Boys and girls crazy about knitting, pay attention!
Ignore the fact that we're in June and I haven't been writing here since January...
The website Tricoteiras is following the 4th National Knitting Event Rio 2011! The event is private, and since the subscriptions are already finished, there's no use in catching a plane and fly there.
But don't despair! The workshops are going live on the web! There still are many for us to watch and, therefore take part on this happening!
For what I have been reading on the internet, the event has been very well organized, the workshops have really high quality and the give-aways... ah, the give-aways... :-D
Don't waste any more time, visit the website and keep up with everything that happens till Sunday!
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Showing posts with label knitting. Show all posts
Friday, June 24, 2011
Wednesday, February 16, 2011
You learn knitting at school – a come back!
I’ve read an article (via the Knitty Blog) from the Daily Mail, about the return of knitting to the classroom. I found it very interesting that the teachers observed many improvements in the students, especially the fact that knitting made the children talked to each other instead of playing on their phones. I honestly don’t understand why children have phones, but anyway, I still don’t have a child to analyse that need. Anywhoose, I’m really glad to know that knitting, being such an ancient art, brings back other old habits along – including the one of having good talks. J (those who attend knitting groups meet-ups completely understand that one pleasure leads to the other!)
The headmistress of the school says that knitting – also used in math and history classes – is part of a return to traditional values. I always thought that this modern world was going out of track for giving up certain things: courtesy among people, simple habits like eating at home and having family activities. Knitting (and also embroidery, sewing and all crafts that pass from generation to generation) can bring back much more than good talk among children. It can teach lots of people to turn off the TV, calm down their minds, create things with their own hands – in short, be happy!
Tuesday, December 7, 2010
Drift Scarf: how to make it
As promised, today I show you how to make the Drift Scarf point. I have to say it's really easy, and if you can get thick yarn, like in Betz White original project, it's really quick to make.
I found the pictures I took right at the beginning, which will make my life easier! ;-)
The pattern is quite simple: cast on the number of stitches enough to make a rib stitch 6x6, in a way you start with purl and end with knit. In my case, it's 8 times 6, adding up to 48 stitches. After that, knit 10 rows in rib stitch 6x6 - 6 purl stitches, 6 knit stitches. On the back, follow the stitches (knit over knit, purl over purl).
On the 11th row starts the scarf motif: in the beginning of your left needle you'll have six purl stitches. Count 6 rows on the back:
Look at another angle:
Now, on this 6th row, grab a few stitches (to keep the pattern uniform, I always grab the first, third and fourth stitches on the back):
I find it more practical to use a double pointed needle, which I already had because of the set of 5 I used for the socks. It's small and fits the pocket in my Tricoteiras tote, but you can use any other needle - just try to use one with a lower number than the one you're using to knit the scarf, so it doesn't make the stitches stand out. After grabbing the stitches, knit as usual, but also grab the stitches on the smaller needle when you knit the first 3 stitches:
The remaining 3 stitches are purled as usual, as well as the 6 following stitches are knit. Do the same and grab stitches 6 rows below every time you have to knit stitches on this row.
After you finish this row, make another 10 rows like in the beginning and keep going, making the pattern I described until the scarf is long enough for you.
A great advantage of this pattern is that the scarf doesn't have a wrong side - which makes it very charming!
Like I said, the original pattern uses yarn and needles much thicker, but hard to find in a tropical country like Brazil - so I'm using Sedificada, which is a very smooth and relatively thick yarn.
If you decide to make a Drift Scarf too, don't forget to tell me! ;-)
I found the pictures I took right at the beginning, which will make my life easier! ;-)
The pattern is quite simple: cast on the number of stitches enough to make a rib stitch 6x6, in a way you start with purl and end with knit. In my case, it's 8 times 6, adding up to 48 stitches. After that, knit 10 rows in rib stitch 6x6 - 6 purl stitches, 6 knit stitches. On the back, follow the stitches (knit over knit, purl over purl).
