Works in Progress

September 5, 2009| Lindy| 0 Comment | 9:36 am

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I have decided that I have too many projects in progress and absolutely cannot start anything else until I get at least three of them done: Not only do I have 5 knitting projects and 1 crochet project “in the works”, but have 3 more planned, plus a sewing project that must be completed in the next two weeks. I have always had the tendency to have several things going at once – but really, this is ridiculous!

Here are the knitting projects I must complete BEFORE starting anything else:

Knitted Bunny – ready for assembly.

Knitted Bunny

Lace Scarf – this is a Christmas gift:

Lace Scarf WIP

Cable Ribbon Socks – Guild Meet Up project.

Cable Rib Socks - knitting magic loop method

Vintage Crochet Edging – just need to finish the write up on the pattern:

Vintage Crochet Edging -- WIP

I plan to do the sewing project over the Labor Day Weekend and will post pictures when finished.

Buttons! Who knew?Buttons! Who knew?

November 29, 2011| LindyBeir| 0 Comment| 12:36 pm

I am making significant progress on my Color Block Vest. In fact, I am nearly done! So Saturday, I realized that I really needed to go buy buttons for this vest. And off I went.

Now, I must admit that it has been some time since I ventured into a fabric store to buy buttons. And usually when I am buying buttons, I am also buying thread and fabric to match. What I discovered is that in the time that I have been absent from the fabric store scene that things have really changed. Changed in a good way, actually. Oh my! the selection was enormous! And really wonderful. In addition to the standard buttons in rather standard colors that come in sets of four or five — there are all these unique and stylish buttons available. Who knew? Obviously, not someone like me who hasn’t ventured into the button section of the fabric store in a good long while.

I was enormously challenged — I had so many choices! Wonderful choices! And then…I found them! The perfect buttons for my vest!

Aren’t these just wonderful? They have a lovely brown background with swirls of pink, green and darker reddish brown. They match the three colors where they will be placed nicely.

As wonderfully matched as these buttons are — I must also admit to sticker shock when I went to check out. They were on sale, fortunately, but even at that they were expensive. I paid $7.00 apiece for them. (ON SALE!) Who knew buttons could cost so much? Now, I was willing to spend the money to get these perfect buttons — especially since I have invested money in a high quality yarn for this project. Still I think that buttons should not be so expensive. Even if they are perfect…

New Projects, New DilemmasNew Projects, New Dilemmas

July 11, 2009| Lindy| 0 Comment| 5:54 pm

My son and daughter in law are expecting their first baby the end of January. This delightful news has caused the knitter in me to begin formulating a number of knitting projects – all baby items, of course! I started the search for baby blanket patterns – finding several I like, now to decide which to use. I am planning to knit a matching sweater, cap & booties as well.

Then there is the matter of yarns for my baby projects.—I am vascillating between cotton & cotton blends and washable wool or wool blends. I haven’t completely ruled out using an acrylic baby yarn, but I really want to find something that is more long-wearing and high quality. As a long-time knitter, I’ve come to appreciate cotton and wool yarns. But now, we also have new yarns made of bamboo and corn and a myriad of other “new” fibers. Whatever the choice – baby items must be machine washable to be practical and usable for any new mother.

And then, there is the matter of colors. I think color is always an issue when a knitter begins to contemplate knitting for a baby. Do you go with the traditional baby blue and baby pink? Do you go with a cute mix of pastels? Or do you go with primary colors? – which seems to be the latest trend in baby wear if you look at the various knitting magazines and yarn catalogs. Oh my! Lots of decisions to be made here.

Now, most knitters approach a project by selecting a pattern. I have two possibilities for my baby blanket. I will be using very basic patterns for the sweater, cap & booties. I want to use the same yarn for all the items and want to find coordinating colors. I plan to select a yarn or yarns I like and want to use for these projects and then work with the patterns — So off to window shop online for yarns…

Finished SocksFinished Socks

August 31, 2009| Lindy| 3 Comments| 5:04 pm

Knitted striped socks

I finished my striped socks yesterday morning. I am pleased with how they turned out. I used a self-striping yarn from Patons Yarns and it was fascinating to see the stripes evolve as the socks knit up.

I did not really use a pattern for these socks. There are literally thousands of free sock patterns available on the internet, but you really don’t need them if you understand the basics of knitting socks. I started with a gauge swatch and used my foot measurements to determine the number of stitches I needed. The “how to” of this seems to be enough for a separate post, so I will place that in my queue for future topics.

I choose to do a picot hem at the top of the cuff, a 3 by 1 rib for the cuff and instep, a slipped stitched heel flap with a square heel turn. My mentors for these socks were Nancy Bush – I consulted her book “Knitting on the Road” for advice on the square heel and Cat Bordhi, whose book “Socks Soar on Two Circular Needles” contains a wealth of information on how to knit socks.

Knitting socks on two circular needles

I used the two socks on two circular needles for this pair of socks. I prefer to knit socks two at a time, because when you’ve finished, you have a pair of socks and don’t have to go back and knit that second sock. You can knit socks two at a time using either two circulars – as shown here in my photo – Or you can use the magic loop technique. I started another pair of socks last night using this technique – so I’ll post about them later.