The Brick Cardi is done, and it fits.
(I need to get another photo of it, as my shirt is peeking out below the top button, and I cut off the shoulders in this photo.)
Fresh off the needles, it had a nice bath in some Euclan, and then I pinned it on my blocking mats. I wanted to be sure I wouldn't have scalloped folds when it dried, so I used my lace blocking wires in the sleeves (top and bottom) and on both sides of the body.
My blocking mats were on the floor in front of our Jøtul gas stove, and the ceiling fan was on high, but it still took two days. Maybe the rain slowed down the drying, but also the yarn is worsted-weight, so it was able to absorb a lot of moisture. It's Plymouth Homestead in "Brick." That's a pretty thick yarn, and at the pockets, there were three layers to dry. Here's what it looked like after it had dried.
The pattern is Aleph by Hannah Cuviello, but I tightened up the gauge and made some modifications to make it the way I like (shortened the ribbing at the bottom and cuffs, lowered the pockets, adjusted the raglan decreases and changed the neck).
Next big knitting project: The March of the Fibres for DH. It's a pullover, but he wants a cardigan, so I'll steek it.
Wednesday was the second monthly class of "Tales of First Ladies" at Davidene's, based on the book by Eleanor Burns. This month we made the Lucy Hayes, aka "Lemonade Lucy," block.
We used Eleanor Burns' technique for making flying geese, but it requires using a special ruler I don't have. I got to use it in class, though, and to finish, I made a template of the right size flying geese patch and stuck it on the back of one of my rulers. Not as easy, but it worked.
(I need to get another photo of it, as my shirt is peeking out below the top button, and I cut off the shoulders in this photo.)Fresh off the needles, it had a nice bath in some Euclan, and then I pinned it on my blocking mats. I wanted to be sure I wouldn't have scalloped folds when it dried, so I used my lace blocking wires in the sleeves (top and bottom) and on both sides of the body.
My blocking mats were on the floor in front of our Jøtul gas stove, and the ceiling fan was on high, but it still took two days. Maybe the rain slowed down the drying, but also the yarn is worsted-weight, so it was able to absorb a lot of moisture. It's Plymouth Homestead in "Brick." That's a pretty thick yarn, and at the pockets, there were three layers to dry. Here's what it looked like after it had dried.
The pattern is Aleph by Hannah Cuviello, but I tightened up the gauge and made some modifications to make it the way I like (shortened the ribbing at the bottom and cuffs, lowered the pockets, adjusted the raglan decreases and changed the neck).
Next big knitting project: The March of the Fibres for DH. It's a pullover, but he wants a cardigan, so I'll steek it.
Wednesday was the second monthly class of "Tales of First Ladies" at Davidene's, based on the book by Eleanor Burns. This month we made the Lucy Hayes, aka "Lemonade Lucy," block.
We used Eleanor Burns' technique for making flying geese, but it requires using a special ruler I don't have. I got to use it in class, though, and to finish, I made a template of the right size flying geese patch and stuck it on the back of one of my rulers. Not as easy, but it worked.
Because I'm making the blocks as part of a class, it's a long-term project. My current short-term quilting project is the Pine Burr, using the pattern from McCall's Quilting's "Pine Burr Made Modern" from the May/June 2012 issue, designed by Konda Luckau, although my version will look very different, not just because of the colors, but also because I mixed up the backgrounds, so the sashing seams will show up more.
Here's block nine of 16.
And here's block 10:
I've been having a hard time getting the colors accurate in the photos of this fabric combination. The flash really yellows the colors, and available light varies so much, depending on the weather. Block 10 has some green fabric, in the points. It's a very dark avocado green. The other colors are gray, tan, brown, rust and gold, with the backgrounds mostly off-white.
