New Year....new enthusiasm?

I hate to think of myself as being unwilling to change. I've certainly adapted to changes to changes I never would have chosen, but when it comes to social media, I can still be in control, so here I am. I'm not an Instagram gal and that is unlikely to change. 

I have two Facebook accounts, but not for nefarious reasons. If I want to share a creation with other makers and not spoil the surprise for someone who might be the recipient of the sweater or card, that is the place where I will post. Also, when the world on FB gets ugly as it sometimes does, I can avoid it all by logging into my second account where only craft groups exist. 

Writing this is mostly talking to myself but I'm going to attempt to share photos of projects here in case someone needs inspiration for a project. 

I'm going to start 2022 with this which I made on New Year's Eve. I regret that I don't know where I saw this, but the woman who shared her photo said the idea was not originally hers, she saw it on Ravelry. Click here for the link to Knitted Lights by Leila Raven  I ordered the 66-foot spool of fairy lights from Amazon and had them the following day. The needles are size 11 needles that I seldom use (plus I have another style of size 11 needles), and the black board is a message board that I wasn't using. The needles are held in place with two small, clear Command (brand) hooks. 

Not the best photo, but you get an idea of size:

This is simply a stockinette stitch but obviously, rather loose. 

Here it is, unlit. The lights plug into a USB port or an electrical outlet. There is a remote to turn them on and off, and they can fade and resume brightness or flash, neither of which will be used often, if at all.

 

The lights cost $16.99 as of December 2021. It was fun to do and while not difficult, it took longer than knitting with yarn. Still, I finished this in an evening and I think it is a fun accent when lit.

Butterfly Card and (unrelated) a Baby Sweater

I've been making things but summer has flown and I don't seem to post much. I keep trying to get into using Instagram but it isn't "my thing", probably because I do much more on the PC than on a mobile device. 

This became a sympathy card for a neighbor whose mother had died. The inspiration was Jennifer McGuire's "Lined-Up Window Card" and her tutorial is HERE.

The stamps (Beautiful Butterflies stamp and die, sentiment is from Natural Silhouettes) and cardstock are from Gina K, the coloring was done with Prismacolor pencils

This sweater will be going to my son's coworker. It is a 12-month size pullover, pattern name is Cable Rings 5336 by Hayfield. This was knit with Snuggly DK weight yarn by Sirdar. The color isn't splotchy, it was drying when I photographed this. 

Pandas, scarves, gremlins, and cold

First, a Panda themed card for a friend I've known since kindergarten. The stamp set used is Party Like a Panda from Simon Says Stamp. The card design is from Dawn's Stamping Thoughts and is called an Angle Pop Up Wow card. The link should take you to that entry in her blog. I used Copic markers to color the images.

My current knitting is a mindless project but a slow growing one. The pattern is called Zick Zack and is a free pattern on Ravelry. The yarn is sock weight, the needles are US size 2. It is all garter stitch, therefore, easy. This will be perfect with my winter jacket, even if it isn't ready until fall of this year. I'm not that slow a knitter, this is my "between-other-projects" project.  

The first time I used this was after a winning a gift certificate at a yarn store and purchasing a set of smaller balls of hand dyed, variegated yarn and making this scarf that I thought might be okay. That was goal, just "okay". This has become my favorite scarf and gets the most comments when worn. 

Gremlins....we have to blame someone or something for the unexplainable, right? In a roughly two week time period, I've had a bogus charge on one credit card (resolved, thankfully), incorrect items delivered for the first time in a long history of ordering from one company (in the process of getting the correct one and returning the mistake), a break down in accessing my email on my computer (but all is fine on mobile devices), and the handsets on my house phones have been resetting their clocks at random. As I talk to others, many seem to be having unusual inconveniences. Residual 2020 crapola? 

And lastly, it is cold outside. In Michigan, in January. Who would have guessed, right? Better days are coming. Until then, I will continue to make things to keep me sane. 

Little Boy Blue sweater

 This sweater is going to a handsome little guy that is 6 months old already. He is a big boy so I made a size 2-3 (pattern designation on that sizing). It may be right for him by fall according to the photos I see on Facebook. 

Because the garter stitch hem wants to flip up on the bottom of the sweater, I may switch to traditional ribbing on the hems, and neckline also. I think I could eliminate that button placket with a ribbed neckline. 

Using up yarn

I don't have a problem donating yarn but when I found a hat pattern that uses two strands of sock weight yarn, I decided to see how quickly it would work up and whether or not I liked it. It was a few night's of knitting while watching TV and the hat feels great. My younger son claimed this and another one in black and beige. 

