Despite a full historic schedule....

Yesterday I posted about having a very full SCA schedule for June... and that the summer will be very full of work on a project for September... however, I am also currently working on a post 1600 item.

My current travel piece is this little bit of knitting:

It's KnitPicks' pattern Northern Lights cowl, though I've adjusted the stitch count to make tracking the rounds a little less important -- by using one stitch less it's a simple pattern of five knit, one perl.  The yarn is their Chroma in the color "Carnival."  It fills my heart with glee to see all the lovely jewel tones, and it has plenty of the "color that makes me smile."  The yellow and green stripes are wider because it is a mirror repeat.  I'm looking forward to seeing how it all comes together.

My yellow alpaca wrap is waiting for the work table in my studio to be clear so it can be blocked.

Once the cowl is done I'll be casting on some fingerless mitts in the same yellow alpaca -- though I need to choose a pattern first.

I like knitting -- especially these smaller type of projects -- for my travel projects because they easily fit in my purse and can come out and a bit done any down time.

Enjoy the rest of the week folks!

Rule breaking ... again.

I don't have a lot to say today, but, I will share that I'm about to break my "one knitting project on the needles at a time" rule ... again.

My husband started a new job -- one which has him spending significant amounts of time in a freezer, so I'm going to start this hat for him in some lovely black wool (colors are specified).

The yellow shawl I've been working is down to the last 80 pattern rows, so it should be done before too much longer, then I get to do this cowl in the beautiful colorful yarn recently purchased from KnitPicks.

And speaking of that KnitPicks order, another item I bought was a Needle Keeper.

The Needle Keeper is a simple metal tube with a cap at one end with a slit in it.

When using, put the needles all the
way in

When using circular needles, simply slide the work down onto the cable, and stick the needles in the slit -- push them all they way down until the slit in the cap is gripping the cable, especially if you are using interchangeables, that will keep the join nice and safe

The needles stay firmly in place, and are protected from damage when your work bag is handled.  I used the small silicone bands that held the Keeper to the sales card to hold my cable needle on the tube.  I've been using it for a couple weeks and have been very happy with the results.

Ravelry

I've mentioned Ravelry a couple of times in my posts, but I don't think I've ever talked about it.  It's a lovely resource, primarily aimed at knitters and crocheters, though spinners, weavers, and embroiderers are also common on its pages.  It's part resource, part social media.

You do have to have a log in (it's free), but after that you can use it as much or as little as you wish.

Go to the patterns tab to "shop" for patterns.  You can browse casually, or use the "Pattern browser & advanced search"  You can narrow down your search by a number of categories and sub categories.  Keep selecting items to narrow by, then sort the results (I like to sort by newest first).  My most recent search was for free knitting patterns for fingerless gloves, in English, using 150 to 300 yards of fingering yarn.

Using this search, I found several candidates for some of the rest of the yellow alpaca that is going into my current project.  You can even ask it to search your library -- another feature of the site.

On the library, you can list all the books, magazines and individual patterns that you have.  Later, when you put in a search, you just might find that you already have a pattern that catches your eye.

Another feature is the stash.  When you buy yarn, you can list it in your stash -- and then later you can search for patterns that might be good for items in your stash (unless you buy yarn knowing already exactly what you're going to do with it....)

A big feature is "Projects" where you can record details of your ongoing projects -- for instance, here is the page for my current knitting project.  I've recorded the pattern, the yarn I'm using, my progress and notes.  When it's done, I'll maybe remember to go in and put in a picture.

There are also a large number of groups on the website -- the "social" part.  I'll admit, I don't spend much time in there, other than occasionally to go in and see if anyone has posted the answer to a question I've had come up while I work.  Just about any aspect of life experienced by people who work with fiber has a group.

This is just a little bit about this website.  (BTW, my only association with Ravelry is that I'm on it).  If you haven't, go check it out.  And if you're there .. well, I'm KandyElizabet.  Drop by and say "hi."

Holiday crafting revealed

My main two non-historically based projects in December were holiday gifts.

