08.16.07
Posted in Crafts, Yarn Arts at 8:36 am by rachel
When inspiration escapes me, or I just feel like working on a mindless knitting project while watching a movie, I knit little squares out of leftover cotton yarn. Eventually these will become hand towels for the kitchen, or maybe a blanket if I produce enough. They’re simple and not destined for a particular project so the pressure is off and I can experiment with new stitches.
Last night I figured out a mesh stitch. This stitch is worked over a multiple of 4 stitches, which posed a bit of a problem, since the plain stockinette squares I’ve already made (see example at right) are 31 stitches wide. 31 stitches minus 4 stitches of border (2 on each side) is 27, so there had to be an extra three stitches divided over the ends (one on the right, two on the left). It’s not symmetrical, but hey, we’re just experimenting here! (Besides, these squares will look so much better once they’re blocked. Eek – look at that uneven blue square!)
The mesh stitch would actually be a great pattern to use for making dish clothes or wash clothes, since it is thicker, sturdier, and has more of a scrubbing surface than the plain moss stitch I’ve usually used. I think a few of these squares sewn together and with a crochet border would be a cute vintage-looking addition to a kitchen or bath.
This is what I did:
Cast on 31 stitches.
Rows 1 & 2: *k1,p1* repeat from * 15 times, k last st
Row 3: k1, p1, k1, *yo, s1, k2, pass slipped st over these 2 st* repeat from * 8 times, k2, p1, k1
Row 4: k1, p29, k1
Row 5: k1, p1, *sl, k2, pass slipped st over these 2 st, yo* repeat from * 9 times, k1, p1
Row 6: k1, p29, k1
Repeat rows 3-6 seven more times
Rows 35&36: *k1,p1* repeat from * 15 times, k last st
Bind off.
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07.20.07
Posted in Crafts, Yarn Arts at 5:53 am by rachel
I’m not saying I’m advanced enough to create my own charts, but the new Knitting Wizard software may be inspiration enough to give it a try. Works on Macs and PC’s. Story at MacMinute.
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06.10.07
Posted in Crafts, Paris Life, Yarn Arts at 9:16 am by rachel
How did you celebrate Worldwide Knit in Public Day yesterday? Many areas of Paris held events in a range of formality, but my friend Julie and I decided to celebrate La Journée Mondiale du Tricot at the beautiful and centrally-located Palais Royal. The French yarn company Phildar was giving away free needles and yarn, but we were so overwhelmed by dedicated to our current projects that – gasp – we decided to pass on it.
The Palais Royal is located just across the rue du Rivoli from the Louvre Museum. One of many experiments in making contemporary an old royal site (like the Louvre’s pyramids), the courtyard is covered in black- and white-striped columns of various height designed by the contemporary artist Daniel Buren. The little columns made for lovely perching seats for knitting, although I had to work on my posture to save myself from a backache.
To coordinate with our surroundings, a small group of the organizers made a knit Buren column, which I thought was quite lovely (see photo below). Julie is getting closer to finishing the scarf she’s working on for her trip to Iceland this summer, and I almost finished bootee number 17 million. The sun even made an appearance and everyone was in good spirits: strangers talked to each other, friendly little ladies came up to us talking about how they used to knit socks, too… Restores your faith in humanity, to be honest. Ah, the power of knitting!
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05.26.07
Posted in Crafts, Yarn Arts at 11:58 am by rachel
Is it bootie or bootee? No matter; the pattern experiment continues. I really enjoyed sewing up this white bootee in cotton yarn. Double-pointed needles are what I feel most comfortable using, which may be why I prefer this pattern over the few I’ve tried so far. No seams, no buttons, just round and round like a sock or mitten. It’s a design by Megan Mills and you can go to her site to print off the pattern yourself! Choose either top-down or bottom-up bootees.
Next step: add the tie for the eyelet round (you can’t really see the eyelet holes very well, but I promise they are there…) and most importantly, graft the bottom. I have had trouble grafting in recent years and cannot figure out why, since as a beginner over a decade ago, I could follow grafting directions step-by-step and they looked wonderful. These days I just cheat by sewing through the remaining stitches and pulling tight, like a drawstring. That can only work for so many patterns. But there is hope: reading Craft Lover’s blog led me to her excellent step-by-step directions, fully illustrated. I may just get a couple pairs of these finished on this long weekend!
*Edit* I’m making progress! I successfully grafted the sole and added the tie. I decided to just use a piece of the yarn, with substantial knots at either end for ease in tying and to prevent fraying. One down, many more to go! Pretty cute, if I do say so myself:
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05.24.07
Posted in Books & Paper, Crafts, Embroidery, Sewing, Yarn Arts at 9:54 am by rachel
June is just around the corner, so I bring to you the 58-year-old June edition of Mon Ouvrage. Isn’t the cover illustration delightful? There is something timeless about this colorful image: reminiscent of a Japanese print or an antique china pattern, but also similar to many of the cheerful upholstery fabrics of today.
The title of this edition is “La Peinture à l’aiguille,” or “Needle Painting.” If you’ve never attempted embroidery before and would like to try painting with needles, as it were, the CraftTown website has some simple and illustrated instructions to get you going.
In other news, I’ve added “sewing” to my blog categories, since most of the vintage magazines I hope to share include patterns for various garments, though the styles are obviously a bit dated. The shirts in this edition, for example, include some complicated linen and crochet embellishments that may not be worth the while.
With all the projects I have going, I may skip attempting any of these and just frame this magazine itself! The contents and various craft projects in this edition are below. As always, you can click the images for an enlarged size. If you have trouble reading them or would like the original scan to use yourself, just ask and I’d be happy to get it to you.
