Rescue Scarf

A friend of mine got very interested in weaving a couple of years ago and, encouraged by her niece, bought an overshot scarf kit from Yarn Barn.  Another friend and I helped her get her loom warped (actually it was my loom - long story).  However the threading was a little off, she thought, and she just never got back to fixing it and getting started.  After a (long) while, she decided that she had lost interest and gave me the loom back so I could do the weaving.

In the meantime, however, the warp (which was a lace weight wool yarn) had weakened in the area where the heddle had been rubbing it so when I got it home, I realized I was going to have to rethread (to find the mistake in threading) and I might as well get the warp past the weakened area so I wouldn't have to keep fixing the broken strands.

I finally got everything together last weekend and got this far:

Not too bad until I realized that I had missed a strand between the 2 groups I'd threaded and had to rethread a whole section.  I finally got that done and here's where I am now:

If that looks like the same place, it is.  At least I got back to the point where I was before I discovered MY mistake!  Now all I need is a little time and patience and I might actually get this sucker re-warped and going again.

Wish me luck.

On to the land of tatting

I've gone from babyland to the land of tatting, all with the little exercise of the making the samples for the LACE group.  I admit there had been a hankering for the tatting for a while but this got me going.

After I finished the samples, I was looking through one of the books I'd been using and came across a pattern that was just like the one I'd found in the 1933 craft magazine (click here for more info on that one).  I'm so fascinated by this technique of tatting a pattern with an open middle and then needle weaving a pattern in the opening.  The pattern I just found is in a Dover publication but the original publication of the pattern was probably in this same time frame - early 1930's.  See what you think.

First you tat the "frame."

These are 4 identical motifs that were joined as I worked.  The way the pattern was written made the final join in the motif extremely challenging but I found that by changing the starting point from the ring in the middle of the side to the 4-ring motif in the corner, it solved the challenge and made it easy as pie.  It's easier and I'm allowed to do that. Working the following 3 motifs, getting the joins in the right place however, entailed the challenge of paying attention to where I was at all time and making consciously sure I was joining to the right picot (see previous post about "ripping out" tatting - not fun).  Of course, I had to test my powers of tatting by doing all this by watching the movie Inception.  I love that movie but I don't recommend tatting something complex while watching it.  That is, unless you've seen it more than 10 times. 

Now that I have the framework in place, I can work the inner weaving patterns.

Like this.  Isn't that interesting?  Click on the photo for a closer look.

I've got it pinned to one of my bobbin lace pillows to make sure it doesn't get skewed in the weaving.  I also steam ironed it before I started.  The helps set everything in place.  Tatting's pretty solid but it just adds a bit of structure as the weaving is worked.

The needle weaving is very relaxing and contemplative.

I've been wondering how this could be worked with knitting (not sure how that would hold up) and crochet (I think crochet could totally work).  I even thought about the possibility of working this in a sweater or other garment.  You could certain even work the tatting and use it as a centerpiece in a knitted garment.  How about doing it in a circle and using it as the yoke of a sweater?  That could be very, very cool.

By the way, for those that care, I'm working this using Lizbet size 20 Egyptian cotton in Mocha Brown Medium.  It's a 6-cord cardonnet thread which is more tightly spun than regular crochet thread and more suited to tatting.  You can use crochet thread but it doesn't hold up as well or have as much body for tatting.

Thoughts and conclusions

I've been learning a few things lately and I've come to a few conclusions. 

I've come to the conclusion that ripping out is easier with crochet and knitting than it is with tatting.

I was asked by the LACE group in Chicago to do a tatting class during their  Lace Days event next June.  Since they want to approve the pattern (or choose the pattern - not sure what that's about), I've been doing some samples for them to look at. 

One of the patterns, the one on the left here, is made up of 4 small medallions, put together with a border stitched around them.  I got the inner mediallions done, no problem.  I started working the outside border and started to have issues.  There weren't nearly enough stitches to make it lay flat and the original pattern had the double rings off to the side on the top and bottom (where here I've added the longer chains and little upsidedown ring).  Again, no problem, it didn't take long to do.  I'll rip it out and redo the border, adding more stitches.

Now crochet is the easiest thing ever to rip out because you're only ever working with one live stitch at a time.  Knitting's not too bad either unless you're on a complex lace pattern.  But even then, you've put in life lines and you're okay or you can take it out stitch by stitch.  Not so bad, even if time consuming.

With tatting there's none of that.  Here's what ripping out looks like in tatting...

It's done with scissors.  You just snip it right off and start all over again.  And then you redo the border.  Easy.  But it sucks when you've made a mistake in the middle of a pattern.  Once you've closed a ring, the ring is closed and there's no way to change it.  Other than cut it off.

The next thing I've been thinking about is the new exercise routine I've started with a program called TurboFire.  I've been thinking a lot about how I feel and how I feel about myself and I came to the conclusion that I don't care about the weight, I care about not being in shape.  I needed a kick in the butt and preferred to try this method rather than the personal trainer route.

