Race to Make Lace

Haley wearing her first lace shawl
Originally uploaded by plainsight.

The girls in my middle school knit and crochet club have caught the lace shawl bug I'm thrilled because they're not only crocheting like mad, they're also adding skills like creating and reading charts and coming up with decorative finishing ideas. Haley used vintage lace hem tape to tie her shawl in the front. She's already begun her second with two other girls not to far behind.

Toddler Varsity Jacket

Toddler Varsity Jacket
Originally uploaded by plainsight.

Amy Swenson's Not your Mama's Felting book has been released so I can finally show you the finished jacket I designed for the book. The best part? Every time Jay wears it he says "Mommy made this!"

Book Review: Y Not Knit

Last year, Jill Wolcott and Susan Wolcott of Y2Knit published Y Not Knit "Step-by-step instructions for continental knitting and knitting basics." It's the first beginner book that I'm aware of specifically for continental knitting. The spiral bound book uses clear black and white illustrations to demonstrate techniques beginning with how to hold the yarn and needles and progressing through each step; knit, purl, (only one method of continental purl is demonstrated), changing yarn and color, increasing, decreasing, and including simple projects along the way.

If you're new to knitting, there are probably more comprehensive, colorful books out there to teach the basics, but if you're looking to learn continental as an addition to your existing knitting skills, Y Not Knit will get you "picking" your stitches quickly.

Crochet on a Pedestal

Ripple-mania continues, check out yarnstorm's "scottish dancing" blanket. Beautifully photographed.

Sometimes a picture isn't enough...

Tilli Tomas Sweater
Originally uploaded by plainsight.

It's impossible to tell from this photo how insanely wonderful this yarn is. (It's Tilli Tomas flurries--with the beads, and Aspen--without.) I'm enjoying every second of crocheting with it, despite the fact that the sheer volume of work I've been doing lately has led to a little hand discomfort. I'm also enjoying it because I know after a few weeks I'm going to be setting the hooks aside for the summer to concentrate on a new big knitting project. I'll be able to let on more about that soon.

I find it amazing that despite extremely simple stitches and a style of construction I've done over, and over, this sweater is turning out to be one of the coolest things I've ever made. I can't wait to get the pieces finished so I can start putting it all together. I've got a fun new sleeve idea to try out, too.

The yarn itself is suprising. It's single ply, but has amazing bounce. It is DK weight, but it takes well to being crocheted with a small (3.75mm) hook. It doesn't feel stiff, and in fact, my swatches with a bigger hook just seem sloppy. Once the hook and yarn found their balance, the fabric seemed almost to create itself.

Did you know, that with modular construction, you can't acheive exact symmetry? For instance, even though both of my "right" sides of ribbing are the same (the sides I worked in single crochet), they aren't identical because I had to work one from the hem to the neck edge and the other from the neck edge to the hem. Upon close observation, they look different--it's the nature of the double crochet stitch. It has a "left side" and a "right side." I love that.

It reminds me of one of the things my aunt tried to teach me when I was little. She's an artist, and she would come to our family's summer cottage in Wisconsin each year and sit on the hill overlooking the lake to sketch and make oil pastel drawings. I'd drag my sketchbook out to the old wooden bench and sit along side her and draw pictures too.

She told me about things like perspective, and we'd talk about color, shading. She had lived in Okinawa (where she studied karate as well as art), and one time she told me about something called "shibui." I don't recall exactly what she said, but I remember thinking it was great that in Japan, it was better to be assymetrical and have things in odd numbers. Reading the Wikipedia article now, I like the idea of shibui even better: "beautiful by being understated, or by being precisely what it was meant to be and not elaborated upon."

DIYnetwork.com errata

A clever knitter has discovered that in generating the HTML version of my pattern template for my Knits that Fit Knitty Gritty episode, the folks at DIYnetwork.com left out an essential piece of the template.

In the template, just after "Calculating the Neck Stitches," and just before "Edging" this section is missing:

SEAM STITCHES

The raglan increases surround “seam” stitches, which help to mark the increase and give a decorative look to the garment. These stitches need to be added to your Cast On.

Take (C) and add 4 stitches C + 4 = ___________________ (D)

Without this piece, the rest of the template doesn't make much sense. I've e-mailed their webmaster and hopefully it will be corrected on the site soon.

Thanks Rachel!

Book Review: Runway Knits

Runway Knits: 30 Fashion-Forward Designs is the brainchild of Berta Karapetyan--owner of Karabella Yarns and School Products. Berta has been designing knitwear for fashion designers as long as well, Lily Chin, I'd guess, and she wanted to bring her style to the page in a form that anyone could reproduce.

I was impressed with her philosophy in the introduction. She tells the story of her first sweater, which didn't fit, and how it taught her to plan each piece carefully. She says she tells her students, "never guess, calculate!" Right on, Berta. She also designed the book with the hope that they would be teaching projects intended to "improve your technical skills," not just be pretty things to make. The patterns themselves include clear schematics and charts where appropriate. From what I could tell, all the yarns used in the book are her own, but there is a substitution guide in the back of the book.

