For the First Time, Introducing... My Hand Spun

It is a bit on the rustic side. But I don't mind. I'm learning so it's okay. Which, by the way, what I'm trying to learn is the long draw. It's starting to come together. Which, by the way, means the yarn I'm trying to learn to spin is not falling apart as I spin. This is probably why my yarn is a bit on the rustic side. Not trying to make excuses. But, well, it's kinda hard. I love doing it. What's wrong with me? Not really sure. Kinda hard to explain.

                   Ignore the date found at lower right hand corner.

This is a wonderful pattern created by Yolanda Teague. You can find it on Ravelry and is called the Cloud Bolero. I was lucky. Got the pattern back in 2010 when it was still free at Yarn Forward Mag.

Okay, wrong. Cloud Bolero is no longer available but a new version is. There is a link from the Cloud page to the new pattern. She also has some notes on the differences between them at her blog. That link also on Cloud page. Yolanda Teague on Ravelry

And so the above was made with one of my hand spun yarns. It was dyed with orange osage wood chips in an iron pot over an outside fire. Another story for another day. I did not care for the color so I over dyed with tobacco. The roll your own type. For real.

                     Here is the tobacco simmering. Horrible smelling stuff.

                                                 And here is the dye.

      This is how it came out. Added a bit of rustiness to the color which I liked better.

And here is a sweet little something for a sweet little person. This was spun up from wool shorn from a local Jacob sheep. The cocoon was so very soft. Baby's need soft. The mommy was very pleased.

And so this is what my PVC/bike spinning wheel has helped me to create. There was more but has been knitted or crocheted into something and given away.

A quick note on the two pattern links I put up on how to make a PVC spinning wheel. It seems one of the links is dead. That would be the free pattern. I will say the other pattern is worth every penny of the $7.00 price. And it will help out a fellow crafty person. Hey, run don't walk and get you one.

                 There were some needed changes. Will post on that soon.

Have a good day.

Happy New Year. It Better Be...

Blogger is having image upload issues.

So can't share any pics of knits or hand spun. But. Our family went to see "The Hobbit" on Christmas day. The movie was changed up from Tolkien's version and that is annoying. Though I felt much better when low and behold what do I see? The Dwarf hoards sitting there looking at me. With all sorts of big chunky knits! Even the hair was crafted into knit stitch like designs! I Love This.

I already have all the Fellowship movies but these woolie clothed dwarfs are a real incentive to get The Hobbit. Even when departing from the original adventure, which I dare say is the correct manner for my beloved Hobbit story, I will get these movies and try my hand at recreating those lovelies. Seriously? I'm already impatient for movie #2. Blather on that I may.

One of the tunics stands out in my mind. It had a lovely cable that looked a lot like my all time favorite stitch. The honeycomb. And also those fingerless mitts. That must have been the moss stitch. All looked to be knitted up in the most rustic-ish, itchiest, beautiful wool god or man ever has created. I want some.

Anyone think there will be patterns? Maybe yarn! Oh gosh. Sorry. But, blast it all, I am a great lover of everything ever written by Tolkien. You must understand when I first came to West Virginia (from Long Island at 16 yrs of age) I was gonna live like Bilbo Baggins. I have read these books many times over. And now someone(s) has crafted "The Knits". Yes. All is right in the world.

The Hobbit

Oin  lovely plaited gloves and hair in grey. +D
Nori  mega braids!
Bombur  yup these are the moss stitch mitts mentioned above and love that big fat braid.
dwarves are a-singing Fili, Dori, Ori and Nori

Really the effect is never the same as on the Silver Screen. Which must be the shock factor. I was struck (not) dumb too see so much knitting. Keep it up Peter Jackson.

Been Hanging Out at Ravelry

Been having all kinds'a fun. Guess that's why I've not been posting. I'm sure some of you's understand. Been there yet?

One of the forums I like visiting is the testing pool. Which is a place where a person can pick up a pattern to test for a budding designer or two. It helps to broaden the brain. The talent that's running loose there, it astounds me.

I want some of this talent. I want it. I might be thinking, beneath what lies above, hiding under the upper realm, the actual sneaking side of the mind, that some of this smart shit will rub off one me. Am I deluding myself? I might be, but, why not see. That's my way of thinking. Then again my way of thinking isn't all that talented. Hmmm, a conundrum of sorts.

I do have a my first free Ravelry pattern for your enjoyment. It's the same free knit scarf posted elsewhere on this blog. If you do download and decide to knit one up, tell me what you think. I hope you find it fun to make.

Another faved Ravelry group is the West Virginia Fiber Artists. Especially the Stitch & Bitch forum. A very funny bunch of ladies. Now go join Ravelry.com. You have already? Yip, swat's I'm talkin 'bout, right there.

A Free Quasi Pattern in Crochet

Little Chemo Cap  

This beanie was made for a young lady, the age of 5, attending our local Head Start Program. She has been taking chemo therapy and her hair is falling out. If you can believe that such a thing could happen! A child for gosh sakes. One afternoon the Early HS teachers asked if I could make something in pink for this child. I had it ready the next morning. It's the same stitch I used for the cozy I posted the other day. Please feel free to use this pattern for a cause that is close to your heart.

A worsted weight yarn and matching crochet hook. I had some pink and white ww acrylic laying dormat and was glad to be able to make good use of it. (you may have thought the same; stash buster!)

I made a chain to go around my grandson's head with a little bit of ease making the count an even number. Mine was 60 sts and about 18 " around. (I love to bottom up a crochet beanie).

