Category Archives: Knitting

Gift of Friendship

10 Friday Feb 2012

Posted by in Favorite Things, Knitting, Thoughts

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Memory is a way of holding on to the things you love,
the things you are, the things you never want to lose.
[Kevin Arnold]

My knitting friend, Gloria Johnson, died yesterday with her cat, Mai Tai, and her husband, Allen, keeping vigil at her side. I met her many years ago at Meg Swansen’s Schoolhouse Press’ Knitting Camp in Wisconsin. She was with a group of knitters from Dayton, Ohio where she lived. Over time, I joined the Dayton Knitting Guild and made such good friends. Gloria edited the DKG newsletter, The Call of the Wool. In the course of time, she and her friend, Patsy McCoy, organized a knitting retreat in New Harmony, Indiana. I’ve attended, been refreshed, and returned home enriched and inspired ever since. We lost Patsy five years ago and Gloria soldiered on with the help of her husband, Allen, ever since in spite of the fact that she has been gravely ill.

We have lost so many knitting friends in the past few years: Joyce, Eunice, Teresa, Patsy, Gloria, and Barb S. among others including Elizabeth and Mama. My idea of heaven is clouds of yarn and the folks I love knitting lace and colorful patterns for the snow and the rainbows.

Now, about the photo. It is a Cocoon and the pattern came from Gloria. Patsy knit one as a sample for New Harmony the last year she was there. I came home, altered the pattern for finer yarn and knit the jacket in the photo. I am sitting here with it on as I write. My two friends gave me the gift of their knowledge, and inspiration. I want to remember them by passing it on to any knitters who might want yet another project. SELECT THIS LINK to download the printable PDF Cocoon pattern.

Lincoln Star Quilt—Finished

22 Thursday Dec 2011

Posted by in Favorite Things, Knitting, Quilting, Thoughts

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I keep my end tables full of
knitting and quilting
so I don’t have to dust them.

I’ve dressed up my bedroom for the holidays. My new quilt (Lincoln Star) is finished so I paired it with new, navy blue flannel sheets. The pillow slips were sewn by Darlene, one of my knitting students. I love the touch of red she added to the cuffs. The small pillows are samples from one of the fall knitting classes that I taught at Sarah Jane’s. They are variations of the heirloom counterpane pattern. The bargello quilt wall hanging above the bed was made by my daughter, Ellen, the lamp was turned from wild cherry wood by my father, and the bedstead was handmade from walnut wood by a gentleman here in Indiana. I cleared my knitting off of the end table to take the photo.

Winter days are very short in northern Indiana so, when it gets dark, my little dog and I curl up in this cozy warmth. He naps while I knit and read. How can I be anything less than happy?

First Things First

10 Thursday Nov 2011

Posted by in Favorite Things, Knitting, Thoughts

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The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there.
[Clement C. Moore]

Knitters usually get a jump on the winter holiday season. That’s because it takes awhile to finish knitted projects. This year, I set priorities. The newest child gets a Christmas stocking designed and knit by Grandma, brass tag and jingle bells included. I finished it today. This stocking goes to Malcolm Dean Smith who was born in June. Two years ago I posted photos of two other Christmas stockings at these links: Cole’s stocking (Malcolm’s big brother) and Owain’s stocking (Malcolm’s cousin).

I don’t always meet my self-imposed deadlines. I’m sure it is a joke in my family (the members of which are too kind to mention it to my face) that I’ve often given gifts wrapped with the needles still in live stitches. I did offer to finish it for them although some might tell you that they never saw it again. Now I can check my gift list to see who is next.

Fall Classes—Schedule for Sara Jane’s Yarn Shop

09 Friday Sep 2011

Posted by in Knitting, Ongoing Projects, teaching classes, Thoughts

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Education is not preparation for life;
education is life itself.  
[John Dewey]

The photo shows the projects that I will present in classes on Saturdays this fall and early winter at Sarah Jane’s Yarn Shop. The classes include The following:

  • Heirloom Counterpane Pillow
  • Textured sock and mitten set that emphasises gussets
  • Twisted-stitch mitts/mittens
  • Jacobsburg mitten that emphasises chart reading for texture and color patterns
  • Unfinished project class where we solve problems and get projects finished

For more information, download this printable PDF file.

Crafty Living Show

01 Thursday Sep 2011

Posted by in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Review, Writing

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As I get older, I just prefer to knit.
[Tracey Ullman]

Lara Neel, writer and photographer for the Fort Wayne Journal Gazette, interviewed me several weeks ago for a podcast. Last Sunday she published the podcast and blog post with images at this LINK. I was delighted with the interview and with her book review of my CD of knitted socks, …and a time to knit stockings.

The first several minutes of the podcast is about sock heels then the interview follows. Lara includes links to most of the people and places that I mention in my interview which consists of a discussion of publications, design and a number of creative folks I admire. This was a first experience for me, and Ms Neel made it painless.

