Monday, May 4, 2020
Sunday, April 26, 2020
The Thing I Didn't Tell You
I released a pattern last week on Ravelry and Love Crafts...scheduled my newsletter to go out and......got distracted, so never told anyone else!
Better late, than never, right?
Presenting...Monkey Tales...
Origin Stories are often amusing tales explaining why the world around us is the way it is. Sometimes how a single feature of an animal came into being is explained differently depending on the region the story is from. One thing all the Origin Stories seem to agree on is that once, monkey had a short, stubby tail. How it became long varies…pulled on by another monkey, hanging upside down in a tree over night to obtain wisdom, a rock placed on it while he tried to run away…but the end result is always the same, a long tail on all the monkeys.
This long scarf starts from a simple tab that morphs into an I-cord edging and uses increases and short rows to pull self striping sock yarn into new directions. The loopy I-cord bind off allows you to weave that long tail through the edging to secure the scarf around your neck and shoulders.
Size: 48 inches long by 10 inches wide at widest point. (122 by 25.5 cm)
Materials: Knit Picks Felici 75% Merino Wool, 25 % Nylon, 218 yards (199
meters)/50 grams (1.76 ounces) 2 Balls, shown in Steamer Trunk.
Smooth waste yarn for provisional cast on, optional removable st marker to designate odd rows.
Size US 4 (3.5mm) needles, or size required to obtain gauge.
1 or 2 additional US 4 (3.5 mm) dpn for working I-cord Edge.
Gauge : 23 sts and 46 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in garter stitch.(unblocked)
You can get your copy of the pattern here on Ravelry....or here on Love Crafts.
In other news, driving the working kids to their essential jobs at oh-dark-thirty hasn't been quite so dark the last few days and we can see more of the area around us as I am driving. Two days last week we were able to see the Bison that live in one of our Metro parks taking their morning constitutionals along the roadside. (I really hope that Bison don't jump fences the way that deer do...I do not want to have to add them to my morning "do not hit the......" list.
I've been swatching a lot this week...trying to get some little skimmer socks that actually stay on your feet without adding elastic to them. So far four attempts have shown me four ways that don't work. I suspect I am going to have to actually find yarn that has elastic in it already, but the sock yarn I used before that used it was discontinued...do you know of a fingering weight yarn with elastic in it that you could suggest? Drop me a comment so I can check it out.
~M
P.S.
I went to the supermarket today...I know, high excitement there!...and while I am proud of the store for providing surgical style masks to their employees, I really wish they had given them a training session on how to wear them! If I was clever enough I would make a Bingo Card for all the wrong ways to wear a mask and see if I can get BINGO next week. (Yes, it does need to cover your mouth and your nose, no wearing it around your neck like a scarf isn't good enough, hanging off one ear as an earring is a bold fashion statement and having it hang out of your pocket is just plain silly! For those of you that have "dust" mask with the metal tab on them...that goes on your nose, not your chin! So many wrong ways to wear a mask..keep trying, you'll get the hang of it!) The cashier I had was saying she was ready to go back to our "normal lives"...I smiled and nodded, but deep down I was thinking...for the time being this is our normal. I wonder what we will remember of it in ten or so years?
Better late, than never, right?
Presenting...Monkey Tales...
This long scarf starts from a simple tab that morphs into an I-cord edging and uses increases and short rows to pull self striping sock yarn into new directions. The loopy I-cord bind off allows you to weave that long tail through the edging to secure the scarf around your neck and shoulders.
Size: 48 inches long by 10 inches wide at widest point. (122 by 25.5 cm)
Materials: Knit Picks Felici 75% Merino Wool, 25 % Nylon, 218 yards (199
meters)/50 grams (1.76 ounces) 2 Balls, shown in Steamer Trunk.
Smooth waste yarn for provisional cast on, optional removable st marker to designate odd rows.
Size US 4 (3.5mm) needles, or size required to obtain gauge.
1 or 2 additional US 4 (3.5 mm) dpn for working I-cord Edge.
Gauge : 23 sts and 46 rows = 4 inches (10 cm) in garter stitch.(unblocked)
You can get your copy of the pattern here on Ravelry....or here on Love Crafts.
In other news, driving the working kids to their essential jobs at oh-dark-thirty hasn't been quite so dark the last few days and we can see more of the area around us as I am driving. Two days last week we were able to see the Bison that live in one of our Metro parks taking their morning constitutionals along the roadside. (I really hope that Bison don't jump fences the way that deer do...I do not want to have to add them to my morning "do not hit the......" list.
I've been swatching a lot this week...trying to get some little skimmer socks that actually stay on your feet without adding elastic to them. So far four attempts have shown me four ways that don't work. I suspect I am going to have to actually find yarn that has elastic in it already, but the sock yarn I used before that used it was discontinued...do you know of a fingering weight yarn with elastic in it that you could suggest? Drop me a comment so I can check it out.