On the 11th row starts the scarf motif: in the beginning of your left needle you'll have six purl stitches. Count 6 rows on the back:
Look at another angle:
Now, on this 6th row, grab a few stitches (to keep the pattern uniform, I always grab the first, third and fourth stitches on the back):
I find it more practical to use a double pointed needle, which I already had because of the set of 5 I used for the socks. It's small and fits the pocket in my Tricoteiras tote, but you can use any other needle - just try to use one with a lower number than the one you're using to knit the scarf, so it doesn't make the stitches stand out. After grabbing the stitches, knit as usual, but also grab the stitches on the smaller needle when you knit the first 3 stitches:
The remaining 3 stitches are purled as usual, as well as the 6 following stitches are knit. Do the same and grab stitches 6 rows below every time you have to knit stitches on this row.
After you finish this row, make another 10 rows like in the beginning and keep going, making the pattern I described until the scarf is long enough for you.
A great advantage of this pattern is that the scarf doesn't have a wrong side - which makes it very charming!
 |  |
| Right side | Wrong side |
Like I said, the original pattern uses yarn and needles much thicker, but hard to find in a tropical country like Brazil - so I'm using Sedificada, which is a very smooth and relatively thick yarn.
If you decide to make a Drift Scarf too, don't forget to tell me! ;-)
Thursday, December 2, 2010
WIP: Drift Scarf
Today I'll show you what my Drift Scarf is looking like. Check out how it was in October 6 (almost two months ago)
And now, after some work, it looks like this:
I'm on the second skein now, and I'll probably need to finish it so the size will be right. Maybe I even start a third skein! The scarf now has 70 cm (~105 inches). It will be really warm! :)
And now, after some work, it looks like this:
I'm on the second skein now, and I'll probably need to finish it so the size will be right. Maybe I even start a third skein! The scarf now has 70 cm (~105 inches). It will be really warm! :)
Thursday, October 7, 2010
Bariloche
I completely forget to show you some pretty things I saw during my vacation!
In August, I spent a week in Bariloche, Argentina. The place is wonderful, with lots to see and get to know, and for the first time I've seen snow! Here in Brazil snow is very rare, and only down the south, far from where I live. In Bariloche I finally could play with snow, admire while it fell down and the next day, when the world was white - and even the mess it leaves behind when it melts! I'd love to live somewhere where it snows...
But what I wanted to show you is the yarn I found there: the region has lots of merino sheep, and because of that there are lots of hand spun and dyed yarn. The price is the problem... to make a pullover, for example, I'd have to buy many skeins. Not to mention the luggage space to bring them home. So I just brought pictures! But look how gorgeous:
This was the corner of a real tourist shop - souvenirs, t-shirts - that had this treasure hidden in the back. Aren't the colors beautiful?
I found a skein of Bariloche among them - this yarn is also sold over here, by Aslan, and the girls from the knitting group have used it a lot this winter.
This is a close up of the first picture: many and many skeins hand spun! Each with 1450 grams, at 350 pesos (around 88 dollars). Remember what I said about the price? But I value the work of the artisans, and I think it's a fair price. It just doesn't fit my travel budget! :)
The natural colors are very pretty, and I noticed they use leaves, tree and onion peels to dye the yarn.
I was lucky (maybe my husband disagrees...) and there was a craft fair while we were at Bariloche. Most products for sale were finished, and few artisans were selling yarn. But of course I found some (you just need to know where to look, right?) and I bought a skein for my dear friend L. and some kind of brooch for shawls. Maybe my friend gets them both, we still couldn't arrange to meet!
I just took a picture of the skeing to post here at the blog. And I found that from August 22, when I came back from the trip, until today, October 7, the brooch for shawls is lost somewhere. This says two things about me:
1. when I come back from trips, or visits to craft/patchwork fairs, or anything like that, I simply hide the things I brought from myself. No matter how much I think about blogging about them. Who knows why.
2. I urgently need to organize my craft stuff. Again. Which probably means they won't fit back where they are. Physics does not apply to craft supplies, that's a proven fact. If I try to organize my stuff, they simply don't fit back where they were!
Very well, I guess I already have another task for tomorrow... wish me luck!
In August, I spent a week in Bariloche, Argentina. The place is wonderful, with lots to see and get to know, and for the first time I've seen snow! Here in Brazil snow is very rare, and only down the south, far from where I live. In Bariloche I finally could play with snow, admire while it fell down and the next day, when the world was white - and even the mess it leaves behind when it melts! I'd love to live somewhere where it snows...
