blanket

When I visited my cousin this summer, she took me to her local yarn store and she loved the colors of this yarn.  So I bought it and asked her what kind of baby blanket she might like.  Turns out she had already gone through Ravelry and noted on one of her 'favorites' - "Mel, can you make this?  :)"

Indeed.  Though she had to pick a pattern with a lot of purl rows :)

Pattern:  Mountain Chickadee
Edging:  found in a book ("Crochet Edging," appropriately enough) I found at a Stitches East book signing
Yarn:  Casbah.  Used every inch!
 rimmed with a sea green sock yarn I found at Stitches Midwest

I'm never getting gauge

Here is the sweater that I was knitting along with my friend Thuy... (Haven't shortened the zipper yet)

Yummy, yummy yarn.  I love the tonal brown.  "Fig" is the shade.

We converted the pattern to be a more seamless pattern.  Not the easiest thing, since the pattern wasn't exactly the easiest written pattern.   I normally knit quite loosely and with going down a couple needle sizes I seemed to roughly get gauge.  But the other tricky thing about sizing was that it was sizing the sweater according to your bust size, and I don't have a bust anymore.  So I tried to hedge it and make the next size up from my chest circumference.

 It was a top down pattern and everything seemed to be going swimmingly .... until I put in the raglan sleeves, and it was too tight right at the seams.  Aaagh!!

Pattern: Ribby cardi
Yarn: madelinetosh merino vintage

These are a few of my favorite buttons

Arielle inspired me to try my hand at felt ornaments... Thought it might make a fun hanging-out-with-baby-in-Montreal-winter sort of craft, so I brought a little supply kit with me and surfed Pinterest for ideas.  A perfect accompaniment to watching Downton Abbey.

The buttons are from my neighbor - she has inherited a store's worth of jewelry, scarves, knickknacks, and buttons that she has been trying to sell. She lets me take all the buttons I want, so I made her a little tree made entirely of buttons.

Great instructions and template from this blog

Finally (in) his shell

Look!  I finally finished him!

5 years ago I started Sheldon, which was a popular pattern on knitty.com.    The thing about knitting toys is that there are a lot of fiddly finishing details. I finished just about everything except his eyes and limbs, and then I got discouraged when it came to putting the pieces together.  The shell and the belly are attached with icord, for example, and that was beyond my knitting skills at the time.  And so he seemed doomed to never be finished.

Then E comes home from school and tells me that their class pet is a turtle.  Named Sheldon.

So I resurrected him and finished him as a Christmas present from his teacher.  

She probably thinks I'm a bit crazy.  

But at least I finished him!!

Pattern:  Sheldon, on knitty.com

Yarn:  Knitpicks simply cotton

Ruffles have ridges

Impulse purchase at 3 Bags Full:  Broadway Yarn.
About 5-6 hours of knit time, and I had a scarf!  Very fun.  Hard to get the colors right - they are a navy blue and purple with silver sparkle edge.

Sampler

I'm in Virginia now, visiting my in-laws ... in honor of my mother-in-law's amazing talent, here is a picture of the sampler she recently finished for our ten year anniversary.  We just hung it in the kitchen, where I love it because I can look at it every time I sit at our table.  I think our red walls frame it nicely.

Ideas for guests

This is a page out of one of my cousin's books.  A great idea for a guest room:  start knitting a sampler scarf, fill a basket with some different yarns, and guests can add on as they wish.  It can be used to teach guests how to knit as well.  Then you have a sort of knitted "guest book" and memories of visits.

Wool felt animals

Seen in the Lenhardt Library at the Chicago Botanic Garden. So cute!

Auntie Mel makes me the silliest hats

Made a quick little hat from Rosemary's stash. Used the whole ball with only scraps to spare! Gotta love bulky weight yarn for a quick satisfying project.

Knitting - c'est bon!

While in Montreal, do what the Montreal knitters do - look at French patterns :). My cousin has a couple of books from the Parisian knitting store la droguerie, and I could not resist a peek. Here are a few highlights.

