knit...knit...frog

Making

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Mon, 25 Jan 2021 21:14:00 +0000

This is one of a several post series, outlining the background for work I have accepted for an exhibition in at the From out of the blue Studio Gallery . (Spoiler alert - my work won an award).

This post is a little bit historic, here in New Zealand 2020 was rough, as it was across the world, Covid-19 required us to work from home, to socially distance and to practice much more stringent hygiene than most of us usually did. There was hand washing, and and coughing into elbows and towards the end of 2020 wearing of masks. There was also fear, and the unknown and worry, as we adapted to new rules and conventions around living that were designed to keep us safe and healthy as a community, a team of five million our Prime Minister called us. New Zealand geographically is isolated - distance from many places. Usually this causes us New Zealanders to have a little moan, travel to the UK takes days even (well 26+ hours on a fast plane, longer usually given more stopovers and economy flights with slower planes), to Australia 5 hours, and to the USA 12-19 hours and costs a lot. In 2020 this distance became a bonus, New Zealand shut its boarders and went into lockdown earlier than most countries - with a result that Covid-19 rates and deaths in New Zealand were and are still low compared to many other places.

Sewing with my 1960's Singer 15 Clone
- a simple vintage straight stitch machine

Here in New Zealand we watched as the world, countries and peoples who were not able to shut boarders and who financially were not able to set up the economics required for a 6 week stay at home order - faced increasing levels of Covid-19 in their communities. I was shocked and dismayed at the rising toll on hospitals, health workers, and communities.

I saw amazing craft responses, the prices of second hand sewing machines skyrocketed, here in NZ one yarn supplier initially positioned themselves as an essential service on mental health grounds, and our/my students in a Fashion School discovered that while New Zealand was only permitting 'essential services for shopping and travel' that bedding suppliers sold flat sheets as 'essential' which meant they could purchase fabric to keep designing. People took up knitting, crochet, baking, yoga, and sour-dough breads to fill the void left by commuting and activity beyond their homes.

From mid 2020 - our government began to encourage the use of masks, in additional to hand sanitiser and other measures, I made masks for those around me who could not make their own and gifted them. Our students made masks in their spare time and sold these for 'cost' -the local media picked up their story and they became locally famous Georgie, Cassidy and Katherine - there was demand. My first masks were made as exploratory masks, using materials to hand, elastic became in shoe supply and I was grateful for an earlier interest in sewing dolls clothes for my children years back that left me with meters of narrow elastic, and for work for ordering a spool of elastic before national and retail supplies ran low. I was grateful for my Ravelry Communities, there other crafters, knitters and sexists and makers of all kinds discussed their experiences, knowledge and strategies for Covid-19. Ravlery is an amazing space, those who are geeky and passionate enough about their knitting are also usually intelligent and passionate about other things, and many are experts in other areas, scientists, educators, medics and lab specialists. I followed discussion 'threads' where mask making was discussed and knowledge shared, where the progression of Covid- its transmission and occurrence globally was tracked and discussed, and where the issue of shopping and cooking when supply chains were disrupted were problem solved. Where people shared and networked in ways that were amazing to me still - the hive mind that is Ravlery which usually works together to provide expertise and knowledge in the field of crafting - worked to share info to keep its members safe. I am deeply grateful for those who shared their knowledge and unpacked technical information and linked to reliable sources (while discussing the pros and cons of everything in intelligent ways).

Once that initial flurry of activity died down - and all those I knew who needed masks were provided for my thoughts turned to making masks that maybe were more planned, more deliberate and more reflective of what I wanted to say. I had seem some amazing masks on the FB group Breathe, many by indigenous makers who worked their unique heritages and craft traditions into their masks. If I was going to wear a mask - I wanted my mask to better represent me.

I began to embroider some masks - to see where this would take me, using the tambour technique I have been working with for nearly a decade. I began with the phrase - Be Kind, one Jacinda Adern used to guide New Zealanders to be supportive of each other.

A stitch in time, or maybe a little late

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sat, 21 Dec 2019 06:59:00 +0000

One of the first rules written in historic texts on mending is to reinforce thin or weak spots before they form holes. This is useful advice, it is far easier to patch or reinforce a thin spot than it is to patch a hole or tear. But there are times when 'fashion' or convention dictate that something not be mended. I once worked with a women who's partner was a painter, and the first thing they did with new coveralls was mess them up. To appear in pristine new white coveralls, with no paint stains was just not done. Denim is one of those fabrics which has more 'value' when worn in, when a little worn or roughed up or faded. Manufacturers and Designers (not always the same thing) go out of their way to distress or 'pre-wear' denim, so it doesn't look so new, so unworn. This is something that increasingly makes me uncomfortable - distressing, bleaching, sanding, or ripping denim to look 'cool' shortens its life by years and years.
One of my oldest clothing items is a denim jacket, made in New Zealand by Workshop, it looks the same the the one they still sell. I bought it before there were children I my life, way back nearly 30 years ago, at the time it was expensive and a special purchase. It was slightly distressed (something I would avoid now as it shortens the life of garments), and I have always loved the fit, the long sleeves and the narrow body.
But the problem with long sleeves is the same as the problem with long jeans or trousers - the hem wears out first. At first I didn't mind, I kind of liked the 'this old thing' vibe of the ragged sleeve hems. I wore it with pride, imagining that the wear was kind of a symbol of a favourite jacket and of a slight disregard for conventions around clothing having to be new. As the frayed edge threads got longer and longer, and people started ask if I should trim them, and I realised that while a worn jacket might be 'cute' or 'street' it wasn't very practical, I started to catch the threads on door knobs and other edges.

It was time to repair my favourite denim jacket, my only denim jacket. First I trimmed away all the loose threads. This was good as trimming revealed the work that needed to be done. The edge had worn away and the inner and outer cuff were now separate layers. I realised the long threads were the threads that ran around the edge of the cuff -- as the edge warp threads wore away the horizontal weft threads had nothing to hold them in place.

There are traditions of mending all around the world. In my 'work' world I research mending and repair of textiles in New Zealand Museums. My focus period is 1870's to 1950's - kind of arbitrary dates based on when needlework including mending was included in the New Zealand school curriculum. I pair this with research that looks at text books published at the same time - and look at instructions for mending. One of the universal methods is a running stitch mend - it appears in all the books, and is the one I see most in mended textiles in collections. The second most frequent is a patch. This method is the one that has become popular as people look at and emulate Boro textile repair. The darning samplers I have seen in New Zealand museums usually have the repairs worked in contrast threads, this is so who ever is viewing the sampler can clearly see how the repair was worked. This was twofold, so the teacher and examiners could assess the work-pesonship, and so the owner could use the sampler to remind them how to complete a repair.

I used Japanese Sashiko thread, from Minerva(in Wellington), to reinforce and stitch the cuffs. They don't list it on their website but if you phone them they will happily ship to you. The thread comes in several colours, but I choose to use a soft natural white. It also comes in at least two weights - I went for the finer thread. I could have used machine sewing thread and if I had the stitching would have been less visible. I could have used embroidery thread - but it would have had less twist than the Japanese repair thread.

The first cuff - I just used the thread to reinforce the edge, the second cuff I added in a layer of folded cotton to even up the edge. This was the right sleeve and was more worn than the left (I'm right handed). Adding the layer of folded fabric between the two cuff layers - meant I had to work the horizontal stitches first.

How did looking at mending samplers in museums and vintage books inform me? Well I knew that the thread had to be kept soft, and not pulled too tight. If I pulled the mending threads too tight the work would become stiff. Keeping the stitches 'soft' allowed the fabric to retain its soft flexible fabric qualities.

The finished cuffs look mended, but that is ok, the jacket is 30 years old, it looks far more used and worn than any new garment would. Replacing the cuffs would have taken much more work and looked odd with the vintage fabric of the jacket.

The final cuffs are mended, and I can't wait to wash the jacket so the threads blend into the fabric more. Except my learning about sustainble fashion and the 'cost of fashion' informs me that laundry is one of the major ways to wear out textiles - we have been encouraged to over clean and wash our textiles far more than they need to be. There is some evidence that 80% of the environmental cost of a garment lies with a consumer - in the laundry practices they use. I discuss this with my students - that as designers they may only be able to make decisions that affect 20% of the environmental cost of a garment. There is quite a bit of noise around how 'Fashion' is unsustainable - and most of it points fingers at manufacturers and designers - very little highlights the role customers have in caring for their garments. I will wash this jacket - when it is dirty, too dirty for a brush or an airing to deal with. I did use my iron to steam the mend - knowing that the thread and fabric would puff up and relax and just look a bit more integrated.

