Midweek Meditation

“If I had my way, if I was lucky enough, if I could be on the brink my entire life— that great sense of expectation and excitement without the disappointment— that would be the perfect state.”   
                               ~  Cate Blanchett, born May 14, 1969

This was one of several stars that I photographed on February 9, 2014.  In March, Cate Blanchett won her second Academy Award for her role in Blue Jasmine.  (I would recommend watching this film.  I truly enjoyed her performance.)

Happy Mother's Day

This was my mother's high school graduation photo.  I do miss my mother.

(I really and truly would like to say more, but I do not have much time. I need to start getting ready for a quick trip to Philadelphia.  I will see both of my children there later today.)

I do miss my mother.  I was trying to think of a quote to share, something I remember her saying to me.  She taught me so very much.  Which is why I am just a little disappointed in myself.  At the moment, the only quote I can come up with is, "Everyone who has curly hair wishes that they had straight hair, and everyone who has straight hair wishes that they had curls."

You have to think on it, but there is much wisdom in that.  

(Like me, my mother had straight hair, but over her lifetime she had many a permanent wave.)

I think that my mother must be a part of me, and therefore is always with me (but I still miss her).  I wish you, and all of your own mothers, living on earth, or only in your heart, a very memory-filled and happy Mother's Day!

Bigger Stuff (the 2nd) -- In Which I Install Many Snaps

For as long as I have been blogging, it seems that every April-into-early-May finds me writing about FO's...

It is my own kind of spring cleaning.  While the house (and my yard) could both use a whole  lot more of my time -- each spring has me finishing up (or sometimes packing away for hibernation) my wintery knitting so that I can begin (or get back to) some springtime knit-work.

 Project Name:  Bernadette
Pattern:  Lauriel from Little Red in the City by Ysolda Teague
Yarn:  Trendsetter Yarns Merino VI

I feel that I have already said a whole lot about this project over the 368 days that it took to make.  See my project page for "Bernadette" over on Ravelry to read about all of that.  And then, if you like, a bit more, from the blog approximately one year ago.

The pattern called for snaps and buttons, though it did not specify spacing or sizes.  I chose to place a button and snap set between each rib, which is much closer than what it pictured in the book.  I did not want any pulling or gaps with the rather close fit of the cardigan.  My button choice is a smallish 5/8" diameter button with size 2 snaps.  There  are no gaps.  The effect reminds me of "snap tape", and I like that.

It took (what seemed like) a great many hours to sew on all (15) buttons and snap sets.  I finished this just before Easter.  I wanted to wear it for the holiday, but it was actually too warm of a day here.  I have worn it twice since then, yet I do not have a photo of me wearing it.

Happy knitting (and finishing) to you!  (Happy spring cleaning, as well!)
 

Midweek Meditation

  "Life stands before me like an eternal spring with new and brilliant clothes."   
    
                                            ~ Carl Friedrich Gauss, on his engagement

Carl Friedrich Gauss, a German mathematician, was born on April 30, 1777.

Photo Credit:  https://www.flickr.com/photos/jeepersmedia/12915907335 

Bigger Stuff (1 of 2) -- In Which I Install a Zipper

There has been a gap.

My last post "Small Stuff" was on April 8.

"Small Stuff" was about a handful of smaller FO's that I made mostly in the first 3 months of this year.  In April, I finished some "Bigger Stuff".

I finished stitching the zipper into my Taiga #2 on April 12, 2014.  (I noticed when I entered this date on Ravelry that my finish date for the project was exactly 1 year after the start date.)

 Pattern: Taiga by Svetlana Volkova
Yarn: Berroco Blackstone Tweed Chunky

Some of you may remember that in my sleeve post on this project, I mentioned finding two different zipper insertion tutorial-type posts. I ended up using neither, but bookmarking them for the future.

The first, for me, has a great idea for pinning in a zipper -- but with a selvedge edge being attached to the zipper.  It does also show using a hand stitched back-stitch to actually sew the zipper in place.  This is the stitching method that I do use most often; however, I hate the way it looks on the inside of the garment, and I usually end up adding a facing of some sort to hide the stitches.  My Taiga #2 already had a folded front facing made from a partially steeked edge.  Pinning the zipper to a selvedge edge was in no way possible, but also out of the question, was applying any sort of additional facing to hide the ugly hand stitching.

The second zipper post was, surprise!, in Swedish, but do scroll down to see it translated into English.  Now this is a zipper insertion I love for not having ugly uneven hand-stitching show on the inside!  But, I could not see using it on my Taiga, because of the Taiga's bulk and a little bit because it would be so very time consuming.  I know that I will use this on another sweater someday.

My final decision was to, surprise!, machine stitch the zipper in place.  Machine stitching with a thread closely matching the zipper color would certainly show the least on the wrong side.  First, I carefully replaced my "pin-basting" with a hand-stitched basting in contrasting white thread.

  
The white stitches were made exactly where the machine stitching would go through the knitting on the facing fold line.

I blame the bad lighting effect on my sewing machine light.

If you look very closely in the next photo you can see the cranberry color machine stitches.

After removing the white thread, I folded the facing back and sewed it  in place for the length of the neck ribbing, and from the lower edge of the sweater up to the top of the pocket facing.  Except for the yarn ends used at the very top and very bottom, I used the cranberry colored sewing thread so as not to add any more bulk.

A close-up photo may show why I like the stitching to look good on the inside.  If the top of the zipper is worn a bit opened, this stitching will show.

I consider my zipper application to be the best possible for this particular project.  A very important point I like to make about making (anything) is that what is best for one project might be very different from what is best for another.

Happy knitting (and finishing) to you!

