Tapestry Shawl

I was given four skeins of Wisdom Yarns Poems, which is a really nice wool. So I decided that I would make up the yarn into a shawl and return it to the nice gal from the knitting group that gave me the yarn for free! I know she doesn't read the blog so our secret is safe.

I love the way it is has a built in curve. Short rows formed the points of this knit. It is a lot bigger than the picture shows and overlaps almost twice. I couldn't get a good picture of me wearing it. The pattern is available here.

A Possible Solution

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Thanks for all your suggestions about what to do about making new work. I decided to try and join a co-op gallery in an arty neighborhood in Chattanooga. I filled out the membership application and made a cd of examples of my work and sent it off. Jurying is in January, and having been in this gallery several times, I know of only one other fiber artist, so hopefully membership will be granted to me.

One has to work at this gallery twice a month, which is fine with me, since it will be fun to see what works, what sells, and to meet new people. And I don't have to make anything new immediately, as I have about 83 pieces on hand to submit. I like this because I have sworn to avoid stress in any amount. We'll just have to see what happens.

Reevaluating

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Looking for something that I knew I had, I began to put stuff away, removing the clutter so I could see where that thing might have gone. As I took away all the finished knits I had piled everywhere, I had difficulty stuffing all the things in the drawer. Hmm. Then I put all the fabric back into the Rubbermaids, and stacked them into a tower five bins tall. I have enough fabric. I have enough yarn. I have enough art supplies, and I have enough finished artwork, I have enough clothes, socks, pajamas, coats, mittens, scarves, etc. I have more than enough quilts!

I have enough of everything.

While I am thankful for it all, I am left thinking that making more of this stuff is nutty.

I have sold stuff, and given away stuff and made stuff for people and think that this has to be stepped up a bit. There is just no more room here for more stuff.

So...I have to change my thinking and figure out who, how and where new stuff will have to go.

Because I do have to keep making stuff.

Circus Striped Socks

Since I have been enthralled of late with garter stitch and finding the perfect picot edge, (Baktus Beret) the urge to make matching socks in multiple yarns had to finally erupt.

Yarn: Sock or fingering in multiple colors
Pattern: For the cuff/leg: Using a crochet or your favorite provisional cast-on, pick up 40 stitches on size #2 or #3US needles, either dpns, circular or straights, it really doesn't matter since the cuff is knit flat.
Row 1: K
Row 2: K
Row 3: K until the end and then cast on 2 stitches and then cast those two stitches off (I mean bind off). This makes the blob at the end, aka Picot.
Row4: K
Simple eh? Change yarn after each set of four rows, and make 24 stripes or sets of these four rows.
Unravel the crochet cast on edge and put those stitches on another needle and join with a three needle bind off. Weave in the ends. This finishes off the cuff. The foot is up to you.

I use a standard pattern from Ann Norling which is based on 48 stitches. You may have a favorite one that has 56, 60, or 72 stitches for the foot of the sock. Since I used 48 it was a simple thing to pick up 2 stitches for every stripe at the base of the cuff. If you knit tighter and use a smaller needle, you will pick up more stitches per stripe. I knit two rounds in stockinette before beginning the heel flap which evens out or controls the stretchy cuff.

With these socks I am ready to join the circus!

PS Here's a free pattern for 48 stitch socks.

Two Carats

Is this not the tiniest carrot? I pulled it out of the garden and just had to show you what a miserable a gardener I am. This one escaped the voles, but growing in the shade all summer does not a carrot make. I am currently rethinking my entire garden.

Sewing Results: Best 2 out of 3

I should have known better. The drop shoulders were a dead giveaway which I chose to ignore, at my own peril. Looks great in the pattern, but made up, it really was designed for shoulder pads. And really, really slouchy without them. Luckily the fabric was something worthy of just trying this out, so I am not upset that it was a fashion disaster. I will not complete this garment.

This pattern, at least was purchased this century and worked out just beautifully.

I made the coat from black two-sided fleece, the expensive kind that won't pill. The hood was deleted since it would interfere with all the showy scarves and shawls I have made. Sometimes simpler is best. And it has pockets! And one perfect button. Still needs large coat snaps which I will pick up today in town.


The same pattern yielded the plain blue t-shirt, which fits like a dream and is also so basic to make a nice backdrop for knits.

I love Wednesdays. Knitting Club, lunch with Brooke and of course, shopping!

Counting Fish Again

Because of the recent rains, snows and heavy frosts, the pond has lots of new clear water. This brought the fish to the surface where I could see them clearly and get a good count. I saw 16 big goldfish which is amazing since we had gotten down to three last year, or so I thought.

I have been tossing in fish pellets into the water, hoping someone is eating them, and now I can see by their robust selves that they are getting to the food.

This is the pond's drain, which is an eyesore, but it is also where the fish hang out and hide in the tall grasses. My hope is that this Spring the grasses will encompass the drain and make it less visible.

