It feels like it's been years since I've done any sewing. ;) This has been a very busy week, including a holiday luncheon/team building day for work. To that event, I wore my Santa hat which is a copy of one that Penny wore in last year's Christmas episode of the Big Bang Theory. I am a geek and I like that show. :)
You can find all the details of the hat on Ravelry. Search for "Penny's Hat."
This weekend is all Nutcracker, all the time. DD1 has four performances and I will be attending two of them so I can see both of her "major" roles. It's only Friday and I'm already tired for Monday.
Off to make some fudge. Think I will get any sewing done tonight or, indeed, at all this weekend? Somehow, I will manage to sew a bit, as I have deadlines! :)
Here is another little knitting project, fresh off the needles.
This scarf, called the Kusha Kusha scarf, is a free pattern from Setsuko Torii and uses threads from Habu Textiles, a Japanese fiber company. The Japanese mills are now producing very exciting new textiles, and the Japanese yarn/thread companies are producing exciting new fibers.
The Kusha Kusha scarf uses two Habu threads, both packaged on cones:
Habu Textiles A-177 Super Fine Merino
Habu Textiles A-20/21 1/20 silk stainless steel
The navy cone is 100% merino wool thread. The black cone is stainless steel/silk. You can see it has some memory retention.
At first, these threads are held together and knitted as one on size 8 needles. Eventually the merino thread is dropped, leaving the stainless steel/silk thread and you switch to size 6 needles. Then the size 6 needles are replaced with size 4 needles and, finally, with size 3 needles. The lace mesh that is created becomes finer and finer.
The final scarf is then felted. The merino thread "blooms" when felted. The stainless steel thread does not felt, theoretically, but it also shrank, so I am a bit confused. The metal in the thread creates a slight glitter and contributes to memory retention.
I could not believe how much the merino thread felted! It created a very substantial piece of felt. I hand felted in the kitchen sink with a touch of Garnier Nutrisse shampoo. Before felting, the scarf was 62" long. After felting, it was about 40" long. Unfortunately, though I did take many photos before felting the scarf, the camera had no memory card, so I don't have any pre-felting pics to show you.
Laid out to dry, after the felting process
Other ways to wear the scarf
I have quite a bit of the merino thread left. It's a nice weight for topstitching. I have a small amount of the stainless steel thread left, but I have plans for that too. ;)
I couldn't resist a bit more knitting. This time I made a holey scarf - a free pattern on Ravelry called the Swiss Cheese Scarf. (The link only works if you have a free Ravelry account.) Three skeins of fingering weight yarn (Araucania Solid #103), a size 3 bamboo circular needle, and 48,510 stitches later (give or take) and, voila.
Before felting, approximately 66" x 17" with 27-1/2 repeats of the 16-row pattern.
Before felting
Next step, a top loading washing machine, small load, hot water, 1 Tblsp laundry detergent. Ten minutes later, nothing had happened, so I added an old "unlinty" (lint might become embedded in the felt) towel and set the timer for another 10 minutes.
Yowza, very felted. I let it go another couple minutes (not sure why, but I guess I wasn't mentally prepared for it to be done yet) for a total of 22 minutes of agitation. I removed the scarf from the machine, placing it in a bowl of hot water, and rinsed in additional hot water until clear. Squeezed out as much excess water as possible, and laid it on a towel, under a small fan, to dry.
Voila. It's probably a tad overfelted, because it is more stiff than I intended, but I love it!! As I was knitting, I suspected that the Araucania would felt well (because the yarn liked to grab itself) and I knit loosely. However, it exceeded my expectations by felting to the point that there is no longer any stitch definition. I had hoped for that, but wasn't expecting it.
After felting, approximately 63" x 13.5".
Despite the holes, it is quite warm. I would like to make this again in a charcoal gray, maybe changing the dimensions a bit and felting it a bit less. I should add that this piece uses two dye lots. I bought two skeins on ebay for half price and the third, also on ebay, from a different seller that was a bit more expensive. When the third skein arrived, there was a visible difference with the other two. I considered my various options, but decided that I didn't really care and just added the third yarn to the end of the scarf. I like how the scarf subtly changes, in fact. :)
On a different topic, I was asked to post a photo of one of my recent pieces made from the bamboo jersey from FabricMart. I didn't plan to post this Teagarden T, which I made in September during the SSS challenge, because I've already made and shown this pattern several times, but here it is in rust bamboo jersey. This is for you, andib! :)
One of the sewing blogs I follow is The Selfish Seamstress. I enjoy the humor of her blog. She is a younger, petite sewist with a passion for classic and retro styles crafted in menswear fabrics. She has recently relocated from Canada to Europe and her sewing machine has been in transit, so she has been knitting in the interim.
