I figured out (maybe) why my two sides of the mitered toes and heels were uneven...when I turned after the final purl row on short rows, I was not doing my yo's before I started the knit row back to start closing the gaps.
Since I last blogged I have explored other methods of short-row toes and heels. What looked to be the simplest, Japanese short rows, I decided against finally because of the fumbling about with markers. I tried safety pins, paper clips, and yarn scraps and it was very awkward, also I could not "read" the stitches and gaps very well. I hated the markers, and with the cheater method of sssp a knitlister taught me, "purl, move stitch back to left needle, pass next two stitches over and drop them, move stitch back to right needle", am happier with the YO method. The knit gap closing rows are still neater than the purl gap closing rows, but nobody but me is looking.
I love my socks and alternate between the three pair I have knitted. The second pair of Tofutsies is underway. I really gauged it and measured my foot better and this pair is going to fit closely to my feet. I have tiny, narrow feet. Bad for buying shoes, but good for getting two pairs of socks out of a ball of sock yarn!
Friday, April 04, 2008
Monday, March 24, 2008
Love Affair with Socks
I continue to adore knitting socks. I have knitted three pair, one in the Lion Brand, one in Tofutsies, and one in Plymouth Yarn's Sockotta I got from Yarn Girls. My daughter visited this weekend and loved the socks so much, I have started her a pair in another color of Sockotta. This is a big thing....she has never been a fan of anything handknitted. These short row toe up socks just fit so good!
The only problem I was running into was how to do the sssp. The instructions to do this require one to be a contortionist. So I threw the question out to the wonderful knitlisters and got good replies. For anybody out there that blanches at the sight of sssp in the instructions....when you come to the stitches to be 'sssp'ed' you purl the first stitch, put it back on left neeedle, pick up the next two stitches, one at a time, and DROP them over the purl stitch and completely off the needle. Then put the purl stitch back on the right needle, turn. Perfect.
I still do seem to have a problem with the right and left sides coming out the same when I increase on both toe and heel, always having the knit side finished and still have more wrapped pairs to purl (guess I need to do this part of the socks NOT watching tv)....so I just finagle it by knitting plain rows and finishing up the purl wraps. Does not seem to matter so much as the stitches are tiny and pretty much hidden in your shoes all the time! Knitting perfectionists or purists will shudder at this, but I am NOT frogging a toe or a heel, I would drop so many stitches I would end up with big holes in the toe or heel and would rather have it slightly lopsided instead.
The only problem I was running into was how to do the sssp. The instructions to do this require one to be a contortionist. So I threw the question out to the wonderful knitlisters and got good replies. For anybody out there that blanches at the sight of sssp in the instructions....when you come to the stitches to be 'sssp'ed' you purl the first stitch, put it back on left neeedle, pick up the next two stitches, one at a time, and DROP them over the purl stitch and completely off the needle. Then put the purl stitch back on the right needle, turn. Perfect.
I still do seem to have a problem with the right and left sides coming out the same when I increase on both toe and heel, always having the knit side finished and still have more wrapped pairs to purl (guess I need to do this part of the socks NOT watching tv)....so I just finagle it by knitting plain rows and finishing up the purl wraps. Does not seem to matter so much as the stitches are tiny and pretty much hidden in your shoes all the time! Knitting perfectionists or purists will shudder at this, but I am NOT frogging a toe or a heel, I would drop so many stitches I would end up with big holes in the toe or heel and would rather have it slightly lopsided instead.
Wednesday, March 05, 2008
Socks, Finally
I have mentioned that socks elude me. I have pretty much done everything else knitty except a successful sock. I even did Fair Isle back in the 1970's with Lopi yarn that I bought in big bags at the Icelandic factory.
Well, I have knitted two single socks and frogged a couple. Traditional cuff down socks pose two dilemmas for me. One, I hate to finish and having the dreaded toe graft to do at the very end is more than I can bear. Two, I hate to pick up stitches and you have to do that on the heel. Also, I have "princess feet" and don't like a seam or ridge anywhere near my feet. Grafted toes and picked up stitches both produce lumps as far as I am concerned. Also, I feel like it is just too much guesswork trying to figure out where to pick up those heel stitches and to get the right number of stitches picked up, then there is the 'ridge' created. I know yarn is soft, but still.
But I have resented all the socks I see people knitting and posting on their blogs. Not that I think I even want to wear hand knitted socks, I just want to know how to knit them. After all, they are nice and portable. And cheap in the overall scheme of knitting.
I absolutely can't stand dpns. I knit loosely and those needles simply slide out of the stitches. Every time. I knitted a single sock using two circulars that was semi successful. I did not like the cotton yarn; not soft enough for princess feet. I decided that I might have actually had a pair of socks IF I had knitted 'two socks on two circulars', so I got my instructions and tried. I really did. And just about went insane. I spent more time untwisting and untangling the yarn than I did knitting. Those are frogged and rewound.
