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Posts Tagged ‘Crafts’

An Experiment in My Knitting Technique

Posted in Books, Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, Spinning, tagged , , , , , , , , , on May 8, 2013 | 16 Comments »

I’ve always been an English style knitter. A thrower. And a rather clumsy one at that.

I learned to knit when I was eight. Mom showed be the ropes (pun intended), but after that I taught myself most of what I know. I knitted in the way that felt most natural to me, clutching the yarn firmly in the fingers of my right hand. And since then, I’ve never deviated from this technique.

When I knit, my whole hand moves, not just my fingers. It works, but it’s terribly inefficient. I’ve observed other knitters forming stitches with only slight flicks of their fingers. It looks so calm. So slick. So fast! I’ve decided that I want to teach myself to knit that way.

Now comes the hard part: overcoming more than twenty years of muscle memory.

I’ve decided to start this process by practicing my new technique  on a simple garter stitch project: The Hitchhiker shawlette. Over the next mile or so of yarn, I’m going to repeat this new technique thousands of times. Will that be enough to retrain my brain? Probably not. But it’s a good first step.

Wish me luck.

By the way, the above is my first knitting video. (*Yay*) After the 4KCBW blog week, I decided that one of my goals for the next year was going to be: getting comfortable with video blogging. There’s a lot of room for improvement, but I wanted to get over the first hurdle and simply GET A VIDEO OUT THERE, DARNIT.  Now that I’ve taken that first step, I feel much more confident about what I might be able to produce next time around.  

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Hand Spun Yarn Becomes Hitchhiker Shawlette

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, Spinning, tagged , , , , , , , , on May 5, 2013 | 13 Comments »

Someday I’ll look back at the uneven yarns I plied when I first started spinning with such fondness. Fondness and despair.

I’ll never spin yarn with such character again!

My yarns are smooth and even.

When washed and dried, the hanks hang in perfect parabolas.

I try to over- or under-ply my singles, but my hands will not obey me.

Oh woe is me.

Yeah. Boo hoo.

There’s definitely room for improvement in the yarns I’m spinning right now. But I’m proud to report that I’m finding good uses for them anyway.

Here we have about 1200 yards of 2-ply. Spun from 2 4-oz braids of hand-dyed BFL from Frabjous Fibers in the Cathedral and Potash colorways.

Here we have about 1200 yards of 2-ply. Spun from 2 4-oz braids of hand-dyed BFL from Frabjous Fibers in the Cathedral and Potash colorways.

This BFL is a good example. I got a lot of yardage out of two 4-oz braids, but now I realize I should have plied them a bit tighter.

This yarn is a little bit uneven and not suited to just any project. It needs a pattern that will forgive and even celebrate its slight irregularities.  And it needs to be used for a garment that benefits from a bit of droopiness.

Hitchhiker to the rescue!

hitchhiker

I’m knitting this cute little shawlette as a gift for the friend who will be  photographing my wedding. She won’t accept money in payment, so I am making her something special instead. The rustic texture of my yarn seems to work well with this simple pattern.

I’m only going to use up a few hanks of this batch of hand spun in the making of this hitchhiker. But I’m enjoying the process so much and liking the results so well that I may knit up one or two more. It seems like the ideal gift to keep on hand. Plus, it’s a wonderful travel project.

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19 Reasons I Wish I Had My Knitting With Me Right Now

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Humor, Knitting, Life, tagged , , , , , , , , , on February 28, 2013 | 23 Comments »

1) I’m at a work dinner surrounded by people who are talking shop, only on a plane of knowledge and experience that makes me feel like a paramecium. If only I had a suitable conversation piece to redirect the discussion to more familiar territory.

2) I’m attending an hour-long meeting, only five minutes of which actually applies to me.

3) I don’t know how to sit at a restaurant waiting for food without something to do. Knitting has ruined me for fine dining.

4) Christmas with the in-laws. Lots and lots of time spent with people who are nice, but unfamiliar. I want to impress them. Knitting is ladylike and productive.

5) I’m trying to stay awake during a finance presentation. Spreadsheets do it to me every time.

6) I had no idea one short errand would turn into five errands.

7) Leaving my cat at the vet for treatment is almost as stressful for me as it is for him.

8) That lady two rows away on the bus is knitting and I’m jealous.

