Mesh Stripe Kerchief...Success!

I finished the linen kerchief I was working on. It is a smallish triangle of fabric to wear around my neck when I want a little warmth. It's cool feeling against my skin (even as it's keeping me warm) which is lovely in summer.

I had a hard time stopping this one. I really didn't want it to get too big but I was so enjoying knitting with the linen and the simple pattern.

I believe I mentioned before that I alternated rows of stocking stitch with rows of the mesh. The mesh is a simple combination of knit-2-togethers and yarn overs on one half and the mirror image SSK and yarn overs on the other. You wouldn't have to mirror image, but I can't help myself.

For the shape, I increased two stitches at the center on every other row and one stitch on each edge every row. The extra increases on the edge made the ends extend a little further than a regular 45-degree angle would have done. I thought that would make the ends a little more suited to tying.

I wasn't planning to add a border on the edge but as I got closer to the end, I realized that it would roll horribly if I didn't do something.

So I added a few rows of seed stitch, which mostly does the job. I thought the texture of the seed stitch would also play off of the mesh texture nicely. I finished off with what I would call HJSSBO (Half Jeny's Surprisingly Stretchy Bind Off) because I added a yarn over on every other stitch only. It came out the perfect amount stretchy.

I am really pleased with the final scarf. I looked a few times for a pattern that matched what I wanted and couldn't find one. This came out pretty much just like I was thinking.

Even though I think it's a pretty colour, it's a bit odd and I don't seem to have a lot to wear with it. But as you can see from these pictures, sometimes I don't care and just wear it anyway. :) These were taken when I had a chance to walk along the river in Niles and enjoy a day where the sun was just warm enough and the breeze just cool enough to make it perfect outside.

I have plenty more linen from the sweater I raveled to get it so now I'm considering what other things I could make from it. I really did enjoy working with it even though it should feel more like cotton (ew) than wool (yum) while I'm knitting it. I briefly considered a skirt, but I know I don't have enough for that!

Project Stats
Started: 15 Jul '15
Finished: 13 Aug '15
Pattern: Mesh Stripe Kerchief (my own) More details here if you want to make your own.
Materials: 81 grams raveled linen (lace weight)

Little Gifts: Part 1

I have two posts on the subject of little gifts--one about the gifts themselves, and one about the package they come in. First let's talk about the packaging.

I received some candies one year in the cutest handmade boxes, obviously made from used Christmas cards. I have always meant to make some myself and this year I had the perfect excuse to do so.

If you want to make your own, you'll need some Christmas cards. You can see my box of cards to the left. I keep all the cards I receive, partly out of sentiment and partly because I love making things out of old cards. I fished through the box and didn't find too many I was ready to do without.

It was fun to look through them all and to read old letters and cards. (And easy to get distracted!) I saw a card from my one sister and was surprised it was only signed by her. Then I remembered that it hasn't really been all that long that she's been married with kids...they have just become such a part of the family I couldn't think of her without them!

Of course, you also may find some "landmines" as I did. In the same way I was surprised to find a card signed only by my sister, I was surprised to see another one signed "Mom and Dad." It's been seven years since my dad died, and I have become used to seeing just "Mom" in the signature. I went ahead and read the letter in the card, and it was the one from when he was sick and we knew he wouldn't live much longer. Mom's letter was so brave; it was hard to read and yet good too.

In the end I found a few cards I felt I could use.

If I need more sometime, I'll have to look at the used and "new-old stock" cards I sometimes see at antique and second-hand stores.

Then I studied the box I was given because it was all I had to go on. I took some measurements, made some marks, cuts, and folds and ended up with this:

That can't be right!

So I tried again and had much better success. Here's what you do:

1. Select a card and cut it in half along the fold line:

2. Mark the inside of both halves with an X, making lines from corner to corner:

3. On the top and bottom of the piece that will become the box top, mark 1.25" in from both sides. On the piece for the bottom, mark just longer than 1.25" (between 1-1/4 and 1-3/8). I know this is technically 1-5/16", but it's easier to just mark half way between 1-1/4 and 1-3/8. It doesn't have to be that precise.

