Lurking but Productive

It's been too long!  I have been lurking in the shadows productive but silent.  Knitting, sewing, and quilting have been my diversions since my last post.  

Knitting seems to keep my hands busy when I don't want to start a big project or go down and heat up my sewing area in the basement.  Here is a recent hat I made for a charity project with some donated Lion Brand Jiffy yarn.  The large knitting knobby/spool makes a cute flower embellishment.

 

And a cowl from Turvid's one row lace scarf pattern to match:

 

The hat is a top down adaptation of a pattern from Ravelry called The Republic Hat by Nicole Reeves.  I tried using a long tail cast-on for socks, using just 7 stitches.  The sock cast-on is easier to manage with 2 24 inch cable needles than the usual cast-ons for top down hats.  If the knitting inspector doesn't look closely, they never notice.  ;)

The cowl is 24 stitches on size 11 needles.  I knit until I had 27 inches then finished off the piece as instructed for a scarf.  With a 180 degree rotation on one end, I whipped stitch both ends together, stitch for stitch.  The pair make a classy looking gift for anyone or those confined to wheelchairs who feel drafts indoors any season.

Last week's sewing project used up a one yard remnant of fabric.  I now have a curtain and valance to dress up the small room/side entry off the kitchen.  

Last Sunday, I warmed up the HQ 16 and quilted Indy's quilt.  Now binding and special label are all that remain to that project that is as old as he, 17 months tomorrow.

With 4-H quilting camp coming up, I hope to have some lovely quilts to show off for the next entry.

Gauge Challenged

Did I say I was gauge challenged?  If not, the secret is out now.  Achieving gauge with a swatch and duplicating it in a project is a skill that eludes me.  A swatch may match the recommended stitch count but matching it in the project is rare.  If I easily achieve stitches per inch, the row count is next to impossible.  My only hope is that the row count is not a required element.

Zuzu's Petals is an easy and fast knit if everything works out right.  I met the stitch count per inch with size 9 circs but somewhere before joining in the round for the neck opening, I realized my big head just wasn't going fit because the opening was dependent on row gauge.  I made a change to smaller needles because the finer yarn version has more row repeats and the worsted weight yarn I was working with was finer than most.  Switching needles worked so I went with the pattern repeats for more petals. 

Eventually, it became apparent that I might not have enough yarn.  The last pattern rounds I dared to knit were numbers 31 and 32, followed by a round to form points on the petals, and then a round of purling to control curling before I fiddled with binding off.  Ending my project was an easy solution to my diminishing yarn until I saw an error in the center back in round 32.  I figured the beauty of my yarn deserved perfection.

Un-knitting was tedious but only 4 rounds.  Perfection was not to be had.  After 3 attempts trying to achieve a loose bind-off and finally succeeding with a single crochet version, I found a dropped stitch in the lace around a petal.  At 1 a.m. one doesn't have any reserves or patience for back-knitting so I declared the project done and went to bed.  The slightly larger lace hole and missing stitch doesn't show but I know.  SIGH!!
 

The cowl was blocked this morning.  Pinned to a pressing mat, sprayed with a mixture of water and Shaklee's liquid fabric softener, and then blasted with the heat of a hand-held hair dryer; the edges have just a faint ripple that goes nicely with the texture of the lace pattern knit too tightly, something I found attractive.  The cowl is warm and soft with a beautiful painted pattern.  It will dress up a number of turtlenecks in my wardrobe.

Pumpkin Patch Hats

Callum's Hat

Helen's Hat

Indy's Hat

The family is gathering for a fall cookout and all the little ones have pumpkin patch hats.  Callum's hat is Rib-A-Roni:  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/rib-a-roni

From some of the comments on Ravelry, there were a few that said Rib-A-Roni ran small.  I made the youth size making gauge at one rib per inch for a 3 year old and it is small.

Helen's Hat is Spiralini adapted for an 18 month old:  http://www.ravelry.com/projects/myshellyknit/spiralini-hat

This one runs large due to the slouch and my gauge.  I started with 72 stitches (4 spi) in the ribbing and then increased to 80 stitches for the body, knitting even for a total of about 5.5 inches for the length before decreasing.  The decreases are based on a 10 stitch repeat so there were no further changes.  If I had been thinking, I could have changed the swirl to a 8 stitch repeat.  That would have resulted in more sections but the swirl lines would have lined up with the ribbing like the designer's.  Helen's curling vines are crocheted.

Indy's hat is has a roll brim with 64 stitches (4 spi).  After the 2 inches of deep orange in stockinette, there is an 7x1 rib (knit 7 stitches, purl 1).  Total length before decreasing, is 5 inches.  This hat runs a bit small for this 9 month old but I have enough yarn to make another one for next year.  ;)

Hopefully, Callum's and Helen's hats will fit and we'll have a Pumpkin Patch Kids picture.

Update:  The day for the cookout was too warm for hats.  Callum politely refused to pose with Helen and Indy, so the picture below is my consolation.  Callum's hat ran small and Helen's is a bit large, most likely she will be able to wear hers next fall, too.

Finger Wiping Good!