First, a scarf for one of my bosses.  Using yarn I bought at Rhinebeck and the pattern "Learn to Knit a Spiral Scarf" on Ravelry. It was a pretty quick knit, and I no longer have fear of short rows.

 I love how the curls can be tight....

 Or, really loose.

And, so easy to pack up, all opened out and wound into a disk 

The second holiday crafting was an ornament.  Very close friends adopted a baby a few years ago -- now she is a lovely young girl.  The year she came home, I purchased a Christmas chart based on Quaker embroidery motifs.  It has enough motifs for me to do one ornament each year until she is 21.   Here is this year's ornament.

 Each year's ornament includes the year and an acorn.  This year all on the same side.

The ground is linen and the thread is silk.

 This is the first year with a plain back.

I did a blanket stitch with just two strands of very fine silk around the edge. 

Now, it is back to my Bay of Fundy scarf for my modern work, though most focus will be on "period" embroideries for some time going forward now. 

Thursday status.

Another good crafty week since last Thursday.  The shirt and silk tunic for my husband were finished (enough) by the event on Saturday and holiday projects are nearing their ends.

So here's this week's status of projects in progress and "on deck."  

Current project list/status (SCA/Historic):

• Project X for C&L -- the "Convent Stitch" piece.  Threads have been determined and purchased and I'm down to two possibilities for the ground fabric.  Need to do a few test stitches to decide.   Happily, this project can get attention again soon. 
• Couched cord piece for C&L -- Complete change in plan.  This will now be covered by some work I'll be doing for the current King and Queen of the East for an event in January. Good productive meeting with a friend for design and material discussion. A design change request on Saturday has this one a bit in the air, but I think it can be brought back in line time-wise.
• Applique piece for C&L -- Did a little preliminary research, but have otherwise put this aside for other things -- as permitted by its place in my current project timeline.
• Shirt for my husband - - Hemmed and worn.  I will be going back and finishing the seams I hadn't finished before, but it fits and he's happy with it.  
• Silk tunic for my husband -- ditto.  Will probably add some more embroidery too. 
• Class for March.  I've just been asked to do a class at an embroidery event in March which will be a "more in-depth" than the usual SCA class.  Topic will be German Brick Stitch. Deadline is early January to have concept piece done and photos and write up to the coordinator.  My plan is to write most of the class while I make the concept piece so I can do my usual photos in progress method (without having to do the piece twice!).  Designs have been chosen and materials purchased. This weekend will see this firmly on its way.
• Motifs for coronation cloaks (different coronation) -- The embroidery on the two remaining tygers is on hold pending decisions by other people..
• Marshall Hanging -- the very large Bayeux inspired piece that I've been working on (on and  off) for just about forever.  Deadline, June some time summer 2016.  
• Hem stitched square -- Now 3 sides are done and the fourth one started.  I think this one has officially gone to "in stasis," though I did do some on Saturday at the event.  There's about 1/2 of the last side to do. 

• Other garb waiting in the wings... Also in planning are a couple more coifs -- and shifts and shirts.  

Current project list/status (Modern)

• Bay of Fundy Scarf.  The slightly over half done scarf is patiently waiting for its time to return, after the gift knitting....   
• Gift knitting.  I don't take on a lot of knitting for gifts, especially with my usual policy of only having one knitting project in progress at a time, but I found some lovely yarn at Rhinebeck for a scarf for a friend for an EOYHOYC* gift so that will enter rotation.  This is moving quickly.  I'm pretty happy with it so far. At this point I think it's about 2/3 done.
• Annual cross stitch.  A few years ago I started a project for the adopted daughter of friends -- I bought a lovely cross stitch chart that is made up of a number of motifs (similar to Quaker samplers).  There are just enough motifs for me to do a different one for an ornament each year for her until she reaches 21.  Motif was chosen and started.  The main motif is done and I'll be finishing this up in time for shipping on Monday.  Yeah, I'm always a bit behind on shipping things out.  
• Skirts for work.  One skirt that had been languishing in my studio has had some work done, and now just needs a hem (that's the one I pinned up). This hem is on my list for this weekend.  I also have some lovely blue and white fabric waiting to be the next skirt. Yes, you're right, no change here. (Really, what is so hard about getting around to sewing up the hem, which is the *last thing* on the black and white one). 
• Studio project. A number of things have migrated back to the studio (where, admittedly, they belong), and a few things in the studio need to come out.  I need to determine a day each month for specifically concentrating on getting everything back to where it belongs, which should help keep this room organized. 

