New FOS; New projects

Yeah, I know that I really don’t need to start any new projects, but I can’t help myself.  Give me credit for completing some things.  I finally decided that Autumn Jewel is finished.Pulling out the wooden beads reminded me I had other beads.

Scallop-Edge Beaded Necklace

by Carol Metzger

from 101 Designer One-Skein Wonders

This is designed for Tahki Cotton Classic.  The Cotton Classic Lite would work just as well.  I used Sirdar’s Snuggly Baby Bamboo and love how softly it drapes.Now orange is not my color.  The reason this is orange is that Remi set me a challenge.  She gave me four skeins of yarn and set me off to design and play and make the basis for my summer classes.

I have an opinion.  (Make snarky comments.)  Summer knitting should be small, exploratory, instructive, and result in gifts for giving to others.  With that in mind, I have designed some baskets, some small purses, and then knit this necklace—-and I still have yarn.  I’ve used a bunch of slip stitch colorwork which is such an easy way to add extra color to a project, really firm st patterns which make lining a purse an option, zippers inserted effortlessly by hand (machine is optional) and beads.  The classes can be a one time event–summer is so busy that most folks can’t commit to a series of classes–and I will be encouraging folks to use cotton yarn.  After all, it is summer.

I’ll update these projects with class dates this week.

New project. 

Those who know me well know I am messy.  Dyeing is messy.  Thus the new project is named Winestains.

I have knitted and kept a humongous number of swatches over the years.  Just threw them in a box when I was finished with them.  Some were gauge swatches; most were to try a new technique or stitch pattern; some were just to explore a new yarn.  Lots of different colors–often a “why did I buy this?” color.

Idea!!!!! A crazy throw, similar to a crazy quilt.  But I knew it would be ugly and unconnected.  Rit Dye, shade wine.  I know it won’t last forever, but heck, this project has the potential to be a big flop.  I put the dyepot on the stove, sorted into animal and plant fibers and began.  Here are some of the swatches.

Some closeups.

The grey yarn in this swatch had too much acrylic to dye well, but the color works with the others.

If you dye green yarn with wine dye, you get brown. Sometimes the brown is nice; sometimes it is ugly.  Nice to know.

I’ll keep you posted on this.

One more small project–a mixed media postcard.  And yesterday I painted paper to use to make something.

You really need to come over and play with me.  I’m having fun.

More later–

Edna turns 93

You know Steve planned the cake.  No one else would have thought of Roman numerals.  He really is so sweet to his mom.

This is Edna with her oldie but goodie blue walker.  The bag was her gift from me and I had a ball designing and making it.  I was so pleased about how much she liked it.

This is the side that she sees as she walks.  I machine quilted around most of the big flowers and added the pocket for a quick place to hold a note or whatever.  The straps are fastened with velcro for easy on and off.This is the front which was free motion quilted (my first).  The initials are on pink taffeta which is also used for the lining.  The lace trim was given to me by BFF Katherine Neal; she brought it to me from her Italy trip.  Inside are several pockets.

I had to figure out how to use fusing, interfacing, the order of sewing to best not show the inside seams.  I wanted it to be a surprise, so after a Peruvian dinner, when we went to Meghan’s to have cake, Meghan helped me steal the walker and I finished the straps by hand so they would fit.  It took me a week, but I’ll get faster.  I really loved the figuring out and the learning part.

I also really loved having Zachary here.  And his beloved Zelda.  Moses, too.

Hooked on Linen

Yes, more crochet.  And in the chunky yarn I used to not like.  And not quite finished.  But I’m not sure where to go.

This began with Debbie Stoller’s book, The Happy Hooker. “Short ‘n Sweet” is a little jacket just like I like, and it is even done top down.  However, the worsted weight yarn it calls for is much smaller than the yarn I used, so lots of estimating and crossing of fingers followed.

I really like the stitch pattern and it was fun to do.  The pattern called for me to begin with 94 sts, but 37 was what worked to fit my shoulders.  So I improvised and worked on just using the chart of the pattern as a guide.  Frankly I just pretended I was knitting a top down sweater, tried it on a lot, and shaped away.

What I have is a cropped vest.  But I have lots more yarn.  Should I try to add a short sleeve so I can wear it over a cami?  Should I make it a long vest to below the hips?  I don’t have a long summer vest, but I am worried this will make my hips look big (as if they aren’t already) and that the lace would look funny if my top and pants were different colors.

Maybe I’ll make a purse out of the extra yarn.  I don’t know how to create a sleeve in crochet—and in a lace yet!  May be too much thinking.

Yarn:  elann’s Linen Beach, 85% cotton, 15% linen; 50g=68 yds, 15 sts/4″ on a US 10.

