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.

Dragonfly Sockblockers

I've been wanting a set of these ever since I started wearing handknit socks on a regular basis.


Although most of my handknit socks are "superwash" and can go through the washer and dryer without a problem, they all look and fit better if they air dry. I've been laying my socks flat to dry, which works, but isn't nearly as pretty or convenient as having actual sock blockers. They seem to dry faster on the blockers too.

My daughter bought these for me for Christmas. Aren't they great? I just love dragonflies. Thanks Kris!

Little Tent Stitch Socks

Likely to be my last FO of 2007, the Little Tent Stitch Socks.

These were done toe-up and using my own modification of the little tent stitch from the Barbara Walker stitch dictionaries, and Sock Wizard's "Ultimate Heel".

Although they fit perfectly once I get them on, I really have to tug at them to get them over my heel. Annoying for sure.

Although my Christmas was marred by a nasty, nasty flu that I am only just now beginning to recover from, I did receive some lovely gifts. I'll be showing the fibre related ones over the next day or two.

Masters Monday 2.3

Did you think I'd miss Masters Monday just because it was Christmas Eve? Nope. Actually I had all the work for this done last Monday but "saved" it for today's report because I knew it would be a busy week.

So.....I've found another UNsuccessful way to seam ribbing. *sigh* I suppose that could still be considered progress though.

I did this one by setting it up so I could seam down the centre of the selvedge stitches. One thing about this method, it can be used for tubular cast on which always ends in an uneven number of stitches. BUT....unfortunately I can't get it to look right. The seamed row of "stitches" has a sunken look that is way too obvious.

Back to the needles. I'll get this one yet!

I'm not likely to have time to post tomorrow, so to everyone who celebrates this holiday.....Merry Christmas to you and yours!

Portrait Ornament

Many, many years ago (has it been 23 already!) I made a few ornaments similar to this one.


Featuring pictures of my 3 little ones they immediately became my favorite ornaments of all time. Year after year I put them in prominent locations on the Christmas tree. As the children grew older (they are all adults now) I loved to reminisce of Christmas from so long ago.

Last year I sorted the ornaments and carefully stored the portrait ornaments away where they would be "safe". I had put them in a sealed container with an aluminum bottom. I guess some kind of a chemical reaction, (or perhaps the lack of circulating air?) caused them considerable damage. The pictures are fine, but the crocheted part turned all brown and ugly. I'll have to redo them some time.

The ones I made this year are for pictures of our first grandchild on her very first Christmas. Very special indeed.

Done -- Again.

So the beanie that I originally knit with a smocked ribbing has now had it's substantial ribbed section ripped and reknit as boring ol' 2x2 rib. The smocked ribbing had to go, it wasn't stretchy enough.

The ribbing is not as fancy now, but it has more elasticity and "give" so it will fit better and be more comfortable. The hat also looks SO much neater now that it has been blocked.

I knit the hat from my own 2ply, sportsweight handspun wool that had been steeping in my stash waiting for the perfect project.

The pattern found through Ravelry and available free, is Charisa Martin Cairn 's Lifestyle Top Down Hats, No Swatch Needed.

I continued the increases until the crown was slightly larger than the recipient's head and then decreased 8 stitches per round 2 times (or was it three?) just before I started the ribbing. I knit the ribbing long enough to fold over twice when being worn.

In The Twinkling Of An Eye

Okay, so it's not cherry pie and it wasn't accomplished in "a twinkling of an eye" either.

It's 2 dozen cherry tarts, 1 dozen mincemeat tarts, 2 pumpkin pies, 1 banana cream pie, and nearly 5 dozen shortbread snowballs (shortbread wrapped around a maraschino cherry).....and it took all of a very long day.

The banana cream pie will be for tonight's dessert, the pumpkin pies are now frozen for Christmas day, and the remainder of the day's baking will be doled out over the next week as the cook feels appropriate.

Masters Monday 2.2

Only one completed swatch this week. Much of my spare time has been swallowed up by Christmas preparations.

Edited to add: It has been pointed out that the seam is about half a stitch off, with the tops not matching. Yup. Back to the needles.

