All the way around

I've completed my first year in my house and now I can finally relax a little. I've just finished and hung the final curtain. 

I love this lace pattern and the nod to Scotland it gives to my home but I was surprised at how fast it worked up after I got serious about getting it finished. 

Now for the tour of curtains:

Just what I envisioned. Ahhhh....good times. 

Following the crowd

Ten minutes after I finished my doily, I got started on my next project. The LACE group in Chicago is doing a group competition which entails each person using the same pattern of an outline of an elephant. We can do it using any technique and the filling can be any type of pattern we want. This is the first time I've done anything like this so I'm looking forward to the challenge. 

Here's how I started:

I'm doing a basic tape technique for the outline but I'm using 3 shades of silk thread because I thought that might be interesting. Not sure how the corners will look but I won't know that until I take it off the pillow. 

I'm now finished with the outline. Just need to tie off and start working on the filling. But that's a secret!

The other thing I've been working on is a baby blanket for a friend at work. I had a little panic over the weekend after I washed it because I wasn't sure if it would be big enough. I called a friend who does a ton of baby blankets and she talked me off the "I've got to start over and the baby is due any day now" ledge by saying she thought it would be perfect for a car seat. 

I'm hoping that's true because it's done and handed over to Mommie to be. She seemed happy so I'm going to roll with that. 

I did the classic Feather and Fan pattern and then finished it off with a crocheted edging. Very pretty and very classic. Welcome Baby Girl Scott!!

Hat, hats and more hats

And a cowl.  And gloves.

First of all, let me reiterate that I'm not really a hat person.  I like them but I tend to look pretty silly in them.  In saying that, I have no idea why I'm so into hats right now.  Can't get enough of the them.  Need hats.  Need more hats.

Part of the seduction (for seduction it is), I think, is that it's a good project for handspun.  You don't typically have tons of yardage out of your handspun unless you're spinning for a particular project and a hat is a good project that doesn't take loads of yarn.  But that's always been true and this has only descended on me over the past couple of months.  Hummm...

So, here's the latest in the line and it comes with a bit of a silly story.

I saw this pattern in the magazine.  But like any lazy knitter, I saw the pretty picture, didn't read the pattern and chose the yarn I wanted to use.  I sat down with said pattern and said yarn and needles to go with said yarn only to discover that the pattern called for a worsted weight yarn and US size 6 & 7 needles.  Said yarn was lace weight and chosen needles were US size 3 & 4. 

Not to worry, the band is made flat, you just repeat the pattern until it's long enough to go around the head.  No problem, right?  Actually there wasn't a problem with that part.  What was the problem is that said yarn was actually this slightly variegated bfl yarn AND another handspun lace weight corriedale in a solid color that I thought would go with it.  I made the band, sewed it together, picked up the stitches for the crown with the solid color, knit the crown (only not floppy like this - it was more fitted), finished the hat and decided the colors definitely did NOT go together.  They were sort of the same ball park but off enough to set your teeth on edge.

For some reason I didn't want to rip it out so I went back and picked up stitches with the same yarn I'd used for the band and upped the needle size to the size 4 and I finished the crown.  Again.  What I ended up with was a double layer hat with a lacy edging and I really quite fancy it!

But before I'd even got the hat finished (the second time), I knew there had to be gloves.  I love gloves and the lace weight was the perfect weight for good gloves that you can wear and still move your fingers in.  So I used my basic glove pattern working in the lace pattern from the hat band into the back of the glove.  You can't see it very well in the photos but just look at the hat.  It's the same pattern.

The other thing I finished this weekend as I watched the first three seasons of Leverage (which I am totally addicted to, by the way) is the Tilting Tardis Cowl.  This was a hugely clever pattern posted on Ravelry by Marilyn Phillippi.  She adapted a Barbara Walker lace pattern to look like little Tardises (Tardi?) hurtling through space and time and I just couldn't resist.  I'd started this ages ago but it was one of those projects that gets buried in the stash until the proper time.  It made it to the surface this weekend as I cleaned and organized the craft room (and watched the first 3 seasons of Leverage) and I had to finish it.

I don't think it was supposed to be big enough to cover the head but after it was washed, it became this size and I couldn't be more thrilled because I do love this kind of option to cover one's head but then be able to drop it around the neck for storage, as it were.  I think I'll be wearing this a lot in the coming months.

