Category: Knitting

Finally Some Knitting

Marie Haigh4 Comments

There is no more baseball. Somehow I have to get through 107 days before Spring Training will start. I hope to get some sewing, spinning and, of course, knitting done. I’m on a good roll. I already have knitting projects to show for.

The Grey Rievaulx cowl is washed, blocked, and waiting to be packaged up for my Aunt’s birthday. (Ravelry link here).

Forgive the furrowed brow, I took these pictures by myself, which required running back and forth between the camera and the tree. I had trouble getting in the right spot and saying “Cheese” before the flash went off.   

As mentioned previously, this cowl was designed by Kelly. I made one change to the pattern; I extended the ribbing section to 6 inches rather than the recommended 3.5 inches. I’m glad I did. It still has a lovely drape, but it allows you to wrap more material around your neck when the wind starts blowing. It hasn’t really started getting cold here in Pennsylvania, but it’s only a matter of time now.

But, wait, there’s more. I started on a new scarf design, a Dishcloth Scarf.

I am making this scarf as part of the class I will be teaching in the Pottstown Knit Out, Washcloths – How to Design and Knit Them. If you are in the area on Saturday, January 17th, please stop by.

Phillies Fever and some Knitting

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Despite the miserable, wet and windy weather, the town is abuzz about the Phillies and the World Series. Dan and I have Phillies gear to wear about town and support our team. And now, Jake does too.

From Jake

I had ordered the new collar before the World Series started, but only received it yesterday. Presumably, I wasn’t the only dog owner who wanted to deck their best friend out in Phillies gear. Dan surmised that Game 5 was suspended and then delayed just so Jake could get his collar in time to help support our boys.
I smile everytime I see him in his new collar.

From Jake

During the World Series games, I have been getting some knitting done. For the first time in a long time, I am knitting something I didn’t design.

It is Kelly’s Rievaulx Cowl. If you click on the previous link, you’ll be able to read how Kelly was inspired to create this design plus you’ll be able to obtain the free pattern. Ravelry users can click here.

I chose to knit Kelly’s cowl for two reasons: (1) I needed an easy knitting project to keep my hands busy during the World Series games and (2) I wanted to support an up and coming knitting designer. Hopefully, this design will be the first of many designs to come from Kelly.

I made just one change to the pattern; I opted to double the length of the ribbing in Kelly’s Rolls and Ribs version. It’s cold in Pennsylvania this time of year.

Finished pictures coming soon.

Story of Double Happiness

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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.

Swatch for Knee Warmers

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The ball of yarn on the left is Manos del Uruguay (100% wool), gifted to me by my MIL.
The ball of yarn on the right is Peruvian Tweed (100% alpaca), purchased from Sophie’s Yarns in Philadelphia three or four years ago.

The bottom half of the swatch was knit in what is supposed to be Diagonal Ribbing from Barbara Walker’s 1st Treasury book.
Go ahead, say it. …. It looks ghastly, right?
I couldn’t agree more.
I have no idea how she made the diagonal ribbing look so pretty in the book. No idea at all.

The top half of the swatch is the winner: Fisherman’s Ribbing. It has all the characteristics that I wanted: elasticity, warmth and simplicity.

I had never knit Fisherman’s ribbing before and thus had a minor panic attack when trying to follow Walker’s instructions. Her instructions told me to P1, then K1 but into the stitch below. Repeat till end. Simple enough. Except after executing the K1 into the stitch below, I was puzzled as to what would happen with the stitch on the needle. Should I keep it on the needle? I tried doing just that for a few stitches, but it didn’t seem right. Then, I went in search of an online tutorial. I found one: Lana Grossa’s Knitting Tip. In the 3rd paragraph, my concern was addressed: “The stitch above is then more or less unravelled and forms a new loose stitch.” When performed correctly, it actually looks like two stitches are sitting on top of the newly knitted K1.

You may notice that halfway through the swatch the stitches start to slant to the left. I did that on purpose. I really loved the way the diagonal ribbing looked in the book. Knit on circular needles, it would look stunning – a real eye pleaser. Plus, it would keep the pattern interesting. In order to accomplish the diagonal slant, I had to resort to using a cable needle on every K1 stitch. Two rows is all I managed. It was a bit too interesting for my taste. Plus, it reduced some of the elasticity. Fooey. No diagonal stitches. Maybe I can design a thick border at the top and bottom of the warmers instead.

I’ve also decided that I will not be using Manos as the main yarn. It’s thick and warm enough, but it’s only a single strand. These knee warmers have the potential of being well-worn. Additionally, I really wanted to use my own 2-ply, handspun wool. It would make the gift more personal. I still face the problem of not having enough handspun wool to make 2 knee warmers. What’s a girl to do? Exactly what any girl or fiber lover would do – go buy more. Yep, I did. It’s already en route.

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

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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

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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

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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.