Finally some Knitting I can Share

It seems like the gaps between posts are getting longer and longer, while the content in those posts is getting less and less about what I am currently knitting, and more about things that I knit a while ago and can finally share with you.

Today is no exception to the latter part of that statement!  But, hopefully I can share some current knitting as well.

The past couple of weeks have been a whirlwind of me working too many hours, after work activities (they have been a lot of fun to do so I am not complaining about doing them, just that there is no compensating time left over for with my family or the other things I like to do!), finally getting back in with my doctor,  computer failures (I am so proud of myself that even though I complained and yelled I got it fixed without having to have anyone else physically take care of it) and running around for DQ and college stuff.

A couple of days ago Enchanted Knits from Interweave hit the stands, which means some knitting I was working on at the beginning of the year can finally be shared!

Andrea Jurgrau's (Known to many as Bad Cat Designs) Snow Drop and Rose Red Cowl graces the cover and two more of her pieces are on the inside!

My plan had been to knit both a red and a white version, but time got away from me and I only have the red...well to be honest I had the red, a certain college bound teenager stole it from me!

Mine is knit in sock yarn and if I kept better notes I could tell you which one!  I think it is Fiber Optics Foot Notes.  (For those that care I have come up with a new system for tracking what I am making that I can't put on Ravelry yet.....which is why the computer hard drive failure was such a big deal to me!  Now all my test knitting has a folder with the pattern, the photo's and a word document with the notes I make to myself, like yarn type and needle size.)

Next up, for me at least, I haven't seen the magazine to know which pattern comes next in it, is Giant Slayer's Vine Scarf. 

Mine is in purple with bright yellow beads that don't show up well at all in the photo's.

Finally, we have Undine Shawlette, this one I had the yarn tag for...Lobster Sox in Hydrangea.

Excuse the bad photo's of everything, for a better look at the finished objects check out the magazine, either through the links above (Interweaves site or Ravelry) or better yet, run off to your local yarn store and buy a copy!  There are even a couple of men's sweaters in there that I might have to check out for myself.  :)

Speaking of men's sweaters, TFB and TOB (for those who don't remember that is The First Brother and The Other Brother ) both suggested that the hooded sweaters that I made them a couple of years ago are in need of replacing, so the Christmas knitting has started.

This time around I hope that the yarn I picked up doesn't pill as badly as the Lion Brand Wool Ease I used a couple of years ago did.  Obviously this one is for TFB as "his" color is red!

Not to be outdone in the request department, the little thief, I mean TDQ picked out some yarn for some socks and I have those underway as well.

That is all from me today!  Amazing how we went from nothing to say, to three finished objects, two in progress photo's and all the other little things that I can't show you!

Until next time, GO KNIT!

~M

Whomsoever thought

Whomsoever thought that working on back to back blankets with knitted on edging was a good idea, obviously had not met me!

Over the past few weeks I have found lots and lots of ways to NOT work on the edging of the Fractals In Pink Baby Blanket.

I have cleaned out cupboards, alphabetized spices, made doughnuts,

planned many other projects and in short, done just about everything to avoid working on the edge of the blanket that is meant for a baby that is due to arrive this month!

Of course, it doesn't make getting knitting time any easier when the work load is increased, the staffing is decreased and the light at the end of the tunnel...well if not quite the train it certainly wasn't the other end, yet!

Today I resolved to just get the blanket finished, and for once, I did exactly what I told myself to do.

Presenting Fractals in Pink a slight variation on Fractured Fractals.

This time around a three needle bind off was used to join the center squares and the contrast color was the white.  I still added the lateral braid (the thing is a pain to work, but I think it gives a nice finished edge to the squares and the border.) I hope that the Mom and baby get many enjoyable moments with this one!



~M

Fracturing a Fractal

Before we get to the knitting portion of today's entry, let me take a moment to recognize that for a large part of the American population today was a day of BBQ, beer, cookouts...and generally acknowledging Dads.  For every Father, son of a father, brother of a father...you know the drill here from Mother's Day.... Not one person on the planet could have accomplished anything without the part you played. Happy Father's Day.

Now onto the knitting portion.

Some time ago, Andrea, of Bad Cat Designs, was inspired by her daughter's love of math.  Math plays a huge role in knitting anyway, but for our Knit Along (To Infinity and Beyond) math concepts showed up in new and different ways.