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05.17.07
Posted in Crafts, Yarn Arts at 1:48 pm by rachel
Since my discovery of vintage craft magazines, I’ve done some searching online for websites that have knit patterns. I haven’t attempted any of them, but thought I’d share here for anyone interested in this kind of thing.
In the mean time, I’m still going through a stack of Mon Ouvrage magazines. Each issue is filled with patterns for sewing, knit, crochet, embroidery, and cross-stitch. More scans to come!
Vintage Knitting Sites:
Vintage Purls
Knitting History
Antique Knitting Patterns
Vintage Knitting Blog
A Good Yarn
1940s Knitting Patterns
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04.15.07
Posted in Crafts, Yarn Arts at 8:25 pm by rachel
You would think that with all the little projects I enjoy (mittens, socks, and hats), that booties for a baby would be a cinch. This is what I thought and yet I’ve just spent the weekend starting, stopping, and pulling out a half-dozen booties.
Why?
Problem number 1: Size. I don’t have a good concept of the measurements of a baby’s foot. I was convinced that the first pattern I tried (using the correct needle size and gauge) wouldn’t fit any foot bigger than a Barbie doll’s. The ones I am making now are probably for a 9-12-month old, but they will have to do. Perhaps I am wrong, though, and these 4-inch long baby slippers really are for a newborn, but I am not sure how to check.
Problem number 2: Pattern visualisation. Contrary to the consensus of many knitters, I am quite comfortable on double-pointed needles and even prefer them. Knitting in a round makes it easy for me to visualise the sock/mitten/hat I create. Many bootie patterns, however, are knit flat, on two straight needles, and then sewn together at the end. I am satisfied with the pattern I am working on now, but it took a couple of tries to realise how exactly the squiggly shape I knit would actually become a tubular 3-D item.
I still need to pick up a couple of buttons for this Mary Jane-style bootie, but in all, this is a quick 1-2 hour project. I thought the angular strap was unusual and that’s my slight modification of the Craftbits pattern.
In my last post, I mentioned two other bootie patterns, which I am eager to try, but which require needles that are smaller than the ones I have. Looks like I have another excuse to run to the craft store. (By the way, my favorite supply shop in Paris is La Droguerie, in the 1st arrondissement, near Les Halles) I’ll block the booties and the sweater and these will be a cheerful first completed summer project!
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04.12.07
Posted in Crafts, Yarn Arts at 11:17 am by rachel
I have finally finished it! Since I am in the middle of several projects at once, it’s really been ages since I posted a real, finished craft project. Well here it is! I used the trusty baby wrap-around sweater pattern from Chez Florence. The peach sweater for Evelyn Grace was so pleasing, I thought I’d stick with a sure thing.
Next on the list is to tackle some baby booties with the same yellow yarn and then send these off to the parents-to-be. It is surprsingly difficult to find cute bootie patterns (so many looked bunchy or too geometric or something), but after searching and searching, I did find a few that I liked:
Mary Jane Knit Booties
Circular Seamless Booties
Mary Jane Baby Slippers
I’ll try these out and review the patterns as soon as I stock up on the correct needle sizes. Knitting for all these babies requires the tiniest needles – I suggest choosing wooden ones, if anyone else is in this boat. The metal ones tend to slip right out. We’ll see what I can find: it’s always a work in progress!
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04.04.07
Posted in Crafts, Cuisine, Yarn Arts at 10:27 am by rachel
Where has all my crafting gone? I am in the midst of knitting two nautical sweaters for May/June twins, but am hung up on gauge problems and have yet to find more of the yarn I need. I am thinking of scraping it and getting a new stash alltogether!
In the mean time, I have a lot of cotton and so I’ve decided to add some home-made love to the everyday by making knit dishrags and towels for the kitchen. Mason Dixon Knitting has inspired me with this post, which includes a free pattern for a 9-square dishrag. I made up my own pattern, however, since I needed to use a little less brain power to make my first dishcloth on the morning commute.
Cast 51 stitches onto size 4 straight needles. Rows 1-10: moss stitch (K1,P1,K1 to the end). Rows 11-20: stockinette stitch with moss stitch border (row 11: moss stitch for 8 stitches, K35, moss stitch for 8 stitches, row 12: same, but P35 instead of K35). Rows 21-40: odd rows: moss stitch for 8 stitches, K8, moss stitch for 18 stitches, K8, moss stitch for 8; even rows: same but P8 each time instead of K8. Rows 41-50: stockinette stitch with moss stitch border. Rows 51-60: moss stitch. Cast off.
*EDIT* I just found a picture of a hexagonal dishrag! I must make one! Craft Lover’s blog has instructions on how to make a knit hexagon.
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02.25.07
Posted in Crafts, Yarn Arts at 10:30 pm by rachel
The sweetest little white duck I have decided to knit is causing me some difficulty. I drew out the pattern first and decided it would be a very cute motif in the middle of baby sweater #3 (for baby #3 due in June!). While I have followed a multi-colored pattern of my design many times in the past, I usually only dealt with repeating snowflakes and the like, and so the odd shape and vast expanses of white in this one were new to me.
Alas, my tension is off and the duck is literally jumping out of the sweater! I think I’ve learned that I need to leave some more “give” as I carry the yarn over and behind the stitches in the second color. Perhaps I’ll attempt some sort of matching hat or blanket and give it another try.
On a sidenote, I thought the duck theme was a nice way to add some character to a gender-neutral baby gift. I am thinking about making a stuffed little duck to match with the remaining yarn. I found a couple of great free patterns here and here.
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