Tag: UFOs

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: UFO Transitioned

Posted on by Laura Kate

A few months ago, I wrote about my plan to assign unused yarns in my stash to potential knitting projects. Among those plastic bags hanging in the yarn closet were some UFOs (unfinished objects) including this one.

It had started life as a vest project, which involved knitting garter ridge triangles in strips, then sewing the strips together, adding shoulder seams, etc.

To make a long story short, I discarded that plan, partly because I really didn’t have enough yarn and didn’t want to buy more. Plan B involved making the strips longer and sewing them end-to-end to make a scarf.

This scarf is today’s Friday Finish

I enjoyed working on this project. It was basic straight knitting and made a good mindless project. It’s easy to pick up stitches along the triangle’s edge – one stitch per garter ridge. And the color play is gratifying to watch.

The final project is about 54″ long and 5″ wide. There is almost no yarn leftover.

Presto! Another Stashbuster crosses the finish line!

Posted in knitting

Friday Finish: Cheers Shawl

Posted on by Laura Kate

One of the resolutions I made to myself for 2023 was to clear up my backlog of UFOs. Today I celebrate another finish from the knitting category. This shawl, designed by Laura Nelkins….

http://www.nelkindesigns.com/index.cfm/gallery.page/265888.htm

….has been hanging around in its unfinished state for at least three years. I was working the beaded version and got into trouble by choosing beads that were too heavy. Anybody out in blogland work with beads on knitted garments? Let me know if you had any success. For me, the beads were so weighty that the shawl was pulled considerably downward. Sorry, Ms. Nelkin.

Anyway, I still loved the colors and the lace edging. It blocked out to 72 inches.

The beads weren’t totally wasted. I learned how to work them into knitted jewelry, eventually teaching a class on the technique, using up a few beads in the process.

This beadless shawl pairs nicely with my blush-colored boiled wool jacket.

Last time I looked in my craft room closet, there were still three knitting UFOs to finish. I hope to get them marked off the list before summer arrives.

Posted in hand embroidery, quilting

Re-entry

Posted on by Laura Kate

Last Wednesday, the husband and I returned from a very long journey. Over 13 days we drove over 3,000 miles, traveling through nine states. The climax of the trip was three days spent in Ohio, assisting my five siblings in sorting the parents’ household good in preparation for distribution and sale. It’s hard to describe the physical and emotional energy exhausted during that effort, so I won’t try. I wish I could show you a lot of great photographs from the trip, but I didn’t manage to get any worth sharing.

Back here in Oklahoma, it took me a few days to settle back into my normal life. The last few were spent working on hand embroidery of the Shell Lake quilt blocks. It was a good choice for my re-entry, because I could do it slowly while listening to podcasts and drinking lots of coffee. I think that I am done, but not sure. To give me some perspective on my work, I have photographed and posted each block. Let me know if you think the woven sections have enough stitches.

CENTER BLOCK

FOREST BLOCK

FIRE BLOCK

LAKE BLOCK

SKY BLOCK

On another topic, I have brought home a few UFO projects from my mother’s stash that I promised various people that I would finish. My plan is to post about each one as I work through them. If you’re not a fan of sewing and quilting, don’t jump ship yet. I will be continuing to explore watercolor painting, drawing and knitting in the coming months.

Posted in knitting

F.O. Friday – Hermione Socks

Posted on by Laura Kate

This project is finally off my needles.

Not sure why it took so long. I guess that I was having too much fun on my recent vacation to focus on knitting. I also had no internet access for almost two weeks.

The pattern is Hermione’s Everyday Socks (for some reason, I am unable to pronounce that name!) I made no adjustments to pattern – just knit exactly as written.

I enjoyed this pattern and would consider using it in a future project. They feel a little loose – guess I should have used a smaller needle size.

The yarn is Wisco Sock from Ewetopia in colorway Superior.

Here’s the link to the pattern. There are 34,000 projects attached to this pattern in Ravelry. Even for a free pattern, that’s a lot of endorsements. If you feel compelled to give it a try, click here:

https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/hermiones-everyday-socks

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.