Archive for February, 2008

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maxine’s little garter shale shawl

February 14, 2008

lots of blog entries this week! it’s been a snow week and the yarn store has been slow, so i’ve had much more time working at home. i almost have another pattern done to publish too! on to the finished object of the day. this one is going in the mail tomorrow. ben and i took advantage of the snow day weather to take some photos outside.

the professor i worked with on my thesis emailed me some time ago mentioning that there was a draft on her neck/upper back when she sat at her desk (which she does a lot since she’s a writer…). she asked if i still had this shawl left from my thesis and if i’d be willing to part with it. i didn’t have that shawl, but i did agree to make her a small shawl to wear while at her desk.

little garter shale shawl - in action

i knew when designing this shawl that i wanted incredibly warm garter stitch at the top and something lacy on the bottom, keeping in mind that she spent many years as a farm woman in rural alberta. practicality needed to be the priority. i worked all of the garter stitch and when i came to the point where i wanted to do the lace, i could think of nothing more suitable than old shale/feather and fan stitch – easy, pretty, feminine, practical.

little garter shale shawl

little garter shale shawl - back

ingredients:
recycled sweater – jones new york country – 50% wool/15% alpaca /35% acrylic
edging – vintage woodward’s wool, thrifted in vancouver

this yarn was chosen partially because she requested neutral colors and partially because the natural browns reminded me of the prairies. what i most loved about this yarn was the nubbly look that it knit up into. here’s a good photo.

little garter shale shawl

other things that turned out well – it turned out a very fitting size, although i can’t always tell when coming from the back of the neck. i loved working in a single and i’m so in love with contrasting borders :)

have a great day!

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mapping train tracks

February 13, 2008

i always knit while at craft fairs and since i had nothing on the needles saturday – i finished the small movie projects – i grabbed a very very pink ball of malabrigo that my friend sue passed onto me and some dark green to compliment it.

mapping the tracks - side

mapping the tracks hat

ingredients:
malabrigo merino wool
fearless fibers semi-solid

size: adult medium/large

mapping the track - front

interesting trivia about me… not only have i never made a sweater (not including the early one that languishes in the frogging pile – bad yarn/pattern combo among other things), but i also have never knit with classic malabrigo. it was, needless to say, a pleasure and a big thank you to sue. that said, i don’t think i’ll ever turn into one of those people who values softness (or malabrigo) above all else. the variety of texture, loft, elasticity, durability etc. that we get as people who love fiber makes my experience richer. the theory (that, in my opinion seems somewhat pervasive) of all things soft and fragile makes me go meh. that said, i’d invest in a skein of malabrigo here and there… a fabulous knit and fun colors. plus i’m always a sucker for kettle dyeing.

mapping the tracks - toppish

anyhow, minirant aside, the picture above is of me trying to take a good picture of the top of the hat where i did the little sunburst and here’s a better shot.

mapping the tracks - top

so, i thought i’d be schmancy share the train track chart with you all. it is worked over a multiple of 4 stitches and 17 rows in the round. charts are read as you knit – bottom right to left and up.

here’s a brief recipe – what i did to make my tam. i cast on 90 stitches, k1, p1 rib for about an inch, increased evenly 6 stitches every round for five rounds, did the chart and a couple more rounds, then i decreased 6 stitches every other round until i decided it was tall enough, then brought it in faster by decreasing more than 6 stitches/round. it’s a basic tam shape – if you need more explanation, read through my train tam pattern.

knit visualizer is fun :) and i’d love to see if anyone plays around with this.

p.s. i put a pdf version on ravelry if you want to download it over there and gussied up the pdfs of all of the other freebies.

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Sweet Potato Hats

February 11, 2008

sweet potato hats

when you click on the button below and follow through on the payment, a two page automatic download in pdf format will be delivered to your email address.

$5.00

An easy colorwork child’s hat pattern, with simple charts. Written for two weights of yarn.

Needles: 7 US – 4.5 mm (10.5 US – 6.5 mm) 16 in. (40.6 cm) circular and the same size double-pointed needles or whatever needle size gives you gauge. These hats can also be made with only the dpns.

