Sheep and Shepherd

Soft, fuzzy and very warm,

a fluffy blend of pink superwash merino and chiengora handspun into a 2 ply yarn.

Chiengora supply courtesy of my friend Charlie. Thankfully the finished yarn doesn't have quite the "aroma" that Charlie possesses. In fact after a double scouring it doesn't smell at all.

Unfortunately the yarn sheds..........just like Charlie.

Masters Monday 2.5

Swatch 5 - Seaming Double Rib (K2P2)

I'm relatively happy with this one. I think it looks okay and would pass so I've done the write up for the seaming method. For now I will call it complete but I may decide later, when I'm finished the remaining swatches, to give it another go. I wouldn't mind trying another seaming technique to see if I could get rid of the squished look of the stitches in the column of knit stitches that contain the seam. I find it very difficult to avoid that pinched look in the seam. For some reason it does this even though those stitches, prior to seaming, did not appear any smaller than the ones in the other columns.

Tigers on the Prowl

The Tiger Toes Socks are complete.

Oh wait, you don't want to see them like that, flat and from the side looking almost like ordinary socks.

No, no, you'd be wanting a close-up claw view shot, where they are looking more wildly feline.

How about one in repose?

And another looking a bit bashful?

We'll finish off with an up close look at the heels....just because I love the look of the squishy, cushioned heel done in heel stitch.

Similar But Not the Same

You may recall that I made my mother-in-law a set of place mats for Christmas. I loved those place mats, and they went so well with my decor that I just had to rewarp the rigid heddle loom and make something similar for myself.

I don't actually use place mats on our dinner table, so I decided to make mats for the shelves in this pretty hutch instead. These runner style mats are 11" x 21.5" so narrower and longer than the place mats but very similar in style, also using the same Sirdar Denim Tweed DK woven in tabby at 10 epi.



So far I haven't found a way to easily vary the length of my warp (using a peg method and the one and only place I can set up the loom and the peg), so I warped the loom twice for the set, getting three runners per warp. I'm very pleased with the result. They fit the shelves perfectly.



Hmmmm....now I have my eye on the shelves in my computer hutch.......they seem to be needing a little something.

Masters Monday 2.4

Swatch 4 - K1P1 ribbing (with a seam)....again. This time I'm much happier with the result. Although it might look like it's half a stitch off in places, the seam is done bar-for-bar correctly with no fudging to make the ends match.



I found I got the best results by having a knit stitch at each selvedge to be seamed. I knit the strip on the right ending with a k2 to accomplish this and still keep the k1p1 pattern intact across the seam. I'm going to hand this one in, but before I use the seam in an actual garment I would like to do some further experimenting to see if it would work with a tubular cast on and bind off.

Who am I kidding? In actual "real life" knitting (unless there was a really good reason for a seam) I would most likely convert the pattern to knitting the garment in one piece to avoid the seam altogether!

Tiger Paws

As promised, I have the next pair of socks on the needles. Inspired by the wonderful tiger striped yarn that my daughter gave me for my birthday, I couldn't resist adding the suggestion of toes and claws to these socks.

Is 48 too old to be wearing socks with tiger toes?

Nawwwww!

The Socks are Done

All that lounging and leisure time has led to a pretty fast pair of socks. These came off the needles last night and spent the day being washed and blocked. I planned them for 9.5 stitches per inch but actually ended up with about 9 stitches per inch so they're a bit loose. Not uncomfortably so, just a little looser than my usual fit.

Next up? My daughter gave me some awesome Opal "tiger" yarn for my birthday. I'll be getting started on that pair tomorrow.

Only the Legs Remain

Heels are turned. "Eye of Partridge" heel flap. Ankles onward.

Desperate Times

Apparently, when really desperate and bored, I am able to knit while laying down.


Simple things anyway. I don't want to try this with my Masters swatches.

Temporary Suspension

My apologies to those who are dropping by the blog hoping for the latest installation of "Masters Monday". I have to suspend Masters Monday for a short time because I am currently unable to knit at all. Hopefully all will be back to normal in a week or two and I'll be able to get back to posting regularly. See you then!

Lookee What I Got

Here you go, I finally have some pictures of my fabulous Christmas present!

Yup, a Patrick Green drum carder. A "Deb's Delicate Deluxe" to be exact.

These first batts are making a spinnable preparation out of some horribly snarled mill ends. Yummy.

Birthday Quarantine

Today is my 48th birthday, but there won't be much partying going on. Normally there would be a bit of a family get together but a nasty flu bug has been hanging around, knocking us down, one after the other. The healthy members of the family (those that live elsewhere) have been advised to stay away for their own good.

Digging through some old pictures this morning I came up with this:



I would have been one week shy of my second birthday here. I'm the second from the right. The other three are my brothers.