More later–

Faux Bolero

This was an experiment.  It was inspired by a photo of Courtney Kelley’s “Starboard Cape” in Interweave’s summer 2011 of Knitscene.  Hers is a knit version, simple and quite elegant.  I was attempting to make a crocheted shawl shaped like several I had recently designed in knitted versions.

I actually accomplished it, but it is rough.  Increases in several places have small holes—which maybe I can fix.  The pattern seems to go wonky after several increases for a bit.  Perhaps I should have kept it simpler, but them I wouldn’t have learned so much.

Anyway, when I finished it, I tried using a chain of stitches to form a connection under the arms on both sides.  It took some trial and error to find the best length, about 4 inches, and the best places to join.  I went too far forward on the front to begin with.  Finished, it looks and wears like a short jacket.  The drapyness of the lace makes the sides look like sleeves.  It may just be a lucky accident.  I have notes, but am not willing to try to recreate it at this moment.  So far it has no edge finishes, but I like the plain look.

The yarn is a wonderful cotton by Isager which is discontinued.

Japonica

I made something from someone else’s pattern and didn’t change it.  Of course, I’ve never made adult crochet garments before, so that made it easier to be led by someone else.

This vest came from a book of Japanese patterns brought to me from Japan by two awesome knitting students.  I’d tell you who designed it, but there is not a word of English on this book.

As with many Japanese patterns, this was a chart.  Totally a chart and nothing else.  Even a chart in pieces.  But it was amazingly easy to follow.  The symbols for the stitches are the universal crochet symbols.  As for size, I just used my swatch to determine the number of repeats I needed.

The yarn is a perle cotton what I bought years ago to use for weaving.  It is mercerized so I has a lovely sheen.  I think it is a Pearl 5 size.  It’s like the perle cotton you can use for embroidery and crewel that you buy in 8 yard skeins.   I have cones of it in three colors.  It was soft and easy to work with, so I think you will see something in blue and turquoise in my future.  If you are interested in some similar, try Silk City Yarns or Cotton Clouds.

Here’s a detail of the lace and the front edge.  The bow marks the Right or Public side of the front.  I took it off when I finished.  I use a lot of markers.

If you haven’t learned to crochet yet, take a class or go to youtube.  It is easy and being able to crochet just a little can really help your knitting.  It’s also fast and a great way to work with lace weight yarns easily.

More later–

Insanely working and finishing stuff

A belated Happy Mother’s Day to all.

I have been happily knitting, crocheting, quilting, sewing, and even reading.  The Book Thief–clever and inspiring.

My skirt class didn’t make, which surprised me.  So many people oohed and aahed over it at the shop.  Perhaps they just didn’t want to start such a big project right now.  Next time I think I’ll advertise it as making a small skirt for a doll or a child just to learn the process.

Speaking of small projects, Remi gave me some yarn to play with and I am trying to put together some summer projects that double as gifts.  Mine look like a collection because they are all made from the same four skeins of yarn.  It will be free patterns when I finish.  Think baskets and small purses.

Off the needles is Maggie Mae, named after one of my favorite songs.  Thanks to the beautiful Susan for modeling it at the shop this week.

I used stash yarn.  Maggi’s Cotton from Irish knitter Maggi Jackson’s yarn line.  It is 70% cotton and 30% viscose (rayon).  It is a bumpy, bumpy yarn.  Fifty grams yields only 77 yards but, knit on size 9 needles, that goes a long way.

As usual with highly textured yarns, I kept it very simple.  Most of the shawl is stockinette.  I switched to garter st for the last 3 inches or so.  The shape is such that it won’t fall off, even if the wind blows.  I just love that I can strut around doing whatever without holding onto my shawl.

The back is again above the waist which is more flattering to us short girls I think.  Best of all is how bouncy, scrunchy this yarn feels when knit up.  I plan to search out more if it is available.  I’ve had this a long time.  The label calls it Luxury Hand Knitting Yarn and it feel that way to me.

The Autumn Jewel bag is about finished.  I have lined it and am starting the embellishments.  I always take a long time thinking about beads and stuff.  I think I am afraid of doing too much.

Straps are always a pain to me.  I want this one long enough to go across the body, but also adjustable.  Short people like adjustable.  (I wish my kitchen cabinets were adjustable.)

Anyway, here’s a technique I discovered in my mixed media researches.  Machine made cording.  Perfect for knitters when you are using a bunch of different yarns.

I took a few of the yarns in Autumn Jewel and lightly twisted them together by hand.  Then I ran them through my sewing machine using a zigzag stitch wide enough to cover them.  I also used a novelty thread made of rayon which had similar colors (like a handpaint) and a nice sheen.