Well, dpns are out and I did not really like the dangling needles you have with two circulars. That leaves one long circular to learn. I practiced on some worsted yarn and fat needles (created a long circular out of my Denise's). I love the technique.
With all the aggravation I have described you are probably wondering why on earth I am still muddling over knitting socks. Pure stubbornness. And I love a challenge.
So I know I don't want to knit a cuff down sock again. I keep hearing about toe up socks, but I can't seem to find instructions that I can understand. But I want to try the toe up sock. mostly because I am stubborn as I said. I happened upon The Perfect Sock Pattern and loved the result. Amazingly, using the exact stitch count from the pattern actually made a sock that fit, since my gauge was different (I promise I did some math and thought it would fit, and you can try on as you go with toe up socks, anyway). I have completed one sock and am almost to the heel of the second. No second sock syndrome!!! No lumps, no seams. I am using Lion Brand's Magic Stripe washable wool and really like the feel of it on my foot, although the yarn is making my hands sticky. What's with that, anyway? And I love the striping yarn that hides mistakes.
The only downside of the pattern is having to do a sssp. THAT is awkward, even though I did find a video of the technique online but can't find the site just now to link. There HAS to be an easier way to get the same result, some sort of a "cheat". After all, I do cheat on the ssk. Ha.
The person who designed the sock pattern cited above indicated that the sock is based on Simple Socks, Plain and Fancy by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. They just added a Turkish Cast On that I found surprisingly easy as compared to all the other toe up cast-ons I had tried to understand.
Interestingly, I will finally have a pair of wool socks to wear now that spring has sprung in the Carolinas!!! But wool breathes, right?
Well, I have knitted two single socks and frogged a couple. Traditional cuff down socks pose two dilemmas for me. One, I hate to finish and having the dreaded toe graft to do at the very end is more than I can bear. Two, I hate to pick up stitches and you have to do that on the heel. Also, I have "princess feet" and don't like a seam or ridge anywhere near my feet. Grafted toes and picked up stitches both produce lumps as far as I am concerned. Also, I feel like it is just too much guesswork trying to figure out where to pick up those heel stitches and to get the right number of stitches picked up, then there is the 'ridge' created. I know yarn is soft, but still.
But I have resented all the socks I see people knitting and posting on their blogs. Not that I think I even want to wear hand knitted socks, I just want to know how to knit them. After all, they are nice and portable. And cheap in the overall scheme of knitting.
I absolutely can't stand dpns. I knit loosely and those needles simply slide out of the stitches. Every time. I knitted a single sock using two circulars that was semi successful. I did not like the cotton yarn; not soft enough for princess feet. I decided that I might have actually had a pair of socks IF I had knitted 'two socks on two circulars', so I got my instructions and tried. I really did. And just about went insane. I spent more time untwisting and untangling the yarn than I did knitting. Those are frogged and rewound.
Well, dpns are out and I did not really like the dangling needles you have with two circulars. That leaves one long circular to learn. I practiced on some worsted yarn and fat needles (created a long circular out of my Denise's). I love the technique.
With all the aggravation I have described you are probably wondering why on earth I am still muddling over knitting socks. Pure stubbornness. And I love a challenge.
So I know I don't want to knit a cuff down sock again. I keep hearing about toe up socks, but I can't seem to find instructions that I can understand. But I want to try the toe up sock. mostly because I am stubborn as I said. I happened upon The Perfect Sock Pattern and loved the result. Amazingly, using the exact stitch count from the pattern actually made a sock that fit, since my gauge was different (I promise I did some math and thought it would fit, and you can try on as you go with toe up socks, anyway). I have completed one sock and am almost to the heel of the second. No second sock syndrome!!! No lumps, no seams. I am using Lion Brand's Magic Stripe washable wool and really like the feel of it on my foot, although the yarn is making my hands sticky. What's with that, anyway? And I love the striping yarn that hides mistakes.
The only downside of the pattern is having to do a sssp. THAT is awkward, even though I did find a video of the technique online but can't find the site just now to link. There HAS to be an easier way to get the same result, some sort of a "cheat". After all, I do cheat on the ssk. Ha.
The person who designed the sock pattern cited above indicated that the sock is based on Simple Socks, Plain and Fancy by Priscilla Gibson-Roberts. They just added a Turkish Cast On that I found surprisingly easy as compared to all the other toe up cast-ons I had tried to understand.
Interestingly, I will finally have a pair of wool socks to wear now that spring has sprung in the Carolinas!!! But wool breathes, right?