Na Stella

Towards the end

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sat, 23 Nov 2019 07:22:00 +0000

I can't believe it is November 2019 already, I began this year with the intention of doing more blogging, of returning to the weekly or even bi-weekly posting to this blog as I used to do. It has been a busy year, with lots on - and my aims remain just that, aims. That said there are a few updates, things that are blog worthy. I have a new pattern out, and I'm weaving a little more, and I have some writing published in a book by Te Papa Press.

The Art and Science project I was working on back in August was finished, and exhibited and is now a pattern uploaded to Ravelry.

The Exhibition catalogue is here, and contains images of the works in the exhibition. The image I used was a progress image, a developmental image. At the time the catalogue went into pre-print set up I just hadn't enough of the final project completed to use it in the catalogue. The pattern is here, and sets out the background to the project. I collaborated with Prof Craig Marshall, of the University of Otago. Craigs interest was in the way biological matter changes the structure and formation of ice. I went with the term Dirty Ice - but its more complex than that, its about scale and structure and repetition - and I tried to capture those ideas in a modified lace.

The final pattern is for a double layer lace cowl, the lace shifts from a larger triangular structure that repeats over six stitches into a medium lace structure that repeats over four stitches, to an even tighter version that repeats over four stitches. The goal was to transition - and I found a solution that used both fewer stitches (so a closer spacing) and also different sized holes. Some used double yarn overs to create four stitches, others used double yarn overs to create two stitches, and the lasts used a single yarn over to create two stitches. The transitions need to be fluid - I couldn't just switch between the two laces - I needed to find a way to merge them together over so they blended and morphed the way the structure of ice did. The lace also had to be triangular - as I learned ice was. It felt like breaking the rules - but also like I was beginning to understand this lace knitting just a little bit more. What was really exciting was the number of comments on the pattern - and that within the first few months several projects have appeared. In my other world, my work world, I write my research up into papers, and publish them. One of the ways we 'measure' the success of our publications, is in citations - how many times other people use 'our' work in their work. I'd like to think that having a pattern worked by another knitter is a little bit like being cited. And in a follow up I have signed up to take part in 2020 - meaning the opportunity for another collaborative project.

I'v also been weaving, this is the latest batch of dish towels on the loom, a 12/2 cotton, in a colour called Pompeii Dust, alongside a black and dark blue. This was a challenging set up, finer than anything I have woven before except for that really fine 22/2 cotton sampler I mistakenly set up in 2014. At that stage I was brand new to weaving and didn't want to weave the kinds of thick home made chunky weaving that weavers seemed to do. I wanted to weave finer cloth. What I learned at the time was that weaving fine cloth is fun, and pretty impressive but involves lots of fiddly work to set up. Mistakes rather than being invisible are harder to find and trickier to fix. That little adventure taught me to approach fine weaving slowly. I have now made a few things in 10/2 and 8/2 cotton, and this is my first 12/2 cotton. Finer means more threads per inch, and so more chances to make mistakes and so more to potentially need to fix. The fabric that curves over the breast beam was woven by a visiting student - someone who has invested in his own loom - I invited him up to see how a floor loom worked - to motive him to put his together. His is second hand will need some assembly and set up.

This is probably my big news this week - something I wrote is in a book, a book on New Zealand Crafting. A few years back Damion Skinner held a series of workshops around New Zealand - inviting people to workshop and discus what craft was, what craft meant and what craft could be. We were asked to develop a definition of Craft that worked for makers, for owners, for curators and for theorists - it was hard. The workshops were funded by Creative New Zealand. Following the workshops people were asked to contribute to a book to be published.

The article is short, but hopefully clear to people who want to read about craft and craft education. One of the areas I research is how people were taught about mending. I was curious why people were not teaching mending any more - and I know it is tied up in the rise of consumer culture and of mass production. I suspect that decades of teaching mending as a virtue beget a culture that wanted to avoid mending at all costs, That never having to mend again was the very real outcome of making young people learn how to mend and telling them it was their 'lot in life'. Those children who had learned to mend at school were then exposed to a huge amount of marketing of consumer goods, including textiles. To see if my ideas were right meant a wee bit of work, looking at legislation, looking at samplers in museums, and looking at articles on teaching and learning needlework. Some of the content is available digitally - here. This year the work has progressed a little more with a visit to the Auckland War Memorial Museum, and a planned visit to Te Papa in a few weeks. Those visits were to capture data on mends done to domestic textiles in the 20th Century. At some point I think I may have to work my own mending sampler ...

So that is that, well nearly, I may have another loom and I might be in the process of doing some other weaving. More next week (promise).

na Stella

There has been knitting, and there has been frogging

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 25 Aug 2019 07:55:00 +0000

Yes, frogging, and mending, and knitting. There is even more weaving being set up. Truth be told, there is more knitting since the last blog post than a single post can cover - so today its just highlights and onward.

My AfterParty sweater is done, all finished, and was in time for the Christchurch Mid Winter Wool Feast in June. I do like this very much, the body is boxy, wide, and the sleeves narrow - it is one garment that receives multiple comments every time I wear it. Several people call it 'cute' which is kind of nice given I am now in my 50's and cute seems to belong to a distant past. I would very much knit another of these. Maybe in some yarn that is more local?

And with one sweater done, another was began. This time in lace-weight 2 ply yarn. Ad again a direct copy of one knit by someone who's style I admire, Julia, hers is in orange - mine in grey. I am Knitting BlueBell, Published by Jamieson & Smith, in their yarn. The pattern, and Julia, have this sweater knit in flat, but I have converted this to be knit in the round. I am playing fast and loose with gauge - no gauge swatch and I think is is knitting to size - when I hold it against me it feels ok - if not maybe smaller cub who is nearly my height but finer built might get it. The only tricky part has been centering the pattern repeats on the yoke, between the raglan lines. After a bit of thinking and a few false starts I simply counted the stitches - subtracted as many stitches as I could for complete pattern repeats as I could and divided the remaining stitch count by 2 - placing half evenly on each side of the pattern repeats. I have worked those edges in checker board or part pattern repeats - depending on what feels best. Checker board if only a few stitches, part pattern repeats if nearly an entire repeat.

I am loving the yarn in the yoke colourwork, it is a soft pale blue green - with hints of pink and purple.

There has also been mending - next to the red darn, is the word Fix - in gold. These are commercial socks, pure merino. And they are soft and warm and fit nicely inside boots that hand knit socks are too bulky to fit into. But - 100% Merino is pretty fragile, and these are wearing thin in the wear spots, toe tips and the one on the top that caught on something. Occasionally it is nice to be reminded of the easy care and durable materials we have available to us.

And the last project is an Art Project, destined to be part of the Art and Science exhbition. A lace cowl designed in collaboration with a biochemist at the University of Otago. the lace is based on the lace used in Caparison by Vintage Purls, but morphs as it travels up the cowl to mimic the way contaminants in ice affect the crystal formation. Working how how to replicate that visually in hand knitted lace has challenged me and made me think about lace and repeats and stitch counts and transitions.

There was much swatching, initially I thought the lace could be knitted in a long colour run yarn. The shift in colours was to signal a change in lace pattern - and there was much swatching and testing to see how that could work. What I didn't think through was how a singles yarn would bias as it was knitted making the swatch twist. That was a cool effect but not quite right for this project.

After that I switched to using a plied yarn, and worked the developing laces a little more - playing with how many rows between the lace pattern rows, how much to offset and how to seamlessly repeat these around a tube for a cowl.

And the mini tube - biased lace - I do like this version, its far more organic but not quite right for this project.

na Stella

Those people, who came before and were weavers, they were clever.

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 26 May 2019 09:01:00 +0000

The weavers who came before me, they were clever. They worked out ways to do things that work. Some times, those of us who come later, who come late to doing things, the next generation or the later generations think we understand - but usually then find that the ways of the 'old people' work better than we expect. Today I have an update on weaving - still not weaving, and on knitting, which is actually knitting.

First up is the knitting, I have reached that moment in bottom up knitting where the sleeves are introduced to the body. Knitting in the round has lots of benefits, like being able to try it as it is knit, no seams to sew, and for some patterns being able to mindlessly knit around and around instead of working back wards and forwards.

There are also some awkward moments with knitting in the round. Just after adding the sleeves to the body - there is a weird awkward stage where the top of the sleeves are constrained by the shortness of the underarm section - it really takes knitting for 2-3 cm's with a variation of magic loop before true knitting in the round can be done. The fun part of this is about to start - working a full yoke in colour work. Unfortunately I have another project that needs attention, so this will proceed slowly almost as a treat for working on the 'things that have a deadline'.

And the weaving, well I warped front to back, so sleyed the reed/beater first. The instructions generally are to 'rough sley' - in an approximation of the final distribution across the reed. Usually in a pattern of paired yarns - and then thread the heddles, then re-slay the reed with the final distribution. I say distributions as there is seldom one thread in each slot of the reed - usually there is a distribution pattern like 2/2/3 threads in the reed slots. This sleying twice eemed like an unnecessary step so I sleyed with the final distribution - in my case 2/3 in a 12 dent reed for a final sett of 30 epi.

