Quilting, Yet not Quilting.....

I know that a lot of people quilt, as evidenced by the many independent quilting stores and quilting departments within fabric stores. However, the whole process has never appealed to me, although I am quite fond of the finished objects. (I'm a fan of blankets).

The mother (M) of a dear friend (D)  is a quilter, and she does it rather well. D (my friend) has some amazing funky quilts at home that I covet. I told her as much, and she mentioned it to M. Surprisingly, M offered to make ME one, in exchange for a pair of socks. I was a bit surprised at that, because M is also a knitter, but apparently has never made socks, finding them a complex animal.

I struck the deal, although I felt it was somewhat lopsided in my favor, so I resolved to also give her more than just a "pair of socks". We exchanged information of favorite colours, styles, and the ilk. As M was back East, we became "penpals", and sent each other letters & postcards with updates of our respective projects.

I made her a pair of socks, which kinda looked like these (except, these are mine out of leftover yarn); I forgot to take photos of her socks before I sent them off.

 

I also sent her a handwoven scarf (which she promptly entered into the County Fair, and it won First Prize!)

In turn, M sent me a most amazing quilt. I love it.

    

The backing

The only problem is that it hasn't been actually quilted yet. The whole thing is basted together. M had told me months ago that she was stalled on the actual quilting portion, although the entire thing was pieced and basted together. I told her to go ahead and send it to me, because it can't be THAT hard to actual quilt the whole thing, right? (knock on wood)

Now, I just have to actually quilt the darn thing. (Sammy approves of the quilt)

The Joy of Wearing a Finished Object

I had hoped to have finished my Knit Swirl Coat over the MLK 3-day weekend, but the best laid plans of cats and women always seem to go awry. The seaming of the coat has taken over several evenings over the past week alone. One sleeve took 1.5 evenings to complete.  Plus, there were times I had to redo the seaming in certain places so that I was happy with the results.

Also, unfortunately, the sleeves on the coat were a bit too long. I missed her Technique Tutorial on creating the perfect sleeve length on her website. However, apparently, this problem is common enough that Sandra McIvers has a tutorial for cutting down the sleeves. I had to cut nearly 8.5 inches of sleeve!

I read the instructions and decided to make a few modifications:

1. I used Eunny Jang's tutorial on crocheted steeks. This process allowed for a much cleaner and enclosed edge, which made picking up stitches a lot easier. Plus, it gave the cut-off sleeve portion a finished edge as well.
2. I decided I wanted a slight bell-shaped sleeve, so I picked up more stitches than necessary.

The whole process took a bit more time, but I liked the end result a lot. Now the sleeves are the correct length.(Of course, I repurposed these sleeves, which will be the topic of another post.)

I LOVE this coat. I love the colors and the fit (mostly), and just how it hangs. There are several small problems with it, but it was of my own making. I think picking this project up multiple times over the year changed my gauge or somesuch, but it's not highly noticeable.

I wore it today to work, as the morning was cold. The sweater was cozy warm and I had already received a few compliments on it. My colleague at work mentioned that it looked very Peruvian and was very surprised that I had made it myself.

Also, I know I think I said I would never make another one, but I love this coat so much that I just might be tempted -- maybe not now, but I think sometime in the near future, I might have to cast on for another Knit Swirl Coat. Maybe....just maybe...

Blocking Blues

I finally finished my Knit Swirl coat just before the three day holiday (Martin Luther King, Jr day). It was relatively warm for this time of the year, so I wanted to wash and block it over the weekend. I had hoped to have this seamed by the end of the weekend. (Yeah, best laid plans and all that.....)

I re-read Sandra McIver's instructions (the designer) on blocking this coat. I'm glad I did, because there was some pre-work in finding the center back and center edge points and marking them with a locking stitch marker.

I rinsed it several times in Soak, as there was some dye in the water. It took 2-3 soaks to get the water clear. Afterwards, I laid out my giant blocking boards that I had bought previously. I'm glad for them because it took ALL of my boards, which are 24" x 24" to block this coat.

Here's the coat laid out.

I used blocking wires (which are AWESOME) to stretch out parts of it. Otherwise, I would have had to use a bajillion t-pins. I laid it out around 10:30 am. It took about 45 minutes to block it out correctly --- matching all of the center points and pinning to the schematic measurements. My metal yard stick came in extremely handy.

