Tag: <span>knitting</span>

Tag: knitting

Ceramics, Scarves

All Things Crafty

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Spinning and spinning and knitting.  Spinning up clay on the wheel, spinning up yarn on a different wheel, and as always, knitting.

Not too long ago, I started going to Cara’s open studio Wednesdays at the Cobb Studio.  She’s a wonderful teacher and it’s been an incredible amount of fun getting my hands dirty.  I got a quick lesson in throwing clay on a wheel one day when the studio was a little emptier than usual, and I’ve slowly been working on getting better.  Just wanted to share a few pieces I’ve made that I’m super happy with so far.  The first is a little tea cup.  It’s a bit heavy and thick on the bottom,  but I absolutely love how the handle came out.  The second is a mug with a leaf applied to the side so that you can slip your hand inside and keep your hand warm while you sip on your tea.  Unfortunately, I neglected to account for the shrinkage of the clay when it dries, so it came out a little smaller than I expected, but I can still get my fingers inside the little leaf pocket.

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For fiber spinning, I’ve spent the last week or so not knitting. I think I may have over-knit recently and my elbow is telling me to take a break. I’ve got two bobbins spun and plied so far, and am working on some 100% silk which is challenging, but AMAZING at the same time. Below, on the left is some superwash merino fiber from Twisted Fiber Art in the colorway, “Maple” and on the right is more superwash merino fiber from PigeonRoof Studios in, “Illuminated Moss.”

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Then I have another spun-to-knit project because this month has been all about handspun.

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Fiber is from Fiber Optic yarns and is 80% Merino and 20% silk dyed into one big long gradient.  The colorway is Gold-Copper-Cinnamon-Espresso.

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All spun up!  480 yards, fingering weight, and chain plied to keep the color progression.

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Knit into Saroyan!  (Ravelry Project Link)  The pattern is pretty easy, and the only issue is that it wants to curl up.  I thought I had blocked it pretty well, but the garter border at the top still wants to curl under.  Other than that, I’m really happy with how this came out and how even the not-so-even handspun knitted up.  Can’t wait to wear it out and show it off!

Gloves/Mittens

Owlie Gloves

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Owlie Gloves! They’re just too cute, and a great way to use up my growing stash of handspun.

First, the Fiber:

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Fiber is by Gnomespun and is Polwarth in colorway, “Hidcote” – I picked this up at Rhinbeck in October 2010

 

Second, the spun yarn:

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Yarn was chain plied, and came out to 328 yards.  It probably falls between worsted and DK and is pretty slubby and uneven, but it’s got a very handspun quality to it which is perfect for gloves.  The unevenness seems to disappear, especially when knit at a smaller/tighter gauge.  The yarn is lofty and squishy and perfect for gloves.

 

Thirdly, the gloves!:

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Pattern is Owlie Mitts that I added fingers to so that I’d have gloves.  I love fingerless gloves and mitts, but really, it’s my fingers that get cold, and adding fingers to mitts is pretty easy!  They fit perfectly.  The gauge is pretty tight (think knitting a thick DK yarn on US 1.5 needles), but there’s no way the cold is getting in through these.  The beads were sewn on later rather than knitted in since I didn’t have the crochet hook or floss necessary to add them during the knitting.  No big deal.  Here’s the Ravelry Project Link if you want to see my short bit of notes.

11 in 2011, Socks

Warm Up Sox

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It sounds naughty right?   Well the pattern comes from a book called The Joy of Sox, and yes, it’s a clever play on another book about something entirely different.  The pattern was originally knit starting at the toe and finishing at the cuff.  Now, I can knit socks toe-up, but I loathe every second of it.  I learned to knit socks from the cuff down (top-down), and it’s more familiar and comfortable for me.  So, I pretty much took the stitch pattern and worked it into a top-down sock.  Yeah, the cable is upside down, but it really doesn’t matter to me, and the basic idea of the sock is still preserved (or at least I think so anyway!).  Really love the eye searing green from the colorway called, “Night Vision,” and the yarn was fun to knit with, making a squishy pair of socks.  So sad that it’s summer and I won’t really be wearing them till the fall again, but when the cold weather comes, I’m sure they’ll be ready for my feet.  This is the third finished item in my 11 in 2011 goal for knitting this year.

knitting, Socks, Spinning

Go With the Flow Socks

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Finally, another spun-to-finished project.  I’ve been accumulating quite the stash of handspun, and I figured it was time to put some to use.  The yarn is dyed by Meg at Twisted Fiber Art, and she’s really quite the magician with dye.  The colorway is called, “Intrigue,” and was part of a club Meg ran for 3 months.  I spun the superwash merino roving into a thin single and then chain or navajo plied the yarn so that the colors would stay together as they were dyed.  I ended up with about 425 yards of fingering weight yarn that was then turned into a really squishy pair of Go With the Flow socks.  The pattern knitted up quickly, and I only made a few modifications – worked a plain slip-stitch heel and didn’t turn the work inside out after the heel flap was done.  I love the way they came out and refuse to take them off now that the photos are taken.  Yeah, it’s almost not-sock season, but that won’t stop me from stocking up for the winter!