Little habu hat

Arielle and I fell in love with this cottony slub yarn at the Habu booth at Stitches East, because the sample was the cutest little simple hat. She had a 2 month old and I knew my cousin was about to have a baby, so we both made one.

But then I always seem to knit loosely, and made a hat that was way too big for a newborn. And she made a hat that was too small for her 3 month old.

So we swapped! And they were perfect!

Be sweet

Visiting my SIL's darling little one ... Born late August, so cute! Here she is modeling a hat I made from a skein of Be Sweet cotton. The ball band pattern is cute, but the size was a bit off - it said it would fit a 3-6 month old, but even with using a size smaller needles the circumference was 19"! Into the dryer and got it down to around 15". And here they are.

Thought the yarn would transition between the color changes, but it turns out that it's merely knotted.  I took the knots out and wove the ends in so that no knots would end up by the baby's head.  Good thing it claims to be giving jobs to South African women, else I might be a bit more miffed.

Yarn:  Be Sweet Taffy (bamboo cotton blend)

Pattern:  Sweetie Pie hat (on the yarn label)

  (skipped the bobbles)

Missing summer

Had a bunch of posts lined up but didn't have the wherewithal to finish them. Here's one I found featuring the last of the summer tomatoes... Bought a case from my CSA and roasted them for the freezer.

They also make purée from the remainder of their tomatoes that they don't sell, which I'm told is especially nice because the deseeding/juicing process is a bit arduous by hand. Made the best tomato soup out if it the other day.

Preserve your self-possession

My son joined cub scouts this year, and one of their recent outings was to a historical site in our village. It was a stop on the Underground Railroad and had some other interesting artifacts from earlier in the century.

I was particularly amused by the admonishing instructions on this music.

Quiltspiration

Went to boston last month and saw these two quilts in a local artist store. Love the colors and design.

Finishing the Forest Shawl

The forest shawl is finished!

Check out my blog post about it and to see more photographs.

a mother lode of acrylic

I went to Glen Ellyn for the first time a few days ago, because the only dealer for knitting machines for hours around lives there (more on that later!).  Stopped by the LYS (of course), String Theory.  Cute shop founded after 9/11, sells a lot of yarns with eco-friendly and people-friendly labels.  For example, they were featuring some Afghanistan cashmere that was really nice.  Soft and light, like the usual cashmere;  but with a bit more rugged feel.  Would have totally picked some up, except the cost was $24/skein, and 3 skeins required for just a pair of fingerless gloves.  Yikes.

Next door was an awesome vintage store.  I picked up a couple of watercolors for less than $10.  They had a shelf in the back that was full of crocheted and quilted afghans!  

i've a lot of affection for this color

This is 3 skeins of gorgeous sock yarn twisted together.  This booth at Stitches had a bunch of colors pre-selected to do the Color Affection shawl, and this is the one that Pat selected.  Yummy!!  Can't wait to see this knitted up!

Weaving the Forest Shawl

Finally, the weaving begins! Two photos and a few words can be found in this blog entry.

The Forest Shawl Continues

In which I discuss planning the Forest Shawl.

Planning the warp design.

Beginning the Forest Shawl

I’m writing up the process of making a woven shawl on my new blog, so I thought I should post a link here so everyone can find it. This is not a fancy weave: just something simple to practice basic skills and to use up some stash.

Selecting yarns is a tricky process.

 After much searching, I chose a hand-painted sock yarn and three Knit Picks Palette yarns to coordinate. The sock yarn was supposed to become a Clapotis shawl, but once it was out of the skein I didn’t like it. Plus, when I bought it, I forgot that Clapotis calls for worsted weight yarn. (Still haven’t knit a Clapotis.)

The Knit Picks yarn was supposed to be shadow-knit pillows. I love shadow-knits, but I quickly discovered that I hate knitting them. Especially in DK-weight yarn.

Exhaustive detail about planning this can be found in the post “Planning the Forest Shawl”. I will continue to cross-post here.

a walk down memory wire

I've got my beading stuff spread out (there really is no need for a formal dining table anyway).   Found a little group of number beads, which I'd intended to make into a nursing bracelet for a deserving friend or relative.  But of course I didn't have any memory wire (which is stiff-ish wire to make bracelets that don't need clasps) ... and of course that required an online visit to firemountaingems.com.   All in the name of finishing a project, right?  It's a dangerous site, because they are a bit expensive, until you buy a certain quantity.  at 15 items, there is a price break.  at 50 items, another price break, and so on...

