In the studio - and blog rest

Note: I'll be resting and not doing much except having fun away from the net for the next couple weeks - see you the last half of June.

purse, wool tweed, stockinette stitch with garter stitch selvage, size 5 bamboo needles

I've tried button embellishment in this exploration of simple purses, and on this one I thin I shall try fulled applique. I'm doing these on small needles, so even though they are not very big they take a lot of knitting. I have a zillion of them going at once.

In the studio

Scarf, green silk with green sequins, lace stitch, size 9 wood cable needle, 16 in.


I've been making progress on this wonderful experiment lately. I began to shred the yarn because I ripped the first ten yards out about five times. So this final time I just kept going, and learned how to rip out just a little and repair mistakes. The lace kicked my butt for awhile, but now I have the pattern in my muscle memory. The sad part of this photo is that I'm not skilled enough to capture the sequins!!! They really make the yarn and the fabric much more attractive than I can show here. My design idea is to make this a very long scarf, and I'll braid the fringe. I think that the light weight of the lace fabric will make it suitable for summer, more as a decorative scarf than one for warmth.

In the studio

Capelet; mixed fibers: wool, mohair, acrylic, cotton, nylon, silk; beginner's lace stitch; rib stitch; size 11 cable needle, 24in.

Once I bound off, I added more rows at the neckline with a crochet hook and decreased to tighten up the neck a bit. Then I went shopping at Colorful Stitches for a button, and found a beautiful complementary one. As soon as I get it attached I'll do another photo.

In the studio

Scarf, wool, rib stitch, size 15 wood needles

I love the way this looks like a pink cloud. The yarn is very soft and so it feels rather cloud like. I did this rib the same way I did the rib in the Jan. 31, 2007 entry. The difference in scale results in a completely different look.

In the studio

Handbag, mixed fibers, mohair, wool, metallic, nylon, stockinette and reverse stockinette, size 5 plastic needles.

I'm really digging the horizontal and vertical emphases that show in the stitches.

In the studio

Handbag, mixed fibers, mohair, wool, metallic, nylon, stockinette and reverse stockinette, size 5 plastic needles.

I couldn't help myself when I saw this yarn. I also have tons of it in teals and greens, but when I saw this color mix my hand reached out and I had no will power to stop!

I'm still exploring the use of stockinette and reverse stockinette to create patterns and am thinking of eventually trying to use it to make a jaquard-like fabric. We'll see how far it goes. I figure one can chart this sort of thing on graph paper and do all sorts of things! But as for now I'm sticking to simple shapes and looking at the effects.

In the studio

Afghan, mixed fibers, "woven" stitch, size 13 cable needle, 29 in.

This is another update of the Nov. 6, 2006 and Feb 15, 1007 entries. Actually it's the culmination of the work pictured in the very first blog entry in fall of 2004. I've decided to go to bedspread size for this monster. And I've actually done about 12 inches since this photo was taken, so I figure I want to put another 12 or so inches on it and I'm done.

I thought of this afghan originally as a project that would use up vast amounts of yarn and decrease my stash volume. But then I kept buying yarn that I thought would make it even MORE beautiful, and now I still have a very large bin of yarn in these colors. I started to make pillow shams using a more narrow color range. There will be a sham in purples and a sham in teals.

I may have to make another afghan. I already have lots of ideas rolling around in my head for what sort of fabric I want to make. I might try something like this but in a crochet version. Perhaps in a rather outlandish stitch pattern.

In the studio

Handbag, wool, size 2 wood cable needle, 24 in.

This is the third project I've tried with this yarn. I don't work well with this scale in knitting. Crochet with teensy hooks doesn't bother me, but the small needles make me all twitchy.

In the studio

Capelet, rib lace stitch, hemp yarn, size 5 plastic cable needle, 24 inches

This is the capelet I mentioned a few entries back. The loose white thread ends you see are the life line, done with dental floss.

The great pleasure of knitting on this piece is the way that the needle is a perfect match for the yarn. This needle has very sharp points and they pick up the stitches of this fine yarn easily. The hemp glides over the plastic with just enough friction to keep its springiness under control. I can't wait to see the capelet done, because I enjoy the lace so much, but I love the work itself because of the way it feels as I'm working it.

In the studio -circle scarf

Capelet; filet crochet; mixed fibers, nylon, rayon, polyester; sequins; metallic thread wraps, size E aluminum crochet hook

I love the yarns in this capelet, however they are challenging when it comes to hiding the knots in this skimpy fabric. So I'm trying to wrap the knot ends in metallic threads. It's a subtle shimmer effect and makes the whole work much more neat.

Finished red crochet capelet - circle scarf

Capelet, nylon and metallic tape, red and gold, filet crochet, size p aluminum hook.

