I Love this Sock Pattern

I am knitting my first REAL sock and I am in LOVE! This is a cotton/acrylic sock yarn called Katia, I believe. The leg pattern is a simple k2, p2 rib with every fourth row containing yo's and ssk's. I am so fascinated by this process. I hope I am enamored of this sock as I reach the hard parts!

New Socks for my Chairs

From THIS



My wooden chairs scratch my hardwood floor. Over the years I tried every "chair tip" product out there. About two years ago I found a free online pattern for crochet chair leg socks and made them from some acrylic I had lying around. Worked fine but they are wearing out, as the top photo shows.

To THIS


As I explored sock knitting I had the idea to knit socks for the chair legs using one of the elastic yarns. I got some Cascade Fixation from the LYS in pale yellow. The first eight I knitted, I did so flat in a K1P1 ribbing and seamed the piece into a tube then gathered one end tight. To say it is boring to knit one of these is the understatement of the year. I am knitting on sz 3 needles and it takes two hours to knit one of these. And I need 16!

Today I switched to knitting the sock in the round on two circulars. Probably a bit slower but I did hate doing the seam and since the sock had to stretch a lot over the fat part of the leg, it looked pretty bad.

If anybody wants to copy the idea, I knitted these using 20 stitches. To help them wear longer, I covered the tip of the chair leg with quilt batting. The constant scraping of wood against wood eventually wears through the yarn and I don't want to knit 16 of these pesty things again.

I Love a Bargain

What is almost as good as a 80% off sale on yarn? A 80% off sale on purses! I had a sudden urge to go by DSW Shoe Warehouse for their Summer Sale today. Found a pair of black sneakers 80% off and a pair of Liz Claiborne low heeled pumps 50% off. Then I checked out a big table at the entrance full of purses. My big weakness. And score! I found a Deborah Gallo (Italian) soft leather satchel type purse...DSW price $100, 80% off. (It is not quite that orange color in real life, more caramel color)Tell me I could not let that purse not go home with me!


I also found two other $20 purses at 50% off. When I got home I realized that one of the purses exactly matches my summer shoes.



What a deal!

Beed Size Woes

I am in the MS3 KAL along with every other knitter in the world! Anyway, according to the posts on the group website, Michael's had a good selection of beads. Ha. Double Ha. Yes, they had gorgeous seed beads. Yes, they had the exact color I wanted for my shawl. But, what is this? NO size indicator ANYWHERE on the label (Blue Moon Beads). So I went to the register and together we opened the tube and I tested my size 16 steel crochet hook....they were size 11 beads. And all the other MARKED seed beads were also size 11.

I went to a bead boutique next and all they have is size 11 beads. Teeny, teeny, teeny. Anyway, I ended up ordering beads from The Beadwrangler. Since I could not hold these beads up against my swatch, I ordered both lt. gray pearl and silver lined crystal. Since postage was flat rate, I also ordered some lt. beige pearl for the pearly tencel I also have to knit a lace shawl or scarf with, someday.

What is with size 11 beads? I don't make jewelry, so I don't know how they are used, but that seems to be the popular size. Thank goodness for the internet!

Finally Socks Begin

I finally cast-on for a pair of socks. I have knit my "class sock" and just seem to keep putting off a "real" sock. Since I bought some Tofutsie yarn in Texas for socks, and have some Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, I needed to make a move. This is the beginning of the first sock using some sock yarn I bought about a year ago when I first began thinking socks......

Swatch

Here is my swatch for the MS3. It is Zephyr wool/silk in pewter. The first repeat is size 4 needle; the second repeat is size 5. I will go with the size 4. Need to order my beads now.

I'm Back

I'm back from Texas, but seem to have brought a virus with me...sore muscles and headache and lethargy. Guess I'll just be quietly knitting for a few days. I did not take my Fantasy Shawl yarn with me and missed it. I ended up knitting several dishcloths and two hand drying towels. I started a feather and fan shawl with my beige linen and ripped it out over and over; I was reading the pattern wrong and decreasing too many stitches. When I (finally) knitted a swatch, I realized my problem. That is some tough yarn, though. I will have to buy more yarn at some point, but the dye lot should not be much of a problem for this natural color, plus I can blend it in with alternate rows if need be.

