Knitting and quilting

Mismatched socks for Miss P, she who inevitably loses socks, therefore I make singleton socks that don't match.  She loses one?  Doesn't matter; she has plenty more.

64 stitch sock, helix pattern with 3 yarns.

I also have a shawl on the needles, but no sense in photographing it yet; it's messy as usual.

More hourglass blocks.  Such fun! This is not a design board; the blocks are just plopped down randomly.

Take a look at the center points of each block.  They match!  And I didn't pin them; just sewed them.  whoo hoo.

How I make those hourglass blocks

So here they are, a bunch of hourglass blocks.  I have often said that I cannot sew a straight seam nor cut a straight line, either.  Honest -to-goodness truth.  But I am an expert knitter, and one thing I've learned after a gazillion sweaters, socks, scarves, shawls (rarely hats), is how to fudge, and how to take advantage of whatever tools there are that will help me.  So, I use top-quality needles and excellent yarn, almost always wool.

When it comes to quilting, I've found that I also need the best tools for how I work.  Not only am I a crummy sewer and wonky cutter, but triangles and those lovely bias sides, really do a number on my piecing.  About a year ago, I bought Brenda Henning's Triangulations CD.  And that's how I can make these quarter-square blocks.  Everything is stabilized by the newsprint paper that I use to print out my blocks.  Here's a look at how the process works for me.

So, this is the paper for the size I'm making.  I print it out on newsprint, which works fine in my printer.

This is what it looks like after sewing on the dotted lines and cutting on the solid lines.  Ignore that pinch of paper on the orange triangle.  That's just how I put it on the table.

Pressing the triangle open.

Pressed open and on the right side.  At this point, I tear out the paper backing.  Since I use a tiny stitch, it tears off easily.

Here they are, right sides together, ready to be sewn.

Is this labor intensive?  Yep, but at least I'm not gnashing my teeth over my usual out-of-whack pieces.  I just noticed that the top piece looks like it's stretching.  Nope, just the camera angle.

And here you can see how nice they come out.  Who'd a thunk it?  Not bad for a wonky seamstress.

Playing around

with hourglass blocks.  These little guys measure 3.5", and will finish at 3".  I figure I'll need about 400 of them! 

This is not a real layout, just me playing around with them.

Yesterday's eggplant dish proved to be adorable, but not very tasty.  Both the Hubz and I found the eggplant very bitter.  I love the idea of the little eggplants, but not the taste.  I did find another recipe that I might try.  The other possibility is to use Japanese eggplants, which don't taste bitter to me.  We shall see.

Hourglass blocks and food

The latest hourglass blocks.  These take so much time that they almost qualify for slow stitching.  It is a nice rhythm, though. Same blocks in both pictures, just moved to the left.

Food!  The Yarnarian is still cooking Indian, just not taking photos.  But look what the Hubz got today at the Indian grocery store:  baby eggplant.  Are these not the most adorable veggies in the world?  I have recipes for them made in the Instant Pot, as well as one on the stove top, but I'll probably try the IP one first, just because I can.

Knitting?  I'm working on a pleasantly mindless shawl and the endless socks.  This time it's another mismatched sock for Miss P. 

It's time to sign up for this year's Sock Madness.  Why do I do this?  The socks are always way to large for me, I often don't like the complexity (I've made so many socks in my lifetime that I want simple TV watching socks), and I'd rather be knitting something else.  BUT, I love the goofy idea of Sock Madness and the camaraderie,  and the lunatic fun of it.  I also like being on a super fast team with my role being canon fodder. 

A Beginning

A brand new quilt in the making.  Hourglass blocks finishing at 3".  This might take me forever, but it's fun and mindless.

Mindless?  Me?  Quarter square triangles?  Bias edges?  Hah!  I have that covered.  A couple of years ago, I bought Brenda Henning's Triangulations CD.  This is such a great program, especially for someone who cannot sew half-square or quarter-square triangles without stretching them and making a mess.  I find the size of the triangles, print out on newsprint paper (yes, the printer does that very well).  Pin onto my fabrics and sew on the dotted lines.  Cut on the solid lines, and, voila!, I have triangles that work.  In this particular size, 3.5", I get 11 quarter square triangle units, and, 2 bonus half square triangle units that measure 1.5".

So here's the beginning of some blocks.

All 5 of these have that same dark green/peachy rose combination.  I have 6 more of these to mix up with other combinations.  Delicious fun.

Basketweave socks

Yet another pair in my favorite pattern:  basketweave.  I use this all the time because it's mindless, works well on any yarn, and because I love it.  Sock Madness starts in a bit over a month, so then I'll knit crazy exhausting loony socks.  But not now.  Now I'm into brainless feet.

Yarn is Miss Babs Hot Shot, can't remember the colorway. The actual color is more intense. 

And a sweater is finished!

Ta da!  Finished, washed, and now worn:  My top-down yoke sweater in Estrellita yarn from Miss Babs.  Fingering weight.  #3 needle for everything but the top ribbing and the bottom and sleeve ribbings.  Those are done on #2 needles.  Took me about a month to knit.  I'm very fast but with a lot of stitches and skinny yarn and needles, these fingering wt sweaters take forever.

This is based very loosely on the Spector sweater by JoJi Locatelli.  I used her increases and how she integrated the various yarns. My version has a different yoke, no patterns on body or sleeves, and I widened it out at the waist and about 4" below that.  So, 4 sts increased at the sides for the first increase, and then another 4 increased later on.  I like the slight flare, and in my old age, I've gotten blubby, so increasing the width makes it not snug below the waist.  Or something like that.