Blog notes:

• Still working on a three day a week pattern -- Monday for SCA/Medieval/Renaissance related; Tuesday for post 1600 to modern related and Thursdays for status updates.
• I've begun building the "DONE" pages, and moved links around a bit.  The "main categories" are to the right now -- that's the main labels.  Click on one and see all the posts with that label.  Down below are *all* the labels I've used.  
• I'm also considering a couple other pages -- one for links to museums and other excellent web resources, and one for a bibliography (with appropriate links).  

So, that's it for my plans for the coming weeks.  

*EOYHOYC - End of Year Holiday of Your Choice; a once tongue-in-cheek, but now heart felt wish for everyone to enjoy whatever celebration November to mid January brings to them. 

That time that knitting "took"

I've been playing with string for a very long time.  I'm not sure if embroidery or my first go at knitting was first, but it was certainly as long ago as elementary school age (and that was quite a number of years ago now).  In any case, knitting was certainly one of the early tries.  My mother's cousin was an avid knitter.  My mother used to tell the story of "Cuz" knitting argyle socks during movies.  At some point, very early on, Cuz taught me to knit -- with the usual results of a rectangle with uneven sides as stitches were added and dropped willy nilly as I went.  It was quickly put aside for other activities

A few years later (Middle School age) I discovered crochet -- teaching myself from instructions in a magazine (I still have the pages of that article somewhere....).  One session of help from a very patient yarn shop lady and I was off and running.  The first poncho I made was still in my mother's closet 7 years ago.  It was not long after that that I discovered thread crochet, which was much more in evidence then than it is now (at one point I think there were at least three magazines devoted to thread or lace crochet).  By the time I left for college I was crocheting with very fine thread, using steel hooks inherited from my great grandmother.  During all that time, I kept trying to go back to knitting.  I got better at it, but it never really "took" as something I enjoyed.  Compared to crochet it always seemed to take too long.  (There were embroidery and sewing also to take my time, but this is a post about knitting....)

I continued to crochet and embroider (the sewing machine took a long nap) through college, still occasionally picking up knitting without success.

Then, a few years ago, I went to Plymouth with friends to work on the Plymouth Jacket.  For some reason I will never really understand, I picked up knitting again just before that trip, working on a scarf (that was never finished) on the drive up.  While we were at Plymouth the costume department was working on a project they had launched for knitters to volunteer to make stockings for the Plantation.  I enjoyed the time there so much that I found myself coming home with yarn with which to make a pair.

They took a while, but I kept plugging at it, and finished the stockings.  Somewhere along the way, knitting "took" and I got *really excited* about it.

I looked for and found information about historical knitting.  I made modern socks, hats, and scarves.

Then, less than a year after I had finished those first stockings, I decided to make a silk bag.  Because once I dive in, I dive in.


I've often wondered why it finally "took" some 35-40 years after those days of Cuz sitting with me on the loveseat in our family room.  I think it's the history.  It was when I connected knitting to history that it blossomed for me.  Not everything I knit is historically based (in fact, most of my knitting is modern), but that connection seems to have been the spark that made it sing to me.

The moral of the story?  Never give up?  Find the spark?  Maybe it's just "create."

Breaking a rule....

I’ve broken one of my rules, but it’s all in the name of the holidays.

My yellow Bay of Fundy scarf is about half done.  How do I know?  I’ve just about finished one hank of the yarn and it is about 33 inches long.  I have three more hanks, but I don't think it will take more than one more.  Here’s an in progress shot.  Can’t wait to see what it looks like all done and blocked.  I’m considering blocking this half a) to see how it looks and b) to make the final blocking a little easier.  Thoughts?