I transferred the cross to behind the reed and threaded the heddles. Then tied the warp to the back beam and wound it on. Then I tied the warp to the front beam. And tested the treddles - and found several - well more than several threads were twisted at the reed. It happens, well with 600 threads and several operations it is likely that some might jump over their neighbors as the threading is worked. I spent a good 10-15 minutes sorting the threads in the first inch of the warp - before deciding that those weavers who came before me - the ones who resleyed the reed - they actually had a point. So I untied the warp from the front beam - and pulled the bouts of warp out of the reed - securing each inch bout in a slip knot.

Then working from the right to the left I re-sleyed the reed. All the time i thought how clever those weavers were - the ones who had not only worked out how to do this complicated thing - installing 600+ warp threads on a loom in pattern - but had shared their working method of how to do it. This took a little over an hour - but was much quicker than finding and fixing all the odd twisted errors. By this time it was too dark to see in daylight - even though it was only 5pm - I needed the extra punch of the desk lamp to help me.

Then I had a magic moment, I settled myself on the floor with my draft diagram all ready to retie up the treddles for the new pattern. What I discovered was the lift for this draft was identical to the lift for the previous project - so I was all set to go. I was a bit lazy and wove the header inch using the 8/2 cotton from the last project that was already on the shuttle (this project is thinner 12/2 cotton).

Finally I checked the shed - and with no twisted threads and with no change to the tie up of the treddles it was clear. The end threads are my pair of floating selvedges so will sit in the middle of the open shed. Once I wind the cloth over the cloth beam I think i will get a better shed - that is something I might play a little with. Adjusting the treddle tie up to see if the shed can be larger. This is the second project with Texsolve - and it does make me more inclined to play.
I think I need to check the threading - there might be a few places where it isn't quite right. That will have to wait until the weekend I think. A bit disappointing but something I suspected. I hope it is a straightforward fix - but if not most redos are quick as the how has already been worked out.

na Stella

Hello again

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 19 May 2019 08:36:00 +0000

I have been knitting and setting up the next weaving project. My Afterparty sweater/jersey/jumper* is coming along nicely, I am into the third sleeve. Yes three - the first sleeve didn't quite follow the rate of increases, I had worked the increases every 5 instead of every 6 rounds. So I frogged back to the beginning of the increases and worked it again. This morning I joined up with James, and J - all three of us gathered at James house to watch the final of Eurovision Song Quest. I rediscovered it last year - and decided to make a point of watching again - just like we did as kids when it was televised. Of course New Zealand isn't European and has no way to enter (unlike Australia!). That little jaunt made for nearly four hours of straight knitting time on a Sunday morning - which is nearly 1/3 of a sleeve. And the winner - lets just say it wasn't my pick - but I'm not officially European (so don't get a vote) and the final show as pretty light spectacular fantastic!

The loom is part-way dressed, I successfully moved the cross from in front of the reed to behind it - a little bit of magic that completely confused Bear who was helping. This link provided really clear instructions, and it was kind of magic, turn lease stick, pull warpk insert new lease stick and voila! Transferred.

Saturday I threaded 1/3 of the heddles, and Sunday afternoon managed to get the rest threaded. There are 600 in total - and the pattern repeats over 20 threads - between working in sets of four and checking - it was slow going. This time I am using iWeaveIt, the weaving app for iPad. This has a neat feature that lets you work through threading block by block. I spent the time turning the loom so the best light from the window was over my shoulder - and eventually added a desk lamp so I could work beyond sun set (it is May so dusk falls around 5pm now).

As I began to wind it onto the back beam - I realized that I had missed tying on 4 threads - and now I have to pause and unwind and attach it with the others to the back beam. I cant believe I missed it - and there is nothing to do but fix it and continue carefully. I know that it will be fiddly to fix - as there are also two broken threads to fix and re-thread through the heddles. There is something a little odd about some one like me working on something that requires so much careful managing - I really prefer things that flow craftwise - but once the prep is done - weaving flows.

Here is the progress shot of the sleeves, at this rate these will be done soon - which means the yoke is next. The yoke on this sweater is colour work - so lots of fun to look forward to.

I liked the proportions of this sweater, a slightly wider boxy body and longer sleeves - and I am hoping this darker burnt orange will fit into my wardrobe of blue and blue grey and black easily.

* sweater/jersey/jumper, I grew up in New Zealand speaking of these garments as jumpers, and perhaps jerseys, but with the leap into online knitting communities the word sweater has joined my vocab. This leaves me a little confused as to what word to use when talking online so I use all three.

Na Stella

And yes, I have been knitting

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Thu, 25 Apr 2019 08:30:00 +0000

Today it is a late post, I have a weeks leave from work and little things like weekend routines tend to slide. But there is knitting,

The knitting is Scottish, Le Petit Lambswool Biches and Bouche, I am shamelessly copying a sweater I saw at Unwind - Afterparty by Astrid Troland. The yarn was a late Unwind 2019 purchase - I told myself I didn't need it, that I had lots of yarn, but Sunday morning, 3 days in I realized that I would regret not adding the Le Petit Lambswool to my stash. The yarn is not merino or cashmere soft, but is light and soft to touch - more like Shetland yarns only perhaps softer. After party should look good with dark plain dresses and jeans and other wardrobe staples.

As well as knitting on Afterparty (and a few other languishing projects in the WIP basket), I have been playing with my Inklette loom. I've had this for a few years but only recently realized that it was perfect for making matching tapes for hand woven items. This was meant to be a perfect match for the black-white shaded warp that is currently on the Loom. I say meant to be as the idea was good but a little naive.

I knew in theory that the white weft would show on each edge, and that if it matched the warp it would appear invisible. What I failed to understand was that it would show as tiny white blips on the black side of the band. I could have switched the white weft out to a grey - dark or light, but decided to continue to weave the band and use this as practice for my tension. I worked purposefully on this - making sure the white blips were as even as I could make them. I also worked my way through several Inkle forum threads on Ravelry.com, testing advice and suggestions for keeping Inkle selvedges neat and tidy.

What I learned I put into practice on a wider band. This one has 91 threads, and I have added an Inkle temple. This is a wrap of sturdyt paper taped to a fixed width. Every time I place a weft I change sheds and tug the weft until the band width matches the temple width. This simple little trick (Thank you Inkle weavers Help Desk of Ravelry) is genius. I am not too sure about the orange - but knew the grey/blue/black band needed some sort of bright. Bear asked how wide Inkles could be - I said not much wider than this on the Inklette and asked why. Seems these have Guitar strap potential - which is one of the classic uses by many weavers. I might have to explore weaving wider Inkle bands on a floor loom some time soon.

The weaving on the floor loom continues, this is tea towel number 3, in a chevron twill. I still consider myself a beginner weaver, and the inconsistencies in my beating are really clear in this photo. The good news is that washing and tumble drying seems to help even things out. The messy bits just above the orange weft are the anchor pegs of the Texsolve supporting the lamms. The plan is to place a narrow decorative band in a darker colour 2/3 of the way up the piece.

Over the past week I have tweaked and adjusted the tie-up and now the loom is working nicely. I've worked out which cords go behind and which in front, and how long each cords should be. There were some adjustments to make as the Texsolv anchor pegs don't fit the the holes in the shafts - but they do work as buttons to hold the cord in place. Some of the lamms didn't work so well with the pegs - they rode so closely together that the pegs would get caught and flick out. of the Texsolve holes. For those positions I switched to cotter pins, which clamp on the cord and lie very very flat on the top of the lamm. I might have celebrated the loom being in lovely smooth working condition by ordering some loom toys.

I also dropped into the local library and picked up two books on Inkle weaving.l I have Anne Dicksons weaving on four shafts book and think I will add her Inkle pattern directory to my bookshelf in the near future.

Helen Bress's Inkle weaving book is a little dated - no colour but sections on how to add sticks and found objects to ones inkle bands.. What I did like is full detailed plans for making both a table top and floor standing Inkle loom. I don't have immediate plans to build any more looms - but it is nice to know where to find plans.
The sweater, Afterparty, is at the stage of needing sleeves, so that is the next thing to work on. I have been procrasta-weaving at the thought of working two long tubes (sleeves) before the fund colour work of the yoke. The loom is in the room at the far end of the house, and the lighting isn't the best in there so knitting in the living area with nice bright lights is the best choice now the daylight hours are shorter.
take care
na Stella

Are we there yet?