I think I need to add one more kind of cord or else chain this with a crochet hook to make it thicker.  Too thin a strap can be uncomfortable.

That’s all for today, but there are more to come.  Not writing patterns every time you work means you can do so much more.  The St. John’s Wort is blooming outside my window, so I am thinking about yellows.

More later–

The Importance of My Iron

I hate to iron.  When we married, we agreed that no matter how poor we were, Steve’s shirts would go to a laundry.  When the girls were born, I gave away any baby gifts that required ironing.  I don’t even iron my linen pants and jumpers.  So how important could an iron be to me?

Well, over a week ago I knocked my iron off my ironing board onto a wood floor and pieces went everywhere.  It wasn’t the first time I had dropped this iron, but it was the last.  I simply planned to buy a new iron.  No big deal.

The iron I broke was my first really nice one, a Rowenta Professional;  it would shoot mega steam to block my knitting pieces.  I had to have another really good one.  Prices had gone up.  I found the newest Rowenta made in Germany was $175 at my nearest store, but was only $116 on Amazon.  I ordered it.  It took over a week to come.

For over a week I had no iron.  I could not block knitting which I do several times in the process of making an item.  I also couldn’t block the crochet stuff I was making.  I could not sew a seam and iron it, so no quilting.  I couldn’t even continue the appliques on the Cabin on a Hill project because I need the iron to fuse them to the background fabric.  Lots of what I couldn’t do.

So what did I do?  First I made paper beads.

Then I used them to copy a necklace that I had seen on Vicki’s neck.  Now I have to figure how to fasten it securely.  Not my strong suit.

Then I read about machine cording.  Simply put, I used a bunch of strands of the yarns I’m using for my Autumn Jewel purse (which I couldn’t finish because I couldn’t sew the lining) and held them together while zigzagging them with a neat metallic thread.  I will double the result and make the shoulder strap from it.

I created summer halters for the dogs using leftover yarn and both knit and crochet.  I’m still learning dog anatomy and just how small Jake is and how voluptous Bella is.  After lots of work and testing on the walk where they really stretched out, I found the simplest possible halter on ravelry for free.  I’ll let you know how that works.

I drug out last year’s sweater based on Wendy Barnard’s Crisp Vest.

Before

The sleeves look fine for a 20 year old which I am not.  I pulled out the bind off and made them longer.  I used the small ball of leftover yarn and pulled out about 4 yards from the swatch I had knit.

After

I did not have to use the skein I recently bought at Charlotte Yarn, so I returned it and bought TWO skeins of Blue Heron rayon from the trunk show.  Seemed fair to me.

Then I started a vest project using a crochet pattern from The Happy Hooker.  It uses a chunky yarn.  I hate crocheted garments make from chunky yarn.  But it was in the stash. I’m using my typical top down techniques with the crochet—a new thing for me and it seems to be working.

I actually think I kind of like this chunky yarn garment.  I eat a lot of words.

Thank goodness the new iron arrived.

More later–

A Historic Day for the US

How to feel about the death of Osama Bin Laden is complicated for me.  I am so proud of all of our citizens who were involved in locating him; very proud and grateful to any soldier who risked this assignment; but celebrating any death is a little delicate for me.  Also, I worry just a bit that in our euphoria we will miss the important part of this.

Watching Morning Joe on MSNBC, I had the opportunity to listen to comments by Zbigniew Brzezinski, Pres. Carter’s National Security Advisor and a very smart man.  He cautioned that how important this event is depends on what comes next.  He emphasized that this gives our government opportunities and it is important whether we take them or not.  Opportunity, because the President’s prestige is much higher than ever, to emphasize that our enemies are the terrorists, not the Muslims of the world.  It is an opportunity to reevaluate our role in the Middle East vis-a-vis the war–and the millions of dollars and the young lives we pour into it each week.  We, the people, must not be distracted by this from our concern about our economy.

We also need to take the opportunity to look at the reasons for this success.  Obama, even if he didn’t want to, continued the policies of Bush and that continuity led to success; the Bush administration made a seamless transition to the Obama administration possible, at least in this area.  Somehow behind all of this people of diverse opinions worked together.  Intelligence agencies had to curb their competition and cooperate.  The military also worked together in amazing cohesiveness.

There is a lesson here for our politicians in Washington and at home;  there is a lesson here for each of us, in our professions, our communities, and our families.  Disagreement and civilized argument is good for us; it produces more ideas; it makes good decisions and solutions possible.  However, we must always emphasize civility.  Am I the only person who thinks that is what is missing from the modern world?

Thanks for allowing me to share my thoughts with you.  By reading this, you have given me, the teacher that I am, a chance to do what I think good teachers do–raise questions for others to think about.  I appreciate it.