Masters Monday - 2.13

One more swatch checked off the list. This is #16, another swatch where the knitter picks a cable that will fit into the required dimensions with a minimum of 2 multiples and three repeats and then figures out the gauge (by swatching), makes allowances for the differences in density between the cable portion and the seed stitch border, plans an effective way of dealing with the difference, writes a complete pattern and....

.....yes, still must knit the final swatch. This is cable 16.5 in the "Harmony Guide to Aran Knitting".

Masters Monday 2.12

Okay, so this Masters Monday is happening late on a Tuesday night, but it is still happening.

This is Swatch 15 - cable of choice.

The basic stitch pattern is #4.9 from "The Harmony Guide to Aran Knitting".

The actual knitting and pattern writing was all completed on schedule, as planned, I only fell behind in the photography and blogging department. I'm blaming the demands of the long, Easter weekend. I mean if you could spend time with this little muffin rather than sit at the computer blogging about knitting a swatch, wouldn't you?

That's what I thought.

Kaylen has a little slide show of her first Easter egg painting experience up on her blog if you are interested.

Masters Monday 2.11

Did you arrive early, find nothing but old posts, and think I was skipping Masters Monday again? Sorry about that. I was fiddling with a video/slide show of birthday pictures for my granddaughter Kaylen's blog instead of getting my own blogging done. If you're up for a round of "Happy Birthday" and watching a wee one discover birthday cake for the first time, pop on over to Kaylen's blog and wish her a happy 1st birthday.

And yes, I did work on my Masters Knitting this week. I worked and worked actually, but this one swatch (and its pattern) is all I have to show for it right now.

This is Level II, Swatch 14, Cable of Your Choice, but with a twist to the assignment that wasn't there for Level I. In this level the knitter has to choose three stitch patterns, do the math, and write out the patterns for each of the swatches themselves. This results in the absurd situation of swatching for the swatches. An initial swatch must be made to determine gauge so that you can not only make the final swatches within the size limits, but also correct for "cable flare" - where the edging bulges and gathers because the seed stitch and the cables are of different gauges.

I actually have more done than shows here as I did my initial "swatching for the swatches" with all three cables on the one practice swatch. I have also begun the rough drafts of the patterns for the other two swatches. I learned with the first one that it works best to write the pattern and then knit from it, rather than the source the stitch pattern was found in. I found and corrected several omissions and mistakes as I attempted to knit from my own pattern. Hopefully now I won't have my patterns thrust back at me with "errata" to be corrected.

Bitzen Bear's Debu

Introducing

Bitzen Bear*

It took as long to seam his nineteen itty, bitty pieces together as it did to knit them all.

He was a fun little knit though. He's just 9 inches from top to toe.

I soft sculpted his face to give it a little more depth and character.

I'm very happy with my yarn choice, Bernat Alpaca -Natural Blends. It gives Bitzen a fuzzy, fulled look similar to the old style mohair bears. Using one 100g ball of each colour, "Tundra" and "Wheat", I have enough of the two yarns left to make him a buddy in the opposite colours.

*Bitzen was named, tongue in cheek, for the many "bits 'n' pieces" he required.

Bear Parts

No illegal poaching going on here. These are knitted bear parts.

Nineteen small, shaped pieces to be sewn together in the "Classic Teddy Bear" pattern by Mary Ann Gebhardt originally published in "Interweave Knit Gifts" and now available at knittingdaily.com as a downloadable PDF. ($4.50)

Marlene

What Marlene Means

You are confident, self assured, and capable. You are not easily intimidated. You master any and all skills easily. You don't have to work hard for what you want. You make your life out to be exactly how you want it. And you'll knock down anyone who gets in your way! You are usually the best at everything ... you strive for perfection. You are confident, authoritative, and aggressive. You have the classic "Type A" personality. You are wild, crazy, and a huge rebel. You're always up to something. You have a ton of energy, and most people can't handle you. You're very intense. You definitely are a handful, and you're likely to get in trouble. But your kind of trouble is a lot of fun. You are relaxed, chill, and very likely to go with the flow. You are light hearted and accepting. You don't get worked up easily. Well adjusted and incredibly happy, many people wonder what your secret to life is. You are friendly, charming, and warm. You get along with almost everyone. You work hard not to rock the boat. Your easy going attitude brings people together. At times, you can be a little flaky and irresponsible. But for the important things, you pull it together. You are very intuitive and wise. You understand the world better than most people. You also have a very active imagination. You often get carried away with your thoughts. You are prone to a little paranoia and jealousy. You sometimes go overboard in interpreting signals.

