Quilting and knitting

I'm back to the sewing machine!  Finally!  After months of not touching it.  Little 5" blocks with corners.  All sorts of William Morris prints.  14 rows x 14 rows.  A bit larger than my usual lap quilts.  I am so enjoying this.  It's good to have the quilting mojo back again.

Knitting is going on while I'm waiting for the first round of Sock Madness.  Finished and accepted for the qualifying round.  But you know that I cannot be without anything on the needles.  So I started a lovely shawl, Roiling Waters, and bought yarn for it from Earthfaire.  I'm using the yarns from kit A.  I rarely buy kits, but Ellen does such a lovely job of putting yarns together, and her prices are reasonable, so why do it all myself?  She also does amazing bead bracelets, etc.  Check her out!

Knitting and quilting

I started a new shawl.  The yoke sweater is on hold until the recipient tries the body and a sleeve, and I'm still working on the other sleeve but that's almost done.  So, a new project is in order.

The design is Frozen Skies by Alla Saenko, and it's a lot of garter plus some lovely lace, so a bit mindless and a bit interesting.

I'm using Machete Shoppe yarn, bought at Winterberries, a lovely new NJ yarn shop.  Colors are Winterberry and Santeria.  Size 5 needle.  The colors remind me of Neapolitan ice cream with strawberries, pistachio nuts and a bit of chocolate.

On the quilting front, I've assembled 3 blocks just because I need to see what this thing is going to look like.

Here's what I discovered while sewing the first one together:  there is a spot where way too many seams come together, and my sewing machine is not happy there.  Tried 2 blocks with much cursing.  With the 3rd block, I opened the seams instead of the usual turn to one side, and it worked much nicer.  Sometimes,  the Yarnarian just has to use some ingenuity.

Hold me to it!

Here's what I have to do today:

1. Pay those bills.  I hate doing this with a passion.  I have the money, but the job is boring beyond belief.

2.  Fold the laundry.  Not quite as boring.

3.  Straighten up the dining room table.  Totally dependent on #1, and it has to be done.  They're coming tomorrow and Mr and Ms Slobbo need to get our acts together.  yep.  right.  Except that the table will be used for the seder on Monday night.  So there is no choice here.

4.  Go to the library and bring back the books and get new ones.  OK, this is fun.

5.  Go to Judy's and pick up more yarn for the crochet blankie.  Also fun.

6.  Bake bread.  This is it before Passover.  Then it's strictly Matzo Land.

7.  Do my banking. 

8.  Figure out a cool ground pattern for a new scarf/shawl.

9.  Decide if it is going to be a scarf or a shawl.

10.  Start a new shawl!  Reward time for me.

11.  Work on my new shawl.

12.  Probably frog my new shawl.

13.  Start new shawl all over again.

Now you all hold me to this.  You are responsible if I fail to get 1-7 done.  Notice how I place blame squarely on your shoulders.

Grace -I want the assistant to do the bills and the cleaning.  I'll happily do the knitting.  Maybe we could share.

What I did yesterday.

 I made bagels.  1 doz bagels from a recipe for a 1.5 lb loaf.  Guess how many were left when I got up this morning!   Three.  We went through almost an entire loaf of bread, i.e. we ate 9 bagels.  And I wonder why I'm putting on weight.  But they are so good.  I tend to make crunchy bagels rather than chewy ones.  And when you split them and toast them, oh my, they are better than potato chips.  And just as addictive.  Actually, I think I'm better with a bag of chips than my bagels.  Oh, and I'm almost finished eating that bagel.  Do I need to make more?  I think I'll make a regular loaf of bread instead; at least that lasts a couple of days.

Bagel recipe:  just a normal bread recipe:  flour, water, salt, yeast, and I added tons of caraway seeds.  Mmmm.

