decisions to make

I’ve been fixing my eyes on the gorgeous lace shawls and scarves in Knitted Lace of Estonia by Nancy Bush for several months. It is such a lovely book ~ packed with history and beauty that even a non-knitter could appreciate.

Now that it’s summer and I have more time during daylight hours, I decided to take the plunge with the Triinu Scarf. You-tube provided great tutorials for my practice swatch. The clear, visual instructions in Magpieeyesdesigns provisional crochet chain cast on was a great help. And what better than learning to knit a nupp directly from Nancy Bush herself?!

I used dishcloth cotton as the waste yarn and leftover Lorna’s Laces shepherd sock yarn for the practice piece. After doing two full pattern repeats, I left live stitches at the top, as well as in the provisional cast-on below so I could practice the edgings when I get to that point with my “real” scarf. When I stretched the sample piece out I was surprised to find that there were two unattached loops in one of the nupps. This tells me that I have to double check each time I purl back through the nupps to make sure all the loops are secured.

Now to my decisions. After four starts with lace weight, I’ve decided that my addi lace circulars just won’t work. The ladies of Estonia use light weight wooden needles and I’m thinking of getting bamboo straights. Any thoughts on this? Suggestions?

Also, I’m having even more nupp trouble with the lace weight and am thinking about two possibilities. (1) Work up a scarf with fingering weight so I can learn the technique before continuing on to lace weight. (2) Do 3 or 5 loop nupps instead of 7 loop nupps in the lace weight. I’m going to let all of this settle in my mind for awhile. In the meantime, any thoughts you have would be most appreciated.

Child's French Sock

I followed the pattern to the letter. No modifications at all. Nancy Bush’s pattern is plainly written, charted and easy to follow. The diaper knitting stitch that fills in the background to the citron pattern and flows down the the heel flap provides beautiful texture.

Socks #48 ~ Child's French Sock in Women's 8-9

from Nancy Bush's book Knitting Vintage Socks

finished June 30, 2009

for Carolyn

EKF Superwash Sock Yarn/Gold Dust Woman colorway

US #1 needles

Hand Quilting

These are the tools I use for hand quilting:

I rely on my fingertips beneath to guide the needle and steadily rock and load stitches. They're still tender but should callous up soon. (Not unlike conditioning fingertips for playing a stringed instrument, I'd imagine.)

My hand stitches are larger this time around. But I’m still striving for consistency by loading three to four stitches on a size 12 between.

I think that the back is looking pretty cool!

not seamless

It does seem frivolous to blog about knitting with the world’s insanity increasing exponentially about us. The thing is, knitting grounds me. I love feeling the wool moving steadily through my fingers. I delight visually in the symmetry of design. I’m peacefully absorbed by the rhythmic movement of the needles. I like to think about women down through the ages with this shared experience. Knitting allots lengthy segments of time to listen to teachings online directing/redirecting me to focus on the truth of the gospel and what it means in my daily life.

All of that said… on with the frivolity:


When we returned from North Carolina, I went through my stash and picked out a partial skein of ivory casbah left over from the snowdrop lace hat I knit last winter. Skimming through Stitchionary, pattern #30 caught my eye so I cast on and knit knit knit thinking ~ “This will be a swatch,” followed by “This will be a scarf,” followed by “This won’t be long enough for a scarf…”

The finished piece measured 7-1/2” x 24” unblocked and 10” x 31” blocked. I slip stitched the ends after blocking. Yes there’s a seam. A lovely and quite noticeable seam, I might add. Unconventional, I know. I didn’t have a plan when I started knitting the pattern and am quite surprised that the piece decided to be a cowl.

Jack was surprised, too. (Or should I say Jacques?!)

Pattern: #30 moss and diamond brocade
Source: Vogue Knitting Stitchionary Vol. One (Knit and Purl)
Notes: The 44 row pattern is completely reversible so the cowl can be twisted and scrunched without worrying about right side/wrong side. (Just be sure to hide the seam in the back.)


Quilt update: 18/120 blocks hand quilted

gold dust woman

That’s the name of this colorway, dyed by Enchanted Knoll Farm . Gold Dust Woman. I’ll share their description of the color: “a predominantly gold base that is tickled with touches of chestnut, wine, and lighter undulations of gold.”

I chose this superwash wool (90 merino/10 nylon) for The Child's French Sock from Nancy Bush's book Knitting Vintage Socks. It's a pattern she worked up in a larger size for women's shoe size 8-9. I'm following the pattern to the letter, making no modifications at all. It was interesting knitting the cuff and then seeing how the cuff pattern blended so beautifully into the leg pattern.

I knit all (11) citron pattern repeats for the leg section ~ following a very easy 6-row chart.