And I am back at it. This is the Ithaca Cowl. I used a new to me yarn from Hobby Lobby called I love this wool. It's pretty nice to work with and $6 for 219 yds, but, of course, I had a coupon. I plan on blocking it so it will be looser and lie flatter on the shoulders, but I couldn't wait to post it. And I thought I would dye it after I finished knitting, but I changed my mind. I have nothing in white, so it is staying undyed.

Beginner's TV Tech

We have four TVs. Ridiculous I know, but we stay home A LOT and that's my excuse. Two of these digital TV's have these blue rectangles on the back which are called something technical, but for our purposes I'll just call them outlets. The cable 'plug' in my hand is a leftover from my deceased digital projector but is available at any Radio Shack or Best Buy or even some advanced Wal-Marts. I don't know what they are called either. But just ask for a cable to connect your digital TV to your laptop, to use your TV as a monitor.

Wha?

So here's the deal. Yes you can use a big screen digital tv as your computer monitor and do surfing or email or even work on it, from your favorite chair. But even more interesting to me is that you can watch TV shows that are available online as I did yesterday.

I watched missed episodes of Glee, House and Castle and then went over to Netflix and browsed the zillions of movies available to watch with instant download. I invited Dave to join me and we watched 13 Days (Kevin Costner) about the Cuban missle crisis of 1962. Good for a nap, but once I woke up I liked the rest of it.

Hulu.com is a great place to find stuff to watch. Movies, tv, documentaries, even HBO. Of course you can do this on any computer, but the big screen and not having to have the laptop on your lap is what makes this so fun. At least to me.

A Change of Pace

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Out of the blue, after I cleaned up my studio, I had an idea that I haven't sewn any new clothes in ages. I used to love clothes sewing, but with all the great stuff I recently found at the famous rumdums like Goodwill, or America's Thrift Store, I totally forgot about making my own. I have a seasoned stash of lovely fabrics and just a ton of old patterns, some of which are back in style again. Imagine that.

So I got it all out and cut out a long t-shirt (first pattern) to start. The Hoodie-Jacket in the Vogue pattern looks intriguing and I have a some black fleece which would work for that. And the jacket-shirt in the third pattern would be cool if colorblocked or with interesting pockets appliqued on one side.

I managed to rethread my serger and get the tension adjusted perfectly. Shocking.

Did I mention the hundreds of antique Stretch and Sew patterns that I have collected over the years? They can be made with woven fabrics too. One is a saddle shoulder pullover. When have you ever seen one of those?

This one offers both full and tapered sleeves. I don't think anything but knits would work with this one. It is from 1980. I used it in the past to make matching shirts for me and Dave. Hey it's not too late to do this again...PJs perhaps?

Obviously this is a distraction from knitting. Still recouping.

Mitered Mini Neckwarmer: It's Catching On


My version and then the much nicer version by Beth. Her user name on Ravelry is Shmu.

Shmu

Lisknit from Germany did this one, then more Shmu, and finally Elisa98 from NJ.

I am so thrilled that people are making my pattern, and more than once! When I made mine, I used yarn that I bought on impulse, and of course it goes with nothing in my wardrobe, so it's time I make another one which will actually get worn. I'm putting it on my list and staying off knitting one more day.

The free pattern link is on the sidebar.

Powerless!!

When I returned late Wednesday afternoon from Chattanooga I noticed the power lines were down in our driveway, and me with a carload of lovely anniversary dinner ingredients and no electric, phone, cable tv or INTERNET ACCESS!!! Argh!

So how did we celebrate our anniversary? I left the food in a cooler on the porch, but took out the champagne, and we had sliced apples, cheese, raisins and pecans for our dinner. Dave entertained us with his acoustic 12 string guitar, wearing a battery powered headlamp strapped onto his bald head that made him look hysterically funny to me. His singing was definitely improved with the champagne. I conked out by 7:30 and he stayed up til 9:30 when the electric was restored. But still no phone, cable or email, which finally came back on at 2:30 today.

It was probably the best anniversary party in a long long time and tonight we'll have the gala meal I had planned. Film at 11.

Thanks for all your anniversary wishes.

PS. No hangover!!

Thirty-One Years...

and we're still married

Yup. We talked about growing old together and I have a head start.

We will have a nice dinner at home, since we never go out anymore, which I will be bringing back with me from Chattanooga today. I'm attending Knitting Group and seeing my sister to bring her some yarn and I'll do a little shopping perhaps.

I wanted to share something sent to me from Jenny Williams, now that Pierogis are in your consciousness. This website has a pierogi maker that makes a bunch at once.

And for the knitters among you I found a great site which I put on my sidebar blog roll. Tech Knitting, which has a ton of wonderful helpful instructions, with pictures.

Another site Knitting Help.com is a great one with videos and has taught me how to do all sorts of neato keen stuff, which I am not doing now since I am still resting my arm.

We had huge thunderstorms last night and the pond filled to overflowing. You can see water is sitting in the driveway too. It should be 60 degrees by the time I arrive in Chattanooga this morning.

Out of Commission

I've done it again. I've overknit.

