Saturday, December 12, 2009

New Addition to the Family

Perish the though! No babies or other new pets around here. I'm pleased to present:

Lady MacBess


She followed me home from the guild sale. Due to her advanced age and abundance of character, Ms. MacBess was slated for the bin so I suppose I'm really he Knight in Shining Armor. ;) Now that Devi and Tara are in high school I need a model that's home every now and then. So far, it's working out just fine.



 Lady MacBess modeling the Citrus Punch scarf

This is the scarf I started for community knitting at MewMew's Yarn Shop in Lafayette, CO. Tara's shirt fits her very well. Yes, I see the Lady and I spending a lot of time together from here on out!

Friday, December 11, 2009

Joan's Woven Shibori Samples

Joan Torgow took the woven shibori workshop also and was kind enough to send pics so we can all share in the fibery goodness. ;)

sample 1- free form pickup


sample 1-  paint with unthickened dyes, gather, immersion dye

 
sample2- Taiten


sample 2- gather, then paint one side with thin dye wash in blue/green grays, the other side with thickened red/yellows
 
sample 3- Free form pickup on open shed


sample 3- remove some gathering threads to create negative space, gather, immersion dye


sample 4- Traditional Monks belt


sample 4- gather, then paint with thickened dyes: red/yellow on one side, greens on the other


sample 5- Monks belt on open shed


sample 5- paint with unthickened dyes (pale yellow?), gather, immersion dye


sample 6- Traditional Monks belt and Monks belt on open shed, filament polyester weft


sample 6- paint with thin dyes, gather, then immersion dye, steam to set permanent pleats
 
sample 7- linen weft, traditional monks belt and monks belt on open shed (no "after" pic for this one yet)


sample 8- weft is ecospun polyester in the same shed with various colors of 8/2 cotton, monks belt on open shed and taiten


sample 8- gather, immersion dye with steam to set permanent pleats, press on disburse dye (not very visible), remove gathering threads 




 Thanks, Joan!




Tuesday, December 8, 2009

Free Pattern: Toe Up Sock Ornaments

As promised, a free pattern for the socks in the last post. You can use fingering weight or sportweight for this one. Worsted weight works as well if you switch to size 3 needles. Only uses a little bit, 10-15 grams per pair, great for using up leftovers!

Update: Turns out they are too small for an actual baby (sorry, Lori) so I changed the name. Might fit a preemie, though. Great for ornaments!

Toe-Up Sock Ornaments

Using eastern cast-on and size 2 dpns, wrap 2 double-pointed needles 6 times (6 sts on each needle). Knit top needle stitches onto another needle, then turn and knit first three stitches onto one needle and last three stitches onto a different needle. Place a marker (I use a coilless pin).

Round 1: (k1, m1, k4, m1, k1) 2 times
Round 2: knit
Round 3: (K1, m1, k6, m1, k1) 2 times
Round 4: knit
Round 5: (K1, m1, k8, m1, k1) 2 times

There are now 24 stitches. Knit 20 rounds.

Rearrange the stitches onto 4 double points, 6 stitches on each one.
For the short row heel, work as follows:

Row 1: k11, turn
Row 2: backwards yo, p10, turn
Row 3: yo, k9, turn
Row 4: backwards yo, p8, turn
Row 5: yo, k7, turn
Row 6: backwards yo, p6, turn
Row 7: yo, k5, turn
Row 8: backwards yo, p4, turn

Row 9: yo, k4, rev mount of yo, knit together with next stitch (k2tog). Turn.
Row 10: backwards yo, p5, slip yo as if to knit, slip next stitch as if to knit, purl yo and     slipped stitch together through the back loops (p2togtbl).  Turn.
Row 11: regular yo, knit 6, rev mount of yo, slip next yo as if to knit, knit together with     next stitch (k3tog). Turn.
Row 12: backwards yo, purl 7, slip yo as if to knit, slip next yo as if to knit, slip next     stitch as if to knit, purl both yo's and slipped stitch together through the back loops     (p3togtbl). Turn.
Row 13: regular yo, knit 8, k3tog as in row 11. Turn.
Row 14: backwards yo, purl 9, p3togtbl as in row 12. Turn.
Row 15: regular yo, knit 10, k3tog as in row 11. Turn.
Row 16: backwards yo, purl 11, p3togtbl as in row 12. Turn.

Next round: regular yo, knit 12.  reverse mount of yo, make 1 stitch between yo and next     stitch. Knit yo, make 1 and next stitch together (k3tog). knit 10. Slip next stitch as     if to knit. Make 1 between slipped stitch and next yo. Slip yo as if to purl.  Knit     slipped stitch, make 1 and yo together through the back loops.

Knit 4 rounds. Switch to knit 1, purl 1 rib and knit 20 rounds. Cast off as you like. I     usually use a tubular bind off.


Pattern Key:

k                            knit
p                            purl
m1                         make 1 stitch by lifting the yarn between the
                              stitch you just worked and the next stitch
                              onto the left needle and knitting it.
yo                          yarn over with leading leg in front of needle.
backwards yo         yarn over with leading leg behind needle.
rev mount               reverse mount of stitch so the leading leg is in front of needle.
slip                         move from left needle to right needle without working stitch.
k2tog                     knit 2 stitches together
p3togtbl                 purl 3 together through the back loops.

Tuesday, December 1, 2009

Teeny Tiny Socks

After the guild sale, getting ready for TACtile, Thanksgiving, and the last couple of baby showers, I think I'm rested up. The loom is warped (again) with the silk noil that I removed so I could take the woven shibori class. This time I used an advancing twill threading that Catharine gave us as one of the choices for the class. We'll see what kind of patterns I get with that!

Liam's socks

Kaite and Eric had a housewarming/baby shower last weekend in their new home. They got one of the huck towels I posted a while back and a couple of pairs of baby socks for little Liam-to-be.

Liam's other socks

I knitted a sweater for my friend Lori's baby-to-be a few months ago and gave it to her before it got lost in the mess of my pre- guild sale house. The shower was this past Sunday, so I knitted up a few pairs of socks to bring along. The dark red pair (below left) is the same yarn as the sweater. It'll be cute, if the socks and the sweater actually fit at the same time. ;) The other yarns were some leftover sock yarn that Lynne brought to knitting group and gave away. These are a smaller version of the socks I usually knit for myself on a bigger needle (because babies don't need as firm a fabric....yet).

Lori's baby's socks

Next post I'll have the pattern for you, free.