Jaunty

The way Anne Kuo Lukito's Morgan hat is constructed is quite amazing. Most of it is knit in one piece, then there's some grafting and some sewing up, but nothing that's toooooo complicated.


Morgan hat
Project page on Ravelry

I found a notebook with a thick plastic cover, so I tore it off, cut it to size, and sewed it inside the peak (brim) to give it shape. The pattern suggests using 2 snaps to attach the brim to the body of the hat, but that didn't look right on mine so I sewed the hat to the brim along entire front edge.

This is weird. I'm not a hat person.

FO math

+3 = 10 = 1 FO

What?

I made 3 more bracelets, bringing the total number of beaded pieces to 10.


Ladder bracelet with metal beads


3x7 Flowers on knotted nylon


Glass beads and knotted nylon

I thought a 10:1 ratio would be about right for counting FO's for the Workin' Down the WIPs group since each beaded piece is less labor intensive than a knitted object.

So there you go, +3 = 10 = 1 FO. It's FO math.

Felting magic

The Fiber Trends clogs that I made almost 7 years ago are starting to fall apart. It's not uncommon to find bits of the sole on the family room carpet. So, guess what our Christmas presents are this year?

I love this Bev Galeskas design. It's nothing short of magic to convert hundreds of yards of wool into footwear. Footwear!

Here are the before and after felting photos.






Clogs for him
Project details on Ravelry







Clogs for me
Project details on Ravelry

The Hedera Jacket, Finished Object #3

WDTW = Workin' Down the WIPs, the Ravelry Group for those of us who want to complete a few of our lingering Works in Progress.

My personal goal was to complete 3 projects before buying more yarn/fiber or starting a new project. It turns out that the 3 projects that I chose were not small and each needed quite a bit of work.


Workin' Down the WIPs

Finished Object #1 was the Haapsalu Shawl. So much lace in such fine yarn took a lot of concentration and patience, especially for the edging which was knit separately and sewn on.

FO #2 was 4 yards of woven fabric. The weaving seemed like it was going quickly, but getting to the end of the warp took longer than I anticipated. It's off the loom now and will eventually be sewn into cushions.

FO #3 was finished on Thursday. It is the Hedera Jacket from Nancy Marchant's Knitting Brioche: The Essential Guide to the Brioche Stitch and is 5-color brioche knit in Cascade 220 wool. It's roomy and warm (as a jacket should be) and I can't believe it's finished.


Hedera Jacket
Project details on Ravelry

I've already started a new project using stash yarn. More about that later.

The end of the warp

How wonderful to look through the reed and see the end of the warp approaching the heddles.


1-2-3-2 Stripes
Project details on Ravelry

The 1-2-3-2 Stripes fabric is finished, all 4 yards of it. Whew! I hemstitched this end, then went back to the beginning and hemstitched it, because I forgot to when I started the project.

This fabric will be cushions for a rocking chair. It's essentially upholstery fabric, so I wasn't planning on washing it before I cut and sewed it. What do you think? Will that be okay or do you think it would be better if I put it through a gentle cycle in the washer & dryer? It's 100% cotton.

Regardless, I'm counting it as a FO now.

What to do, what to do?

After finishing the Haapsalu shawl, I've been focusing on finishing the Hedera jacket. The sweater has a lot of things going for it--5 color brioche in Cascade 220 that is stunning on the RS and the WS, and... and...

You'd think I could find other things I like about the sweater, but picking it up after such a long time has been challenging.

• My gauge is slightly different than it was when I knit the back.
• After I finished the back & the fronts, I realized that I counted the rows incorrectly for the armhole shaping. Rows are counted differently in brioche. Every other st is worked in a row, then the slipped sts are worked in the return row. That means one "row" equals 2 rows worked. So basically I worked all of the armhole decreases at a faster rate than the pattern specified. I was upset when I realized my mistake, but decided not to do anything about it until I set a sleeve in to see if it was a real issue.

So I worked on the first sleeve and carefully calculated the sleeve cap shaping to make sure I understood what the pattern was calling for, single rows, or brioche rows. After I finished the first sleeve, I basted everything together and discovered my next problem. It had nothing to do with the armhole shaping.


Hedera Jacket
Project details on Ravelry

Get a load of that cuff! It's turned up a full 4 inches and I think it looks sloppy. I should have checked the dimensions of the sleeve before I made it, but if I pick the correct sweater size the sleeves usually fit. If anything they can be too short. Well this is definitely not too short. The schematic showed 4 inches of working even before the sleeve increases, but I assumed (incorrectly) that meant a turned up cuff of 2 inches.

Here's another look at it--


Hedera sleeve cuff

Last night my mind went from one option, to another, to another.

• Rip back to shorten the cuff. That would be about 3 inches short of ripping out the entire sleeve.
• Leave it the way it is and double roll the cuff. Yeah, that wouldn't look sloppy.
• Cut 1-1/2 inches off the cuff and figure out how to and sew a finished edge.

I didn't like any of my options, so I put it in a corner and hoped something good would happen in the morning.

To my surprise, the new day brought a new option and it's a good one. On other sweaters I've made, the sleeve cap shaping started soon after the last sleeve increase. I forgot that this sleeve is different, there are some rows worked even after the sleeve increases and before the cap shaping.


Rows worked even before sleeve cap

The red pin marks the last sleeve increase. I could rip out the sleeve cap and 1-1/2 to 2 inches of the sleeve and then re-knit the sleeve cap. It'll also shift the fattest part of the sleeve up on my arm and I think that will be a good thing.

Wow. I'm so glad I didn't rip the whole sleeve out, because you know that's what was going to happen.

It's like a cloud

Glorious!


Haapsalu Shawl - Silvia


Haapsalu Shawl - Silvia
Project details on Ravelry

It's as light as a feather, yet surprisingly warm. I love it. The Estonians have a wonderful tradition. If you're interested in Haapsalu shawls, I highly recommend getting a copy of this book if you can find it: The Haapsalu Shawl by Siiri Reimann and Aime Edasi.

Workin' Down the WIPs

My Rav Project page has had too many WIPs for too long. Having so many WIPs makes me uneasy because it feels like I can't finish anything.

Here's my goal--finish 3 projects before starting or buying for a new one. I posted it on FB yesterday because if I knew if I went public with my goal, I'd be more likely to reach it. I also thought that some of you out there might have a WIP issue (just a guess) so I asked if anyone was interested in joining me. ;)

So how about it? Would you like to work down your backlog of WIPs? Would you like moral support in your quest of the elusive "FO"?

If so, come join the Ravelry Group, Workin' Down the WIPs.


Ravelry Group: Workin' Down the WIPs

We can share our progress and support each other in achieving our goals, whether it's finishing 1 project or more. And your WIP could be any work in progress: knitting, crochet, weaving, sewing, cleaning, painting, remodeling, gardening, you name it!

My 3 WIPs are
1) The Silvia 2 Haapsalu Shawl
2) The Hedera Jacket in 5-color Brioche
3) The 1-2-3-2 Striped Fabric on the floor loom


Workin' Down the WIPs