Start Them Early

I usually have small stack of fresh books around for pleasure and inspiration. Recently I checked out Morehouse Farm Merino Knits from our local library's commendable collection of fiber arts books. The author, Margrit Lohre, talks about growing "up in Switzerland where knitting was part of the school curriculum". In our world of mass production we have lost many valuable skills. We can no longer pass them down because we never learned them. Parent's have lost something that greatly affects how they and their children spend time together. This seems a tragedy and I believe that it has had undesirable effects on society. I can't change the world but I can change my world.

Our 14 year old daughter and I have spent the last decade learning some of these 'lost' skills together. She has learned knitting, crocheting (better than me), spinning, weaving, sewing, quilting and many other skills along with me. Actually, she has been knitting longer than I. She can knit a pair of socks and darn them too! I thought I would share her current project with you. She is learning to knit two socks at once on one circular needle using 2-at-a-time socks by Melissa Morgan-Oakes.

I am working very hard at finishing my husband's sweater, but alas, he also is in desperate need of a new pair of socks. And of course since receiving his first pair of hand knit socks he is loathe to wear a store bought pair. So our industrious daughter graciously offered to knit a pair of socks for her dad as she was anxious to learn this new technique.

Though I prefer to work exclusively with natural fibers, my husband needs a more durable blend so that we're not darning his socks within a month of coming off the needles. I ordered Yarn for Sox from WEBS. Our daughter patiently followed the author's suggestion to knit a mismatched pair of toddler socks while we waited for our sock yarn to arrive. She will need to knit another pair of mismatched socks so that we will have two matching pair.

Our yarn arrived quickly and she started knitting her Dad's socks. Having a preference for finer wools this blend felt rough to her. Hopefully the socks will last a lot longer and be worth the sore fingers in the end.

We have enjoyed the time spent learning these skills and using them together. I know I can trust her with projects that I don't have enough time for or to come up with a quick handmade gift in a pinch. She is learning skills that she will hopefully use for the rest of her life and pass on. Though she is very capable, she shows her excitement and respect for my skills by trying to lay claim to just about everything I make! Knitting has been an invaluable part of our relationship and I hope that it will continue to be.

Teach a young person to knit. A lot more than a pair of socks may come of it!

Knitting as Cognative Excercise

Just ran across an interesting article on how knitting and other activities may delay memory loss. I'm sure that this is common sense for most of us. Exercise your body and it will probably last longer. Exercise your mind and it will probably work better for longer too. Nevertheless I suppose it is good for a doctor to do a study so that those who have not considered this will.

Here's the link:

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/health/7896441.stm

Interestingly the study suggested to me that if you knit and watch TV at the same time or maybe in somewhat equal amounts, that these activities (one active, one passive) cancel each other out. Maybe.

What could one take away from this? Consider tossing the tube. Our family did this years ago and it has not been missed. I spent more time reading, painting, drawing and eventually took up knitting and hand felting.

I know that most people would probably consider this extreme but consider this. While they are sitting around later in life trying to remember what they're supposed to be doing, I'll be teaching my grandchildren how to knit.

Small Felted Box with Lid

I'm into containers lately. Places to store things. Baskets and boxes made from natural materials are the preferred choice (no plastic please). It is best if the container has a lid so you don't have to see what's in there all the time.

I was looking for a quick project and thought to knit and felt a small container for myself. (I needed a break from my husband's black sweater.)

A quick look at some of my favorite knitting sites did not yield any patterns for a lidded container so I decided to write one. Here it is for you to try. Let me know what you think.

Small Felted Box with Lid

Note about yarn: I used Lamb's Pride because I had some in my stash but a less hairy yarn would be preferable for this project.

Materials:
Bulky wool yarn (about 40yds)
Small amount of heavy worsted or bulky wool yarn in contrasting or toning color for trim
Three buttons about 5/8” in diameter and thread to match main color

Sewing needle

Needles:
Size 11 or 13 double pointed needles
Size M or N crochet hook
(Note: Gauge is not especially important since the piece will be felted in the washer.)

Finished measurements after felting:
Approximately 5”long x 5”wide x 2”deep

Box:
Using double pointed needles CO 14.
Knit 18 rows in Stst.
Leaving stitches on the needle pick up 14 from other three sides.
Knit 10 rounds.
BO all stitches. Weave in ends.

Lid:
Using double pointed needles CO 15.
Knit 19 rows.
BO all stitches. Weave in ends.

Trim:

Using crochet hook and contrasting/toning yarn single crochet around the top edge of box and edge of the lid (about 3 chain stitches for every 4 knitted stitches). Next crochet a loop of 10 chain stitches in the center front of the lid and two loops of the same size on the back of the lid about 3sts from each corner. (You could also crochet loops at the same time as the trim. Just be sure the loop begins and ends in the same stitch.) Weave in ends.

Felting (or fulling):

Put the box and lid in the washer (preferably front-loading) and run for the full wash cycle. Check the size and pull into shape. You may need to run it through another cycle or part of a cycle checking the size periodically. When the box reaches the desired size, put it back in the washer for one rinse and then spin.

