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

Baby Sweaters and Hats

Hi Everyone!

In this entry, I'd like to show some baby sweaters that I have made.

I have used a variety of yarns. The lesser expensive ones include the Bernat Baby Jacquards (100% acrylic), like the Easter Egg color variations shown here. I also have used Knitcol Trends, which is 100% Lana Merino Virgin wool Superwash, and is more on the expensive side. It is lovely, but you also need to think about whether the child will be able to have a wool product on their skin. Both wash well. Also, both are self patterning, which means that those beautiful patterns come from the yarn itself and not by changing colors every so many stitches.

Let me make an observation about baby sweaters. They are, first of all, relatively small, and therefore not as intimidating as setting your cap to make a large adult sweater, which can be scarry and sometimes frustrating, coming out of the starting gate of sweater-making. You can learn about how to construct any size sweater by starting small, and if there are no "little ones" in your life at the moment, you can always donate them to a great cause. My personal favorite, Kent County Hospital's Blue Denim Ministries, is run by my friend and the Episcopal Archdeacon in Rhode Island, Robin Higbie for at-risk babies and their parents. They will gladly take any baby hats, sweaters and blankets that you want to send their way. Any other clothing donation center will be glad to take your sweaters, and it's a great feeling to know that, as you learn, you are helping others. Here, by the way are some more pretty hats that went to Blue Denim Ministries!

Second, it doesn't take an outrageous amount of yarn to make a baby size sweater, so go for it! At most, you are looking at 3 or 4 small skeins of yarn, and it's a great time to try some of those fabulous yarns that you have been holding on to. Third, and this is also great if you are planning to donate your finished project to a good cause, ask your knitting buddies if they would like to share in the fun by going through their stash and either knitting along with you or donating some yarn to the cause. Working together is fun, helps to share the task and gets more to those who need it a lot quicker. And in the end, you have also added to your community store of knowledge.

In our Tuesday night knitting group, Knit Happens, we are always interested in charities that we can apply our talents to. Sue, our fearless leader, is willing to consider any idea that will help others. We have made baby hats, ladies scarves, booties-- you name it and it's been done. My sister, Judith, spends a considerable amount of time making adult size sweaters and they are then donated to a local shelter. The director there commented how wondeful that is because often there are not that sort of donations for adults and they are very, very well appreciated! My Tuesday morning Knitting Ministry Group at the Cathedral of Saint John (http://www.cathedralofstjohn.org/) is always working on something for babies, adults, the Navy Project, the Army Project-- well, you get the idea!

Have a great day!

Barbara

Mittens!

This will be a quick posting because I mentioned two posts ago that I would say something about mittens. I tried making a set for my daughter for Christmas, and I had some fun doing that, although my technique needs improving!

I am using "Magic Loop" for the construction. It can be done with one or two circular needles, and it's important that you use a 40 inch cord. In this case, I am using one circular needle. I like this method because it avoids the use of DPNs (Double pointed needles). You can find a number of wonderful intructional videos on YouTube if you want to learn this method of circular knitting. I like the Knitting Diva, myself.

I highly recommend it! If you are a new knitter, you will catch on very quickly. If you are a seasoned DPN knitter, it will be a bit more of a challenge, but you can do it, and I think you'll very quickly pack away all those DPNs, never to see the light of day again!

I think for me, the learning curve in mitten construction is the thumb gussett, which I admit I struggled with getting just right. I plan to parctice more, though, so in the future, I'll post what I continue to learn.

The important thing is not to give up because the work seems intimidating-- it's only yarn!! At least, that's what I keep telling myself! LOL! Have fun with it, and keep on learning new things!
Barbara