moonfrog

Where do you like to indulge in your craft? Is your favourite arm chair your little knitting cubby area, or do you prefer to ‘knit in public’? Do you like to crochet in the great outdoors, perhaps, or knit in the bath, or at the pub?

While I most often knit in my rocker/recliner while the old man watches TV, I’ve been known to knit in lots of other places. Tonight I finally made it to my LYS’s  Sip-n-Knit night after a long absence. It was a pleasant time with several talented knitters. I need to make it a priority to go every week; I’ve missed it. The two in the photo are Harry, former president of our weaving guild and soon to be manager of the LYS, and Connie, my dear travel companion who is talented in all areas of fiber arts.

I used to  knit in bars while the man’s band played, but the lighting really makes mistakes inevitable. A favorite place to knit is in the car while traveling. I even have a headlamp so I can keep knitting when it gets dark. I knit on the porch some in the summer. I knit while camping and working music festivals. I enjoy knitting with my mom either at her house or mine.

The only time I knit in bed is when I’m staying in a hotel. There are few places I won’t knit, although I try to be polite when socializing is expected. Some people find it rude, so I keep that in mind. I don’t knit and walk — that would just be too hard.

So there you have it.  I wonder where I’ll find myself knitting this summer?

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits. knitcroblo5

I love the excitement that surrounds learning new things. That was my favorite part of teaching school, the thrill of someone else experiencing something new. And I love variety. That doesn’t mean I don’t like the tried-and-true, but sometimes I can find myself flitting from one new thing to another. So what does this have to do with today’s topic?

Is there a skill related to your hobby that you hope to learn one day? maybe you’re a crocheter who’d also like to knit? Maybe you’d like to learn to knit continental, knit backwards, try cables or attempt stranded colourwork.

Well, over the past few years, I’ve tried a lot of techniques. I’ve taken classes, watched internet videos, read books — lots of books! — and soaked up as much knitting knowledge as I could hold. What this comes down to is that I “know” a lot or can teach myself what I lack, but I really need practice to become proficient. I’m using “proficient” here very loosely. We have a saying in my family: Good enough for who it’s for!

My learning of techniques almost always includes at least a swatch, sometimes a small project, occasionally a larger project. Once I learn something, though, I’m off to find something new.  What I need now is to choose some projects that challenge my barely-learned skills, that give me the practice I need.

One thing that should help me is being a participant in the  intswemodo2010 (International Sweater-a-Month Dodecathon group on Ravelry.  I don’t have any hope of making 12 sweaters this year, but a few would give me a lot of practice. So far, I have one almost finished, one started and one frogged. It’s not looking good, but I’ll keep truckin’ along. One of my choices needs to be a stranded colorwork project. The one I’m starting has a big cable. I also need to make one that is in pieces, maybe with a zipper!  I made Hey, Teach last year and know for sure that I need practice putting in sleeves.

So this is my goal — more practice with just about everything. That’s in between all my spinning and weaving goals, of course!

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits. knitcroblo4

Day 3 of Knit and Crochet Blog Week and I’m hanging in there — and enjoying it! Here’s the topic of the day:

Write about a knitter whose work (whether because of project choice, photography, styling, scale of projects, stash, etc) you enjoy. If they have an enjoyable blog, you might find it a good opportunity to send a smile their way.

Knitting is no longer something we do alone at home. The internet, knitting conferences, local stitch-n-bitches, all bring knitting out where everyone can enjoy it. And the people to admire! Like Cat Bordhi’s curiousity, Jared Flood’s photography, Franklin Habit’s humor — the list is huge!

But I want to mention someone who has inspired me and who makes me think, “I want to be like her,” and it’s totally possible. She’s one of the first bloggers I met, not long after I started knitting seriously. Her tastes and interests are so similar to mine, and she pursues them vigorously.

Her name is Rebecca, like mine, and her blog is called Socks for Mum. Over the last few years, she has worked hard to become an accomplished photographer. She challenges herself with new techniques and stimulating patterns.

She shares cool things like the Knit Buddy app, that I put on my iTouch and use for all my projects now. I learned to knit socks from the toe up from Rebecca’s My First Toe Ups KAL a few years ago.