Pull the box and lid into shape and lay flat to dry.

Sew on the buttons and your box is finished.

Men's Cambridge Jacket

This is currently the biggest project I have going. I have been working on it for months now (mostly because I have not really been working on it). However, my husband is a good husband and deserves a hand knit sweater so I am working on it in earnest now.

This project began because my husband needed a replacement for a favorite sweater. He wore this sweater to rags, really. It was a fine knit boiled wool jacket with a front zipper that was purchased as a Christmas present at a name brand discount store. He wore it every single day. We could not find another at any store or online. So began the search for a knitting pattern.

I looked at my favorite websites, all my knitting books, every book at the library that seemed promising. Two or three weeks later I finally found the Cambridge Jacket by Ann Budd in the 2006 Summer issue of Interweave Knits.

After receiving my husband's approval of the pattern, I began to look for yarn. The winner was Eco-wool+ by Cascade. It comes in huge skeins of 478yds for about $15 and comes in dyed or natural colors. I probably would've chosen the darkest natural color which is a really dark brown but my husband really wanted black so we went with the dyed black. I usually do not like the smell of black dye and was happy to find that this yarn did not have that (toxic) odor.

I have finished the back, front left and am presently working on the front right. It knits up quickly at less than 5sts per inch on size 9 needles.

In the end I will have spent about 3-4 weeks on this long awaited gift for a deserving and patient recipient.

Studio-in-a-Closet

This is just a little something I wanted to share for inspiration. We live in an apartment in an urban area so storage space is limited. My husband came up with the idea to convert our foyer closet into stash storage. (I had already taken the dining room as my studio and it was overflowing.)

I really wish I had taken before pictures. Imagine if you will a dark hole (really) with a couple of press board shelves instead of the bright welcoming closet you now see.

We stripped everything out of the space, added shelving, pegs, a cedar ceiling, a light and even a secret compartment in the floor for storing larger items. I hung an over the door shoe bag to provide extra yarn storage. Because we included the pegs the closet can still be used as a coat closet when we have guests!

This was a fun project for my husband and I to tackle together. I guess I should finish that sweater for him now.

Linen Pillowcase

This project for a small linen pillowcase arose from a need. I have struggled with serious headaches for years and they have only gotten worse. I've tried all sorts of migraine pills, changes in my diet and finally, a buckwheat pillow. Buckwheat pillows have been used for centuries in the Far East. I purchased a Serenity buckwheat pillow from Healthy Green Goods. It is definitely one of the best purchases I have ever made. If given the slightest opportunity I gladly share my experience with others suffering from headaches, back and neck pain or even restless sleep. I have not had a migraine for months now which means that I have more time to knit!

Now I have this wonderful pillow but it needed a special case. Yes they had some on offer at Healthy Green Goods but I wanted to make my own. Besides my yarn stash I have a nice little stash of fabrics. From this I chose a cream colored linen.

Here's how I made the case:

The pillow is very small, only 11"x17", so I measured and cut the fabric to 16"x26". A little long because I wanted to embroider and then fold in the edge to cover the back of the stitching.

Sew the sides of the case using a 1/4" seam. Sew another seam about 1/8" outside of the first seam. Trim. Make a small double folded hem along the open edge.

Next measure 4" and 8" from the hemmed edge and between those two marks make three evenly spaced marks. (All of these markings are made by placing small dots all the way around the case.)

Following the evenly spaced marks embroider three rows of simple running stitch using mercerized cotton.

Turn the case wrong side out and fold at the 4" line enclosing the embroidery. Stitch down by following the previously made hem stitch. Lastly stitch 1/8" from the edge of the pillowcase, along the fold.

Press and enjoy your new buckwheat pillowcase!





I think the next one I make will have a knitted lace edge. I'll continue to contemplate that idea.

Happy New Year!

Happy new year and happy new blog! It's a new year and I decided it is time to start this blog I've been contemplating for some time. I'll share current knitting or other fiber art projects that I am working on and occasionally free patterns.

Most recently I have been knitting piles of hats for Christmas presents. The always useful (but

quick to knit) hat! There has been a particular need for hats with ear flaps to keep out the cold Midwest winds and I have just finished a kid's version with a pocket on the back holding a tiny coordinating doll. The picture to the left is of the back of the hats. My daughter and I each knit one so they're a bit different. Mine has a rounded striped pocket while hers has a more pointy embroidered pocket.

Presently I am working on very cute children's mittens . The mittens began as a request from a local Irish kintwear shop for a customer but they are such a fun little project that I could knit baskets of them. Knitting time is under three hours a pair. And they have an optional crocheted "coat cord" to run through the sleeves of the youngster's coat.

Another project is to use up as much yarn from my stash as possible (so's I can buy more). There are lots of interesting yarns in my "studio-in-a-closet" as I call it, but some of them are becoming, well, stale. They're good yarns -they just need a new purpose in life. Sadly, I have forgotten what the original purpose was for some of them. I have more experience to go on now so I'm sure I will come up with a better purpose for them than the original.

Well back to knitting mittens and stash re-evaluating! Happy new year.