Friday, February 22, 2008
Bernat Cotton Tots
If anybody is reading this and has any opinion, please post a comment....what did Bernat DO to Cotton Tots???? I knitted a blanket three years ago in the blue and loved knitting it and it is my second grandson's "blankie". So the third one is on the way and Mommie wanted the same yarn but a different color, so she chose the mint green. Ick and ick and ick. It is rougher and seems heavier, but it SHEDS. To the point that I had to stop knitting in the car on a trip, the fibers were about to choke us and were covering the dashboard. I am determined to finish the thing (baby due soon) and I have to lint-roll myself after a session. I guess they changed manufacturers? Anyway, a warning to all of you who used to like Cotton Tots....you might not like it so much now. I am going to have to do a lot of prewashing and drying on this one.
I actually just ordered some yarn to knit another blanket. It is from DiscontinuedBrandNameYarn and is pictured here. It is a closeout, so grab it while you can! Am going to do this blanket in rows of stockinette alternating with garter. The corner to corner dishrag pattern is starting to bore me, even though it IS easy.
I actually just ordered some yarn to knit another blanket. It is from DiscontinuedBrandNameYarn and is pictured here. It is a closeout, so grab it while you can! Am going to do this blanket in rows of stockinette alternating with garter. The corner to corner dishrag pattern is starting to bore me, even though it IS easy.
Ravelry
I joined Ravelry a couple of months ago and did my profile but was overwhelmed by the size of the site and choices and did nothing else. I suddenly got in the mood to explore and now see why everyone loves it, especially us disorganized people. It does force one to think linearly. (is that spelled right?....I mean to keep my brain from bouncing in ten directions in once as I think about knitting). I have put up WIPs and finished items. I decided to only do photos of the finished object, since taking photos is the downfall of this blog, I did not want to have photos holding up my adding WIPs to Ravelry.
If you want to take a look at the meager amount of entries and photos, my username is, of course, MsNanknits.
If you want to take a look at the meager amount of entries and photos, my username is, of course, MsNanknits.
Monday, February 18, 2008
Spring Peeks Out
The weather in the Carolinas has NOT been wintery. At all. Today is in the 70's with brilliant blue sky. I walk every day and have only worn a heavy jacket once or twice all season. I do wear my wool beret and scarf knitted from Malabrigo yarn, though...it is so soft and breathes so well, that I do not get hot, but any chill stays off my neck and ears. I picked these daffodils from my yard yesterday.
Lace Shawl
Here is the finished merino wool lace shawl. The yarn is from Cherry Tree Hill. I mentioned that I wore in unblocked on Valentine's Day. This is the first laceweight wool I have knitted and I did not know how amazing it would look when blocked.
Sunday, February 17, 2008
Just a Tweak
Just a tweak is all it takes sometimes to turn something blah into something that has some pizazz. I knitted a cardigan about a year ago from a magazine pattern. It fit nicely, the yarn felt okay, it looked okay, I just did not like it. Then I saw a photo of a cardigan that used a shawl pick to close it at the neckline. I got out my sweater and my wooden shawl pick and pulled the front across a little bit and stabbed it with the pick and, Voila, the whole sweater looked different. The shawl pick becomes the focus and the sweater is just the background. NOW I will enjoy a sweater that I spent hours and hours knitting!! (I am also now knitting the cardigan that sparked this idea)
Saturday, February 16, 2008
Catching Up
Yes, I have been knitting. No, I have not been blogging. I have finished the feather and fan shawl done in the Cherry Tree Hill laceweight. I have not blocked it, but am wearing it anyway. I used small enough needles that this works. I bought a lovely silver heart shaped shawl pin on Etsy and wore it and the shawl on Valentine's Day. I will get a picture posted as soon as I take one!
I think I have finally found the pattern/needle size for the spring scarf I want to knit from an Elizabeth Lavold silk/wool yarn I bought about two years ago. It is "my" green and is a nice feel for spring. I wear scarves all the time, even inside; I have a very sensitive neck to drafts, evidently. I finally decided on a size 5 needle (I knit VERY loose) and am doing another feather and fan. This pattern is completely mindless for me and I am discovering I just despise trying to read charts. I knit watching tv or listening to podcasts or recorded books and you simply cannot count stitches when doing that!
I think I have finally found the pattern/needle size for the spring scarf I want to knit from an Elizabeth Lavold silk/wool yarn I bought about two years ago. It is "my" green and is a nice feel for spring. I wear scarves all the time, even inside; I have a very sensitive neck to drafts, evidently. I finally decided on a size 5 needle (I knit VERY loose) and am doing another feather and fan. This pattern is completely mindless for me and I am discovering I just despise trying to read charts. I knit watching tv or listening to podcasts or recorded books and you simply cannot count stitches when doing that!