4. Draw lines from the marks you just made to the diagonal lines:

5. Fold the card between the same marks:

6. Now turn the card a quarter turn, and make a fold to intersect where the partial lines meet the diagonal lines:

7. Cut along the partial lines:

8. Fold the long edges up and tuck the tabs inside:

9. Fold up the end:

10. Wrap it around the tabs and make a crease:

Now you have a top and a bottom, hopefully the former a little bigger than the later (because I made that mistake on one box too!):

Slip the bottom inside the top,

and voila, a lovely box:

Keep at it for a few more minutes, and you can have a whole collection of little boxes:

They stay together pretty well as they are, but if you want to add a bit of ribbon or metallic elastic, you go right ahead:

Another GW Find!

I went to Goodwill on Thursday with my mom and I made a really good haul. Most of it was clothing to wear as is, but I found a lovely J Crew wool sweater to take apart.

100% wool, two ply, let's call it a DK weight.

I spent the next afternoon taking out seams and ravelling it and then winding it on my niddy noddy. It yielded these lovely skeins totally about 450 g (over 1000 meters).
Then the next question: what to do with it? Having cleared the docket for my Whistler sweater, I now find myself with two weeks to the Olympics and a severe lack of projects on the go. This led to no delay in preparing for something to do "in the mean time."

I've been seeing these Bella's Mittens by Marielle Henault a lot lately, and the thick cable look is very tempting. I guessed that I would have to double the yarn to make it the right weight. And figured that the sleeves should have enough yardage. So all that was left to do was to wind it up.

First step wind up one sleeve from the hank into a yarn cake.

Then set that one on the floor, put the hank from the other sleeve onto the swift, and wind them together into a new double weight ball:

For those of you who have a tinkertoy swift yourself, I have a little tip for you. The end of the yarn that you're not working with tends to unwind as it's spinning around and get tangled around the swift. But the tinkertoy parts have a slit in the end that you can put to work for you:
Holds the end in place and out of the way: simple solution, but worked like a charm!

I wound the two sleeves up into one yarn cake. It was huge--6 inches across.
Red (the rabbit) was still not impressed. She would have preferred a carrot.

Finishing Mariah: Part 2 of 2

It is time, at last, for the unveiling of my Mariah. (I know you've been sitting on the edge of your seat...)

I've worn it a couple times now and it is comfortable and warm. It really feels good. It came out a little larger than expected (the original pattern calls for it to fit snugly enough to fit under a jean jacket) but feels so good I'm glad it's not smaller and possibly too tight. And it does fit comfortably under my leather jacket, so I can still get the same look if I want.

Project details:

Started: Nov 2004

Finished: Apr 17, 2009

Pattern: Mariah by Jodi Green, free

Materials cost: black wool, free; green wool, $18.80; zipper, $5.66

A general summary of the construction:

. cable details in the ribbing

. knit from the bottom up with the yoke knit as one piece

. raglan style decreases

. constructed from wool rescued from a damaged Gap sweater

Modifications to the pattern:

. simplified cable pattern on sleeve because I knew I didn't have enough wool

. changed neckline shaping because it was coming out too wide

. completely reworked hood including adding the cable edge because I could not get the pattern instructions to work

. did not knit a 2 stitch garter border along front and hood edge. (My edges are neat enough that I do not need to fold over a facing, thank you very much. Yeah, you can come and check them out--they will stand up to your scrutiny!)

. added a second colour because I did not have enough black

I was not crazy about the way the hood fit at first but am coming to terms with it. I just have to learn to put it on right! I think the neckline was decreased a little too much and, as stated in the previous Mariah post, the hood was made a little too large. However, I am very pleased with how it looks hanging down the back:

and that's most likely how it will be the majority of the time. (And if I'm cold enough to pull the hood on, I am not going to be caring particularly about how I look!)

All in all, I am so happy I made this sweater, and am even happier I finally finished it. If you see me around this spring, chances are you will see me in my Mariah.

[ETA: Mariah won a blue ribbon at the 2009 County Fair (knitted cardigan or coat).]

Finishing Mariah: Part 1 of 2

Get comfortable...this is a long one. So long, in fact, that I split it in two. But I guess a sweater that was 4+ years in the making deserves a long post to finish it up!

This first post will describe the finishing details and the second will give pictures of the final project and sum things up.

In an earlier post I promised some more details about the hood.