What's Your Name's Hidden Meaning?

There's More

I returned on Saturday to Fibrefest International. I was mainly there to keep Kris company while she shopped, but I did manage to come home with a couple more items. The "firestar" purchase was planned, but the bright lime green merino managed to lure me as well. Both will be used sparingly as an additive when I drum card 2 pounds of jet black merino. The black (a free gift with purchase from long ago) was so boring I just couldn't bear it by itself. What will I make with the finished yarn? Darned if I know. Something mostly black with little highlights of shocking green and an occasional twinkle of sparkle I guess.



I've already got a good start using up the sock yarn I bought from Rabbitch of "Rabbitworks Fibre Studio". She calls this line of fingering weight superwash merino/nylon yarn "Toe Jam Sock Yarn" and this russet/black colourway is "King of the Potato People".



I'm knitting the socks in my usual way; toe-up, two at once on a single long circular needle. I generate a basic pattern on Sock Wizard and then make my own little changes and in this particular case, added in a simple stitch pattern. The stitch pattern (2 rows of stockinette followed by 2 rows of k2p2 ribbing) shows in the picture on the sock to the left. The plain stockinette sole shows on the sock to the right.

Inspector Shelby

When I got home this evening from day one of Fibrefest Shelby felt she needed to thoroughly inspect my purchases. There may be a minor purchase when I return with my daughter tomorrow, but the bulk of the damage from this year's Fibrefest Stash Enhancement Expedition has been done.

On the far left we have two braids of "Fleece Artist" merino/silk roving purchased from "Shades of Narnia". I have plans to spin each of these braids separately and then I'll ply them together. I fell in love with the colours even though they aren't colours that look good on me.

Moving to the right I have 5 skeins of a buttery soft wool purchased from the "Knitopia" booth. These are earmarked for my TKGA Master Knitter Level II vest project.

On top of them are two beautifully hand dyed skeins of sock yarn purchased from "Rabbitworks Fibre Studio". This began its life as "The Dreaded Russet Yarn", but in its overdyed state I think the colourway has been dubbed "King of the Potato People". These are destined to become my next pair of socks. Shelby won't tell me what she feels is so special about these sock yarn skeins, but she keeps coming back to them for a good sniff.

A little further to the right we have another two skeins of the "Fleece Artist" merino/silk roving. I love this stuff and couldn't go with just the one set. These colours are more in line with"my colours". Did I mention that I love this stuff? I bought some at the Ryder Lake Spin-In last Fall and it became the lovely "Huckleberry Chuckle" scarf. Yummy.

Did you notice the book? "Tapestry Weaving". Like I need another hobby right? Well, a while back I picked up a second hand tapestry loom for something like $5 and it's been sitting in my closet ever since. I happen to learn better from books than I do from workshops so this will hopefully be my start. It's not really another hobby, just a branch of an existing one. You know like mulit-shaft weaving, inkle weaving, rigid heddle weaving, tablet weaving---

Above the book is a flick carder. I've been wanting one of those for opening locks while preparing them for the drum carder. On top of the book is a neat little gadget for twisting fringes. Sooo much easier/faster than doing it by hand! The book, the flick carder and the fringe twisters were all purchased from "Fibres Plus".

Lace Bolero

I'm dashing out the door to Fibrefest International but, just like last year, wanted to quickly post my latest finished project. This lace bolero is even knit with the same batch of handspun, 2 ply, DK weight superwash merino that I made last year's pullover with.

