Bag Lady

I've been itching for a weaving project but was held back by things like not knowing what to make (first) and not having supplies to make it. Do I buy more cotton, or silk, or wool? Where do I get it? I finally decided just to start and get on with it already. That was when I was in front of the crochet cotton at Joann's and they had some nice reds, black and white. (Well, I already had the white.)

I thought, those are some colours I can live with. So I bought one of each: black, "victory" red, and a darker red. Then I remembered my Red Purl bag was getting shabby and it could use some new handles. It was a white bag (now a little more dingy from much loving use) with a black and red design. I can match that.

And this Saturday (tomorrow) is another "Bag Lady" event. A deadline!!

First, what's a bag lady? It's Amy's affectionate nickname for the customers who have purchased a Red Purl bag and then are privileged with monthly discounts and the occasional special event. Not the sort of thing I usually pony up for, but this was a club I wanted in on (all the prestige, you know). I bought one of the bags the first year she did it. And you can kind of tell.

There's no washing it back to like-new condition any more, but the worn handles were something I could do something about!

Through the tablet weaving group on Ravelry, I discovered an incredible collection of patterns that are available from someone named Babette on a website. No matter that it's in German; one can figure it out. (Thanks to the hints posted on Ravelry, I did.)

I am fascinated by the warp threads
coming off of the weaving as if they
are streaming away...but in a very
orderly fashion.

I chose a pattern, threaded the cards, and tried it out. After about an inch, I could tell it was about half as wide as I needed. So I printed a second copy of the pattern, cut and pasted it next to the first copy so that they were mirror images, and threaded some more cards. I put them together and started weaving the pattern.

The first strap was a little rough with quite a bit of unweaving from not following the pattern closely enough. But I learned a lot. One night when I did make progress despite spending more time unweaving than weaving, I learned a couple of things repeatedly. I guess I'm a slow learner.

But ever I got better, and the second band went a lot smoother. I think I was also a little more diligent about keeping my place in the chart by moving the post-it note! :)

Once woven, I gave the bands a good soak and then pressed them with a hot iron. The second band came off the loom a little longer than the first, even though they had the same number of pattern repeats. I made sure to stretch them out to the same length while ironing, and then also pinned them in place as they dried:

Once dry, they were the same length. I cut the ends even with my rotary cutters. (I'll have to remember scissors really don't work well enough for it. Or if I don't, I'll learn that lesson again too!)

Then I cut off the original straps and sewed these ones in their place:

Just a simple outline of a square to hold everything in place.

When I initially measured the length I thought I was going to sew the woven band over the old strap so I didn't allow for the overlap with the bag. After being sewn on, they feel just a little short to wear over my shoulder:

They could use an inch or two more in length. But I don't look like I mind, do I!

Project Stats
Started: 11 Aug '13
Finished: 15 Aug '13
Pattern: Muster von Lira nur verkürzt (doubled--24 cards)
Materials: Aunt Lydia's Classic Crochet 10--white, black, victory red
Tomorrow's event at Red Purl is the pre-sale of what she calls her Green Sale--The sale of "second hand" craft items (wool and other knitting tools/books, and this year she added fabric and quilting tools/books). You can hit the sale this Saturday, Sunday, and Monday. I'll be there at 8:30 tomorrow morning for the "Bag Lady" only pre-sale.

Hey, I just realized it's Friday, and this is like a "fix it" so we're going to file this under Fix It Friday and pretend I intended that all along!

Enjoy your weekend, all. And if I find any great stuff tomorrow, you know I'll tell you about it!

"Green Sale"

This weekend, Amy at Red Purl in Niles is hosting the second "Green Sale."

Shoppers are bringing in their once-loved-but-not-quite-so-loved-any-more yarn to sell at great prices. It might be never used yarn, unfinished projects or raveled projects. This is your chance to find a deal, something that's been out of production or just something interesting.

I've been pulling together my yarns that I could possibly part with to take to the store. In the picture you can see a silk blend, bamboo, blue face leicester and mohair. I have more going too.

The sale is this weekend, Saturday through Monday, during regular store hours. If  you are one of the favoured "bag ladies," you can come for pre-sale sales on Saturday, 8-10am. (A "bag lady" is a Red Purl patron with a Red Purl bag. Yes, a very exclusive club!)