Sunday, January 13, 2008
Designing Scarves
I mentioned in the entrelac post that I tend to skip important words in knitting instructions. I find I am better off designing my own, using the template from a published pattern and choosing stitches from a stitch dictionary.
By choosing my own stitches, I can make the project simpler to knit, keeping it in my comfort zone. After struggling to no avail with that MS3 shawl, I decided that any lace or texture project I knitted had to have extremely simple repetitions. I want a "big bang for my buck" stitch recipe.
What really triggered this scarf designing path I find myself on, was "Leafy Scarf" in Special Little Knits from Just One Skein. I keep losing stitches, even though it looks simple. This book does not use charts and I need charts for lace knitting, to see where my stitches should be.
Anyway, I have collected several yarns that I want to use "right now", so have a collection of ziploc bags, each containing a different project, three scarves, one shawl, and one pair of Cascade 220 Superwash tube socks, in a basket by my chair. I knit on one for an hour or so, then switch. I believe this is called "Knitting ADD"???
First of all, this is a scarf knitted from Malabrigo Alpine Pearl. I am using a "crossed braid" pattern for a nice thick texture. It is a two pattern repeat; my kind of pattern. I also knitted a beret and fingerless gloves with this amazingly soft and cuddly yarn.
Next is a scarf from an Elizabeth Lavold wool/silk blend. I have had this yarn awhile and finally had to cast something on with it. I like my scarves no more than 5" wide and quite long. The lace and textured patterns in my stitch dictionary were not working out. I suddenly remembered my sock knitting book and found a plethora of textures and lace patterns that were wonderful for a narrow scarf. This one is lacy triangles with very simple repeats. I might not have gotten the sock knitting 'bug' but I am enjoying the book, anyway! There will be many more lace projects from this book.
And, finally, this is a scarf that I am not pleased with, so I cast it off from boredom as soon as I could tie it around my neck for a little extra warmth. The problems with this one is primarily that I don't like laceweight yarn knitted on big needles. The pattern called for an even bigger needle. On the upside, this wool/silk blend is amazingly soft and I have enough for a shawl. Someday.
My main tip in this blog entry is to look at sock patterns in a new way....those patterns for the legs make wonderful scarves. And if you do knit socks you can have scarves to match them!
By choosing my own stitches, I can make the project simpler to knit, keeping it in my comfort zone. After struggling to no avail with that MS3 shawl, I decided that any lace or texture project I knitted had to have extremely simple repetitions. I want a "big bang for my buck" stitch recipe.
What really triggered this scarf designing path I find myself on, was "Leafy Scarf" in Special Little Knits from Just One Skein. I keep losing stitches, even though it looks simple. This book does not use charts and I need charts for lace knitting, to see where my stitches should be.
Anyway, I have collected several yarns that I want to use "right now", so have a collection of ziploc bags, each containing a different project, three scarves, one shawl, and one pair of Cascade 220 Superwash tube socks, in a basket by my chair. I knit on one for an hour or so, then switch. I believe this is called "Knitting ADD"???
First of all, this is a scarf knitted from Malabrigo Alpine Pearl. I am using a "crossed braid" pattern for a nice thick texture. It is a two pattern repeat; my kind of pattern. I also knitted a beret and fingerless gloves with this amazingly soft and cuddly yarn.
Next is a scarf from an Elizabeth Lavold wool/silk blend. I have had this yarn awhile and finally had to cast something on with it. I like my scarves no more than 5" wide and quite long. The lace and textured patterns in my stitch dictionary were not working out. I suddenly remembered my sock knitting book and found a plethora of textures and lace patterns that were wonderful for a narrow scarf. This one is lacy triangles with very simple repeats. I might not have gotten the sock knitting 'bug' but I am enjoying the book, anyway! There will be many more lace projects from this book.
And, finally, this is a scarf that I am not pleased with, so I cast it off from boredom as soon as I could tie it around my neck for a little extra warmth. The problems with this one is primarily that I don't like laceweight yarn knitted on big needles. The pattern called for an even bigger needle. On the upside, this wool/silk blend is amazingly soft and I have enough for a shawl. Someday.
My main tip in this blog entry is to look at sock patterns in a new way....those patterns for the legs make wonderful scarves. And if you do knit socks you can have scarves to match them!
Monday, January 07, 2008
Entrelac....Finally!!!
On a recent Saturday, I took a two hour technique class on the subject of Entrelac knitting. I have tried on several occasions to master this technique, using online tutorials. I could get the first band done, but could not figure out how to do the next band. So when this chance came up, I grabbed it. Here is what I have accomplished; I am using SWTC's Karaoke. Obviously it is a scarf.