Needle in a Haystack

If you're in the Central Illinois area, mark January 15th in your calendar for the Needle in a Haystack event at Lincoln Land Community College.  There are going to be classes in sewing, embroidery, knitting, spinning, crochet, quilting and more.  There will be 4 class sessions through the day so you can get an introduction into a variety of things. 

Even if you can't manage a class come on over to visit the displays and demonstrations being put on by Springfield-based needleart guilds.  I've got more info and links to register online at http://www.wandagraysondesigns.com/needle_in_a_haystack.  Click on over there.  One word.  There won't be vendors this first year to give them a chance to really focus on the event itself.  But the vision is to take what's learned this year and build on it.

I'll be doing several things during the day including:

• Intro to spinning yarn with a drop spindle.  You'll make your own drop spindle and then learn the basics of spinning using this ancient tool. 
• Lunchtime presentation on Crafting in Times of Crises.  You can sign up for an onsite lunch and while you're munching down, I'll share some thoughts on how crafters have always met crises with creativity both to meet the needs of those hit by the crises and in the meantime, provide solace to their own hearts.
• Amigurumi Crochet.  Have you ever seen this stuff?  So cute.  Here are some things I've done for the class:

The fish and Mr. Beaver came from a kit/book I got at Barnes and Noble called "Creature Crochet."  The kit came with everything to make these 2 little guys and the book has 10 more to make, including alley cats complete with trash cans and fish bones with jiggly eyes!

The turtle is my little creation and may be our project for the class.  I made it as a little box with a removable shell.

I have to give all the credit to Judy Wagenblast over at Lincoln Land for coming up with this project.  It's been a ton of work and they've gotten it done in record time.  We want everyone to take advantage of this wonderful opportunity so we can convince them to do this every year!!

I've been getting questions so I'll let you know that I will be doing another shuttle tatting class during the semester.  We're going to do it as a 2-part class with a limit of 6 students (in February) then there will be a 1-session "next steps" class (in March) for those who have the basics and want to learn a few new things.  If we get the same reception this semester that we got last semester, we'll try to fit in another beginning class later on in the spring.

Hey, while we're on the class thing, I'll be teaching a knitted lace class at the Three Sisters Folk Art School in April.  Click here for more info as it gets posted.

Almost there

The question in everyone's mind with the 1918 knitted doily is how you make a straight edging go around. I couldn't see it. This morning at knit group, we sort of tried to see how it could work but it didn't look promising.

I've now completed 21 out of 24 repeats and this is how it looks. Wha-la! It's going to work! I have some nice linen I'll use for the middle section but I'll need to figure out the best way to attach it.

It's pretty, isn't it?

Don't believe everything you read

Even in knitting patterns. Remember when I was all excited because I'd figured out what the doily pattern writer meant by her 'fagot' stitch? Remember? Well, she was wrong (or the editor changed it and was wrong or the type setter changed it and was wrong). Someone was wrong. Doing 2 overs and a purl 2 together adds an additional stitch everytime you do it. Everytime. It was wrong. If you only do 1 over, however, and the purl 2 together, it looks like this:



That's right. Once I counted and recounted and reread and recounted, I decided to go with the 1 over and it mostly worked out. Actually it worked until row 3. Then I ended up with 1 stitch too many. But if I adjusted the pattern to come out even on row 3, then I was lacking a stitch I needed for row 4. I needed to add a stitch. Sounds easy enough but then the question is, where do you add it for the pattern to still come out? Here's what I had to work with:

Row 3: Knit 8, over, narrow, knit 4, over, narrow, knit 3, (over, narrow) twice, over 4 times, knit 3, fagot.

"Narrow" is just knit 2 together or decrease.
"Over" is a yarn over.
"Fagot" is yarn over, purl 2 together.

Row 4: Fagot, knit 4, purl 1, knit1, purl 1 (in loop), knit 24.

I knew I couldn't add a stitch to the end of Row 3 because the "over 4 times" has to fall where it was. On the first repeat shown above, I added a stitch to the "knit 3" section and made that "knit 4". The problem with that is that it throws off the pattern on following rows. Not much but it does. Then I realized as I looked at the other rows that this is the only place where the pattern has a even number in the section where it says "Knit 8". All the other rows have odd numbers. So I made that "knit 9" and Bob's your uncle. It worked out perfectly.