 

I had hoped it would be dry by that evening, but I guess I didn't towel it dry enough, plus my itty bitty back patio doesn't get as much sun during the winter months. During the summer months, this area turns into one giant oven, which is suited to drying anything within an hour.

It was still damp by 6pm and the sun was no longer up. I didn't want to leave this outside for a number of reasons. Because this thing was so big, I didn't have adequate space inside the house where there would be no kittens helping.

Unlike previously when I laid it out on the floor:

I solicited advice from my fibery friends on Facebook -- should I find room or use the no-heat option of my dryer to dry this sucker. The verdict? Let it air dry. One person suggested using the bed, locking the kittens out of the bedroom, and sleeping on the floor or couch. I was not about to do that, nor did I think the Viking would agree to such a thing.

I had an AHA! moment when I realized that the roof of my car (a MINI Cooper) is relatively flat, and the kittens are not allowed in the garage. With a bit of help from the Viking, we got the whole thing inside and on top of the roof of my car. (The sweater is slightly bigger than the width of my car hood. It amuses me.)

Between the interlocking boards and the blocking wires, we could turn it almost sideways and nothing really came loose, save the sleeves, which weren't really tacked down.

By the time morning came, it was only slightly damp. We took it outside again, where it dried completely. Now, just to finish the sewing portion of it!

Making Domo-Kun Fingerless Gloves

My eldest niece LOVES Domo-kun. He's a mascot for a Japanese public broadcasting company. He's kinda cute.

When she came to visit, we went to Japan town, and she kinda went crazy over the various Domos you can find there. So, for her birthday, I decided to make her some fingerless gloves, ala Dom-kun. Luckily, Ravelry has everything and I found a few patterns. However, the pattern uses worsted weight yarn, and I was using sock weight yarn. Because I tend to make a lot of fingerless gloves AND her hand size is a bit smaller than mine, I just used my "vanilla" fingerless glove pattern.

1. Cast on 40 stitches.
2. Knit 2x2 ribbing for 1.5-2 inches
3. Knit stockinette until it reaches where you want a thumb
4. Make thumb gusset

Then came the actual turning the brown gloves into Domo-kun. First, I cut out a rough template based on the size of the glove.

I picked up some red & white felt at Joann's; they are about $0.40 a piece.

Then pinned the pieces to the glove and sewed them onto the glove using embroidery thread.

To give the mouth a more 3D effect, I crochet'ed a single chain of 50-51 stitches, and wrapped it around the mouth.

Then used some yarn to sew on the button eyes. They don't look "quite right"

But look fine when you put them on your hands.

How to Keep Your Project from Turning into a Gremlin.

In one of our previous podcasts, Sandy & I discussed mogwai projects. Mogwai projects are seemingly harmless projects that can wreck havoc with your crafting life, if you don't follow some basic safety precautions. (Of course, there are always projects that will wreck havoc no matter what!)

In this particular case, I've been working on the Knit Swirl Coat of Many Colors for quite a number of months (nearly the year), and I've been wanting to finish it. I'm about 80% done, and I've already had some gremlin moments with this project whereby I had to rip back many many rows  -- and with a mohair blend yarn no less!

I've taken to handling this project carefully, reading through sections of the pattern thoroughly, writing down detailed notes, and checking off completed rows.

In this particular case, I finally finished one section, and was reading through another part of the pattern before I started knitting. I was confused by the pattern's written instructions, so I started counting the number of decreases & bind-off, which did not add up to the final stated stitch count for that section.

I redid the calculations. It didn't match.
I re-read the instructions. It still confused me.
I looked on Ravelry for helpful tips from other users. There was nothing that matched my problem.
I searched through the Ravelry forums for Knit Swirl fans. NADA. So, I made a NEED HELP post on one of the Knit Swirl forums (and even took a photo of the coat as a visual aid).
I looked at the errata. I had all the changes for my pattern.

I was becoming very frustrated.
Then, I looked at the clock. It was slightly past midnight, and I realized how TIRED I was, and that maybe, just maybe, rest would be more fruitful. So I put down my project, and went to bed. Nothing could come any good out of continuing to bang my head in frustration. My lovely coat would have become a gnarled mess of a gremlin quickly.

Eighteen hours later, I started re-reading the pattern and calculating stitch counts. And the pattern instructions STILL confused me and my calculations were STILL off.