This is a sister piece to the black and silver one I did last fall. I have more of this tape and I'm intrigued by it. I want to make things with quite a bit of drape because the metallic fiber in the yarn makes it very stiff otherwise.

It's a fabu evening capelet!

In the studio

Scarf, wool, rib stitch, intarsia color work size 7 aluminum cable needle, 24 in.

I'm happy with the progress on this piece, of the December 7, 2006 entry. It's a lot of knitting with those smaller needles, and the color switching, although very primitive, still starts to bug me after awhile, so it's not the sort of thing I can do for days on end.

I like the complementary colors, especially since they're our school colors, but over the past weekend I got some less contrasting colors and I think my next color work exercise will use a more subtle color combination.

In the studio

Crochet capelet, hemp, single crochet, size 3 aluminum hook

Here's the progress I've made on the November 1, 2006 entry. It took me awhile to think of what I wanted to do around the bottom below the ruffle. Notice on the right of the photo there are tendrils. Each has a bead on the end. It'll be a fringe of sorts.

The tendrils: ch19, add bead, turn, sl st, sc, half dc, dc, tr, dc, half dc, sc,sl st back to the beginning of the chain

There's a sort of crochet pendent at the end of each tendril.

I'm about a third of the way through the tendrils, and when I finish them I'll work on a neck line embellishment. Right now the neck is the basic chain that I did at the beginning, so it's austere when compared to the "out there" frilliness of the rest of the capelet. It will probably be a small picot edging with a small bead accent. The beads are very close to the color of the yarn, so they glint a teensy bit.

I can't wait to block this and see what happens!

Finished circle scarf

Angora collar or circle scarf, size 4 16 in and size 7 16 in cable needles rib edges with stockinette stitch body

I found the USB cable for my camera!

So here is the circle scarf I discussed in the previous entry. I have a photo of a version of it on Nov. 28. I ripped all that out and started on smaller needles. I think the result is much more attractive.

In the studio

Triangle shawl [increase one stitch each row], suri [alpaca], garter stitch, size 10 aluminum cable needle, 24 in.

I got this yarn in a swap (thanks, Elly!), and it's fabulous. The skeins have around 300 yards each, and I'm going to keep going on this shawl until I use both skeins, so it will be rather large. It's light weight, however - still no more than several ounces.

I finished a circle scarf this weekend, and have to find the USB cable for my camera before I can show it to you!

I also got out the teal/blue/purple afghan and all the yarns and put a few more inches on yesterday. I do love that big old thing! See Feb. 15 2007 entry for a photo. I'm ready to keep at least one afghan project going at all times.

For the first time I put a life line into some lace on Saturday. I used dental floss. I got instructions on how to do it from the friendly folks at Trumpet Hill yarn shop up in Latham. Of course, that was *after* ripping it out three times due to dropped stitches.

Stop laughing.

In the studio

Wall hanging, mixed fibers; wool, cotton, nylon, lurex, acrylic, hemp, mohair, rayon; with 6 dowels evenly spaced outlining 5 knitted panels. Stockinette with reverse stockinette shapes, size 9 wood needles.

I've been wanting to get this more complete photo of the wallhanging into the blog. It's still hanging like this, awaiting the next step. I've been contemplating it, and the next step is light green tendrils spreading vertically up through all the panels, with very small willow-like leaves. It will be beaded as well as stitched.

I still like the effect of the reverse stockinette and am planning to use this technique in more of my work.

I'm thinking of putting a lining on the back in order to prevent stretching, then stitching through both layers.

In the studio

Scarf, green silk with sequins, lace stitch, size 9 wood cable needle,

I gave up on the crochet version and ripped it out. I've ripped out several attempts at stitch patterns. For some reason I didn't find it easy to settle on the stitch pattern with this yarn. But I like this lace, and I think it shows off the yarn and the sequins very well. The yarn is a rather loosely spun silk and gorgeous. Too bad you can't tell much from this photo. I'll try to do better next time. The lace pattern is from the Reader's Digest Complete Guide to Needlework , which has a small section of knitting lace stitch patterns.

In the studio

Cover up, tee shirt shape; green "denim" cotton worsted weight yarn; double crochet, size ? aluminum hook

I love this yarn and am thinking about photographing the 2 lb. cone - it's a monster. This loose tee shirt will look good over a tank top or be great for a beach cover up - very breezy. The piece is shown draped over a green pillow - it's open and lacy, but not frilly. The pattern is a variation of filet crochet, with the filled-in blocks stacked directly on top of one another, forming vertical stripes.

In the studio

Purse, 100% worsted wool, stockinette stitch, size 9 plastic needles, mother of pearl buttons, glass seed beads

This is the next stage of the March 20 entry and I'm enjoying sewing on the buttons and beads. Now I want to put buttons and beads on everything!

Just kidding.