Yarn: two contrasting worsted weight wools (two contrasting bulky weight wools – seen in Sheep Shop and Malabrigo bulky)

Gauge: 5 sts/in. (3.25 sts/in.)

Size: 20 in. (50.8 cm) head – approximately 18 mo. – 4 yr old. (16 in. (40.6 cm) head – approximately 0-6 mo.)

sweet potato hats

this pattern is also available in the Little Colorwork Hat Collection for a slightly reduced price.

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Super Hero Helmet Hat

February 11, 2008

Super Hero Helmet Hat

when you click on the button below and follow through on the payment, a two page automatic download in pdf format will be delivered to your email address.

$5.00

details:

A garter stitch earflap hat, knit flat and then seamed.

Yarn: A fuzzy, solid colored yarn, loosely plied or single bulky weight wool works best. I used Lamb’s Pride Bulky – 15% mohair/85% wool – 125 yds (114 m)/skein to knit the smaller and ended up with 16 yds (14.5 m) left. For the larger size, I used 126 yds (115 m) of recycled sweater wool.

Needles: US 10 ½ (6.5 mm) needles

Gauge: 14.5 st. over 4 in. (10 cm) – just over 3.5 st./in.

Sizes: 4 yr. old to adult small/medium – 21-22 in. (53.2-55.8 cm) head and adult medium/large – 22-23 in. (55.8-58.4 cm) head

Super Hero Helmet Hat

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weekending

February 11, 2008

thanks for all of your well wishes about the craft fair! it was fun and i did end up selling mostly yarn – which is a good sign, since i just started selling it. i’m thinking i’ll cull the stash for hand dyed yarns to add to the yarn side of the table. hmmm. anyhow, the yarns are now starting to appear in the shop, along with some hats that have been sitting around and never made it in.

one good story – i sold some yarn from the name game to the person who named it, live and in person! so fun and of course she got the discount! ;)

yarns

onto the pittsburgh knit and crochet festival. i went with my friend rachel, her mom, and her aunt. it was very fun. i wasn’t really planning to buy much yarn, but i fell in love with the knitting notions booth… so i got the red skein from them. across the way from them was the brooks farm stall, which i also loved. however, i was good and didn’t buy anything from them… but rachel bought a sweaters worth of a lovely pink wool singles. the green and the orange (you see one, i bought 4) above are 50/50 alpaca/wool yarn that i picked up from autumn house farms on clearance. the owner of autumn house is good friends with many of my knitting friends and so i was very happy to finally meet her. i can’t wait to go out and visit the farm! she does her own carding and dyeing too. i’m thinking that if i buy a fleece at any point when i’m here i’ll either have her scour and card it, or see if i can do it with her.

hand made

from knitting notions, i also bought this dark wood shawl stick. they had very nice wooden stuffs and i’m always a sucker for such things (plus, i needed one :). also seen here are some lovely hand turned knitting needles from Dunn Spun Yarn, who were also in the same area as brooks and knitting notions. it was a killer corner.

tops

i love how the tops are slighty different. all of the really even pairs probably sold the first day – little did they know that i got the best pair.

locks

my main goal at the festival was to buy spinning stuff and i walked away with a good bit of it. i got some lavendar eucalan, yellow dye (the color i always run out of…)… and some fiber. here’s the rundown:

-8 oz. english longwool from the rosefield.
i’ve never spun english longwool. it should prove to be an experience. certainly not the softest of wools, but historical and hardy. should be an adventure. a good outerlayer wool i think.

-the above shown locks for my spinning two class to play around hand carding from mcMahon fiber. they specialize in giant angora rabbits and they aren’t kidding! there was one in their booth and it was sooo cute and really really big. (by the way – i think the above picture bears a striking resemblance to clown hair…).

-4 oz. alpaca pencil roving from star weaver farm

-8 oz. of lambswool, alpaca, kid mohair roving

-2 oz. of angora from the longwool people also… rachel’s mom thought that i couldn’t leave there without some! so she bought it and passed it along.

sorry for the lack of name on the blend roving – but i thought the woman was a bit crazy and would rather not advertise for her. everyone else was fabulous! i love meeting people in person and asking about how the sheep are cared for and such AND now i have contacts for even more farms in pennsylvania. yay!

p.s. i’m seriously considering a booth next year. there wasn’t really any handspun that is anything like mine… so we’ll see. maybe handmade in november and pgh knit and crochet in february.

