Margot and Twirly Skirt

Sometimes it’s a blessing to be delayed…..the post about the gifts that Margot knit for her two granddaughters (age 18 and 1) has been in my blogging line-up for several weeks now. I mentioned to Margot at today’s Saturday knitting workshop that I was finally posting about her knitting gifts to her granddaughters …and I needed a little more info.

Here’s the blessing! Margot received a Christmas card from her family with a photo of the two girls (sisters)…one in her “Jasmine” Rowan Sweater and the other in her Twirly Skirt.

The Christmas Card Photo - Margot's granddaughters

The details…..the Jasmine Sweater, designed by Lisa Richardson, was featured in Rowan’s Magazine #39 (Spring 2006) …now out of print. I pulled out my copy and took another journey through the wonderful designs…I became wistful…do I have time to add more projects to my knitting lineup? No…but I probably will. Margot used a different yarn than the design specified. Her choice was Frog Tree’s Cotton/Silk mix – 85% pima cotton and 15% silk. It was a wonderful choice.

The “Twirly Skirt” was knit for her 1-yr old granddaughter…..Margot used Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece (an all-time favorite of mine)…..she enhanced the design with the addition of eyelets with ribbon.

Did I mention (?) that Margot is a very proud grandmother ( a very dear friend…another blessing…we met because we knit)! Be sure to view the slide show that follows.Click to view slideshow.

He said, “No worries here. She’s on it!” Where upon I fell out laughing and picked up my yarn!

Here’s an excerpt ( a better view than my previous post). Enjoy!

A New York City subway train holds 1,200 people. This blog was viewed about 4,600 times in 2011. If it were a NYC subway train, it would take about 4 trips to carry that many people.

Click here to see the complete report.

http://skeinlane.wordpress.com/2011/annual-report/

Mary and her Tomten Jacket

Mary is happy…happy! It was a happy evening recently at knitting workshop…she completed the knitting journey of the Tomten Jacket, a Elizabeth  Zimmerman design.

She knit this garter-stitch design in Brown Sheep Lambspride Superwash. She began this sweater for her granddaughter…..time slipped away…and now her neighbors have been gifted with this lovely sweater for their newly adopted child. As you can see Mary was overjoyed  to complete this project….she stuck with it and you can see the results.

The Tomten Jacket

The detailing that makes this Tomten unique is that Mary rolled the edging back and tacked it all around. She also created an I-cord loop for the toggle button.

Yeah Mary!

“I’m so excited because I figured out the practical benefit of ‘smocking’ when a neck ribbing was wonkie…it stuck out. The yarn was chunky-ish…..I’m also perfecting my knitting terminology! The ribbing pulled together perfectly and looks wonderful. Same with the button band!

This is what I was working on (before and after photos) …. the rib ends up looking more tidy.

The method is perhaps called “gather” knitting?  I looked it up on line…about “smocking” …. and found “gather.” I had knit the collar ribbing and then the button bands….. and I casted off. I took a carpet needle with yarn…and went from back to front and then front to back thru each rib…at its outer edge. I then gently pulled the thread to gather the rib more tightly.

Does that make sense?  Without “gathering” the ribbed stitches, I would have had a ruffle!!”

I think Cathy also said that she used the same size needle for all of the garment (body and bands) and she picked up more stitches than needed for the front band. Sounds and looks like “gathering” was a perfect solution for the “wonkie” neck.

No, it would be 1,000 yards of MaggiKnits linen….knitted up in a stole or poncho…all set for spring! Join us in this spring (yes, spring – time to start now to be ready with spring wardrobe) promotion.

1,000 yds (8 skeins @ 125 yds). Regular Price (8 skeins) $63.60

1,000 Yards Spring Promotion Price (8 skeins) $50.00

Includes complimentary pattern stitch designs and suggested sizes for 1,000 yards

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Good thru Wednesday, January 25, 2012

Mock Cable Stitch Design

Bathing Beauties Stole

Available colors

33 Red Orange

14 Turquoise

31 Green

10 Red

07 Cream

11 Dusty Pink

The Sweater Pattern Photo

One of Grethe’s latest knitting endeavours was this Norwegian sweater for her adult daughter. While it was in process her daughter got to try it on for size…the pieces that is. She thought the sleeves should be longer…so longer they were knit. The sweater was assembled, tried on, and the sleeves were too long. Grethe asked me for advise on what to do.

Grethe's Version

As advised she picked up each stitch (one side of the knitted stitch) on the row close to where she wanted to shorten the sleeve. Keep in mind that this point is determined by whether this will be the “finish” line or whether a cuff will need to be added.  Proceeding….she picked up the stitches on her circular needle….she, without hesitation – usually I do this for folks because they are too nervous – cut the extra length off. She then picked out the extra threads that might be lingering….made sure all the stitches on the needle belonged to the same row and she knit the cuff. Note there will a visible line where the knitted fabric is knit back in the the opposite direction; however, that can be made almost invisible when creating a design on the line, i.e. starting the cuff in a different stitch design.

The Reworked Sleeve

You might ask why she just didn’t unravel back to the desired point. Here’s the knitting rule….you can unravel back the way you knit, i.e. taking rows out; but you cannot unravel from the cast on edge….thus Snip, Snip! It’s a great trick that I learned in an early issue of Knitter’s Magazine…more than 20 years ago.

I like to snip!

Snap Rings and O rings

We stitchers are so often in need of stitch markers ….they can be found most often in knitting shops. However,  knitter and long-time friend Kevin was recently at the local hardware store on a plumbing  mission …he stopped short when he saw o-rings and snap rings….how about knitting markers?!

What a great idea and the price is right. I think I’ll be shopping for these “new” stitch markers while looking for tack nails to fix the weather stripping that the boy cats have decided to pull back from the floor by the back door. What were they thinking? Early spring maybe.

Anyway, I am  adding a page to this blog…all about resources… this post is the first addition. Stay tuned as I link resources from the Skein Lane website and from other sites. There is so much out there to share to enhance our skills.

Great-great grandma Miles (1845 - 1929)

I was working on family history this evening and read again…

……..”Mary did all the sewing and knitting for the family and in those days most all the clothing had to be homemade.”

Mary was my grandma’s grandmother “Grandma Miles”. My grandma’s photo of her grandmother Miles use to hang over her bed. It has been in my home for some 25 years now….it was willed to me because I asked for it when I was 16. I love this photo and of course feel a kindred spirit for Grandma Miles….a fellow knitter.