Knitting – Page 11 – No Idle hands here

Baby blanket

As soon as we heard about becoming grandparents again – I had to start making baby items. Although I don’t like knitting blankets, it’s different when it’s my own grandchild. We found out the same day they did – they told us immediately. So of course not knowing the sex of the baby it just had to be bright and colorful

I have subscribed or bought many knitting magazines over the years. Not being a hoarder, every so often I will go through and tear out the patterns I like and throw the rest away. This is one of those tear outs, it didn’t have the instructions, I must have neglected to tear those out. lucky for me, everything can be found on Ravelry these days. Princess Square Blanket. No instructions there either, but this is a modular square, a quick search on you-tube and I was reminded how to make these. Seeing other people’s finished projects on Ravelry gave me the confidence to just go ahead and make this.Knitters know that Knit Picks is a great source of inexpensive yarn. Sometimes you get what you pay for. In this case, I want acrylic – a blanket that can be thrown in the washer/dryer and will be fine. So Knit Picks Brava it is. Also, they have a big selection of colors.I could have chosen different colors, but I figured these would work well for either a boy or a girl. The original pattern called for picking up all the stitches and making a 1″ border in garter stitch. That is way too much work. Back to You Tube for reminders on making the I cord edging. The original blanket was 8×8 squares, as you can see, I made a rectangle. Not sure why I made the rows 9 blocks long, but I did. and after a while, I was getting tired of the repetitive knitting. Have I mentioned I don’t like knitting blankets?Time to get creative with photography, it sure makes the blanket prettier.Vera Bear is mine, I made her for me, she lives at my house. Grandson will get a different bear, but she sure does look cute on the blanket.

Of course I have many other baby projects to get to now.

Leah

Teasdale shawl KAL (knitalong)

Along with my real life knitters, I belong to a group on Facebook. Although I’ve yet to meet most of these people IRL, we have become good online friends. Recently Marne mentioned this lovely shawl she found on Ravelry, The Teasdale.

I immediately suggested a KAL, turns out it was just the two of us, we did what you do in KALs, share pictures advice and recommendations.This is called deep stash diving, I had bought this skein 3 years ago at the CogKnitive knitting retreat in Tehachapi, CA. I seem to recall that I bought the yarn on sale and yes, this is a color I use often.For this shawl you knit an intricate lace border and add the body of the shawl latter. A new way of shawl knitting for me. Most patterns start you either at the top, and knit down – so you begin with a few stitches and gradually the rows get longer.

Or the opposite, you cast on the largest number of stitches and decrease as you go. Then there is the option of knitting the body and picking up stitches to create an interesting border.

A wonderful thing about Ravelry is that you can see how others have knit a project. There were complaints here about a bump, one intrepid knitter figured out a different way to knit the body portion. I am following her instructions.

This is what lace knitting looks like, all scrunched up and very unlace like. Until you block it.Blocking means wetting the knit shawl, and stretching it to it’s limits. This is made from 100% wool, which means it is very resilient and will hold the blocked shape for a long time. Of course when washed it needs to be blocked again.

I am using foam blocks, easy to stick pins into as well as blocking wires – a wonderful invention that makes the job so much easier, otherwise it would be many more pins, like one on each point.Done! You can see how lovely open and lacy it is, and oh – hi there owls and bird!Here is one way to wear it, yes, a lot of the lace is hidden, but it looks very pretty around the neck.A shawl pin is a wonderful option, allows you to see more of the lace.Corrina Ferguson is a very creative designer. She came up with some new ways (to me at least) to manipulate knitting. Knitting is basically the knit and purl stitch as well as leaving spaces or knitting stitches together. What is fascinating is the many ways one can do this and come up with new designs. I love the center vine with leaves on either side.Finally, view from the back. Lovely.

Here’s the deal, as much as I love this shawl, I have a number of shawls in this colorway. So this one is going into my gift pile. You never know, you may be the lucky recipient of this one of these days.

Leah

#YarnCrawlLA2014

This weekend was the third annual Yarn Crawl LA county. 3 years ago the yarn store owners came up with the idea of having a whole weekend of yarny fun. This is the first year I joined the fun.Five of us did the eastern route on Friday. Laurie-Ann knows how to decorate a car, notice the crochet granny squares on the headrests. She only made a granny square cover for the steering wheel.

Our first stop was in Atwater village at The Little Knittery Notice her granny square bag as well as her headband. Granny Squares are the foundation of fashion. Ellen was smart, rather than buy yarn she was documenting our day via instagram. I bought stitch markers here.Our second stop was in lovely Montrose, on Honolulu Ave. a little throw back to the 50s. The store is Needle in a Haystack. Along with yarn they also sell embroidery and needlepoint kits. They are really prepared for us with their wonderful sign above the counter. They had wonderful soft acrylic for babies, so I bought some.Abuelita’s recently moved from South Pasadena to a more central location in the Playhouse Alley on Colorado Blvd. Small shop, with great hand dyed yarn. Picked up buttons to go with the yarn from the previous shop.This wonderful wool and button ram adorns their wall. Too cute.East and south to A Stitch in Time in San Marino. A very different shop, first of all it is very large, airy and has the biggest selection of embroidery yarn/thread that I have seen anywhere. They also had Hiya-Hiya needles, so I bought a few.

By now we were getting hungry, so down the street we went for lunch.Wonderful midcentury modern building, this deserves a post on it’s own.The stinko burger, with pickles and onions and great sweet potato fries.The Purlside in Glendora, this was a good 20 miles away, but hey, it’s all about the traveling between stores.Diane and I pose with a pattern I bought.1899 quilt that has been in the owners family since it was made. No they don’t sell quilting supplies but they do appreciate quilts.

By then we were in need of dessert, across the street we go to The Donut Man to try their famous fresh strawberry donuts. Brenda and I split one – good thing, it was diabetes in a box.Two more stores to go, Colors in Claremont And Phebies’s Needle Art, this is in an old packing shed by the railroad. Many other cool shops and restaurants. By now I was exhausted. The rest of the gang went on to Hobby Lobby, me I went home.Here are the spoils of the day, I didn’t buy all that much. Each store gave us a button and some gave out goodies like the needle holder or the tape measure.

All in all a very fun day. Some of the gals went north and south on Saturday and Sunday. This was quite enough for me, until next year.

Leah

Spring knitting

Every year in April we have an event called: Los Angeles Yarn Crawl. It is a creative way for yarn stores to get more business on one weekend. I will probably go this year because it is fun to hang out with friends in yarny places.

Last year I stayed home, I didn’t want to spend money on more yarn, of course I have no problem spending money on more fabric.

Instead, I went out to lunch with two knitting friends, one mentioned that her stash is way too big and that I should come over and ‘shop her stash’. It was a win-win. I got a lot of sweater quantity yarn, and she got more space in her closet.

Meanwhile another knitting friend shared a great bit of information, with my Los Angeles public library card I can download magazines from

Zinio online magazine reader

In Knitscene Spring 2014 I found this cute sweater.

And I immediately set to work.

I’m a monogamous knitter, one project at a time. Of course I am not a monogamous crafter, what with sewing, quilting and other things that catch my fancy.