Knitting Marathon

Besides a couple of trips to visit my mom in Phoenix, we made an overnight visit to Palm Springs. Sadly, another bookstore there was closing. In the back was some artwork. I noticed this rolled cloth and took it out. It's simplicity, bright colors and skilled tapestry weaving drew me. But I put it back, because there was no price and I figured that it would cost about $300-350.  It kept calling to me. So, I took it up the cashier. $40. The cashier/store owner tells me this was made by a 70-ish weaver from Jocotepec, Jalisco, Mexico, by the name of Leticia Seniara. I hope the owner remembers to relay my appreciation and respect and thanks.

With all that driving, there was knitting. A knitting marathon. My daughter's friend has been asking "where's mine" for Years. Because part of the proceeds for this particular design goes to PBS, I ordered a kit instead of just buying the pattern. What I didn't realize, was that this pattern was sized for a child. 42 inches long is just not adequate for an adult. I didn't know if there was enough yarn in the kit to lengthen the bird's body, so this is the second one I made.

While I was waiting for the kit, I got this pattern online from the same company. My daughter's friend was planning on visiting her in a month. So, I thought I had plenty of time to finish the coat and two...make that three scarves. Oh, but did I say that I'd run out of yarn for the coat? And after calling all of the yarn stores in California and Nevada and Arizona that carry this yarn, we ended up driving an hour each way down to Long Beach. Luckily, the dye lot they had was close enough to do for the plackets and scarf. But the scarf with two purple and one multicolor braid, or even the other way around, had the look of "Oh, you ran out of yarn?" So, I went back to the first yarn store and bought another skein of the multicolor.

Now, let's talk buttonholes. Vertical? Horizontal? Vertical goes with plackets, horizontal doesn't pull. I knitted up samples of both. Vertical was more work and looked like a gaping hole. Horizontal  looked like a cut in the fabric. Then, I had a lightbulb moment. Can you see it? At the top of the buttonhole, I twisted the stitches like for cable! This solves the problem of gaping and mirrors the pattern!

Just a little FYI here, I don't knit the plackets and then attach them. I attach them as I knit them. I knit the last stitch of every other placket row together with one edge stitch on the garment. It's invisible on the right side and not as boring as knit 10, turn, knit 10, turn, etc. And if I've marked my button holes, it's a whole lot easier getting them in the right place, too. Since I wasn't a fan of the attached, braided scarf (and what happens if I run out of yarn after I've attached it to the hood and am on the second side of the scarf), I decided to continue button holes onto the hood placket. This way it can be worn with or without.

Just to make things more fun, there were only three of these perfect buttons at the store. My husband (bless him for the enabler he is) said to go ahead and order the other five I'd need. Have I said how much I appreciate JoAnne Fabrics coupons? These buttons were $12 each!

Finished! The eggplant color is pretty close, but the scarf is NOT! It has orange and khaki and other red-head colors. It is Not this raspberry ish.

Her smile is the Best part of this picture!

Winter Wear

Obviously, this is not my usual pastime, but our doggies were cold.

Machine sewing is not my favorite thing to do, but there's just not enough time to sit and relax and stitch something by hand.

So, here are Dobby and Winky in their new winter wear.

Pencil Roving

I've never used pencil roving before. This was actually the first time I'd even seen it. I bought one, four ounce skein of this hand dyed, merino about a year or so ago at a show.The color is Vineyard Blues. It was easy to separate the two "ply". However, the fiber did NOT want to draft, so I spun it as is...

...and got this beautiful yarn. It feels a little dense, but it's Gorgeous! I have no idea what I'm going to do with it now. I guess it'll just be another skein for the "it's all about the journey/process" box.

Moving on

Now that I've finished designing and knitting my son's sweater, I have time to move on. I've finished the napkins I was weaving on Julia. 

I did three different treadlings on them, though it's not immediately obvious. The brighter colors are so striking, that I see color first, then pattern. The 8/2 cotton turned out VERY soft. I just hope it's absorbent enough to be functional.

This bobbin of singles is the entire  1/2 pound (225gr) of fake cashmere I got for $10 from my LYS. The color in the photo is accurate.

And here is the first of two skeins, done with Navajo ply.

 

My 12 year old nephew always wants to try his hand at spinning when he visits. Usually, I just sit him down at my Majacraft Suzie Professional and have him practice treadling as slowly as he can without the wheel stopping or changing direction. This time, I pulled out some wool for him. And I think he's really getting the hang of it!

I'm glad someone got some spinning in. I have been working on this sweater to the exclusion of all else. And it's DONE!!! But it's a shame I didn't make enough notes to have a pattern for it. By the way, the yarn is from the Imperial Yarn Company. It's so soft and squishy! And you can see how clearly the cables stand out! Luckily, I won't have to put it in the mail. My daughter will take it home to Boston with her when she leaves Tuesday. Then she can hand it to her little brother when he goes to visit her later that week. 

Fall planting

I've spent the last two days doing a little fall planting.

These are all decorative grasses.

And they'll be drought tolerant once they've had a chance to get comfy.

And in case you think I've only been playing outside, look again. This is the back of the sweater I've been working on for my youngest. I started designing it on paper. Then, I did the gauge. Then, I redesigned it. Over and over and... I've ripped it out so many times, that I probably could have been done knitting it by now. And as I look at it, I think that maybe the outer pattern should have been the middle. Hmmm.

It's done!

I finally finished the lace shawl I've been knitting! It's so soft! It's made from Scrumptious Lace, a blend of 45% silk and 55% merino. Yum!

Now, I can cuddle in this while I focus on my son's cable knit sweater.

I need to finish the tie up for the place mats I'm going to make with Sophie.

And I've been spending some time weeding amongst the plants in our backyard. Not a year ago, this was all bare. I can't wait to see it in the spring!