Socks!!!

Hi Everyone,
I hope you are all coping well with the heat. I am knitting inside quite a bit, when not in meetings and services. I have had a book on my shelf for months now that I have been avoiding because it seemed to be a very difficult thing to learn. However, my desire to begin to learn how to make socks has overpowered my intimidation and here is the result: I have learned the "2-at-a-time"

circular sock technique, using one circular needle!
If you are a fan of Magic Loop in circular knitting, you will pick this method up in no time at all. The book is clearly illustrated and the directions are, for the most part, clear and acurate. I did have to reference the Knit Witch video for help with the heel and gussett that I am linking to here:

This was because the information in the book wasn't clear enough for me regarding turning the heel, and the gussett and heel are probably the most important things to learn in this project. For me, they were, anyway.

I use Magic Loop for every knit-in-the-round project that I do, so I am very familliar with how to use it. That made the learning experience much quicker and easier. If you haven't tried it yet, don't try to learn this sock technique until you make Magic Loop your friend! You will thank yourself in the end.

Here are the pictures that I took of my sample socks as I made them. Melissa Morgan-Oakes suggests using two different colors of 4 ply knitting worsted for the sample set. This helps to keep the two socks and their yarn from getting tangled while you learn how to do this.

This method is really quite remarkable, and I recommend that you at least try it if you are serious about sock making.

Have a great day!

Barbara

Let's Knit one for Ourselves!

Hi Everyone!

First of all, let me say that I hope your Independence Day was a good one. We visited Mystic Village, in Mystic, Connecticut, which was great fun, even though the weather was oppressive. I found new summer reads and new music to play while I work, and even bought a silk fan that made me feel like Madame Butterfly!

The weather has been very good for my flowers and herbs, as you see from these pictures of a few of my plants. The summer is so fleeting here in New England, that we try to squeeze every bit that we can out of it! But, I must admit, 3 days of 100 degree F was more than I wanted to deal with!

So, what to do on those oppressive days, when all you can really do is stay indoors in the air conditioning? Knit, of course! And I further decided that it was about time that I knit something for myself! So off I went, in search of the perfect pattern. I actually found several that I want to try, which surprised me. Not being a "Twiggy", after all, a lot of sweaters look great on the model or in the pages of a fashion magazine, but oh! how awful they look once they meet a "curvy lady." That, of course is a euphemism for "larger sizes."

I found a set of booklets, published by Classic Elite Yarns, called "Curvy Knits." Each one had several patterns that I wanted to try. One of them, the blue sweater, with the model holding the sunflowers was the one I decided to try first. This is a picture of how far I have come with it, and I am very pleased with the color and texture, as well as the look of this sweater.

So, yesterday, while feeling a bit of "cabin fever" from being stuck inside for several days, I decided to go and vist a local yarn shop, Knit Wits, in Westerly, RI. It is a nice shop, with a friendly and helpful owner (Kate) and a fun group of knitters. I looked around and found two other possibilities for myself. One was a book called, "Big Girl Knits," by Jill Moreno and Amy Singer. It has some really good advice on measuring and "curving" your knits to give ultimate success to your garment. I recommend it if you are a curvy girl or if you are knitting for someone else who is. You won't be disappointed!

The other "find" was a magazine called, "knitsimple." In it you will find patterns which adapt beautifully to a wide (and I mean WIDE) range of sizes, which are really beautiful. I can't wait to try some of these.

Finding Knit Wits was fun and a very good piece of luck for me, and I'm sure I'll go there again. If you haven't been there, try it. It's not far from Rhode Island's South Shores.

As always, I hope your days in this wonderful summer weather are great!

Barbara

PS A quick correction-- It turns out that Jo Ann Bartholomew is the owner of Knit Wits, but Kay is there sharing the duties of "Manning the shop." Well, she was great, and I also look forward to meeting Jo Ann on my next visit!

Beaded Knitting!

Hi Everyone!