But what I wanted to show you is the yarn I found there: the region has lots of merino sheep, and because of that there are lots of hand spun and dyed yarn. The price is the problem... to make a pullover, for example, I'd have to buy many skeins. Not to mention the luggage space to bring them home. So I just brought pictures! But look how gorgeous:
This was the corner of a real tourist shop - souvenirs, t-shirts - that had this treasure hidden in the back. Aren't the colors beautiful?
I found a skein of Bariloche among them - this yarn is also sold over here, by Aslan, and the girls from the knitting group have used it a lot this winter.
This is a close up of the first picture: many and many skeins hand spun! Each with 1450 grams, at 350 pesos (around 88 dollars). Remember what I said about the price? But I value the work of the artisans, and I think it's a fair price. It just doesn't fit my travel budget! :)
The natural colors are very pretty, and I noticed they use leaves, tree and onion peels to dye the yarn.
I was lucky (maybe my husband disagrees...) and there was a craft fair while we were at Bariloche. Most products for sale were finished, and few artisans were selling yarn. But of course I found some (you just need to know where to look, right?) and I bought a skein for my dear friend L. and some kind of brooch for shawls. Maybe my friend gets them both, we still couldn't arrange to meet!
I just took a picture of the skeing to post here at the blog. And I found that from August 22, when I came back from the trip, until today, October 7, the brooch for shawls is lost somewhere. This says two things about me:
1. when I come back from trips, or visits to craft/patchwork fairs, or anything like that, I simply hide the things I brought from myself. No matter how much I think about blogging about them. Who knows why.
2. I urgently need to organize my craft stuff. Again. Which probably means they won't fit back where they are. Physics does not apply to craft supplies, that's a proven fact. If I try to organize my stuff, they simply don't fit back where they were!
Very well, I guess I already have another task for tomorrow... wish me luck!
Saturday, July 3, 2010
My adventure with The Simplest Socks in the World
Charmed as I was by knitting, I got very interested on a subject: socks. Reading the messages in the Crazy Knitting Ladies group, surfing the web and all, I decided I wanted to learn how they were made. I started by sending a message to the group, and the girls immediately encouraged me to started a pair at once, instead of keep trying to understand how they were made. And they pointed me the pattern for The Simplest Socks in the World, which is available at Tricoteiras.com and also at Ravelry.
Everything really got started when my friend L. lent me her set of double pointed needles and even gave me a ball of Bambino as a gift. With all that encouragement, there I went to start knitting. Right from the start, I found it easy to cast on and divide the points by four. But I didn't find it easy to unite the last stitch to the end, closing the circle. It took me a while until I managed it, knitting a stitch over the other, afraid that everything would fall apart. It doesn't, ok? You just need to keep knitting, the second row will hold everything together. Just hold tight the thread/yarn so it won't leave a space. (Yesterday I watched a video from Superziper, which teaches how to knit in circular needles. The trick it shows seems perfect to finish the first row of the socks!).
Something interesting is that right in the beginning I was confused and, when I got to the end of the first row, I started purling the wrong side, going back. It was when I found out that it was circular knitting, and in it you always work the right side - except for the heel, if you're knitting socks. You don't need to be a genius to find that out - but if I hadn't tried, I wouldn't have made that mistake and wouldn't have learned. Today is obvious day, isn't it? ;-)
Following the pattern, the sock starts by the cuff, with 10 rows in 1 knit, 1 purl. After that you enter auto mode, knitting several rows all in knit stitch, until you get to the heel. I've made 40 rows.
The heel is no problem in the first part - as the pattern says, "(...) work with 26 stitches leaving the other 26 on hold. Every two rows leave one stitch on each side on hold. Repeat 8 times". That's what I did, no problem. But when I started going back, I realized I left holes. I tried to close them in many ways, and each foot came out differently. The first one came out better, contradicting my idea that the more I make, the better results I get. But the next pair of socks will definitely be better.
I got little lumps where the rows joined back together. The first sock came out more uniform, but with bigger holes. Heels are not simple, definitely. But that doesn't stop me from knitting socks, no way!
