Laura Kate

Cast-on Monday, She Shrugged

Posted on June 19, 2023 by Laura Kate

I pulled one of my stash project bags out of the yarn closet for today’s cast-on.

This group of yarns is mostly sport-weight cotton. The marled white is left over from my husband’s sixteen-thousand-stitch pull-over (aka jumper to the Brits) made more than ten years ago. The Berocco Remix yarn was purchased two years ago to make a summer vest for Lu. I ended up using only the red and blue. The yellow seemed such a dreary color. I couldn’t think of who would want to wear it. Then I came across this charming pattern by VersaciKnits.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sequences-shrug

It is knit with the broken garter stitch in two colors. I began to see how the yellow yarn could be a background to more interesting hues. With cuff-to-cuff construction, the stripes would be vertical while the textural changes ran horizontally. My enthusiasm for the project rose quickly after I worked up a swatch.

Other elements of this design include I-cord edgings and button closures on the sleeves. To make it even more interesting, the garment can be worn three ways: shrug, shawl or scarf. I couldn’t wait to cast on.

I like what I see so far. This could be a good travel project, assuming I can manage the constant switching between purl and knit stitches while riding in the car.

knitting

Orphan Skeins: A Plan

Posted on June 16, 2023 by Laura Kate

This year I am determined to shrink down my stash of yarn. While my stash isn’t as large as those of many of my peers (you know who you are!) there are far too many orphan skeins to suit me. So, I came up with a system.

I start with one orphan skein. Next, I pull any partial skeins with the same label. These yarns generally were used together in a previous project. The next step is to grab partial skeins that are the same fiber and weight (fingering, dk, worsted, etc.) and compatible colors. Once I am happy that the yarns can be combined, they get tossed into a project bag. As of today, I have four bags.

To find a suitable pattern, I start by adding up the total yardage in each bag (a digital scale helps with this step.) This number will tell me what kind of garment or accessory is possible. For example, a pair of socks requires about 400 yards, a shawl around 800 and a sweater 1200 or more.

Now the tricky part: finding a pattern. I am a big fan of Ravelry’s advanced search tool. Using the tool, I can build a search using the parameters of the yarns in the project bag. One additional parameter I choose is number of colors. I search for a project with two or more colors. No matter how many different colors of yarn I have, I can always alter the pattern to accommodate more colors.

As of today, I have four stash-busting projects, bagged up and in the queue.

**A scarf knit in garter ridge striped** **triangles.**

**A light-weight shrug in cotton yarn. (I’m always cold during the summer**
**in air-conditioned rooms.)**

What’s in your yarn stash, and what can you make of it? I challenge you to come up with something unexpected.

painting

WIP Wednesday: Dragonfly Art Quilt

Posted on June 14, 2023June 13, 2023 by Laura Kate

I have been busy painting dragonflies on my hand-painted backgrounds. The process is really fun! I have also been researching dragonflies. They are amazing animals.

Did you know that some dragonflies can live for six years? That is pretty good for an insect. Granted, up to four years are spent as naiads, in water. They look kind of like shrimp. Adult dragonflies have six legs, yet they cannot walk. They use their legs to snatch prey in flight, which they then tear apart and eat while still flying. If you were the size of a fly, you would find dragonflies terrifying.

So far, five of my panels have dragonflies on them.

**I cut a stencil to make these two panels**

In addition to Jacquard textile paint, I am using watercolor pencils and Micron pens. The paint is thinned with FolkArt floating medium, which permits better blending and lengthens the drying time.

Here is a mock-up of the quilt layout I’m considering.

If I go with this layout, the finished piece will be 28 x 36 inches.

Two more panels need dragonflies, and then I will consider painting some details on some of the backgrounds.

painting, quilting

100 Day Project: Days 32-35

Posted on June 11, 2023June 10, 2023 by Laura Kate

I’ve figured out which day I am on, AND,

The process of painting dragonflies on postcards broke open my mental block.

I started painting fabric right away, after swatching the colors I want to use.

Using these colors and a variety of techniques, I painted backgrounds on rectangles of white quilting cotton. Earlier I had cut out dragonfly body shapes from craft foam. These shapes and an assortment of leaves were laid on the painted fabric to serve as masks. Laying the pieces in the sun printed the masked shapes.

The next day, I did more fabric painting, just to make sure I had enough selection.

With the backgrounds prepared, I began inserting the dragonflies into the pieces.

Day 34:

Day 35

I’m in love with this last guy. He will be the focal point of the finished product.

In the next week I plan to add finishing touches to these two paintings and begin work on the rest. My layout calls for five paintings sewn together with blue borders in between them. What happens after that is done will take a bit more cogitation.

knitting

Friday Finish

Posted on June 9, 2023June 8, 2023 by Laura Kate

As promised, here is my purple shawl. The close-up photo shows all the sections: neck area, mosaic section, lower section and finishing band. I like the colors very much, especially the purple.

Stretched across a chair, the pattern looks just fine.

But once the shawl is wrapped around one’s neck, it become obvious that the neckline area is far stretchier than the mosaic, so it turns into a little collar.

The collar then covers over the patterned section. So, it ended up being a waste of time and energy to design and knit the mosaic pattern.

I’ll probably hang on to this shawl, at least until I get a chance to wear it a few times. It looks kinda pretty draped over my tomato cage.

Off I go to my yarn closet, for the next stash-busting project. In a future post, I’ll share my plan for how I am organizing projects from stash yarn.