Sirdar #8710 Bolero

Huckleberry Chuckle

I couldn't resist giving this scarf an offbeat name. "Huckleberry Chuckle" it is, named for the berry stained grin of the picker with the least amount of berries remaining in her gathering basket.

Knit from handspun, laceweight, 2 ply merino/silk (from hand painted roving by "Fleece Artist"). It's three multiples of "Porcupine Stitch" from Barbara G. Walker's "A Second Treasury of Knitting Patterns", using 3.75 mm needles.

The final scarf is 6" x 67".

Masters Monday - 2.10

As promised, for this week's Masters Monday I did the boring bit. I got caught up on the paperwork for the last three swatches I had done.

It doesn't make for very exciting blog pictures, but let me tell you, it's a huge relief! And hours of work. A full, working pattern had to be written up for each of these, complete with references, gauge, materials, abbreviations....not to mention the labeling of the swatches, answering of related questions, and cross referencing in the bibliography.

Now I can check off Swatches 11, 12 and 13 (of 22).

Night Magic

All done.

Fringe beaded and trimmed. Project washed and pressed --- and named. Naming the scarves is a requirement for the guild show. I dub this one "Night Magic" because of the way the colours shimmer against the black threads.

And now off to warp the loom again! A new idea is demanding to be brought to life.

And a Woven One

Yesterday I mentioned that I would be submitting a knitted, handspun, lace scarf in the guild's show at City Hall, and that there might be a woven one as well. I've made quite a bit of progress on the knitted one, but have found that the weaving is going much faster.

Late on Sunday I took this handspun, a hodge podge of assorted fibres and colours which had been plyed with a fine black weavers' wool,

--- and used it mixed 2/1 with a fine black boucle for the warp,

I wove away, as compulsively as I usually do with such things,

--- and by late Tuesday evening I had it completely woven, cut off the loom, a few skips repaired, and some experimental fringe alternatives pondered. The scarf is in a finishing bath now and will be pressed, have its fringes sprinkled lightly with beads and trimmed evenly, to be ready for its debut here tomorrow.

Upcoming Show

A deadline is fast approaching. My spinning and weaving guild is having an art show at City Hall and the deadline for guild members to get their submissions in is Saint Patricks Day. The show is titled "Scarf City" and will be a display/sale of scarves made by guild members. Guild Standards require that the scarves either be woven or contain at least 50% handspun yarn. I'll likely submit one woven scarf and one handspun, handknit lace one.

This is what I have done so far.



Don't worry, it will look far better when it's blocked! Handknit lace undergoes an amazing transformation from rumpled dishrag to elegant work of art during the blocking process.

I'm starting both ends at the same time for two reasons. First, I want the wave patterns to be the same at both ends of the scarf with the lace pattern "right side up" at both ends. Second, I have a limited amount of this hand dyed, handspun merino/silk blend and this way I can use every last inch and still be assured that both ends will end up the same length. The two ends will be grafted in the middle when they are complete.

I'll recycle a picture from an older post to show you the handspun I am using.

Masters Monday - 2.9

Ooops! Getting a little ahead of myself. Once again I've done the swatch knitting but not the labeling and pattern write ups. Maybe getting caught up on the paperwork should be my goal for the coming week?

Swatch 12 - (lace of choice) Spider Stitch

Swatch 13 - (lace of choice) Pierced Diamond

Both of these swatches are from stitch patterns I found in the Barbara Walker Treasuries. I knit them in a coned, superwash wool, fingering weight yarn usually used for machine knitting. I had thought about using another shockingly bright yarn, like last week, but the orange I was thinking of may have been too dark and possibly even a bit too fuzzy to meet the acceptable standards.

So next week's Master Monday report had better be that I have done the write ups for these last three swatches. I will be knitting this week though. I have two non-Masters knitting projects I'm actively working on.

And I'll be weaving. The loom is warped for the next project.

When a Project Goes Well

I'm thrilled with the way this turned out! Despite winging it without a pattern, improvising all the way, everything still went together perfectly. Many decisions were based solely on supplies at hand.