I had been getting the itch to do some knitting recently (must be the season and the cooler temperatures), when I saw her latest project, a Missoni-inspired scarf, and I had to make one. This design uses the classic Feather and Fan stitch, and I was preparing to create my own, when she graciously shared her pattern. I had already located some Lang Jawoll Magic sock yarn - I loved the variegated greens in her scarf, but I selected the blue shades (color 84.0035, or 35, for short). Lang Jawoll Magic is a superwash fingering weight yarn that is 75% wool and 25% nylon. The zigzag design of the Feather and Fan stitch really highlights this yarn's tendency to stripe. I grabbed my size 7 (4.5mm) bamboo circular needle and off I went. The pattern is on her page, but here it is again:
Cast on 78 stitches:
Row 1: K
Row 2: P
Row 3: K3, * (K2tog) 3 times, (YO, K1) 6 times, (K2tog) 3 times. Repeat from * until 3 stitches remain. K3.
Row 4: K
Repeat all rows until desired length is reached. Bind off loosely.
Before blocking
Notes:
I slipped the first stitch of each row in the way it would have been knitted (or purled). This is an age-old technique that yields a more stable selvedge edge.
I ripped out many, many rows of this project. In fact, for the first 15 inches or so, I probably knitted it twice, because I did so much "unknitting". And that was after my first effort, which I completely frogged after a couple inches. I was really good at losing stitches, or forgetting the odd yarn over. Feh.
I used less than two skeins. The completed scarf was 56"x10-1/4" when relaxed.
This is a lace pattern, so you really have to block it to fully appreciate the design. I wet blocked mine, gently swishing it in a sink filled with warm water and Garnier shampoo (the current "regular" shampoo in the shower). I emptied the sink, refilled it with clean warm water, and rinsed the shampoo out. I put the scarf in a clean dry towel, rolled it up, and removed as much water as possible. I then laid out the scarf on two towels on the carpet. I arranged the scarf to 80" x 12", coaxing the scallops into shape, and secured them with lots of pins, stabbing directly into the towel/carpet. I didn't bother pinning the sides of the scarf, but smoothed it with my hands. Because it was a rainy day, I pointed a small rotating fan at the scarf to encourage it to dry more quickly.
Proper blocking is no laughing matter, Jack!
Lacey goodness, post blocking.
Fini
Now that it's done, I'm a little sad. I finally got this pattern down and now it's over. I need a new knitting project. :)
I liked this skirt so much, I made it four times in late 2009. For example, here and here. I made this particular version in January 2010, using fabric left over from this Au Bonheurs skirt, but I didn't get around to blogging it. For this version, I cut the unusual striped fabric on the bias and omitted the drape. I made sure all the tucks were on the "gray" wide stripe. I also increased the angle of the hem.
I also knitted the scarf, though it was several years ago. I used a skein of Nepalese silk sari "leftover" yarn, cast about 16 stitches onto largish needles, and knitted in stockinette until the skein was gone. (The scarf curls in on itself.) I then sewed little felted balls to the ends – sort of a funky fringe. I got the idea from Renee, a very creative friend of mine. :)
By the way, I chose that yarn link at random, I bought mine from a local knitting shop. I got a bag of felted, oblong balls from either the Hearthsong or Magic Cabin online store several years ago, I can't remember which.
The skirt pattern is one of my favorites and is now out of print, but shouldn't be too hard to get a hold of.
3) Hollow Braid with 6 blue and 2 cream strands. After approx 2", switches to Round Braid.
Maybe you've heard of Kumihimo? It's a Japanese braiding technique that is traditionally done using a wooden stand called a marudai or a takadai. Thirty years ago, I wanted to try kumihimo, but it required a fairly expensive outlay to get started, so I'd never gotten around to it.