I cleaned the kitchen counters.  When we bought the house, we knew we had to do a total kitchen makeover.  We decided not to bump out walls or add anything to the original footprint.  And that was fine, except that we are serious slobby pack rats, and my baking area became a holding spot for junk.  I'm talking 2 huge piles of cookbooks, Cooking Light magazines, assorted bank statements from 2 years ago, scraps of knitting patterns, graph paper with those patterns graphed out, ancient sales receipts, etc, etc.  So yesterday, I cleaned it all off.  Whoo hoo.  I now have an area to work on.  I can actually use the baking center as a baking center.  I can mix, knead, whatever.  I wonder how long it will take before it's a mess again.

And I started a new project.  I was working on this shawl from hell, and finally got smart enough to frog the entire thing.  So, here's what's now on the needles.  I hope you are impressed.

This little gem took me forever.  I wanted to play with a different shaping, and for some reason, it wouldn't come together in my brain.  I finally took out the graph paper, and played with it all, and ta da!  I did it.  Of course I frogged it 4 times for very stupid reasons.  But now it's fine.  And then I spent also forever working out the chart.  I like the pattern that I came up with for the previous incarnation of this shawl.  So I recharted it, and now I have to decide when to begin it.  This is fun knitting.  This is a nice workout for my brain.  No auto-pilot here. 

And of course I photographed yarn, edited the pics, blogged, washed the endless laundry, and watched The Biggest Loser.  And ate bagels while watching The Biggest Loser.

Scrabblequeen - mmm.  Tasty and delicious! I"m now down to one bagel, which I'll force myself to consume in a little bit. And in the oven is a cinnamon bread, done in about 8 minutes.  I think I could live on bread alone.
itsJUSTme - I'm a good bread baker, and a lousy house keeper.  

Ruth's Basic Ribby Socks

Ruth's Basic Ribby Socks

No fancy, schmancy socks for me.  I'm into ribbed socks in a big way.  Right now I'm into showcasing the dyeing, not the patterning, so ribs work very well for me.  And, I know they fit perfectly.  This is true auto-pilot knitting, perfect for TV moments.  Complicated stuff gets done in the afternoon when it's quiet and no one is around to distract me.

This is yarn from my stash, bought way before I started dyeing.  It's a skinny something or other (the label went missing), and I love the way it flashes.  Sometimes you just have to go with what the yarn wants to do, and not try to impose complexity on a forceful colorway.  I tried it every which way in crochet, and it was a disaster, but here, on ribby socks, it's rather pretty.

My basic rib pattern:  k5, p2.  That's it.  I make a 56 stitch sock, use 2 circs, and 4 repeats on each needle works perfectly. 

Here's the basic pattern for you.

Ruth’s Basic Ribby Socks

Auto-pilot knitting at its best!

Size: Small, for medium – large sizes, add pattern repeats and/or use a larger needle.

Style:  Cuff to toe

Gauge:  7.75 sts over stockinette

Needles: size 2.50mm (size 1.5); 2 circulars, or whatever you’re comfortable with

Yarn:  350-400 yds of sock weight yarn

Pattern repeat:  7 stitches  

Cast On:

Cast on 56 stitches loosely.  Divide your sts up as follows:  28 on needle one, and 28 on needle two. 

Work pattern until leg is as long as you wish.

Heel: 

Heel flap is worked on 28 sts on needle two. 

At the end of needle two, turn work so that the wrong side is facing you. 

           

Row 1.  Sl 1 purlwise, purl to end of row.

Row 2.  *Sl I purlwise, k1*.  Repeat from * to end.

Repeat these two rows until 27 rows are completed.  You are now on the right side of the heel flap.

Turn heel:

Note:  Sl 1 = sl 1 purlwise

                Row 1:  (Right side) K 15, ssk, k1. Turn

                Row 2:  Sl 1, p3, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 3:  Sl 1, k4, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 4:  Sl 1, p5, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 5:  Sl 1, k6, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 6:  Sl 1, p7, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 7:  Sl 1, k8, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 8:  Sl 1, p9, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

                Row 9:  Sl 1, k10, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 10:  Sl 1, p11, p2tog, p1.  Turn.