I am swatching my yarn for MS3. The first yarn to arrive was a cone of Tencel and it feel wonderfully silky to knit, but would need size 1 or 2 needles or else need to be doubled. The pewter wool/silk Zephyr also arrived and is gorgeous. Will probably do the MS3 in that one, since I already have the cotton one done and the Tencel is similar in the way it knits up. Save that for later.

The pink cotton shawl was wonderful on the trip...great on the plane and also at my son's house. He keeps HIS house at a normal temperature, unlike his Dad who would turn the air completely off if he could get away with it; he hates utility bills!

Will post photos of the linen hand drying towel later.

Going to Texas

I am going to Texas for a week with my grandkids. Two boys, 5 and 2. It will be a busy week! Am taking simple knitting since there will be many distractions and little hands. I plan to knit two dishtowels from the linen yarn I have been messing with. I know I said I was going to knit a shawl with that yarn. However, I have finished a shawl, have one on the needles, and have joined the Mystery Shawl 3 group, so enough already. Also, I only have two skeins of the linen and that is not enough for a shawl. Originally I bought the skeins to make the towels and so now I WILL do that!

My DIL has an interest in knitting. She enjoys the process. Yah! She has knitted three scarves, but living in Texas, she does not need any more of those. She mentioned that she would like to practice some more with me, so am taking some bright red cotton and teach her how to make dishcloths. Her kitchen is red and cream. Should be pretty!

So watch this space. I'll be back.

Purse Compliments

I have been very surprised at all the positive comments I have been receiving on my sampler purse. Hopefully lots of you out there have knitted one and are also getting positive comments. People are literally stopping me in stores and touching it!

I confess to being very surprised because I frankly thought it was ugly and way over the top as I was finishing it up. The colors, although all my favorites, were way out of my comfort zone in the way they were put together. I confess to usually knitting either solid color purses or horizontal stripes.


(The other side is lavander and purple.)

Of course it is possibly that I have a leather handle on the purse, or that it is a fashionable shape (12" long and 6" deep and I usually make my purses narrower and deeper. Whatever the reason, these people stopping me to see my purse are generally NOT knitters (although the knitting shops I have been in, people also comment favorably). Maybe it catches people's eye because I have not seen anything remotely like this purse in shops or in "free" purse knitting patterns online. The last person to comment on it said it was very unique.

So all of you KAL members out there, finish your purses and send me a photo! I'll make a Flickr gallery if you do!!!

New Link

I just added a link to my list of Blogs. It is called TechKnitting and is a blog every knitter should have at the top of their bookmarks. Somebody on Monthly Dishcloth KAL mentioned it. Click on it and take a look!

Pink Shawl Pics

Here is a closeup of the border. I love this pattern; shoulda done the whole shawl in this. And it was easy.



This is the border shown with the flower lace motif that gave me such fits. Looks deceptively simple, doesn't it? Ha.


This is the shawl draped over an antique rocker. This wicker rocker crossed the U.S. to Indiana in a covered wagon. I inherited it from my mother.



I tried the shawl on and it feels and looks wonderful. Worth every blasted stitch. Securing those dropped stitches with sewing thread was fiddly but seems to have worked. Nobody is going to be allowed to examine this shawl closely, except the border of course!

Shawl Saga Continues

OK, I finished the pink shawl. I put it into the washer on delicate handwash with fabric softner, then into the dryer on low. Nice and damp and soft, I spread it out to block it.

Ouch....a bunch of dropped stitches have appeared. This shawl is absolutely cursed. What to do?

Here is my solution. For anybody who ever has this happen and refused to unravel the project, read on.

1) with a small metal crochet hook, I picked up each dropped stitch and worked it up to try and close the hole, never mind the pattern.... Then I put one of those plastic "coiless safety pins" from the knit shop on each one (they look kind of like mini padlocks...I am indeed padlocking these stitches down).

2) I am going to thread a needle with pale pink sewing thread and fasten those loose stitches to the shawl using a sturdy square knot, then work thread ends into the surrounding stitches. I thought about going to the yarn shop and getting some pale pink mohair to use for the mending and let it "felt", but I have the pink thread on hand and it seams that it might even be better.