Fall Classes—Rose-Window Lace

22 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by in Knitting, teaching classes

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People are like stained-glass windows.
They sparkle and shine when the sun is out,
but when the darkness sets in,
their true beauty is revealed
only if there is a light from within.
[Elisabeth Kubler-Ross]

The knitting retreat at New Harmony, Indiana is my first teaching opportunity this fall. My topic is lace knitting and I’ve devised this six-inch piece for our basic project. It is only 28 rounds and the pattern includes a full size blocking diagram. The pattern is both charted and written out in abbreviations so it will offer the opportunity for the knitters to practice a variety of skills.

If anything makes my light shine from within, it is these annual trips to New Harmony. It is still two months away and I’m already excited.

Colorful Counterpane Pattern

19 Tuesday Jul 2011

Posted by in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Pattern, Ravelry

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I was the giant great and still    
That sits upon the pillow-hill,    
And sees before him, dale and plain,
The pleasant land of counterpane.
[Robert Louis Stevenson]

I’ve shown this counterpane on my blog before. Today, I uploaded the pattern to sell for $6.50 on Ravelry.

Counterpanes are decorative bed covers. In her book, Knitting Counterpanes, Traditional Coverlet Patterns for Contemporary Knitters, Mary Walker Phillips gives a thorough history of counterpanes. She then shares a number of knitting patterns for blocks and borders.

These were often knit using white or ecru cotton or linen thread. Heirloom samples are breathtaking in their beauty. They are also very heavy and fragile.

Although this pattern was inspired by the antique counterpanes, its fiber content and techniques are different. It is knit in the round in blocks that have a selvage that makes seaming easy. It is in color. When used in class, each block is designed to allow knitters to practice basic techniques beyond simply knitting and purling.

The pattern can be ordered at this LINK

Star-Spangled Banner Socks

01 Friday Jul 2011

Posted by in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry, Writing

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Freedom has its life in the hearts, the actions, the spirit of men
and so it must be daily earned and refreshed
else like a flower cut from its life-giving roots,
it will wither and die.
[Dwight D. Eisenhower]

I just added another sock pattern to my online store from …and a time to knit stockings. This is the July Sock. For the Ravelry PDF patterns, I’m laying them out in a different style than they were in the book or on the CD. I have revised the charts with color, corrected some problems people had in understanding the directions, and added a personal touch or two.

I belong to a women’s writing group that focuses on memoir writing (Story Circle Network). I love being a part of the group but never intended to write a traditional memoir until I realized that my patterns are a memoir of sorts. They were each inspired by something in my life so I’m adding the inspirations to the patterns. It might be a bit unorthodox for a knitting pattern, but my knitting buddies at the local yarn shop loved the idea so I did it.

Here is the text from the cover page shown above:

Celebrate the Fourth of July in a pair of star-spangled banner socks. My childhood started during World War II so I came to associate Independence Day with service as well as picnics and fireworks. This experience inspired the sock design.

Photographs:
Civil War—Samual C. Marvel served in the 13th Iowa Infantry, G.A.R., and was lost on his twenty-second birthday in a battle at Atlanta in July, 1864.

World War Two—Esther Black served in the U.S. Navy as a link trainer and cartographer. Roy Misegades served in the U.S. Army as a cook in Europe.

1965-1969—Katherine Misegades served as a U.S. Navy Nurse Corps Officer.

The PDF pattern sells for $5.00 at this link on Ravelry

June Stocking Pattern

23 Thursday Jun 2011

Posted by in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry

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It is difficult to see why lace should be so expensive;
it is mostly holes.
[Mary Wilson]

I’ve just added this pattern to the electronic download store on Ravelry. It is the first pattern I’ve published separately from the …and a time to knit stockings collection that were originally offered in a printed book (1996) then on CD (2006). Here is more information:

The inspiration for the June Stocking was a pair of thigh-high, hand knit, cotton stockings worn by my grandmother, Gertrude Chamberlain (1877–1962). Although her father, James (1836–1919), knit his own stockings all of his life and taught his offspring to knit, it is not known who knit the original stockings. Gertrude’s daughter (my mother), Rachel (1906–2001), also wore the lace stockings. She said they were pinned to her underwear in order to hold them up, and they were quite uncomfortable. The original stockings were knit flat then shaped into a tube with a hand sewn seam. The heels are garter stitch and not shaped with a heel turn. I revised the original pattern in several ways. I used a sock-weight yarn instead of cotton, knit them in the round, and shaped them by making subtile changes in the lace pattern. Although this version uses a peasant or replaceable heel, another style heel would work as well. The directions are given for adult-size knee high stockings, but a shorter version can be knit with slight alterations to the pattern.

Select this link to purchase on Ravelry

G-Class Star Sun Hat

20 Monday Jun 2011

Posted by in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry

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A crown is merely a hat that lets the rain in.
[Frederick The Great]

Knitting, for me, usually involves a marathon effort to check the accuracy of one of my patterns and to finish a sample for a photo shoot. For the past few days, I knit for fun and pleasure. This hat was designed by the author of the blog, Golden Apples. She shared her pattern with me preliminary to putting it on Ravelry to sell. It is knit using a DK weight cotton. My daughter, Rachel (upper left), wants a pink one so I have a good excuse to knit another one. By the way, Rachel’s birthday is tomorrow and she will be old enough that she wouldn’t want me telling her age but I will say she was born in 1975. Since she is my youngest child, that gives away my age too.