• I had all the cotton denim yarn, purchased at a clearance sale months ago.


• The bright orange acrylic was leftover yarn given to me by my daughter.


• Who doesn't have a pair of holey old jeans kicking around?


• I even had leftover thread in the right colours.


• I had the perfect buttons purchased long ago for a project that I changed my mind about.


• The inkle band, cut in two, turned out to be exactly the right length to make shoulder straps that place the bag at a comfortable carrying height.


• The inner pockets were made from a scrap leftover from the main lining.


• The plastic canvas was in my stash, previously rescued from a thrift store for next to nothing.


• The bag turned out a nice size and shape simply by cutting the woven yardage exactly in half.

The only things I had to buy specifically for the project were the fusible interfacing (to stablize the weave so it could be cut and sewn), and the bright orange broadcloth for the lining. Both of those I got at a local department store. I didn't even have to set foot into our big (annoying, high priced, slow service) fabric store.

All the details would have taken less time if I had had a commercial pattern to refer to. As it was I had to stop and carefully think about how best to accomplish the features I wanted. The bottom and the narrower sides were given some stability with plastic canvas basted invisibly between the layers. The inside was lined, complete with six customized pockets, four flat ones of various sizes, and two pleated ones for bulkier objects.

With the exception of the inkle bands, I have enough of everything left over to make another whole bag.
I haven't decided yet whether I will do that and sell the extra one, or if I will buy a pattern for some kind of lined purse. Either way it won't be anytime soon. Sewing isn't my favourite hobby. Although I did a fair bit of it years ago, now I only sew when it is a necessary step for finishing some other fibre related project.

Another Idea

Lately the ideas for creative projects have been coming fast and furious. I can't get one finished before four more are shouting and shoving in an effort to find their way to the forefront. Their antics often have me tossing and turning in the middle of the night.

This latest project, an inkle band, is at least a "go with" for the handwoven fabric (sitting in the background) that I just completed on the rigid heddle loom. Now to dig out the sewing machine and get to work designing something to bring the two together.

Denim Creation

I've been considering this weaving project for quite some time now. First I had to collect a few pairs of old jeans. Then, as I have to do my warping outside, I had to wait for a nice day. It was still a bit chilly on Sunday but the beautiful sunshine drew me outdoors even if I did have to wear fingerless gloves while warping.

Here's the loom set up on the old door and peg warping station I have improvised.

And back inside where it was warmer I got to work threading every other end into the holes in the rigid heddle, tensioning and tying on to the cloth beam. I'm using an indigo dyed cotton denim yarn.

After cutting old jeans into 1/2" strips I was off and weaving. 2 shots of the denim yarn, one of a bright orange acrylic, 2 more of the denim yarn and then a strip of the recycled denim jeans. Nice, simple tabby weave.

Of course once the loom is warped I become obsessed and weave like a mad woman. I had the whole thing woven and off the loom by the next day --- all 1.7 metres of it.

Masters Monday 2.8

My offering this week. Doesn't look like much, but believe me it was a lot of work! In Level II you don't just knit your swatches from a provided pattern. You have to do all the research yourself and come up with a swatch that fits the requirements.

Swatch 11 - (lace of choice) Floral Mesh

For this swatch, and two more lace ones, the requirement is to knit a lace swatch, bordered by seed stitch, and containing at least two multiples and three repeats. And the big challenge....it has to be no bigger than 7 inches! After much experimenting I found that for me that means no more than 8 stitches in each multiple, and no more than 12 rows in each repeat....otherwise it ends up being over sized and would be rejected.

After getting the knitting done then you have to write up a pattern for it including the seed stitch border. All information like needle size, gauge, materials, references/sources, abbreviations, must be included. I've gotten bogged down there a bit. I have a rough draft of the necessary information, but I have to fine tune it. So just the knitting of Swatch 11 this week. I can't say it's finished until all the paperwork is done.

Great Big Grins

I couldn't resist adding my granddaughter's great big grin to my blog.



Kaylen's just learning to walk. We caught a few of her tottering little steps on video. You can check them out on her blog.