My advice to anybody out there who is even contemplating knitting a shawl out of crochet cotton, DON'T. The stuff is slippery and hard to manipulate. I knew I was making lots of mistakes in the pattern, but had absolutely no idea I had actually dropped stitches.

My advice to myself for future lace shawls (and I have one on the needles and have joined the Mystery Stole 3 group ..see sidebar..) is to make liberal use of stitch markers so that I can count after every row, AND not to watch tv while doing lace knitting. It just takes one glance at the screen for these pesky stitches to drop, I guess.

Casting-On Methods

My favorite casting-on method is the "backwards loop" method. It is the quickest on, but the hardest to knit into for that first row. I have also been told that it is not a "sturdy" cast-on method. It also is the most unattractive and uneven. That said, I read today in notes on the Fantasy Shawl that backwards loop method is best for this shawl because of it being loose and stretchy. So there. I'm redeemed!

Beginning Row

Went to the Fantasy Shawl Knitalong this morning; only one other knitter there today. This morning I had picked up the project, abandoned last week in favor of finishing the pink cotton shawl, and immediately messed it up. So I frogged it (only three rows done) and cast-on again, forgetting that the first time I cast-on with bigger needles. So it was sweat, blood, and tears to get that first row knitted off. Denise needles are not the sharpest in the world.

Question: Why don't we ALWAYS knit the first row after a cast-on and THEN start the pattern? It is absurd to try and K2tog when working off the cast-on row (which is what this pattern calls for, along with Kfb in a some of the stitches). The other knitter with me at the Knitalong said she thought that knitting the first row should be required!!! It is SO much easier and it certainly does not make a difference in a project: let's all say it, "cast-on, knit one row, begin pattern". Maybe embroider it onto a sampler and hang it on the wall!!!!!

Aaack!

Coasting along on the final border on the pink shawl and ...aack....no way I have enough for six repeats of the pattern, like I did on the other end. So am stopping at 3 repeats (perfectly adequate and actually better), then doing a few garter ridges.

Of course, this means frogging half of the repeats on the finished end. Oh well. I hope I enjoy this pink cotton shawl. It has been a pain in the neck to knit!!!

Norwegian Purl

I was skimming down Knitlist and spotted a message titled "loose continental knitting" and took a look. The writer was having the same problem I did when learning to do continental purl. Loose. Loose. Loose. I compromised for awhile by knitting continental (picking) and purling american (throwing). Whenever gauge did not matter I practiced purling. My gauge is now fine with both methods.

However, the person giving the answer for loose continental purling suggested Norwegian purling. Aha!

In the 1970's I lived in Iceland (DH in the Navy for four years way back then) and my friend and I started knitting "Icelandic sweaters", which are Fair Isle, but done in the natural shades that Lopi yarn comes in. We went to the Lopi factory and bought big bags of what I think now must have been roving. Absolutely no give (twist) in the yarn.

My first sweater was knit very tightly and a young Icelandic lady who worked in the office below my friend's apartment offered to teach us to do "Icelandic Knitting", which she said "built some stretch into the knitted fabric because you can't knit as tightly". She taught. I learned. It worked. But I did not knit again after leaving Iceland (hey, it was not popular for a very long time, remember?!)

Fast forward to a couple of years ago. I discovered everybody was knitting and that you were allowed to knit something besides sweaters. I also found out quickly that the reason I had avoided knitting for years was that it made my shoulders and arms ache. However, I had fallen in love with the hobby and thought there must be a way to knit that did not involve so much shoulder and arm movement. In the dim recesses of my mind I remembered learning "Icelandic Knitting" and decided that it MUST be what everybody was calling Continental.

Using the internet I figured out the knit stitch quickly and discovered that "picking" was easier on my shoulders and arms. But could not remember the purl stitch. I vaguely remembered the routine of the needles, but the stitch always proved to be a backward knit on the return row.

Always up for a challenge I decided to learn the Continental Purl. I knew it was not the Icelandic purl, but whatever. I am pretty proficient at it now.

