December got away from me!

Well, I survived the holidays (starting with Thanksgiving, and continuing through this weekend), got everything done that had to be done, and managed to get everywhere I was supposed to go.

I made a few gift items, but not with enough time left for photo calls before I needed to wrap them up and present them. Just in the nick, as usual. C'est la guerre.

Leafy Bits

Found this lace motif used as an insertion in an old Phildar pattern book. The stitch count stays the same in all rows, unlike many 'leaf' motifs in lace.

The decreases in rows 7 & 9 are SSSK, like SSK only over 3 sts, and K 3 tog. The purl (-) sts add the relief needed to make this look more like leaves with stems. (If hand knitting, ignore the leaning K sts that don't have a 'T' -- they indicate to machine knitters doing hand manipulated transfers which direction the stitches should move to form the eyelet.

The edge stitches are added (it's actually only a 19 stitch repeat) because I'm hand knitting the insertion separately from the rest of the sweater, which is being knitted on my Artisan 70-D machine.

Pix forthcoming presently....

Sock Yarn Doesn't Count, right?

I'm sitting here next to a bag full of yarn from Natural Stitches, very pleased with myself and the contents of the bag. When I'm at Eastside, to shop at Trader Joe's, I frequently stop in the yarn shop and reward myself with a pair of socks' worth of yarn. Well, Friday was both the best and worst time to arrive there; there is a Substantial sale going on... so I scored yarn for 6 pairs of socks and a hat. Go me (at least until the Visa bill is due).

Wrangling Lace

I've had this cone of mohair blend and (OMG) four dark green ones that are similar, for a while. Only recently discovered what they seem to 'want' to be... Lace!

I signed up for the Obscuriosity knit-along at Ravelry and elected to do a scarf using the "Meandering Vines" shawl pattern by zuzusus.
Only the first few repeats have been blocked; the eyelets almost look like the heads of wheat, or wisteria blossoms, or lilies of the valley to me. I've been using Design-a-Knit to develop the chart for machine knitting this motif... it's a 12 stitch repeat, so any machine with a lace carriage will be able to do it. Watch this space for the chart (it will be a long one)

(NB: you need to be a Ravelry member to see the links here; go sign up!)

The Giant Felted Cat Bed v. 0.85

Solomon, my tuxedo cat, beta tests the giant bed. He's a big boy, about 13.5 pounds. Later Isabella, my dilute calico/white kitty, was found sleeping in it, but the camera wasn't handy.

This is the first of these I've made with novelty yarn edging... next time I will actually read the yarn label; if it says not to put in the dryer, it's not suitable for accent on a felted project. The main yarn on this one is #06 from Palette, the edging is Patons Cha-Cha. I'm pleased with the Palette yarn; I've made several 'untrimmed' cat beds from it, and it felts well, with a soft hand, but firm enough to hold its shape, though it takes 3 or 4 cycles thru the washer/dryer. The Giant bed took a little less than 400 grams, the medium size takes about 250 grams of Palette #06. Edging used about 1 ball of Cha-Cha, but I won't be using it for this again, because it matted during processing and though I managed to brush it out a bit, it looks like a Dam troll having a bad hair day. :-p

The bed is knit pinwheel-wise in one piece (16 wedges) and grafted together .
The photo above shows all the wedges knitted, ready to graft (kitchener) together to complete the circle. The green yarn and yellow cord are holding the live stitches. I machine knitted this, but it can be hand knitted as well.

Start with a provisional cast on (scrap/ravel cord for MK).
The wedges are worked in short rows over 70 sts (55 for a medium size cat bed). The first 20 stitches are always worked, and form the side of the bed. Work 3 additional sts every other row until 2 sts remain unworked (MK = held), and return to the side where you started. Every 4th wedge, work all the sts on the last pair of rows. When 16 wedges are complete, leave a tail 4.5 times the width of the knitting for grafting.


The picture above shows the grafting in progress. I'm left handed, so I'm working from left to right. Since this yarn came in several balls, there are also ends to be woven in, and I used the beginning tail to pull the center hole closed (pictures of weaving ends & closing center hole were abysmal so landed in the bit bucket).