Knitting a Mobius Strip, with lace included, was one, yes it is a math concept!  The Fractal Stole or Blanket was another.

If you will recall I knit a blanket from the Fractal pattern, fingering weight yarn, in a gradient colorway so that each square was just a little different, but as with all Fractals the further you went (in or out) the more of the same you got.  Like a Mandelbrot Set.  But, being me, I wasn't content to leave the pattern alone.  As with The Summer Squares Projects, I was sure that I could use that pattern to make more than a stole, or an adult size blanket.  I could use it in my Baby Blankets Through Time collection, I could use it for gifts, and for part of the knitting it was infinitely more portable than a full size blanket (and in the summer who wouldn't rather knit a smaller square than a bigger blanket that had to sit in your lap, warming you up when you didn't need any warming.)

The first step was the change up the yarn.  New Mom's are not the best at having to hand wash and block things when they need cleaning, and babies are not always sweet smelling little angels who don't spit up, drool or leak onto their blankets.  I wanted machine washable, and for convenience something that could go through the dryer as well.

Paton's Beehive Baby Sport came in colors other than the traditional (for American babies at least) colors of white, blue, pink, pale green and yellow, and I wanted neutral tones that potentially could be used places other than just around a baby!  Needle size also had to be adjusted and while I was messing around with gauge I played with changing up the border and how the squares attached to each other so that I had mini-borders between the squares. (More of that fractal thing.)

At first, the blanket was to go in my stash of blankets, but then I found out that someone I knew was expecting a baby this month,
 
 and nothing makes me finish things as well as a deadline, so I decided it was for him and his wife and actually devoted a little bit of time to it.

To keep things consistent, the lateral braid that I put in place around each square, also edged the border and kept it a little separate from the edging, and finally this past week I finished with grafting the two ends of the edging together.  Just in time, probably the last time I would see him before the baby is born was last Wednesday.....it hit the blocking mats Tuesday evening!

Yep, like I said, nothing inspires like a deadline!

~M

Yet again, the blog fell by the wayside!

Time keeps flying past me, it seems like the "to do" list gets more and more things pushed off until that vague time of "later" and I am left prioritizing things into the "I have to get this done" and "The deadline is today, I HAVE TO GET THIS DONE" groups.

As seems to be the normal, summer coming brought staffing changes and my team of 6, including myself, is a team of 4 now, including myself.  Just in time for the summer teaching schedule to start (we teach more classes in the summer than the winter) and festival season to start (where we have tables to staff).  Add to that all the end of school year stuff and I have been running in six different directions at once and trying to do the work of three people at the paying job!

Each day, to keep my sanity, I get a little bit of knitting done, but sometimes that little bit is 20 stitches of an edging.

Luckily there are unblogged knits to talk about first!

As I have said before, Andrea Jurgrau's book The New Vintage Lace, has lots of really nice patterns in it.  Something for every knitter, from those who want hats to those who want to work on intricate lace. 

This time around I am going to share Cherry Blossom Stole. Fancy lace on the edges, a more simple repetitive lace in the middle, which makes it a good travel piece because you can easily memorize the middle.

I knit mine in Jade Sapphire's Lacey Lamb in blue, so I called it Frozen Cherry Blossom on my project page!  Lacey Lamb is an amazing yarn to block and holds it blocking beautifully when it is taken off the pins. 

But, back to the 20 stitches at a time, the Fractured Fractal is finally getting it's edging!  I do a good job of forgetting just how much knitting is involved in edging a blanket, and this one should be fairly quick because it is a baby blanket, but the edging still seems to go on forever!
 
 I decided to end the border the same way I did the individual squares, which I think turned out pretty well.

As an experiment I had cast on another one, in pink and white, slightly finer yarn, and handled the joining differently but kept the lateral braid at the end of each square.  Again, four center squares, but rather than grafting the pieces together I tried a three needle bind off.  I need to get some work done of this one, the baby it is supposed to wrap up is due this month!

Well, that is all my blogging time for the day!  Until next time, in the words of Andrea...

Knit on!

~M

Ready for Another one?

Some things I am never ready for another of.....but some things, like knitting things, I am always up for more!