I ended up knitting it up to about 4" short of what I thought should be the final length. (That's all in green.) I took the middle 4" from the back (starting on the right side of the above pic) and knit those stitches from back to front. At the end of each row I would knit the last stitch together with one of the stitches from the side. That way I avoided having to sew a seam and it makes for a nice ratio of rows to stitches as you go.

Then, since I wanted the cable to continue around the front edge, I stopped knitting when I got up to the cable and changed directions again. I took the stitches from the cable on the right side and continued to knit it until I met the cable on the left side, now knitting the last stitch with the live stitches from the top panel.

Finally I had to finish the seam where the cable met itself and used the Kitchener stitch. The close up pic shows the seam and I think it came out pretty well. (Of course the black will hide any flaws anyway.)

In general the hood came out a little long and a little boxy. But boxy is better than pointy in my book. And I guess I'd say long is better than too short and tight. So if I had to err I think I leaned the right direction in both cases.

And now for the zipper. You may recall that I was worried about how the zipper would go in. It's very easy for the sweater to get all stretched out during the insertion process. Then the zipper doesn't lie flat but instead travels in valleys and mounds. Not very flattering. It's also easy for the two halves not to be level, or for the zipper not to be centered. In other words, there are lots of ways for a zipper to go wrong, and only one way for it to be right.

Shortly before needing to do the zipper I fortunately read this post from the Yarn Harlot where she succinctly summarizes the steps to putting in a zipper:

1. Baste the fronts together, making sure the top and bottom edges match. This may sound obvious but sometimes these things get overlooked. Especially when you are almost done and just have one measly zipper holding you back.
I went ahead and basted right where the sweater was laid out from blocking.

And use a contrasting yarn that you can easily see to pull out later.

2. Lay one half of the zipper on the sweater matching the edge of the zipper teeth with the center seam you just sewed. Baste with thread, once again in a highly contrasting colour.
(Some people just pin but I am a firm believer in sewing zippers. Zippers shift as you pull out the pins. They can't shift if you've got them sewn down within an inch of their lives.)

3. Zip the other half onto the part that's sewn down and baste it too. See, now the two halves have to match perfectly on your sweater. No shifting or lumps or anything. Perfect!

4. Now you'll have to remove the first basting. Hopefully you've not only used a contrasting yarn, but also a smooth slippery one that will pull out easily without leaving a lot of fuzz etc. (Oh, should I have mentioned that earlier?) Then unzip the two parts of the zipper.

5. Next up is the actual sewing. Some may do it by hand, but unless it's really fine or fancy, I'm going to use my machine.

Here's a little tip that helps whenever you have to sew along an edge: do not place your foot so that it hangs over the edge of your fabric and only half the foot is guiding the fabric. Rather, place it so it can run entirely on top of the fabric and just move your needle position to the side (to the right in the above pic) so that the stitches are close to the edge, but the foot can still move evenly over the fabric. I also used my walking foot which helps a lot.

You can sew from the top or from the bottom, but whatever you do, sew both sides from the same direction. So if the zipper or fabric shift at all, they will shift in the same direction and still match. This will mean, however, that one side is easy to sew with all the fabric to the left of the machine and the other side is not.

Below is the left half being sewn, and you can see most of the fabric is in the way.

However, since my machine has a wide throat (and I know I've bragged about it before, but it really is wonderful) it was not a problem in the slightest.

Once the zipper is sewn in, you can then take out the basting threads. Et voila, a zipper is installed and I could call my Mariah finished!!

Starting Again (and Again) (and Sometimes Again)

Spring...have you read enough blog posts about spring yet? Well, the crocuses coming out to play in my yard have put me in the mood to celebrate it. The long winter is over even as it tries to make me cower under its last dying gasp. Well, I will not cower. We've had too many sunny days lately for that.

What I will do is consider the lesson I can learn from the new life coming from the seeming dead ground. The bulbs that gave up after last year's blooming are back to try again and are making a grand show of it. If the flowers of the field can do it, perhaps I can too.

Specifically, I resurrected a project that I had abandoned (several times) but not completely rejected. There was a hoodie pattern from knitty, the Mariah, that I really liked and which presented itself just as the wool for it appeared as a gift.