Row 11:  Sl 1, k12, ssk, k1.  Turn.

                Row 12:  Sl 1, p13, p2tog, p1.  Turn.  You will have 16 sts on your needle.

Heel Gusset:

Work across the heel flap sts on Needle two.  With the tip of Needle two, pick up 14 sts along the side of the heel.  Pick up a stitch from the row below the first instep stitch to prevent a hole:  15 stitches picked up.

Needle one:  Work across the 28 instep stitches in pattern.  From now on, the instep only will be worked in pattern.  The sole will be worked in stockinette.  You will have 28 sts on needle one and 28 sts on needle two.

With the point of needle two, pick up a stitch from the row below the first heel st to prevent a hole.

Pick up 14 sts along the right side of the heel: 15 sts picked up.  Place a marker half way across the foot sts.  This will help you count your decreases accurately.

Work across the foot sts and the instep sts.  You are now ready to begin decreasing for the gusset.

Shape Gusset:

Dec. round:  At beginning of needle two (foot sts), k1, ssk, work to 3 sts before the end of needle two, k2tog, k1.

Work the instep in pattern.  Do not decrease here.

Work the next round without decreases on the sole.

Continue to decrease on alternate rounds on the foot sts.  Work until 28 sts on the sole remain.

Foot:

Needle one:  instep

Needle two:  bottom of foot.

Continue working in rounds in until the sock is about 1.5 inches from the end.  Decrease one stitch on instep at the end so that you have 28 sts on each needle.

Shape Toe:

Round 1: On needle one, k1, ssk, knit until 3 sts before the end of the needle, k2tog, k1.  Repeat on needle two.

Work the next round plain.

Work these 2 rounds until a total of 20 sts, remain.  10 stitches on each needle.

Finishing:

Holding needles one and two together, graft sts on them together using the Kitchener st.

Weave in ends on inside of sock.

Work the second sock.

Henya - Yep, it's my kind of knitting these days.  Pretty, simple and fun.

DJNL - This one is even more mindless than the k3, p2 one.  More knitting, I guess.  Can't wait to see one of those browns turned into socks!

The Yarnarian and another shawl

Please click on the pics to get a good idea of how pretty she is.

You know that the second I finish a shawl, I'm onto the next one. And so here is Nurit, a flower of a little shawl. She's made up of little flowers, and very easy, quite satisfying to knit. I have to do the charting and writing up, which you know I hate to do. But how can I share her with you without a good pattern?

She's knitted on Alexa, SW merino/nylon approx 420 yards, with a nice little ball of yarn leftover. The colorway I dyed is a soft mauve pink and is an almost solid, which is my favorite kind of colorway for a shawl.











I'm quite pleased with her. Nurit looked like a total mess as I was knitting her: blobby and lumpy, the usual with a lace shawl, but with a good wet block, she straightened her act out, and became quite pretty.

Have a lovely weekend! We're off to see the Brooklyn gang and then the Mommie's Chanukah party this weekend. Festivities, fun, and for the grands, some presents.

The Yarnarian Is Back.

Click on all the pics to get the true look of the shawl!

Whew, it's been a crazy couple of days here, and I'm sorry I had no time to blog. But everything is fine.

Mommie news: We had quite a scare yesterday. She fell, and when the staff came into her room to ask her if she wanted to go to a program, they found her on the floor, bloody and very confused. So, they called me, the rescue squad (yay, rescue squads!), and carted her off to the emergency room. I met her there a bit later. In short order, the Mommie has some broken facial bones just under her right eye, but, most important, the eye muscles were not affected. She has one helluva bruise on her eye, and she looks as if she's been in a barroom brawl. Bloody nose, the whole nine yards. But her vitals are all fine, and she looks a mess. The Hubbo and I brought her home, where they saved some supper for her. The kitchen staff is wonderful, and they heated up her supper, brought it to her along with her coffee and chocolate cookies. She'll be on antibiotics for 10 days just to ensure that she doesn't get a sinus infection. I suspect she might be a bit sore today, but she wasn't complaining much yesterday.