The French Heel on this sock is a new experience for me and I can't wait to see how it connects up in the instep. Design-wise, it's quite lovely. (I can't help but think that the traditional heel flap and turn is more durable. That's not the point though, is it!?!)

now and then

We had torrential rain monday night as a storm cell passed over our town. Looking out the livingroom window was like sitting in the front seat of your car as it goes through a car wash. The rain poured with such intensity it powerwashed every bit of mud off my garden sloggers. And morning revealed a green we rarely enjoy in northern colorado...

now ... and 6 months ago

(Quick Quilt Update: 6/120 blocks handquilted)

poppy monkey socks

These socks were a nice change of pace. They were started in the car at the beginning of our road trip ~ the ribbing was worked on in Colorado and Kansas. Then I picked them up again and knit did some lace pattern repeats on the legs in Virginia and in North Carolina. But most of the knitting was done once we arrived home.

I never grow tired of knitting the monkey sock pattern. It's just plain fun.

socks #47 ~ poppy monkeys
finished June 21, 2009

for me
lorna’s laces shepherd sock solid (wool/nylon blend)
“poppy” colorway
Cookie A’s Monkey Socks Pattern
(US #1-1/2)

m+m quilt update

• First, a visit to the quilt shop for quality backing fabric. (The final decision was a natural muslin backing for softness.) I picked out 4 yards of 108” wide fabric ~ enough extra to fold over the edges for protection while hand quilting this summer.


• Then, a quick stop at JoAnn’s for basting thread and batting.
  
  


• Once home, the muslin backing went through two warm water machine washings and a normal cycle in the dryer with a bounce...


• ...followed by a good ironing for both the backing and the top.

(I follow this process with all my fabric ~ to remove anything added during manufacturing, to make sure it is colorfast and so the final quilt is completely machine washable ~ no surprises.)

• The backing, batting and top are then smoothed out individually on the floor in layers. Finally, the sandwich is double-thread basted on approximately a 6" grid.

I've decided to match thread/fabric so that means another trip to JoAnn's for 7 spools of hand quilting thread. Then the real fun begins!

year one

My first blogiversary passed unnoticed last Saturday. Not surprising, really. Considering how drained and tired we were from travelling. As I look back over the past year there were milestones in our personal life … my dad’s passing, the birth of our first grandchild, our younger son’s wedding.

My reasons for starting this blog: to keep track of projects, to interact with others with similar interests, to finish projects and to discover new crafty avenues to travel. Considering myself to be a procrastinator and less than productive, I was surprised to discover just what this past year has held.

Knitting: 17 pairs of socks, 7 scarves, 3 shawls, 3 beaded knit bags, set of linen facecloths, a hat/mitten set, 2 hats knit from my own design, 3 baby surprise jackets, cotton dishcloths and tribbles, and one baby blanket.

Crochet: oodles of rosettes and one small square

Spinning: two skeins of handspun

Sewing: 12 cell phone bags, set and basted the laurel burch quilt, finished four itty bitty dolls, pieced and set the m&m quilt.

Miscellaneous: a market basket and bookmark favors for gala

Works in progress: Hannah’s quilt and the Stonington shawl

And here’s a bit of randomness to mark the belated one year of selectswoolandflax:

A neighbor who looks after your plants in a hailstorm while hers get shredded is a treasure. We shall certainly share beans, peppers, tomatoes and cucumbers with her (if it ever gets warm enough for them to grow!!!)

A knitter can have enough stashed yarn.

4,000 miles in the car with a dog is a lot of miles in the car with a dog. And...

Cream colored cotton may actually be as soft as gray colored cotton. In a blind test I may not be able to tell them apart.

sunny baby blanket

This blanket made the perfect take-along project for our trip to the southeast. I finished it yesterday morning... somewhere in Kansas. Our total miles in the car came to 4,056 over 14 days.

Sunny Baby Blanket

designed by Lucie Sinkler

Bernat Baby Jacquards ~ 690 yds

US 4 circular

stitch markers helped a lot with keeping track of the pattern

It felt so good being home last night. I feel rather like Dorothy in the Wizard of Oz today :)

crochet

We've been travelling since May 30th, and have driven over 2,100 miles through nine states (colorado, kansas, missouri, illinois, indiana, kentucky, tennessee, north carolina and virginia) visiting friends and family, knit shops and antique malls ~ all topped by the incredible blessing of our younger son's wedding to his childhood sweetheart :)

Today was the last day before our return home. And while the men were busily absorbed by a lengthy project, Liss and I sat and crocheted. She finished a baby blanket she'd been working on ~ the colors matched perfectly with the bouquet of daisies on the table...

... and she taught me how to read the crochet pattern for this block from 200 Crochet Blocks for Blanket, Throws, and Afgans. It all made perfect sense as she explained it but I would have been quite lost without her.

It was such a wonderful day and we have such a peace in our hearts knowing they have each other.

... 44, 45, 46 ...

Socks #44

Pretty Picot Socks
finished May 24, 2009

for Sandy
koigu kpppm (100% merino wool)
Basic Sock Pattern with picot hemmed top
(US #1)

Socks #45

Panda Roses Socks
finished May 24, 2009

for me
Crystal Palace Yarns
panda cotton print (55% bamboo, 24% cotton, 21% elastic nylon)
Basic Sock Pattern with picot hemmed top
(US #2)

... and finally,

Socks #46

75/25 ~ Scrap Socks

washable wool ~ merino/nylon blend
Basic Sock Pattern
(US #1-1/2)
finished May 28, 2009

for ?