With a head cold and tons of laundry to do, I tried to take it easy between loads.  This little towel sort of fell off my needles.  Later, with the laundry done, I sat in the sun to appreciate our recent appearance of summer sunshine and finish off the towel.   Now, that is what I call a productive but relaxing day!

I wanted something reversible that would work as a gift for the kitchen or bathroom with coordinating dishcloths or facecloths.  After a false start with another smaller towel freebie, this pattern developed.  It seems to have enough texture to be absorbent and is approximately the size of a guest towel (fingertip towel).

Download the free pattern:  Stepping Stones Fingertip Towel

Acrylic: To Block or Not To Block?

With DH gone for a week to do some mountain climbing, I settled in to to do some serious knitting.  With 3 days of concentrated effort, a Babies and Bears Sweater is off the needles, blocked, and ready for me to make a trip to the fabric store to find the perfect buttons.

Plymouth Encore yarn doesn't seem to be readily available in my shopping district so I had settled for Lion Brand Vanna's Choice, an acrylic/rayon blend.  With no previous experience with this yarn, I was pleasantly surprised.  The sheen is lovely and the hand delightful.  

With a few modifications to the pattern, the sweater will look great for winter with a cute hat.  The original pattern results in a shorter sweater with a hood but opting to join the two halves of the sweater before adding the front panels (substituted garter stitching in place of the Gansey pattern for both fronts and the back), I was able to lengthen the sweater buy 7 rows and continue the mitered corners.  I also chose to create a stockinette button placket that curled in spite of the garter stitches along the edge and I replaced the hood with a collar so baby can wear a wardrobe of cute knit hats.  ;)

With an obstinate curl along both button plackets, I had a dilemma, try blocking the acrylic yarn or let the buttons hold the placket in place.  Acrylic yarn can be killed by too much heat, but after consulting with the experts on the Yahoo knitlist and some Googling, I was sure I could cure the curl.

Uncontrolled, the lower placket rolled all the way over on itself.

My Rowenta hand steamer is still lost in the maze of moving boxes and it has had an obnoxious drip since it was new and gifted to me.  I decided not to hunt for it.  The Sunbeam steam iron was a better drip-free choice.

Filling the iron with water and setting it for the maximum burst of steam, I practiced on the gauge swatch, hovering the iron above about an inch.  First error was to steam from the right side but a test wash and toss in the dryer showed promise.  The swatch retained its now flattened edges.

Encouraged by the permanent results, I placed the sweater on my pressing surface, wrong side up and proceeded to cover the areas that I did not want hit by steam with cotton hand towels.

Working carefully, I successfully flattened just the button plackets and a small area in the back that was riding up slightly.

Don't worry, both fronts are exactly the same size.

Now, with the success of blocking acrylic yarn, I will be more willing to use it for future projects.  The only thing I won't do again is use that collar!  I followed the instructions for the shaped collar in the Baby Surprise Jacket pamphlet.  I like the idea of creating fullness for a roll line but the points are just not appropriate for a baby sweater.  They look more like a shirt collar or worse. 

How Did That Happen?

This started out as a project to use up wool scraps but suddenly I was spending just over $18 dollars at Craft Warehouse for more wool yarn to coordinate with just the blue and variegated Kool-Aid dyed scraps for a yarn basket or bag that could sit in my living room without clashing with the decor.  Now I have more leftovers to use up. 

This project was a learning experience.  I have wanted to try felting/fulling a knit project and knitting basket/bag seemed perfect.  My past projects were either unintentional or a sample flat knit that has now qualified for potholders.  After searching Ravelry for felted bowls and baskets, I settled on A Petite Felted Bag by Ann Lim.  Wanting a bigger version, I began with the 4 stitches/8 sections on the bottom but increased until I had a round base of 128 stitches and then worked upwards as instructed.  

I hit the panic button when I realized that the rather wimpy Cascade 220 worsted weight yarn was too fine to felt into a sturdy basket with only a single strand as instructed by the pattern.  A Google search turned up another bag with a round base and buttonhole handles.  Figuring if I ended at the top with the brick red yarn that had a heftier hand for worsted yarn, I might have a bag that would be sturdy enough for a knitting project.  I used the new pattern as inspiration only as I was working from the base up.

Figuring that I needed enough height to prevent the base from pulling up, I continued knitting until the my bag was 15 inches tall.

I chose not to use much of the off-white Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool because I was unsure how well it would felt/full.  The variegated yarn in the base is the same but dyed with Kool-Aid.  I was pleased to find that it is very densely felted and with only one cycle in my top-loader.

The felting/fulling process began with soaking the bag in a pan of warm water with 2 cups of white vinegar to soften the yarn.  After 40 minutes in the vinegar bath, I dumped the bag in a bed pillow cover with a zipper (past felting experience in only a mesh bag resulted in much wool lint clogging our 60 year old pipes requiring a visit from a plumber) and put it in my top loading washer with a heavy navy towel.  On the lowest water level with very hot water, the contents of that load went through a very turbulent agitation for 9 minutes, followed by a cold rinse.  

