29 Friday Jan 2016
I used to think that music was like lace upon a garment,
nice to have but not necessary.
I have come to believe that music is
absolutely essential to our community life.
[George Eastman]
Hot off the needles. This lace caplet is knit using a wool/silk blend fine yarn. I added glass beads to each point on the border. When my niece was visiting for Christmas, she saw this and loved it, so I gave it to her. The pattern is available on ravelry.com.
16 Wednesday Sep 2015
Posted in Favorite Things, Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry, Thoughts
Tags
Artesian, Ballerina jacket, Cookie A., Copper Corgi, Decapo jacket, Hanne Falkenberg, Knitting, Monkey socks, Ravelry, Rosemary Hill, summer
A perfect summer day is when the sun is shining,
the breeze is blowing,
the birds are singing,
and the lawn mower is broken.
[James Dent]
I spent the summer knitting other people’s designs (something I rarely do) and I enjoyed every minute of it. This was restful, relaxing and healing. Here are snap shots of the projects I’ve completed since June.
The Decapo jacket [top left], pattern by Danish designer a Hanne Falkenberg, was knit using yarn that was a “Get Well” gift from a friend of mine. (Madelinetosh sock yarn from Simply Socks Yarn Company). What a perfectly delightful way to recover. Here is a link to the first Decapo I knit with Shetland yarn from a Falkenberg kit.
The Ballerina jacket [top right] was knit from a Hanne Falkenberg kit using Shetland yarn. This was one of the most interesting patterns I’ve ever knit. I have one more of her kits to knit—Profil. This designer is amazing.
The Monkey socks were knit from a 2006 Knitty pattern by Cookie A. I used a silk blend from Simply Socks and these feel better than any socks I’ve worn.
The shawl was designed by Rosemary (Romi) Hill, and I bought her pattern on Ravelry. The shawl is named, Artesian (like the water that bubbles up in a natural well). I used Copper Corgi marino in Stormy Marsh color. I bought the yarn at a shop in downtown Savanna, Georgia, but the link here goes to The Copper Corgi Etsy shop. The shawl turned out very “Savannah” so it is a fond memory of my trip.
I consider myself recovered so now I will embark upon publishing more of my own designs on Revelry. I’m working on a collection of texture knits—mostly sweaters.
29 Wednesday Oct 2014
Posted in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry
Boredom is the dream bird that hatches the egg of experience.
A rustling in the leaves drives him away.
[Walter Benjamin]
This is Dreambird, designed by Nadita and sold as a downloadable PDF on Revelry.com at this LINK. I used sock weight yarn—marino for the black and silk for the variegated. I used only one page of the 22-page pattern—the chart for the short row turns. If you knit this, place markers where they make sense to you to keep track of your place in the pattern. Also, use the wrap-and-turn that you like best for short rows. Now, I’m trying one using shetland jumper weight yarn.
10 Friday Oct 2014
Posted in Favorite Things, Knitting, Pattern, Ravelry, teaching classes
Tags
Barn Abby, hand knitting, Indiana, knitting classes, knitting retreat, New Harmony Slippers, slippers
Don’t you stay at home of evenings?
Don’t you love a cushioned seat in a corner, by the fireside,
with your slippers on your feet?
[Oliver Wendell Holmes, Sr.]
Last weekend was the annual knitting retreat at the Barn Abby in historic New Harmony, Indiana. I love that little town, its shops, cafes, historic sites, botanical displays…
The New Harmony Slippers is the project I developed for part of this year’s program. The knitters who attend have been to countless classes so I had trouble thinking of something that wouldn’t be a repeat. I finally designed these slippers merely for their interesting construction. They have no sewn seams, but are not knit in the round in a way that socks are customarily knit. They are also a fairly brief project so those who were interested could finish at least one in the time we had together.
These slippers can also be worn in shoes like commercial footies or socks. The size is easily adjustable and the slipper toe can be knit in a decorative pattern. Plasti Dip or another synthetic laytex can be used to treat the soles if you intend these to be used as slippers instead of footies.
Sock-weight yarn
Two US #2 (2.75 mm) needles (or size that gives gauge), yarn needle with eye, scissors
19 rows/2″ (5 cm) and 14 sts/2″ (5 cm)
The pattern is offered for $2.50 on ravelry.com at this link
New Harmony: Barn Abby
21 Saturday Dec 2013
Posted in Free Pattern, Knitting, Pattern, Ravelry, teaching classes, Thoughts
The stockings were hung by the chimney with care,
In hopes that St. Nicholas soon would be there;
[C. C. Moore]
If I could put a subtitle on this post, it would be, The Last of the Argyle. Thirty years ago, I knit an argyle vest for my husband. I found the technique so tedious and frustrating that, when I finished it, I swore I’d never knit another. I’ve known knitters, including my mother, who enjoy the technique immensely and who would be frustrated with the techniques I enjoy most. Such is the way with human beings.
Less than a decade ago, a group asked me to teach the intarsia knitting technique (as used in making argyle) so I designed another argyle vest. The request keeps cropping up so I keep knitting more argyle. I tell myself, it builds character.
Then came the ultimate request, a sock pattern that is argyle without a sewn seam. Here it is. Since I knew that I didn’t have the self discipline to knit a second sock, I made it into a Christmas stocking so I could say I was finished after only one. The accent lines are worked in duplicate stitch using metallic gold yarn. Although the pattern is worked to and fro, a wrap and turn avoids the need for a sewn seam.
Here is a Christmas gift for those of you who knit — a free printable PDF pattern for knitting the sock. NOTE: This version of the pattern is a revision of the original. The heel instructions are altered.
19 Tuesday Jul 2011
Posted in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Pattern, Ravelry
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
01 Friday Jul 2011
Posted in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry, Writing
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
23 Thursday Jun 2011
Posted in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry
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
20 Monday Jun 2011
Posted in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry
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.
07 Tuesday Jun 2011
Posted in Knitting, Knitting Sites, Ravelry
Let us dance in the sun,
wearing wild flowers in our hair…
[Susan Polis Shutz]
This is the second pattern I have put in the Ravelry pattern store. Here is the description for these stockings that I designed for a Valentine sock class:
The stranded color design for these stockings was inspired by a stitch pattern in Alice Starmore’s book, Charts for Colour Knitting (1992). This pattern is charted and offers subtle variations from which the knitter may choose depending upon the knitter’s taste and skill level. The green sock is an improvised variation of the pattern to show the stranded design reversed. The heel is shaped with a pre-heel-turn gusset and short rows (non-stop heel).
The pattern sells for $6.00 at this link: PayPal checkout and download
