I’ve finally finished the pattern for my Knotty Totes! It is available on my etsy store
I knit three of them, using different colors of Geneva, Euroflax linen, and 100% cotton fabric. They worked up really fast.
I keep one in may car and whenever I run into a store for an item or two, I have my non-plastic, non -paper tote.
Good for me, good for the earth!
Happy Knitting,
Shawn
My friend Ellen needed a new pair of mittens. . . really, I do too. . . but these fit her better than me.
I used my Garter Stitch Mitten pattern and knit these up in a few short hours.
The yarn is from Dream In Color in color Strange Harvest. I purchased the yarn a few weeks ago at Needleworks Unlimited in South Minneapolis. I might add it was a harrowing experience. . . not in the yarn store, that was heavenly, walking around looking at, feeling, and smelling yarn. . . but when I left.
I drive a big old van that has absolutely traction. Also, I’ve taken the seats out to give me room for hauling stuff, which makes the van weight lighter than normal. Can you tell where this is going? I got stuck. It was a warmer day. . . about 10 degress F. . . and there were “lovely” ruts on the parking side of the road. I could not move. I tried rocking back and forth and still I had no forward momentum. The tires spun and spun. They finally hit pavement, but that only meant the tires were buried in 6 inches of muck and ice. I was late for a lunch date and not sure what to do. Luckily, two painters came out of a near by restaurant, (I could tell they were painters by their clothes). Aha, strong men.
They were kind enough to give me a push, but they got a snowy, mushy, shower. Many many thanks to them for their good deed for the day!
Anyway, here is a picture of Ellen in her mitts. . . and an appropriate pose for these mitts!
I helped Mary celebrate a birthday with her family last weekend and we had such a wonderful time!
Here are some results.
I need some help deciding which one is better. . . or shall I keep them both?
I knit these socks using the feather and fan pattern with a 4 stitch cable in between. The fun part is that I moved the pattern around.
I was thinking of writing up a pattern for this and couldn’t decide how to place the patterns. . . so I made two socks slightly different.
Each sock has 3 feather lace patterns and 3 4-st cable patterns.
One sock has the feather lace going down the center of the front with cables at the sides. This puts two feather patterns in the back with the cable in the center of the back. On this sock I ran this center cable down the entire heel.
The other sock has the cable running down the center of the front with two feather patterns down the side. This puts two cable patterns on each side of a centered feather lace down the back of the sock. I ran these cables along the side down into the heel too.
The placement of the designs also gave the top of each sock a different scallop. . . I still can’t decide which I like better. I think I like the one with the feather lace down the center front and the cable running down the center back and down into the heel.
Let me know which one you like better!
Happy knitting,
Shawn
A friend of mine has done some amazing needlefelted designs on my felted hats. Just wanted to share them with you!
Of course I must remind you that I sell these hats on my etsy site!
Well, I was a busy girl knitting for this holiday season! One of the special items was a scarf for my mom.
She took a class last May at Shepherd’s Harvest and then gave me the tiny bits of yarn she dyed.
Tuesday before Christmas I decided to knit a scarf for her using those bits. . . yes, two days before Christmas. . . I steamed what I had done before leaving the house, finished the knitting after dinner, and gave it to her all in the same day.
I knit this on size 6 needles, 31 stitches. Three stitches on each side are worked in I-cord.
The scarf is reversible. I used a 5-stitch wide 2-stitch traveling cable. So one side has 3 cable panels and the other side has two. I really like the way it turned out and Mom loved it, which is after all the most important part!
I”ll try to post more pics soon!
Shawn
I haven’t been able to hand knit or crochet for almost a month.
I am about to lose my mind.
It’s amazing how clean my house has become since knitting hasn’t been distracting me.
I was part of Ravelympics on Ravelry and thought I could finish a freeform knit/crochet sweater in 2 weeks. Silly me! The sweater isn’t finished.
I fell in love with these little bobbles and crocheted circles. . . then spent 4 hours crocheting. My first mistake! I have knit for 4 hours with no physical repercussions other than a bit of a stiff neck (and numb bum). But my poor little thumbs and fingers aren’t used to such small crochet movements. After this round of crochet I woke up unable to stretch out my left thumb or turn my wrist.
Okay, fine I thought. I can still knit. Ignoring the twinging, I to knit for about 1 hour. Not a good idea.
I pulled out the ice and ace bandage and ibuprophen. I was very good for two days; no hand work.
Then I went to an outdoor music festival and played fiddle for 2 days in the cool weather. Also not a good idea! More ice, bandaging and drugs!
Finally, today, my thumb and wrist don’t hurt. . . but I’ve got a good idea! I’m still going to hold off on the hand work for another day. (even though things don’t hurt today, they are still a bit stiff).
Maybe I’ve finally learned to listen to my body! (after 49 years, its about time!)
What does one do with a sweater that you just don’t have enough yarn for!?!?
About 10 years ago someone gave me a half knit sweater. . . which I frogged and then reknit into a raglan cardigan. . . however, I was about 2 inches short of one sleeve top. Oh what to do?? I just loved the look of the natural colored bulky wool and the way it fit together and couldn’t bring myself to add different color rib or stripes or any of that fun stuff that would have “stretched” my yarn. So, the easy solution was to put it in the closet.
This sweater followed me as I moved 3 times, entered and left significant relationships, and became a better knitter. . . then. . . I found it again.
I also realized I had some great one ply bulky that matched the weight of the sweater. Great colors and fast to knit wool from South Dakota Natural Color Wool. I turned the sweater into a blanket. . .
Here are photos of the result
You can also see on the left hand side, which sleeve came up short of yarn.
If you would like to see this blanket in person come and see me at The Creative Drive Art Show. I will be at John Onkka’s place.
Happy Spring!!
Shawn
I just arrived home from a great road trip to Port Wing, Wisconsin. I went “up north” to visit friends and participate in the 2nd annual “Sashay ’round the donut”. A fun evening of music and dance held in the town hall. And I might add, more fresh home made donuts than one could possibly eat!
I spent the evening playing fiddle for the square and contra dancers. . . and also put my needlefelting hats and roving out for those who wanted to have some fiber fun. A few people decorated hats (as seen below) and others needle felted designs on their own clothes. One 4 year old girl was sporting some very cute wool pants! Her Mom had felted two sleeves from a sweater and sewn them together to make the pants. Now Mom has needlefelted some fun color into those cool pants! Unfortunately I didn’t get a photo of the sleeve-felted-into-pants-and- decorated item.
Here are some snapshots the creative needlefelting that went on!
A few weeks ago, I was at St. Catherine’s College selling felt hats and needlefelting supplies. Sales are always best when demonstrations catch the eyes of those passing by. This 15×15 inch design is the result of my demonstrations. Don’t yet know what it will become. . .I could frame it. . . I could make a pillow out of it. . . any other ideas?
This 15 x 15 ” square is left over from a needlefelting party I facilitated in January. A group of co-workers wanted to spread some warmth, love and color into a sick friend’s life. They each needle felted a square with a design reflecting a connection between them and their friend/co-worker. Here are the results. I think it is lovely!
I supply the felted squares (made by me) and all the roving and tools for decorating. Even those who don’t think of themselves as “crafty” successfully created colorful, meaningful squares. Blanket stitching the squares together was a community project as well; lots of love and well wishes were sewn into this warm blanket. I hope that I have the opportunity to lead more parties like this one. It was a great deal of fun and quite touching at times.