This, That and the Other

Well now.  The fact that just over two weeks have disappeared since my last post has caught me up short.  With up-dates every day about the state of the world as it tries to cope with the COVID-19 virus, one day seems to run into another, and what was only a weeks ago seems either as if it were only yesterday -- or as if it were weeks or months ago -- depending on the timing.

It's rather like living in a state of suspended animation.  There's dawn and dusk; morning, afternoon and evening; wakefulness and sleep.  The time gets filled -- sometimes quite productively -- and the hours pass, one day melting into another.  It's a good thing I have hard-copy calendars as well as my computer to remind me of the day, date and time!

It seems I've been in closer touch with friends and family than ever before.  Everyone is checking on those they care about far more frequently -- or so it seems -- and while that is a Very Good Thing, it also is a bit...overwhelming.  That's not a very good description; it doesn't really identify what I'm getting at -- but if you are the least but introverted, perhaps you know what I mean.

March 19 through 21 I was involved with the adventure that was the SAQA Virtual Conference.  And what an adventure it was!  I've never spent as much time in front of a screen as I did during those days. 

It was exhilarating, informative, inspiring -- and exhausting! 

I had to give myself permission to tune out and go for walks on Friday and Saturday, because I noticed wierd things happening to my body -- tension through my shoulders and neck, and a bit of elevation in my blood pressure.  The release of that tension as I moved out in the fresh air on a long, empty country road leading out of town -- I can't adequately describe that either.  Suffice to say it did wonders!

While I was watching the conference, I was knitting -- focusing on 'growing' the Darlena shawl I'd started last fall and set aside for a few months.  I managed to finish all but the last five inches.  What you see below is the top garter stitch section (speckled yarn) and about 1/2 the centre lacy section.  That means that during the conference I managed to knit the rest of the lacy section -- a depth of 8 inches in total -- and to move into the final section, which is also garter stitch.  The piece gets larger with every right side row, as 4 stitches are added on each time, so you can imagine how wide it will be when I finish 5 more inches of garter stitch!

Pattern: Darlena; Designer: Mouton Rouge Designs
Yarns: Estelle Yarns Lumiere in "Jazz N Berry"
and Zen Yarn Garden Superfine Fingering in "Breathless"

A few days before the conference I finished the "Bonjour/Hi" cowl which I absolutely love!  It was easy to knit, fits beautifully and is very cozy!  And yes...it sits right down over my shoulders.

Pattern: Bonjour/Hi; Designer: Espace Tricot
Yarns: Berocco Ultra Alpaca Fine in "Prune Mix"
and JaggerSpun 2/18 in "Mahogany

I mentioned in that last post that the cowl is designed for two fine yarns to be held together.  Though the Berocco I chose was a brown/blue sort of mix, and the JaggerSpun was a deep wine colour, I think the resulting fabric is beautiful.  The photo doesn't do it justice:

The day after the marathon (aka the Virtual Conference), I plunged into an online "Quarantine Quilt-Along" produced by Gudrun of GE Designs.  I stumbled over this online somehow, and realized it was just the thing to clear my head and clear some stash at the same time!  

A few years ago I'd made a Magic Tiles quilt using "Red Hatter" fabric, for a friend of mine who's a "Red Hatter".  I had all sorts of the fabric left over, so I dug it out and have managed to make a throw-sized quilt top (50" x 62") plus a pieced back -- and I still have fabric enough for binding and some to spare!  I'm aiming to quilt it myself -- IF I can get my hands on enough batting.  My art pieces are generally small, and I rarely buy more than a craft-sized package of Quilter's Dream.  I've sent an e-mail to one LQS in the hopes she can help me -- with a pay-over-the-phone and a pick-up at the door of her shop, which is "open for business" but only by pick-up or delivery.  We'll see...

The pattern is "Elvira" and was available for free only during last weekend.  It's relatively simple and the blocks are large, so the size I chose took up a fair bit of my fabric:

"Elvira Wears a Red Hat!" -- Top
Pattern: "Elvira" from GE Designs

To make the backing wide enough, I echoed some of the blocks and inserted them.  This is what Karen of Just Get It Done Quilts refers to as an "after-quilt" -- though the ones she makes are far more elegant!

"Elvira..." - Pieced Backing

I've still not finished the fourth of four 'quiltlets' (each 29" or 30" W x 30" L) but I finally have photos of the second...

And the third...

I know they look alike, but in fact, if you look closely you'll see that the only similarities are the backing and borders.  Both key in around blues, but one has more greens and browns.  Both -- before borders -- were created as a colour study in a Craftsy class I took a few years ago. 😊

Remember the socks I'd just started for the Socks From Stash March Challenge?   They're finished now...