Back to the subject at hand....NORWEGIAN PURL? Isn't NORWAY near ICELAND???? Hmmmm......I googled Norwegian Purl and got my yarn and it all came back. Also figured out what I had been doing wrong. I had remembered the needle movement, I just had missed one crucial yarn movement that caused the purl to be backward.

I am pretty slow on this new way to purl, of course. And my continental purl has got a lot of speed. So don't know if I will persevere, but it is so nice to finally remember that doggone stitch method!!

Vacation Knitting

For the week I am in Texas, I plan to finally commit to the two Louet Sales linen yarn skeins I bought early spring at a store closing sale. I really don't like knitting with that yarn; I have pulled out several "starter" projects. But I have spotted, at two different LYS, the yarn done in a feather and fan shawl. I have two different shades of brown, so I will alternate these colors. I doubt I have enough yardage, but by alternating colors I can buy some more and not fret over dye lots.

I originally bought the yarn to knit kitchen towels, but just can't get excited about that. I want something fairly mindless for the trip. I also figure if I have no other project to entice me, I might actually knit the shawl, or at least get enough done that I won't pull it out in a temper fit.

Pink Lace Shawl Progress

I am closing in on the finish on this shawl. Final border. Sixty rows. Happy Days! I am really, really tired of knitting on this, but I want to take it with me on my on my trip to Texas; going to spend a week with the grandkids.

I had "designed" a double border for the shawl out of my stitch dictionary and when one side was almost done, decided I did not like it. So I paged through the dictionary and found a pattern called Horseshoes that looked VERY simple. It mostly is. And I like it...it is different from the main body of the shawl but not so much as to be jarring.

I also want to get this thing off the needles so I can concentrate on the new laceweight wool shawl.

Stunning Photos

My daughter's boyfriend recently spent a week in Costa Rica, surfing. The vacation package included a professional photographer. Here are some stunning photos. Enjoy.

Weekend

I had a nice weekend. My daughter drove down from Raleigh, which is always a treat. This weekend was our 38th wedding anniversary. She came in bearing wine and chocolates. Good daughter! The wine has a story....when she was about 7 years old, we lived in Germany. Across the street from our townhouse was a small grocery store and everybody knew us. She wanted to buy us a gift for our anniversary and I stood outside while she shopped. After awhile, one of the clerks peered out the window at me and waved...Jenni emerged a few minutes later, beaming, with a bag. That night she presented us with a bottle of pink champagne. (It was NOT drinkable!!!) We all still laugh remembering that she got to buy wine in 2nd grade....which is why she brought wine this weekend...to carry on the memory and the joke!

I had previously committed to ushering for a matinee production of the Broadway show, 'Sweet Charity' at our PAC, so she had Saturday to herself to shop. She also offered to scrub out my refrigerator, which I took her up on! The last time it was this clean was when it was new. She is an energetic daughter. She and her Dad also went wine shopping, a hobby they share.

For dinner we went to a new restaurant and had a selection of tapas, then watched Food TV. We are all major fans of this channel, especially the one in HD. You can learn a lot watching those shows. My daughter likes to cook and is a good cook. She always makes us breakfast when she visits, and DH will tell you it is the ONLY time he gets a cooked breakfast!

Figure-Eight Fantasy Shawl

I have been eyeing laceweight shawls for some time now. The other day I was reading a LYS newsletter and they are having a knitalong this summer for a shawl knit with Merino Lace from Cherry Tree Hill. I went to the morning session and they had one colorway left that I liked, so I shut my eyes and handed over the credit card for the book. Special Little Knits from Just One Skein, and the hank of yarn.

The KAL meets once a week, Wednesday 10-12 or 6-8. I have cast-on and knitted two or three rows. Yes, I know that is pathetic, but I decided I needed the pink cotton shawl for my Texas trip week after next and so am on a push to finish it.

The store also has a wonderful marketing ploy. Near the end of the 2 hour session, a basket was passed with folded pieces of paper...on each piece was a discount for a skein of specified yarn. Mine was 25% off of Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, so that pushed me over the edge...have also been eyeing luxury sock yarn. Note that I have not yet knit a sock! (I figure it could always become a shawl on big needles....)