Last Friday, in my usual class time, I learned about beading in knitting. There are several ways to incorporate beads into your knitting. In her wonderful book, "Knit One Bead Too,"Judith Durant showcases in several chapters, each of five ways to add beads to your knitting. The five ways are: Bead Knitting, where you knit each stitch with a bead, Beaded Knitting, which allows you to string multiples of beads onto your knitted garment or handbag, SlipStitch Bead Knitting, which allows for pre-strung beads to be "slipped" into the piece at certain charted places, Carry Along Bead Knitting, which brings beads strung onto a second yarn into your work and accomodates very small beads that might not fit onto the knitting yarn, and lastly Hook Bead Knitting, which allows you to add a bead anywhere in your work without the bother of pre-stringing and carrying along what can sometimes be a rather large number of beads on your yarn. Hook bead knitting is the only one that does not work with pre-strung beads.

If you have the chance, or if you have always wanrted to try working with beads in your yarn, I would recommend this book. The page illustrations are clear and the explaination of charting is well done.

The only problem I had was in the actual hook bead knitting that I am showing in the photo here. The yarn was probably too thick for the small metal crochet hook that I needed to use for the Japanese seed bead to fit on the hook. Other than that, I think that patience and practice will make for a big win!

Hope you are having a fine day!

Barbara

Be A Red Hatter!

Hello!

Well, today I am showcasing some of the motifs that I have made for Red Hats. They are made from a collection called, Paint the Town Red, by Dakota Collectibles. They can be used on jackets, shirts, Tea Towels (as you see!) or on any fabric. They are fun to work with and easy to make on your embroidery sewing machine.

Take a look!

Fair Isle Knitting!

Once a week, I try to learn something new. A few weeks ago, my friend, Joyce and I took a "Mental Health and Refreshment" day and went to Cape Cod. Our intention was to visit a few yarn shops and one of my favorite quilting shops, Heart Beat Quilts . My other hope was that I would find a DVD in one of the yarn shops that would instruct me on the making of Fair Isle knitting patterns. (The "Fair Isle look" sweaters that you have seen in my previous posts are made using a self patterning yarn called Baby Jaquards, by the Bernat company. That's what lit the fire to learn the "real thing!")

Well, one of the shops we visited was Ladybug Knitting Shop . At that shop, I asked if there was any possibility that they might sell a DVD, instructing Fair Isle knitting. The shopkeeper gave me a web address for the Philosopher's Wool Company , which is located in Inverhuron, Ontario, Canada. They sell an instructional DVD called, "Two Handed Fair Isle Knitting," and it is available on their website.

Well, I purchased it immediately and it came the other day. Yesterday, I used my instruction time to try to make a stab at learning it. I never expected to learn all four stitches, but I must tell you that Anne and Eugene put together a clearly understandable, easy to learn set of lessons and I just loved learning from it! See the results for your self:

So, it only goes to show you that you can learn anything if you have good teachers. I heartily recommend this DVD if you are looking for a way to learn Fair Isle knitting.

Have a great day!

Barbara

A Variety of "Catch Up" things!

So, what do you do when you find yourself with some old projects that you say, "Oh, I'll get to that tomorrow.... (Vivian Leah eat your heart out!!) You just start doing them!

Here are some things that qualify this week.

My good friend, Father Peter, sent me a chasuble and stole to embroider crosses on. They have been languishing for some time because I forgot they were there! Shame on me, but all's well that ends well and here is the final result. The motifs are from Windstar Machine Embroidery Designs. You can find them at http://www.windstarembroidery.com/ . They make a great selection of religious art into embroidery machine motifs. Deb even specially digitized the extra large motif, so that the stole and chasuble would match.

I am also showing the hat and sweater made for my great-niece's first birthday present. This one, at least will be on time!!

I am also just finishing a pair of Tea Towels, made by using a new type of machine embroidery-- at least it's new to me!-- called Photo Stitch, which gives an incredibly real look to the motif. What do you think of it?

So, just keep on trying and don't let being late keep you from getting things finished and out. I'm sure we all have a pile of UFO's (UnFinished Objects) somewhere!

Have yourself a great day!

Barbara

Embroidery Makes a Comeback!

So, for a while, my embroidery machine has been very quiet. But lately, it has been humming along, making a variety of things. I have been wanting to do some Red Work on my Tea Towels. Here are some examples. I really like the ones that are floral, as these on the left.

I also found some really terrific motifs of Spring. In addition, I fouind a really terrific one of-- believe it or not-- Rosey the Riveter!

Take a look!

So, after that, I worked on some really nice butterflies, as you can see.

And finally, I was working on some "Soup" recipe motifs. They were a lot of fun to work on!

So, that's it for now! See you next time!

Barbara