The book has a theatrical style that seems a little too dramatic for me--the models have so much make-up on, that when looking at the pictures, I see the makeup, even before the knitwear, but in some of the pieces, the knitting shines through.

What about the patterns? Despite the book's billing, most of the designs have a classic feel. This is probably a good thing, as books that are too "now" end up getting little use after the fashions have changed. I particularly like the Soldiers Sweater which makes great use of ribbing and buttons, the A-Line jacket, which has a 60s feel, but looks classy even today, and the Roman Candle sweater which has a figure flattering basketweave pattern and a lovely deep ribbing that repeats in the sleeves, waist and neckline. There's also a shawl with sleeves, the Trellis Shawl that looks like a quick knit you'd want to throw on anytime you had a bit of a chill. Surprisingy, all of my favorite patterns in his book are at the back, so if you're leafing through it at a bookstore, be sure to make your way all the way through.

Spray the Pieces

Spray the Pieces
Originally uploaded by kpwerker.

Kim has posted a great photo-tutorial on spray blocking to her flickr site. It's got detailed instructions and very helpful pictures. Thanks Kim!


(The squares in this picture are for the Babette blanket she's making out of Manos. Aren't they lovely?)

The new CrochetMe is up!

It's the Sustainability issue with lots of green crocheting ideas, and technique articles, book review, and more. Deneen has a gorgeous hat, you can crochet a Do Do bird, a grocery bag, a purse made from a dress, socks and more! And I, personally, am dying to make this apron! It's made out of hemp--worked side-to-side, which I love. I'd been eying a knitted apron in the latest Interweave Knits (or was it Vogue?) But I'm so much more excited to crochet one. Must. Finish. Current. Deadlines.

My Knitty Gritty Episode Approaches...

When I filmed my epsidode of Knitty Gritty back in December, they told me I might have to wait a year to see it air. Well, now, about four months later, I discover it's going to be shown Monday afternoon. DIY has it listed for April 16th, 2:00 p.m.

I've been watching the new season and I've seen some great episodes already--from Michael Del Vecchio to Stephanie Japel. But I get nervous just watching them thinking about my impending upcoming small screen debut.

The episode is called "Knits that Fit" and it's about how to customize your own sweater pattern template. I am looking forward to having the template available for folks to use--it was fun to create and the knitsters were able to do great things with it.

Up to my ears...

You know you've been editing patterns too much when... This evening at dinner, I was feeding Jay a few spoonfuls of rice, then I handed him the spoon and said "continue in pattern as established..."

Update on Foundation Stitches

One of the many, many cool things in the current issue of Interweave Crochet (the last issue before it becomes a regular, subscription-based mag!) is the article by Marty Miller about Foundation Stitches. I posted a small tutorial recently about these stitches, and the article in Interweave goes even further with pictures and very detailed background and instructions. Also, since there is currently no standard abbreviation for these stitches, Interweave has chosen to use "fsc" for foundation single crochet and "fdc" for foundation double crochet. I like the simplicity of these abbreviations and I'll use them too.

Tilli Tomas

Tilli Tomas
Originally uploaded by plainsight.

It's not much of a sneak peek--but my swatch is not all that representative since I'm not going to use a variagated yarn. This pile of yumminess came in the mail on Friday. It's for a design I'm self-publishing at the request of Tilli Tomas. I'm very excited about the collaboration... It will be a modular sweater with a mesh panel in the center, and mesh cuffs and hem. The beaded yarn will be used for the mesh parts and non-beaded super soft merino for the rest of the sweater. I'll start on it as soon as I finish my current deadline which is another project for Crochet Today.

Happy Monday!

A little Crochet Easter Eye Candy

Happy Easter!
Originally uploaded by Fluxx.

One of the commenters on flickr says, "Did these bunnies get a timeout?" I love how the arrangement of their ears give them so much character. If you're not subscribed to the *Crochet*
group on flickr, you should be! It's full of beautiful and inspiring handmade stuff, and you can see it all right in your RSS aggregator!


Something else I discovered there this morning--a tutorial for crocheting these adorable little cherries. It's not amigurumi, it's like "foodigurumi," yum.

Blogger Chicksey is working on an amazing quilt-inspired afghan. I actually think hers is so much more intricate and beautiful than the quilt that inspired it.

Baby it's not so cold...

BICO Sweater
Originally uploaded by plainsight.

Here's our neighbor Lyla modeling the recently finished Baby it's Cold Outside sweater that I made for an old college friend who just had a baby. The design is a fun one by Julie Holetz.

I completed it in a couple of afternoons using stash of colorgrown organic cotton (Inca Cotton for the body and Blue Sky for the edging). Even the buttons came out of my stash, its fun when you can shop at home.

When I finished the sweater, I washed and dried it so it would shrink up and could be washed and dried without worry by the new parents. What I wish I had taken a picture of is how the colors deepened in the wash. That's one of the bonuses of colorgrown cotton. I've got a lot of the Inca Cotton left over, and I'm thinking of using it for a little jacket for myself.