Begin: To join this chain without twisting, fold chain in half with bumps out and take the hook out of the last loop. You then pull that last loop through the first bump with the hook. Your yarn should be behind the work toward your right (or left if a southpaw!) with the loop coming forward through the bump. Chain 2 and immediately turn. You'll work back the way you just came, instead of going on forward. For some reason continuing onwards causes a twist.

The Stitch: After the ch 2 make an *extended sc (ex-sc), ch1, extended sc (ex-sc) all in the next bump, then skip next bump* and repeat this * to * around the chain. You can see an explanation of the stitch ex-sc and the one I thought up from it (ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc) in one of the posts below. I then slip stitch around the beginning chain 2.

Continue: Ch 2. In each ch-1 space around work an ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc; sl st around beginning ch-2. Repeat this round until tall enough to begin decreasing. I make these beanies up, on the fly, and so forgot how many inches but I think it's 4 or 4 1/2" in height. To figure for your decreases, take a count of how many stitch motifs you have and decide on your divisibles. My beanie had 30 motifs and 5 x6 =30. I broke my decreases into 5 sections. 

Begin decrease: Ch 2. *(In next ch-1 space work ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc) 5 times; in next ch-1 space work 1 ex-sc only*; repeat * to * around; sl st into space before last ex-sc, sl st around beginning ch-2.

(25 motifs; 5 single ex-sc's)

Next Round: Ch 2. Work ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc in each ch-1 space around, skipping over the single ex-sc's all together; sl st around beg ch-2. (25 motifs)

Next Round: Ch 2. *(In next ch-1 space work ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc) 4 times; in next ch-1 space work 1 ex-sc only*; repeat * to * around; sl st into space before last ex-sc, sl st around beg ch-2. (20 motifs; 5 single ex-sc's)

Next Round: Ch2. Work ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc in each ch-1 space around, skipping over the single ex-sc all together; sl st aournd ch-2. (20 motifs) 

Next Round: Ch2. *(In next ch-1 space work ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc) 3 times; in next ch-1 space work 1 ex-sc only*; repeat * to * around; sl st into space before last ex-sc, sl st around beg ch-2. (15 motifs; 5 single ex-sc's)

Next Round: Ch2. *In next ch-1 space work ex-sc, ch1, ex-sc; yo, pull up a loop from next ch-1 space, yo, pull up a lp from next space before the ex-sc (3 loops on hook), yo and draw through 2 loops, yo, draw thru last 2 lps, ch1*, repeat from * to * around. (5 motifs; 5 dec and ch1's)

Next Round: Ch2. Work an ex-sc in each ch-1 space and at each dec around, sl st around ch-2. (10 ex-sc) 

Next Round: Ch 2. *Pull up a loop from next 2 ex-sc's, yo, pull through 2 lps on hook, yo pull thru last 2 loops, 1 lp on hook*; repeat this from * to * around, sl st around ch-2. (5 decrease sts)

If the hole on top of beanie is not small enough for ya work a sl st in each st around and that should do it. Fasten off and weave in ends.

Please let me know if this was understandable! Drop by with a picture of what you made and have a good day.

broken rib stitch, sorta

Is anyone like me? I really hate doing k1, p1 rib. It's just that, for me, this comes out looser than I like. It's the purl after the knit st. Almost forms a freakin' ladder. Frustrating. And so k1, p1 broken rib is always really annoying but I love how this stitch looks. On paper. The mind began wishing, thinking, then yarn and needles are pulled out. What I came up with is a couple interesting stitch patterns. One I call Garter Rib Stitch and one is Deep Rib Stitch. These come easy when I get the inspiration to do 'em but I always forget to write the thoughts down. Ugg.

Garter Rib: an even multiple of 4 plus 1. I think. This is wrong. Will correct soon.

The swatch: Cast on 25 sts. K2, p2 to last st, k1. Repeat this row.
The thing is the multi should bring you to a p2 before that last st which should always be k1.
When you turn to begin each row the k2, p2 rib makes a pretty garter pattern with a single row of k stitches running the length of the fabric. A soft rib sort of thing. Some of those delish springy wools look nice in this stitch pattern. I think I've seen this as Loose Rib in some pattern books. After busting my butt thankin' it up.

Deep Rib: an even multi of 3 plus 1.

Swatch: I forgot what I did! BRB. Okay, I think this is it. Try casting on 31 sts.
K3, p3 to last st, k1. Turn and repeat.

This is done basically the same as above always having the last st a k1 after the purls. This pattern is hard to describe. 1 garter st, 2 knit, 1 garter, 2 purl sts. That is how it seems to come out. It pulls in and pulls out. A lot. Weird. Not even sure what a pattern like this could be used for. Maybe a scarf? A yucky thick-ish tank top? Like I said. Weird. Very. I'm pretty sure I Have Never Seen this 'un anywheres. If someone should stop in, give this strange bird a run and see what you come up with. And as I wrote, the brain mentioned a scarf in colorful stripes might be interesting in these sts. Shall try it.

Enjoy your day, folks.

Update: Monday, April 26. I made a mistake on the whether these stitches should be an odd or even multiple. I said odd but it is most definitely even. (I switched this in the post above) The odd multiples will not work. Also the Garter Rib is not correct. I need my notes to fix the error but they, the notes, are in the same room as the sleeping Husband and I do not wish to disturb. Promise to finish the update soon.
                                             

I really have a bad habit of winging right through things and scribbling illegible notes as I go. But, I actually got some patterns written up in these stitchs and they are for sale at my LYS which pleases me to no end. Just wish someone would buy! Though, I know times are hard. Her web site is http://www.yarnandmore.com/ and its a small shop across the state line into Kentucky. That is all we have local 'round these parts. The other local yarn shop closed down, how could she be so cruel? Yes, yes, you speak true, times are hard. May the times become like soft, fluffy fiber. Lux.