I was supposed to go to MA this weekend to see the gang, but I'll stay home and visit her every day. I want to be nearby just in case something goes wrong.

The Mommie charmed everyone in the emergency area. All sorts of doctors, physicians assistants, and other medical folk came to visit her. One doctor wanted to know her secret of longevity. She's 95! She quipped with everyone, kept her sense of humor, and was truly adorable. This is the woman who was the toughest mom around. Boy was she tough! And now in her old age, she is delightful, charming and funny. And everyone loves her. Yeah, Mommie! At one point, I gave her a kiss on her head just before they took her off for a scan, and the nurse in charge asked her if she could give her a kiss too. Of course, said the Mommie most graciously.

Knitting news: So of course, I brought my knitting to the hospital. Emergency room visits are at least 4-5 hours long for cases like my mom's. I'm prepared all the time with my knitting. I finished the little shawl that I showed you. I love it; it's pretty and lacy and easy.

When I got home, I soaked and blocked it, and discovered in the process that when I bound off, I didn't pull my thread through. Emergency room nerves I think. But I didn't lose much and have enough yarn to refinish it.

Before blocking:




After blocking.








Don't forget to look at the info for the Flower Fairies Sock Club! Either Tuesday, November 24, 2009 post, or here! Flowers, Fairies, spring. I already am tired of winter. very big sigh.

The Yarnarian Blathers On!

Yup, it's Friday, the day that nobody buys yarn or reads blogs. I haven't figured out why, but it's true for me. Still, I feel like a good blather, so this will be written whether it's read, or not. ;-)

Knitting News: Remember the violet blob I showed you the other day? Here's a pic of it in not so blobby form.



I love knitting on edgings, even though it takes me at least 10 tries to get it right. I knit and frog, and repeat until I'm happy. And then, I knit 2-3 repeats and decided that I'm not happy, so frog again. It's not particularly difficult to frog; you just have to catch the live stitch that you're knitting together. And now I'm hoping I have enough yarn. I dyed up 600+ yards of the lighter violet, and it should be enough, but you never know. I have visions of me running out 2 repeats from the end. Gnashing of teeth. Then I'd have to frog, always catching that live stitch, and make a narrower edging, which would defeat what I want to do with it. So, cross your fingers, toes, and eyes that I make it. You just never know. These are very short rows, but I need way over 900 rows in total.

Dyeing news: I had a grand time dyeing on Wed. I wasn't in the mood for it, but went ahead anyhow, and ended up thoroughly enjoying myself. I decided to base many of my dyeings on a particular dye, and randomly picked scarlet, and then watered down the scarlet to more of a coral/pinky scarlet. All four of these yarns is scarlet-based: Jabbersocky, Flippy, Jibber, and Liebe.









Before I went scarlet crazy, I had some leftover dye solutions from Monday, so here are the results of that dyeing: Dulce, Belleza, Raritan and Sea Sprite.









Sea Sprite is Emily lace weight and quite delicious to knit from. That's the yarn I'm using on the no-longer blobby shawl. The reskeined ones are Penny, of course, and the others are Bambi, the Bambi with the little white blobbies here and there, the heathery Bambi.

Prices? Everybody but Emily is $20; Emily is $32 for over 1200 yards of merino deliciousness.

If you want before Etsy, you know the drill:

fritzL234 AT yahoo DOT com

Have a good weekend, don't work too hard, hell, don't work at all, don't eat too much, don't yell at the kids too much, don't hell at your parents too much, be kind, try to repair the world a little. Do not ever yell at your Grammie or Gramps. Oh, just enjoy it!