9) I wish there was some way to knit while running on a treadmill. I would be in such good shape.

10) Someone just gave me an end-of-day deadline at 4:12 pm. I need something to prevent me chucking my computer out the window.

11) My SO is addicted to a really terrible  super heroes cartoon. I need something to do while I pretend to watch it.

12) I can’t sit in the dark with nothing to do, even at a concert.

13) All the good celebrity magazines are next to the other pedicure chair.

14) My SO has disappeared into the Lego store. He may never come out again.

15) I’m trying to cut calories so I need something to distract myself from the appetizer tray.

16) I’m at a New Years party, which these days is half kiddie play date. Lots of sitting around watching munchkins suck on wooden blocks.

17) I just discovered I’m lactose intolerant and I’m a little pissed that I can no longer order the cheese plate. But at least I can still have this awesome yarn.

18) I’m watching a dance movie where the dancing is the only point. I need to fill in the empty spaces between awesome dance numbers.

19) I might discover a new Ravelry friend. When I whip out my knitting they pop out of the woodwork.

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Cupido Cowl, Knit From My First Hand-spun Yarn

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, Spinning, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on December 12, 2012 | 17 Comments »

I’m sorry, knitting dudes and dudettes. I’ve been lazy about posting the results of my first hand-spun knitting project. I’ve had it done for almost a month. And then it sat, and it sat. Then last week I finally got around to blocking it.

Here it is:

Cupido Cowl by Hiroko Fukatsu

cowl 5

cowl 4

cowl 3

cowl 2

I spun 100% merino combed wool top on my Lendrum DT. I spun 3 bobbins of what I thought was fine singles, then plied them together and realized they weren’t so fine after all. I can’t claim I stuck to a consistent ratio or drafting method. I didn’t even try. My goal was to spin singles that made a decent yarn. Period.

I think I managed to pick a very forgiving pattern that capitalized on the loft and eccentric “texture” of my finished yarn.

I’m sure that, in time, I’ll produce much more refined yarn. And I’ll knit many more fascinating hand-spun projects. But there’ll never be another first hand-spun project. I’m a proud mamma. I hope you like it too.

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More Free Knitted Stuff: Pay It Forward Returns

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , on October 14, 2012 | 6 Comments »

I’ve very pleased to announce that my second promised Pay-It-Forward item has been completed and is in the mail.

Collegeknitting will soon be the proud owner of a Greta Headband.

Greta Headband by Nikki Wagner, as seen on Ravelry.

Collegeknitting mentioned this pattern in a review of the Summer 2012 issue of Interweave Knits. She said:

I like the detailing on this one, and if I ever have a reason to make a knitted headband, this will probably be it. The stitch pattern and gathered (twisted?) detail will probably keep it pretty interesting. It’s certainly a step up from a simple garter stitch band, which is what I’ve had to do in the past.

As you’ll see when you receive the headband, the twisty look is created using a small plastic loop as part of the construction.

I realized that I didn’t have a proper head to model this on. My apologies. All of my stuffed animals have heads that are too large or too small. The cats wouldn’t cooperate.

This headband is knitted in Rowan Creative Linen (50/50 cotton/linen). It starts out pretty soft and should get even softer over time. I knitted Gemini with this yarn and can report that it  loooves a good agitating in the washer.

Next up is the third prize winner: Anastasia Wright from For the Knit of It.  I’ll be reading your blog carefully to find just the right Pay It Forward gift for you.

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My Knitting Notions Storage: Like Mary Poppins’ Carpet Bag, Only Less Organized

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , on July 25, 2012 | 13 Comments »

My knitting notions bag is kind of like Mary Poppins‘ carpet bag. If you dig around you might find a floor lamp or a potted plant in there.

Oh, I aspire to the tidy, orderly notions bags my bloggerly friends post about.

Agujas recently wrote this post and photo about the contents of her notions bag:

Agujas’ notions bag. So clean. So neat. So NOT my bag.

I saw this and whimpered a little. Where are the dozens of stray markers, congregating in every crevasse? The little scraps of yarn, saved “just in case?’

I don’t have one notions bag. I have three. Plus a few roaming tape measures.

Notions Bag #1

Notions bag number 1. It looks more orderly when it’s spread out on the floor and not in a jumble in my bag.

 This is my primary notions bag: the one I carry everywhere and have a conniption when I cannot locate.

