Friday, January 15, 2021

SEW: Knit shawls together

 Have had these shawls for a few years- Mom knit them. over time- from washing they have felted and are too small for a shawl. But I always need something for my butt or my lap . So I decided to sew them together at the long side. No mean task! But that's done. Always on the search for things to rip apart and reuse.






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Tuesday, January 12, 2021

YARN: 2021 projects

Gift from Dara

wound into a ball outside in the wind and sunshine alpaca and wool beautiful colors






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January 17 2021

finished Paton yarn socks


wound the yarn Paula gave me from Loop in Philadelphia- on the same street as where my great great grandfather lived. South Street.





started a hat.

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January 17 2021

finish two baby hats. no more small needle stuff for a while please!




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January22 2021


I ordered with a gift card some yarn and stitch makers. Place was in Maine. I ordered as close to the amount as possible as I hated 10 cents hanging on for years and never used. So this shows up on the 27th. Nice surprise. Something told me to check my credit card. As when ordering you have to give them your credit card number. Seemed fishy but hey my best friend trusts them so should I. damn they charged my  card. It was quickly rectified but really. I told them to keep the 45 cent balance and give it to the next customer or a local charity. Web sites should have that set up any how. ugh

the yarn is gorgeous and the markers are perfect!



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February 3 2021

finished first hat with Paula's yarn. top knob is tied off with yarn and can be removed. Making a second hat with same yarn but smaller needles so a denser stitch.


the above yarn has been tried 3 times to make another hat- trying to get the gauge and fit correct. LOL 
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My niece gave me a 20 Visa gift card- I forget whether it was Christmas or birthday. whatever. Finally was able to get into Joann's fabrics in February and get some yarn and here it is.

the colorful ones are Lion Brand they call light weight. It looked thicker like worsted in the store- oh well and needle size recommendation is size 5!
The other skein is store brand- Jo-ann and needle size recommended is size 8.  we will see. they call that color violet- it looked like mocha beige to me in the store.
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January 6 2021
I ordered a few things from amazon one of which was some self striping yarn that I wanted to use for a blanket challenge sponsored by A Great Yarn. When I got the email from the shop about it I emailed back ( since she asked if there were any questions to contact her) how many ounces for each panel. I never got an answer that way or when I asked on her page in facebook. grrr. Whatever. I needed another # 8 needle for the project and ordered that too. Pattern was cast on 50 stitches onto # 8 needles and knit each row to 6 feet length. I finally finished the socks that were using the #8 needles I had. So I checked amazon to see if they had been shipped yet. No. which is stupid as it was ordered almost 30 days before. So I went to cancel the order. The chat person said they will contact the seller and ask. Answer via email next day- no the needle order cannot be cancelled as they were shipped on the 22nd of February. Drat.  Now we know how to rattle the cage of a seller when they are slow to act! Just ask to cancel. So the needle showed up. I had already started the panels. BUT they were tedious- 50 stitches straight across was too much for my patience and the yarn- it kept sticking to the yarn itself and me dropping stitches.
so this is what the panel looked like before I gave up.


so ripped that out and started over and did leg warmers. cast on 60 stitches onto #8 needles do half inch of k2 p2 then switch to 2 pairs of # 9 needles and knit each row. I really like the self striping.

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The purple yarn above from Noro- does this as you are knitting. grrr. Still beautiful yarn though

April 12

using up yarn ends to make things- this will go under my pewter  saucer


casting off the sock scarf project! pretty darn close. LOL


sock scarf completed 






socks I made that had yarn left over for this scarf.


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July 24 25

picked up matching yarn at Great Yarn- Who Gives a Stitch to complete the socks I am making with Dara's gift. I didn't care what color but got matching even though not same dye lot. found my first dropped stitch in the one sock this morning that is resisting correction and remains a hole so I will sew shut when done.


some mandala for a shawl bought 2 more 36 inch circular needles for such projects while in Joann's. Which by the way, when I asked where rayon material was neither knew what I was talking about. They did have a clean rest room though- I had to pee before I did anything. yikes. but the toilet paper dispenser fell apart.
and some organic cotton yarn so I can make myself some cotton socks.


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ah the above yellow cotton yarn. turned out to be a royal pain in the ass to knit with- it split and twisted into knots. I attempted socks hoping to have a pair of cotton socks that were not tight at the ankle. it drooped and would not take shape. So I ripped out the stitches and turned it into a neck triangle scarf- progress so far



attempting the same with purple yarns Dara gave me. super fine and nothing seemed to work. But the triangles are very forgiving. so we will see.


October
Purple yarn from Black Purls at the Yarn Haul 2021. ugh have ripped out stitches like crazy
first try

now working on it- either a hat or a cowl depending upon if it is too big for a hat.
cast on 48 stitches onto # 13 needles. Knit 2 purl 2 for one inch then pattern of K2 yo k1 Purl 2 together, repeat in the groups of 10 stitch. in the 4 stitches at the end of each needle K1 yo k1 purl 2 together. then knit a row then to scatter the holes made by the  yarn overs. do a pattern of K1 yo k1 P 2 together.
so pattern every other row. It is lovely yarn and a great color but bulky. I should know better.

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The purple triangle is coming along

leg warmers 
#7 needles. cast on 44 stitches 
k2 p2 for almost an inch connect in the round and knit all. ready to switch over to using 2 circular needles.
bulky weight Major 7 oz. acrylic yarn bought in yarn haul Adventures in Knitting in Harwich

yellow triangle progress

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November 13
oh that blasted yellow cotton yarn. Making headway but still a ways to go- it tangles like this every 5 minutes LOL

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November 21
I had started an asymetrical scarf shawl earlier using a variagated yarn the pattern was cast on 6. slip    1, knit , yarn over and knit to end
second row was to slip one and purl to the end. oh jeepers it was so time consuming keeping track and purling is not comfortable for me in long rows. so ripped it out and started anew
that pattern is cast on 6 stitches, slip one, knit one yarn over, knit to end. second row slip one knit to end ( no yarn over)
then when there are 5 stitches each end and 10 stitches in sets in the middle I do a pattern of knit 2, yarn over, purl 2 together. First two rows are repeated throughout.
first attempt

nicer stitches but the one side curls no matter what
so
now it looks like thus.


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November
finished making leg warmers and will try to make a hat with the leftover yarn. It is the large skein I got at the yarn haul from Adventures in Knitting


oops those are from today.


purple shawl scarf made with purple yarns in graduated shades

wool shawl almost at the last stripe of this half ( third)

darn yellow cotton scarf

the end of this yellow yarn saga I hope. Unless I double the yarn and made place mats. So aggravating
I was casting off to finish it and set it down to be picked up the next day. When I picked it up again many stitches dropped off! I tried to pick them up I tried to repair but it was hopeless. So I decided to ripped it out! oh yeah!? no can do. The yarn tangles unbelievably and you end up cutting away. So I stopped. Threaded a needle with magenta yarn and turned the cast off edge over and stitched an edge to prevent further unraveling.  I will likely end up throwing it away- but washed it and it is still drying. Yes it also takes forever to dry.







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December 2
the purple scarf 

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Neck warmer made with same yarn I used for Dara's leg warmers.



I think 60 stitches on #10 needles knit in the round. The leg warmers were 44 stitches on # 10 needles. I will try harder this year to keep better records. so frustrating!

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the completed wool shawl with stripes


completed purple project airing in Cape Cod breezes

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