And that's been my adventure. :) I finished it with great joy, having learned a lot about knitting and myself. And also as someone addicted to socks!
Everything really got started when my friend L. lent me her set of double pointed needles and even gave me a ball of Bambino as a gift. With all that encouragement, there I went to start knitting. Right from the start, I found it easy to cast on and divide the points by four. But I didn't find it easy to unite the last stitch to the end, closing the circle. It took me a while until I managed it, knitting a stitch over the other, afraid that everything would fall apart. It doesn't, ok? You just need to keep knitting, the second row will hold everything together. Just hold tight the thread/yarn so it won't leave a space. (Yesterday I watched a video from Superziper, which teaches how to knit in circular needles. The trick it shows seems perfect to finish the first row of the socks!).
Something interesting is that right in the beginning I was confused and, when I got to the end of the first row, I started purling the wrong side, going back. It was when I found out that it was circular knitting, and in it you always work the right side - except for the heel, if you're knitting socks. You don't need to be a genius to find that out - but if I hadn't tried, I wouldn't have made that mistake and wouldn't have learned. Today is obvious day, isn't it? ;-)
Following the pattern, the sock starts by the cuff, with 10 rows in 1 knit, 1 purl. After that you enter auto mode, knitting several rows all in knit stitch, until you get to the heel. I've made 40 rows.
The heel is no problem in the first part - as the pattern says, "(...) work with 26 stitches leaving the other 26 on hold. Every two rows leave one stitch on each side on hold. Repeat 8 times". That's what I did, no problem. But when I started going back, I realized I left holes. I tried to close them in many ways, and each foot came out differently. The first one came out better, contradicting my idea that the more I make, the better results I get. But the next pair of socks will definitely be better.
I got little lumps where the rows joined back together. The first sock came out more uniform, but with bigger holes. Heels are not simple, definitely. But that doesn't stop me from knitting socks, no way!
And that's been my adventure. :) I finished it with great joy, having learned a lot about knitting and myself. And also as someone addicted to socks!
Saturday, June 19, 2010
A WIP almost in the end
In the meantime I didn't write here, I've been working in one of the WIPs I showed you in the previous series: the shrug.
But this post is not about it.
It happens that I was really excited with the shrug, because, as I said before, I've started it with my friend S., and even though she gave it up later (but she has already made dozens of hats for donation, a beautiful vest and she's almost done with another shrug!) I kept going. I thought I would be able to make my first knitted garment.
The problem was that, after knitting all the parts and sewing most of them, I tried the shrug on. And behold that IT DOES NOT FIT ME.
A pause for you to think about how disappointed I was.
Exactly, I was crushed. I took it for my mom to take a look and tell me what I had to fix - I had already knitted one sleeve twice, because I made the armhole wrong (actually, I tried to follow the original pattern, and it just is of no help). Now I'll have to undo part of the shrug, increase the shoulders and remake the sleeves again.
And then I decided to take a break on the shrug and get back to a WIP that I forgot to mention here! So let's see it:
This was the beginning of my first knitted sock. I thought it would be very hard to deal with 5 needles at the same time, and since they have two points, I thought everything would slip from the needles all the time.
I decided to ask the Crazy Knitting Ladies for help and they encouraged me A LOT. As usual, knitters encourage beginners to "throw themselves" into the project right away, instead of wonder and try to understand all the details without even having cast on.
They suggested me the pattern for The Simplest Socks in the World. The problem was that the pattern, just like the name, is very simple. I had problems right at the beginning, to connect the first and last stitches, so I asked the list for help again, then my mother, and in the end I figured it out myself. It didn't end up very nice, that point is pretty obvious in the sock, but from then on it was only fun.
Oh, I can't forget to mention that if it weren't for my friend L., nothing of this would have happened. She encouraged me so much that she lent me her set of needles and gave me yarn to knit the socks. Note that the first sock was knitted with her set, gold, and now I'm using my own set, green. Of course I bought the needles. And with them 4 balls of another yarn for future socks! A girl must save money on delivery fees.
Knitting the sock was a delight, even with hard times in the beginning and the heel. But I loved the result! I just didn't start the second foot right away because of the shrug, but since it made me sad for a while, I got back to the socks. Look how it was in the beginning of the week:
And today it looks like this:
Now I start the heel. I can't wait to wear them!