The results was very satisfactory.  The bag is now 10 inches high and 32 inches in circumference and stuffed  with a round bowl in the base and nearly all the plastic shopping bags I could find in the house.  Drying may take awhile, though.  Our pleasant sunshine is now drippy rain.  I may have to set up a fan to speed up the process.

If you would like more details on how to make the bag, download the pattern/instructions:  Round Bottom Buttonhole Handles Bag

While I am posting on my project, I am going to use some space to comment on the terms felting and fulling.  If one wants to be terribly accurate and base their word usage on the ancient process of thickening woolen fabrics after weaving, fulling is the correct term.  Felting actually is the matting together of non-woven fibers.  Unfortunately, word usage changes the meaning of words and now, knitters commonly refer to felting knits to make them denser and sturdier.  One would have a hard time finding a current book on the process using "fulling" in the title.  Felting communicates as few understand fulling and its history in the textile industry. 

June 21, 2013 Update:  Recently, the bag was soaked in Shaklee's Basic H and hot water for a half an hour and then agitated again.  The bag is now smaller and is stiff enough to stand on its own.  Petite but the bag is now a perfect small project bag at about 7 inches tall and 6.5 inches across the base.  The pattern recipe has not been updated with new pictures.

With a recent gift of off-white wool yarn lurking in my stash, dying and felting another bag are tempting me.  A perfect project for lazy summer days!  

Veggie Bag Dispenser

For two days we had Re-Bath of Oregon tearing apart our bathroom and putting it back together.  While they worked, I knitted.  The results was a Veggie Bag Dispenser inspired by the pattern for a doggie poo-bag dispenser first published in Bark magazine and now posted at Facebook.

I used inexpensive Red Heart acrylic yarn in worsted weight with size 9 circular needles, cast on the 48 stitches and allowed 2 inches for the roll top before the eyelets, then knit even for about 16 inches, decreased to 24 stitches, and ended with 2k, 2p ribbing for an inch. I twisted yarn for a tie that is also the hanging loop. The colors are perfect for my kitchen; matching my curtain topper and the potholders Debra Burgess made me in the Treadle On Potholder Exchange for Machines of Color.

The veggie bags will have an attractive hiding place while they wait to be used for dirty diapers.  I intend to make another for plastic grocery sacks but increase one stitch in the 2nd round after the eyelets, centering the increase between them. The dispensing hole will remain the same at 24 stitches and 2 by 2 ribbing.

The yarn was extremely coarse feeling with little resilience.  It almost seemed like it was over heated in the processing of the fiber. I have never had Red Heart acrylic yarn with such a poor hand but it won't stop me from using more for utility type projects.

Purple Passion

The second pair of socks came off the needles on Wednesday night. They aren't perfect but they are very wearable, never-the-less, because the fit is great. I love the feel of the cotton blend yarn from Knit Picks. The socks are so soft and silky to the touch.

If I had them to do over, I would put in more lifelines. I forgot to put one in before I started the heel turn. I must have purled two stitches together because the slip stitch heel didn't line up in the sock underneath. Also, I wouldn't have changed the type of ribbing for the last inch of the cuff. The knit 4, purl 2 was stretchy enough and the density of the cotton keeps the socks up even though the second part of the cuff flares out due to the change in ribbing and the Aloha Cast-off. I will try the sewn bind-off, next time. Hopefully it will not flare the cuff of the sock.

Despite the fact that the yarn was labeled worsted weight, it easily knit up on US 2 needles, 7.5-8 stitches per inch, the gauge for DK weight. With sock yarn, I am going to have to move down to US 0 circulars. They are in the mail and since I have 4-H quilting camp next week, my attention is conveniently re-focused. ;) Guess I have to go back to knitting tawashis.

Another Stretchy Bind-Off Technique

If you tried my little bag pattern, you may have used the Stretch Armstrong sewn bind-off technique. The above video shows a stretchy knit bind-off demonstrated by Cat Bordhi, a famous sock knitter and novelist. This one provides incredible stretch.

Tribbles and Bits

You read right! It is Tribbles and bits and not dog food. I have been trying to use up my bits of scrap yarn. Tawashis (Japanese for scrubbie) caught my eye in a Threads blog newsletter. Their instructions were for crocheted tawashis. Since my knitting skills surpass my humble attempts to crochet, I googled for knitted versions. The Tribbles version appealed to me.

If you like the Tribbles, find the complete instructions here:

http://wishingiwasknitting.blogspot.com/2008/02/tribble-tutorial.html

If you like to crochet, find that version for the Tribble here:

http://crochetpatternsonly.blogspot.com/2005_05_16_crochetpatternsonly_archive.html

Now, if you take up using these fun little kitchen sponges, you might like to keep them free of germs. Research shows that zapping a wet cellulose sponge in the microwave for 2 minutes is most effective without using any chemical germ killers. Wet cotton and acrylic fibers can take the heat of the microwave but my sister-in-law tried a plastic sponge and it melted. She now uses only cellulose. Read the about the research here:

http://www.webmd.com/food-recipes/food-poisoning/news/20070124/microwave-kills-germs-sponges

http://wiki.answers.com/Q/How_do_you_disinfect_a_sponge_in_the_microwave