Knit Guild Meeting

Tonight was The Charlotte Knitting Guild's monthly meeting and it was fun, as usual, to see what everybody was working on and to talk knitting. The program featured a review of "knitting" fiction and we talked about what books we had read.

Before the meeting starts, we chat and knit. During this time, two or three knitters dashed up to me and grabbed "the purse" and said, "here's the purse in person!!!" Everyone liked it, especially the colors. I was quite surprised and pleased to find that members of the guild were reading my blog. I am a new member and really don't know anyone by name yet. But knitters are never strangers to each other, we have a common language.

For show and tell there were socks, as usual. Also several washrags. One member had finished her gorgeous Clapotis shawl. Another was wearing a Feather and Fan stole with some glitz in it. Cristi, aka Turtlegirl, brought some of the lovely yarn she bought at the Fiber Fair (see her blog for details, link at left), plus the two skeins of yarn that she has spun on her gorgeous spinning wheel. There were also two beautiful capsleeved tops. Cristi wore the red sweater featured on her blog entry, go check it out!

I showed the progress on the pink cotton stole I am making. Also demonstrated the "nubbin" dishcloth and two knitters had me give them a demo at the end of the meeting. One was knitting baby bibs out of cotton and thought that would be a darling edging. Both agreed that washcloths needed to be teeny (4-5") so I felt vindicated! I thought I was the only person who liked little cloths. Plus they knit up quicker!

Charity Knitting

I often think about charity knitting but nothing has ever struck me enough to actually knit seriously for a project. When I was in a quilt guild I used to donate 4 quilts a year for our charity. I knitted a preemie hat for one of my local knitting groups to give to a local hospital. With another local group I contributed a teddy bear sweater for the local police, who take stuffed animals on their domestic violence calls to give to the displaced kids. All good causes. And I do plan to knit another bear sweater for our next donation!

This weekend I was an usher at the Performing Art Center uptown (the YMCA dance recital...an absolute hoot!) and talking knitting with another usher. I asked her what she knitted and she said she was now knitting children's sweaters for KnitforKids,sponsored by Guideposts. She commented that you could just knit so much for yourself or for gifts!

Last night I googled this charitable project and liked the looks of it. The pattern is very simple and it is a way to use up the bright colored acrylics in my stash that I bought to knit purses before I discovered the joy of using cotton instead.

They have three patterns, each a little bit more difficult. As well as written instructions, they also give you the finished dimensions of each size (2-10). Of course I did NOT do a gauge square and just jumped right into making a size 2 based on the written number of stitches to cast on. I am knitting a purple and lavendar stripe, since I don't have any one color with enough yardage for an entire sweater.

I kept looking at this sweater body as I knit and thought, "my goodness, I did not know 2 year olds were so big!". So I measured the width of the front and compared it to the pattern diagram, and I am knitting a size 10. Guess my yarn is bulkier than the model. The instructions say to adjust needle size as needed, but I don't want to go smaller than a size 7 needle, so will just have to adjust the stitch numbers. Simple math. Calculators help!

So if any of you out there are interested in doing some charity knitting without group deadline pressure and have some bright acrylics languishing in your stash, take a look at the web site.

I'll publish a photo of the sweater when I finish. I'm thinking of a goal of knitting one sweater a month and mailing a package when I get six. I am stating this on my blog so hopefully there won't be one half-finished striped sweater sitting on the floor of the closet at the end of the summer!!!

Creativity

Evidently my "creativity button" has come unstuck. Suddenly I see possibilities in yarn and patterns everywhere. As readers of my blog know, I have been plodding along with my first lace, making a pink cotton lace shawl. The cotton is a very nice quality of crochet cotton that comes on cardboard spools. I was using a discontinued FiberTrends pattern that came with the yarn from Elann.com, no longer on web page.

I struggled with the center panel and finally finished it, learning finally to read a chart vs my stitches.

Started the first border and I could get it mostly right, but could not do nupps with this kind of yarn and without the nupps, the pattern was boring. Rippit, rippit.

Then I had a "creativity moment". WHY did I need to slavishly follow this designer? Yes, it is gorgeous, but so what?

