Category: design

Still Knitting!

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My hat is still coming along. I had a stroke of genius on how to fix the top. (Just move the decrease over one stitch, duh!) I’m not crazy about the second bird section where they are left facing. Can you see them? Let’s just say they are high up in the trees and flying in the sky so they are harder to see. The rest of the motifs after bird and tree rows are diamonds and crosses that make me think of snow.

I’m getting ready to go out of town for work. I feel like I should bring some knitting but I’m not sure what. Something small and mindless, but I never did start those socks.

What’s your favorite travel knitting project?

Cats Like Bird Knitting

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I am still pottering away at my Birds of Blendon Hat. I don’t get much knitting time, which is my own fault, I guess. JoJo likes to play with my yarn while I knit, so here’s another gratuitous kitty pic, only a little staged as I obviously don’t leave my knitting lying around like this for her to get into.

I’m falling for all the Carbeth hype. Everyone is doing it, and now I want to do it too. I’m only human. I think I should lengthen it a bit though, since I’m short-waisted. I might also add a hood. Why not? I love the color Between Weathers. I am a sucker for blue.

I’ve decided I need to learn to knit and walk, and although I don’t typically like sock knitting, a nice plain stockinette sock sounds like just the thing. I found a plain sock pattern I want to try, now I just need sock yarn. What is your favorite sock yarn? Inquiring minds…

On a personal note, my oldest son just moved into his own place. I’m so proud. My middling son will also be leaving the nest in a few months. Luckily my youngest son has a few years left at home. He is tinkering with a song on the pan flute right now. I wonder where he gets that pottering-tinkering inclination from?

And then the kitty couldn’t hold her head up any longer. It just fell “plop!” On my lap.

I love how there are already Black Panther patterns out there!

Sorry for the randomness. Do leave me some sock yarn recommendations though, if you please.

Birds of Blendon Hat

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I spent some time knitting this weekend. I do love stranded colorwork and following charts. Very Zen. I should knit more Fair Isle patterns so I have a better idea how the colors should work together when designing.

This is coming along OK. As you can see I am not following the colors as I started charting them. Instead I wrote my color plans in the left margin.

I did a good job designing the motifs. It’s quite enjoyable to knit. If I don’t like the way the colors come out on this one, I could always try it again with a different color combination.

What do you think? It’s still early days.

Color Theory!

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I really enjoyed my Color Theory class at Yarn It and Haberdashery, Look at Esther! Can you imagine a better person to learn from about Color Theory?

The best tip of the evening was learning to use colors that are opposite (or almost) on the color wheel but also using cool tones against warm tones to really make them pop. I can’t wait to get my Milarrochy Tweed yarn to see how the palette works together!

In the meantime, I will make some black and white copies of my chart and color in some potential options.

I also purchased a new skein of yarn to start on Brassica, which I fell in love with while swiping through my Ravelry app. Although I would have loved to have used the Cascade called for, I found instead a skein of Berroco Ultra Alpaca Chunky in – guess what color? Grey.

Last night, I confessed to the fun and funky ladies at class that I’m a boring knitter. Esther corrected me and called me an “Over the Pond” knitter. Her shop is filled with bright and fun colors, and everyone is knitting speckled yarn. She says that’s what the Americans like. But not me. It’s true. I follow KnitBritish. I like natural fibers in neutral colors. I like cables and texture work, and if colors, then stranded Fair Isle or Nordic colorways. One time I took a “What kind of knitter are you?” quiz, and the answer was “Purist.”

I waxed rhapsodic about my navy stockinette pullover I will knit for myself one day. There were a lot of eye rolls.

I’m exaggerating a bit, but I do think it’s interesting. I like the history of knitting. I like the tradition. I want to hug sheep.

Speaking of, I have an exciting field trip this week which I can’t wait to blog about next weekend!

Will I blog tomorrow and make this a two-blog weekend? I guess we will find out tomorrow!

Progress

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img_2741Words cannot express my joy at finally (mostly) finishing the design for the West Highland Way hat contest and ordering the yarn!

I posted this in black and white because I’m not finished with the color design. I need to see the yarn in person to really know how I am going to use it. But I did finish the top decreasing which I think will work out okay, and I chose colors which remind me of that winter’s day at Blendon Woods and the birds in the snow.

I also ordered 2 extra balls of the color Bruce (black) because I am going to knit myself a textured hat with this. What can I say? I like wearing black and I like knitting hats.

Also, the yarn is my Valentine’s gift from Bob. ❤ Thank you, Bob!

(Checks weekly blog post off to do list.)

Heavy on Design, Light on Knitting

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I haven’t felt much like blogging this week. I didn’t get much knitting done so there is nothing to show off. But I did work on my design for the WHW hat contest.

After getting reacquainted with my eraser, I decided there had to be an app for that (charting designs) and of course there is!

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I used to have an entire software suite devoted to knitting design. I paid a pretty penny for it. I’ve lost it since, and it was so long ago, I think it may have come on floppy discs.

I still have to figure out how to continue the design along the decreasing at the top, so this will change. I did start on the colorwork, but color design is my weakness.

I went to a post-modern conceptual art school, where IF we talked about color, it was only in relation to how it made the viewer feel. It was never discussed in a design context.

