stash busting – Page 3

Friday Finish: Adult Balaclava

Posted on February 9, 2024 by Laura Kate

Here is a follow-up on one of my recent stash-busting projects. My first balaclava was for grand-daughter Lu and was ALL stash-buster.

https://dailyfiberfun.com/2023/08/18/friday-finish-child-balaclava/

This version actually required new yarn. My daughter wanted one, and her color requirements were vastly different from her daughter’s (no surprise there.)

It is a pure coincidence that the colors my daughter chose are nearly identical to the ones used by designer Gretchen Tracy in her pattern post on Ravelry.

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/kids-dice-check-balaclava

If you would really like to make yourself one of these cold-busting head coverings, I recommend that you knit the child’s version first. For the adult version, I made at least three modifications that will adjust the size. My number of cast-on stitches and my gauge were the same as the pattern. I lengthened the rectangular crown piece to 7 and 1/2 inches and the length before joining in the round to 10 inches, (center of head to chin.) I also made the neck section and cast-off ribbing longer, but you can try the piece on while in process to get the neck edge to your liking.

The gold yarn is Malabrigo Rios. The white is KnitPicks Hawthorne DK in bare and Swish DK in rainforest heather.

quilting

SAHRR 2024 Challenge 3: Brave World

Posted on February 7, 2024 by Laura Kate

Our host for the Stay at Home Round Robin challenge this week is The Darling Dogwood. She suggested that we use triangles. That should not be difficult to achieve. Many, many traditional blocks are made of triangular pieces. I decided to browse the very useful Quilter’s Recipe Book, by Celia Eddy to get some ideas that would work well with my design. In addition to using triangles, I needed a pattern that was not too difficult and would work well in a long row.

Here’s a four-square block called Brave World.

Each unit is composed of three triangles and a square and four units make up one block. I have specific plans for the square piece, so I say yes to Brave World. But to make it work for my border, I will only make 2 units. Here are two test blocks:

This photograph gives you a broad hint at the subject matter for this week. I have fabric with some animal silhouettes. These are the creatures of the forest and arctic ice that have been displaced by fire and melt. I also have some beehives. No bees though. They are out of the picture for now.

Bottom edge border

Right-side border

Lower right corner

And here is my quilt at the conclusion of the round.

I like the way that the triangles in round one are in conversation with the triangles in this round. You may notice the white sashing. I am using this design feature to outline the borders like a snail’s trail. My quilt is now 30 inches square.

Thanks for stopping by. If you want to see the work of other quilters who are taking the challenge, enter the linky party HERE.

knitting

Cast-on Monday: Mindless Knitting

Posted on January 29, 2024 by Laura Kate

Here I am, in a new year dedicated to stash-busting. Opening my yarn closet doors, I see that there are now only two bags of stash yarn projects. That’s good. But it makes me want to get more projects queued up. I’m looking at you, cheap acrylic skeins purchased five years ago! You were rejected by my student knitters.

I pulled out all acrylics that appear to be worsted or bulky weight and assessed their total volume. Hm, looks like it’s enough to knit a lap blanket. Searching through my knitting patterns folder, I found this image plucked off the internet some time ago.

Garn Studio Drops Design offers it patterns for free on Ravelry. Unfortunately, I didn’t download the pattern or the pattern name. Conducting an advanced search on the Ravelry database using all possible combinations of search terms, I failed to find it.

My notes say that the design reminds me of a log cabin quilt block. So, I will improvise a knit pattern, using the log cabin technique of sewing strips around a center block. In this case, the starting block is in the lower corner, not the middle.

I cast on while watching All Creatures Great and Small on PBS. Here is my progress after the first session of mindless knitting. It is a good start.

This mindless project will be ideal for taking on a late winter car trip that Bill and I have planned. It’s impossible to screw it up, even while barreling down the interstate at maximum speed.

quilting, recycling

SAHRR 2024 begins this week

Posted on January 19, 2024January 19, 2024 by Laura Kate

Last week I posted a number of choices for my center block in the annual Stay At Home Round Robin quilting challenge. Readers of this blog will not be terribly surprised to hear that I chose the mountain painting on fabric.

Now I am forced to consider the short-comings of my choice. First of all, it wasn’t square, having a slightly portrait layout. I sliced off the top and bottom to the limit that I was willing to sacrifice the image. It was still out of square.

My solution was to applique it to a 12 1/2 background. By choosing to applique instead of piece, I avoided seam allowance, retaining more of the painting. With a center block finishing at 12 in., I have lots of options for sizes of the rounds to come.

The second shortcoming became clear when I observed that the painting was mostly one value – it’s medium value nearly throughout. There are some darks, but no real lights. I’ll have to find a way to bring in some light, perhaps with embroidery.

Now I am confronted with a number of design decisions. I have resolved to make the entire thing out of scraps, if I can manage it. Coming up with the palette was easy. It will be an analogous one, featuring a range of colors that exist in the painting. Purple, blue, teal and cool greens will predominate, with a generous dash of reds as accent. Here are the eligible scraps, organized by color and value.

With any luck, I can avoid buying more fabric, outside of the backing.

The final design decisions that I can make prior to getting the first clue concern size and layout. I spent hours thumbing through books and looking online before I made my choices. Ultimately, I settled on a square, with an expected size of 45 inches, more or less. My plan is to add the rounds in log cabin fashion, keeping each round within a strict color range. To see how it would work I made a mock-up using colored pencil on graph paper.