Tag: leftover yarn

Posted in knitting

WIP Wednesday: Abstract Rainbow Blanket

Posted on by Laura Kate

This piece of knitting has been in the background of my life for about three months. It is going to be a lap blanket, fashioned in the style of a log cabin block and knitted out of stash skeins.

I’ve modeled my blanket after a Garn Studio Drops design called Abstract Rainbow

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/203-2-abstract-rainbow

The main difference between the actual pattern and my work is that I didn’t follow any instructions. I just improvised based on the look of the DROPS pattern.

So here I am so far:

I quickly used up all of my stash acrylics within the first four stripes. Stubbornly refusing to buy yarn, I cadged my friend into giving me some of her acrylic skeins in similar colorways. After using all the yarn she gave me, the blanket was still not big enough. I gritted my teeth and purchased one Hobby Lobby cream colored skein.

The blanket is now about 42 inches square and I am sitting here with the left-overs, pondering my next move.

My brain tells me that a crocheted border would allow all the leftovers to be worked in. But my gut is resisting this move. I can’t help myself; I have a prejudice against the craft of crochet.

Okay knitters, what would you do? And how big does a lap blanket have to be?

Posted in embellishing, knitting

F.O. Friday – Yes I did

Posted on by Laura Kate

Despite my moodiness, I managed to complete a little knitting project this week. The pattern for this knitted and beaded collar, above, is found in 60 QuickLuxury Knits, published in 2014 by the editors of Sixth and Spring Books. I suspect that it is now out of print. I bought mine through an on-line used book store.

There are likely to be similar pattern on Ravelry.com.

As I was knitting, I thought about the late Justice Ginsberg and her iconic fashion (and political) statement collars.

Ruth Bader Ginsburg: May her memory be a blessing
One of many obituaries published last year.
This one is known as the Dissent Collar

Mine was made with some fingering weight yarn found in my stash. The charcoal yarn is a blend of silk and wool. The pink is a blend of rayon and wool. The beads are 6/0 glass seed beads in a color called Red Rainbow, from the local hobby store.

I hope I get to wear mine soon. One couldn’t choose a better role model than RBG.

Posted in knitting

Dregs of Summer

Posted on by Laura Kate

While sitting on the porch this morning and staring at the remains of my coffee, it occurred to me that now is the dregs of summer. With nearly four weeks remaining, it feels like summer is in its worst stage. A late August heat wave has knocked the wind out of summer’s creatures.

Hydrangea’s brown flowerheads

By 9 am the thermometer has already reached 80 on its way to a dance with 100 degrees later today. The trees and shrubs are shedding some of the extra leaves they had optimistically grown earlier this year when rainfall was plentiful. In an effort not to add insult to injury, I have stopped mowing the lawn. It hardly matters, since the grass stopped growing once the heat and dry took hold. Well, except for the crabgrass. That manages to hog all the available moisture to itself.

Slightly fried hosta

I am keeping the birdbath full, although birds are in short supply this morning. Hardly anything is moving. Even the cicadas are silent. As I round the corner of the house on my way to the front yard, I encounter an exception.

These two little goldfinches had been feeding on echinacea seed heads. They scold me for disturbing their breakfast and fly up to the neighbor’s roof.

Continuing on my way through the gate, I spot one plant that is happy for the heat.

This lantana, which had been nothing but leaves all summer, suddenly burst into bloom. Like it was waiting for a hot dry spell. You won’t be surprised to learn that lantana is a plant of the southwest.

Lethargy is setting in. My husband gave me the third degree about my mood. Must I have to have a reason for feeling morose, dear? And if I do, must I tell it?

My mood doesn’t improve when I again ponder the dregs of my sock yarn skeins.

The cowl project I had started last Monday was not inspiring me anymore. I don’t know what it is about a cowl. It sounds like a good thing to knit, and yet, when it is done, I never seem to like the result.

That’s enough for now. To avoid pulling you, my dear readers, into my state of lethargy, I will close this sad post. Perhaps during the week-end I will have something creative to share. The heat is supposed to moderate a little.