I think I understand why I could not master entrelac before this class: I tend to skip critical words in instructions and I think I must have missed the part where, when you begin a new rectangle, you put the last stitch on the right needle back onto the left. Very critical, indeed. I also found that the right and wrong sides are very important in seeing where you are in the technique and I was trying to make the "garterlac washcloth" I found a tutorial for. What does the work "garter" mean...corrrect...wrong and right sides are identical!
This technique is very fascinating and absolutely beautiful. A real 'magic trick'.
New Shawl Beginnings with Old Yarn
Remember in an earlier post (this past summer) when I talked about making the Figure Eight Shawl with Cherry Tree Hill laceweight? Even showed a photo of one of the middle figure 8 motifs?
Well, I made three motifs and one long side and they do not fit together. No way, no how, never. Obviously I sewed and blocked the motifs improperly. and with than fine yarn, they will remain forever motifs in my yarn drawer!
Never fear, however, I still have enough yarn to knit a nice rectangular shoulder shaw. And if I run short I CAN unravel the side piece I knitted. I am knitting this new project on size 7 needles using the basic feather and fan motif.
I started this shawl just before I left for a week's Christmas trip. My choices for knitting on this trip were this shawl and the baby blanket for my expected third grandchild. The blanket is halfway done and so is heavy in my lap, plus the CottonTots yarn is shedding badly. So....the shawl it was. Below is a photo of how much I got knitted in the car and then three days of lovely screened-porch sitting at our beach house. Since it was VERY quiet down there, I got LOTS of knitting done!
Knitting with wool in the summer warning: Look carefully at the middle of the shawl section pictured at the top. Do you see it? It is called "inadvertent hand felting". Moist hands and warm temperatures and obsessive clutching of the knitted object WILL felt it! When I noticed it, I thought about frogging back to the spot, but decided it just added interest and texture!
Thursday, November 29, 2007
I Hate Math
I knitted the beret in a nice Wool of the Andes by Knitpicks. I did not do a gauge swatch, but did drop down a needle size, since I knit loosely. The beret was large on me. Came down somewhere around my nose. So I sewed about a 2" seam up the back and it now fits.
Decided I wanted a beret knitted from mohair blend yarn, since I figured it would be really warm this winter for my neighborhood walks. I found some sensational green yarn locally. I cast on about 10 stitches and did enough ribbing to see what the measurement would be. Then I started trying to figure out how many stitches to cast on so the ribbing would stretch to 22". I not only hate to measure gauge swatches, I hate to do the math to convert MY swatch to the pattern. Now, if I would knit a proper sized gauge square it might be better, but I knit just enough to get a pseudo measurement.
I fiddled and fiddled with my calculator and jotted down results. Several times. Then promptly forgot which of the jottings was the final result. Sheesh.
Anyway, I knitted the hat and it fits. Intend to get a photo up, soon. Of both berets, so you can see the colors. The first one is classic and boring and goes with everything. The green really has the wow factor and hopefully people will look at the hat and not at me!!!
Decided I wanted a beret knitted from mohair blend yarn, since I figured it would be really warm this winter for my neighborhood walks. I found some sensational green yarn locally. I cast on about 10 stitches and did enough ribbing to see what the measurement would be. Then I started trying to figure out how many stitches to cast on so the ribbing would stretch to 22". I not only hate to measure gauge swatches, I hate to do the math to convert MY swatch to the pattern. Now, if I would knit a proper sized gauge square it might be better, but I knit just enough to get a pseudo measurement.
I fiddled and fiddled with my calculator and jotted down results. Several times. Then promptly forgot which of the jottings was the final result. Sheesh.
Anyway, I knitted the hat and it fits. Intend to get a photo up, soon. Of both berets, so you can see the colors. The first one is classic and boring and goes with everything. The green really has the wow factor and hopefully people will look at the hat and not at me!!!
Wednesday, November 21, 2007
Berets in Style
I see that all warm hats in style this year, including berets. I have a very small head and very short hair and look rather ridiculous in a hat, at least according to my children. I also HAVE to wear something to keep my ears warm when it is cool and windy. Everybody else is running about with the wind blowing their hair and I am bundled in a scarf and a hat!
Over the past winters, I have worn polar fleece headbands to keep my ears warm, but this year I dug through my scarf drawer and came up with the beret I knitted it 1990 while living in Germany! I also found the pattern I used to knit it with. The yarn was man-made as I recall, and had these cool little colored loops attached to it. It was worn all over Europe, was warm enough even in the snow, and I managed not to lose it, although I did have to go back and retrieve it several times. And continue to: had it with me this weekend on Saturday night and Sunday morning hubby informed me that he picked it up off the driveway beside the car when he went out to get the paper. Ah me. I'd better knit a bunch more as backups!