Sooooo...back to hand-quilting my "Spring Flowers" quilt, which I think qualifies as a UFO, because I started it when dinosaurs roamed the earth. Well, that's an exaggeration, but it has been in the works for a long time. I bought the fabrics back in 1999 and started work on the appliqué blocks about 2001. I think it was about 2004 when I started hand-piecing the LeMoyne star blocks. I'm hand-quilting this hand-pieced and hand-appliquéd quilt. (Sense a trend here?) I'm quilting the third of the four appliqué blocks.
I've been getting up early to get DGD1 up to go to work at one of the local ski resorts. She had been having a hard time getting up, so I had to wake her, but she's getting up on her own now, so maybe I can sleep in...until 6:00 AM. She seems to be enjoying her job and getting in some snowboarding, on and off the job. After she's off to work, I have a long day ahead of me to get some projects done.
Time for some cuteness. Here's Zachary, wearing his heart on his sleeve...er, on his shirt:
What's on my needles: Back to the Johan Socks, but getting ready to start the March of the Fibres sweater. Also still working on the second Martha Washington's Wreath appliqué block for my "First Ladies" quilt and worked on hand quilting my "Spring Flowers" quilt.
What's on my Featherweight: Pine Burr, block 11.
What's on my wheel: Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon" I was spinning before the spin-in.
What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: Music from Park City's Messiah Project. Finished Only the Innocent, by Rachel Abbott, which was very good. Suspense and mystery. Now listening to An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, reminiscent of James Herriot's books, but set in the 1960s in Ireland (and the patients are human—most of them, anyway.) Both of these were recent "Daily Deal" offerings from Audible. Still reading Beyond the Cliffs of Kerry by Amanda Hughes on the Kindle app.
What's in my wine glass: Domino "The Perfect Play" Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, a Wine Enthusiast best buy.
What's my tip of the week: When weaving in ends after finishing a knitting project, you can hide the end easily anywhere you have stockinette stitch on the inside of your work, as in the ribbing. Thread your yarn needle and start at the closest end of the stockinette stitch. Run the needle in the side of the first stitch in same direction as the stitch. Skip the next one and then go through the next st. Continue, threading through every other stitch until you reach the end of the ribbing or the end is well out of sight. If you really want, you can go back up the other side of the vertical row of stitches.
When you pull the yarn through, it will be invisible. (You may have to adjust the tension by pulling slightly on the needle or by stretching the fabric a bit.)
Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.
What's on my Featherweight: Pine Burr, block 11.
What's on my wheel: Full Circle spinning fiber in "Pigeon" I was spinning before the spin-in.
What's on my loom: Still some warp for another scarf.
What's on my iPad/iPhone: Music from Park City's Messiah Project. Finished Only the Innocent, by Rachel Abbott, which was very good. Suspense and mystery. Now listening to An Irish Country Doctor by Patrick Taylor, reminiscent of James Herriot's books, but set in the 1960s in Ireland (and the patients are human—most of them, anyway.) Both of these were recent "Daily Deal" offerings from Audible. Still reading Beyond the Cliffs of Kerry by Amanda Hughes on the Kindle app.
What's in my wine glass: Domino "The Perfect Play" Cabernet Sauvignon 2013, a Wine Enthusiast best buy.
What's my tip of the week: When weaving in ends after finishing a knitting project, you can hide the end easily anywhere you have stockinette stitch on the inside of your work, as in the ribbing. Thread your yarn needle and start at the closest end of the stockinette stitch. Run the needle in the side of the first stitch in same direction as the stitch. Skip the next one and then go through the next st. Continue, threading through every other stitch until you reach the end of the ribbing or the end is well out of sight. If you really want, you can go back up the other side of the vertical row of stitches.
When you pull the yarn through, it will be invisible. (You may have to adjust the tension by pulling slightly on the needle or by stretching the fabric a bit.)
Note: This blog post was produced on the iPad and the MacBook, using the iPhone for some photos and some photo processing. No other computer was used in any stage of composition or posting, and no Windows were opened, waited for, cleaned or broken. No animals were harmed during the production of this blog post.
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