Just too hot to knit!

This has been the most glorious hot and sunny summer ever! So gorgeous that I haven't spent any time knitting, not even cotton! No, I've spent my free time outside building new decks, planting flowers and plants, painting the new fence and enjoying the pool!

When we bought this 350 year old house 5 years ago, it was a mess. It took 4 years to bring back the house to it's former glory and then, it was time to attack the yard... It was an ugly gravel covered parking and the only access to it, was a rickety metal staircase...

After some hard work, the yard is coming along nicely!!!

Here is what I did this summer:

The main deck. It's big and spacious and right off the kitchen.

A lower deck, right next to the pool.

There's still a lot of planting to do, I want  to hide the walls of the pool as much as I can! There's already a lot of vine that will be climbing the fence in no time!

The upper level balcony is also new! 

My handyman and I did everything!!! We are pretty proud of ourselves! 

So, as you can see I haven't been idle, just using my hands for something else. :-)

Still knitting!

I know, I've been rather quiet for a while... That does not mean I wasn't knitting, I just didn't have any FOBs to show you. I had a temporary falling out with my Passap, which is getting sorted out with a slow going deep cleaning! I also have been spending a lot of time outside, gardening, painting and reading !

Even if the weather is hot and gorgeous, I've been knitting a very wintery sweater, it's from an old Vogue Knitting issue, the "oversized sweater with set in sleeves and pines, reindeers and house..."

I modified the shape, removed the reindeers and the house. What I loved about the pattern was the night sky and the mountains, so that's what I kept! I made it big so that I can wear layers underneath.

The yarn is Briggs & Little Tuffy. 

If that sweater doesn't keep me warm, I don't know what will!

That's it for now, I'm off to play outside but don't worry, I still have a few knits on my needles to keep me out of trouble. ;-)

Picking a fight with a machine!

A few months ago, I cleaned my two knitting machines. I didn't take them apart to do a complete clean up, I just removed the needles (and pushers on the Passap), vacuumed everything I could reach, oiled them a bit, replaced the sponge bars on the LK 120 and ribber and called it a day, thinking everything was all right.

Well, it turns out I was wrong! Both machines behaved themselves for a few months, allowing me to knit many afghans, sweaters, scarves etc... But today, out of the blue, one of them went berserk!

Since it was raining, cold and dull, I decided to knit myself a pretty shrug (to go with a new summer dress) on my trusty Passap Pinky.

All went well for the first 10 minutes, I cast on, did a few inches in 1/1 rib, transferred the stitches to knit jersey and went on for 200 rows, increasing every 20 rows. Then, out of nowhere, without any reason, the yarn holder flew out of the lock in the middle of a row! Now, I've been knitting on that machine for nearly 20 years and this is the first time this has happened! I still don't understand how this could even be possible!!!

Since this had caused part of the knitting to fall to the floor and this is a very fine cotton/rayon mix which would take longer to rehang than to reknit, I dusted myself off and cast on once again. That time, the needles (which, as I just told you, had been knitting perfectly for the last 10 minutes) started to drop stitches! I took off the rag my knitting had become, decided to add a few light weights and cast on one more time. I had about half of the shrug done when the yarn got caught in one of the black strippers (another first) and snapped. Once again, everything fell to the floor. In case you wonder, the tension was always the same, the yarn unravelled easily from the cone, everything was exactly the same.

I got up, disgusted, gave the machine a really dirty look and left.

I've been giving this a lot of thought and the only logical explanation I can come up with, is that my machine is still very dirty and maybe slightly misaligned. I have moved it around a lot!

Tomorrow, that bad, bad temperamental Passap is getting a complete spring cleaning! It's going to be taken apart, thoroughly cleaned and readjusted. That should, at least, make me feel a whole lot better! ;-)

Boy, am I ever glad I have Michael Becker's Passap Paramedic book!

A little machine knitting music...

A few posts back, I said I was going to knit a musical themed afghan for my music loving mother. Well, I chose the yarn, chose the colors (black and cream, a lot softer than black and white...) I made it, I also washed it and gave it to her on mother's day. I only forgot to take pictures...

So, today, before taking my mother shopping for summer clothes, I finally remembered I had to bring my camera!!! Duh!!!

Here are a few pictures of the afghan.

The stitch is Fantasy Fair Isle and I found the Iris Bishop pattern in an old Machine Knitting Monthly magazine. Let me tell you, this baby is huge! It's wide enough and long enough to completely cover a double size bed!

My mother loves her surprise gift and that's what really counts! ;-)

And, since this is spring and winter is finally behind us, I thought I'd show you what's going on in my neck of the woods...

The trees now have leaves...

... and flowers...

I love spring!

Market bag.

It was one of my good friend's birthday yesterday. She always asks for something I knit, crochet or machine knit for her birthday gift, and this year she strongly hinted that she wanted a string market bag, like those I use all the time.

Well, I've been making these bags for a few years (they're cute, freakishly expandable, really useful and everybody likes them) but she had never received one!

Although I prefer them in colored cotton, she wanted a more traditional looking "filet à provisions", so here's what I made for her:

I used a combination of different cotton and nylon fibers to make it as strong as possible, since it can hold a whole lot of stuff, as you can see! ;-)

Happy Mother's Day!!!

