New Year 2026 Update

Happy New Year!: 2026

New year begins in the studio with a hand-stitched patch for my old linen smock. I don't recall when I bought this shirt from The Gatsby's boutique in Great Barrington MA, but it may be 30 or more years. The fabric is quite threadbare in spots now, and I'm having a wonderful time stitching and patching so that it can keep going for some more years.  It's a short-sleeve shirt and serves very well to protech my clothing since it is getting thicker and thicker with patches and fill pattern stitches.

This large patch it the greater part of a vintage handkerchief that I scored from Swanson's Fabrics in Turner's Falls MA. https://www.swansonsfabrics.com/ I'm having a very good time stitching all over it to join it firmly to the deteriorating fabric below, and it's slowly stabilizing both fabrics by making them virtually into one strong fabric.

I'm opting for using a variety of stitches to fill in the empty spaces rather than the straight lines of running stitch that is very popular right now.  I'm going for a look on this patch which is more like stippling, It is tiny back stitches that form tiny dots.  I'll use a small variety of other stitches as well.

I've been collecting vintage cotton and linen hankies and table linens from Swanson's for a few years now and will be using them on my signficant mending pile over the course of 2026.  It's time to get everything back into working order!

If you want to see more everyday photos of what I am doing I post frequently on Instagram @journalofathousandlives

https://www.instagram.com/journalofathousandlives/

 

My Irish mittens adventure

 My friend Kevin, who has visited Ireland several times, bought four mitten kits by mistake, thinking they were actually mittens.  I cannot account for how he did it.  He asked me for help. I said I'd knit them, thinking I'd learn a lot. 

I've been knitting for 60 or so years and I've never done mittens, gloves or socks, and I suppose I now can take mittens off that  list. I agreed to do it and got the wool from Kev in January and it's now September and I'm just finishing them. I rarely make any knitted piece from a pattern because I enjoy designing the fabric.  I typically make very simple shapes that show off the colors and textures of the yarns and stitches. So counting stitches and making the numbers of stitches and rows come out "right" is a challenge. I learned a lot. 

Most of that learning came from the mushuggenah pattern which was rather wildly inaccurate.  I had to re-write it after ripping out large sections of mitten and re-counting everything.  I wrote to the company hoping they had an updated and corrected version but they didn't bother responding. So much for Irish wool companies.

There were no illustrations with the instructions, resulting in my sewing the flip tops on the wrong way.  I was a bit freaked out that I found out right before I was going to give them to Kevin, but I was very glad that he did not give them as Christmas gifts to his loved ones with that fatal flaw. With more hours of work I'm done and Kevin will have his hand knit Irish mittens. 

As you may guess, I consider this particular pattern to be a colossal fail.  And of course it has reinforced my conviction to go my own way and not follow the instructions of others, no matter how tempting it might be. For beginners: if you do want to follow patterns, check to see if they have updates or corrections before you begin knitting and insist on illustrations so that you can SEE what you are making.

The yarn is fabulous - classic wool that is stinky and scratchy and utterly beautiful.

I'm always impressed with pattern designers who can do things like make a thumb without making a separate piece, but just figuring out how to develop the short rows within the context of the mitten shape.  I liked doing the thumb all eight times.

If you want to see more everyday photos of what I am doing I post frequently on Instagram @journalofathousandlives

The whites shawl - a work in progress

This shawl is 100 stitches across, knitted in seed stitch on a size 4 US cable needle. It is a combination of about 30 different yarns of various fibers and tones of white and beige. The finished shawl should be approximately 30 in x 72 in.

The warm colors are highlighted in the first two photos and I adjusted the white balance for the final two so that the more realistic colors are represented.

If you want to see more everyday photos of what I am doing I post frequently on Instagram @journalofathousandlives

Silk/mohair multi stripes on 2 needle sizes

Scarf, worked in stockinette stitch, approximately 12 in. x 72 in. Mohair and silk blend yarn, size 9 and size 11 cable needles

...

Lacy mohair and silk in a really big scarf for warmth and coziness.

Uneven stripes add to a dynamic color scheme

If you want to see more everyday photos of what I am doing I post frequently on Instagram @journalofathousandlives

Embroidered pouch

Linen burlap pouch with silk lining and perle cotton embroidery, all hand stitched.

Pin and stitch basting

It will have a button closure with a braided cord.

Anchoring the upper flap lining with stitching

The button goes on the right

If you want to see more everyday photos of what I am doing, I post frequently on Instagram @journalofathousandlives

 

A scarf in very fine gauge garter stitch

Wool cotton and silk scarf worked in garter stitch using size 1 needles

This was a very fun and small project that took a very long time.  The yarn is lace weight, but I decided to just see what a plain, even knitting stitch would look like at this fine gauge.  One of the more charming things about it is its weight.  It's only one skein, so it's only a few ounces. 

I knitted using both ends of the skein.  I alternated rows, so the strand from inside the ball was row one and the strand from the outside was row two, and so on.  I think that made the sort of nebulous color throughout the textile, which is another one of its charms.

It's about 40 inches long, so is suitable for several kinds of  loose knots as a fashion accent.

If you want to see more everyday photos of what I am doing, I post frequently on Instagram @journalofathousandlives

 

December Album 2024

 Completed pieces, December 2024

Alpaca scarf/shawl approximately 60 L x 20 W

baset weave stitch

Kid mohair and linen scarf, Approx 60L x 10 W

Seed stitch

Triangle Shawl, approx 72L x 12W at widest point

Silk, nylon, rayon, cotton, lurex 

Black and mulberry capulet with funnel neckline

Kid mohair and linen with nylon, rayon

Greens capelet

Mohair, silk, nylon, rayon

Jewel tones capelet

Mohair, linen, rayon, nylon

Pastels mohair and silk scarf, approx 72L x 18W

Multi scarf approx 72L x 10W

mixed fibers

Pinks capelet

mohair, rayon, silk, nylon

Scarlet capelet

Kid mohair and linen

Fine Guage scarf, approx 40L x 5W

Wool, cotton, silk