelry and on Samantha in Stitches website: http://sisyarn.terapad.com.

Credits for O Tannenbaum Skirt

Marie Haigh8 Comments

I have never posted credits for any of my patterns, but this pattern warrants it.

From Christmas Tree Skirt

Over a year of my life was spent on it. Many people were involved in the making of it.

Stats:
Yarn dyed in August 2007
Yarn Spun August through September 2007
Cast on for Christmas Tree Skirt in October 2007
Completed knitting Tree Skirt in July 2008 while on my road trip to Talbott, TN
Completed decorating Tree Skirt in August 2008
Technical edits completed in September 2008
Pattern published on my website and Ravelry September 26th
Pattern will be published on other sites later this week

First, I would like to thank Brenda of Naturally Spun. Her Christmas Sparkle yarn inspired me.

From Christmas Tree Skirt

I took one look at her hand-dyed, handspun yarn and knew it would make a gorgeous Christmas tree skirt. Yet, if I had not “met” Brenda in Indiepublic, her yarn might have sat in my Etsy Favorites for forever.
She had marked me as a “friend” in the Indiepublic community. In response, I sent a quick convo thanking her and confessing my adoration of her Christmas yarn line. Those two small acts became the basis of a wonderful working relationship.
Brenda spun the yarn in the weight I required, in the yardage needed and remained patient as I debated back and forth over what color of glitz and thread I wanted plyed with/into the yarn. Periodically during the knitting process, she would stop by my blog and leave encouraging remarks in the comment section. Thank you, Brenda!

My thanks also go to the following people:
-To Ada (Ravelry ID: AdaKnits) who tech edited the pattern for me. She did a tremendous job! I already have her hard at work on another pattern of mine.
To you, dear blog readers, who encouraged me to keep knitting when I was starting to go cross-eyed from all the white ties.
To Jake for supervising all the photo shoots, except the last one. He was dismissed from his duty after walking across the skirt and then trying to sit on top of it.
To Dan for his love and support
To my Aunt for gifting Grandpa’s jacket to me. The green stars decorating the skirt were made from the felted jacket.
To my MIL for starting my button collection many years ago.
And to EZ, Elizabeth Zimmerman, for popularizing the i-cord, which just happens to be my favorite embellishment trick in knitting.

Thank you! I couldn’t have done it without you.

From Christmas Tree Skirt

Christmas Came and Went

Marie Haigh7 Comments

It was a whirlwind of a Christmas. The tree went up and came down all in 1 day.

It was a bit of a ho-hum Christmas, since there were no presents to unwrap. Poor Jake wasn’t even allowed to supervise the photo taking, since he had tried to help with the show-and-tell of the skirt by walking over the outside sections to sit in the center.

Despite the minor complaints which include the suffocating heat of the attic where the tree is kept, it was a great day. I just wanted to shout from the rooftop that I had finished the tree skirt before the real Christmas will arrive.

Alas, I miss the tree already. It made me sad to have to fold the skirt up and store it away in the cedar closet. I just love Christmas.

For those interested, the pattern for the tree skirt is in the hands of a tech editor. It will be self-published in late September.

And on a personal note: Dan was in a fender bender on Friday. He’s fine. No bumps or bruises. He was a bit shaken up a few hours after the accident when reality sunk in, but he was in better spirits by Saturday. The car, however, is in the body shop. The bumper was almost completely torn off. To relay the entire story, Dan was pulling out from the side of the street where he had parked his car and into the lane of traffic. He looked both ways and didn’t see anybody within range, so he pulled out. Next thing he knew, he had hit a car. A gentleman who had seen the whole thing unfold ran over to Dan to inform him that the other car had run the stop sign, which accounted for why he came out of nowhere.

Dreaming of a Green Christmas

Marie Haigh7 Comments

I love a white Christmas as much as anybody, but it’s the middle of August. So, a green Christmas it will be.

Which is to say – in one of my favorite Southern sayings – I am spitting distance from being done.

I finished sewing on the last of the buttons this morning. There are only a few more embellishments left to attach to the Christmas tree skirt.

The back side of the tree skirt:

Left to do:
Finish knitting the last i-cord.

Sew the i-cord in place.
Sew 8 felted stars inside of the i-cord bow.
Sew 6 star beads in place. (OK, so I cheated in the first picture. Those gold stars are just resting on the tree skirt. Sue me.)

If you’re in town next week, stop by. I’ll be decking a Christmas tree. I think Dan is more excited than I am.

Grandpa’s Jacket

Marie Haigh7 Comments

In my high school years, my Aunt gifted to me the jacket that Grandpa once wore.

There were a few holes in it, but otherwise it was in good condition. I wore it to death. A button fell off. The zipper became busted.  At least a dozen more holes sprouted on the sleeves and back. About five years ago, I packed it up with the rest of the winter clothes.

Though I can’t hold a candle to my Aunt’s pack-rat habits, I’ve never been able to get rid of this jacket. I know I will never wear it again. I kept telling myself that next year I would throw it out.

While working on my Christmas tree skirt, I quickly came to the conclusion that hand sewing 24 buttons onto each tie would land me in the nut house. There had to be a better way to decorate the white ties. Then, out of the blue, I remembered Grandpa’s jacket.

It was 100% wool. It would felt.

Why is it when you want to felt something, it won’t felt?

I tried washing the jacket by hand, moving it from hot water to cold. Nothing. It didn’t felt at all. It two cycles in the washer and two more in the dryer before it felted enough where the edges would no longer fray. I’ve never had such trouble before.