But this post is not about it.
It happens that I was really excited with the shrug, because, as I said before, I've started it with my friend S., and even though she gave it up later (but she has already made dozens of hats for donation, a beautiful vest and she's almost done with another shrug!) I kept going. I thought I would be able to make my first knitted garment.
The problem was that, after knitting all the parts and sewing most of them, I tried the shrug on. And behold that IT DOES NOT FIT ME.
A pause for you to think about how disappointed I was.
Exactly, I was crushed. I took it for my mom to take a look and tell me what I had to fix - I had already knitted one sleeve twice, because I made the armhole wrong (actually, I tried to follow the original pattern, and it just is of no help). Now I'll have to undo part of the shrug, increase the shoulders and remake the sleeves again.
And then I decided to take a break on the shrug and get back to a WIP that I forgot to mention here! So let's see it:
This was the beginning of my first knitted sock. I thought it would be very hard to deal with 5 needles at the same time, and since they have two points, I thought everything would slip from the needles all the time.
I decided to ask the Crazy Knitting Ladies for help and they encouraged me A LOT. As usual, knitters encourage beginners to "throw themselves" into the project right away, instead of wonder and try to understand all the details without even having cast on.
They suggested me the pattern for The Simplest Socks in the World. The problem was that the pattern, just like the name, is very simple. I had problems right at the beginning, to connect the first and last stitches, so I asked the list for help again, then my mother, and in the end I figured it out myself. It didn't end up very nice, that point is pretty obvious in the sock, but from then on it was only fun.
Oh, I can't forget to mention that if it weren't for my friend L., nothing of this would have happened. She encouraged me so much that she lent me her set of needles and gave me yarn to knit the socks. Note that the first sock was knitted with her set, gold, and now I'm using my own set, green. Of course I bought the needles. And with them 4 balls of another yarn for future socks! A girl must save money on delivery fees.
Knitting the sock was a delight, even with hard times in the beginning and the heel. But I loved the result! I just didn't start the second foot right away because of the shrug, but since it made me sad for a while, I got back to the socks. Look how it was in the beginning of the week:
And today it looks like this:
Now I start the heel. I can't wait to wear them!
Sunday, April 25, 2010
This time, it's not my fault
I have a very dear friend that I met at the gym. Since then, our training has never been the same - and we're famous there for talking more than exercising. Despite of that, I found out that my dear friend, S., also secretly likes knitting! She always says we're very much alike, and I think we truly are! :)
The problem is that, despite her grandmother have been famous in the knitting world and have been the owner of a needle shop where she taught knitting, S. didn't know how to make anything but purl. And she had only ventured with scarves. Such a waste!
It was then that she had the idea of making a shrug, and I said I'd do it together - this way I could learn from my mom and my friend L., and then I'd teach her.
I give you the shrug:
Logically this picture is from the pattern. My friend started before me, frogged inumerous times and has already finished the back. She most certainly also has frogged and finished the sleeves a couple more times. My shrug, however, remained tiny. A few weeks later, S. gave up making the shrug - she herself was tired of frogging and remaking it, until her mother freaked out e frogged it entirely! It seems like my poor friend didn't find much incentive to make the shrug, but I think that after all her mother realized that she really wanted to learn, so she decided to teach her. Now they're both knitting hats and slippers to donate to the elders, isn't it nice?
And after all that, my shrug has grown:
I'm very proud of myself, I've been learning a lot with the shrug! Increases, decreases, and even fitting the pattern to my own body - who'd have thought, huh? In the end, my version is coming along so different from the original that I don't even care about changing the pattern. EZ would be proud of me, wouldn't she? ;-)
S. had given me homework, to make at least 4 rows a day. I was trying! But after the shrug finally started growing, I can only find time for it. I think it will be the first to leave the WIPs list.
I'm very proud of myself, I've been learning a lot with the shrug! Increases, decreases, and even fitting the pattern to my own body - who'd have thought, huh? In the end, my version is coming along so different from the original that I don't even care about changing the pattern. EZ would be proud of me, wouldn't she? ;-)
S. had given me homework, to make at least 4 rows a day. I was trying! But after the shrug finally started growing, I can only find time for it. I think it will be the first to leave the WIPs list.
