Socks And Recycling

 

I've finished knitting a pair of socks for an order. I used wool I had already spun. I just had to wind it into skeins from balls and dye it. I think I can do the rest of the order from stock. I'll need to replenish my stock of course, but I have some leeway. 

At the moment I'm preparing for tomorrow's craft group meeting. We're going to make milk jug covers. I was worried I didn't have enough suitable beads to sew around the edge of each cover,  but then I remembered some beaded knitting I was given. The two pieces look as though they're intended to be made into a handbag, but I'm never going to do that. They're just lurking. So, I've unravelled one of the pieces and voila, I have enough beads for tomorrow.

Before And After

 

I finished knitting the front of my Kaffe Fassett cardigan. The front is in two pieces, of course, but I knitted them simultaneously to be sure the colours would match. The ends are all knitted in, but I didn't cut them off until I'd finished knitting. The job took well over an hour, but that was a fraction of the time it would have taken if I'd had to sew them all in! When I took the first photo, the camera labelled it as 'food'. Spaghetti perhaps? Good enough to eat anyway. 

Nearly

 

I've nearly finished knitting the front of my Kaffe Fassett cardigan. I have an order for socks and gloves that has a deadline, so I'll have to put it on one side for a while before I do the sleeves, but I'd like to finish the front first. 

Still Knitting

 

The front of my cardigan is going slower than the back did, as I expected, but I have reached armhole level. The neck shaping starts now too, so the number of stitches in each row will decrease and progress should be faster.

The blog list that normally shows  recently updated blogs at the top has been frozen for a couple of weeks. I'm wasting time checking blogs to see whether there's a new post on them! Do you think Blogger is telling us something by not sorting the problem out??

Progressing

 

I'm making progress on the front of my cardigan. I've reached the shaping of the sides. When I knitted the back, I kept a record of where I'd decreased, so that I could match the fronts to the backs without having to work out again where to decrease:

I didn't get any knitting done today because I needed to prepare for tomorrow's craft group meeting. We're going to be making cards and bookmarks made by folding paper:

As well as making the samples, I cut and folded cards, cut strips, made templates, packed everything up.... Oh yes, and baked biscuits (cookies) for tomorrow's tea. 

Starting The Front

 

I've made a start on the front of the Kaffe Fassett cardigan. I'm knitting the two halves of the front at the same time. I'm a bit worried that I might run out of specific colours. If I have to make substitutions, I don't want to end up with one half looking different to the other. The pattern just says 'follow the chart', but I decided to make the colour patterns on each side mirror images of each other. Just to complicate things a bit further! 

The Back

 

I've finished knitting the back of my Kaffe Fassett cardigan. I have snipped all the threads, but not blocked it, so the edges are curling. I'll block it when I've knitted all the pieces.

 I knitted the last few rows just in black. I dithered about that for a while, but what the heck - it's my project, for me, there are no knitting police, amd it made casting off for the shoulders much simpler. 

Sewing Morning

 

 

My sewing mentee came this morning, with plans for a pencil case. He wanted it to be lined and have a division in the middle. He wanted an inside pocket too, but we ran out of time for that. We did cut the bottom corners off so that it stands well.  School starts again next week and he'll be all set. 

Spinning Lessons

 

Two ladies came yesterday morning for a spinning lesson. Both of them did really well.  Swathi is going to be travelling soon, so she thought it would be more sensible to learn to spin on a spindle rather than a spinning wheel. Ute brought carders with her and learnt to card too, as she has fleeces she wants to spin. We had an enjoyable morning!

The Kaffe Fassett cardigan is progressing. I'm above armhole level now, so rows are slightly shorter. 

Progress

 

I've made good progress on the Kaffe Fassett cardigan. I won't be able to keep up this pace, but so far, so good. The two rows where I join in new yarns take some time, but the rest is easy enough. I've trimmed some of the threads, to see how it would go:

It's more time consuming than I expected because it has to be done carefully, but it's certainly quicker than threading the ends in with a needle. 

I've Made A Start

 

Right, I've committed to using the Kaffe Fassett kit and made a start. It feels a bit like that game where you rub your tummy and pat your head at the same time, but it is doable. I'm carrying the background thread of each square across the diamond and using a weaver knot to join in each thread. The rat's nest method works well:

Just pull out the thread you want to work with and don't worry what the rest looks like. I have woven in all the ends, but I know it's best not to cut them off too soon, or they tend to poke through to the front. 

I took the little sample I showed in the previous post to a knit'n'natter session on Friday. One of the people there suggested that I make a short sleeved cardigan. I think that's a really good idea. The yarn is a fine cotton, so the garment is never going to be warm. Making a cardigan that could be worn as a top makes more sense than the long sleeved coat of the pattern. 