All of that for 1 little stitch! But when you're knitting this type of lace, 1 stitch matters. So now I'm happy with it and am busy knitting it out. Once you get the pattern right, it's a pretty easy little pattern. I'm not the biggest fan of the garter stitch, as you may know, but now I've got it figured out, I think it would be easy to convert it to a stockinette pattern. I think that would be prettier...but that's just me.

History Detectives - Knit Style

I know a guy who’s very nice but every time you talk to him, it’s like coming into the middle of a conversation and you have to go carefully to catch up. He came to mind as I was trying to figure out a pattern from the January 1918 Needlecraft magazine. I found a page with 3 “Doilies with Knitted Borders.” That is, linen middles with a wide knitted lace going around. They’re all pretty variations on a theme but I finally decided on doily #2. Fine.

I got my pattern copied, my crochet thread and US size 0 needles and started. Cast on 29 stitches. Check. Knit across plain. Check. Hey this is going to be pretty easy!

1. Knit 2, narrow, over twice, narrow, knit 2, (over, narrow) 4 times, knit 11, fagot. Huh?!!??!

Now I’ve heard of faggoting (I know, unfortunate word that doesn’t translate well but bear with me – it’s just a knit stitch) in regard to a stitch PATTERN but not as a term for a particular stitch. Usually a faggotted pattern would entail some variation of a yarn over and knit 2 together, usually staggered to make a mesh-type fabric but that didn’t seem to work so well. I didn’t end up with enough stitches.

Then at knit group, one of the ladies (who knows all things) said, “Oh, it sounds like you just need to do a yarn over at the end or beginning of the row, wherever that term shows up.” Hah! Easy. I can do that. I have to admit it did occur to me but I’ve never seen a pattern where you yarn over at the very end or beginning of a row. But, hey, she’s pretty smart so I was sure it would work. Until.

I get to row 5: Knit 2, narrow, over twice, narrow, (knit 4, over, narrow) twice, knit 3, fagot twice, knit 6, fagot.
So what do you do here?! Wouldn’t the pattern writer just say “over twice” if it was in the middle of the row like she did at other times? Besides it left me with too many stitches.

I put it down as it was time to go to bed anyway and thought about it all night. What could she be talking about? I’d already checked all the books I have, including the electronic versions I have of 19th century pattern books. No joy. I’m not discouraged because this is the fun (cough, cough) part of knitting vintage and antique patterns.

I couldn’t find my Great Grannie’s magnifying glass last night to look at the picture more closely so I magnified it on my copier. While it showed me more detail of the picture, it didn’t give me any clues.

Last resort? Read the article from the very beginning and see if there are any clues there, proving the old maxim - when all else fails, read the directions. That sounds logical and, for any other person, probably the place they would have started but, while I may take the scenic route (literally and figuratively), I usually get there in the end.

“For No. 1. – Cut from linen blah, blah, blah…Join the ends of the lace, blah, blah…The lace may also be used for any purpose, yeah, yeah….as a straight trimming.” Hum. Nothing there. Keep reading.

Cast on 28 stitches; knit across plain.
1. Knit 2 (it is always well to slip the 1st stitch of the selvage, inserting ………over twice, narrow, knit 20, fagot (that is, over twice and purl 2 together).” HA! HA, HA!

Case solved. I know I should have done that to begin with but I’m just so used to jumping in boots first that I didn’t think. But I did get people talking and thinking about what it might have meant so I think of it as spreading the joy.

4 rows forward, 2,560 stitches back

or it could actually be 6 rows forward and 3,840 stitches back. It's too early to tell. Come to find out, when you're knitting size 50 thread on size 0 needles over 640 stitches, it's possible to lose your concentration. And, if you're keeping score, watching NCIS reruns doesn't help.

You would think that one would be able to keep track of repeating the same 16 stitch pattern 80 times wouldn't be that difficult. But, obviously you would be wrong. I discovered it today as I was trying to complete another round during my lunch hour. I got to the last 10 or so repeats when I realized that the stitches weren't falling into line properly. The attempt was made to see if these repeats could be corrected in place (like you can often do with cable stitches) but, they fall right in the place where there are yarnovers and knitting 2 togethers and whatnot and I can't bear the thought of dropping a stitch at this point. I'm just going to suck it up and head backwards. Sigh...

what it shouldn't look like:

and yet it does.

what it should look like:


But on a happier note, here's the completed Baby Argyle and I can't get over how cute it is! I love, love, love it.

Obsessed? Really?

I learned something about myself this weekend. Okay, maybe I've known for a while but I'm now ready to admit it.