I don’t know Rebecca in person, and I only leave an occasional comment on her blog, but she has added a good measure of enjoyment to my knitting life — and I guess it is time she knew!

Setting an example is not the main means of influencing another, it is the only means. –Albert Einstein

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits.
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My next post for Knitting and Crochet Blog Week 2010 follows this topic:

Blog about a pattern or project which you aspire to. Whether it happens to be because the skills needed are ones which you have not yet acquired, or just because it seems like a huge undertaking of time and dedication, most people feel they still have something to aspire to in their craft. If you don’t feel like you have any left of the mountain of learning yet to climb, say so!

There are so many wonderful patterns I’d love to do, but one rather small project that is on my “someday” list is special to me. It’s the Swedish Fish Socks pattern by Spilly Jane Knits.  The reason these are special?  Well, my heritage is mostly Swedish, along with the Welsh contribution on the other side. I share an affinity for that heritage with my Dad. One of my favorite memories was of him talking like the Swedish Chef from the Muppets. He also ate lots of sweets — one favorite being Swedish fish, which was a good gift idea through the years. Unfortunately, I share his love of sweets, too, but have been working on minimizing my sweet consumption lately.

I plan to make these socks someday, but colorwork and socks! That’s a lot in a pattern for me. Even though I’ve made several pairs of socks, they still stress me out. I worry about the heel the whole time I make the cuff, then I worry about the length of the foot and making the toe. I’ve always said that worrying is my favorite hobby, and socks really bring it out for me. I just need to jump in and do it!  Not right now — but maybe before the year is over. Maybe they could be my first knit of 2011?

This brings up my recent knitting project. Recent . . . as in, I’ve been working on my Nordic Sock Sweater since June of 2008. Maybe I can finish it by the time it is two years old. Right now, I’m held up in one of those “worries”.  It looks to me that the overlap for the buttons is too wide when I match up the sleeve seams. I was really pushing this one, but am once again stalled on it.  There’s about two inches of each side that overlap — I’m thinking that using larger buttons will make that okay.  If not, I’m thinking of frogging it and weaving a blanket with the yarn.

I really like this sweater pattern (Drops Design 107-3) but I didn’t realize that garter stitch sucks up so much yarn. Combine that with a huge sweater using sock yarn, and it is a daunting task. I’m actually quite pleased at the progress I’ve  made — if I can just get past my worries and finish it!

Photo of Swedish Fish Socks copyrighted by SpillyJane. Used by Permission

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits. knitcroblog2

This week has been declared Knit and Crochet Blog week.  And I have the crazy notion that I’d like to try this out. Maybe it will get me back on a weekly schedule of blogging.  And here we go!  The topic of the week is:

How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting? was it a skill passed down through generations of your family, or something you learned from Knitting For Dummies? What or who made you pick up the needles/hook for the first time? Was it the celebrity knitting ‘trend’ or your great aunt Hilda?

 It’s hard to remember the 60s –  because I was so young! — but sometime in that decade my mother taught me how to knit and crochet. I was probably around eight years old.  I don’t remember much about it, but I do remember the tears and fits when she taught me to sew in a zipper, so I’m sure the lessons were short and painful. I really had a low tolerance for frustration, so I’m surprised I learned to knit and crochet at all.

I suppose that frustration level was what lead me to take up crochet as my preferred craft. It is just so much simpler! My mother made afghans and sweaters and dabbled in other crafts, so I had a great example for all kinds of craftiness.

My great grandmother made beautiful multicolored doilies, and when my sister and I admired them, she made each of us one. See how bright they were! (She also told Mom to leave me with her for a summer and she’d have me married off in no time!  I was seventeen at the time and shocked at the notion.) I still have an old-fashioned fondness for doilies.

I crocheted when the mood hit, but don’t have any of my projects to show for it. When my grandmother died several years ago, I did find an old ripple afghan that I’d made from a kit in high school. I also took a “creative stitchery” class in high school, it was an easy “A” kind of class in my junior or senior year, when my boyfriend was more important than schoolwork.  I learned to do broomstick crochet and hairpin lace in that class; we picked our own projects and pretty much taught ourselves.  I made a baby blanket in each technique and gave them to my boyfriend’s cousin who had a baby two days before graduation. Ah, the memories!