 That's the whole thing (so far) to the left, pinned to the box for a Billy bookcase.  Love the cable pattern.  That little ball is all that is left of the first hank - just a few more rows, I'm sure.

However, the End of Year Holidays are approaching.  Whatever you call it, December is a time of celebration, family, friends and gifting. Well, ok, for us the gifting usually goes well into January … and sometimes beyond, but late November and December is the season of considering gifts, and making them.  So, here’s the rule breaking – my usual rule is “one knitting project at a time.”  Considering the number of other projects I have going at any given time, *some* area of my crafty world needs to be reigned in.  However, I really want to do a knitted gift for my new boss, so that has gone on the needles.  It will be fast, and I’ll move back to the yellow scarf/wrap soon.

Not only that, but I’m learning something while I do it.  The project I’m doing is all about short rows.  Why was I afraid of them?  Apparently I have come far in my knitting since I did socks.  When I did the short row heels on the socks, I slavishly followed the directions, but didn’t really “get” what I was doing, I just followed the pattern.  This time, however, as I do segment after segment on this lovely ruffle scarf, I’m “getting” it.  I see where they’re going and what they’re doing. 

I call that worth a small rule break, how about you?

Sorry, no value added photos until after the gift has been given…. Not sure if she reads this blog, but I like surprises to be surprises.

Warm hands...

Fingerless mitts will save my life.  My office is cold -- I sit on the lower level of the building, on a slab, with a poorly insulated door to the outside behind me.  I have a space heater which keeps my feet nice and warm, but my wrists and hands still get cold, particularly when I have a big dictation or other work to type.

So, I make fingerless mitts.  My newest pair are the Salto Mitts,  I purchased a kit from Craftsy which included the pattern and a hank of the Manos del Uruguay Silk Blend, I did run out of yarn just as I was binding off on the second glove, with that bind off and the thumb to go.  I sent an email to Craftsy, hoping for ideas of how to finish my project -- and they sent me a second hank.  Being a different dye lot, the color was *a little* different, but not so much as to bother me.  I plan to use the rest of the hank (most of it) to do a charity item -- a premie hat or something of the sort.

Meanwhile, here are some pictures.  No more cold hands.

 The lacy band runs up the back, but stops so the palms are solid

 They cover a goodly part of my fingers, but do not have dividers between fingers (which makes them fingerless "mitts" rather than fingerless "gloves"), so I have full range of motion

And they well cover my bothersome thumb joints.

Another look back - It's not just embroidery...

Since I am right now in the boring "research" phase on two projects (for one the design has gone to the person who requested the project, for the other I have another week or so to finalize my design), I don't have much to talk about... so it's time for another look back.

Starting in December 2008, I knit a silk bag based on several existing ones from the 14th Century. (A project diary and link to the documentation are here.)

The inspiration for the project were several bags housed in Sion and Chur.  They are described in two books: Richard Rutt's A History of Hand Knitting, and Brigitta Schmedding's Mittelalterliche Textilien in Kirchen und Klöstern der Schweiz : Katalog, (no, I don't read German, I managed a general idea of what was said in that book about the bags by use of Google Translate, and numerous posts by other knitters).  I developed a design to incorporate acorns (an element of my household's badge).  The thread is Rainbow's Elegance (perle 8 silk) and it was knit with 5-0 needles. 

This was a fun project, though I'm not sure I'll do something quite this fine gauge again.  On the other hand, there's a knitted tube of unknown purpose pictured in Tissus D'Egypte that has called to me on more than one occasion.  I have a chart, and even yarns ... just need some time to work on my color work.... 

Meanwhile, some more photos of the relic bag:

A couple of "done" knitting pieces

Quite a while ago (about 2 years ago), My husband and I were walking through one of the big box stores and saw that they had some Lion Brand Fisherman's Wool on a very good sale -- the big 4 oz skeins for $5.00.  The dark brown and the natural drew him over to the display, and I agreed to buy some and make him something.