But, it worked. I have green stars with which to decorate my skirt with.

Trashing my Good Reputation

Marie Haigh11 Comments

I wasn’t going to tell you. I was going to keep my reputation for being a slow but accurate knitter.

Me? I don’t make mistakes. All my projects turn out perfectly.

Then, I remembered how much I loved to read about other people’s blunders. It always makes me feel more relaxed and at home. It’s like I tell Dan all the time: misery loves company. He is trained to tell me that he feels awful when I’m sick.

So, in the hopes that I can trash my good reputation, allow me to flaunt the latest mistakes which I made on my woven pillow.

First, I did not make a gauge. It is the first cardinal rule Knitters are taught. I ignored it. In my defense, I was stuck in that 12-hour car ride without proper measuring tools or blocking tools.

Second, I did not remember the concept of weaving two colors. One side of my pillow should have had all blue strips while the 2nd side should have had all cream strips. If you recall, I had mingled the colors.

Finally, I made the biggest mistake of all. I forgot to insert a pillow into my pillow cover. I had it all seamed up. It was finished. It looked great, ignoring the fact that it wasn’t a perfect square. Then, I started to turn it over and realized that it was a bit flat. Dan was a witness to what happened next. He looked over at me while I had my face buried in the pillow cover, half laughing and half weeping. He tried to comfort me by reminding me the pillow cover was merely a prototype. “You was planning on reknitting it anyway”, he said. I only laughed harder.

What am I going to do with an empty and completely enclosed pillow cover?

It might make a lovely trivet, but I can’t bring myself to felt it.

Keeping My Needles

Marie Haigh9 Comments

I had boasted before our trip to Tennessee that if I didn’t complete the last tie of my knitted tree skirt, someone could take away my needles.

You’ll have to pry them from my dead, cold hands first. I’m keeping my needles.

Not only did I finish knitting the last tie of my tree skirt, I knit another i-cord (that will become a bow on one of the white ties) and I started and finished knitting a pillow cover. Perhaps I should be stuck in a car for 22 hours at least once a month. I would knit more than I usually do.

The final tie:

The i-cord:

The odd-shaped pillow cover:

The reason for its odd shape is so that I can weave the knitted strips together like a basket. I’m not sure if this crazy idea will work or not. It popped into my head. I was stuck in a car with no book to read (I had finished it), no more ties to knit and nowhere to lean my head for a nap. It seemed perfectly rational at the time. Of course, walking home also seemed perfectly reasonable. I take back what I said earlier. It would not be good if I was stuck in a car once a month for 22 hours.

Did you notice something else about the pillow besides the odd shape?
The cream yarn is my 1st handspun yarn.

Happy Independence Day!

Marie Haigh7 Comments

I hope you have a wonderful day celebrating our country’s independence! (Unless of course, you don’t live in the States. Then, I just wish you an ordinary but still wonderful day. Grin.)

Dan and I leave for Tennessee tomorrow morning. His father and paternal grandparents live in a large house on a lake in Talbott, TN (little town outside of Knoxville). It should be a relaxing weekend, minus the 11-hour drive … for one of us. The other one will be knitting.

Have you ever seen the Lion Brand’s “So much yarn, so little time” tote bag? Huge, right? Mine is stuffed to the gills with knitting needles, yarn, roving, spindle, and notions. The plan is to finish knitting my Christmas tree skirt. I only have one white tie left to knit. If I can’t finish one tie in 22 hours, someone should take the pointy sticks away from me.

Speaking of my tree skirt, I started playing around with more ways to decorate it. I wanted the embellishment to be non-breakable, flat in dimension and durable, since presents will be stacked upon it year after year. Plus, it needs to withstand abuse from children, pets, and the stifling heat (or freezing cold temperatures) found in our attic.

What do you think?

As you can see, I dipped into my button stash.

PS. The cookies are lemon almond cookies (with a Hershey’s kiss inside), drizzled with white chocolate. Even Dan liked them.

WWKIP Day and Slow Service

Marie Haigh11 Comments

There is nothing wrong with my computer. The problem lies with my Internet provider, Comcast. We have a high-speed cable connection though you wouldn’t know it these past few days. On Monday and Tuesday, I was certain I had a dial-up connection. Yesterday, I couldn’t connect to the Internet at all. Today, it is still splotchy, but greatly improved. I can only load one site at a time, but something is better than nothing.

Though it was frustrating to be barred from the internet, it did allow me to complete a task I have been procrastinating about. I completely rebuilt the charts in my Christmas Tree Skirt pattern so that they are easier to “read”, adhere to industry standards, and look more professional. My eyes were starting to cross towards the end, but I am pleased with the way they turned out. Here’s a small and abbreviated snapshot of the chart for the white tie.

Because of my Internet service troubles, I was not able to share with you pictures of what I did on WWKIP (Worldwide Knit in Public) day. So, I’m late coming to the Show off your WWKIP Pictures party.

Knitting at Spinnerstown Hotel & Restaurant, Spinnerstown, Pennsylvania:

A closer shot of the good beer: Scotch Silly.

Dan would like to make a notation. He asserts that I cheated. He states that I only started knitting at the table so that he could take a picture of me. Once the pictures were taken, I promptly tucked the i-cord back into my purse so I could concentrate on the good beer and good conversation.

I defend myself by pointing out that I put enough foresight into the occasion so that I was properly prepared with both a knitting project and a camera. Besides, it will have to do. I was not about to drive a hour to the nearest WWKIP event in Philadelphia. Gas prices are high here too and Philadelphia is too far away to bike to.