To learn more about this event, visit Eskimimi Knits.   Tag:  knitcroblo1

On a side note:  I really, really want to know what this bush is so I can plant some in my yard. Anyone? Big dog included for scale.

Time flies at warp speed nowadays, a week can go by and I don’t even realize it. I’ve been knitting some, but it’s all the same old projects.  My Baktus scarf, which I started in September, reached the halfway point and was racing along, halfway to the end point, when something went terribly wrong. The second half did not match the first half.  So ribbit, ribbit!  Back to halfway done. I completed one eight-row repeat and set it aside to be my travel knitting again. Not quite a time-out, but pretty darn close!

I’m thinking of doing a mild over-dye when this is done since it is so eye-searing bright. I know, dyeing over Wollmeise is crazy talk, but you can see it is even hard to photograph it is so bright. Of course, this is a photo using my computer camera while I was out of town — and the scarf was much larger and closer to finished than it is now.

And where was I? Well, last week, I spent a four-day weekend at the Hyatt Regency hotel in Santa Clara, but it wasn’t Stitches West, which I skipped this year. I attended  CNCH which is a weaver’s guild conference.  (Okay, I’ll look it up.)  Conference of Northern California Handweavers.   Pretty clear, eh?

I took three half-day classes and really enjoyed them all. The first one was called Warp Fast by Daryl Lancaster. She showed us how to warp with a warping paddle, which was great. Then she showed us two ways to warp a sectional beam. That was awesome!  The last step in learning to use my “new” loom that I got probably two years ago, was to figure out what to do about the sectional back beam. I had no clue whatsoever. Daryl’s presentation gave me just the information I needed.  In the photo here, she is talking about the AVL warping wheel which is barely visible on the slideshow screen.  It winds the warp and tensions it while a section at a time is wound onto the beam. So, that is what I spent my CNCH market budget on this year. I’m excited to use it, but will have to wait for a while until things settle down around here.

My other two classes were for spinning — one on mixing colors and the other on making fat yarn. Both were taught by Judith McKenzie. I learned a lot more about spinning, especially that I don’t really spin like most people. Fortunately, I sat next to a very friendly woman who spins exactly like I do. We commiserated and practiced spinning “properly” with some lapses into our old ways.

Connie and I roomed together again, other members of our weaving guild across the hall, even though we asked for adjoining rooms. She had some great classes, too. Here’s a Celtic pattern she started on her Inklette loom. It’s amazing what can be done on these small looms.

There was a fashion show Friday evening and it was spectacular. The garments ranged from everyday chic to wild and crazy. The highlight was Tien Chui’s wedding ensemble. It was even more spectacular in person. The photo to the left is Sandra of our guild modeling one of her woven jackets. She makes gorgeous garments out of her woven fabrics.

Saturday evening we had a banquet with Syne Mitchell of Weavezine giving an awesome presentation about weaving and the internet. She was hilarious and her stories were fantastic. (Please excuse the blurry, far away picture.) On Sunday we drove home in a heavy rain, but it didn’t really dampen our spirits. It was a great get-away.

I’ll try to catch up on the other projects I’ve been working on in my next post.

Cali loves my new socks. And so do I.  These are one of those good fortunes brought by the unfortunate. Mom decided to make socks to keep her feet warm, so I dug out some Lorna’s Laces Shepherd worsted that was stagnating in my stash.

She popped these out in a flash, but they are too big for her. Awww … it would be sad if it weren’t for these lovelies being mine now.  No worries, though, she has a smaller pink/purple one done already and is almost done with a full pair in Lorna’s Laces Tuscany that was also languishing in my stash. She just happened to finish up her pink sock while visiting me and didn’t have enough yarn with her to make the second sock, so I gave her another color.  I’m so happy to see her knitting again after her carpal tunnel surgery in October.  And I’m really happy to be the recipient of some toasty new socks!