When all the neatening is done, work 1 row of treble (or double-treble) crochet around the outside edge with the novelty yarn. I crocheted into every 2nd row, but probably should have done it every 3rd so it wouldn't flatten out.

Next, into the wash it goes... I usually do them with towels, hot wash, cold rinse, then into the dryer on medium heat.

NB: if you use merino wool, it will felt a lot faster. Superwash wool will NOT felt well enough for this project. (you can eventually wash/wear the superwash finish off, if you process it *forever* but the wool will be quite distressed and ugly by then...)


Above, the finished bed a few seconds before Solomon discovered it. ;-)

I ended up weaving in a string of fine but stout cotton within the base of the crochet to control the flare after felting was complete. Below a picture of Persimmon (brown tabby) and Pierre (red cat) enjoying the medium size cat beds, which are not trimmed with novelty yarn.


Ravelers who want to try this are welcome to PM me there if you get stuck or need more info... ;-)

In Memoriam - Nicolo Piccolo 1994-2008

We set Nicolo free on Sept 26, following a brief illness. His cat body was just too worn out to continue.... we miss him very much. He was "my" tiger, or rather, I was "his" person.

Stash Shopping

It's taken way too long to put away all our camping stuff from vacation, and I took some things to the attic this afternoon... and while I was there, noticed a bag of Susan Bates Sonata (a ringer for Coats Lustersheen) that perfectly matches a shade of green in one of my favorite paisley skirts. Bonus, Go me! Now I need to figure out whether it has the same yardage as Lustersheen...

I'm thinking about a 3/4 or long sleeve cardigan including some kind of lace pattern, but not so open that I can't wear it alone... browsing Ravelry for inspiration.

Circle Jacket Pix

Here they are; Henrietta (my mother's mannequin) and I are modeling the jacket...

Circle Jacket finally done, whew

Finished the circle jacket just in time for Mom's 80th birthday in August.
The jacket was inspired by one from Angel Designs that Mom saw last year in a boutique, but none of the colors suited her. I finally saw one of their jackets in the same 'fabric' but a different style a few weeks ago. I think I like the one I made better.

Pix in next post; it's not letting me add them to this one. I am a complete technoklutz. :(

Stitch Chart

This is the chart I used for the sweater at the Ravelry link below. It's a 24 stitch x 20 row repeat, and is Stitch World #426. It's also included in at least one of the supplementary card packs from Silver Reed (aka Studio, Singer, Knitmaster) and in their Stitch Library books also.

The chart is also suitable for slip stitch and fair isle and knitweave techniques (by machine or by hand).


NB: every row worked is shown on this chart, but one could double it either in length, width, or both for different effects. IMO it will be 'blocky' looking if both length and width are doubled at once.

It kind of looks like interlaced tripods to me; in fairisle it can be somewhat arabesque, or have a sci-fi look, depending on the colors used. ;) Solid with a multicolor contrast is interesting in fair isle; I made a sample for Rainbow Mills' Crayons yarn (micro weight) some years ago.

http://www.ravelry.com/projects/evilcostumelady/knit-purl-tri-pullover

Jacket, spring fever?

I found images of this and several other jackets from the 17th century on the 'net last year... and thinking this could be the ultimate in 'vintage clothing.' And the gauge is even do-able. This could be a masterpiece project... the lining is woven silk, and doesn't seem slack, so I'm wondering whether the fabric is meant to be quite firm, without the 'give' that knits usually have. Presumably the colorwork is stranded, which reduces stretch, this will be wanting some thought... it could be attractive in cotton for spring.

Taking the Plunge

First off, I hate to write. The chief reason I've started this blog is that I need somewhere to post (mostly fiber & sewing related) project notes to myself that I can find again. I lose both pieces of paper and cryptically named files on my machine. :p

Maybe my notes will help other folks with their projects, too... since y'all can see them here.

Drama and rants will only turn up here on rare and momentous occasions, with any luck.

Pictures will turn up from time to time, but I'm a technoklutz with both camera and this interface... so don't hold your breath (just failed to upload a sort of 'billboard' picture of my cats).

Comments are welcome unless they're rude or obscene, in which case they will land in the bit bucket as soon as I discover them. :p