Happy Mother's day to all knitters!!!

Machine knitting a bunch of grapes!

For the last few days, I've been experimenting on the Passap, trying out all sorts of things and getting a little bit impatient... I know the result I want, but although I'm making progress, I'm still not there yet...

So, to take a break from the trials and errors marathon, I made something easy and fast without any increases or decreases, without any short rows!  I made an afghan!!!

As you can see, it's reversible! The grapes come from a Deco card I punched out many years ago, I have no idea where I got the motif... Probably from an issue of Modern Knitting or of Machine Knitting Monthly... I'll check it out...

I made a wide border at the top and a narrow one on the bottom. It could be part of the design, but really, it's because I was running out of purple yarn! ;-)

I'll be making another afghan tonight as a mother's day surprise gift for my music loving mother. I have just the motif for it!

Happy mother's day to all!!!

A nice dose of Vitamin D!

My Vitamin D cardigan is finished, blocked and took a walk with me this afternoon!!!

I made it longer than the original (7 eyelet rows) which means that the last rows were quite long to knit... Long and a bit boring, but in the end, I do love how it looks and fits.

Since I like it so much, I'm currently trying to figure out how I could machine knit a Vitamin D...

Because of the shape, I'm thinking i would have to knit it sideways, experimenting on swatches to get the right ratio of short rows to straight rows...

I am intrigued by the shape of Ozlorna's :-) Dalek people cosy, it looks pretty close to the Vitamin D. It might only need a bit of tweaking!!! ;-)

Machine knit Rose jacket.

My dear old mother asked me for a knit jacket!

She wanted something that would be perfect for this time of the year. You know, when you don't feel like wearing a coat anymore but a light cardigan isn't quite warm enough...

Well, she explained the type of jacket she wished for, chose the color (to go with a favorite skirt) and the wool yarn. Then,  after taking her measurements, I went to the Passap and machine knit a rather basic, plain jacket.  But, since my mother is anything but plain, I went nuts and did some a lot of duplicate stitching with embroidery wool!!! :-)

The flowers were inspired  by many  pictures and cross stitch patterns.

Have I told you that I love to decorate plain knits with duplicate stitching?

It fits her and she loves it, but it still needs to be blocked!

Machine knit cape, how to make the split!

I've had a few questions, here and on Ravelry, about how I split the knitting in half to make the cape. I haven't found a way to put stitches in holding position when I'm working in AX/AX on both beds. I also think the stitches would get stretched out as the first half of the cape got longer... So, here's how I do it:

First of all, cast-on stitches using the whole width of the machine.
Once the back is long enough, write down how the pushers are arranged and what color is next. Now, put half the stitches on hold by either transferring them onto decker combs or, if you don't have enough decker combs, you can do the same thing by manually knitting the stitches with thick waste yarn, making the stitches as large as possible. The thick waste yarn will prevent the stitches from unravelling. Remove those stitches from the machine, letting them hang down as you knit the first front half of the cape. Make it 4 to 5 inches longer than the back, to compensate for the thickness of the shoulders.

Rehang the stitches that were on hold, check the placement of the pushers and which color is supposed to be next and then, knit the second front half.

If you have any questions, just ask! :-)

Machine knitting a cape!

Many years ago, I machine knit myself a wonderfully comfy cape that I wore to death! It was chenille, soft, warm and I loved it!!! I got compliments (from the most unlikely people like bikers and punks...) every time I wore it! But, sadly, years of intensive wear left their toll... It started to look really tired, to droop and pill...

Since I never found enough chenille to make another identical cape, I had to use another pattern and another fiber.

I had already made a few of these capes for friends, but this one's for me!!!

It's made on the Passap using AX⬅ /AX ⬅  and pushers on both beds (pattern no 31 in one of the old blue pattern books), alternating purple and green every two rows, which makes it reversible with a different color on each side! You don't even need a Deco!

It's just a big rectangle that's split in the middle front. Since it's an extremely stretchy pattern, using the width of the Passap makes it wide enough for anyone, so there's no need for seaming! I made mine extra long because I'm tall and because it's warmer that way... It's all about comfort!!!

The only tricky part, is remembering exactly where your pushers are when you separate the knit in front. You need to write everything down, so that you will be able to continue the second front side with exactly the right pusher arrangement and the right color.

I chose to make a round neck opening but it really isn't necessary. The cape still fits perfectly on the shoulders without it.

A cape is so easy, it fits over anything, it's warm and it looks quite dashing! At least I like to believe it does...  ;-)

Lost and found?

I might have already told you about a big missing box of knitting books and magazines... It was (I thought) misplaced during our huge renovation. Well, I have to admit defeat, the box has completely disappeared in some other dimension... Believe me, I've looked everywhere, even in the most unlikely places... The only explanation, is that somebody threw it away (gasp!) thinking it was (dare I say it) trash...

Well since it's not turning up anywhere, I've decided to replace the books that I really miss, that I really use and that are still available. I've found out that some of the older ones are available in digital form!!!

