Tag Archives: acatherinenoon

Fuzzy Shawl

Knoontime Knitting

My lovely sister in law gave me yarn for Christmas (which is a little like giving crack to an addict, but there you go). Two of the balls are this really fuzzy tribble stuff that have a variegated black and grey colorway with little silver sparkles. It’s fun stuff. I decided to make a triangle shawl with it, since it’s a little scratchy, that way I can wear it over other clothing.

Here’s the progress so far. I’m going to have to switch to circular needles shortly, since I’m running out of room on these. As you can see from the tip, I was adding four stitches every other row – a make one on each edge and a yarn over in the middle once the lace pattern started. I decided to leave off the make one, so I don’t run out of depth (since I only have the two balls). It makes a pleasing sort of rounded heart edge on the point that I like.

This detail picture shows the lacy bit, which is a little silly with such a textured yarn but I like it. Bonus points if you can spot the error!

The Story Shawl

Knoontime Knitting

My husband and I went on an Outward Bound Dogsledding expedition in 2006. When we got back, I went shopping with a friend of mine in Wisconsin and found some incredible silk and mohair yarn that looked like sunrise on snow. Still under the influence of the Boundary Waters and our experiences there, I set to work on a shawl that would tell our story.

The border is eight stitches, one for each person in the party. I chose a seed stitch to symbolize life and growing. Just like in a garden, people can come together and learn to support each other in the same space but not taking the other’s light or nutrients. We form symbiotic relationships.

I added a row of lace yarn-overs, the holes symbolizing the fact that when we came together, we weren’t a team. We were eight separate individuals, but not one unit. We separated into two teams of four; three students with an instructor. One day the students were with the dogsled, one day they were skiing. The instructors had a two-day cycle, two days on the sled, two days on skis. I chose a basketweave pattern of K4, P4, four rows each, every so often going for eight rows to symbolize the instructors.

At one point in the middle of knitting, when I had about a hundred stitches on the needles, I decided to try an alternate basketweave stitch that I found in a book, thinking it was the “right” way to do it.

It looked totally wrong.

Faced with the decision of unknitting three rows of over a hundred stitches, it occurred to me that this was a perfect metaphor for the middle portion of an expedition. You know your mates well enough to identify their quirks and likes, and well enough for little frictions to pop up. After all, you’re adults enclosed in a vast and threatening wilderness with these other individuals for hours at a time.

It was exactly right.

I left the stitches in and completed the shawl. Eight rows from the end I dropped the yarn-overs, symbolizing that by the time we arrived back at Home Place, we were a team.

The bind-off is done in a sewing needle bind-off that took about six hours to complete. Incredibly detailed, it nonetheless creates a soft, supple edge that doesn’t look at all like a bound-off edge. It’s springy and slender and adds to the beauty of the garment.

This is one of the most expensive and time consuming projects I’ve designed and I share it with you so you can see what can be done with two sticks, some yarn, and an idea.

Fingerless Gloves

Knoontime Knitting

I came across a wonderful pattern for fingerless gloves in a book by Melanie Falick, Weekend Knitting. Here it is from her website with some images you can browse:

http://www.melaniefalickbooks.com/weekend-knitting-gallery/

I used some bulky wool from Knitpicks, in a lovely dusky rose color. I got them from a class I took a couple years ago, so these gloves are a good thing to use when you have stash and no project.

My hands are larger than the model, though, so I cast on 30. The first one I knit I used the directions for the thumb and didn’t check before I bound off; it turns out to be too tight. I apparently have really muscular hands. (We won’t say fat, will we?) The other one I used six stitches and it fits just fine.

This first shot is of the gloves flat on the table. They’re not very attractive this way, surprisingly, though you can see the garter rib stitch very well.

For this second shot, I used one hand with the camera and wore the glove on my right hand, which is coincidentally the glove where I modified the thumb.

I really like the purl bind off. It’s simple but pretty and makes a nice line of stitches that match the cast on. I will definitely be making these again. If I make them longer, to go up to the elbow, I’ll need to modify them to fit over the muscles in my forearm (here is where your gauge swatch will come in handy). (Shush. Of COURSE you gauge swatch.)

Weave-It!

Knoontime Knitting

I inherited a new old tool from my mother’s estate called a Weave-It. I spent a large portion of today playing with it.

Before I show you my work, check out this website for how the experts do it:

http://store.buxtonbrook.com/instruction.aspx

Okay. Here is the first swatch I did. I couldn’t get the edges to lock, so it’s not stable; but I like the look. It’s Lion Brand Homespun in a colorway I don’t recall from a couple years ago. The weaving came out a lot flatter than the knitted version looks.

This next one is done on the smaller loom, 2×2. I had the same problem with the edgings.

So after looking at the website, I realized I wasn’t catching the edge threads properly. It does come with an instruction book, but I have a very difficult time going from 2-D to 3-D, and that really was the case here. The website was extremely helpful, and I was able to do this:

So I got out some scrap cotton yarn and…

it broke.

🙁

Moral of that story, use better yarn. I was only an inch from the end!

Not even an inch! But my tension was REALLY tight, which is something the instructions tell you to watch out for – and boy, they ain’t kiddin!

But I had fun. I think if I got faster, I’d be tempted to play more, but if today is any indication, it’s slow going. I’m much faster knitting (which, to be fair, I am no novice at), and even crochet (which, to be fair, I’m quite the novice at).

Happy crafting!

Sewing Lessons, Here I Come!

Knoontime Knitting
I have decided that one of my holiday gifts to myself will be sewing lessons! Those of you who know me, know that this is a little silly, since it will be the third, yes THIRD, time I have taken it. Well, third time’s the charm!

I will be studying with Veronica Brackett, one of the best teachers ever! (And I mean that!) She is awesome. An incredible seamstress, she is patient and kind and an excellent instructor. I hope to actually finish class this time, and emerge successfully with a skirt out the other end!

I will be making a Vogue Pattern, and am very excited.

Crochet Victory!

Knoontime Knitting
I have successfully figured out crochet! I got a great book, one of the Interweave Press Harmony Guides (which I highly recommend, by the way).

Harmony Guides: Basic Crochet Stitches 250 Stitches to Crochet, by Erika Knight.

First I did several swatches, experimenting with Single, Double, Half-Double, and Treble crochet stitches. Then I dug out some red yarn I had left over from a project and got to work. It’s a combination of Half-Double and Treble stitches and turned into a scarf for Michael.
Here it is in its entirety:

And here is a stitch detail:

Weird Goofy Tree Ornaments

Knoontime Knitting

My knitting guild, The Windy City Knitting Guild, volunteered at the Museum of Modern Ice festival in February, 2008. We put together a giant craft studio, with knitting and other handicrafts. Some of the many things they had available were pipe cleaners, beads, and little satiny balls that look like tree ornaments. I got to thinking. When I was little, we used those little triangle beads to make wreath-shaped ornaments… what if…?

Figure 1: Okay, it looks goofy. But it’s the only one of its kind in the world, so be nice to it. It’s lonely.

Figure 2: Side detail of lonely ornament of doom. The beads came out kind of blury, but the little satiny ornament thingies are clear. I mean, don’t they remind you of ornaments?