Bought some yarn from KnitPicks and started a new beret yesterday. This one is from their Wool of the Andes. I have always studiously avoided wool because it makes me itch. But last year I knitted some wool fingerless gloves and love them. I also am wearing a (store bought for a song) Pashmina that is amazingly soft and no itch. Being wool, although very thin, it keeps my shoulders warm but I don't get overheated.
So thought I would try making the beret from wool and see if I could wear it. I bought three skeins of the wool, so hopefully will have enough to knit fingerless gloves to match.
Over the past winters, I have worn polar fleece headbands to keep my ears warm, but this year I dug through my scarf drawer and came up with the beret I knitted it 1990 while living in Germany! I also found the pattern I used to knit it with. The yarn was man-made as I recall, and had these cool little colored loops attached to it. It was worn all over Europe, was warm enough even in the snow, and I managed not to lose it, although I did have to go back and retrieve it several times. And continue to: had it with me this weekend on Saturday night and Sunday morning hubby informed me that he picked it up off the driveway beside the car when he went out to get the paper. Ah me. I'd better knit a bunch more as backups!
Bought some yarn from KnitPicks and started a new beret yesterday. This one is from their Wool of the Andes. I have always studiously avoided wool because it makes me itch. But last year I knitted some wool fingerless gloves and love them. I also am wearing a (store bought for a song) Pashmina that is amazingly soft and no itch. Being wool, although very thin, it keeps my shoulders warm but I don't get overheated.
So thought I would try making the beret from wool and see if I could wear it. I bought three skeins of the wool, so hopefully will have enough to knit fingerless gloves to match.
Tuesday, November 13, 2007
Lighten Your Load
Challenge:
1. Put the purse you carry around every day and put it on a scale and weigh it.* Scary, huh?
2. Take out the stuff you need to carry when you are shopping (cell phone, keys, ID, credit card) and weigh it. See where I am going with this?
3. Buy a SMALL wallet: one that will hold money and credit cards and ID's. Even Target sells them and they are adequate for your needs.
4. Knit a tube about 16" in diameter by about 8" high. Seam the bottom and run a drawstring of some sort throught the top. Make a little lining.
5. Put your cell phone, keys, LITTLE wallet in it. I'll even allow a tube of lip balm.
6. Weigh it and compare it with that first number*
7. Carry THIS purse in the store instead and note that your shoulders will probably stop hurting.
8. What? You can't live without all the stuff in your big bag? Fine. Put the big bag in the trunk of your car or under your desk at work. Carry the little bag with you. Your "security blanket bag" is within reach but not hanging on your shoulder.
9. Enjoy the freedom.
1. Put the purse you carry around every day and put it on a scale and weigh it.* Scary, huh?
2. Take out the stuff you need to carry when you are shopping (cell phone, keys, ID, credit card) and weigh it. See where I am going with this?
3. Buy a SMALL wallet: one that will hold money and credit cards and ID's. Even Target sells them and they are adequate for your needs.
4. Knit a tube about 16" in diameter by about 8" high. Seam the bottom and run a drawstring of some sort throught the top. Make a little lining.
5. Put your cell phone, keys, LITTLE wallet in it. I'll even allow a tube of lip balm.
6. Weigh it and compare it with that first number*
7. Carry THIS purse in the store instead and note that your shoulders will probably stop hurting.
8. What? You can't live without all the stuff in your big bag? Fine. Put the big bag in the trunk of your car or under your desk at work. Carry the little bag with you. Your "security blanket bag" is within reach but not hanging on your shoulder.
9. Enjoy the freedom.
Making the Purse
The way to avoid much finishing on your purse...
Knit or crochet a rectangle for the bottom of the purse, pickup stitches around and knit in the round (no seaming). This is the way to use up yarn, especially the leftover bits of fancy ones that are lying around your stash.
Near the top do a K2tog yo row for the drawstring. (Not doing this is ok, yarn stretches and you can shove the drawstring into knit stitches with no problem) For the drawstring, you can knit icord, crochet a cord, or buy braided or twisted cord at the fabric store.
Finish off the ends of the cord with beads.
If you want a lining, and can sew at all:
Flatten your purse on the table. Measure the length and width up to where you want the lining to come at the top. Cut a piece of fabric twice the length (plus turn-under for the top edge) and the width (plus 1/4" or so each side for a seam). Sew the side seams by hand with backstitch or machine. Turn under some at the top raw edge for a smooth finish. To make the box shape for your lining, measure the width of your bottom and divide by half*. Fold "dog ears" on the sides of your purse lining, side seam in the center of the point. measure down * and draw a horizontal line, sew on that line. this gives you a "box". Put the lining into your purse, with the right side of fabric showing. The seams and dog ears are against the knitting. Goggle "lining a purse" and you can find numerous places where they have photos or drawings of this process.