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 14 Apr 2019 08:35:00 +0000

So, last week I said I was nearly there, and it seems I jinxed it maybe just a little. I am weaving but there has been a lot of little tweaking between then and now. I should have expected that, I have replaced all the plain nylon cord with Texsolv and knew I would need to spend some time finding the right lengths for each of the cords so it all worked nicely. I also knew that with 580 thread ends, 4 shafts, four upper lams and four lower lams and eight treadles to connect in the right order and with the right distances between them that there were lots of placed to confuse things. That is 297,859 points to connect and 297,859 points to muck up. At some level it is a little like knitting, as a complete garment can contain that number of stitches - all of which need to face the right way and be the same size and in order. In another way - with Weaving, the corrections mostly happen at the start, once things are sorted the actual weaving is simpler.

So ...first I sorted out where I had accidentally crossed threads between the heddles and the reed.
Then I placed a flat stick into the weft, changed the shed and placed another flat stick, so I could identify where the threads were not in order. It happens - but easily fixed at this stage. a matter of undoing the tie on knot and pulling these gently out and rearranging in the correct order.

Then it was a case of weaving a little bit - and looking carefully for other errors. Here several set of two threads are twinned, sitting beside each other rather than taking turns - over/under. Again it is a case of gently pulling these out of the weave and sorting them into the right order.

Once that was sorted - I wove a little more, just to check the threading was right. And then thinking things were good I worked a two-stick header, so I could eliminate the bulky tie on knots. This is something I have seen in Peggy Osterkamp's book and blog. I like it, it is neat and tidy and rather cool. It did seem to waste a bit more yardage- or at least it did in my case as I didn't have the foresight to place this closer to the beginning of the warp. Live, weave and learn.

The last little bit of checking is to make sure the treadles are tied up in the correct order. Two things need to be 'right' here, that the order is correct for the pattern, when treadle two is depressed - in this case shafts two and four should rise and shafts one and three should fall). The other thing is that the treadles need to be tied up so that the 'shed' or opening created by lifting or lowering the shafts is clean - no stray threads sitting in the middle that could go either way and muck up the pattern. When I started weaving my pattern, a point twill, - the pattern created was nice - but not the pattern I had planned. It took a wee bit of time sitting on the floor fiddling with the tie up to make sure everything was working together in the way I wanted it to.

Finally, it looked good, the top few rows of pattern are the one I planned. There is one little teeny mistake that I do need to fix. If you look carefully one quarter of the way in from the left of the photo - there is an interruption of the pattern. I think - this involves re-threading two threads and adding an extra thread - but I will sleep on that before I do anything drastic.

And while I did all that, Bear and Frank held hands on the sofa. Truly they did, Frank reached out and quietly with soft paws/no claws made sure he was in contact with Bear... so cute.
na Stella

Nearly there...

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 07 Apr 2019 20:35:00 +0000

This weekend was a praxis one, putting theory into practice. As part of 'investing' in weaving as a hobby, I have read and re-read different weaving books and blogs on methods of warping but so far I have only warped one way. It was time to try another method - to make sure I was choosing rather than doing the only method I knew. This is probably my 6th or 7th piece of weaving, and all the others have been warped back to front. There seems to be two main schools of warping, Back to Front, one where the warp is distributed using a raddle and wound onto the back beam before being threaded through the heddles, then thru the reed, then tied on to the front beam. Essentially the warp is wound on the back beam and then threaded from back to front of the loom. The other method is Front to Back, the warp is installed working from the front to the back of hte loom first it is sleyed through the reed, next threaded through the heddles then tied onto the back and wound onto the back beam.

This is the beginning of my first foray into Front to Back warping. Well actually there was a stage before this where I removed the reed, laid it flat on two supports and threaded the warp evenly across it. I had to find a way of supporting the weight of the warp while I worked - as it was likely to drag itself out of the loom and collapse on the floor. Looping it around my spinning chair worked well. There was a bit of loom ajdustment as removing the reed invovled a bit of a tugg of war - so I sanded and shaved the recess so the reed is a better fit into the beater. This should make it easier and quicker to remove the reed in future.

It seems easiest to work from the centre out so the next stage was to find the centre of the warp, easy in this case - as I have four equal sections of colour, and the middle point is between the second and third colour sections. Each thread was threaded through the heddles, in pattern - just a very simple and probably very old [1-2-3-4-3-2] point twill.

Saturday I threaded the reed, and manged to get one of the colour sections into the heddles. Sunday I worked a little more on this, and completed out to the edge of the right side. For me the right is always the more awkward side to thread through the heddles - as it means using the threading hook in the left hand ( I am right handed). It is possible to work from the right side intoward the left - but that involves counting out threads and heddles and being very accurate, for this impatient beginner I find it easier to thread in pattern until I run out of warp.
I discovered that threading the heddles Front to Back is very much more comfortable than sitting at the front. The spacing is just nicer, a more comfortabel reach and height (the back beam is higher than the front on this loom)- that alone is likely to make this my warping method of choice.

Sunday afternoon Bear helped me wind the warp onto the back beam. My other addition to my weaving kit is 5 meters of screen door mesh. This is my new layer between the warp threads. I love this! The warp is smooth and it seems so much neater and flater than using warp sticks or wall paper or corrugated card. Corrugated card - oddlly enough would have been more expensive to buy than the door screen mesh. It was a bit tricky to wind on - definalty a two person activity to keep it rolled tight with two hands and to wind the back beam with a third hand. I love how flat and smooth and evenly spread out the warp yarns are.

The next stage was to sort the treadling tie up - to adjust all the cords between the shafts and the upper and lower lamms so that the pattern is correct. This is my first real working play with the texsolv as a tie up system. It was much faster to shift pegs than it was to adjust the larks head knots on the nylon cord I was using previously. I now have working sheds - that is the warp opens enough to pass a shuttle through - but they could be neater - so over the next few days I will tweak the peg placements until I have it as neat as it can be. Using two treadles for plain weave, and four for the pattern ... but I will play in iWeave it to see if there are variations to the tie up that I can add in with the last two treadles.

So - end of the weekend and all ready to 'throw' the first weft!
Exciting!
I would have continued but we had a family birthday dinner (Bear's) and it was 5:50pm... we were due at the resturant at 6:30, so I had to push this back to the wall and step away from the loom.

There has been knitting, and there is gardening - but more on those next post.
na Stella

Always - always check the numbers

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 31 Mar 2019 07:34:00 +0000

Today is a bit of a weaving update, but not as much has been done as I hoped. I am weaving - the first project on the Loman loom since adding a Texsolve tie up. I began by thinking about what I wanted to make, and then to see if I had enough of any one or two cotton 8/2 thread to complete the project. I didn't so ordered some more- not a lot but a few more colours.

I didn't grab a photo of the newer ones - but here they are amonst my modest stash of weaving yarns. Mostly 8/2 cotton, some 10/2 and some 12/2, I am planning to experiment and see what I like best. I have a preference for Blues and Greys and I am trying to combat that with some yellow and greens. These are called 'tubes' - at least in America, something which amuses me. At $30= per 'tube' it take a little 'investment' to build a coherent colour palette - and a weaving project can wipe out 2-3 of these in one go.

So .. playing safe, although not as safe as a white or cream warp I decided the warp would be a light to dark gradient - still fairly safe but one that allows me to play with lots of different colours in the weft - this is planning for a batch of tea towels.

I am beginning to feel comfortable using the Ashford warping mill - finding that sweet spot with just enough push to make it rotate enough to wind the yarn from top to bottom - or bottom to top in one smooth motion. The guide thread was a strong bright orange and I loved the way it popped against the black thread. I think I will be back to the yarn suppliers looking for a tube of that orange.

At that point I discovered I am a beginner, this is probably only my 6th weaving project. I began to 'sley the reed' (gotta love the weaving terminology) - and realised that I had a warp for only half the width I needed. I had downloaded a warp/weft calculation spreadsheet and trusted it - a quick manual check of the calculations revealed one of the formulates wasn't working. I don't blame the sheet - it was excel and I opened it in Apple Pages and may have accidentally broken it while working out how numbers worked. End result one half of the warp I need - I have updated the calculations and will make the other half the warp and then work them onto the loom.

And Frank slept through the entire thing...

na Stella

... FO and on to weaving maybe

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 24 Mar 2019 05:58:00 +0000

I have a finished object, a sweater! One that took a year of knitting off and on and in truth should have 3.7 sleeves. In practice it has only one sleeve - but I have knit nearly four sleeves. I am also working out what to weave - which means making sure I have enough yarn to actually make what I plan.

This is the Possum Merino Alpaca sweater just before washing, all 649grams of it. I don't like 'sleezy' fabric, loose, open and likely to distort and sag and generally not last. So I tend to knit to a firmer gauge - not bullet proof but firm. This is for older cub -now at least 6ft with long arms - who now flats away from home. He requested a warm brown sweater and here it is. The yarn is lovely - Outlaw yarn Bohemia Gothic - the Gothic means black merino and the possum has a black fuzz - while the alpaca is soft and drapy and silky. Project notes here.