After several enjoyable sessions browsing patterns on Ravelry, we agreed on this vest.  I finished up the project I was working on at the time (I try to have only one knitting project going at a time), and cast on in May 2014.

Now, knitting keeps getting put down.  It is my "between" project, my "clear my mind when embroidery has filled it up too much" work.  So, it took quite a while to finish.  I bought buttons for it at Rhinebeck 2014 and continued to work on it sporadically.

I finally finished the knitting while we were on vacation in May, and quickly made up a pair of these fingerless gloves to go with the vest.  Then both projects sat in my project bag most of the summer (while I worked on something else, but that's another post).  The week before Rhinebeck, I finally pulled out the vest, did all the weaving in, blocked it and added the buttons.  He proudly wore both the vest and the fingerless gloves to Rhinebeck this year.

 This was my first truly sized piece.  I've done socks, but didn't really follow different directions for size on those.  I'm pretty happy with the final result.  Don't know that I'll be doing a lot of constructed garments -- I like doing shawls and scarves and fingerless gloves -- but I'm glad to know I was able to suss out the instructions for shaping and making it up.

New York Sheep & Wool... aka Sheepsies

It's a modern day pilgrimage.  The third full weekend of October each year, from all over the country fiber and textile lovers -- and many others -- make their way to Rhinebeck New York to the Dutchess County fairgrounds for Sheep & Wool. It's certainly a tradition among a group of my friends -- one we refer to as "Sheepsies."  We even have "our" set of benches where we meet up at certain times during the day.

It is a weekend full of fun, food, friends, adorable animals, and textiles. 

Looking through, I realize I didn't actually take photos of any of the many, many, many, many vendors of yarn.  

I did get pictures of animals, though...

This llama carefully posed until I got *just* the shot

Cloud on legs -- Paco Vicuna

Such a face

Working hard

How does s/he see?

I did well this year, being mindful of how full my cedar chest is of yarn still to be worked with.  I did score some patterns and shawl pins, though (the brass ones will be our SCA cloak pins):

And, some CDs.  For me, the experience of Sheepsies is knit up with this music -- I love the fact that the musicians clearly are having fun playing.  I remember from when I made music that there are some pieces that are just *fun.*

I did buy *some* yarn, but no pictures -- it's for a gift. 

Swatching is important... even when gauge isn't

A modern knitting post.

As my reward for finishing a couple of other projects, and in anticipation of attending NY Sheep and Wool ("Rhinebeck"), this past weekend I cast on to knit a wrap with some lovely gold alpaca yarn I bought last year at Sheep and Wool.  I particularly love doing shawls, scarves and wraps because "gauge (often) isn't important."  If gauge is 10 stitches an inch and you wind up with 11 -- that just means your piece will be a little smaller, for instance.

The importance of swatching, however, was brought home.  The pattern I am doing (Bay of Fundy scarf) doesn't even list a gauge, but the instructions do indicate that it knits up fairly dense and if using a different yarn (as I am), to use one needle larger than called for on the yarn band.  The pattern calls for 3.5 mm (U.S. 4), so I settled down with my U.S. 5 interchangeable tips on a cable and happily cast on.

Sheep and Wool approaches...

It's time to be planning my annual trip to the New York Sheep & Wool Festival in Rhinebeck, NY -- mostly known to knitters, weavers, spinners and fiber fanatics everywhere as "Rhinebeck" and to our little circle as "Sheepsies."

This will be .. hm, lost count, I think my 5th year and even though I won't be shopping for anything, don't need anything and have little spare money to spend on anything, I'm very excited.

Because it is inspiring. This will actually be my second fiber festival this year, as I was able to go to the Maryland Sheep & Wool in the spring (that is the source of my photos).

There will, of course, be animals -- sheep, goats, llamas, alpacas ... and dogs

Happy sheep

Little babies

Such a face

There will also be fiber to peruse, many stands selling yarns of many colors

And others selling finished goods

I always return home with creative juices charged up. 

If you do anything with fiber, I encourage going to a fiber festival -- even if you never buy anything, you find that there is a aura of creative energy.