I'm an obsessive knitter.

Think I'm exaggerating? I'm working on a new knitted doily using another color of the Coats and Clark size 50 cotton. It's kind of a gold color and I'm knitting a doily called Sunburst. This evening I finished round 97 and when I started counting up the hours I'd been working on it (because people always ask you how long it takes you to do stuff), and I think I've put in about 32 hours.

Now how does that translate to obsessive? 32 hours to knit 97 rounds? Well, I started it on Thursday evening. Yes, last Thursday. This Thursday just past. 4 days ago.

Case closed.

(but isn't it beautiful? I know the picture's lousy but trust me, it's beautiful. I totally heart this thread.)

P.S. Doesn't look that large until you realize it's done with size 50 cotton and US size 1/2mm needles. This is shown on 24" needles - 640 stitches. It's a lot. Pattern calls for size 60 cotton but at that size I figured Icould get away with 50!!

Dainty Star

I’ve never made a doily like this before. It went quickly with just 62 rounds but it is the most ethereal thing. At just 2 grams, it feels almost weightless, almost like it’s not there. To block it, I soaked it in soapy water, rinsed it and then pinned it out. I don’t know if it’s because of how the thread was processed or just its size but blocking it like this made it quite stiff. Not starched, you understand, but it’s certainly holding its shape beautifully. I definitely want to use this again for something larger, now that I have the feel for it.

I watched the most interesting silent movie I’ve ever seen this afternoon. It’s a Helmut Lang movie from 1928 called “Spies.” The acting was really remarkable and the flow of the story engaging and held my attention from start to finish. I won’t go into the whole plot but I would highly recommend it, even if you don’t normally like silent movies.

One of the things that hit me at the beginning was the naturalness of the lead actor. A relaxed, smooth style isn’t often found in movies of this period. The actor looked so much like Ewen McGregor – it really could have been his double (only 80 years ago!). The lead actress was a little more histrionic but she held up her side well for all that. The villain (because there’s always a villain) was very well done, too. All very generic comments but just so much better qualities than you would normally see. But, above all this, was the ability of the director to tell the story. Especially at the beginning there were hardly any dialogue shots, although there is some translation of written items, but there was absolutely no trouble knowing what was going on nor was there a need for them to carry the story forward. I’ve heard critics talk about the rhythm of a movie and here you see it. I was never once tempted to fast forward or switch to something else and I call that a good movie. I’d just finished watching a 2-dvd set on the history of the Nazi movement and how deeply rooted it was in World War I and the way the story unfolded, I had to check the date to see that it predated Hitler’s rise in 1933. There was, for me, a quite strong suggestion of what was to come in Germany in just a few short years.

Just a quick post to show some pictures of the latest project – elegant long gloves.

The first picture is of the test glove which has at least 4-5 major design flaws but at least it’s enough to show me what I need to do with the real ones.

Here’s the 1st of the real gloves. As you can see, I’ve just finished the hand and now I’m starting work on the wrist and forearm.

I had hoped to finish them this weekend but an unexpected and equally unwelcome bug hit at 5am sharp on Saturday morning and is just now receding. In fact, it was so bad that I didn’t even want to think of touching a knitting needle. Better now, thanks.

One down…234 to go

Woohoo! I’ve finished the border for the Saltire & Thistle shawl. 708 stitches. I did finally decide on a knitted border. It’s one taken from one of the Weldon’s Practical Needlework books I bought in Wisconsin a while back. I’ve figured out this book was from around 1890 and, although everyone keeps saying the old patterns are riddled with mistakes, this one was right on.

Round and Round

It’s been a while since I’ve had this kind of weekend. Of course, I always knit on the weekend but this weekend has been overdrive – in circles and circles. Remember the old mommy, mommy jokes? Mommy, mommy, I’m tired of running in circles. Shut up or I’ll nail your other foot to the floor. Seems kind of crude now but at 8 years old, that's funny, I don’t care who you are!

I’ve been fleshing out my 2-hour program on lace knitting to a 9-hour course and have been having a ball. But the overflow of that is that I’ve been a lace knittin’ fool. I’ve got 3 lace projects that I’ve had on the needles, one since February. This weekend, two of them got the business, especially the Shetland-style one. I worked 18 rounds on it in the past 3 days and considering it’s got over 600 stitches, I’d say that was a feat. Then I also worked about 35 rows on my Paisley shawl. Of course, that one’s only about 80 stitches but it’s patterned on both sides.