Kaffe Fassett Kit

 

A few months ago, a lady came to my stall at the market and asked me if I would like to buy a Kaffe Fassett kit that she was given many years ago. Mmm, ok. She brought the kit the following month. To start with I thought it was a bit of a swizz that she was going to charge me for something she was given, but I think she needs the money and the price I paid is a lot less than if I bought all the colours separately. Fair enough. The kit has sat in the craft room until I had time to look at it. 

I had hoped the pattern would include tips for dealing with so many colours and  yarns. Nope. Not a word. Just 'cast on this many stitches and follow the chart'. I have a book by Kaffe Fassett and Zoe Hunt on my shelf, so I had a look there. There were a few hints from Zoe at the back of the book. I had a look on line and found a bit more advice. Apparently, it's best to use short lengths of yarn without bobbins, so the yarn you want to use can just be pulled out of any muddles. Right. My big concern is starting and finishing all those ends. I read that it's best to weave (knit) in the ends as you go, rather than sew them in afterwards with a needle. Otherwise, I guess you'd spend as long sewing in ends as knitting the garment! 

I cast on 33 stitches using the needles recommended in the pattern. Oh my goodness, what a fiddle, coping with all those bits of yarn. The needles were too big. Not only was the measurement wrong, but the knitting looked thin and horrible. I changed down a needle size but continued knitting. The pattern said to use intarsia, which means using three yarns for each square. I thought if I used fair isle technique to carry the background across the diamond, I'd only need two yarns per square. Fewer ends to deal with. I tried that on the third repeat. It changes the shape of the diamond a bit, but is easier to work. I'm still worried about the security of the joins. The yarn is mercerized cotton, quite slippery, and there's not much leeway to hide ends because there are so  many. I may use weavers knots. I'm sure I read once that Kaffe Fassett is happy to use knots. 

Here's the back of the work. Not shown in any of the books or articles I've seen!

It would be a shame for the kit to sit around any longer, but I am wondering if my life is too short for this. I guess that with practice I'll get better at the techniques involved. 

Tidying The Craft Room

 I love having a dedicated craft room where I can sew or spin and keep my supplies, not only the supplies for my own work, but for the craft group that I run once a week. Those range from fabric scraps to old greeting cards and toilet roll cores. I have a whole drawer full of buttons. I try to keep it all under control, but lately it has gotten out of hand. So I spent yesterday morning cleaning and tidying in there. It still looks rather chaotic, but now it is organised chaos!

Tatting

 

I've been tatting flowers for a food net. Our winter is drawing to a close, so I suspect the window for socks and gloves in handspun wool is beginning to close. I thought I had better make something else for Saturday's market. 

Mending

 

I don't mend my own socks; I chuck them out and knit a new pair. But at the July market, a lady asked me if I would sort out the heels of her socks. Mmm. I don't think my darning skills are good enough to cover such an area of sock. How about knitting an afterthought heel? Many years ago, I made my children tracksuits with knitted welts, following a pattern in Anna Burda magazine. The stitches for the welts were created by sewing over a knitting needle. Could I use the same technique for the socks? I could:

I created 48 stitches on four needles around the edge of the heel and then knitted an afterthought heel as usual. 

Voila, new heels on two pairs of socks. 

Spun

 

I'm struggling to regain my oomph, but I have spun four skeins of wool. Spinning and plying a 'plain vanilla' yarn doesn't require a lot of concentration or wits. 

Flowers And A Failure

 

The flower bracelet worked well. I really like the other bracelet too, but I haven't been able to get the invisible join right. I've had some sort of winter bug and felt unwell. I think I'll wait until I feel better and have more wits about me before I try the join again. 

Two Finishes

 

In my daytime crafting, I've finished another bracelet. 

And over several evenings, I've knitted a pair of socks. They're definitely fraternal twins, one is darker than the other. I'm not sure why. As I showed in this post, the two skeins were dyed together. Anyway, I think they look ok, fraternal it is. It's also interesting how different the colour pattern is to this pair of socks which have definite stripes. Hmm, that's the joy of hand dyeing wool. 

Two

 

I've finished two beaded crochet bracelets. I've just been working on them during the day, knitting socks in the evenings. I can knit without looking at my work, which is good when watching TV. Beaded crochet needs more concentration. 

Beading Again

 

Well, I did sell the blue and white entrelac gloves at the market on Saturday, so that's good. I don't have any knitting orders at the moment, but the lady in the shop that sells my beadwork wants more bracelets, so I'm working on that.