I chose two projects to knit during the Olympics and am following others who are really meeting the challenge. My personal challenge is probably a bit more than I can complete, since life is still pretty busy around here, but the motivation is great. First, I pulled out my Nordic Sock Sweater and am pushing forward pretty well. I had done half the back, which included the bottom fronts and now the upper back and sleeves are done.  I’m working on the upper front and am getting close to starting the front sleeves.  It’s getting as big as a blanket on my lap. I have hope that this will be completed this year. The colors still keep me going through the miles of garter stitch.

The other project is a new one that I’ve been looking forward to starting. It’s the Bramblewood Vest, which has cable panels running up the front and back.  The yarn is Berrocco’s Blackstone Tweed which is super soft, but it breaks pretty easily. I’ve gotten the hang of just how much I can tug on it, so it is going well now. This yarn is producing some softer cables, not real distinct, but I think I’ll like the rustic look.

The cables are a bit of a waste on the back since my hair will cover them, but I figure the practice will do me good for the front cables. The pattern has a different beginning that includes the fronts for a while, then they are left off to finish the back alone.

I don’t really expect to finish both of these projects, or either of them for that matter, before the Olympics are over, but I can live with that.  The motivation to knit is what I sorely needed.  I’m also signed up with Ravelry’s IntSweMoDo2010 (International Sweater a Month Dodecathon) which is an impossible goal, but I will do my best. I followed the 2009 version and was so inspired by all the lovely sweaters, I just had to join.  The two sweaters I’m working on are for January and February, so I best get a move on it if I want to keep pace, or at least tag along a step behind.  I’m already looking forward to casting on a sweater for March, but haven’t quite decided what that will be yet. My queue is long enough that it makes deciding the hardest part of the job!  I’m open to suggestions. : ) 

It has been a rough time in my family, but things are returning to almost normal. Sadly, we are missing the head of the family, my father, who passed away Christmas night. Needless to say, it was a sad holiday season for the lot of us. Things are looking up, though.  My mom is doing fairly well, keeping busy. I am returning to my normal-ish schedule. Life goes on.

We will miss the joy of life my father showed in his dancing and fishing and socializing. I hope that joy of life is what I will carry forward in his memory.

The “new” puppy is now four months old, which doesn’t seem so old, but look how she has grown. She’s still a handful of puppy energy, but she is being trained and learning to fit into her people-world, but just barely.

This weekend she will go to doggie daycare for a couple hours to get her used to being around the dogs and people there. She’s a shy thing, so it takes some practice.

Our cat has started spending time with us again, sleeping in the house (or the linen closet, actually) and letting us pet her. She only comes around when the pup is sleeping and it is uncanny how she knows right when that is. There have only been a couple close encounters so far.  I doubt that she will ever tolerate the dog’s presence.

Ah, and the knitting and weaving and spinning. How I’ve missed them!  I went a full month without even knitting, but I’m glad to be back at it again.  I pulled out the Nordic Sock Sweater, which was started a year and a half ago.  I’ve worked on it some in that time, stopping when it came time to do the increases for the sleeves. A couple weeks ago I sat myself down and wrote out the progression of the pattern and commenced increasing. Now I’m back to even rows for a while. I suppose the decreasing happens next. I’m actually still liking this project, in spite of the tedious nature of lots of straight garter stitch.

After things settled down, I did my Christmas knitting — a very tiny amount this year. I made another Dolphin dishcloth for my aunt and two Flings  which are skinny mohair boas/scarves. Both used Paton’s Lacette in black as the main color.  The one pictured used Lacette in lavender for the other stripe.  The one that I gave away before I remembered to photograph it (sheesh!) used Filatura Di Crosa College in a bright blue. I like that one best and might make one for myself someday.

This scarf is knit lengthwise, so there aren’t too many rows, but they are long. The stripes break it up a bit, and I like the slanted ends, too. The back is pretty, but not striped. The mohair halo makes this a very pretty accent piece.