I do a simple backstitch to secure the lining at the top. Slipstitch also works. You could use fabric glue. Some people sew buttons to the lining and secure the buttons into the knitting. I simply hate to sew on buttons. Even use tiny safety pins. Whatever holds it.
Now go to your "leftovers basket" and start designing. Just remember, the size of the rectangle you knit for the base determines the size of your purse.
Another option is to simply knit a large tube the size you want and then seam one end and go from there. I make the purses both ways.
These purses are soft, lightweight, and can be made to match any outfit and any season.
Knit or crochet a rectangle for the bottom of the purse, pickup stitches around and knit in the round (no seaming). This is the way to use up yarn, especially the leftover bits of fancy ones that are lying around your stash.
Near the top do a K2tog yo row for the drawstring. (Not doing this is ok, yarn stretches and you can shove the drawstring into knit stitches with no problem) For the drawstring, you can knit icord, crochet a cord, or buy braided or twisted cord at the fabric store.
Finish off the ends of the cord with beads.
If you want a lining, and can sew at all:
Flatten your purse on the table. Measure the length and width up to where you want the lining to come at the top. Cut a piece of fabric twice the length (plus turn-under for the top edge) and the width (plus 1/4" or so each side for a seam). Sew the side seams by hand with backstitch or machine. Turn under some at the top raw edge for a smooth finish. To make the box shape for your lining, measure the width of your bottom and divide by half*. Fold "dog ears" on the sides of your purse lining, side seam in the center of the point. measure down * and draw a horizontal line, sew on that line. this gives you a "box". Put the lining into your purse, with the right side of fabric showing. The seams and dog ears are against the knitting. Goggle "lining a purse" and you can find numerous places where they have photos or drawings of this process.
I do a simple backstitch to secure the lining at the top. Slipstitch also works. You could use fabric glue. Some people sew buttons to the lining and secure the buttons into the knitting. I simply hate to sew on buttons. Even use tiny safety pins. Whatever holds it.
Now go to your "leftovers basket" and start designing. Just remember, the size of the rectangle you knit for the base determines the size of your purse.
Another option is to simply knit a large tube the size you want and then seam one end and go from there. I make the purses both ways.
These purses are soft, lightweight, and can be made to match any outfit and any season.
Monday, November 12, 2007
Final Finish
On the way to doing other things. I had a list of stuff to do today and nothing appealed to me. I started cleaning off a shelf, hoping if my craft room was cleared a bit inspiration might strike. Lo and behold, a purse I never bothered to line was in the pile!
This purse was originally supposed to have a zipper closure. However, the top was so big around that I knew a zipper would not work. And it was almost spring 2007 and I knew I would not carry the purse anytime soon. So.......
Today, November 2007, I am ready for this purse. I still did not want to put a zipper into the top. I happened to have some black twisted cording that was long enough for a single drawstring. The purse did not have a yarnover row for a drawstring. No matter, I just shoved the cord in and out of the top at arbitrary distances around the purse.
I tied the drawstring together in a square knot but needed some pizzaz. Found some black wooden beads, unraveled the cord into the three parts and, using a dental flosser thing, pulled the cord through the beads. Voila!
I tried to talk myself out of a lining, but knew it needed one. A simple rectangle with "dog ears" and a little running stitch at the top.
A simple purse with smashing yarn effect!
Sunday, November 11, 2007
Merino Shawl Still on Needles
Back this summer I joined a Knit-a-Long at a local LYS to knit a huge merino lace shawl from Cherry Tree Hill Merino. Somewhere in a previous post is a photo of the first medallion. I finished all three medallions and started one long side of the shawl. It got very hot and the yarn got very uncomfortable to knit with, so I abandoned it.
Guess what? It got cold. Finally. Well, cold is a bit of an overstatement here in North Carolina, but I decided a wool shawl WOULD be nice after all. Each row of the shawl is hundreds of stitches in laceweight. I don't even want to know how many minutes each row takes.
Resisting the urge to start another shawl (I FINISHED the blue cotton half circle shawl just in time to need one out of wool, instead...will photo it when I block it, if ever), I got the wool one back out and worked on it and finished one side. Now just the second side to go. I alternate it with a garter stitch baby blanket for my third grandson who arrives in March. The blanket is tediously boring, the shawl is tediously difficult because of the very fine yarn, so I alternate tedium!
For those of you reading carefully, you noticed I said I joined a Knit-a-Long for this shawl. Never went back!!! But when I do finish the shawl you can be sure I will take it to the LYS to show it off!
