Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday – Mostly Alpaca

Posted on by Laura Kate

This week-end, I cast on a shawl from yarn that was 1. in my stash and 2. frogged from a UFO. This particular pattern is a top-down triangle design with a twist – literally. By increasing more stitches on one half of the double yarnover section and using short rows, it creates a gentle slope across the back of the garment. The pattern is by Manos del Uruguay and is available free on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/gentle-slopes

Here are the yarns I am using.

The Letitcia is Peruvian yarn blended of wool, alpaca and silk. Gloss is a Knitpicks – super wash merino and silk. The three lace weight yarns are 100% alpaca, in my stash for so long that I no longer have the labels. Just last year I blogged about a UFO with this lighter-than-air yarn, in which I moaned about the way the stitches simply floated off the needle. To solve this problem, I am holding them TRIPLED in this project, and following with the Leticia yarn to LOCK THEM DOWN.

My variation to the pattern is the insertion of the striping row of eyelet lace. This will show up every 16 garter ridges, to break up the plain vanilla and keep things from getting too boring.

I think that the back side is just as pretty as the front side.

I like that this pattern works for mindless knitting. The pattern repeats every four rows that are easily memorized. The only hiccup I foresee is that I am going to need a longer cable very soon.

Posted in quilting

SAHRR Round 2 – Angular Puzzle

Posted on by Laura Kate

On Monday I learned that the next prompt for the stay at home quiltalong was Plus Sign. As in the past round, several challenge participants had their additions up and posted on the first day. I was not so quick to get to work. First of all, I wasn’t sure where I should place a plus sign on my project. Secondly, I wasn’t sure what technique I wanted to use I considered all of these options in turns:

  • Nine patch blocks made with contrasting strips
  • Painted on, either freehand, stamped or stencilled
  • Applique
  • Reverse applique

As I awoke this morning, I had the answer – really, it came to me just as I got out bed! I remembered this little tool stuffed away in my sewing cabinet:

I would make plus sign appliques, but I would do it with fabric strips run through the bias tape maker. This tool folds under the raw edges making a very even tape, very quickly.

It turned out to be the only part of the project that was quick.

My first goal was to bring the gray X motif, which had a prominent place on this work, to a graceful close. To do this, I cut and pieced a border using the light blue and dark grey fabrics, with the grey piece matching the angle of the X already in progress.

Here are three of these borders, sewn and ready to be pressed.

When sewn in place, the grey X get its rectangular legs finished up.

Now I am ready to add the plus signs. It’s time for the floral batik fabric to make another appearance. I cut it into four triangles to finish the corners. It is here that the plus signs will appear.

Corner triangles and tape, ready to be fused together

One of the problems I had with using the plus sign motif is that it looked like a stubby, ungraceful pair of sticks to me. To solve this issue, I decided to elongate two sides of it. The long legs will come from the edges of the triangles, with the cross happening at a right angle in the corner.

All of this sounded very simple to me, in terms of the construction steps. This is where my lack of experience kicked in. After prepping the pieces, I started sewing them in place. Nothing would line up correctly! I measured each triangle, but didn’t find anything wrong with their angles. After spending an hour or so, sewing on and removing a few triangles, I finally realized that I had failed to true up the border edges. What a rookie mistake!

Eventually I sorted out the 90 and 45 degree edges and sewed everything together.

To see some of the other quilters’ work, you can visit their posts.

Here:

Posted in knitting

Cast on Monday – Last week of the month

Posted on by Laura Kate

Having finished a pair of socks, I am beginning another knitted accessory – a cowl. I have been wanting to make one for myself in this teal color.

The yarn is a mysterious orphan ball given to me by my friend Kathy, who is in the middle of a stash-clearing phase. There’s no label, so I am guessing about the fiber. It is very soft, with a prominent halo, suggestive of alpaca. If you look closely, you will detect a bit of gold glimmer. The total weight is 80 grams, and based on its thickness I am guessing there are about 250 yards of yarn here.

I started off making this lovely cable and lace pattern, from my book “60 Quick Luxury Knits.” But the yarn revealed a structure that did not sit well with complex stitchery – it has a thick and thin composition and a loose twist which suggests to me that it might be hand spun. I started over. After six rows of garter I worked a combination of yarn overs and knit togethers to create the undulation you see.

What I do next is still unclear. The only thing I know is that it must narrow as it rises.

This knitter is open for suggestions.

Posted in quilting

Animal Friends Project Update

Posted on by Laura Kate

Block assembly on this quilt is done! Animal friends, otherwise known as Dog-house Cat-barn, is an improvisational quilt using string-pieced strips around log-cabin style center patches of dogs and cats. The whole thing was inspired by a delightful black and white print, which you can see clearly, above. I decided to make a twin-size quilt which required 12 inch blocks, each assembled from four 6 inch patches.

The rows will be spaced apart with 4 inch strips in a gray print.

I have started the quilting with the third row, which features pet condos. 🙂

Pet Friendly Housing, quilted with just the walking foot.

Later today – I finished quilting this row before dinner was ready. It went very well. With a bit of effort, I could have this quilt done in a few weeks.

Posted in knitting

F.O. Friday – Knitting

Posted on by Laura Kate

Here you see the pair of socks I knitted for my S-I-L. This was to be a Christmas gift, but it appears that I missed the deadline by about four weeks. I have no regrets – I did what I had to do.

On my feet – a pathetic stand-in model for the giftee.

You can almost make out the 3 by 1 rib I used on the leg and instep sections. This is currently my favorite stitch for socks. I find it more soothing to work than a 2 by 2 rib. Another feature of this sock is that I doubled up the yarn at heel and toe. I am hoping the extra thickness will increase the lifespan of the socks.

Pale blue yarn is a blend of alpaca, wool and acrylic. Dark blue is Cascade Heritage, a superwash merino, reinforced with nylon, and one of my favorite sock yarns.

TGIF, and TGI ready to mail off to the giftee!