shawls and such

I started a new shawl awhile back.  i have a center panel done.  yesterday i put all the stitches on yarn and blocked out what is done.  unfortunately, what i found was that the center panel is really awesome... and the rest is NOT.  damn.  so, i hav to rip back (ugh) to the edge of hte center panel and rethink it.  apparently i did not pick up enough stitches along the center panel.  the side is much narrower than the center is.  this little sketch is an incredibly crude explanation of what i'm working toward:

the lines in each portion show the direction of knitting--i have the center done--the part with the swallowtail bottom--and i love it.  unfortunately when i stretch out the center, the part i have done on the side is not nearly as wide as it should be.  i guess i need to add stitches after the initial pick-up.  oops.

i'm alternating between feeling a bit overwhelmed with the upcomign move and thinking that it will all be fine.  i haven't done any packing yet.  i guess i figure we'll deal with it saturday and sunday.  :-)  instead i'm working on getting everything skeined out that i can, since my biggest concern with the new shop is that it won't look full enough. 

as luck would have it a lovely guy showed up yesterday that does signs asking about whether i needed a sign at the new shop.  he's going to bring in an estimate next week.  YAY!!

More Knitting TIPS

always keep a crochet hook in your bag to pick up dropped stitches.  (altho i mostly pick mine up with a small double point). 

lifelines can be a real lifesaver if you're knitting lace.  every so often, when you know that your lace is correct to that point, take a contrasting color of yarn and a yarn needle, and run a strand through all of the stitches on the needle... leave it there, then when/if you make a mistake you can rip back only to that lifeline!

put all your little doo-dads--tape measure, needle gauge, crochet hook, stitch markers, etc.--in a small pouch, then you can just grab your pouch, grab your needles and yarn and pattern and start knitting!

post it notes are great ways to mark your place on charts.  put them from the top, so you can see where you've been!

knitting tips

so, when i started knitting i did lots and lots of things wrong, because well, no one told me not to.  so, here's a couple of tips i've learned.  post a comment if you've got some you've learned that i haven't listed.

always slip stitches purl-wise unless told otherwise.

except in ssk, for which you slip knitwise. 

always slip the first stitch in every row unless told otherwise.

if you want to untwist a stitch that is laying on your needles wrong (unless you knit combination) knit/purl in the back loop.  it'll automatically untwist it. 

so... what's you fave tip?

how often?

how often do you check blogs for new posts? i'm curious what other people's blog reading habits are. i often check a couple times a week. if i check too often and find no new content i tend to stop checking as often.... maybe only once a month.

what kind of content do you like? knitting? personal? stories? dyeing? more pictures?

this blog has been a variety of those... and i'd like to know what my readers actually want from a blog.

free pattern

i'm trying something a little new. i've been considering switching from selling patterns to giving them away and putting a tiny bit of advertising on my blog instead. i hope that this will make it so that i can offer more to my readers. :-)

so... to start, here's a simple free pattern. i've had tons of requests for it. i have the sample in my shop. it works really well with left over bits of yarn, or with handspun--which if you're like me, you tend to produce in lots of quantity, but also, in tiny bits... i have a really bad habit of picking up an ounce or so of fiber that i'm enthralled with the color... which makes it so i can have l0ts of different colors/new fibers--but makes it harder for me to make stuff out of what i spin.

Sideways Scarflet

If you’re like me, you see little sample size bits of roving and can’t resist spinning them. I know even as I’m spinning them, that they won’t be big enough to really make much out of, but they are so pretty that I just have to spin them up. So I have quite a stash of tiny skeins around my house. They usually weigh between ½ and ¾ of an ounce. This scarflet is the perfect way to put some of those tiny skeins to use.
This simple two color scarflet is easy to knit, finishes fabulously, a little unusual, and needs very little yarn to create. I started out with 1.4 ounces of yarn in two coordinating colors. It is spun up softly at about worsted weight (12-13 wpi).
What you need:
1.4 ounces of worsted weight (or so) yarn in two or more coordinating colors.
Size 10 ½ knitting needles
If you want to do random stripes reserve 10 yards yarn of Color A. If you are going to do random color stripes, switch colors every 10-15 rows. Color changes are not in the pattern other than at the very end.
Row 1: Cast on 1 stitch in color A.
Row 2: Knit, Purl, Knit into that single stitch
Row 3: K, P into the first stitch (making a stitch), then K,P across to the last stitch, K, P into the last stitch (making another stitch.
Rows 4-15: Continue as in R3 until you have a total of 29 stitches
Row 16: K, P into the 1st stitch (making a stitch), K, P to last 2 stitches. K 2 together.
Row 17: K 2 together, K, P to end of row, P, K into last stitch (making a stitch)
Rows 18 and on: continue repeating rows 16 and 17 throughout; switches colors as you like.
When you run out of other yarn you are ready to finish.
Take the 10 yards you reserved and knit one final row of 16 or 17 (which ever you are on).
Row A : K 2 together, K, P across to last two stitches, K2 together. (decreasing 2 stitches in this row)
Knit Row A until there are 3 stitches remaining. Then knit all 3 stitches together and break yarn and run through final stitch.
Wash and Block as normal.

