I've been busy with some small project swaps over the last month or so.
It all started with dishcloths. The purchased kind do not seem to last forever, and I needed to add some to my kitchen drawer to replace those with holes. I read about swap-bot so wanted to give it a try, and also signed up for a dishcloth round robin on ravelry through the dishcloth round robin group.
The first swap up was an international Dishcloth and Tea Swap..... on swap-bot. I was matched with a partner in Croatia and had one month to knit or crochet a dishcloth for her. I had fun looking through the dishcloths patterns and decided to knit up a starfish cloth. My first one was in green, but I found out that my partner did not like green, so I made another using the same pattern and a cherry swirl colourway. I hope she likes it! I also sent a selection of tea and some very cute heart buttons.
I liked the starfish cloth so much that I knit some more for my aunt and second cousin who had both recently moved into new digs. They are quick and easy to knit on road trips.
Then I signed up for an international "homemade bookmarks swap". I was matched with a partner in Illinois, USA - I read her profile and found that she liked Harry Potter, so I knit up a Dobby Style Sock Mark.
I had fun rummaging through my sock yarn looking for the correct colours. And of course this was good practice for toe up socks and wrapped heels. I finished the sockmark last Friday, and the heat had finally arrived in Ottawa. I did not enjoy knitting with the wool sock yarn, as with the high humidity my hands stuck to both the yarn and the needles. It also took forever to block and dry the Sockmark. But it was really lots of fun to knit. I knit both parts from toe up, and then grafted them together so that the toe ends pointed in opposite directions.
I also made a Diamond Lace Bookmark, using crochet cotton. This was easier on the hands. I had fun with these two, and will probably make more for family!
Tuesday, August 18, 2009
Friday, June 19, 2009
Leave it to me
After a long hiatus I am back to blogging. I lost my camera over the Christmas holidays and found it this month, so I can take pictures again.
I'm working on a baby shawl, using some yummy Malabrigo Lace. I'm thinking of a traditional shetland square shawl model - with center square, a lace border and then lace edging. I recently completed a heritage shawl and was quite pleased with it, but this time I want to make it my own...so I'm letting the yarn inspire me.
The verdes 203 colourway makes me think of ivy and lace.....so that is what I'm looking at. I'm considering ivy leaves, rose leaves, beech leaves, ferns...and am plowing through stitch dictionaries looking for just the right pattern.
Fortunately I'm able to start on the center square, actually a diamond that starts with 3 stitches, increasing one stitch at each edge. So while I ponder what lace border pattern to use I am still able to knit away, though at some point I will have to determine what my stitch repeat is and how many stitches I need on each side of the diamond, so that I will begin decreasing at the right spot.
I usually do not design on the fly like this, but I've decided to give it a try. I'll keep you posted on whether this is a successful method for me.
I'm working on a baby shawl, using some yummy Malabrigo Lace. I'm thinking of a traditional shetland square shawl model - with center square, a lace border and then lace edging. I recently completed a heritage shawl and was quite pleased with it, but this time I want to make it my own...so I'm letting the yarn inspire me.
The verdes 203 colourway makes me think of ivy and lace.....so that is what I'm looking at. I'm considering ivy leaves, rose leaves, beech leaves, ferns...and am plowing through stitch dictionaries looking for just the right pattern.
Fortunately I'm able to start on the center square, actually a diamond that starts with 3 stitches, increasing one stitch at each edge. So while I ponder what lace border pattern to use I am still able to knit away, though at some point I will have to determine what my stitch repeat is and how many stitches I need on each side of the diamond, so that I will begin decreasing at the right spot.
I usually do not design on the fly like this, but I've decided to give it a try. I'll keep you posted on whether this is a successful method for me.
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