 

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11 in 2011, Socks

Gin & Tonic

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This is the second finished item of my 11 in 2011. Yeah I might be a little behind, but I can still make it, right?

The yarn is Sheepy Feet from Sheepy Time Knits, colorway, “Daisy Chain.”  The color pooled up making these awesome spirals of green around the socks and I love how that happened – looks like a twist of lime, going with the gin and tonic theme.  The sock pattern, Gin & Tonic, worked up really quickly and I’m happy with how they came out.  No real modifications to the pattern, just knit it as-is.  Pretty short post, but socks are socks, and it’s more about the eye candy here than any fancy write-up!

11 in 2011, knitting

11 in 2011

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So there’s a knit-a-long for doing 11 projects in 2011. I’ve finally sat down and made a list. This is a sort of replacement for the knitting resolutions and is a much better idea. Detailing 11 projects and going for just those 11 sounds like a good idea. So, here goes the list.

  1. Shedir Mittens – From the original hat pattern, my sister-in-law requested mittens to match her hat.  Given the way KnitPicks changes their colorways every season, the same colors aren’t available, but I think there are some that are close enough.  Using the linked pattern and continuing on to make mittens instead of fingerless gloves.
  2. Juneberry – I’m sort of intimidated by this, mostly because there’s pattern work on both the right side and wrong side.  But, with enough time, I’m sure I can finish it.  There’s 11 months left, right? – DONE  – Ravelry Link
  3. Gentleman’s Fancy Sock – This project has been languishing and needs to be cast on and completed this year.
  4. Triumph Cable Scarf – For a relative on the husband’s side who was gracious enough to gift me 17 fleeces from her sheep.  I got a batch of roving back from about 1/3rd of the wool so far, and have gotten a little spun so far.
  5. Joanie – I just really love this sweater and definitely have the yarn for it already.
  6. Skulls & Flowers Mittens – They’re too cute.
  7. Casadh – Socks.  By the way, half of this list is going to be socks. – DONE – Ravelry Link – Blog Link
  8. Gin and Tonic – More socks! – DONE – Ravelry Link – Blog Link
  9. Irate Squirrel – Socks.  Can’t go wrong with a name like that. – DONE  – Ravelry Link
  10. Frozen Margarita – Another awesome name.  Already have the kit, just need to knit it!
  11. Warm up Socks – Pattern from a book I have already, might as well, right? – DONE – Ravelry Link – Blog Link
Classes, Socks

Sock Knitting Workshop

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I’m running a sock knitting workshop in Phoenixville, PA!  Check out the flyer above, but if you want the pdf version, you can grab that here.  I’ll be posting some more details later today, but I wanted to get this post up right away!

Someone forgot to put the cost of the workshop on the flyer.  So, the flyer on this page is the current one, sorry for any confusion!  The cost is only $7.  There’s still space left too, and if you need to brush up on some knitting skills before February, there’s plenty of time.

Skills:
Here are a few videos from knittinghelp.com that show the skills you ought to have before the class.
Long-Tail Cast On
Knit Two Together
Slip-Slip-Knit
Basic Knit stitch – either continental or english is fine
Purl – again, either method is fine
Picking up stitches – I’ll be teaching this one in the workshop

2010 Knitting

The Year in Knitting, 2010 Edition

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I suppose it’s time to go back and review my 2010 knitting resolutions, even though I didn’t make them all. Also, letting the blog go for two months without a post is so not good. Need to get back on that.

1. The American Aran Afghan. This is the beast that I will tackle and finish this year.
YEAH NO. I got three squares in and ended up somehow injuring myself and couldn’t knit for a solid month or two. Pretty much killed that project. I’m sure it’ll be done eventually, just not any time soon.

2. Knit /spin any club yarn/fiber in the month it is received.
I hit this one out of the ballpark. All the club yarn was knit into socks, and all the club fiber was spun. Let’s just not talk about my stash equilibrium that I was hoping to work on by doing this.

3. Knit two sweaters.
Not just two, but THREE. One of those was a sweater knit out of handspun. Still need to get that post up, but I DID IT.

4. Knit one double-knitted item.
Missed this one for a second year in a row. It’ll happen when it happens, I guess.

And lastly, because the post needs some eye candy, a flickr slideshow of my Finished Objects from this year.