I'm excited to see what's there. Will I see you there?

Summer Swap Report

I just realized I didn't post about the Red Purl swap. I was too busy going to the airport over the weekend. (Lots of progress on my secret project...I made this coming Friday's deadline already!)

Once again we had a great group of people at the shop. Quite a crowd...let's say about 16, 17. I was not organizing the swapping this time so I could just sit back and relax!

The package that got every one's attention right away had "boob" balloons on it. You don't need two guesses to get what was inside! The funniest part was that it went to one of the least likely to model them...even over top of a shirt. We all had a good hoot about it anyway.

One of the swappers was giving away the second thing she had ever made! That's a very brave and generous thing to do! It was a lovely linen face cloth with various appropriate accompanying gifts.

And what did I make? Well, I took some recycled cotton from a sweater and made a cuff:

 with some silver buttons.

Here it is stretched out.

Here it is folded up.

And what did I get? I got a lovely cotton bag/sachet with sandlewood soap:

I love the colours and texture of the bag!

Amy has a whole basket of felted balls she couldn't stop making:

Her gift was three of these and a book on juggling! (The book was bound with two wooden needles. It was too clever.)

It was a great night...thanks for all the laughs, ladies!!

Project Stats
Started: 03 Jul '11
Finished: 04 Jul '11
Pattern: Pretty Twisted by Cat Wong (free)
Materials: 15 grams of mercerized cotton from a 2nd hand sweater


Oh, I almost forgot to point out this is my blue project for Project Spectrum this month...way to sneak one in there, eh?

Summer Swap

If you work a little fast, or make something small, there's still time to put something together for this week's swap at Red Purl.

This month's knit night is on Friday the 8th. Amy has invited people to bring a small project (one skein or less)  made out of summer yarns (cotton, linen, hemp, bamboo, silk). Several themes were bantied about, but none of them won an overall majority. Amy eventually left it at "Anything goes from pasties to broaches to market bags to whatever."

When it was looking like "naughty knitting" might be the theme, I started planning a pair of stars and stripes pasties. I abandoned the idea when it was no longer the major theme. (Plus how would I get a modeled picture of the finished objects!?!)

Bonus "blue" shot.
I think that's my mom and Isaac up there.

I'm not going to reveal what I will be bringing, but I can say that it is blue and therefore gets counted as a project for Project Spectrum this month!

Feel free to show up at Red Purl this Friday night if you'd like to join in. (I'm sure you feel safer coming now that you know you won't be getting pasties from me...)

A Cowling Good Time

We had us some fun tonight at Red Purl. Lots of laughter, good times, and dog farts. (Purl was not having a good night.)

In all, 18 people came with cowls to exchange. You can see them piled up in the middle of the table (in bags).

It was a full house!! When we thought everyone had come who would come, we started the "official" games. Amy had anointed me Mistress of Ceremonies and I took it very seriously. (Naturally.)

First I rounded us up in a circle around the table (we had to stand, there were so many of us). Then we went around saying our names. Then we each had to try to say them all. Do well: get a number from the top of the pile (#1, 2, 3, etc). Do poorly and get a number from the bottom of the pile. (That would be me: #18.) Not that it mattered much, but we all liked to be ranked don't we?

Then we went in order by that number to pick out the bag you wanted from the pile. Not that it mattered much because I was just getting started...

There was one lone knitter who was not participating (but having lots of fun laughing along) and I asked her to read a left/right story that I had printed and revised (slightly) from the internet. Every time the word RIGHT is read, you pass right; and left for the word LEFT. This simple task never fails to get people laughing.

Once that was done, I checked if anyone had her own bag: only one did. So she got to pick a number out of a hat, and had to switch with the person with that bag number. Done.

Now we opened bags in order, not that it mattered much, but it was a way to know what to do next. Each was opened, exclaimed over, tried on, and declared "mine" by the recipient.

It was amazing how all the cowls were lovely and each elicited "ooohs" and "aahs" from the rest of us. They also matched what just about everyone was wearing. That was a little weird.

What did I get?