The pattern is of my own making, my favorite saddle shoulder structure. Starting with a neck band, some short rows to shape the back higher and the front lower, working shoulder straps and then a little bit of over the shoulder increase shaping before working sleeve increases. Increased to shape the underarm both on the body and the sleeve and then worked body, then sleeves in the round.

At this point the sleeves went as planned but after convincing a tall Thursday night knitter to try this on (He did but on the condition he didn't have to twirl) I ripped back a sleeve and began the decreases to narrow it much earlier. I made notes and followed these for the second sleeve - but seems I made notes before I ripped back so in following them I completed the second sleeve too wide and too long. Both sleeves were frogged and reknit smaller. Bean Pole Boy has long arms - but not that long. I continued the underarm 'welt' of a column of 2x2 knit bordered by columns of purls - under each sleeve and down the top of the shoulder and down the sleeve, I also worked this down the side of the body. Stretchy bind off (Jenny's) made sure the hem was not too tight on both the body and the sleeves.

With the sweater off the needles, its been a year, I bought the yarn at Unwind 2018 and began it in July, I thought I would 'whip up a warp' for the loom. I have a few ideas I want to explore in weaving. I measured out and made some calculations and began to make half a warp for 8 tea/dish towels. I didnt give too much thought to how much thread was needed - but as the cone began to thin - I did do some further calculations. I've discovered I don't understand much about how much yarn is required for weaving - and that I needed to order more. So I've also tracked down two suppliers in NZ one of 8/2 and 12/2 cotton and two or more of 10/2 cotton. These are the sizes I have already invested in and have some off - so it makes sense to source more. The 10/2 is finer and so more threads are needed for a warp - this is 315 threads - half of what I need.

I have finished the half warp - and put it aside all neatly labeled - awaiting an email that will tell me if I can get more of the same colour. If not I will have to make a plan - for stripes or a half and half design. I then did some more calculations for what amount I would require for 8/2 cotton dish clothes - and worked out I needed to buy my cones of weaving yarn in batches of 3-5x250 grams at least If I want to weave tea towels in warps of more than 4 at a time. I ordered 5 cones of yarn Saturday (all different colours/shades) and then Sunday discovered I would need to order a double set of those at least - so 5 more or less the same are on the way to me today. Monday I hope to receive an email that I can order more of the same color as my half warp and so can work to my original plan. Nothing like learning as you go is there? That means I have no major garment project 'on the needles' so have plans to begin something tonight ---

Na Stella

Updating and preparations

noreply@blogger.com (Stella (aka KKFrog)) — Sun, 17 Mar 2019 06:33:00 +0000

It is a dark day in New Zealand, instead of celebrations as my home town hosted 40+ emerging Fashion Designers for the 20th anniversary iD Dunedin Emerging Fashion Design competition - the country grieved 50 dead, and many more injured. I wont go into details but Friday someone with hate - took a gun and killed innocents at worship in a Mosque in Christchurch. Friday with contenstants from over 30 countries and hundreds of tickets sold, the iD emerging show went on, and repeated on Saturday - but with much less celebration and much more security than ever before. Things here in New Zealand are changed, they are different, if you are able to help please do, the family and communities will have immediate needs and ongoing needs, I have taken stock of what I can do without this month and donated - I will probably top this up again, there will be so much more to take care of in the community.

Sunday was understandably quiet, I worked on my loom, replacing the nylon cords and knots with Texsolv and pegs. I hope it will be easier to adjust, in short better. I used a soldering iron to simultaneously cut and seal the cuts in the Texsolv. One just has to watch out of accidents of a thermal nature, like when the soldering iron begins to roll away - and is grabbed by naked fingers. One burnt index finger - which will heal.
This is midway through the restring, under the treadles I am going with a modified Vestuga tie up system, instead of straight knitting needles I am using the metal shaft spacer bars - of which I have 8.

I had to do a little adjusting as I worked, seems that even with a regular increment system like Texsolv the shafts didn't quite hang even. I had read some where you could get smaller adjustments by running double Texsolv - as adjusting one hole would halve the amount things shifted. I didn't want to go that far (at this point I wasn't sure how much I would have left over), but I did realize I could 'pad' the loops with pegs or even folded paper to make micro adjustments. This is something I will have to remember - it might be washers between the peg and the bars will provide micro adjustments if needed. You may notice my very special threading tool, an extra long hair pin - the sole remainder from smallest cubs Ballet days - it is perfect for threading this stuff through holes - I may even need to buy my Loom a whole packet for itself.

I love the little Texsolve Pegs, so neat, so tidy so EAST TO MOVE AND ADJUST!.

So here is my wee Loman Loom, a compact loom, and in some ways only a minor step away from a table loom - with some of the same shortcomings All connected and waiting for a warp. The next stage is to make a decision - it will be Tea Towels - but the four shaft pattern or even a three shaft one is yet to be decided.

And in other news ... the Tall Ones sweater is nearing done, only one sleeve to go. and I am being monogamous on this till it is done. I have so many other things I want to begin - and I know if I do then this will languish and languish for a long long time. I suffer from Brown Second Sleeve Syndrome - but will push through.

Take care
be safe,
Stella

Home...

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Sat, 09 Mar 2019 00:21:00 +0000

Coming home after a long time away, unlock the door, put down the luggage, and see familiar things. The place is a bit dusty, quiet in the way that places that have not been inhabited are. Things are both familiar and foreign, at once known but from before, like a familiar memory. Returning to this blog feels a bit like that. Mid 2017 my father passed away, after a very short and intense battle with cancer - it affected me in ways I am only now realizing. I knit through his treatment, a cowl for Bear and a jersey for me - I've knit quite a bit since but something seems different.

Off piste Decennium Reworked

Decennium by Vintage Purls in Skeinz Silver Lining

Tirilunge Newborneonsie by Shja

Since then my knitting has been slow and mindful, using up soft and lovely yarns to make things that are useful, that are easy, that use my mind but not too much.

In 2018 I kept knitting, I also dabbled in botanical water colour and spent time drawing and painting. Those new things gave me a clear focus, things I had to find out, to learn, goals to achieve. But at night - there was always knitting. Something to keep my hands busy.

Vintage Purls has a lovely hat pattern, Decennium, which allows for exploration of colours. I had a a mix of Skeins Silver Lining yarns, a light fingering (or three-ply), and I made three hats. Each one worked in a different way, switching backgrounds, playing with combinations and even monochrome. The last, a fourth based on the pattern but knit in an invented colour work repeat, was designed to use up the last of the darker blue and grey shades of yarn. This soft play provided a neutral space for my head. This went along side long overdue renovations of our home, extensive to the point we moved out for 3 months, put our lives in storage and were nomads for a significant part of 2018. There is something both liberating and unsettling about having to choose a few things to keep close, and more unsettling about returning home to change, and to re-establish a way of living. We tore down walls, we moved doors, we changed exits, and we then had to learn to work in the new spaces together. It took longer and cost more than we anticipated - even though we knew it would. The changes are good and for the better, our house was original 1939 so long overdue for an upgrade, but the changes were still major and disruptive. Shortly after we moved home, eldest cub went flatting, so now we are three, that also is a change, exciting to see him 'successfully adulating', and yet a sense of loss - setting the table for three reminds me daily he is no longer here.

Recently I knit a lovely soft baby thing, for a long time knit friend who is having a baby. I used Silk Alpaca yarn, from Tria Fata Fibre Arts, bought a long time ago when we used to knit together in Dunedin. I know its not the most practical but it is luxury and soft and not everything has to be the most sensible. Something luxurious reminds us that we have choices and we can use the 'best china' or 'wear the best dress' or 'use the nicest yarn', we don't have to wait.

I took time to get my loom up and working, something simple so I could focus on the loom and not on the making.
I made six cotton tea towels/dish towels, and this provided space to evaluate my loom. I had bought a new stainless steel reed and spools of 8-2 and 12-2 cotton in April 2017 - just as Dad was diagnosed. My intention at the time was to spend the next holiday setting up my loom and weaving - but the next two holidays were spent care-giving and then dealing with Dads death. There was a sense of the unfinished every time I passed the loom or moved the tub of cotton thread so I could reach a book, a clear memory of why I had not made use of the new reed and the new cotton yarn. This past summer things got moved around in our house, there is more room and the loom finally found a place in my week - I warped, adjusted, I wove, I invested in new Texsolv to make the tie up more regular and easy to modify and I finished the cloth - finally things are settling into place.