~M
P.S.
I went to the supermarket today...I know, high excitement there!...and while I am proud of the store for providing surgical style masks to their employees, I really wish they had given them a training session on how to wear them! If I was clever enough I would make a Bingo Card for all the wrong ways to wear a mask and see if I can get BINGO next week. (Yes, it does need to cover your mouth and your nose, no wearing it around your neck like a scarf isn't good enough, hanging off one ear as an earring is a bold fashion statement and having it hang out of your pocket is just plain silly! For those of you that have "dust" mask with the metal tab on them...that goes on your nose, not your chin! So many wrong ways to wear a mask..keep trying, you'll get the hang of it!) The cashier I had was saying she was ready to go back to our "normal lives"...I smiled and nodded, but deep down I was thinking...for the time being this is our normal. I wonder what we will remember of it in ten or so years?
Monday, April 20, 2020
Someone needs to hear this
Stay home...safe at home...
~M
Sunday, April 12, 2020
Not SIlent At All
How are you holding up? Have you had to go through many changes, or just a few?
I have a family of "essential" workers (legal and manufacturing) so, for the time being it is daily trips into their jobs as usual. Although, this past week TDQ's hours got cut as less and less court proceedings are able to happen. (Being one of the more recent hires, it would not surprise me to find the firm lays her off fairly soon here.) TOB's hours seem to be staying the same, but a big shout out to the company he works for...when the schools first closed they offered child care or flex hours to people who were affected and although there have been a couple of days where he got a bonus day off because materials didn't get to them from their suppliers it looks like his job is secure. (TFB, you ask? He "graduated" and should have his degree in hand shortly but...hard to interview for jobs right now and he (of course) doesn't get the commencement walk he planned on.)
Which is the long way around of saying that even though we are staying home...there is enough "out of the house" happening that we haven't killed each other yet.
I have friends all over the world and one of the things I have found really interesting is what is, and what isn't, readily available on store shelves in different places.
We all have had (or are still having) problems finding toilet paper...but some areas...eggs are no where to be found, when I have plenty, and flour seems to be the next toilet paper.
I don't even bother making a list before I go for my weekly shop any more...I am creating my meal plans based on what I can find and what I already have in my pantry. But overall...we have plenty of food, just not the brands or types of things we are used to having in our meal rotations.
Yesterday we made home made gyros...sort of following this recipe which even though we had to sub a few ingredients was definitely a keeper of a recipe! (We did a 50/50 mix of ground lamb, ground beef as I had some of each in the freezer, and we didn't have a cucumber or tomatoes...but what we had tasted really good!)
I'm sure that everything will work out the way it is supposed to but...sigh...I'll be honest...things are starting to get really tight around here. When you get paid on production and can't produce due to social distancing and everyone else not having an income to invest in things...in hindsight...paying cash for my kids college and having them pay me back when they got in industry jobs rather than student loans and feeding my own savings accounts, might not have been the best plan! But...it was the right thing for my kids!
There seem to be two kinds of people in the world right now...those worked off their feet and those with too much time on their hands. Which are you?
~M
I have a family of "essential" workers (legal and manufacturing) so, for the time being it is daily trips into their jobs as usual. Although, this past week TDQ's hours got cut as less and less court proceedings are able to happen. (Being one of the more recent hires, it would not surprise me to find the firm lays her off fairly soon here.) TOB's hours seem to be staying the same, but a big shout out to the company he works for...when the schools first closed they offered child care or flex hours to people who were affected and although there have been a couple of days where he got a bonus day off because materials didn't get to them from their suppliers it looks like his job is secure. (TFB, you ask? He "graduated" and should have his degree in hand shortly but...hard to interview for jobs right now and he (of course) doesn't get the commencement walk he planned on.)
Which is the long way around of saying that even though we are staying home...there is enough "out of the house" happening that we haven't killed each other yet.
I have friends all over the world and one of the things I have found really interesting is what is, and what isn't, readily available on store shelves in different places.
We all have had (or are still having) problems finding toilet paper...but some areas...eggs are no where to be found, when I have plenty, and flour seems to be the next toilet paper.
I don't even bother making a list before I go for my weekly shop any more...I am creating my meal plans based on what I can find and what I already have in my pantry. But overall...we have plenty of food, just not the brands or types of things we are used to having in our meal rotations.
Yesterday we made home made gyros...sort of following this recipe which even though we had to sub a few ingredients was definitely a keeper of a recipe! (We did a 50/50 mix of ground lamb, ground beef as I had some of each in the freezer, and we didn't have a cucumber or tomatoes...but what we had tasted really good!)
I'm sure that everything will work out the way it is supposed to but...sigh...I'll be honest...things are starting to get really tight around here. When you get paid on production and can't produce due to social distancing and everyone else not having an income to invest in things...in hindsight...paying cash for my kids college and having them pay me back when they got in industry jobs rather than student loans and feeding my own savings accounts, might not have been the best plan! But...it was the right thing for my kids!