  • Count ‘em: 1-2-3-4-5 crochet hooks. I only ever use two of them. The others are there to keep them company.
  • 2 cable needles: Part of a set of 3. Their brother ran off to join a cabled cardigan team and hasn’t been seen in months.
  • 3 small containers of markers: I’ve tried to re-sort the marker by size, but this never lasts long.
  • 5 needle tip guards, which I never remember to use.
  • 1 stitch holder, which I also never remember to use.
  • Stray Knitpicks tightening key and  cable cap: My goal is to return them to Knitpicks set from whence they came. I’ll let you know when and if that ever happens.
  • Embroidery scissors: It’s a miracle I haven’t lost them in airport security yet.
  • 1 spool reinforcing thread: When I fished this out of the bag, it had wound itself around my crochet hooks.
  • 1 bobbin wound with black yarn: This bobbin should be returned to the bag containing my half-finished blended intarsia project. By the time I return to that project, I may have forgotten where I put the bobbin.
  • 1 tube of darning needles: I’m just proud that I finally started using a container for my needles. Prior to just a few months ago, they littered the bottom of my bag and the bed of my couch.
  • 1 yarn scrap that, for some reason, I felt it necessary to keep.
  • There should be a retractable tape measure in here too, but it’s gone on walkabout

Notions Bag #2

The bag in which I store the stuff that doesn’t fit into the primary notions bag.

I’ve got A LOT of little bits and do-dads. They would never fit in one little notions bag. That’s why I’ve got my backup notions bag. This is where I put all my extra equipment. At the moment, this bag is on the empty side, which tells me that I have some notions corralling to do.  At the moment, this bag contains:

  • 3 containers of stitch markers, one of which has only two remaining. Where are the others, you ask? No idea. But the cats might know
  • 5 spools of reinforcing thread – I must have gone on a binge
  • 1 baggie of novelty stitch markers that are annoying to use, but too cute to give away

Notions Satellite Box

Leftovers from a recent project. Will they ever make it home?

Sometimes when I’m working on project I’ll put together a task force of specialized items and give them their own little container. And there they live for months, like an island of shipwrecked sailors. These are the survivors of my recent Rocky Coast Cardigan project.

  • a handful of loose metal stitch markers: Not sure what I’m going to do with these in terms of permanent storage. They lack their own little box and I’m afraid that if I take them out of this box I’ll never find them again.
  • a few rubbery stitch markers: These are stubborn. They stick to the yarn and the needles. I’d like to get rid of them, but I don’t know if I know HOW to get rid of knitting notions. At least not on purpose.
  • 1 needle guard: odd that it’s in here, because I didn’t use it for this project
  • 1 large cable needle: The missing big brother of the set in my primary bag.

 

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Knitting Skill Inertia

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , on July 10, 2012 | 14 Comments »

Something tells me I don’t have enough yarn left to finish this sock.

As they say in France, “Arrrrggggghhh!”

I definitely need to learn how to knit toe-up. I don’t know why I haven’t learned yet. I own three books that are all about knitting toe-up socks. My problem is technique inertia. I want to learn a new skill, but that takes effort. And why bother when the old skill works just fine and requires so little mental energy.

No more excuses. I vow, I will unravel this sock and start over from the toe.

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4 Big Thank Yous and 7 Questions I’ve Always Wanted to Ask Another Knitter

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Knitting, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , on June 27, 2012 | 10 Comments »

In the last few weeks I’ve been very privileged to be nominated for two blogging awards:

One Lovely Blog 

Nominated by Crafts by the Sea.

Sunshine Blogger

Nominated by Curls & Q and The Sweaty Knitter.

In addition, I received a surprise reward from Agujas for being her 100th follower. She sent me a scarf kit from Habu Textiles. One cone is a very fine merino (red). The other cone holds a very interesting silk and stainless steel yarn. The idea is to knit the scarf in several sections, sometimes with one yarn, sometimes with the other, and sometime with both.Then you felt it. Of course, stainless steel doesn’t tend to cooperate with felting, so you get a scarf with a really fascinating crumpled look. Like a scarf buried for years in the back of your coat closet, only fashionable and artistic. Trust me.

Stanley posing with my gift from Agujas. You’re making me do this again, Mom?