First the wool. My co-worker, knowing I had some skill with things knitted, asked me to look at a sweater her puppy had chewed. I told her to bring it in; I could say nothing for sure until I had seen it. She brought in a beautiful Gap cabled sweater in a coal black wool that had a gaping 6 inch diameter hole in the back. No, I'm afraid, I could do nothing for that!

As she balled it up to bitterly throw it into the trash, I asked if I could have it. Perhaps I could use the wool. I didn't want to seem too happy to benefit from her misfortune, but she had no objections and I took it home. My grandmother used to unravel sweaters from thrift stores when they were the colour she was looking for, and I figured I could too. And I did. I even kept a lot of the short fragments that resulted from the now discontinuous back. And I got a lot of wool.

Now for the pattern. I knit up the back and front pieces with no trouble. I knew I had less wool than the pattern called for so I really simplified the cables on the sleeves, changing the complicated design from the pattern to two simple four-stitch cables running side by side up the center of the sleeve [right]. All of these pieces are joined at the yoke and then knit as one.

I ran out of wool when the yoke was pretty much done and still had the whole hood to go. About that time, a few ladies and I took a yarn road trip to the very nice shop, Sheep's Clothing. I brought along a sample of the black wool just in case I could match it.

I couldn't. The very helpful employee, however, did identify it as 3 strands of a type of wool that they had. And they had a rainbow of colours, but not coal black. So I considered my options and bought a colour that I liked and figured I'd just add some wide stripes or have a contrasting hood. Or something.

So I split the ball into thirds, started knitting, and ran out of wool again. Of course it was ridiculous to expect the one little ball to get me very far, especially when divided into thirds, but I didn't think that far ahead. I called the shop to get some more and between their custom ordering system, new computers or something, and I suspect, some general "do it later"ness, it took more than a year to get more wool! Wow. This time I had ordered three balls and had them wind them together for me. That was a lot easier.

I finished the hood. It looked terrible. Really: awful. There was a very strange bump on the back of the hood at the base of the neck. I'm not sure what alien it was for (and I know a number thanks to Star Trek/Wars) but it didn't work for me. So I frogged it back (rip it, rip it) to the neckline and started again, revising the way I interpreted one part of the instructions which was not too clear.

Guess what? Looked terrible again. No better. The whole sweater went into a duffel bag and has emerged only once to have pictures taken when I added it to Ravelry.

Best I can figure I started the sweater in the fall of 2004. I bought the contrasting wool in the spring of '05. I bought the more contrasting wool in June 2007. I've moved, and the sweater has moved with me.

And now, this spring, I have started again. It's been on my mind since I added it to Ravelry. While linking it to the other projects made from the same pattern, I couldn't help but notice that a lot of other people had trouble with the hood directions. Most had given up on the hood and changed it to a simple fold over collar. And then one woman's assessment that the neckline was just way too large made everything click for me. I didn't have to try follow the [apparently flawed] pattern. It wasn't working for me, so try something else.

And I am. First of all I added a lot more decreases to the yoke while lengthening it, so the neckline now fits much better. There was a pause in the work while I considered how to construct a hood, but with some searching in Ravelry posts, I think I have something worked out. I'm about half way up the length of the hood and going strong. I hope that the third time really is the charm because I am getting tired of knitting this same hood!

Serendipitously, soon after restarting this project I read a blog post about the correct way to insert a zipper...that was the next looming (possible) snag in this project. How nice to have nipped the problem in the bud.

Here's to fresh starts in spring! (And wish me some luck, please.)

The Joy of Socks

Let me waste no time in showing off my socks now that they are done:
They feel warm and wonderful on my wiggling-with-joy toes.

After finishing the first sock last week, the second one practically flew off the needles. I think I can declare myself free of Second Sock Syndrome. It helped that I had a particularly long appointment at the CPA where I could knit while she put in all the numbers. Project Stats
Started: 2/22/09
Finished: 3/19/09
Pattern cost: free tutorial
Materials cost: half of $1 Goodwill vest (1/2 price!)I was a little distracted, however, and the twist on the ribbing of the second sock got a little wonked. I started doing it every three rows instead of four so it twists a little more often and spirals a little farther around the sock. I can live with that. I did remember to twist the other direction so they are mirror images (as all socks should be!), even if a little warped mirror images. (Dare I say Good Twin/Evil Twin?) Whether evil or not, I don't know yet, but they are obviously fraternal twins. No special reason I did that but that I wanted to. I like it.