There seem to be two kinds of people in the world right now...those worked off their feet and those with too much time on their hands. Which are you?
~M
Wednesday, April 8, 2020
Saturday, March 28, 2020
The Second Shawl
Knitting really is helping to give me a sense of "normal" right now, not that anyone is really feeling normal and the world is anything but normal...
It is completely normal to buy a special skein of yarn and then have no idea what to do with it! So you search through the patterns you have, and on Ravelry and they all either use much less or much more yardage than you have!
Twilight Song Shawl is the answer. With its unusual increase ratio (3.1 sts to every 4 rows) this curvy heart is interrupted midway with two bands of lace “edging” and finishes, having used most of your yarn, with the tiniest knitted-on border that can be worked from either the RS or WS of the shawl.
I knit several samples for this one, mostly to prove that it really does work with any yarn!
Laceweight...
Worsted...
Aran
It is completely normal to buy a special skein of yarn and then have no idea what to do with it! So you search through the patterns you have, and on Ravelry and they all either use much less or much more yardage than you have!
Twilight Song Shawl is the answer. With its unusual increase ratio (3.1 sts to every 4 rows) this curvy heart is interrupted midway with two bands of lace “edging” and finishes, having used most of your yarn, with the tiniest knitted-on border that can be worked from either the RS or WS of the shawl.
I knit several samples for this one, mostly to prove that it really does work with any yarn!
Laceweight...
Fingering....
Worsted...
For those pieces I used as little as 266 yards to as much as 850 yards of yarn!
Other than knitting what are you doing to keep a small sense of "normal" in your life?
Leave a comment and let me know!
Until next time...
Happy Knitting, stay safe and most of all, remember, we are all in this together, so be kind!
~M
Friday, March 27, 2020
#AloneTogether
The world is a very different place than it was when two designer friends and I worked #AloneTogether to create an unusual shawl for Knotions, but the timing seems very appropriate for the publication.
Let me start by introducing you to the other two parts of the team!
Linette Grayum has had several patterns published in Knotions, but I originally "met" her in the Indie Gift Along when I worked on one of her hat patterns as one of my projects. She and her family travel around the US in a tiny camper and her designs are usually inspired by nature. You can see some of her travels on Instagram.
Tanja Luescher has also had several patterns published in Knotions. I'm not sure if we "chatted" during the Gift Along, but we both belong to another group on Ravelry that is "chat heavy" so I have got to know her quite well! I made her International Cowl this past year and loved it! She, her husband and her cats live in Switzerland. You can see more of her knitting and a few pictures of her cats on Instagram.
Together, but apart, we created a shawl that is knit in five segments. Each of us knit our own sample segments, then I knit theirs to seam together with mine and send to the photographer. A group project, but the individual members of the group never met in person.
Perfect for an #AloneTogether knit along if you would like,Galaxy Traveler takes you on a journey across the galaxy, with a spacethip that takes you past stars and comets to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. You can knit all the segments, pick your favorites and mix and match five panels or knit with your friends (Alone or Together) to create a truly unique to you shawl.
Available now from Knotions and on Ravelry!
Tomorrow I will tell you all about the second shawl I have in this issue of Knotions...
Until then, remember...times are hard, but you can do hard things, be kind to each other and knit on!
~M
 |
| photo by Kellie Nuss Photography for Knotions. |
Let me start by introducing you to the other two parts of the team!
Linette Grayum has had several patterns published in Knotions, but I originally "met" her in the Indie Gift Along when I worked on one of her hat patterns as one of my projects. She and her family travel around the US in a tiny camper and her designs are usually inspired by nature. You can see some of her travels on Instagram.
Tanja Luescher has also had several patterns published in Knotions. I'm not sure if we "chatted" during the Gift Along, but we both belong to another group on Ravelry that is "chat heavy" so I have got to know her quite well! I made her International Cowl this past year and loved it! She, her husband and her cats live in Switzerland. You can see more of her knitting and a few pictures of her cats on Instagram.
Together, but apart, we created a shawl that is knit in five segments. Each of us knit our own sample segments, then I knit theirs to seam together with mine and send to the photographer. A group project, but the individual members of the group never met in person.
Perfect for an #AloneTogether knit along if you would like,Galaxy Traveler takes you on a journey across the galaxy, with a spacethip that takes you past stars and comets to the black hole at the center of the Milky Way. You can knit all the segments, pick your favorites and mix and match five panels or knit with your friends (Alone or Together) to create a truly unique to you shawl.
Available now from Knotions and on Ravelry!
Tomorrow I will tell you all about the second shawl I have in this issue of Knotions...
Until then, remember...times are hard, but you can do hard things, be kind to each other and knit on!
~M
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