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we’re off!

February 9, 2008

layed flat

piled

to the races! and there will be some hats there too of course.  a big thank you to everyone who did some last minute naming for me.

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name game

February 8, 2008

first, go read this story about some yarn from the last name game. so sweet.

sorry that this is so late in the week, but it has been too dark to take pictures. today, we awoke to a lovely covering of snow, which makes it much brighter. (although i must say that it is questionable as to what could have helped my pictures today… maybe no blue or green?).

???

briefly, i’ll drag out some bullets to remind you how this works:

~click over to this set on flickr. this is my prefered method. if you have flickr, please leave your name suggestions under the shot of the yarn over there.
~if you do not have flickr, you may email me your suggestions at cosyknitsliterally at gmail. remember that a one sentence explanation may go a long way ;)
~ben and i will choose the names we like best and i’ll announce them by filling them in on the top of the flickr photo (where the ??? are) at 11:00 pm tonight.
~if your name is chosen and you would like that yarn at 5% off and free shipping, get in contact with me before 10 o’clock AM eastern tomorrow – cause everything else will be going to the show.  if not, thanks for playing :) and loaning me your creative genius where i run short.

???

SPECIAL: i have affectionate names for a couple of these yarns. if you accidentally guess any of these, i’ll give you a 10% off coupon to the shop! which will soon contain patterns as well as yarn and knits.

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EZ

February 7, 2008

last week? week before? i sometimes loose track of time… i was given a gift… a wonderful collection of Elizabeth Zimmermann newsletters. i could do nothing but smile. truly, this made my decade. i can’t wait to dive in and make something from these. i may have to cast on for a hat tonight just because.

EZ gifts

that top sheet is an order from from 1987 in case you’re wondering. there are both ‘wool gathering’ newsletters and ‘spun out’ newsletters. it is not a complete collection, but it is way more than i had before and there are a lot of patterns here that i’ve yearned for. i’m so excited to just read through them and listen to elizabeth’s voice…

EZ gifts

i feel like this is a legacy – like there’s a line being drawn when i inherit knitting stuffs from others. flo, my benefactress owned a feminist bookstore in the 1970s and is a big fan of both EZ and barbara walker. she is also a hardcore wool woman as am i, so, even without blood, i’m claiming this as my heritage.

wool gathering

she also passed on to me a bag of yarn that very well may be my first sweater for myself. it may just have to be a zimmermann one, too. that would more than solidify the legacy. we’ll see about gauge and yardage and if this is the right yarn for the right sweater.

bohus

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i made it… mine!

February 6, 2008

Pick up a present for your sweetie at:

I Made It! Mine -

valentines show

Saturday, February 9
The Union Project
801 N. Negley Ave
12 – 5 pm

50 + local artists selling few-of-a-kind gifts for you, your mommy or someone special!
cafe, coffee, demonstrations and fun!

i’ll be there! maybe i’ll see you :)

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sighted

February 5, 2008

old shale smoke ring

j piglet, a fairly new blogger, has made my geometric helmet hat! i bullied her into a photo on her head and she complied. thanks! this hat is interesting because all of the versions are very different from each other. ravelry link. many people seem to just use it for the cast on number. i don’t mind (indeed, that’s what knitting is all about), but it makes me excited when i see one that’s closer to the pattern.

strings and sealing wax did a very nice version of the scrap happy celebration hat… and it’s for charity. warning: this site contains many unbelievably cute little hats/socks combinations :)

tink2-tink3 has a fabulous old shale smoke ring with great modifications. if you are thinking about making this, you may want to check it out.

and here’s a great train tam with buttons. you know how i like buttons… (ravelry link)

speaking of my free patterns – if you are on ravelry, you can now download pdfs of all of my patterns… you can even download them right into your own ravelry library! when ravelry opens to the public, i will be linking my buttons to the pdf downloads over there. ravelry really is an amazing amazing resource. revolution, i’m telling you, revolution.

have a good day!

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