This is Swatch 4 - Single Rib (K1P1), a seaming exercise. I'm not all that pleased with it. I seamed it in the manner described in the Seaming article in "Cast On" magazine, and it is not my usual method. The article suggests using an even number of stitches and starting each piece of ribbing with a knit stitch so that you end up seaming a knit stitch and a purl stitch together (leaving the ribbing pattern intact), supposedly hiding the seam "in the ditch" of the two stitches. Because the magazine article so strongly recommended this method I went with it, but I'm having second thoughts.

I normally seam ribbing by starting with an uneven number of stitches, starting and ending both pieces with a knit stitch and seaming up the centre of these edge stitches (leaving the ribbing pattern unbroken). I find it makes a finer seam (less seam bulk, especially at cuff edges) and it still turns out neat and tidy. The "Cast On" magazine article says that the seam turns out messier, but I'm not sure that it does. I think this might be worth a bit of additional experimentation.

For readers' further consideration (are you still with me?), Maggie Righetti suggests a third method in her book "Sweater Design in Plain English". She says to add an additional knit stitch so that your single rib ends in K2 at one end. This lets you seam with a full stitch, but gives you that knit/purl "ditch" seam.

Rip It, Rip It

It's annoying and disheartening to have to frog a finished object, especially when said finished object looks kind of pretty, is intended as a gift, and must be done by Christmas.

Unfortunately for me the smocked ribbing I chose for the fold up brim of this hat not only has to look pretty, but it must stretch far enough to fit the gift recipient's head too. Not happening. It's a tight fit even on this wig stand's little pin head which is nowhere near the 23.5" required.

Rip, rip, rippity rip!

Luckily the rest of the hat is okay. I only need to rip out the pretty smocked ribbing and replace it with a boring ol' 2x2 rib.

Lambie's New Clothes

Introducing "Lambie".

She's for the gift exchange held today during the Chilliwack Spinning and Weaving Guild's annual Christmas luncheon. Dressed only in the bib and diaper cover she came in she looked a little plain.....and chilly......so I got busy and knitted her a nice warm sweater and hat set. Wool of course.

Lambie has a little gift card holder around her neck (not shown here) and my daughter, also a spinner, had the brilliant idea to put a reference card in the holder that outlines how many wraps per inch will equal each of the commonly used yarn weights. This is a useful little item that even non-spinners can use to identify yarn weights that no longer have identifying ball bands.

I watched as the gifts were chosen (randomly, nobody knowing who each gift was from) and the lady who picked mine just happens to be a new grandma! I betcha Lambie will end up in Japan, where the new grandchild lives.

Masters Monday 2.1

Apparently the threat of public disgrace is a sufficient motivator for me. I announced last week that I would be starting Level 2 of the Master Knitters' certification and posting about some sort of progress each Monday. The need to come up with SOMEthing to report each week was the kick I needed to get through Level 1 and it looks like it will work again for Level 2.

Not only have I finished knitting the first 3 swatches (6 seperate pieces) .....



....but I have blocked them, seamed them,........



......labeled them, written the description of the process.....



.....answered the related questions, and added all the resource materials to my bibliography.

First Visit With Santa

It looks like Santa enjoys visiting with Kaylen almost as much as we do.

But she seems to have that effect on people wherever she goes.

A Little Smaller

I went out and bought a new (fake) tree last night. The old one was very realistic but it was SO huge, with SO many branches to bend into shape and "fluff" that getting the tree up each year was an all day affair. The fluffing and decorating was most often something I ended up doing alone.



The thought of facing it again this year was putting me in very much of a Bah Humbug kind of a mood. The need to move our living room furniture to make room for it wasn't thrilling me either. Our furniture is heavy enough that it leaves great dents in our carpet for at least a month after the arrangement has been altered.



This new tree, advertised as 6.5 feet tall, is about two feet shorter, smaller in diameter, has less branches to fiddle with and fill with ornaments, and ................ comes PRELIT. I love prelit. I can totally forgive this tree it's less realistic look because I am so in love with its' 400 mulit-coloured mini lights already in place and ready to plug in.



For some reason my camera is insisting that there is a lot of PINK on this tree. In reality the bows and garland are silver and the mini lights that show up as pink....they are actually red.