Small Stuff

I have not posted about any of my FO's (finished objects) since right around Christmas.  All of the FO's in this post were the "small stuff" that I made as samples for teaching in February and March.

In January, I made my first Colormatic (from the free pattern designed by Michelle Hunter) as a shop sample in less than two weeks.  Ann at Gosh Yarn It! takes the best photos.

© Gosh Yarn It!

I taught the one-session class on February 1, and I made my Colormatic 2 for my lovely daughter as a teaching-project-in-the-works.  I have a difficult time with indoor photos after dark, but this one is actually better than others that I have attempted.

Each cowl was made with four different colored skeins of "Kenzie" (50% New Zealand merino, 25% nylon, 10% angora, 10% alpaca, 5% silk) from the HiKoo by Skacel Collection, Inc.  A lovely, beautifully balanced yarn, and very easy to work with.  The class was well attended and great fun!

And then there were socks!  I do love teaching from my own patterns.  In March, I taught a three-session class in making a basic toe-up sock from my TATU Try A Toe Up) patterns:  TATU Sock and Fingeringweight TATU Sock.  The class created a perfect opportunity for me to both start and finish a pair of socks for Mr K (whose 'Sad Socks' are still quite that).

The yarn that I used was Cascade Yarns Heritage 150 Paints (75% merino, 25% nylon).  The fantastic 492-yards allowed me to make the tallest socks ever(!)  I rolled the skein into two equal-weight balls, and I knit the sock cuffs until I thought that they should not be any taller.  You can see that there was a decent amount of unused yarn in the remaining two balls (How opposite is that from those sad socks?)

I also made a second child's sock.  This photo shows a blocked and unblocked sock.  The blocked one was a part of the pattern photography.  The unblocked one a class sample.

 
I had a total of three in-the-works socks as I taught the three classes which focused on (1) the toe cast-on, foot and gusset, (2) short rows, and completing the reinforced heel, (3) my favorite toe-up sock bind-off (the Kitchener Stitch Bind-Off) along with alternate bind-off possibilities.

The sock knitters were a smaller but very enthusiastic group!  I hope to offer a couple more classes before summer.

      

Midweek Meditation

“Just living is not enough," said the butterfly, "one must have sunshine, freedom, and a little flower.”  

                         ~ Hans Christian Anderson, The Complete Fairy Tales

Hans Christian Andersen, born April 2 1805, was a Danish author and poet. "Although a prolific writer of plays, travelogues, novels, and poems, Andersen is best remembered for his fairy tales."    ~ Wikipedia: "Hans Christian Anderson", 04-02-14

Wikimedia Photo Credit: By Charlesjsharp (Own work) [CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0)], via Wikimedia Commons

Winter, Go Home!

Winter 2014 was the "worst winter ever" and then became the "winter that would not end".

I took this photo from my back window the week that I came home from my February trip to southern California.

Fortunately, those icicles are long gone.  This past Wednesday night, locally, our record low temperature for the date was broken by 2 degrees.  (Many records were broken this winter, but I took note of this one because now it is truly spring.  Right?)  The record low had been 15° F and now is 13° F.  I have decided to declare a win for Winter 2014:  You won.  You beat us in a record breaking way, and now it really is time for you to go back where you came from... OK?  Winter, go home.  Now!  Do not turn back!  The southern hemisphere might be your kind of place right now.

I know that spring is here because I saw two robins (together) in our yard last Saturday.  That felt lucky, because even though I usually see a single robin by the first week of march, I really do not remember ever seeing two (together) as my first robin sighting of the year.

Thursday morning, as I drank my coffee, the sun was shinning very brightly and I got caught up in watching a pair of smaller, I think, finches seriously engaged in nest-building in a tall pine tree through my front window.  I tried very hard to get a photo and I failed.

The robins and the finches reminded me of the hawk's nest at the Franklin Institute in Philadelphia, PA.  I remembered that eggs were laid in past March's, and I went to check it out...  I learned some very sad news at the "Hawkwatch at the Franklin Institute" blog.  But there was also news of reason for hope.  Let us all have hope for the Philadelphia Hawks.  I do.     

Later in the day, after lunch, my outdoor thermometer read 42° F, and that meant it was one of the warmest days of the week.  I went out to get my mail and newspaper with my camera in my pocket.

It was very windy.  I tried one last time to photograph the pine tree where I had observed a couple of steady hours of nesting activity.  No birds there.  I was cold.  It was windy.  (No birds.  No photos.)

Nearby, I checked out a flowerbed, which had a fantastic crocus bloom a couple of years ago, and then, I walked up to a daffodil bed on the other end of the property.  (No buds, no sprouts, no anything.  No photos.)

No luck at all.  Winter did his thing and he won and his photo is my only photo today.  But he is done.  I sent him home.

Paper Lanterns

I am very pleased to introduce you to a very happy little shawlette (that I designed, and) which I named "Paper Lanterns"...

© Blue Moon Fiber Arts

This is a very fun and fast knit!  And when knit with this most amazingly round and lofty, and smooth and drapey, and vibrantly colorful yarn called "Blue Moon Fiber Arts Socks that Rock Mediumweight", you will love every minute of you knitting!  I have not yet ever enjoyed the "work" of sample knitting more!

More photos from Blue Moon Fiber Arts...

© Blue Moon Fiber Arts

© Blue Moon Fiber Arts

This pattern, released in January 2014, will be available only to Blue Moon Fiber Arts Rockin’ Sock Club members for one year.  It is still possible to become a 2014 club member, but only until the end of March.  The pattern will become available to everyone else in January 2015.

Happy knitting, and thanks for reading!