A medium length cowl made from Rowan big wool (I'm pretty sure), maybe 042 mulberry. It's a nice mauve. Not a colour I wear at all, actually, but it perfectly complemented the pink outfit I had on today. So I guess I do wear that colour family, at least. It won't go with my regular red coat, but I think it will be smashing with a long camel-coloured coat I have. Lovely!! (And I'd tell you who made it, but of course, I've forgotten her name because I am that bad with names.)

And what did I make?

It's a pattern called Pletenka by Lilia Mankki. It was received by Rose who took my heel-sock class and is also heavily renovating her house. We trade horror stories and status reports whenever we see each other. (She has one small room--the porch--that is completely done, so she is ahead of me! I am not jealous; I am happy for her.) We were encouraged to include treats with the cowl, and I added a bag of Skittles. (Get it? "Taste the Rainbow.")

When I realized that I had a rainbow of Malabrigo, I searched out a pattern to take advantage of it. This one seemed to fit the bill perfectly. It's a little awkward at times (understatement) but goes very quickly and really isn't hard.

The only change I made to the pattern was to start with three knit rows instead of jumping right into the pattern. It ended with three knit rows and I wanted the symmetry. This caused it to curl nicely on both edges. (Oh, and I did increase to 84 stitches for an adult size, as suggested by the designer.)

The pattern took approximately 15 yards of each colour. I was able to used scraps for all but the red and yellow. I had run out of those and just went ahead and bought full skeins so I could make this project. (Troy told me to! I believe his arguments was, "Really, it's not like buying Malabrigo would ever go to waste." I had no counter-argument to that and trotted off to Red Purl as soon as I could.)

The colours I used were: Ravelry Red, Glazed Carrot, Sauterne, Lettuce, Blue Surf, Hollyhock and Red Mahogany. Roy G Biv. All the scraps were from my knit-along afghan of 2009.

Project start: Jan 10 '11
Project finish: Jan 16 '11

I think I want one for myself now. Maybe with a matching hat.

Showing Your Pattern Who's Boss

But before I get to the "bossy" part, let me tell you what I'm working on.

Amy, at Red Purl, asked me to knit a shop sample from the new line she's carrying: Madelinetosh. I have heard many a gushing comment on the web/Ravelry about 'Tosh so I said, why not? (I mean, I have all of 5 weeks until all my Christmas knitting has to be done, right? ::groan::)

The pattern, Honey Cowl, is designed for the Tosh DK, but Amy wanted it in the Pashmina. Fine with me, because in the Pashmina the lovely wool is blended with even lovelier cashmere and silk. (How decadent is that!)

Amy let me pick the colour; she had four. And, well, let's face it, there wasn't a bad one in the bunch. A gorgeous dark red ("Tart" I think), a goldish/redish mix "Amber trinket" (hard to describe but beautiful), a deep semi-solid blue "Baltic Blue" and a goldish colour.

Of course, she thought of me immediately when she saw the "Tart" (because of the colour, not the name!), and I did love it. But I decided on the blue. It's deep deep deep and you can get lost in it. I thought the slight variation in colour would work well with the slip stitch pattern. And after knitting a bunch up, I think I was right!

I cast on Friday night and put in some serious knitting time over the weekend. I'm at about 7 inches or so. The pattern says to go until it's 12 inches wide but Amy wants me to just knit as far as I can with one skein. We'll see how far I get.

Meanwhile, the yarn is just wonderful to work with and feels really nice. Not that super soft that makes you weak at the knees, but it feels like it will wear well and last over time.

Now, about that "bossing the pattern." Since that pattern is free and I've linked to it I don't think they'll mind if I describe the stitch pattern. Rows 1 and 3 are just plain knitting. Rows 2 and 4 alternate Purl 1 and slip one (with yarn in front).

Now purling is not so bad, but knitting is easier. And I remembered a technique I had read about once which would let me knit all the time. (I've since traced it back to a post in Fleegle's blog which I found through a link on the great TECHknitter's blog. Fleegle's blog is apparently also great but I haven't explored it much so I can't say that from personal experience.)

What is this great method?

Sorry, before we get there, let us first review a simple fact about knitting: The knit stitch and the purl stitch are the same but are reversed from front to back. In other words, a knit stitch is a purl stitch from the other side; and a purl stitch is a knit stitch from the other side. So when you are supposed to purl, if you could just work from the other side, you could knit and it would be the same thing.