My goal is no longer to lose x number of pounds, it's now about fitness.  My goal right now is to be able to do 25 full plank push ups.  When I started 3 1/2 weeks ago, I could barely do 2 half pushups on my knees.  Now I can do about 10 full pushups on my knees and 3 plank half pushups. There's something about that change of focus that is motivating me to do the work and being able to feel and see the muscles starting to take shape makes me want to do more.

I don't want to sound like an infomercial but here's what I like about this program.  Although it is a fnancial investment, it's a fully rounded program that provides both cardio, strength and flexibility training.  It comes with the "props" you use in the workouts like a lower body band, a toning band, a workout schedule for just starting out and for long term use, help with learning to use food to fuel your body instead of defeating the purpose (and a killer recipe book) and about 15 different videos with different types of workouts.

Now here's another conclusion that I think I always knew but has been reinforced to me.  People with passion for what they do make the best teachers.  I think that's one of the big things I've responded to in the way the Chalene Johnson approaches these workouts.  There's a lot of butt kicking but you get so encouraged by her enthusiasm and passion that you don't even noticed you got your butt kicked until it's over!  Well, you might have a clue or two but you want to press through.  The vibe is so positive that you believe you can do it, even when you're panting and your legs are shaking. 

There's always the understanding that you do as much as you can and then next time you do a little more than you did today and so on.  It's not for everyone but it will take you on a great journey and you'll feel like you've really accomplished something.  Music out.....

And my final influence lately is a children's book called the Phantom Tollbooth.  Somehow I got through childhood and this far into life without coming across this book.  I'd heard an interview with the author, Norton Juster, because they've just put out the 50th anniversay edition of the book, and was intrigued by the interviewer's extensive quoting of the word play throughout the story.  Sounded like just my kind of thing.  It's been quite a journey with Milo and Tock and the Humbug.  So my thought here is that we underestimate kids.  We underestimate people that we know in just one context, only at work, say, or who are older.  We don't hold out the possibility that they have interesting interests or talents or have had interesting experiences.  Understand?  No?  Read the book.

And Finished

Just wanted one more shot of the finished sweater.  I just found out about another baby boy on the way so I'll definitely be using this pattern again.

Sorry, for some reason the photo wants to be upside down!  There's no fathoming the ways of mobile posting.  We're knitters, though, so we can adjust.  Ha!

Baby steps

For some reason, I'm finding it very hard to focus on blogging lately.  It's not that I've forgotten you. I'll try to do better.

In the meantime, here's the next step in the baby stuff.  This one's for wee Mason in Florida.  It's probably going to be big for him right now but hopefully will be ready for him as things cool down a little.

The yarn is Plymouth Yarn Jeannee. 51% cotton and 49% acrylic so it can be washed and dried easily and it will be a little better for the warmer climate. I don't know if the yarn is even still made because I've had this in the stash for quite a while and I only had 1 skein each of the 3 colors.  Not really sure why I had these particular colors but I ended up with just a few yards of 2 of the colors left over and none, really of the dark green left over.  It still needs button but I wanted to get a quick photo done before I go on my next trip.  I may add pockets, which was in the original plan, but I think I just like it like this.

If you could see it in person, you would see that it doesn't have button holes.  I've decided since this yarn is pretty thick and is half cotton, buttonholes would tend to stretch.  So I'm going to put snaps on and just sew the buttons on top.  I think they're easier to manage like that anyway but it will also mean I can do fun buttons that don't always work well with buttonholes.  I do plan to write this pattern out and will probably just publish it here instead of doing a proper pattern for it.  We'll see how much time I get to formalize the pattern. I actually went through several different iterations of this with different yarns.  I just couldn't get happy about the other yarns I was trying and finally came across these in the stash.

It's actually pretty easy.  I cast on 96 stitches (with US size 5 needles) and did K2/P2 ribbing for about 8 rows.  I don't know what the gauge is but the yarn is worsted weight.  After the ribbing, I knitted stockinette stitch until the piece was 7 inches from the beginning.  To shape the armholes, I knitted across 20 stitches, bound off 6, knitted until there were 26 stitches left, bound off 6, and knitted 20 stitches.

From this point, each section had to be worked separately.  I decreased stitches at the armhole twice on the knit row and at the same time started decreasing on the neck side.  I continued to decrease on the neck side until there were 12 stitches on the needle and then I knit straight until the armhole was 3 inches and then I bound off the 12 stitches. 

On the other front, do the same thing, On the back, I did the 2 decreases each side of the back (4 stitches decreased in all) and then knit straight until the back matched the front.  On the last 2 rows of the back, I bound off 12 stitches at the beginning of each of the rows and put the remaining stitches on a stitch holder ready for the band.