After taking a deep breath, I remembered that this part of the pattern had a chart. It is a complicated chart, but after 5 minutes, I finally realized what the written instructions weren't as clear as they could have been, and the chart provided a much more succinct summary of the bind offs & decreases that weren't wholly apparent in the written version.

So, now I'm back on track with the Knit Swirl coat. I might even get this finished before a year has passed. Here are some of the things I learned: * I'm very glad that I was trying to figure this out logistically and wasn't knitting on this project, because it would have been easily have turned into a gremlin very quickly. So, reading a complicated section of the pattern and making sure the numbers added up adequately * Taking a step away from a project can really help bring clarity to the project * Always look at the schematic/chart alongside the written pattern. One can give you additional insight into a problem.

Beading with Purpose

Every year, when we visit family for the Winter Holidays, my SIL and I bead jewelry. I bring up my beading supplies and many of the pendants, beads, etc., I've purchased throughout the year, and she lets me dive into her massive stash. We usually take over the dining room table a few hours on the dining room table, talk, and bead. It's a time that I greatly enjoy spending with her.

This year was no different.

When I make jewelry, I like to match beads on what I think of as the theme of the pendant.

I had two Chinese dragon pendants -- one bright bronze and another aged bronze.  I wanted pearls for the flaming pearl and jade (for the Chinese dragon. She also has some colored pearls the same tone as the either pendant

 

At a previous beading show, I had picked up amber beads in a wonderful color array of dark reds to light yellow. It reminded me of the different reds of the sun. So, naturally, I paired it with a bronze lion pendant. It's gorgeous in its simplicity.

Here's another shot of it, taken under different circumstances.

This ouroborous pendant matches some earrings that I had picked up the previous year. I decided that this one need garnet and amber beads.

I've had this shark tooth since I was a kid when I visited Hawaii one year. It's wire-wrapped in gold and only used to be on a simple black cord. I tried several times to couple it with various things but with no success.  My SIL had some interesting beads so I decided to make something completely different than my normal jewelry creations. I like it.

I purchased this whale tale some time ago; I don't remember. But much like the shark tooth, I couldn't quite figure out how to use it. I knew I wanted some blue for the ocean and white pearls.

Some dark lapis served for the dark blue of deep waters and the lighter turquoise for shallow water. I also had some dark blue czech beads that I used for the main body of the necklace.

I also made a necklace for the Viking so he can wear it to the various Faires we attend. I wanted something chunky that he could wear. I found a turtle pendant made out of cow-horn that I knew he would like.

I took apart a necklace that I had made previously (the ones with the shells) because I found I wasn't wearing it as much as I thought. I coupled it with some green jasper (for the color of sea turtles) and some lapis to signify the blue of the ocean.

Viking Helm for a Viking

It is very difficult to buy gifts for my Viking. This holiday season was no exception. Usually, I ask him flat out what he wanted. This year, he wanted a knitted Viking helm, complete with horns (even though he knows it's not quite historically accurate), but it is quite stereo typical.

We looked through Ravelry and he pointed out what he liked, what he didn't like, and what colors he wanted. I decided to use one Ravelry pattern as the base, making some modifications to it. I picked up some Cascade 220 in the approximate colors he wanted, and got to work.

My plan of attack was to a) knit up a beanie hat; b) knit the band separately; c) crochet the horns to make it denser than knitted fabric. So, here are my modifications to this pattern:

1. Using SILVER GRAY YARN, do a provisional cast on for 96 stitches and knit the rivet band 
• Moss stitch 4 rows
• Knit 4 rows
• *K7,  make bobble*  - repeat to end
• Knit 4 rows
• Moss stitch 4 rows
2. Using DARK GRAY yarn, then knit until the same height as the band. Fold this band over to make a thick "head" band.
   
3.  Slip 11 SG yarn onto waste yarn. 
4. Knit 1 DG + 1SG together to form one stitch for 37 stitches (96 - 22 = 74 / 2 = 37) 
5. Place 11 silver gray stitches on waste yarn, and knit 1 DG + 1SG together for 37 stitches. You end up with something like this:
   
6. Knit hat in dark gray for 5.5" from brim. Then start decreases. 
7. Pick up the 11 front stitches and knit band separately until it is the length of the hat. 
   • Row 1: p1, k1, p1 k5, p1, k1, p1
   • Row 2: k1, p1, k1 k5, k1, p1, k1
   • Bobble Row: Every 9 rows, insert a bobble in the middle of the bobble band ---- (moss stitch) k2, mB, k2, (moss stitch)
8. Kitchener stitch the band to the back 11 stitches. 
9. Sew down the edges band as desired. You get the following looking beanie.