Ok, now for the meat of it:

Row 1 you knit as directed. When you get to the end of the round, you are here:

The right side is facing you.

Normally you would pull the yarn in front and start purling. But what if you tried to just turn the work around and knit?

Then you are here:

The wrong side is facing you.

Now one option would be to start knitting "backwards" (from left to right) and that would get the job done. But it's slower, awkward and hard to get an even tension (for me anyway).

So what you do is work with a second yarn. See here I have the yarn I just finished knitting with on the left. And a new yarn attached on the right:

Now you can drop the first (left) yarn and just start working with the second yarn:

This has you going in the right direction and lets you "Knit 1 and slip one (with yarn in back)" instead of the "Purl 1 and slip one (with yarn in front)". When you get to the end of the round, turn your work, drop the working yarn and pick up the yarn you had dropped previously.

You go through the whole project alternating working yarns and changing directions. It works brilliantly. Since you're changing yarns every row, there's no line of carried yarn up the back and I think the "seam" is no more obvious than what it is in "regular" knitting in the round. (There's always some sort of jog in the pattern at the "end of round" changeover point.)

Why does it work?? Well knitting in the round is actually knitting in stacked "spirals." Usually all the spirals go in the same direction. (For a visual, Grumperina's diagram on this post might help.) But there's no reason you can't interlace two spirals going in different directions. That is what we're doing by turning the work over.

Simple. Ingenious. Not my idea. But I love it.

Knitfitti and Yarn Bombing

Thursday evening I stopped by the Red Purl to shoot the breeze. What I walked up to was people adorning the lampposts in front of the store with knit and crochet strips.

Apparently the owner of the store next door, 'Cross the Street Collectibles, started the project as part of the "Arts in Motion" day the town was having today (Saturday).

Amy and Mary Ann climbed aboard and two lampposts were being decorated.

Here's the post in front of 'Cross the Street:

They really got a lot of strips up!!

The post Red Purl was doing was not nearly so amply decorated, so I decided to climb aboard myself. By the time I left Saturday, we had a lot more on the pole:

The bottom strip is a big piece of pop-corn yarn in bright red. It's very fun!!

Below is a closeup of a few of the higher strips:

From the bottom:
*the pink/white and yellow/black strips were there when I got there
*the pale green was a crocheted strip I made Friday night/Saturday morning
*a strip of granny squares I stitched together Friday night. I made two of them--quickest strips ever because the granny squares were donated to me with some yarn at some point; I just had to sew them together
*the orange/pink strip was started by Mary Ann, worked on by some customers with time to kill, and finished by me so I could put it up. It was very curly on the edges (as stocking stitch likes to do), so I soaked it before sewing it on, and basically wet blocked it on the pole!
*the "right half" of the blue strip was donated to me by a girl on the sidewalk (her mother made it) as I was sewing some other strips on. It wasn't big enough, so I took some blue cotton I had with me, and added to it.
*and I crocheted the top strip from some red cotton in my bag while I was sitting around at Red Purl this morning (waiting for the appearance of some cupcakes I knew were in the back!)

There's lots of room on the pole still. If you want to knit a strip, or sew together some bits and pieces (like those gauge swatches you don't know what to do with), feel free! Make it 16-17 inches (when slightly stretched). Bring it to 2nd street and sew it on the pole.

When these poles are full, they want to do the two across the street, so there's plenty of room! Join in!

While I was making things for display on 2nd street, I went ahead a made something I've been thinking of for a long time. Amy has a beautiful knocker on her door in the shape of a hand. Well, a bare hand (or wrist) is like blasphemy to a knitter! So I knit it a little wrister out of some lovely Lorna's Laces shepherd.

Amy appreciated the item and we both had the thought that we need to make the knocker some seasonal wristers!


PS: Check out my favourite yarn bombing projects:
1. the bus
2. the phone booth

Time Spent at the Purl

I've been having a good weekend with two sessions at the Purl already!

Last night I went to sit & knit, show everyone my finished Whistler, and help set up for the "Green Sale." This is the event where people drop off yarn, books, and tools they don't want/need anymore to sell, setting their own prices. The drop off was a couple weeks ago.