I think I did take a class or read a book once about the color wheel and complementary colors, but I have to admit this is just not a strong suit. I have tried to observe and be inspired by the colors in nature for this project, and see if I can work them in together in some way. I feel really insecure about it, though, so I signed up to take a color theory class in February at Yarn It and Haberdashery. I guess I’ll muddle through until then.

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What else? I started a Serenity Stitch at Preserve, a local tea and herb shop. It’s like a Stitch and Bitch, but with a focus on mindfulness and relaxation. I’m not sure if we will do exercises or just sit and stitch and drink tea and enjoy each other’s company. I will wait until the first meeting to see what other people need in their lives.

I expect there will be some teaching of knitting, though, because that is what people keep asking me to do. Teach them to knit! And I’m TOTALLY JAZZED about it!

 

New Year’s Day Round Up

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I finally get to hang up my Goats of Anarchy calendar. I’ve had it since September!

I didn’t blog every day between Christmas and New Year’s, but I did knit almost every day. Here are some project updates.

My J&S swatch is coming along. It’s time to experiment with the cables. I was pleased I could jump right back into 2-color stranded knitting, although my tension was a little off on the purl row back. Luckily the sweater should be knit in the round.

Here is a tip. If you want to manifest something into your life, put it on your blog! Look what I got for Christmas!

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One of my presents from Bob was also to sign me up for Kate Davies’ West Highland Way Club – patterns only, but I will certainly be saving my pennies for some yarn as well. I’m very excited about it and can’t wait for it to start!

I did swatch the J&S Shetland while watching Shetland a second time. (I had to for tongue-in-cheek purposes.) I tried to take a photo but couldn’t get one worth sharing. In the first episode, one of the characters is wearing Kate Davies’ Peerie Flooers hat. When I saw that, I remembered I was introduced to Kate Davies Designs through the show the first time I watched it. I think that moment was the spark that rekindled my love of knitting last year. (Hmm… that hat is knit with J&S jumper weight… Hmm…)

Although, I will probably knit the Goats of Inversnaid hat first. What can I say? I really love goats. And so does my youngest. He might get a goat hat, too.

I’m off to make a digital vision board for 2018 full of knitting hopes and dreams.  Happy New Year! What are your aspirations for 2018?

Swatching Shetland for Christmas

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If the week between Christmas and New Year’s is a sign of things to come for 2018, I’ll be working on a lot of new projects next year!

I was very excited to get my hands on some J&S Jumper Weight yarn. I’ll admit it. I became fascinated with the idea of knitting with shetland wool yarn after binge watching Shetland on Netflix. I couldn’t order it directly, or find it online, until Ravelry pointed me in the direction of Lost City Knits. The fact that she is in Oklahoma City (I’m a displaced Okie) sealed the deal for me. I only ordered enough to swatch, though.

My first idea was to knit a simple navy blue pullover for myself. That is the type of thing I enjoy wearing: basic and neutral. It’s a gorgeous yarn, a little smaller gauge than I normally like to work with, but the fabric is perfect.

Now I have more ideas, and this swatch will hopefully help me flesh some of them out. I ordered an additional color to experiment with, and will probably introduce some cabling as well as 2-strand color knitting. Hopefully I’ll be able to work on both sweaters in the coming year. The big question is, of course, funding for yarn.

I see some bingeswatching Shetland in my immediate future.

We had a nice, low-key Christmas with mostly-grown kids coming and going. My Christmas cactus bloomed again because I locked it in the root cellar for a month. It is beautiful but it bothers me that I have to deprive it of sunlight to bloom. Why is it that some of us only perform under pressure? I’m hoping to change that for myself in the coming year and become the kind of person who can succeed without trying too hard.

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Swatching plus a Gratuitous Kitty Pic

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I am swatching and researching stitches for a gansey-inspired bed cover. This is a tiny home retirement hope chest project. I imagine I will blog each square when it is complete, and share information on the stitches and what they represent, and why I chose them. Maybe I’ll include some charts and sketches?

This is my progress so far. A swatch! I love this Cascade Yarns Ecological Wool!

I pulled out my old gansey books and laid them out to photograph. Of course JoJo had to get in on the action.

Work and the holidays are keeping me very busy, but as you can see, I am still finding the time to dream and design and knit! 6 more days! Ho Ho Ho!

More Looking Back (and a Free Pattern)

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Back in the old Liberty Handknits days – one of my small businesses I tried to get off the ground – the Button Up Cloche was my most popular and best selling handknit. It was the first pattern I wrote out and dared to put out into the world. I submitted it to a knitting publication, though it was not accepted. I did sell a few on Etsy. I thought it might be fun to offer it here for free!

This pattern only includes the pie crust cable pattern for the brim, but you can knit any cabled pattern that can be worked in bulky yarn in a panel of about 4 inches, button the ends together, turn it on its side, and knit a hat on top!

Button Up Cloche Knitting Pattern

I found the pattern in an old email I had sent to myself for some reason, in Microsoft Works format! 😆 Luckily I found a file converter online.

I didn’t have as much luck finding the Geensie pattern.

I really like this hat, though, and will probably try to recreate it, or some variation of it. And it’s hard to believe my eldest son is now a full grown man!