Love,

The Yarnarian

Yay, Henya and Ruth in Ottawa - you read my blather on Friday.

The Yarnarian Has Pictures.

So, I'm happily working on my lace scarf and lace shawl, plus other projects. These 2 are irresistible to knit, and I keep going on them. Do you ever have a few projects that call you nonstop? That's what these 2 are doing to me. Here's a pic of the scarf, that may turn into a shawl when finished and blocked. I cannot tell which it's going to be, and when you look at the pics, you'll understand what I mean. The color is violet. My camera thinks it blue. So the more violet one is the correct color, more or less, maybe. arrgh.





And here's a good pic of my new shawl. I'm knitting this in my newest yarn, Judith, 80/10/10 merino/cashmere/silk. Not superwash, but who washes lace shawls in the machine anyhow? I think I said that in a previous post. Good grief, the woman is repeating herself. Size 6 needles.



Purchase: Look what I had made for me as a custom wallet:



Here's the inside of it, the color is a bit off because I really blew it up so you could see.



I have one of these in wristlet form, and it holds everything. You would be amazed at what you can stuff into it. Wristlets, however, are bad on my wrists, so I asked Julia to make a long strap that I could wear diagonally. To tell the truth, I just asked for a long strap, and she came up with the diagonal idea.

I bought it on Etsy from Julia Martinez. She has lots of fabrics available, and she's wonderful to work with.

And that's it. Today is as usual laundry day. Every day is laundry day, but today I'm determined to actually finish a load.

Henya - Wait for lace when the kids are a bit older, then you can drape yourself in gorgeous lacy stuff.

Bishop Stone - My advice? Just work slowly at your lace, and count often. Also, try to learn your pattern: look at the graph and then at your knitting, and see what kind of pattern there is, where you yo or decrease. It helps a lot.

PS, the wool is to dye for. I couldn't help it. Had to say it. hee hee hee.

The Yarnarian Learns the Definition of "Old".

I was visiting the Mommie yesterday and she asked me when she was going to be 94. I told her it would be in early November. So then she said: I'm getting old."
"What do you mean, old?", I said, "You are already there." "Nope, old is 99. I have a few more years to go."

That left me pretty much speechless. "So what does that make me?" "Oh, Honey, you're just a child."

You heard it, directly from the mouth of a "getting old" almost 94 year old woman. The definition of "old" is 99!

Knitting news: I'm working on 1 scarf, a vest, 5 prs of socks, all of which have the first one knitted, and a lace shawl I started last Saturday. The last is from the book by Evelyn Clark: Knitting lace triangles. I saw this stunning shawl on Ravelry, and I had to do a variation on it. This is the shawl by the Knitting Doctor, and I'm in love with it. So, Saturday I cast on for it, frogged it 4 times, and was happy the fifth time. And this is all I've done. But at least you can see the color.



Carolyn - If I'm a child, what does that make my grandchildren? The book gives 4 lace patterns and tells you how to transition from one to the other and then gives you a border. It's nicely laid out. Truth to tell, I really didn't need it because I've been doing this a long time, but it's nice not to always re-invent the wheel, and anyhow, her patterns are lovely. If you're an experience lace knitter, you don't need it, but on the other hand, it's really a nice book. Take a look at my link above to the Knitting Doctor, and you'll see why I like the book.

Ria - That's a cute story.

Jean - When I have lunch with the Mommie, who lives in a senior residence, I really do feel like a youngster. The fist time I visited, all I could see was how old everyone was; now they look just like ordinary folks to me.
Thank goodness the metro New York area is not a youth-oriented culture.

Sharon - The Mommie is called "your Highness" where she lives. She gives them the Queen Elizabeth wave.

KV - She certainly is a character. Tough, gives nothing away, never loses an argument. She is THE Mommie!

KnitNana - I hope we make it to that age and are still as tough as our mommies!

To all you lovely responders: aren't Mommies wonderful?