Here is my first find, one which I never thought I'd lay my eyes on again, the Passap Deco Patterns Book 101-330!!!! Yeah!!!

If you have a Passap knitting machine with a Deco, this is the most useful pattern repertoire you'll ever come across!

I also found that a lot of my missing books are available on Amazon, like "Knitting in the old way" .

I'm so happy to have this one back!!!

Although I'd love to buy them all at once, I'll have to watch my budget and my purchases... Some of them are a LOT more expensive now than when I bought them!

O.K. I've found most books, but that doesn't solve the entire problem. You see, in that missing box, I had a collection of old Rowan pattern books and magazines... I haven't found any of them on the web, yet! I loved them and used them very often for inspiration... sigh.... The patterns were timeless... All I can do at this point, is to keep on searching the world wide web... Do you have any suggestions as to where I could look?

Happy, happy, joy, joy, joy!!!

Yes, I'm dancing my little Ren & Stimpy happy dance!

You see, while I was rummaging through a local second hand store, looking for a vintage  garden bench (which I found!), I came across a hat form, an old wooden hat form! My grandmother used to have one when I was small. I don't know where it disappeared to, although I've searched far and wide... So, imagine my excitement at finding this little beauty and bringing it back home!!!

                           My hats are all a lot easier to show when they're on a form!

 Granted the form is a bit smaller than my enormous slightly large head, but I love it all the same!

I have another reason to be excited, I got something through the mail! It's something I ordered from Lacis , a Pjoning Hook to do Bosnian crochet!

I've been trying it out and I have to tell you, it's absolutely great!!! Doing Bosnian (slip stitch) crochet with a regular hook is hard on the hands, but this hook is so smooth and thin, that it's like working with butter!!! :-)

Decisions, finally!!!

Finally! I've decided what to knit next!!! I've started on the very popular Vitamin D in some Drops Baby Merino I bought over a year ago and never got around to using! It's a very soft, light yarn that I love for spring, especially in this blueish lavender color. After having read a lot about it on Ravelry, I'll be lengthening the sleeves and the body and doing either the German short rows or the shadow short rows, I'll swatch and see which I prefer with this yarn.

While I was rummaging through my stash, I couldn't help but notice how much I seem to love that color! I have four different yarns in different shades of the same lavender/blue, Baby Merino, Galway Worsted, machine knitting cotton and a cotton boucle that knits up looking like thin terry cloth! 

I also found a lovely green yarn, with a beautiful sheen, for a machine knit spring/summer cardigan. I've had it for quite a long time and I have no idea where I got it... It should knit up really smoothly and it has enough weight to give it a nice drape.

I have a lot of it, 12 skeins!!!  I don't know the brand as there are no labels, all I have is the bag in which it was stored, that states the composition. It's a 50% cotton/ 50% rayon mix. I already know the type of cardigan I'd like to make. Now, I have to put all of it through the ball winder and then, knit a few swatches to see which tension gives the best result. :-)

Knitting Fair Isle.

A few days ago, one of my friends, who is fairly new to continental knitting, asked me how I knit Fair Isle with both hands. How do I twist the yarns ?

The best way to explain this, is to share a video by Ann Bourgeois of Philosopher's Wool.

This is the single most useful knitting technique I have ever learned (after learning how to become adept at continental knitting) and Ann explains it very, very well!
If you don't know this method, I encourage you to try it!!!

On another front, while I'm still knitting and crocheting sweater swatches, I just had a couple of ideas for cute children's hats and I couldn't get them out of my head, I had to cast on... Why am I so obsessed with hats??? I need new cardigans, now!

Oh well, I guess I'll machine knit a few plain cardigans to tide me over for the time being. I'll jazz them up with some duplicate stitching or something and hand knit or crochet a couple of more complicated sweaters after I've gotten rid of my hat obsession...

Back to one of the little hats... :-)

Have a happy Easter Holiday!!!

Knitting swatches...

In april, the weather is fickle around here. When you go out in the morning it's below freezing, but in the afternoon it gets a lot warmer and as soon as the sun goes down it gets cold again.

So, a little problem presents itself, how to dress to go from morning till night?

The best solution is almost always layering and of course, cardigans are always popular, since they can be worn under coats and removed later, or worn without the coat! They give the most versatility!

I admit I have many cardigans,  but after wearing them for the past 7 months, I want and need something new!!!

A few weeks ago I knit 2 new ones:

Then, I got sidetracked by hats... :-)

Well, although I still have 2 or 3 more hats I want to make, I'm ready to attack a few spring and summer cardigans. So, I'm playing with different yarns, making swatches. I'm looking at knitting, crochet and machine knitting and maybe even a mixture of the three methods. I still haven't decided, but I sure am having fun trying to decide!

Green Dollheid!

The Dollheid is finished! The ends have been woven in, it's blocked and I wore it today!!! Yeah!!!

Like many knitters on Ravelry, I modified the paper dolls a tiny bit. Although I love Kate's dolls, I wanted mine to look more like little girls, so I gave them fatter legs, didn't give them a waist or a chest and I also omitted the eyes and mouth. They're more like the kind of paper dolls we made when I was a child. :-)