The sale itself is running this weekend (Saturday to Monday during shop hours) where you can buy lots of different yarns, books, and tools for good prices. And of course, the "thrill of the hunt" is part of the fun--you can't know what you're going to find!

Then, whatever amount the sellers bring in is not handed over in cash, but in store credit. This is the first year Amy has tried it, and it seemed to be a great success so far. (It helps that I saw that at least four of my own packages have already sold! Can't wait to spend that credit...I know exactly what I'm getting already!)

This morning I went early for the official Green Sale opening. "Bag ladies," as those of us with Red Purl bags are affectionately called, were invited in early this morning for a pre-sale look, tea and yummy refreshments. (And learning that nonpariels are not called parasols.)

I had a very nice time visiting with everyone, drinking tea, and knitting on my pooling shawl--I got the first layer done!! I also ran into the student of my last class and was able to help her get over a hurdle in her socks. I believe she's set to finish now. And yes, I did buy a few things...

In the picture above you can see some red 80/20 bamboo/wool. The bamboo is soft and drapey and the red is the most perfect colour of red. The red you're always looking for and can't find. Well, I found it, and bought it, and don't know what I'll do with it. But that will take care of itself in time.

In the middle you have a skein of Noro sock yarn. I've seen a lot of Noro online and in mags, but not in person. She (I think it's a "she" responsible for all that yarn) really focuses on colour-changing yarns and has made people love her stuff so much they don't even mind that the wool often has lots of breaks and "material" in it. (That would be bits of grass, hay, or whatever else might cling to a sheep's fleece.) I've now got about 480 yds of my own sock yarn to try it for myself. As far as I know, Noro was a huge part of the shift from commercial yarn consistent from ball to ball, to small "arty" yarns where each skein may be unique. (And she was able to sell that as a "feature," not a problem.)

On the left is some variegated cotton from Bernat. I have a cotton project in mind for this summer (more on that when I have it more thought out), and this yarn perfectly matches two of the colours I already have from raveled sweaters. See? You never know what you'll find.

All the yarn was at a good price and looks to be in great condition. It'll be fun to start working with it.

I also picked up a crazy little book:

I have no idea what "twice knit" knitting is but I'm very curious to find out. Anything that says you can cut the knitting and not have it unravel is very intriguing. Old books are just interesting anyway. I can't promise I'm going to make the bikini pattern (ha ha), but I'll see what this method looks like, and how much I enjoy doing it. Make life an adventure.

I also picked up a couple old Interweave magazines:

The accessories edition is for my sister who likes to work on small projects like hats, mitts and socks. There are a lot of nice projects in this one. And the other issue, besides having a nice article on "invisible" cast on/cast off (which I think will turn out to be the same as tubular cast on/off), also has a neat trench coat pattern:

in a basketweave pattern. I am going to investigate whether this would be a good pattern for the plarn rain- or trench-coat I committed to making this year. I didn't have much luck knitting with plarn the last time I tried (my broken needle can attest to that), but it'll be worth another go. The crochet pattern I had in mind isn't adapting too well to the project so I thought this would be worth a try. Plus I enjoy knitting more, and crochet uses 3 times the yarn. Knitting would save me a lot of bags and cutting!

All in all, a very enjoyable morning. If you're in the area, I'd recommend swinging by Red Purl to see what you can find for yourself.

Hat Heel Sock

Last chance to join the Hat Heel sock class. We still have room for one or two more.

This Friday and next, 6 pm, at Red Purl.

Hope to see you there!

Time for Class!

Remember my Hat Heel socks? I knit them in a weekend when I went to the AQS show in Des Moines last fall.

Last week I knit the pattern again in Lorna's Laces worsted, in a two colour pattern that really shows the different sections it's constructed of.

And why did I do this? (Besides getting a lovely sock to wear.) Because I am offering a class on this interesting and comfortable sock design.

Classes are on the Friday nights of April 16 & 23, starting at 6 pm. We'll go to 7:30 "officially," but Friday night knit nights go til 9, so we can stay later if we want. If we need another week, we can do that too. (I'd say, "I'm easy," but I wouldn't want you to think I was a pushover as a teacher--I like to think I run a tight ship!!)