Pattern: "Longing for Spring"
Designer: Caoua Coffee
Yarn: a mystery -- no label! 😳

And here's a close-up of the wee flower pattern...

The theme for April is "Well-loved Pattern" -- which means participants need to pick a pattern that has been made more than 500 times.  I've decided on another from Caoua Coffee, in this very old stash yarn.

It's a bit heavier than a fingering, and I'm not sure I have enough of it, but I'm going to take a stab at it anyway, with the pattern entitled "Canon".  I might leave out a pattern set, if this doesn't interfere with how long in the leg they have to be to qualify for the Challenge -- they have to be full-sized socks.

What's up next?  

In quilting: assembling the blocks from Bonnie Hunter's last mystery quilt -- "Frolic!" -- and checking out her new project -- a "sew in place" quilt-along that starts Monday.  If you're inerested, you can find more info HERE.  I've just had a peek there myself and have no idea if I have any fabric that will work, but it's to be a medallion-style project, which means you can alter the size easily -- just add fewer borders!   If in the end I don't have enough of anything to play along, I'll just work on "Frolic!" and my knitting -- and maybe a 12" x 12" piece for the SAQA Benefit Auction.  It's all good.

In knitting: besides the aforementioned April SFS Challenge and the aforementioned Darlena shawl, I have yet another pair of socks on the go.  This was a pair I abandoned a while back and when I last stumbled over it, I was part-way down the leg of the second sock!  As of yesterday, I finished the heel and I'm now making my way down the foot, so they'll be finished in a day or two.  Maybe earlier!

Pattern: Hummingbird
Designer: Sandi Rosner
Yarn: Patons Kroy Socks FX - in Camelot Colors

And the "startitis" I was suffering in January has resurfaced, now that I'm spending even more time at home than usual...so when the good folks at Shetland Wool Week sent along the SWW 2020 hat pattern, I had a look -- and fell in love!  I've collected these hat patterns for several years now but this is the first one I think I'm actually going to make.  I've even auditioned the yarn for the colourway I want.  There are four on offer.  I could buy a kit, but I decided to shop my stash instead, and came up with this for something close to Colourway #3:

Yarn audition for "Katie's Kep"
Designer: Wilma Malcolmson
Shetland Wool Week 2020

More about that project after I've acually cast on, okay?

I'll close this missive with a photo of "Green Pot", which was delivered by my framer on Friday.  It's now nestled in plenty of packing material inside a sturdy box, and will be on its way to its new home on Ontario on Monday...

Green Pot (C) 2020
10" x 10", floater frame
commercial cottons, self-dyed cotton,
synthetic fabric, fabric pen
fused applique, machine quilted
applied to stretched canvas

I'm linking this (late as usual!) to Nina Marie's Off the Wall Friday, and sending you all, Gentle Readers, a hope and a prayer that you are well, keeping calm and creative, taking care of yourself as well as those you love, and remembering that we're One World, and we're all in this together.

And Then There's Knitting

Tosh Sock
"Twig"

Three things I love: my daughter, knitting socks, and a challenge.  The last few weeks I've enjoyed all three in combination.  As I mentioned in an earlier post, my daughter's birthday was Monday.  In the fall, she'd suggested another pair of hand-knit socks -- this time in shades of brown.  She was really after variegated, but it took some time to find exactly what she wanted, and nothing at The Crafty Lady (where I work once a week) seemed to fill the bill.

Eventually I found Madelinetosh "Tosh Sock" in the 'Twig' colour-way -- not exactly variegated, but very nicely dyed indeed -- and ordered it from an online US retailer (there are online stores in Canada that carry "Tosh Sock" and a LYS in Edmonton that carries it and would mail order it, but none had 'Twig' in stock).  The yarn arrived too close to Christmas for a finished gift...but with a January birthday...

That's what I aimed for.  And...I seemed to find the perfect pattern in Clara Parkes' The Knitter's Book of Socks. I cast on, knit the cuff and first chart, and decided to see if anyone on Ravelry.com had made these.  Good thing, too, because it seems that this pattern has one draw-back: it has a long leg (not to-the-knee but...) -- and a long, slender leg at that.  Many of the knitters had had to move up from 60 to 72 stitches (it's a 12-row pattern repeat) and go up at least one needle size (up from 2.25 mm to...2.5, 3, 3.25...) just to get it over the heel (these are knit top-down).

Hmmm.