What's left to finish: Sleeves and front.
Why I can't finish it: I needed to cast on 80 stitches, which for me is a lot, and therefore it took me a while to finish a row. But this is the project in which I have being worked the most, so I have high hopes.
What I can do to finish it: do my homework. :) And profit the weekends. Maybe take it to work to do it during lunch time? Anyway, since I have S.'s incentive, it's keeping a steady pace.
Thursday, April 1, 2010
Someone make me stop, please!
In the beginning of february, if I'm not wrong, the girls from the Crazy Knitting Ladies discussion group decided to enter a regional version of Ravelry's challenge and make 10 scarves in 2010. It seemed so easy! And I just L-O-V-E taking part in projects like that, in which many people do the same project at the same time.
My suggestion for the challenge was the Drift Scarf by Betz White - the story is lovely, read in her blog! The first scarf should be done by the end of march, and I decided to start with it.
I've bought the Sedificada yarn, from Pingouin - oh, it's so soft! I also bought bamboo needles, to try them out. I hated the needles (the yarn does not slide on them), but I loved the yarn!
What's left to finish: practically everything, I must have made about four rows, only. Betz was lucky to use a thick yarn and a huge needle - but who said it's possible to find yarn like that over here? That's why I had to cast on the double of stitches of the original, which takes a lot more time to knit.
Why I can't finish it: I don't think I'll have problems with this project, despite the new stitch I'll have to learn in a few rows. It really is just a matter of making it.
What I can do to finish it: like I said, prioritize. Just do it.
I have to quit this habit of starting new things. They're just piling up around the house... Good thing I held myself up and didn't join a SAL (stitch-a-long), but it was tough: look what Elena, from Coeur de Freesia, is doing. Isn't it cool?
Well, after all I have given up the challenge. With my list of WIPs, there's no chance I can make 10 scarves this year. And let's not forget I'm in A Make a Month project... (was it only me that rolled eyes now? I'm hopeless.)
Sunday, March 14, 2010
Crazy about knitting
In the last weeks, I've been crazy about knitting. That is partially my friend L.'s fault, she introduced me to the group Crazy Knitting Ladies - which, despite the name in English, is mainly formed by brazilians. (there are some people from other countries, if I'm not wrong, and also a few boys, something rare in the world of knitting)
The amount of messages per day is immense - sometimes just people congratulating others for the works they've completed. Other times there are links for patterns, questions, and stuff like that.
I'm still working on my first knitting project, the brown bag I've already shown here. But since it's kinda big, it takes a while to finish. Actually, I was a little tired of working only on my WIPs, they're taking too long to be completed. So I decided to do something small and quick for A Make a Month. I was going to make a new sewing project, I have even drawn it - but the needles called me up! So there I went to look for a small pattern in Ravelry.
For those of you who don't know it, Ravelry is a community of people who knit (and crochet). It's a big hit, by the way. There you can find free and paid patterns, and I needed something free, easy and quick. I found lots of cool stuff, which I've added to the list of projects I want to make from Ravelry itself. This one looked like exactly what I wanted:
A pincushion! Isn't it cute?
The problem with this pattern (Peyote Pincushion, by Iryna Klionava) is that it needs a set of four double-pointed needles, which I didn't have (note the past tense - I've just received a package on the mail...). So I thought: the most important now is to a) make a project that finishes fast and b) uses something I already have, according to the rules for A Make a Month.
Which made me decide to make a simple little square, with a crochet yarn. That's right, I haven't even used wool. That yarn is so pretty, I wanted to use it no matter what. It's been here for ages! I thought it would be nice if I used it with the knitting board, but it really is too thin. For the pincushion, that was no problem!
I've used the needles my mom lent me and the Monalisa yarn. Look what it turned into:
I also had the filling (I have a big bag of that!), so I was only lacking fabric to make the internal part. If I had only put the filling in, it would keep coming out of the knitting holes.