Loop it in half and tuck the two ends through the loop for a unique look … or wear it as usual… either way a unique and lovely scarf!

confession time

I must confess, i'm not only a bad blogger... but i'm also a bad knitter. let's talk...

i am easily distracted by new pretty, different stuff. there's nothing exactly WRONG with this, but it does make it harder for me to finish, well, anything.

so... here's just a few of things i have in progress at the moment. i say a few, because this does not include pictures that are so far back on my flickr page that i can't find them.


this is my most recent project...it is going to be a shawl... i mostly wanted to show off the colors so it's pretty simple. unfortunately i'm bored with it because it is too easy.



i could go back and finish the second Twist Baby Twist... but i don't want to.




Here is the Olympic sock that i have finished, but have not finished. i want the second sock finished, but i sorta don't wanna have to do it. GAH!




this little flower hat is much more done than the picture shows, actually it's been frogged, and the first half is done, which unfortunately means i have to repeat the exact same thing again. oh no.

unfortunately, today i saw this:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEwinter08/PATTpoinsettia.php
and i have this:
http://cascadeyarns.com/cascade-LanaBambu.asp
color 5

OHHHHHHH NOOOOOOOOOOOO

Doctors without Borders

If you haven't checked out YarnHarlot's blog lately... you migh not know that Knitters without Borders--the brainchild of Stephanie aka Yarn Harlt has raised $1 000 110 for Doctors without Border. that's just amazing. i've been donating for a while now...you should too!

Roving with Rita

so...i've spent the last several days dyeing roving. and i've got LOTS more to dye! can't wait....

here's the first few... these are already up at the shop!

an exciting Christmas

Christmas was much more exciting than we intended this year. J's brother and family were in Spearfish (about 50 miles away) with Grandma and Grandpa. On Christmas morning they drove to our house, and from there we went to J's cousins house nearby. The weather was lousy when they arrived at our house. it had snowed Christmas eve, light fluffy snow. On Christmas day it was snowing and blowing, but the roads didn't seem to bad on the way to J's cousin's house. OK, they were probably pretty bad, but we decided we would be sure to leave early, before it got dark and things would be fine.

We left the cousin's house and quite quickly encountered a drift all the way across the road about 3 feet deep. not surprisingly we got high centered. J's brother had gone the opposite way to go back to Spearfish with G&G. J called them and they headed back to help us get unstuck. a fab Fire Fighter happened by and pulled us out about the time the J's brother arrived. However, in the meantime the interstate had gotten bad enough so that the highway patrol closed it. This meant that G&G and J's brother and family had one place to go (since they couldn't get to G&G's house)--our little 3 bedroom trailer.

Christmas evening and the day after Christmas we had 13 people (3 were quite small ones) in our little 3 bedroom trailer that our family have 5 has pretty much outgrown. :-) Funny part? it was actually quite fun! I'm sure we all would have preferred it otherwise. our unexpected guests had no change of clothes, no toothbrushes, etc. BUT, kids slept all over the living room and on several bedroom floors and the couch. G&G took my daughters full size bed. Brother and family took my 2 son's bedroom--no full size bed, but a biggish room. and we played games and watched silly Christmas movies, and waited out the storm.

The interstate was open this morning. and now we are back to just our 5 selves... it's awefully quiet already, and the house feels huge. :-)

All and all i can only be thankful that we were together, there was food and heat and electricity, and good company! Just so there's a bit of yarn content here... i spent a bit of time teaching my SIL and niece to knit! passing on the addiction. :-) Life is good!

Hope your Christmas or other Winter Holiday was the best. Hope that you had time with family. Hope that you are now getting back to normal and the quiet is a blessing!

MERRY CHRISTMAS and for those friends who celebrate: Happy Boxing Day!

Northanger Abby & Dragons

This really isn't like Pride and Prejudice and Zombies... there'll just be a bit about each.

So... Northanger Abby yarn will be going out on Monday... if you haven't read it, you should know that the main character, Catherine Morland, is a teenager who loves Gothic novels. so i concluded that she is clearly the basis for current Goths. :-) or not... but one way or the other, the yarn is very Goth looking... dark and rich and romantic... totally my kind of colors.