Today's trip down memory lane (for me at least, remember it takes a long time from concept to published book) is Blue Dahlia!

Well, sort of, mine is Hollyhock Dahlia, and if I remember correctly this is actually in Madeline Tosh Light.

As you might have guessed it is another piece from the book that Andrea Jurgrau has out, called The New Vintage Lace.

This one was inspired by a German Doily and has bold leaves and beads.

I love the shaping of this one, it sits perfectly on your shoulders without needing to be pinned to stay put, even when teaching financial education to 30 middle school students in the basement of a building downtown.

In other knitting news, there seems to be a run on baby blankets at work again this year.  Although I have not yet finished my Fractured Fractal in grey and white, I might have cast on another version in pink and white for a baby girl.

If I ever get a lunch break again, maybe I can actually do some knitting on them!

~M

Happy American Mother's Day

For all the mothers, sisters of mothers, children of mothers and mothers of mothers out there....Happy Mother's Day! (I stole those words from another knitter, Thanks Jeri, I loved the way you phrased that and couldn't resist borrowing it, I changed it a little but it is still your sentiment!)

Mine has been mostly quiet, with a little knitting time and some help with yard work.  TDQ made me a bracelet (that's her thing these days, bracelets and necklaces, then running around selling them to her friends.)  It was a rough week so I needed a little peace and quiet in my life before Monday rolls around and rough week the second begins!

As I have mentioned before, Andrea, of Bad Cat Designs has a book that is soon to be at a bookseller near you (or available through Amazon as a dead tree version and Interweave as an e-book.)  As one of her faithful test knitters, I of course got a sneak peek at the designs when they were still in the charting and initial knitting phases.

It takes a long time to get from there to publication date, and I did not keep very good track at all of what yarns I used, which beads and needles...but I did manage to dig out some of my finished object photo's that I shared with Andrea when I was done with the knitting portion of each project.

Just to be different I am going to move right to the ending chapters of the book.  Where Andrea discusses and demonstrates how to take a vintage doily and turn it into something new!

We start with an 8 wedge doily.

Just like this one!

 Add some particularly luscious yarn (Lara's Creations Majestic in Your Highness)

Slightly larger needles, with a slightly adjusted chart gets you....

A pretty Purple Shawl!

TDQ hasn't had hair that long in quite a while, which helps to show just how long the process from ideas to book has been!

Of course, being a purple shawl it was immediately stolen by that sassy little model!

There are 22 patterns in the book, various shapes and sizes of shawls, doilies and hats. Pretty much something for every knitter, from beginners (The Purple Shawl is a good one for that) to the expert who wants a bit of a challenge.

~M

The Problem With Test Knitting

Now don't misunderstand me, I love test knitting for some of my favorite knit wear designers.  When my hands were doing their own thing and I found knitting difficult (some days impossible) it broke my heart that a couple of designs got knit by people other than me first (well second, the designer usually does get first go at things!)  But, occasionally there is a problem with test knitting.

You see, the timing between coming up with a great idea, charting it and knitting it, knitting it again, sending the pattern to your testers, getting input, making corrections (or changes to the design), sending it to the publisher, edits and more edits, to publication is a long (and if you are the designer, harrowing) road.

Part of the commitment with being a test knitter is you have to be able to keep a secret, so things get knit, photographed to show the designer and then packed away until they can be shared. (Ok, maybe I cheat on the packed away part sometimes and wear the things, or use them, which is probably why I have the small problem I do now!)

The New Vintage Lace, by Andrea Jurgrau is hitting a book store near you very shortly!  For those that can't wait, Interweave has an e-book version  and for those that want a sneak peek Amazon has a Look Inside feature.  Andrea has started putting the patterns on Ravelry so that we can link projects, and suggested that her test knitters could post a few of their finished object pictures.

Herein lies the problem!  First up she has posted the hats and some doilies, and while the hats were easy to get my hands on, and I know I knit the doilies I have no idea where I put them all!

So until I do, here is a small sampling of some of the test knits!

Clematis Doily

and hat




 Peaseblossom Hat


 


And finally, Giverny Beret
 

In other knitting news, the second fractal blanket went through a few more modifications and is one quarter the way through the border.  I haven't been getting much knitting time lately so it is pretty slow going.  Maybe one day soon I will post pictures of that too!

~M