Once the hat was finished, I wanted to crochet the horns. I found a pattern on Ravelry, but it was poorly written, so after MUCH frustration, I decided to make my own (which I'll post later). I also knitted a moss-stitch grey band around the bottom of the horn, to simulate how it might be attached to the actual helmet.

The Viking also wanted a "broken" horn, so I made that as well.

Then it was a matter of sewing it onto the hat.

Post Holiday Wrap-up...

Holiday wrap-up...get it? Presents? wrap? wrapping paper? Oh, nevermind, my puns are usually pretty bad, I blame it on DH.

I haven't been writing as much as of lately, because I was busily trying to get the last of the holiday gifts finished and wrapped. And our work schedule was pretty hectic so I found myself without a lot of time. Plus, I was trying to keep much of it as a surprise as some family members do read this blog.

For my BIL, I made some fingerless gloves so he could wear them to events without freezing his hands.

My eldest nephew specifically asked for new fingerless gloves. So I obliged. However, the weather was starting to actually turn warm where he lives, so I hope he gets some use out of them BEFORE he outgrows them.

And for my youngest nephew, I made him a Star Wars book bag (similar to his brother) with different fabric and a slightly different patterning, but still using the pattern I had used before. (Apparently, I forgot to take finished photos of the bag before I wrapped it up as a gift.)

All of the gifts I made, including the fleece blankets I made the previous month, were very well received. Both kids were wearing their fleece blankets wrapped around them for a good chunk of the holidays. All-in-all, a very good holiday. It makes me happy to make things for family who definitely appreciate the effort.

Star Wars Bookbag

I've been busy with the holidays, but wanted to get this particular post up as it had been sitting as a draft for some time. I had to wait until my nephew's birthday passed before I could post it. According to his mother, he really liked the bookbag I made for his sister, so I decided to make one for him.

As his birthday is very close to Christmas day, I really wanted to get this finished and mailed in time for his birthday. He's a big Star Wars fan, and I found a remnant of some licensed Star Wars fabric (along with a matching color denim) at JoAnn's. Luckily, the remnant was enough yardage (1.5 yards) to make a bookbag.

Taking my pattern from my leather bag, I added one inch seam allowance for fabric and started sewing.

I made inner pockets so he could keep other things besides books. The sizing for the bag is 8" x 10" and is large enough for a book or two.

Making Gifts Makes Me Happy

I couldn't post about this knitting project until I could give it to the recipient, as I know she sometimes reads my blog. (It's the price of having a public blog!)

A dear friend is a big baseball fan and loves the San Francisco Giants. Earlier in the year, she mentioned wanting a hat in the team colors. (I had given her a red & black striped hat last year). I tried to look for a variegated orange/black combination but to absolutely no avail. So I opted to just create another striped hat instead.

I picked up some black Cascade 220 superwash and orange Cascade Pure Alpaca. It's a pretty warm and soft combination.

The pattern is the Elizabeth Zimmerman "tam-o-shanter" hat with a few modifications. The stripes are made using a odd-number progression (7-5-3-3) and a jogless jog. (In this photo, it hasn't been blocked, but I love the star effect.)

 

And to save a bit of wrapping (and to double as a re-useable gift bag or ditty bag), I also made this project bag for her. She loves sugar skulls and when I saw this fabric, I knew it was for her.

When I gave it to her, she danced around the room, singing "I got my Giant's hat...I got my Giant's hat....." She also loved the bag and had plans for it.

It makes me happy when a gift is well received by someone who I know will get plenty of use out of the item.

My Swapetition Package Arrives

Today, I got my Swapetition package today from my "secret gifter". I was very excited! The box was a lot larger than I was anticipating, and all of the cats were super interested in it. I had to wait a good 30 minutes before I opened it, as I had just gotten home from work and I had to take care of a few things around the house first. It was an agonizing 30 minutes.