It is a little bit like the sun is out, or the clouds have lifted or there is a spark of interest. Before I knew I liked these things, knitting, and drawing and painting and weaving so I did them- but I didn't seem to feel the same sense of excitement as I once had. The haze has lifted and I feel calmer, able to do things that I enjoy instead of things I think I enjoy. These past few months I have shifted my stash, and matched yarns to patterns and made plans ---- and this marks my return to the world of Blogging. There are things to share.
na Stella

Casting on - with a Braid of two colours

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Thu, 30 Nov 2017 21:06:00 +0000

The final video in the serries, is for the decorative two colour cast on. I have seen lots of these - and this is the one I particuarly like. There is a three colour version - but it gets both bulkier and more fiddly.

This cast on isn't very stretchy - and it is a little messy with all the ends. I suggest working this one at a place and time where you can focus without distractions. This cast on is especailly nice as an edge to corrugated ribbing, or small checkerboard colour work.
Again enjoy
Stella

Looks hard but isn't

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Wed, 29 Nov 2017 20:56:00 +0000

Left and Right leaning braids are really cool and effective on small knitting projects, I love the way the braids break up bands of colourwork and provide a structural firm element. I've seen these braids worked to demarkate a sock toe from a patterned instep, a sweater or cardigan hem from the body and like here to pull in and constrain a cuff on a mitten. Here are two videos that I made earlier in the year to teach at Unwind 2017. Udate is I am also teaching and presenting at Unwind 2018. I am teaching Praxis - where the class will explore colourwork, taking Speed dating, a really fun class to explore a huge variety of yarns, and presenting a talk - I stashed a yarn and I liked it, on Stashing. that last one is an update of a paper I presented at a conference way back in 2011.

As long as you can work colourwork, that is knit with two colours these braids are not that hard. The most important thing is the set up round - working one round of checkerboard stitches so the braid comes out clean. I know every one knits differently - I usuallly hold both yarns in my left hand, but started my knit life holding the yarn in my right. Some people - cleverer than I - hold one yarn in each hand. My mind just can't do that for to long unless there is a simple rhythm to the work. Knowing people knit differently - I have made these two videos demonstrating several methods of 'yarn carry' so they should make sense to lots of knitters.

Here is the Right pointing braid - with the set up row already worked, one round of knits in alternalting colours. The braid can be worked in a single colour but looses its drama.

And here is the matching left braid - if stacking them above each other like I have - I suggest two rounds of plain and a set up round between each braid.
Enjoy.
na Stella

Re group and forgotten things

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Sun, 26 Nov 2017 20:47:00 +0000

Hello - its been a long time, this year, and perhaps the last one has seen me blog less, but not knit less. I realised that i had never linked to my most recent knitting videos,
I have a small serries on braids - and in the words of Elizabeth Zimmerman 'unvented' a improved way to knit a Vikkel braid. This variation eliminates the elongated stitches that always occur with this braid.

I taught a class at Unwind 2017, on knitting braids and became completely frustrated with the elongated stitch that working a Vikkel braid produced. I tried knitting into the back to twist and tighten the stitch, i tried using a smaller needle and then an even smaller needle. In the end I wondered what it was about the braid that caused the elongated stitch. I realised the physical act of working the stitch - of stretching around the working stitches drew more yarn into the work than needed and this created the elongated stitch. This techniqueworks the braid seperately from the row after the braid and effectively eliminates the loose elongated stitch. This technique may not be authentic - but it is effective.
The Vikkel video is part of a serries demonstrating braids - I hope to link these here over the next week or so.
Na Stella

Think it

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Thu, 14 Sep 2017 06:21:00 +0000

It's tinking time, not great news just me being a knitting adult and sorting my mistakes in an adult knitter way. I'm knitting a shawl, a lovley lace shawl, in a beautiful cashmere and silk blend hand died and gifted as a present by M of Vintage Purls. I'm up to chart 4c - the last row section of lace before the boarder. And like any contemporary knitter I'm modifying the pattern in a small way - first by using smaller needles so the lace is a little denser - and secondly by replacing the nups with beads.

So far so good, until I realised that one of these things was not like the other, yes I had an'seasame street' moment. This is the lace pattern with beads instead of nupps, it's subtle but clear - each beaded row results in the bead sitting just a little out from the bead on the row two rows down.

It subtle - but there, the yellow oval has two beads sitting diagonal and slightly offset - the green oval shows two beads sitting on top of each other. Clear as day when compared to all the other bead spacing. When I worked that row - I discovered I had missed placing a bead two rows down and tried to repair the mistake - but I failed. Failed miserably - more so knowing that in a single nights knitting - with between 300 and 400 or so stitches I might only do one row of beading and the plain wrong side row.... I dropped down and tried to rework up with the bead in place but I got lost amidst the yarn goers and s1 k2 tog psso's.

This is the yarn from one row of 350 or so stitches after they were frogged, I have two more rows to go .... and then I can begin again making sure all the beads are in the right place.

Because the work is lace with 's1 k2tog,psso' and because there are beads - well it can't be slipped off the needled and ripped back - it's tink tink tink one stitch at a time and tug gently at each beaded stitch to release the bead and retain the stitch. Those beads make tinking slightly more tricky.

My night just got longer - my heart sinks that tonight will be tinking one stitch stitch looking at each one carefully to make sure I pick it up without splitting the yarn and orientate it on the needles correctly. Still it needs doing. Tonight is knit night - but a twist of fate means dinner will be later than usual and this frogging will take place at home ....with good lighting and no knitbased conversation to distract me.

If I don't fix the mistake - when blocked the two beads without a space between will stand out among the rest of the even spaced beads ...or at least at is my fear.

It is supposed to be a fun relaxing hobby - isn't it? In other news the yarn is scrummy- and I finally found a teeny tiny vintage crochet hook in my tool stash to use for beading - one that fits into all the beads.

Na Stella

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Hello ...remember me

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Thu, 07 Sep 2017 10:13:00 +0000

So it's been a while, stuff happened, earlier this year my dad ended up in hospital, again and again. It's been a rough few months ending with a short stay in a hospice and a funeral. Life goes on without dad - and it's ok, but there is a dad shaped hole that is very very slowely softening.

There has been knitting, a few small items that I just can't find photos of right now. Simple knitting that was portable and did good, a DK version of Hope He Never each for my brother Andy and his son, a possum alpaca cowl for bear. And a lace edged shawl with beads that had languished in the wip pile for far too long ( 2 years!).

This is the current work, a lace shawl knit in a yak silk blend. Details Baltic blossom shawl by Evelyn Clark - there should be knupps, but taking a cue from M at Vintage Purls I've gone for beads instead. I've also chosen slightly smaller needles wanting a denser lace not an open loopy one.

It's slow progress - each beaded row clocks in at an entire night to work. And until it's blocked then it will look like this a soft scrunched rag.

The goal this year was to return to regular blogging - so I'm planning a weekly update to start and see how that goes. Thank you for hanging in with me.

Na stella

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Look a blog post!

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Sat, 18 Mar 2017 02:03:00 +0000

So blocking linen is apparently different to blocking wool based yarns, everything thing I know about line says it softens with washing and aging. So when I read on multiple places to block linen by throwing it into the washing machine and then the drier I thought that was the way to block linen. I suppose it is .... but only if the ends are very very secure.

Here is my blocked rippled linen cardigan, lovely and soft rather than crisp. Although I feel it will crisp up with a little steam press. I'm rather pleased with the entire thing, the pattern was written to work flat but I rejigged it to be worked seamlessly. My first top down picked up and knit sleeves, kinda short row as per Barbara Walker, with ideas adapted from my knowledge of flat pattern drafting for cut and sewn garments, and around the internet. Photos of it being worn will be posted soon. Pattern is Rippled, by Kirsten Singer. Yarn is Quince and Co Sparrow in 100% linen.

This is were the blocking went awry. One lower corner of the front band ravelled a teeny tiny bit. Nothing to dramatic except it needs fixing beyond the temporary holding fix of a stitch marker.

I thought, like other delicate garments, it would be best to do up the buttons and wash / dry it inside out. Turns out that created stress points, and a rather nice drawn out front hem as well as the ravelling.

I am liking the simple lace either side of the front - after dithering about what would work in linen I'm pleased with this. The buttons are hand made by Benji. I have several other sets all coordinated to match cardigan batches of yarn. These buttons are based on a William Morris design.

The set in sleeves, seamless worked well, I used twin stitches as detailed in the FLH pattern, aka Fish Lips Heel. They have become my favourite short row solution. I also added some increases to shape the sleeves a little more like a sewn set in sleeve. I like these, and will work more sleeves this way.

The v-neck shaping is also a great surprise, the v is pretty much perfect with a dress or tee shirt, and sits nicely on the body. Of course a good press and it will be even better.