I also have a triangle scarf called Lacey Baktus  going, which is my travel knit. Not much travel, so not much progress, especially after a frogging and restart after several inches. It’s going well now.  I’ll have to take some new pictures of it and post it up. Maybe next time. ; )

What’s been filling my days? Well, this is the newest adventure. She came to live with us yesterday, at 8 weeks old. She’s already 19 pounds!  She’s half mastiff and half  “whatever jumped over the fence.”  As with any baby, she keeps us really busy.

Before that, we had a good trip to Kansas to see my grandson, visiting Moon Marble Company again, seeing a movie, attending his birthday party, and toy shopping, of course.  He’s seven years old and getting so big. It was a joy to see him, as always.

When we returned home, we found my dad in poor health and spent the next week with doctors and then in the hospital for a few days. All is back to normal after that scare. Home health service workers are helping out and we are getting my parents’ house safety-fitted and more comfortable.

My knitting has consisted of a couple of dish scrubbies for my mom and a pair of pirate mittens. The mittens were a great hit with my grandson. And wouldn’t you know it, I forgot to take pictures of them!  I do have a fuzzy picture of one mitten that turned out a bit wonky and was replaced with a better one. They were sure quick!  Well, except for the re-do.  The pattern was a generic children’s mitten pattern done on two needles with a seam up the side. The skull pattern is from a hat pattern that I’ve misplaced.  I’m happy with how they turned out.

I don’t think the knitting — or weaving or spinning — will pick up much until next year, but I’ll keep checking in anyway when I can.  This next week is for getting ready for my husband’s family coming to visit. They’ve never been here before and I’m looking forward to their visit. I can’t believe the holidays are here again already!  Take a deep breath . . . and here we go!

Our first winter storm arrived last night. Wind and rain.  It makes me feel like snuggling up in my living room and knitting. And what could be better than to snuggle under a brand new handwoven blanket?

A couple posts ago, I showed you a view from under the loom.  This is what came off the loom a week ago.  I wanted to make another one right away, but time just won’t allow it.  This project finally makes me feel like I am a Weaver.

The technique is shadow weave, using a dark and light component to create the design. It takes 2 shuttles to alternate the 2 colors with each row. The pattern uses 8 shafts and is done in Lamb’s Pride worsted. The blue is an extra that caused some concern about how it would look, but I’m quite happy with it as an accent.

I took the Shadow Weave class from Linda Hartshorn last April and May in order to learn how to use a countermarche loom.  It was a long and difficult process to get the loom warped and tied up, but the time and effort was so worth it.   Linda was very patient with my procratinations and I managed to finish this the day before her next class started. Whew!

Now I need to transfer the process over to my own loom at home, a lovely countermarche that looks much easier to warp than the one at the studio. I hope so!  I find myself perusing drafts (patterns) to start as soon as I can find a couple free days.  What I really want to do is make another shadow weave as complex as this 8-shaft design, but my loom is only a 4-shaft. But I started looking more closely at my loom after hearing of some people adding shafts or harnesses to looms that weren’t called “four now four later.”  I saw there was room for more, so I emailed the Louet company and found that I can add four more shafts to my loom.  Something to look forward to!  I’d love to  make more blankets just like this one.

On the knitting front, I am working on hats and scarves, bit by bit. As soon as one hat in particular is finished, I’ll be casting on some mittens for my grandson. I’m headed to see him in a week, so I need to get busy on that!  If you are reading this and you are near Kansas City, let me know what the weather is so I can pack the right clothes.

I’m so excited to see my little guy, who is no longer little!  He will turn 7 while I’m there, and I haven’t seen him in a year and a half.  I have to confess to my knitter’s shame, though.  I have never knit anything for him. Not one thing. I’m not entirely sure why.  Maybe partly because I knit so slowly and children grow so fast.  I don’t think he likes knit garments, and I see him so rarely, but I’m going to give it a try and see how this goes. Mittens are a small thing.

I was thinking about kitten mittens, because he loves cats.  Then I thought skull and crossbone mittens, because he likes pirates. Guess which ones I’m going with?    I hope I can remember to take a picture before I give them to him.

Stay warm and cozy.  And knit a few.

(Blanket pattern can be found in the book 1000+ Patterns Shadow Weaves by Marian Powell.  Page 233, draft 8-26-1.  Tromp as writ.)