And then, when I opened it? OMG, everytime I opened up a new piece of the box, I kept saying "OMG, OMG, OMG...." I might have SQUEE'd several times over..... Everything in the box was amazing.  There were times, I was astounded at how "psychic" some of her choices were as they were absolutely and utterly perfect.

Here's Anpu checking out the box.

And I have to say, my swap partner wins this Swapetition, hands down. And here's why:

1) PRESENTATION. Her swap package was packaged amazingly well. Imagine my surprise when I opened up the box, and there was a HUGE PRESENT box inside it.  Her theme, "Winter is Coming" with all of the snowflakes, and she kept to the whole theme the entire way through!

(And, can I just say...SHE MADE THIS GIANT GIFT BOX. At first, I thought it was a store bought box, but when I opened it, I realized that she had made it herself. She took the fabric and lined a box with it. Then took the ribbon and matched it up *PERFECTLY* around the box.  As a crafter, this is like extra extra bonus credit. +1000 points!)

For "scale", Sammy is over 10 lbs and over 2 feet long.


She wrote this really cute poem.

Everything was thoughtfully wrapped in coordinating / matching gift bags/boxes. It was like opening up a multitude of gifts.

(I forgot to take a photo before I unwrapped everything, but here you can see all the wrappings!)

2) CONSISTENT THEME: She kept to the "Winter is Coming" theme quite nicely. Everything was about keeping warm & cozy. There were snowflakes everywhere.

3) AMAZING STALK PROWESS VIA AWESOME SWAP ITEMS THAT VERGES ON PSYCHIC ABILITIES:

3A) She gave me an EXPERIENCE. I love tea, but instead of just giving me TEA, she gave me an entire experience and a story to go with it. She went to visit the only tea plantation in the whole United States (I didn't know there was one!)

She took some pretty damn fine photos, mounted them on cards, and told me a little bit about each photo. She wrote that she wasn't a very good photographer, but I beg to differ! I love photography and the stories behind each photo are just an amazingly nice touch! (Not to mention the effort to do all of that!) So, now, when I drink this tea, I know where it comes from, who grew it, and how it got to me.

She sent me a keepsake from the plantation. (And because I live in California requiring that you bring your own bags to stores, this will get a lot of use!)

And she sent me a WHOLE LOTTA TEA!

She sent me both loose leaf and pre-bagged tea.

3B) Perfect little touches. She added a few little things here and there that made this more than just gifts. It shows some forethought!

   

This cute little book gives you a few tidbits about tea And there was the tea-based lip balm & lotion! (And seriously, today, because it was so cold, I was thinking of getting myself some more lip balm because the air was so dry -- PSYCHIC!

Sammy was super curious about the tea mugs. And here's another PSYCHIC moment -- someone took my tea mug at work yesterday, so now, I have a replacement, which I'm going to lock down with chain & key!

And so, cute, a tea bag holder and a sugar spoon. I LOVE the sugar spoon because it has a treble clef at the end, and I'm a musician, so it's a perfect gift! If you have tea bags and a tea cup, you need a tea bag holder and sugar spoon!

3C)  CUTE KNITTED GIFTS in keeping with the theme. In my FAVOURITE COLOUR of all time -- RED And, she thoughtfully included a note with ever single knitted item with the pattern name and designer.

Obviously, there was the tea-cup cozy in red and snowflake fair isle. (And, I'm not sure if that's Paula's real last name, but it'd be cool, if it were!)

A tea cup discloth that was in the silver gift bag, It's so soft!

And, I would have NEVER thought of even making these, but they are perfect for taking tea with me for when I go places. (I love the box they came in!)

A wonderful bookmark with cabling (I LOVE cables). This is going into the next book I read.

And this awesome neck warmer! It's wonderfully WARM and red! And in another psychic moment, today, as I was walking home in the cold, I was considering starting some more cowls/scarves!

 (I might have immediately put this on myself, because it was too soft NOT to wear...)

And here's ANOTHER PSYCHIC moment.....She got me this yarn, and apologized for it because it had PINK in it. But, I had JUST bought this yarn from my LYS and was thinking about ordering another skein. I loved the colors (despite the pink) and had started a project with it. I wanted another skein to do more colorwork projects.

So, in conclusion, to my wonderful swap partner, THANK YOU THANK YOU THANK YOU. This was a most amazing swap gift I have ever had the honor to receive. You've set the bar for any other swap I might do in the future. You rock. You deserve to win this Swapetition.