In other news i've been working on a shawl pattern. this is my test of the idea... it's supposed to be a dragon tail and wings... we'll see how well it blocks out!

new blog announcement

i've started a new blog specifically about my designing. you should check it out!

http://knaughtyandtwisted.blogspot.com/

apple jelly and sauce

So... I spent part of today making some beautiful jelly. a customer gave me some gorgeous apples at sock class on Saturday, so i chopped up, cooked and drained apples, then i made jelly. it is the most beautiful pink champaign color. and the taste? well, i can't describe it....

before i've always put the remainer of the apples out to the compost. i felt a bit guilty about this. it's perfectly good apple pulp, just a little lacking in juice. so today, i tried something. i took the lovely apple pulp, ran it through my food mill twice (first time through on big chop, then on really find chop to get rid of all the apple peel). When i got done i had about 1.5 pints of pulp. i added about half a cup of white sugar, cooked it until it was had boiled for a bit. I felt like i needed to boil it since it had hung out in open air for all day, collecting little bacteria. i came away with a pint and a half of apple sauce. it'll be rather tart i think. hopefully it won't jell. that would be so ironic.

last week i made what i hoped would be peach jam, which turned into peach sauce, because it didn't jell. at all. not that it isn't yummy. we've already eaten a couple pints of the stuff--it delish on toast, or ice cream or cake... mmmm BUT, if my peach jam turns out to be peach sauce, and my apple sauce turns out to be apple jam, that would be a bit funny!

tomorrow--knitting!

so.... i've been dyeing my fingernails funky colors--ok, that's just an interesting side effect!

i'll be updating my website tonight, so... if you're chasing Castle Fibers Yarn, tonight's the night!

goodness, it's been too long

i've been super distracted by the shop... i've gotten lots done lately. from indigo dyeing to designing patterns, i've been busy!

here's the results of a natural dyeing weekend... from coreopsis to black-eyed susans to purple logwood the colors were great

this is from my indigo dye pot. it was amazing to watch the color go from sort of greeny yellow to BLUE.

this is intended for socks... it's naturally dyed with chamomile, (for the yellow) and blackwalnut and purple logwood (for the black)

these are the socks... i'm loving them, but the heels are not happening like i'd like.

i've also been designing too... these little fingerless gloves and matching cowl came out really well.

a super lovely friend made this for me for my birthday... it matches the sheep on the sign for my shop. i love it!

more natural dyeing results

i inadvertantly let a whole bag of onions go bad, so before i threw them out i pulled off all the outside skins, threw them in the dye pot and cooked for a bit. i left the yarn to soak overnight. got a lovely golden yellow.

i picked all the black-eyed susans from my garden. i had about 35 blossoms perhaps. i cooked them for about an hour, then saved them for further solar dyeing. put the first, alum mordanted skein in the pot. after about 20 minutes i pulled out this amazing green. it is absolutely lovely. i then added a new skein since there seemed to be a fair bit of color left.

after a three hour soak (without continued cooking) i got a soft green that was much less yellow then the first skein.

finally i cooked about a quart of peppermint plants for an hour or so. i was expecting a buttery yellow since that's what i got on silk, two years ago. i was hoping for a little darker yellow so i cooked it for an hour, then turned off the heat and let it sit overnight. in the morning i pulled out this amazing green-y brown.

i'm loving the results.

yesterday's final results

1. coreopsis tinctoria (with red centers) cooked for an hour–yarn dyed for 20 minutes
2. same dye pot as above with some ammonia added–yarn dyed for 20 minutes
3. same dye pot as above–3rd skein–20 minutes
4. same dye pot as above–4th skein–overnight
5. dye pot 2 coreopsis tinctoria (with red centers) cooked for an hour very low simmer–added ammonia–yarn dyed overnight
6. solar dye–coreopsis grandiflora (a LOT) soaked for about 2-3 weeks in the sun–yarn dyed for about 20 minutes
7. same dye pot as #6–yarn dyed overnight
8. dye pot next–coreopsis grandiflora (yellow petals only) cooked for an hour–added ammonia–yarn dyed overnight
9. dye pot last–virginia creeper berries soaked whole all winter–yarn dyed overnight

natural dye colors so far

click for details.

almost magic

today, i'm spending my day creating magic. (or at least almost magic). all summer i've been picking saving up various plants (mostly flower blossoms) to dye. today is the day! I've taken about a quart of these:

coreopsis tinctoria, a lovely littel garden flower,

and cook them like this:

i've now added some freshly mordanted wool yarn... i'll be posting pictures of what i get later on! after the coreopsis tinctoria comes some other variety of coreopsis and some evening primroses. i've no idea if evening primroses dye... but why not try?

lace weight is finally listed

I brought a bunch of lovely lace weight back from Knitter's with me, and i finally started getting it listed today. My FAVORITE is called Maui Waui:

the colors are actually a bit more saturated...

but VAMP is also fun...

Pretty as a flower...

this is listed yet but it's called Citrus Grove

and this has the palest hints of pink, blue and purple and called Ice Princess!

mmmm... maybe i should keep some and make a shawl myself!

well.... it's been too long

I got back from knitter's connection and immediately started dealing with other issues... June was a busy month. the unfortunate result is that Jane Austen yarn is just shipping this week. it is almost dry and lovely. We have switched books and are doing Persuasion next, which is a neat lacy fichu, in shades of blue.

i brought lots of lovely yarn back from KC...

from Jack Pumpkinhead in his purple pants...

to this natural looking "log cabin"

and Dorothy (in oz) in pastels... it's awesome being ahead for once!

check out my flickr page for more!