Well, at least the package came on my birthday, so it was kind of like a birthday present to me.  :)

I've only worked with memory wire once before, because I remember it being a royal pain in the kiester to manipulate.  This wire was awesome and very easy - perhaps because I must have fortuitously chosen a smaller gauge / diameter.

The way this bracelet works is that every bead represents 15 minutes, and you take the little lobster claw charm (which is hanging down towards the bottom right corner here) and move it to represent the time at which you last fed your babe.  if you're breastfeeding, you move the bracelet to the side that you  last fed on or the one you will need to feed on next (as long as you remember which it was).  so for example, this bracelet is set to reflect 8:30.

The pink and purple beads are from my neighbor's vintage collection.  I threw in the variegated brown ones to try and modulate the loudness of the colors a bit.  I fear it is too pink for the intended recipient.  I figure that I'm not a pink person at all, but I kind of like this hot pink.  So I hope she likes it.

Wind beneath my wings

pattern:  Wingspan (over 4000 projects in Ravelry!)

yarn:  Noro Taiyo sock, found at the Midwest Fiber Fair

recipient:  a friend, for her 40th birthday

Love this pattern!!   Super easy - it's basically a whole lot of garter stitch and short rows.  Perfect traveling project.  Most of this was knitted at the pool this summer.  The original pattern is a "shawlette" and only called for 8 triangles, but I basically kept going till the end of the skein because I was envisioning more of a scarf.  3g of yarn left!

I think I see one of these in my future for myself ...

cover up

  I did a bit of sewing a while ago and can finally post now that the baby is here and healthy :)

pattern:  nursing cover

fabric:  amy butler fabric - found at a lake forest church sale!  yards and yards of home decorator weight fabric, for only a few dollars!

I ordered some boning online for the top, so that the mother can peek down at the nursing babe.  on one corner is a little terrycloth for wiping;  on the other is a little pocket, for a pacifier if needed.

silk comfort

I made this for my friend in Houston, so I chose a fiber that was 100% silk by Araucania (Chaiten) - it's sort of a matte nubby finish, which is really nice and drapes really well.  I used the Lace Ribbon pattern that I love - so easy to memorize, easy to execute (once you get the hang of it), and looks complicated.  I made it a bit wider than the pattern so that she could use it as a shawl in the air-conditioned buildings that she works in.

It was originally intended as a prayer shawl of sorts - something to give her a modicum of comfort in the aftermath of her mother's recent death - but turned out to be a congratulations-on-your-engagement gift :)

In stitches

School has started!  I feel a collective sigh go through the neighborhood as all the area stay-at-home moms get a breather :)  So it is time to restart this blog - so much fiber to catch up on!

A couple of weeks ago we basked in Stitches Midwest.  Pat and I took a class on lining a knitted item - more on that in the next post.

Lots of color in the market.  This is the Derecho shawl, a pattern sold out everywhere we looked:

The other pattern of choice was Color Affection, an easy-looking yet breathtaking pattern that melds 3 skeins of contrasting sock yarn.  Many booths had various combinations put together for you, making the possibilities reachable.  Pat got one that was a dark red, beige, and I think gray - it's going to be stunning!  I think I want to do one too, but I'm going to cull from my stash because I really have more sock yarn than I know what to do with.

One thing I searched for was a bulky jewel-tone blue variegated yarn for a friend, for whom I offered to make the scarf of her yarn and pattern choice.  I tried to find it at a small purveyor, to no avail.  But I found it at WEBS - it's Berroco!  And yes, the color really is this electric.

I also got some black yarn to make this hat, which a friend saw on Pinterest and asked me to make.  Black, yech!  At least it's a crochet pattern.

In that same issue of Vogue Crochet, I saw this pattern for a lace pullover.    Intriguing.  I got some charcoal-y madeleinetosh yarn from WEBS to attempt it.