This one is a slightly different rib with a few cables thrown in. I think the color more than the cables make it seem more feminine. I'll either find someone who can use it or will start a donation of knitted hats. This style doesn't look good on me.

Sweater styled like a Baseball Jacket

There is a sweet little boy on my street whose mom I've know since she was in high school with my sons.  That high school's athletic field is on the opposite side of our street. When a sporting event is taking place, most of the neighbors gather to watch the event, often with lawn chairs and coolers in tow. When I saw this knitting pattern, I thought it would be perfect for Zachary when he joins us in the fall to watch football and soccer.

The pattern is a free download from Ravelry. It was written by Debbie Bliss and is aptly named Baseball Jacket. This is the image most often associated with that pattern. 

I used Berroco Comfort DK, a sport weight yarn in my sweater. I chose this for its washability. I used our school colors and am pleased with the result. The pattern called for snaps as a closure which didn't seem like a good idea to me, at least not directly on the body of the sweater. If I had planned ahead, I would have made a button band with traditional buttonholes. 

The finished length of this sweater wasn't the right side for a separating zipper so I added grosgrain ribbon to the inside front openings for stability before sewing on regular snaps. The black buttons were then added to give a finished look to the front. 

I added the ribbon by hand, turning the cut ends under and stitching across each of those ends and down the open edge of the sweater. The other long edge of the ribbon is not sewn in place. You can see that on the left side of the photo below. My thought was that this might become visible on the outside if sewn. If it becomes a problem after washing, I will offer to tack it into place. 

I can't wait to see the happy little guy in this. Other than my opinion on the closure, this pattern was easy to follow and one I would make again.

The Finally Scarf

This is the Finally Scarf because I Finally found a stitch pattern that I liked and I Finally found a use for the yarn. The yarn isn't at fault, it is Plymouth Encore Tweed, a yarn that I like. I was originally going to make a sweater for myself but didn't like the way it was working up. I tried a boxy cardigan but ripped that out. I was going to look like blue moving van if I wore it.

This scarf is 7 feet long without stretching. My son is happy with it so I am happy. I like a scarf to look on either side so the stitch pattern was important to me. This has ribbing on both long sides and in the middle with panels of Irish Moss stitch in between.

I still have yarn left so a hat is likely to be made and maybe even a thinner, shorter scarf for me. Other projects have priority now and I don't want to tempt Mother Nature to deliver more cold weather by making winter accessories right now.

Alivia Shawl

I like knitting shawls. They are nice accents to an outfit, especially for people like me who are cold before anyone else around them. I am pretty sure I was supposed to be born on a tropical island but was birthed on a peninsula instead. Michigan is a pretty big peninsula and I'm not complaining. If my parents had lived in the U.P. (Upper Peninsula), I'd either have thicker skin or would complain a lot more!

The pattern name is Alivia, designed by Vanessa Smith. It is available here on Ravelry . I used two balls of Berroco Folio yarn, knitting until I ran out of yarn. By that I mean, I knit beyond the suggested number of pattern repeats. The yarn is 65% superfine alpaca, 35% rayon. It feels heavenly. I blocked this without pinning it except for the point that I didn't want to curl. The next time I block it, I may stretch and pin it to see what the dimensions could be. As is, they are a bit more than 5 feet wide and just short of 3 feet in depth at the point. 

 I could use more blocking tiles. Hmmm, guess that should go on my Christmas suggestion list.

Extreme close up of the border pattern. The entire center of the shawl is garter stitch. The border is a 12 row repeat. Even rows of the 29 stitch borders are purled except for the two edge stitches.

I haven't mastered selfies on timers. Obviously. 

This was really a nice shawl to make and I know I will wear it often.  

For those of you who have met Bonita, she likes it too. She looks remarkably like me. Except for the lack of gray hair. And she doesn't wear glasses to read. Or to see anything. And she is a bit thinner.

Knitted poncho for a sweet girl....or a teddy bear

My granddaughter is turning 3 soon, and in most clothing, she is wearing a size 4. She is very independent and currently likes jackets with hoods. Making this poncho seemed like it would appeal to her independence (no help required with zippers or buttons) and I was familiar with the basic directions as my sister-in-law has made several of these in infant sizes. Here is the link to the infant size pattern, available for purchase from Fiber Trends or through Ravelry. The designer of both the infant and Valerie poncho (sizes 4/6, 8/10, 12/14) is Bev Galeskas. The Valerie Poncho link is here . I made the size 4/6. This is the poncho view shown on the pattern.