With the linen cardigan out of the way - I have begun the next one, a sweater in ALB Lino, 85% wool and 15% linen, by Schoppel. The pattern is Holstein by Annestrick. I've admired her style of patterns for years - and finally found a yarn and pattern combo that I like. The pattern swatch is 22 stitches in 10 cm - my unwashed gauge was 25.25 so I am waiting to see if the swatch relaxed with blocking.

Na Stella - or look a blog post.

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Frog me once, frog me twice, and frog a third time lucky?

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Mon, 02 Jan 2017 07:44:00 +0000

Ok, so the knit knit frog bit in the title - it's happening again, only this time it seems more like knit frog, frog. I'm knitting a cardigan, a simple one - or at least I'm trying to knit one. The yarn is linen - which has its own challenges, crisper with no elastic, so trickier to work lace in. The colour is lovely, my favorite soft blue grey green, the pattern is Rippled by Kirsten Singer. The yarn is 100%linen, Quince&Co, a fingering weight (4ply in 'old money') called Sparrow, in Blue Spruce, I'm knitting this in the round rather than flat, because I don't want seams where there need no be any. The cardigan is knit hem up, so I cast on enough stitches for both fronts and the back and worked the rib. The lace is a simple one - worked on right side and wrong side rows. So simple that it threw me, I thought I had the rhythm, but appers I did not.

Christmas Day I set out the freshly knit work and admired it, but something wasn't right, the lace didn't quite line up. I didn't take close up photos because I was embarrassed. The lace is a simple *k2 yo k2tog*, it to work required careful lining up. I didn't take too much care of the alignment of the right side and wrong side rows, and I was mashing up the instructions for the right, back and left sides all at once. The it that I didn't think through was the selvedge stiches, and the way the lace was spaced 2 stiches in from each side seam. So I frogged for the first time, well the first official time as I had several goes at knitting the ribbing, I've not knit much with linen and seemed to need a bit of practice to get the hang of it.

Just as I nearly finished the first skein of yarn, one side looked good, each column of lace had nice single yarn threads twisted into ladder type bars.

The other side didn't look so good, there were lumpy bits in my lace. Frog time, frog number two.

So while away on our post Christmas holiday in Invercargil - I frogged, not all the way but back to the ribbing and began again. I counted carefully and placed side seam markers to guide me in where the lace should go. And ...

This time the lace is perfect, each column is a nice neat row of twisted ladders. But ...

Somewhere, somehow it seems I can't count to 44 reliably twice as the number is stitches spare on the right and left sides between the lace and the front edge is different. Frog number three....

I will frog tonight and try try again. Counting and re counting as I set the side seam stitch markers. Or maybe I will spin and put this project in time out for a wee while.

Na Stella

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Two steps forward and one step back

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Sun, 09 Oct 2016 07:57:00 +0000

Gauge - the most common advice given by knitters to other knitters is to check gauge. When something doesn't fit as it should - knitters mention gauge, and discuss if the swatch was big enough, if it was washed, blocked or maybe even not washed or kept. A swatch is meant to save knitters a lot of bother. Mostly it is good advice but sometimes gauge swatches lie. Gauge swatches are by nature smaller than the garments they are knit for, and can't predict how the weight of a garment will pull and distort the swatch.

Last time I posted I was well on the way to finishing my saddle shouldered cardigan. This post - the cardigan has been frogged, the maths reworked and the cardigan has begun again with fewer stitches. I had both sleeves worked and was 10 centimeters into the body below the underarm when I decided to steam block the work to open up the cable. The steam blocking relaxed the knitting and when I tried on the cardigan the sleeves hung mid knuckle, and more worrying the shoulder slumped off my shoulders and the armhole hung low - unflatteringly low.

So Thursday, at knit night I wrapped the cardigan around my chest - and found that it overlapped by 5 cm. That was a problem as I had calculated it to be an exact fit with 5cm for button bands. By overlapping 5cm the bust was 10cm or 4 inches too big. So I frogged, I pulled out the needle and wound back the yarn into balls. Annoyingly I had woven in the ends - but luckily the silky wool ends pulled out easily. Then Friday I sat down and did some calculations, and measured a cardigan that fits well to determine the across back measurment for a hand knit - this time I did the math for a bust 10 cm smaller than mine - seems I am working on negative ease here, it can stretch over the bumpy bits and fit without stretching over the smaller bits.

This time I planned my shoulder increases a little bit better, so the increases align better with the armsye line. The first time around I didn't think the placement of the increases through. With fewer stitches progress seems to be faster. I'm nearly up to the underarm, just working a few increases to help the sleeve and body curve into place better.

The other knitting this week was Hearts for Humanities - Otago University, like many educational institutions is suffering as the lower number of school levers results in fewer enrollements. That means less funding, fewer enrollements, and so fewer staff required. One of the faculties facing cuts is the Humanities - and while I am a science graduate i know in many places my area of study falls within the humanities divisions. I understand the economics - and the reality, but I don't like it, protesting might not change anything but it does make the decisions more visible.

So ... the Thursday night knit group meets weekly on university grounds, and was approached to knit red hearts that would be used to highlight the funding cuts. Most of the knitters have some connection with the university, as staff or alumni, and several were happy to help. Here are my 6 hearts, knit in Four Seasons, 8ply, 100% Acrylic. Acrylic to withstand the weather outside where they will be used. The tassels were my way to use up all the Acrylic, the pattern is Heart wash cloth revised, by Tricotine on Ravelry.com. I made several minor modifications as I knit, improving each one slightly, eventually slipping the last stitch and knitting the first to give a neat chain edge, and working the triple increase as a K, yo, k into the center stitch. I shifted the increases and decreases one stitch into the body, It's a neat pattern and only 40 rows. This was one of the few heart patterns that didn't require knitting each 'lobe' separately - for quick things like this I dislike cutting and joining and weaving in more than the beginning and ending ends.

Na Stella.

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Look a blog post!

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Fri, 30 Sep 2016 20:23:00 +0000

Hello, yes it has been a while, but today there is an update. I've been knitting, and doing other things. But this place is about the knitting. So today, there are three washcloths, knit with a Shetland belt, my colourwork project stalls (but I think I know why) and a developing design for a cardigan.

First the washcloths, three, knit in a blend of cotton and something man made, I didn't actively buy this - being a bit of a fibre snob about things synthetic, but it was a swap shop score. Sadly I've found that wash cloths with some synthetic fibre might actually be easier to use than pure cotton. They hold less water, so feel nicer, not all clammy and cold when picked up.

The wash clothes were a two-for project, knit to continue my practice with the the knitting belt and because some of our wash clothes have developed holes. An unnamed child used them to clean a craft knife of plastic scrapings and sliced the yarns in places, words have been said and replacements were required. I still have the colour work scarf ... As knitting belt practice, but felt the need for some plain practice. Plain as in one yarn, because a mix of knits and purls is not strictly speaking plain. First one is my standard go to checkerboard cloth - thin, flat and supple. Second is a garter rib - for knit purl practice and third is stocking stitch with a garter edge. Needles were 4mm stainless and 35-36cm long, which I think is a tad long for me. There seems to be a few more offerings for needles online - than when I first looked, I have some shorter, 30cm ones coming from POK, which should feel easier to use than the longer ones I have now.

The colour work scarf project langishes - I think becasue the longer needles are just a bit to much of a stretch for my arms - but it has grown since last I posted about it. And I'm happy with the way the colours are working out, at first the darker brown was very murky against the blue background, but the pink is much clearer. I can see why the default is a white background - but that seemed to predictable. I think I am on my second of five repeats - and might have to buy more yarn ... We shall see.

Finally there is a cardigan on the needles, this time circulars so knit in my usual way. This is a top down saddle shouldered cardigan, with a cable running down the saddle and sleeve into the cuff. I'm knitting the sleeves first while I think about the body. I know I want hip length, and I like the ribbing at the backwaist of Slanted Sleeven - so I am thinking of using the cables to do the the same kind of shaping. For now I am near the end of the second sleeve.

I am rather liking the way the shoulders have worked, it is a saddle as I mentioned but with some increases along the armsye/body line. I was inspired by EZ's saddle shaping but hers is bottom up not top down. I've also tweaked the underarm shaping to better mimic the curves found in flat patternmaking - it just helps the sleeve and body better wrap around the complex curves there. Or at least I think so.

The yarn is half silk half wool - and project notes as always on Ravelry.

Na Stella

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Still knitting

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Sat, 30 Jul 2016 05:31:00 +0000

But for some reason not blogging, but today - an update. There has been progress on many knitted things, a secret swap shawl (gifted already), a cardigan (done but not photographed on the body), and a sweater remade (again worn but no photo evidence). These things I will endevor to photograph and post sometime soon. But in the spirit of keeping it current - today it is about the 'on the needles' stuff.