Last night I was very close to finishing the sock and hubby was egging me on. But I resisted the compulsion (for once) and went to bed more or less on time instead. Then at lunch today I got all the knitting done and almost finished casting off (I was this close) but had to stop because my break was over. That would be the second instance of resisting the compulsion. But after work when I slipped into my sun-warmed car, I could resist no longer. (A girl can only be so good for so long.) I sat there in the parking lot to finish my cast off and work in the loose ends.

And then you know I wore those socks home.

They feel good. They stay up--no saggy cuffs. I can feel that they are dangerously thin in places because the recycled yarn was so thin, but I will cheerfully enjoy them now and think not about the future darning that will be necessary to save them.

I used all of the wool I salvaged from the vest front and only used a little of the wool from the back. I was originally worried I wouldn't have enough wool for one pair of socks...now it looks like I could get two! On the next pair, I'll go down to the smallest needle size I have, add a few more stitches and see how that helps with the density of the fabric. It should make it better. I will also do a little experimenting with heel types on toe-up socks. I'm still not crazy about the short row heel. But that is for later; for now I just enjoy the socks I have.

I have to say there is something very intimate about socks. Maybe part of it is just how everyday ordinary they are. Or that they fit a part of your body that you don't show around that much. Or it maybe the small size of the project and how when you're working on it, it's all right there very much in front of you, very close to you. The working on every tiny detail of the toe, heel, cuff, et al. Or that when you make them yourself they are completely personalized for you.

I doubt I will only wear socks that I've made from now on, but I will definitely be making more socks. I like elevating the ordinary to the sublime and hand knit woolen socks do that for me.

Transformation from vest to socks

Better Plastic Bags

Last spring my aunt sent me an article about cutting up plastic bags and using them to crochet bags. The idea struck a cord and I went to town. My first bag was a black and white book/magazine tote made completely from WalMart bags for my mom (bottom left). She loved it. From there I made a couple larger totes which my co-workers admired so much that I gave them each one (below right).

The detail pic of the red bag (below left) was actually made from purchased fabric strips with a few stripes of white plastic bags thrown in for interest. That one went to my MIL who likes red almost as much as I do.

And then I did two more for myself: a smaller bag (above right) which I used as a purse for a while and a large yellow and white tote (not pictured). Then I ran out of bags (and wasn't getting any more because I was in the habit of using these better plastic bags when shopping) and ran out of steam as well.

Well once my family saw what was being produced, they started to collect nice or interesting bags for me, especially the red ones available where they are in Canada. After Thanksgiving and Christmas visits when they were able to get the bags to me, I'm starting to feel a little overwhelmed! I spent a whole evening this week sorting and folding the bags so they wouldn't take over the room. Now I'm feeling pressure to do something with them. At least I have enough red ones now that I am ok with using them. (Scarcity breeds hoarding in me...)

There are, however, a few really pretty ones that I only have one or two bags of:
I will have to think carefully of what to use them for.

After a search through Ravelry for a suitable pattern, I may start with this paperless grocery bag from Coats and Clark. I especially liked this version

by Ravelry user knitgranny. If I can figure out how to do the appliqued leaves in plastic it would be a perfect use for the limited special coloured bags I have.

It takes about 60 bags to do a smaller bag and I'd say up to 100 for the larger totes so if I got going on a couple bags I could use up this supply handily. I also have a store of the new WalMart bags (they switched from the preferred black and white to a funny grey and blue bag) to use as a base colour. I have a strict policy of using only "used" bags (i.e. I will not grab a bunch of new bags at the checkout just to crochet them up). I also have let myself get lazy about having the bags with me when I shop. Perhaps that is partially due to winter weather and the extra trouble it brings.

To make the strips, I fold the bags flat (as pictured above) so I can cut off the bottom seam. Then I cut .5" to 1" strips (depending on the thickness of the bag and what I need) from the bottom to the top. At the top I cut as close to the handles as I can and then discard the handles. You crochet with these loops like you would with a yarn, but when you get to the end of the loop, you slip knot the next loop into it...and repeat...and repeat. One loop makes about 3 dc stitches, so you are adding more loops all the time! But on the other hand, it does break up the crocheting...

I'll let you know how the new bag goes...