I’m nearing, I won’t call it the end because I still have the knit off edging, but I’m nearing the point where I can start knitting off the edging. I have to make the final determination about what edging I’m going to use and, at this point, I’m tempted to use a crocheted edging or small knit edging but I’ll have to take a breath when I finish the border to see what’s what.

The Paisley shawl is getting a little boring because you have to repeat this same pattern 6 times before you start the more interesting bit but I’m still enjoying it. We’ll see how I do when I have to join the middle and do 6 more of this pattern repeat. Maybe there will be enough between now and then to get me ready for it!

Oh, and one more thing. I did a class on knitting with jewelry wire and beads a couple of weeks ago and wanted to show you this. It’s something new I did as a sample because I didn’t really have a necklace to show. I love how it came out and it was a big hit with the class. I knitted over 3 stitches, passing the beads on every row and then, when I was finished with the necklace part, I took this wire disc I’d found somewhere and wove the blue wire I’d used in the necklace through it to pull it into the overall design and also to tone it down a little bit. I just want to wear it all the time!

Fun class

I had a Knitting with Jewelry Wire and Beads class this morning at LLCC and had a great group. There were 6 ladies who came along and all of them were up for anything. Several of them had never even knit before and I thought it was quite brave of them to come to the class. They did a great job, though, not only learning to knit but learning to knit with wire - not an easy feat, for sure, don't you think? A couple were able to finish pendants and we got the necklaces fixed up and the others got quite far in making their bracelets.

It never ceases to amaze me how individual and striking these projects are. I love it when people to catch on to all of the possibilities and the basic simplicity of the process which is why I always bring lots of samples for people to look at. I wish I had some photos but I always get too wrapped up in the class and forget!

I've just started a new lace project, because 4 projects are simply not enough to be going on with! I found Fiddlesticks Knitting from the Yarn Harlot's blog when she finished her Peacock Shawl. I don't always check out these links but I did this one and found this. The Paisley Long Shawl. In plum. Oh, yeah, baby. Paisley. Plum. Lace. I repeat, Oh, yeah, baby.

This is probably the most advanced lace pattern I've ever done with the pattern worked on every row but I'm very excited about getting it started.

New Classes

I've got a couple of classes coming up at Lincoln Land Community College here in Springfield in case you're in the area and interested.

The first one coming up on October 18th is Knitting Jewelry with Jewelry Wire and Beads (click on the Lincoln Land link above, choose Fall 2008 Community Learning Schedule and then go to page 10 of the booklet). We'll be making a bracelet or necklace fob with, as it says, jewelry wire and beads. It's a great technique for quick, unique Christmas gifts. I'll post some sample tonight so you can see the sorts of things you can do with this simple technique. The great thing is that you only use the knit stitch so I've even had people who've never knitted before finish a project during the class.

The second class is 3 Saturday mornings of Beginning Lace (page 11 of the booklet). The first class is November 8th and then we'll also meet for the next 2 Saturday mornings. The project is going to be a sampler lace scarf which will give you the chance to try out a few different lace patterns, getting used to working both from charts and from written directions. We'll also talk a bit about the special characteristics and techniques of knitting lace and take a bit of the mystery and intimidation out of it.

The Springfield Flock Fiber Arts Guild will also be doing a beginning knitting class this fall so you might want to check that out. The project will be a teddy bear-size sweater introducing the knit and purl stitches, increasing and decreasing and casting on and binding off. They're working from my curriculum so I'm quite excited to see how it goes. That will be 3 sessions starting September 27th. The sweater really will be doable for everyone and can be finished by the end of the class. It was originally set for a 4-session class but I'm still confident it can be done in this time. It's also a great chance for beginner knitters to take the step from basic projects to learning the techniques and steps to knitting a sweater. Everything you learn can be translated into making any size sweater. The Guild has deemed this the year of the sweater and challenged Guild members to make at least 1 sweater this year so this seemed to fit right in.

Balmoral

I’ve made quite a lot of progress on the Balmoral ‘coffee cloth.” I’m all the way to round 111 which, considering I started the weekend on round 71, is pretty good. There have been no more pattern mistakes and the more challenging part is past but you still have to pay attention and there is still a lot of counting needed to be sure I don’t miss something. At the moment I’m up to 624 stitches! There are 137 rounds in all before I crochet off the edging and the last will have 840 stitches. I’m definitely going to need to cast on a simple project to work on after this!