This is my Fifty-Me cowl, knit in an indulgent cashmere-camel-silk-and baby alpaca blend. (Road to China silken Jewels). I know merino is soft, and silk is soft but this is S O F T - so soft it takes my breath away every time I squish it. The project feels like a total indulgence, comparatively to other things I've knit the yarn is not cheap, but I turned 50 earlier this month and it is my present to myself. Pattern modifications are few - a tubular cast on and faced hem, turmeric colour way to replace the lime shock in the original. Pattern is the three color cashmere cowl by Joji Locatelli. I've seen a few in real life - and recently one was gifted at the local mid-winter swap, which just tipped the scales and inspired me to do one myself.

The other current project makes use of rainbow or EQ Kauni, some how I acquired two 160gram balls (in separate shopping incidents) of this with no clue of what to use it for. My only thought at the time was ohhh what wonderful colours. Anyway - the balls are too tall to fit into my yarn storage drawers easily and the ball bands were getting ripped and torn. The simple solution was to find a way to use them and prevent further storage issues.

The answer was Mon Petit gilet rayé by Isabelle Milleret. Only issue was the Original gauge is 22stiches in 4", my gauge is 23, and I didn't want to go looser or more open, so I've adjusted the stitch count and plunged in. I used a simple adjustment, divided the pattern stitch counts by 22(original gauge) and added the result to the stitch count - effectively adding the right amount of extra stitches to accommodate a 23 stitch gauge. My swatch was generous - and slightly worrying was all Orange stripes on my dark green background. Two colours I wouldn't have picked - but I trusted the yarn and by one third of the way down the yoke the colour run shifted to deep blood red, then into purple, then blue, then lilac. Like most colour work it is slightly addictive seeing the pattern emerge - I've now split the yoke into sleeves and body and had to decide what I was going to do with the colour shifts across the body and sleeves. Some knitters work the body and then knit the sleeves letting the colours fall where they fall - other manipulate the colour shifts so the sleeves match the body. You can see some of the 800 variations posted on Ravelry.com here. I took inspiration from Marikorose's variation posted on Ravelry, she had a photo showing the mini-balls she split off to keep the sleeve stripes consistent with the body.

I calculated the that I needed enough yarn to knit 140 stiches for each sleeve stripe - to make the sleeves match I need enough for two sleeve stripes. I marked out 140 stiches, and put a slip knot in my working yarn at a distance of 1m from the needles, and knit, when that meter was used, I marked a second meter, and then a third. I calculated I needed 2.25m of yarn to work one sleeve stripe of two rounds and weave in ends. Double that for both sleeves and I need to set aside 4.5 meters of yarn for each body stripe. I measured of 4.25m of lime green yarn, my measure-stick, and I've cut the working yarn and set aside my first sleeve stripe. This method means many ends to weave in - I plan to weave in as a knit where possible - but will keep the sleeves and body matching. Many of the variations finish the stripes at the waist or elbow - and I am leaning that way. I suspect it will get messy when I get to the sleeves - and there are questions around two at a time or one first then the other - but I have a body to work first.

Kauni is not a soft yarn but the colour shifts are amazing - the dark green solid Kauni I've used as the background felt like a brave choice - but I want to step away from the predictable gray and cream. I have played safe and bought enough off white plain Kauni to knit a second one in - remember I have two balls of 160g of the EQ rainbow. Pattern modifications other than gauge were tubular neck edge to replace ribbing, I just like the polished look.

It's getting dark now, and evening food needs thinking about if not cooking, curtains need drawing and both knitting projects call me.

Na Stella

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And so it begins

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Sat, 16 Apr 2016 21:50:00 +0000

There is a Saturday knitting group, meets every five weeks or so and each session focuses on a technique or detail. We meet yesterday and the focus was flowers - but I was distracted. Alongside the five-weekly topics there is a year long project - this year is is a colour work challenge. The goal is to explore some aspect of colour work and develop a better understanding. Lorna, group inspiration and leader is working with a knitting belt and traditonal fair isle patterns and her own hand dyed yarn. Others a working tams or colour work tubular scarves and exploring different combinations of colours. Me - I am planning to become more proficient with a knitting belt and the 2+1 arrangement of long dpns.

Once I decided what I was going t work on I ordered some shorter needed, Etsy provided these three sizes in stainless steel, from BobNWeave, there are lots more sizes on offer but these work with the fingering yarns I like best for colourwork. EBay provided a cheap and cheerful all round set of 11 sizes from 1.5mm to 5mm, also in stainless steel.

So with needles sorted and no excuses with the camp sweater all done and off at camp - I began.

The first challenge for a left handed yarn handler like me, one who works with both yarns in the left hand was to fathom out how best to tension the yarns with a belt supporting the right needle. I decided the best thing was to knit a swatch.

I picked some yarn similar in weight to my pectoral yarns and began. At first I tried to carry both yarns in the right hand - and that produced interesting results, that is to say the tension of the foreground and background yarns was very very different. Long ago, before I converted to knitting with two yarns held in the left hand I had briefly tried to knit with a colour in each hand - and found it almost impossible to remember which colour went with which hand movement. The coordinated amongst you will laugh, probably out loud, but even when I could see the orange yarn was in eb left hand - my brain seemed to take an age to work out that it was the left hand, that one there that I had to move. So with the knitting belt I avoided working with a yarn in each hand - until nothing else worked and then eventually after consultation with knitting friends and Ravelry group who all asked 'if I had tried a yarn in each hand' I thought insipid revisit the technique.

I'm glad i did, and glad that others kept recommending I try - as this time, many years after my initial tries my eyes, hands, brain all seem to be better at working together. You might notice that the practice swatch begins with ropey tension and ends with much more even tension between the two yarn colours,

And so I begun my knitting belt project, a tubular cowl, designed by Wendy Johnson, the Leftovers Cowl in the real yarns (not that the other yarns were imaginary -- just they were not the ones selected for the project). So far so good, I'm eager to knit up all the brown and work the patterns in the various shades of pink. The pink yarn is Schopel Wolle Zauberball 100, in Villa Rosa, a single, and the blue is from the same manufacturer but applied yarn named Admiral in a lovely soft deep blue. The orange chain is my provisional cast on - all easy to be unzipped when the cowl is done and the two ends ready to be grafted together for a seamless join.

The project and details are listed on my Ravelry page, here, the Makkin Cowl. Makkin is, I am told, the Shetland name for a knitting belt, and also the practice of knitting with a belt.

Na Stella.

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Top down cardigan and buttons,

noreply@blogger.com (Stell) — Sun, 03 Apr 2016 08:58:00 +0000

A few decades ago I bought a knitting book, the kind that is a kind of dictionary, with instructions for lots of different knit textures explained. It was one of the Mon Tricot serries, they seemed to have published dozens of similar titles. This one listed several hundred stitch variations and on the very last page illustrated the process for knitting a top down, saddle shouldered seamless sweater. I was intrigued, amazed and baffled by how one could do that. All my knitting up to then had been flat, knitting sections of a garment and then seaming them into something 3D. Since then I discovered the Internet, dpns, circular needles, and many many resources for knitting seamless 3D garments. But I've never lost that sense of wonder at the ability to construct a seamless knitted garment. I've lost count of how many seamless garments I've knit, but I know how many seamed garments I've knit, none.

I love the entire concept of seamless construction, and top down even more. I love I can see the garment take shape as it is knit. I love I can try it on and adjust the shape or length as I work. I love I don't have to wait until I have knit each piece and then seam them together before I can evaluate the fit and style.

And mostly I love I can finish the garment as I knit, I can weave in ends and then when I work the final stitch I weave in that single end and it is done! With cardigans, especially ones with buttons there is also sewing on the buttons. This time I've added a new ''finishing' order to knitting a cardigan. I am knitting Slanted Sleven, where the buttonholes are worked into a band that is formed as the cardigan is worked, this time I decided to stitch on the buttons as I worked rather than after I finished.

I choose dark shell buttons, and the back of them is darker - so I planned to sew them 'wrong side up'.

I used a heavy top stitching thread to sew the buttons on, and a blunt wool needle. I matched the buttons to the button holes and worked from the top of the center front down - keeping the top down theme. Instead of using a new and separate thread for each button I snaked it through the knit stitches on the back of the band to reach the next button position. I worked a few half hitch knots to secure the thread after each button before working on to the next location.

The thread was a good match - and just disappeared into the knitting. I've added two buttons to the markers for the next so button holes, and I've left a length of sewing thread to stitch the buttons on as I work the holes.

Which means I have only to knit until this is hip length and then add sleeves. And that last stitch will mean, cutting the yarn, weaving in the end and blocking.

I do appreciate the advantages of top down knitwear construction.

Na Stella

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