I should know better, having experienced this many times in the past. I get so addicted to clicking needles and fondling yarns that I don't stop and rest and then my arm and hand throb all night.

Stupid.

So other than bake, I guess I will be forced to clean. Ugh. Or I could clean for a specified few minutes (ten on the timer) and then read something. I have all those new books...

NO, I cannot quilt or paint, as both use that same arm and hand.

Hmm...There's always rearranging of furniture...

In this blog I try to be honest and tell you the whole story, but I haven't said too much about my profligate past. I have done a few things in my youth for which I am not proud. I learned alot of life lessons which like algebra, have never been all that useful in my adulthood, other than I'd never do that again.

Once upon a time, thirty-five years ago or so, I was newly single and struggling to support myself with two jobs, one of which was as a cocktail waitress at a sleazy honky tonk nightclub and the other was waitressing in a Polish restaurant. I'd be hard pressed to say which one was more detrimental to my virtue, but, it was the 70's and virtue was not in vogue, and besides I was making up for lost time. At least at the honky tonk I could understand when a customer wanted more than was on the menu.
At the Polish restaurant I served lots of foreign gentlemen and managed to communicate with just a few phrases, meaningful looks and gestures that I learned from the cook. This often resulted in mistaken impressions on the part of the homesick men, and larger tips. Take a few seconds and imagine what transpired.
OK. Enough of that.

I also learned about great Polish food. PIEROGIS!

Suddenly Sunday I had the urge to make some. I used this recipe, and filled them with some leftover mashed potatoes, or some cooked ground pork (ground myself to prevent ickiness) or a mix of both.
The thing about Pierogis is that they are a stickum to your ribs type of dish and one needs to be cognizant of that fact going in. And they should be light and delicate. Mine are more of the lumberjack variety. Big muthas.

After a careful boiling, they are 'sauteed' in butter (you wimp!) or if you walk on the wild side as I have done...bacon drippings.

Then served with sour cream and applesauce. No one is going to feel lonely and empty after a meal like that.

Knitting Q&A

Dear Melody,
You... have inspired me to want to learn to knit. A friend from my quilt guild knits, and is in a group that meets on Monday nights. After final exams this week, I'll go next week. I want to make the Baktus scarf. What weight yarn/size of knitting needles should I get? What is the advantage of using circular needles?

Kristin in SC

Dear Kristin,

Fabulous! I hope you find learning to knit a fun experience. My mother taught me to knit when I was 15 to distract me from being heartsick. I had fallen in love with a boy in Erie PA when I was visiting a school friend there and I moped around all summer because we couldn't be together.

Knitting really did the trick! Forgot all about him. When I knit today, I still forget I have a husband.

The Baktus Scarf is a perfect first knit to make. It is all knit, no purl, not that there's anything wrong with purl. I do it all the time. But to begin, it makes it easy to stick to the same motions. There will be increasing and decreasing every four rows, but hardly any casting on or casting off. Three stitches to start and end. I recommend a circular needle because you never lose the second one. And you will be building up the number of stitches and it is easier to hold them all on a circular.

Spend the money and get good needles. I love the Addi turbos I have and also the Clover bamboo circular needles. Don't waste your money on Boye's or Susan Bates. The cable part between the ends isn't flexible enough, IMHO.

The thing about the Baktus scarf is that it works with almost any yarn and any needles. To start I recommend a nice DK weight merino wool yarn and maybe size US6 needles. Merino wool is totally seductive, yummy, soft, not itchy, and dreamy to knit. DK is lighter weight than worsted but is not as light as fingering or sock weight. For this scarf to drape nicely it is better to use a light weight yarn. Nothing bulky. You'll need about 300-400 yards total.

Go to a real knitting shop and pick out two colors that coordinate. One might even be variegated. The reason I suggest two yarns is that it is easier to remember to increase on the fourth row if you are using two colors. It is easy, don't worry. Knit two rows with one yarn and then two more with the second color. When you start the second color you will increase one stitch on one edge (always the same edge). To make it even easier, I would slip the first stitch of every row and then make your increase.

That may be too much information for a beginner, but pass this on to your teacher and she will show you what I mean.

Good Luck!

Melody

Dear Melody,

When are you going to stop knitting and get back to quilting. I keep checking back to see if you are done with the yarn stuff and doing fabric stuff again.

Anon

Dear Anon,

I haven't put away the fabric, and still have patchwork sitting (collecting dust) on my work table. I meant to get back to quilting, but I had just one more thing I had to try with knitting, and then I ordered some yarn to dye, and after that I had to try out the dyed yarn, and then I got another idea of a way to do something and had to try that and then I had to make it again and again and again....

And boy, is my arm sore from all this knitting. So there's hope.

Melody

PS It snowed just as forecasted. About two inches. Pretty. I was planning to go on a Studio Walk in Sewanee today, but will have to wait until it melts...maybe by noon. I am not afraid of driving on snow, but slippery wet mountain roads are a whole 'nother story.