Craftsy.com was also advertising by giving away a free class.  Looks intriguing - take online classes in sewing, fiber arts, and cooking.  Probably exactly up my alley!

Every year at Stitches I try on this jacket and look at it longingly.  It's a kit, and every year they never have my colors (the sample is in these lovely jewel tones and the kits always seem to be pastel, like in the photo in the link), so I'm able to easily walk away.  But this year they had it in the most gorgeous deep blues and browns.  It was tough to walk away from it. Finally I decided that I would never have a chance to wear it - I'm just not a fancy kind of person, and if I'm going to get fancy, I'll wear something fancier than a jacket I knit myself.  And with my luck, I'd snag it on something anyway.

Anyways, I've got something else to obsess about and save my pocketbook for ... I want a knitting machine!  Something to help me with the miles of stockinette that these Habu patterns call for.  I was intrigued by the machine knitting booth - so easy! - and I'm going to check out a dealer (the only one within several hours of me) in a couple of weeks.  I had to make an appointment because it's an hour's drive and she works out of her home.

The Pink Kitchen Quilt

Lovely orangey-pinks with a green backing.

This is the second quilt I started—and I just finished it this week! It had some problems and I put it in “time out” for many years. My inspiration was my grandmother’s kitchen (Pepto-Bismol pink!) and I’m happy to say that my sister is giving it a home. (Pink, even with an orange tint, is not my color.)

The entire top.

This is a trip-around-the-world quilt, with a sort of Irish chain layout. Lovely, easy to do as long as you get the fabrics right. It is small; only 40 inches per side. Just enough for decoration.

Basic quilting.

I finished it just in time for her birthday, but I’ll have to sew the label on when I visit later this month!

you knitted what?

My best friend's mom recently passed away.  It's not much, but maybe my friend will feel a little love from me when she takes out a kleenex.  

Pattern:  Zakka tissue cozy

Yarn:  Noro Aurora, a little bit leftover from another project

(I love this yarn and am sad it's discontinued)

(if you ever see me contemplating a toilet paper cozy, you may need to stage an intervention)

Shadow Weave Samples

My small weaving group did a weave-along, and we chose an 8-shaft shadow-weave gamp. In addition to the towel (or table runner), we each wove samples to swap. Here are my samples:

Shadow weave samples to swap

A gamp is a weaving term that means a piece of cloth with a pattern or set of colors in the warp (the length of the cloth) and a pattern or set of colors in the weft (the width of the cloth) such that the final cloth has a series of squares where the different patterns or colors intersect. It's a fun way to see how colors and/or patterns interact.

Shadow weave on the loom (looking sideways)

This gamp was modified from Handwoven Magazine (Jan/Feb 2004). It is shadow weave, which requires alternating dark and light colors (my dark was always black). Each warp stripe has a different threading to make a different pattern, and each weft stripe has the corresponding treadling.

Our samples were full width but had only four rectangular repeats; enough to show the pattern but quick to weave. Each sample took about 35 minutes for me to weave.

I cut off the samples and will tie on the remaining warp to make a table runner. It's neat to see the different patterns; some are pretty, and some are pretty ugly!

Eating a rainbow

Remember that Whole Living magazine that you got for me, Win?  I LOVE it.  In one of the last issues they had a colorful article about "eating the rainbow" - pictures of foods from all over the color spectrum.  So I made a couple, and they were Amazing.  

This one is just pineapple, mango, thinly sliced Meyer Lemon (which you don't eat, as I discovered), and toasted unsweetened coconut.  A perfect dessert - recipe here, in case you don't believe how simple it is.  

This is a "black stir fry" with kale, red cabbage, tofu, and eggplant.  Kale!  And it tastes great!  There was a squeeze of lime which I think made it phenomenal and changed the way I look at stir fry.  Here is the recipe:  Whole Living site    

the end justifies the ends

check out this stunning lap afghan that Pat  just finished!  it's been two years in the making ... but done just in time for her granddaughter's graduation.  

for this project, she learned how to weave in ends as she knit.  can you imagine all the ends she would otherwise have had to weave in at the end?