My granddaughter is all about pink and purple, sparkles and princesses, and all other girly girl stuff at the moment. I finished this poncho a few days ago and gave it to her yesterday. I'm not ashamed to admit that I wanted credit for this, not the Easter Bunny who arrived this morning at both her house where dyed hard-boiled eggs are found and here where the bunny leaves plastic eggs filled with candy, coins or small toys for her and her brother. The Easter baskets here have mostly clothing with at least one fun thing to play with. 

The little diva did not want to try it on yesterday but she did like seeing pictures of a stuffed bear modeling it at my house. 

The only changes that I made to the pattern was skipping the knitted design in the stripes on either side of the front and back panels. I wanted to use pink along with the purple both there and in the border. Both of those areas and the hood are done in garter stitch. The pattern in the center panel and on each side is an easy repeat to follow. 

A cooperative model who didn't need bribes (which didn't work on the wee human).

Side view, showing the hood.

The hood drapes nicely when taken down and the pattern also has directions 

without a hood if you want to omit it. 

I used Plymouth Encore yarn because it is machine washable and dryable. The colors are Pastel Pink (0029), Purple Amethyst (0158) and the white is from the Plymouth Starz line, White (G208).

Whale, look at this, Knitting and Card making!

A wonderful young woman is expecting her first child in March. Today was her baby shower. Her nursery colors are white, turquoise and gray with whales as the theme. I wanted to knit a baby blanket with whales, but I didn't want to do color work with strands of yarn floating across the back that might catch little fingers and toes.

I searched Ravelry for whale images and found this site, Down Cloverlaine  The link takes you directly to the whale that I used, but check her sidebar for all the wonderful designs she shares at no cost.

I used Encore yarn by Plymouth because it is easy to launder. My finished project was 42" long by 33" wide. I used  just over one skein of gray (garter stitch),  a little less than one skein of the dark turquoise (pattern adapted from chart), and just under three full skeins of white. The first photo shows the full blanket on top of a beige coverlet. I had steamed it and let it dry overnight.

 The colors are more accurate in the photo below

 Close-ups of the whales

The card that accompanied the afghan has a gray mat, water cut freehand with marker added to the back wave,  a white background embossed by using Stampin' Up's Decorative Dots, and a whale stamped from Stamps of Life's Whale2Stamp.

Grenache Shawl

This shawl is named Grenache. It can be found in Berroco Summer Silk book #384. The designer is Alison Green. The pattern called for 5 balls of Berroco Summer Silk yarn. I had to order a sixth in order to finish, and my gauge was correct.

For a month now, I have planned to have another either wear the shawl so I could photograph it or take pictures for me. That has happened so here are selfies.  You'll have to trust me that the shawl looks better in person and with something besides a T-shirt on under it, even if the shirt's graphic is about knitting.

The yarn is a 45% silk, 43% cotton, and 12% nylon. Each ball is 50 grams, 240 yards. It feels heavenly. I will definitely use this yarn again.

I have made many smaller shawl (shawlettes?) that are colorful accents and may keep a bit of chill off if you're looking for function, but this shawl's size is wonderful is you are interested in a truly functional piece. 

The finished piece could almost have been worn without blocking. I pinned it to foam blocks and lightly steamed it overnight. 

The shawl begins with a garter stitch triangle that is most clearly seen in the first photo. This rolls over when you wear it as shown above or can just become part of the draped fabric if you wear it as shown in one view of the printed pattern.

Seawall Scarf

I recently finished this scarf and I am very happy with how it turned out. The name of the pattern is Seawall. If you have a Ravelry account (a free website if you are not already registered), the pattern can be found here. The pattern designer is Louise Zass-Bangham.

More photos are available at the Ravelry site. These are mine:

This was an easy scarf to knit. It calls for one main color and 5 additional accent colors. The scarf begins with that long column of colored rectangles. When it reached 5 feet, I bound off and picked up stitches along one long side. Yes, it was a lot of stitches but the pattern tells you how many to pick up in each color block and how many at beginning and end. You knit a few rows in the main color, charcoal in my scarf, the place those stitches on a cable holder.

You pick up the same number of stitches on the opposite side and knit to your desired width. Directions explain how to create a turning row and why you will knit a few more rows in your main color before beginning the stripe sequence for what I think of as the back side of the scarf. I love those skinny stripes and will probably make a scarf completely out of those stripes. The "back side" is no less lovely than the front of the scarf and what a stash buster this would be! 

Once the back side is the same width as the front, you are ready for a 3-needle bind off. You pick up stitches on the short ends of the scarf, knit a few rows and do a 3-needle bind off on both ends. The scarf is a long tube that is closed on three sides by this bind off method, requiring no hand sewing to finish. 

The yarns I used were a combination of Swans Island washable merino wool and Rowan Super Fine Merino.