Then, about 11 years ago, my 6 year old brought home from school an economical, portable form of kumihimo that uses a foam disk with cut slots to hold the yarn. What a brilliant invention – no need for the heavy weights required for traditional kumihimo and, did I mention, it's portable? I quickly ordered myself up a couple of these disks from Braiders Hand. (I see they now offer a square "plate" for making flat braids. They didn't have that years ago when I ordered mine.)
Even before the disks arrived, my kids' interest waned (in fact, DD2 now swears she's never even seen one of these things before) but I played with it a bit. Since I had no real use for the braids I was creating, I laid the disks aside and, eventually, they were stored in the garage.
I recently decided I would like to experiment with using these braids in clothing, and I dug my disk out of the garage. I could no longer remember the correct technique, but Youtube came to the rescue.
I first started with the standard round braid, which is what my kids had learned. My first sample used 8 strands of a fine crochet thread and the resulting braid was far too thin. I found some yarn left over from previous projects – it is roughly a DK weight. I tried the 8-thread round braid using the yarn, and I liked the result much better. This braid is more supple and definitely has potential.
Next, I decided to try a square braid. I have seen many obi cords that use a square braid, but my 8-thread braid was far too compact and stiff. Of the three patterns, I found this one the hardest to keep straight in my head and I made a couple errors in my sample. (It seems like every time I thought, "I have it now!" I would make a mistake.)
I then tried a hollow braid. The bottom sample starts with about 2" of the hollow braid and then I switched back to the round braid, which is my favorite of the three. (In the photo you can see where it changes pattern, just a bit over the hole.) This time the pattern is slightly different because it uses 2 white yarns and 6 blue yarns (positioned as shown in the Hollow Braid video), where the other samples use 4 and 4 (positioned as shown in the Basic Round Braid video). I love how changing the yarn colors yields such a different effect.
Below are the Youtube videos that I found useful. If you go to Youtube and search on kumihimo, you will find other videos, including those that use the traditional wooden stands. There is also a video showing how to create a beaded braid using the disk. The resulting braid reminds me of bracelets I saw for sale in Egypt.
Basic Round Braid
Square Braid
Hollow Braid
Eventually you will see a kumihumo braid emerge in at least one of my pieces. It won't be immediately, though, as I have a lot of other things going on too.
2006 Winter Olympics
I have been watching the Olympics the last couple of weeks and it has been making me think back to the 2006 Winter Olympics. At the time, I was "into" knitting (one of my friends calls me a serial hobbyist) and I decided to participate in the Yarn Harlot's 2006 Knitting Olympics.
The point of the Knitting Olympics is to cast on during Opening Ceremonies and cast off on or before the closing ceremonies. You are encouraged to challenge yourself in some way. I think this was the first sweater I had made, except for one I made as a teenager for my mother. And that one wouldn't go over her head. :) For me, making a sweater in that time frame was challenge enough, and this one used intarsia, a technique I am not adept at.
DD2 really wanted a Weasley sweater from the first Harry Potter movie and I managed to locate one of the original patterns released by Rowan when the first movie came out. I found an online chart to use for the letter A – the pattern supplied only the letters H (for Harry) and R (for Ron), if I recall. I used the Rowan tweed yarn that was used for the original movie sweaters.
I read somewhere that the expert knitter they hired to create the original movie sweaters worked hard to achieve the "loving hands at home" look. Not unlike an adult working hard to replicate a child's scrawl-like text. For me, I had no trouble at all achieving that look. LOL. I'm sure DD2 could still fit into the oversized sweater, but it's been sent off to storage – its services are "no longer required."
I also made her the hat that Hermione wore in the Prisoner of Azkhaban. The site that sold this pattern is no longer around, though I did find at least one free pattern when I googled. I believe I used Manos yarn for this.
And of course, she needed a Gryffindor scarf. For this I used an inexpensive Plymouth acrylic and one of the many free internet patterns.
Finally, I made her a nose warmer, which has nothing to do with Harry Potter but DD2 requested one because she hated getting a cold nose in the snow. I got this pattern from Knitty. Of course, she wore all of her knitted booty up to the Tahoe and promptly lost the nose warmer. :) Come to think of it, it's been years since I've seen the hat, too.
Oh, did I mention that DD2's favorite color, for years and years, was red?
So, that's what I was doing four years ago during the Winter Olympics. This year, it was all sewing, stenciling, and kumihimo. :)