I sewed the shoulder seams and picked up for the band.  I didn't count but I did a strict pick up 3 stitches on 3 rows and skipped a row.  This is a pretty good way to make sure it lays properly.  When I got to the stitch holder, I knit those off and picked up the same number on the way back down the other side.  I did K2/P2 rib for 6 rows but I wish I'd done it for 8 to match the bottom band.  See what you like.  Then I bound off in the stitch pattern.  Remember, I didn't use buttonholes so if you would rather include them, I would recommend no more than 3 or 4 along the band, evenly spaced, inserted on the second of the K2/P2 rows.

For the sleeves, I cast on 40 stitches and did the ribbing for 2.5-3 inches.  I like to have the band longer on the sleeves so they can be rolled up if necessary and still look well.  After the ribbing, I increased 4 stitches along the first knit row then I increased 1 each side of the sleeve every 6th row until I had 50 stitches.  I knit the sleeves until they were 6 inches from the middle of the ribbing section.  In other words, I folded the sleeve at the ribbing and used that as my beginning point.

I did the same sleeve decreases as for the body (3 on each side followed by 1 decrease each side on each of the next knit rows).  Instead of knitting the final purl row, I bound off on that last row.  On my model, one more purl row was going to make the head of the sleeve just a little bigger than I wanted.  To adjust this in future, I'll probably do the sleeve increases to 48 stitches and include the final purl row (if that makes sense).  I think the sleeve with fit a little better that way.  It's okay but I think it would lay a little better with that little adjustment. 

After that, I just sewed the sleeves in and worked all the ends in and it was done!  Very quick, very easy and would look great with a little fair isle pattern or worked in a variegated yarn so you don't have all the ends.  Just a fun, basic sweater.  I hadn't planned to put all this in tonight, but might as well since it's all fresh in my brain.  Have fun with it.

That's 2 babies down (the other one is getting delivered this next week) and now for the next one.  I'm glad I've got some time to get the things done I've got planned.  Hehehe.

Welcome to babyland

The adventures in babyland have officially begun.  I found out about a month ago that one of my remote colleagues was pregnant but isn't due until December.  She doesn't yet know the sex of the baby so I've been sort of waiting for that before I start some of the small stuff.  The big stuff is being begun tonight as I've finally decided which of my vintage patterns to use.

That being said, after I found out about that baby, I've found out there are 2 other co-workers with babies or grandbabies coming or just here so this weekend, I've been working on those.  Both include my Vintage Rocks Baby pattern but now I've added a pair of booties to the outfit.  I haven't got the booties added to the posted pattern yet but I'll be trying to get that done soon.

I just love this pattern.  I also have an idea for soakers to go with it using the same feather and fan pattern.  I have 2 more skeins of this yarn so I may try to work on that this week.  These booties are based on a 1946 pattern but I adapted it to match the sweater and I think it makes such a sweet addition.

I won't be mosting most of the other stuff since I have a suspicion that Mom peeks at the blog from time to time but if I do the soakers (and maybe a little hat to round it off) I'll be sure to get a photo of them, too.

I ran away from home

Last week was such a hard week, I decided on Friday to run away from home.  I had friends who were vending at the Midwest Fiber and Folk Festival and this weekend was the monthly meeting of the LACE group in Chicago.  So I decided to go up for the meeting and then head further north for the festival.  There's no better therapy after a really hard week than being among my people - the people of the fiber.

Unfortunately my weekend started at 7am with me at the ATM discovering I didn't have my checkbook with me.  I'd had it out the night before balancing it and hadn't been out of the house since so I knew it was in the house.  I went home to grab it and after tearing the house apart for an hour and a half, decided to go on without it.I never did find it and had to report a lost card to the bank this morning but the most important thing was that it made me late for the LACE meeting.  They were having a program on the crocheted "crocodile" stitch which sounded really interesting, even though I'm not that crazy about crocheting with yarn.  I got to the meeting as people were leaving but the lovely teacher (whose name I didn't even get) stayed and walked me through the beginnings and gave me a copy of the pattern.  See what you think:

It's really easy (once you get the hang of which side of the work you're working on) and there are a lot of possibilities.  There's even a whole Annie's Attic book with projects using this stitch.  I haven't been able to track it down yet but I'll definitely have to find it.

At the festival, I ended up getting the most beautifuly hand-thrown teapot (sorry, I don't have a photo handy) and fiber.  Lots of fiber.  19micron Merino.  Merino and silk.  Merino and kid mohair.  All in white.  I'll probably dye the merino/silk and maybe the merino but the merino/kid mohair is going to stay in the lovely natural white.

I also got the most beautiful Driftwood Spindles spindle.  I don't remember the wood used for the whorl and can't find my card but the shaft, which is also beautifully detailed, is Mesquite wood.  Anyone from Texas would understand why finding that out confirmed my purchase.  It's extremely light and spins like the wind.  I've started on the merino/kid mohair with this spindle and the outcome is going to be breathtaking.  Yet another candidate for the white on white project.

I can testify to the fact that if you get your butt kicked at work, what you need is fiber and people of the fiber.  That makes everything better!