I got out my stitch dictionary and started dreaming through the lace patterns. This took quite awhile but I not only came up with choices for the two borders, I am going to be actually telling a story with the shawl. Mystery moment...........stay tuned for what I came up with.

Finished Purse

This is the finished purse. I had it with me in a yarn shop yesterday and received a compliment on it. It is truly an original. I hope everybody knitting along creates a unique purse that they enjoy carrying during the hot summer months. If anybody sends a photo, I will put it on the blog!

Lining Your Purse

Have you ever seen a knitted purse pattern that ended with. “Line the Purse.” And that is the final sentence? Now I know why designers do that. It is very difficult to tell somebody how to line a purse. I googled the subject and the two web pages I found had directions that confused me and I have lined many purses!

Essentially when you make a purse lining, you are mimicking the shape of the purse with fabric. I used cotton print fabric for the lining and cotton batting for the interfacing layer.

Measuring:

The width of your entire purse, smooshed flat.



The depth of your purse.



The width of your purse bottom.



The length of the purse bottom.



Cutting:

Cut a rectangle the measurement of the bottom of your purse, plus 1/4" seam allowance on all four sides. Cut two rectangles from cotton print and one from interfacing (batting).

Cut a large rectangle double the width of your purse plus 1 1/2" long, and the depth of your purse wide. Cut two from cotton fabric and one from interfacing.

You are going to make three lining shapes. Do these steps three times!

Sew the big rectangle together at the short edges, 1/4" seams. If you do not have a sewing machine, use a running backstitch.

This makes a TUBE shape. Sew one open edge of this tube to the rectangle you cut for the purse bottom. Make it fit. You might have to make some pleats at the corners.



Now you have three shapes that look like your purse. Layer them inside your purse:

1. first cotton layer, right sides toward wrong side of purse.
2. batting layer
3. second cotton layer, wrong side toward batting layer.
4. Fold the raw edges at the top together in such a way that you have a smooth edge with no raw edges showing.

Now you put your lining “basket” into the purse and slipstitch it to the purse, about 1/2" from the top. I actually like, at this point, to turn my knitted purse fabric wrong side out and put the lining on it that way, it seems to be easier to get it onto the purse evenly.



I overcast stitch the lining to my purse using thread that is a compromise between the lining fabric color and the yarn color. If you are careful doing your slipstitch, the thread melds into the yarn stitches and does not show. If you machine stitch at this step, it is going to show. voice of experience.



My favorite closure is a zipper. I put it in by hand, using a strong backstitch. I match the yarn color and not the zipper color, because I put these stitches strongly into the yarn and they are going to show. You CAN use the machine on this, but it is trickier. For this purse I bought a 14" zipper from the fabric store. I also bought a decorative clip-on zipper pull to make it easier to grab.


Zipper installation:

With the zipper closed and your purse facing you, tuck it into the top of the purse and pin the zipper tape to each side of the purse the way you want it to look. This is an important step if you want your purse to be the proper shape when closed. Then open the zipper and sew each side of the zipper tape down tightly to the purse, using a backstitch.






(Note: if you want to wait on stitching in your lining until now, the lining can be handstitched to the edge of the zipper tape now. This eliminates the gap between the zipper and the lining and might appeal to you.

If you choose to make a fancy crochet edge at the top of your purse, or an attached icord, or some such, you would stitch your zipper below that. And icord cast-off looks amazing, but your zipper pull can "eat" it. Voice of experience.

To tame the ends of your purse, pinch up the purse into an accordion fold and thread the folds with yarn and tie a bow.




Handle:
For this purse I recycled a leather handle that I am able to tie on the purse with yarn. You can knit or crochet a handle and sew it onto your purse. You can get "d" rings or acrylic squares (buckles) and use them to fasten on a handle. Since you have installed a zipper, you can attach a single handle at each end of the purse and it won't gape open, but will fall into a graceful curve.



This purse turned out to be the new "baguette" shape because the shape of the dishcloths made it long and shallow. I thought I would not like that, but it is very user-friendly. The handle lets it sink into a nice "hobo" shape, but when it is opened, everything inside is easy to find.