It was then that I found out that I don't have plain fabric! I've started buying pieces of fabric for patchwork after I've had a few classes, and usually the stores make up kits of printed fabrics. I think they even make up kits with plain fabrics, maybe they just haven't caught my eyes... but the fact is that I wanted a plain white fabric, so the colors in the knitting showed up more.
Then I remembered: last year, when I visited a patchwork event, I've bought a fabric in stripes - those that come with large stripes of matching prints. When I got home and started looking more carefully the things I had bought, I've noticed that one of the stripes had a flaw in the print, and a dirty mark that wouldn't leave even after I washed it. At the time, I've called the store many times, but they said the fabric was sold out in the supplier's, and that I could go there and pick something else in exchange. The problem is that the store is across town, and for São Paulo that's a big deal! So that I gave up exchanging anything, I had already paid for the fabric, would I have to pay to exchange it?
Now guess the fabric color... that's right, white! So I cut exactly where the flaw was to make the internal part of my pincushion.
The fabric looks like regular cotton, also printed in white. The prints look painted over the cotton, which made the sewer pencil not to erase. Imagine if I had made this mistake on another project... I would not be happy with that yellow mark showing on my patchwork! Lesson learned, always mark the fabric on the wrong side (I should've known better...).
I've cut a rectangle, sewed by machine (YES! I've used my dear machine!) and left an opening. Turned it right side out, put the filling and closed the opening by hand.
I've also hand-sewn the knitting. Simple, fast and I've used lots of things that were stuck around here.
Does it get any better than that?
Monday, February 8, 2010
WIPs of the week
Last week I've got some WIPs moving (now I think I have to give status at the blog, besides the dozens of status meetings I have at work - this is a bad sign, isn't it?).
For your delight, I'll show you for the first time how my first knitting project is going. First I'd like to explain that I had already started by the obvious - a scarf - but I just gave up. The yarn and the needles were so thin that it took too long to show. The lack of experience didn't help either. So I bought a magazine and looked for something that were useful and simple to start. Scarfs are useful, but I have many that I've made in the knitting board, and we don't even have that much cold here. This is the project that caught my eye:
Sorry for the bad picture, I just couldn't make the reflex go away from the magazine... But isn't the purse gorgeous? I've already made the low part, front and back:
The color is very pretty in person (it wasn't a happy day for pictures, was it?). I also like the original color, but this was mommy's gift and I love it! ;-) It really is a very nice brown, I'll use the purse a lot when it's done.
And we also had progress in the famous nativity scene!
I finished the design, so then I had to pick a color for the sky:
Now look, in the original the fabric was dyed in dark blue, so it didn't have to be stitched. But I don't like dying fabrics - remember?, I'm not into getting dirty. Something that I'd certainly do if I decided to dye anything in the apartment. So I went to my threads and got every dark blue I got. Some were too bright when compared to the design, and I had one that was too dark. So I picked this one:
Can you imagine what it will look like? Very well, notice this detail: this color, for some reason, doesn't have the strap with the number! (note to the English version: does anyone know the name for that? I'm not sure it's called strap...) I had to wait days till I could go to the nearest needlework store (quite expensive, by the way). I've found the color - or the closest possible, sometimes it's hard to be sure. I've bought three skeins, to be safe, because after all I still have two more scenes to complete the nativity.
And speaking of knitting boards, I had started a purse to entertain myself (imagine that!). I love the knitting board, the work shows up fast! I wanted to make a black purse, but I gave up right in the beginning, I couldn't see the stitches with that yarn. Then I found a yarn ball I got as a gift and decided to use the two of them together.
I still don't know if I'll keep this purse... it ended up with a rather messy look... maybe I'll add some detail like a fabric flower and then the messy yarn mix makes more sense. We'll see.
Well, that's it. This week I'll probably attack that nativity sky, and I also wanted to make a project I've drawn up yesterday for the A Make A Month project.
Ah, yes... that's another one that Méri set me up. She decided to join the A Make A Month and there I went after her... but it will be to our own good, I'm sure! ;-) If you want to join too, follow the link! The idea from the blog Angharad is to get rid of all those things we keep buying because they're absolutely gorgeous and we keep imagining all the wonderful things we'll do with them... and we never do! So I intend to use some fabric I have here to accomplish the February challenge - keep your fingers crossed for me!
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