See, isn’t this neat looking? I love the pre-planned rumpled look. It goes so well with the rest of my wardrobe. Kusha Kusha Scarf by Setsuko Torii (鳥居節子) as seen on Ravelry.

All of this attention and luck makes me feel very happy. I love writing a blog that others enjoy reading. And I’m delighted to be Agujas’ 100th follower. She has a wonderful blog and I’m sure she’ll soon have more followers than she knows what to do with.

I also have some obligations to fulfill as recipient of these two awards. Rather than write separate posts, I’m going to combine it all into one. I’ve noticed that there is a lot of variety in how different bloggers have responded to these awards in the past. There doesn’t seem to be a specific formula to follow or even a consistent set of questions to answer. So I feel free to make it up as I go along.

One Lovely Sunshine Blog

1) Link back to blogger who nominated you and say thank you 

Thank you, once again, to Curls & Q, Crafts by the Sea, and The Sweaty Knitter. A blessing upon you all:

May all things curl that you wish to curl.

May the sea inspire you with its crashing might and not deposit salt upon your hand knits.

And may the wool maketh not your hands to perspire at inconvenient moments.

2) Paste the award image on your blog 

Done

3) Answer 7 questions about yourself

Instead of doing this, I think I’m going to pose questions to other knitters. Things I’ve always wanted to know but was afraid to ask.

  • Do you hold on to horrible yarn from your early knitting days because you’re convinced that it hates you as much as you hate it…and it’s good to keep your enemies close?
  • What do you do when you give someone a lovely hand-made gift that they don’t like or don’t use? Is covert reclamation allowed?
  • When your mother in law gives you a large bag full of cotton yarn to make dish cloths out of, how much obligation do you have to start popping them out? Is the obligation greater if you have not given her grandchildren?
  • Are shawls really fashionable these days, or is that a delusion I’ve fostered to deny that I dress like a Jane Austen reenacter?
  • Does my knitting really make the whole couch vibrate?
  • What would you do with all the spare time you would have if you didn’t knit? Would you be thinner?
  • Do you think sheep would find it creepy that I spend so much time petting yarn?

4) Nominate other blogs for this award and notify the authors about their nomination

In no particular order, here are a few other bloggers I would like to nominate for the One Lovely Sunshine Blog Award(s).  I’ve nominated these bloggers because I’ve had some recent, very positive interactions with them online. They are active and talented crafters and writers. I admire what they do.  


Feel Good Knitting

ReWOLLuzza

The Magpie Knitter

G-Ma Ellen’s Crochet Corner

Weekend Knitter

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In Which I Stomp a Project Into Submission, then Launch it Into the Stratosphere

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Humor, Knitting, tagged , , , , on May 7, 2012 | 11 Comments »

I messed up a knitting project this weekend. I mean really messed up. The kind of messed up where I realized that, somewhere along the way, while I wasn’t paying attention, I had nearly doubled the number of stitches I was supposed to have on the needles.

And I wondered why this shawl project was taking so long.

So anyway, I really did fantasize about throwing my project onto the floor and stomping on it. Then coming back with a pair of golf cleats and stomping on it some more. Then, strapping it to a bottle rocket and launching it into the clouds. The obliging bottle rocket would then set the whole thing gloriously on fire and the ashes of my benighted project would rain from the heavens.

So what if I don’t own any golf cleats?  I could probably make my own with a pair of old sneakers and some thumb tacks. I’m a crafty kind of gal.

So did I do it? No.

After I was done with the first few rounds of revenge fantasies, I sat down and frogged my project, then started again.

Aren’t you proud of me? No pyrotechnics? Only a little bit of weeping.

What do you fantasize about when you realize you’ve messed up a project?

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A little tightly wound

Posted in Clothing and Accessories, Exercise, Humor, tagged , , , , , on April 6, 2012 | Leave a Comment »

Today, I’d describe myself as a little tightly wound. If my brain were fiber spun out onto a wheel, we’d be just past the point of optimal tension, to the point where, if you put a little more stress on it, something yucky will happen to your yarn. Too yucky to contemplate.

(Background: There are two big work projects with critical deliverables due today. I’ve never done this type of project before and I’ve had only three days to work on them.)

Sadly, I may be past the point where knitting can help me relax. I need something involving gross motor skills, like running or hitting something with a stick.

With that, please enjoy this comic.

From Natively Speaking Comics

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