I've converted the pattern for worsted weight, so they go fast. I made the sample sock Saturday to Sunday even while going to work on Saturday, church on Sunday and performing all my other regular weekend duties. In other words, they're really fast!

I did add a slip-stitch/moss stitch pattern to the foot of my sample sock

(it doesn't help anyone to get bored), but you can do yours in stocking stitch if you'd like to keep it simple.

If you'd like to sign up for class, contact Red Purl. I've got tips on the pattern and can show you how to get a good start knitting circles that start from the center. (It's tricky, but we'll do it together!)

Hope to see you there!

Red Purl Afghan: More Blocking and Assembly

Let's see...when we last left the afghan, half of it had been blocked and I was soon off to Red Purl to sew the thing together.

I blocked the second half of the squares on Saturday. (Nothing like waiting til the last minute.) To speed up the drying time, I set the blocking board in front of the heating stove in our kitchen. Troy was patient enough to walk around it all day.

But it was worth it (to me) because they were dry...and flat...and straight by Sunday. (Have I said it yet? Blocking's amazing!)

Off I went to Red Purl to join the other KAL-ers. Only the group was pretty thin. I think only one other person was actually seaming things together and even she only two of the three strips done. A couple others were knitting on blocks. And a lot of people were missing...holiday parties and other year end busy-ness I will assume.

We had a fun time, however. I had printed out an 8x10 picture of the layout I liked and followed it to make sure all the blocks ended up in the right place, enduring much ridicule as a much-too-organized person!

But following my pattern, I sewed blocks in pairs along the shorter seams and got all the short seams done that afternoon. Then my time was up and I carefully packed it up to take it home. Carefully because I wanted to make sure not to stretch out the threads which bridged the gap like so:
I didn't want to cut the working thread between blocks so I "chain-stitched" [quilting term] from one pair of blocks to the next.

This was especially effective as I was trying out a crochet seam instead of sewing it with a needle. One big advantage is that I can just work from the ball and don't have to cut lengths of wool--ta da! No ends to work in! Genius!! (I can say that because it's not like I thought this up on my own.)

When at home I finally got to joining the long seams. When I got to the intersections, I just seamed right over the previous stitching. It worked like a charm:

Here's a picture of how the crocheted seam looks:

(The crochet stitching is between the yellow lines.)

It looks like a set of chain stitches zig zagging up the seam. Which, I guess, is was it essentially is. I think the stitches would have been a little smaller and less noticeable if I had used a smaller crochet hook. But I started with that one (5.5mm--same as the knitting needles) and was not about to switch half way through.

And the back?
Well, I think the back is even less obvious than the front. Sometime I'll do this seam from the wrong side and I think it will be virtually invisible. It's also a very flat seam so it does not add a lot of bulk or change the size of the original article. All good things.

But before you think this is the last word on seaming, I should warn you that this method has one thing going against it: it's very slow! Or maybe I just am a slow crocheter?

Eventually, though, I slogged my way through it and got everything put together:
And all in the right position--thanks to my pattern! By the way, I so enjoyed the result so far that I left it displayed on the couch for the last few days and wouldn't let Troy sit on it. He's so tolerant!

Ready for a few details? The crochet seam is very easy to do. The short version is that you crochet the two sides together by slip stitching back and forth from one side to the other.

Want more details? Insert crochet hook through one loop of selvage stitch of left side. Wrap yarn around hook.

Pull yarn through all loops.

Insert crochet hook through one loop of selvage stitch of right side. Wrap yarn around hook.

Pull yarn through all loops.
And repeat ad nauseum. But remember...no ends to work in. That part is great. Plus I think it looks pretty good. This method was also made easier because the way I put the border on all the blocks ensured that each edge had the same number of stitches.

Alright, so this is the end of the Red Purl 2009 Afghan Block of the Month Knit-Along. Mine is not quite finished since I plan to do an edging around the outside. (I know, I know--I just don't know when to quit!) But I think I'll keep that under wraps until it's all done.

One last look will have to hold you until then:
It's so soft, snugly, and warmer than you would believe. Mmmm...cozy too.