Guess what? It got cold. Finally. Well, cold is a bit of an overstatement here in North Carolina, but I decided a wool shawl WOULD be nice after all. Each row of the shawl is hundreds of stitches in laceweight. I don't even want to know how many minutes each row takes.
Resisting the urge to start another shawl (I FINISHED the blue cotton half circle shawl just in time to need one out of wool, instead...will photo it when I block it, if ever), I got the wool one back out and worked on it and finished one side. Now just the second side to go. I alternate it with a garter stitch baby blanket for my third grandson who arrives in March. The blanket is tediously boring, the shawl is tediously difficult because of the very fine yarn, so I alternate tedium!
For those of you reading carefully, you noticed I said I joined a Knit-a-Long for this shawl. Never went back!!! But when I do finish the shawl you can be sure I will take it to the LYS to show it off!
Sunday, October 14, 2007
Thanks, Readers
I put a Sitemeter on my blog to see if anybody was reading, versus me talking to myself, like I do a lot! Thank you for continuing to check by frequently, even if there are no new entries.
I tend to choose something, do it very intensely and then move on to something else, constantly switching and circling. I sewed clothing for a long while, then shifted to quilting for several years. I discovered knitting a few years ago and obsessively knitted tiny purses, moved into scarves, then shrugs, sweaters, now it is shawls. I dug out my tiny purses from the storage closet and am carrying them again, eyeing my stash of "frou-frou" yarns that I use for them. Do we see a circling pattern here?
I also recently began to not be so obsessive about my knitting and actually wanted to sew again. So I have been digging all my sewing necessities out of storage boxes, opened up my sewing table, lifted the serger off the top shelf, and am stitching again. I actually have my mind set on making some pretty aprons. Am reading a "henlit" book and the two ladies in the book are starting a business called "Ruby's Aprons" and I do wish they had a photo of that apron!
My part-time job also kicked back into gear so I am gone from home a good bit, making some yarn money!
But I wanted to take a minute and say thanks for continuing to check my blog to see if I had anything to say. I only write in it when I am in the mood, and, as you can tell, my mood tends to be very mercurial. I also hate to take photos, put them into Picasa, then TRY and find the things on the computer to put into the blog. I would love to be able to plug camera directly into computer, push a button and have the photo appear in the blog!!!
I tend to choose something, do it very intensely and then move on to something else, constantly switching and circling. I sewed clothing for a long while, then shifted to quilting for several years. I discovered knitting a few years ago and obsessively knitted tiny purses, moved into scarves, then shrugs, sweaters, now it is shawls. I dug out my tiny purses from the storage closet and am carrying them again, eyeing my stash of "frou-frou" yarns that I use for them. Do we see a circling pattern here?
I also recently began to not be so obsessive about my knitting and actually wanted to sew again. So I have been digging all my sewing necessities out of storage boxes, opened up my sewing table, lifted the serger off the top shelf, and am stitching again. I actually have my mind set on making some pretty aprons. Am reading a "henlit" book and the two ladies in the book are starting a business called "Ruby's Aprons" and I do wish they had a photo of that apron!
My part-time job also kicked back into gear so I am gone from home a good bit, making some yarn money!
But I wanted to take a minute and say thanks for continuing to check my blog to see if I had anything to say. I only write in it when I am in the mood, and, as you can tell, my mood tends to be very mercurial. I also hate to take photos, put them into Picasa, then TRY and find the things on the computer to put into the blog. I would love to be able to plug camera directly into computer, push a button and have the photo appear in the blog!!!
Pleasant Surprise
I have been knitting away on the periwinkle blue cotton half circle shawl and assumed I had MILES to go. It gets wider and wider and one row takes quite a long time and I tend to actually fall asleep halfway through. I had worked on it off and on, mostly off, since it is approaching winter and this is a spring/summer shawl. But I want the needles that are in it for my merino wool shawl that is needed for winter! I thought about ordering another set of the Bryspun needles, but decided to be disciplined and finish the shawl instead!
I had not been counting rows on the shawl, since the pattern is extremely simple and there is no need to count rows. I thought I had to finish this set of repeats (to make the "V") and then do another set. Forever. Last night I decided to COUNT my stitches in one of the wedges and, lo and behold, I am on the LAST wedge repeat and in about 20 more rows will be able to start knitting the fishtail points.
There is a photo of the beginnings of the shawl further down in the blog.
I had not been counting rows on the shawl, since the pattern is extremely simple and there is no need to count rows. I thought I had to finish this set of repeats (to make the "V") and then do another set. Forever. Last night I decided to COUNT my stitches in one of the wedges and, lo and behold, I am on the LAST wedge repeat and in about 20 more rows will be able to start knitting the fishtail points.
There is a photo of the beginnings of the shawl further down in the blog.
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