Now, my daughter's legs begin somewhere close to her neck (grin); that is, her entire being is long and slender and a bit curvy, unlike her mother (built like a box -- a short, square box).  Just after New Year's I wrote her for her desired leg length and the circumference of her calf at the top of her desired cuff -- something I hadn't needed for the plain vanilla socks in self-patterning yarns I've knit for her in the past.  She was away; her reply took a while to arrive.  When it did, there was some figuring...knit, knit, knit....and more figuring...

Suffice to say, as of this morning, I'm starting the heel flap on the first sock of the pair, and hope I've finagled the pattern sufficiently so that when I get back to the foot, it will flow with the leg.

Here's what it looked like on the needles, with 11 rows to go to the start of the heel:

And stretched over my hand for effect:

The pattern is "Elm" by Cookie A -- aptly named as the criss-cross ribbing resembles tree trunks.  My specs are as follows:

• Cuff, Chart A and first 6 rows of Chart B: 72 stitches and 2.5 mm needles;
• Rest of Chart B, all of Chart C, first 11 rows of Chart A and onward: 72 stitches and 2.25 mm needles;
• Leg length: 7.5"
• Yarn: Madelinetosh "Tosh Sock" in 'Twig' - 1 skein: 100% super-wash merino wool, fingering weight (per label).

I am completely grateful to two gals on Ravelry -- Frey-ja and Raelin in the KBOS forum -- for their ongoing advice, encouragement and support as I work out this project.

Onward and heel-ward!  :-)

First the Knitting

I've caught startitis.  From what the Yarn Harlot says, it's a virus particular to handcrafters, and knitters can be especially vulnerable -- particularly in early January.  I'm trying to maintain an even keel and finish what I start, but it's a challenge.  Thank heavens for a deadline for at least one of my projects, or I'd be in deep trouble!  As it is, it's spread to my sewing and stitching habits...but more on that later.

First, the knitting:

• I've finished the first of the pair of Veil of Rosebuds socks (Clara Parkes' Knitter's Book of Socks) for which I have a deadline, and am working my way down the leg of the second.  Here it is on my foot (not the foot for which it's intended).  Isn't the subtle striping lovely?

• I finished The Shoemaker's Hat (Clara Parkes, Knitter's Review) but it was too small for me, so I put it on the mitten tree at church; I'll make another with -- I think -- an extra 4 stitches, which should do the trick.  It's threatening to get colder here soon so I'd best get going.

• I've signed up for a Socks from Stash 2012 challenge on Ravelry...and January's task is to make a pair from the oldest sock yarn in one's stash.  I have no idea if this is the oldest, but I'm using Jawoll Cotton Superwash yarn in a colour that's long been discontinued -- a lovely sage green.  It's a blend of cotton, superwash wool and nylon, so there's some memory and resilience to it. The pattern I've chosen?  Cable Rib Socks by Erica Alexander, which I found in my copy of Favorite Socks from Interweave Press.  I have yet to cast on, but my fingers are itching.!

• And I seem to have fallen into a mini-KAL (Knit ALong) on Ravelry with a gal in Vienna who wants to make a Miss Marple-style cardigan.  She's an afficionado of patterns from the nineteen thirties, and had found a couple of possibilities online.  The problem is, they seem to be made for impossibly small women.  She has, however, found a pullover that she believes she can adapt to her size.  I, on the other hand, scrounged around in my Vogue Knitting magazines (I got rid of all but 1/2 dozen or so when I moved) and found a beauty by Kim Hargreaves -- the Lace Panel Cardigan -- from the Fall 1990 issue. (NOTE: you need to be a Ravelry member to open that link to the pattern.   Sorry!  If you're a knitter and not a member, though, you might check it out -- it's free!)

I'll reserve my non-knitting activities for the next post -- see you later!  :-)

  

Yarn Whisperer

That's the nickname folks have given to knitter and yarn expert, Clara Parkes, founder of Knitter's Review and author of two classics: The Knitter's Book of Yarn and The Knitter's Book of Wool.


This week knitters everywhere are celebrating the birth of her latest: The Knitter's Book of Socks.  Oh...... Sock Heaven!  A former sufferer of Serious Second Sock Syndrome (SSSS), I have been deeply in love with socks for the past decade.  A sock is my favourite portable project, Just Plain Vanilla, thank you -- but with interesting yarn.

That said, I love-love-love looking at sock patterns -- and this book contains twenty new ones!  Oh...! 

Suffice it to say, if one of Santa's elves (aka one of my kids) doesn't leave it under our Christmas tree, I'm just gonna have to buy it for m'self.  Let's see...20 patterns divided by 12 months...