Coachella

Despite an ever growing queue of things I really want to knit (thanks Ravelry!), including a few warm vests I could really use right now, I out-of-the-blue looked through my very limited stash, found a yarn that didn't work for it's original intent, and cast on for a racer-back tank that I won't be able to use until the really warm weather arrives next summer.

A few days later I have a FO. This is "Coachella" which I have knit in Lang Viva, an 86% cotton, 14% polyester blend. I think what attracted me to the pattern was the interesting drape at the front neckline and this lightweight, woven yarn does the job beautifully. I know it looks like crap just hanging there unmodeled, but trust me, it fits nicely. It just requires a specialized bra and I likely won't be acquiring that until closer to summer.....when I can actually wear the top. For now it is getting tucked away in the closet while I start working on......

*drum roll please* ........

...... Level 2 of the

TKGA Master Knitters program!.....

Yes, it is now time to resume my regular posting of "Masters Mondays" as a means of keeping myself motivated and plugging away at this certification. My goal is to do at least something each week. It may not be a big something, but one little step at a time I shall climb this mountain. Drop by to encourage me hey?

And Baby's Makes Three

With the end of November fast approaching the crunch was on and I had to concentrate on getting our granddaughter's stocking completed in time for her family's December 1 st decorating spree.

Kaylen's stocking will join those that I made for her Mommy and Daddy last year.

I still have a liner to do for Kaylen's stocking, but that won't be needed until Christmas Eve. The liners are something I make up myself to protect the more labour intensive and easily damaged appliqued stocking. They are not part of the Mary Maxim kits.

Wee Vest

This project went so quickly from speculation to finished project that I never even took WIP pictures, or mentioned it here on the blog.

Kristy wanted a few warm vests for Kaylen to wear in the winter months. Using the measurements from Kaylen's store bought vest I quickly whipped up a pattern on Sweater Wizard and Kristy went home and knit one up in just a couple of days. It looked so cute that I couldn't resist adding to Kaylen's wardrobe myself.

I dug through my stash and found some pretty chenille given to me by a friend. A day and a half later the custom fit vest was off the needles and taking a test trip through the washer and dryer. Chenille can be a little finicky and if the vest was going to fall apart when subjected to the normal care a baby's clothing must go through then I wanted to find out about before it was given as a gift.

It survived. It fits. And I think it looks darn cute --- even when delivered late at night and tried on over pajamas.

3 Days Drying

This big, fat skein of 2 ply, Superwash Merino/Viscose blend took a full three days to dry. It's amazingly soft, super springy, and has a beautiful sheen.

285 g / 10.25 oz

472.5 m / 525 yds

17 WPI / fingeringweight (superfine / #1)

More being spun up!

Now THAT Is Full

One huge Majacraft bobbin full to the brim.

2 ply, superwash, merino/viscose blend spun from mill ends.

Chenille Done

Another two and a half yard run of chenille came off the guild's loom today.

Here's one end:

And the other:

Now to cut it up.

While Opportunity Knocks

There aren't a lot of guild members chomping at the bit to do one of these Stash Buster rugs, otherwise known as "twice woven rugs", right now (too busy with pre-Christmas preparations I suppose), so I'm taking advantage of the opportunity.

Even though I can't weave the second step of either rug for quite some time yet, (the loom has to be rewarped first) I figured I might as well get another run of chenille done while I wait. In contrast to the last one, which is being done in bright blues and hot pinks, this one will be a more subdued "naturals" with an earthy organic feel to it. That's the plan anyway.

Cut a Rug

I got a bit of the cutting done last night, and finished the remainder today. Boy is that hard on the hands. And probably on the scissors too!

All of the balls of handwoven chenille bagged up and ready for the next step --- weaving it into a pile rug. Don't hold your breath though, the guild loom won't be ready for the next stage for quite some time. First all interested weavers must do this step, then the loom needs to be rewarped for the next step, and that will not likely be until after Christmas.

Not too many guild members are interested in weaving one of these at this busy time of the year. I've offered to help use up the existing warp by weaving another run of chenille as I still have a fair bit of "stash" left. Tricky hey? I'll tackle that some time next week.