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Tuesday, December 27, 2011

More Seed Stitch

I've always admired the Trinity Stitch Beret, so I thought it would go well with the Malabrigo Rios, but in the end I think this yarn looks best with a seed stitch. I didn't find a seed stitch hat so I decided to just wing one. It's drying now and has grown quite a bit, so I hope it still fits when it's dry.






My first project with my new sewing machine was a cover for it. I totally screwed up the measurements for both my serger and sewing machine cover, but the Amy Butler fabric looked pretty good anyway. For my next project I decided to do some potholders as they are small quilted projects and my goal is to get brave enough to quilt the two tops I have hiding in my closet.


I found a little piece of washable wool fabric in my stash to use as padding and did some free motion thread quilting on this first one. It came out too thin and the thread painting made it stiff.

For the next two I found the Nancy Zieman video and dug out what I think is the right padding...some shiny stuff sandwiched between to fiber layers. For good measure and because I have lots of that wool fabric, I added a layer of that between the top and the padding.




The binding is a challenge. Perhaps the walking foot is not the right foot. Also NZ is a bit cryptic about "tucking in the the end".

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Happy Holidays!

Just stopping by the ole blog to show off the new cat (big gray one who still needs whiskers) and wish everyone a Merry Christmas!

Saturday, December 17, 2011

A few more FOs


Pattern: Rose Red, by Ysolda Teague. Size small.
Yarn: Berroco Ultra Alpaca, Redwood Mix.
Needles: size 6
Mods: none
Comments: This looked small on the needles.. After blocking over a 10 inch pie plate it is a little loose on me just as Kim predicted.
I did Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off knitting all the stitches. The cable made the edge a little ruffly.
It's a lovely pattern with very clear directions.

My walking group got together and made angels from the leaves a split leaf philodendron. Blogless Melody had all the goodies to decorate them with.

Pattern: Chibi Totoro, by brella, (Ravelry)
Needles: size 5
Yarn: cascade 220
This is an adorable pattern with a very clever popcorn tail. He will join ChuTotoro who lives with my hairdresser. He is posing with an odd shaped fingering purple potato.

Hello Kitty blanket number 2. I tried out my new sewing machine, Horizon 7700, with it's built-in walking foot. It's going to take awhile for me to get used to the new machine after years of sewing on the trusty Bernina. However, my 1530's display is going dim, and apparently that will be a major repair. The blanket is much more manageable size for a tiny 4 year old.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

A Few FOs

Norn Cowl
Pattern: GAP-tastic Cowl
by Jen Geigley
from heyjenrenee's Ravelry downloads


Yarn: Cascade 128 Superwash, two skeins. This yarn is very soft and nice to knit with.
Needles: US13
Comments: This is a great project to watch TV while knitting. It is knit in the round and is mindless seed stitch. I watched Das Rhinegold with subtitles and all, thus the name, Norn Cowl.



Rios Hood


Pattern: Peaks Island Hood from Ysolda Teague's 2nd Whimsical Knits book.
Needles: US10
Yarn: Malabrigo Rios, color Camdombe. This yarn was a pleasure to knit with. I tried it on a lacey knit with larger needles and didn't like the look, but I love how it blended in the seed stitch.
Comments: There are comments all over the Ravelry group regarding the cryptic instructions. I never was able to get the buttonholes right and ended up just winging it using the 3 stitch buttonole following instructions from knittinghelp.com. I am looking for the right buttons.

12/5/2011 update. I found my Caribou buttons and they work great! Thanks Kim (I love her tea-dyed antler buttons. The dye really warmed up the look) for finding a good project for these buttons from my trip to Alaska.




Korknisse

Pattern: Korknisse by Manne from Made by Manne
Yarns: bits and bobs
Needles: 4 and 5
Comments: ChibiTotoro was thinking he was invisible in the photo but really wanted the extra hat.

Hello Kitty Fleece Blanket

I used two layers of Polar fleece and tried to follow this video. I just got my serger and the edge did not come out too well, so I just sewed one presser foot from the edge all around, and it looks better. The Landcaster was the stealth model. Originally it was going to be a pocket quilt, but the blankie came out too large for the pocket.