The English Armchair Abroad

Stash busting

Although I am always happy to do so, I have pretty much stopped weaving baby wraps.  It became a bit too stressful and there are now so many weavers who specialise in that field that it seemed the sensible thing to do.  

But after two years stopping has left me with a lot of cotton in many colors.  Which I have more or less ignored.  

I love weaving with silk.  I love the shine and the way the colors interact.  Cotton can be a little dull in comparison.  But recently I decided I had to do something about the huge box of cotton and so I started weaving kitchen towels.  Well, they can be used for whatever you want but I use them in the kitchen.

8/2 cotton makes super absorbent towels and they are always good for Christmas presents if they don’t sell beforehand.  (Which they generally do).  Before Christmas I bought a wonderful book full of ideas for using up stash cotton and these towels are the result.  They are all for sale in my shop if you are tempted.

 

 

 

Continuing a theme

I am exhibiting at an event at the end of May and needed a bumbag.  I decided to use up some more of the denim and this is what I came up with.  

The pattern is the Total Bumbag and I bought it from Craftsy - click the link at the side and do a search.   It's easy to follow and a relatively quick, if fiddly, sew.  there is a waist strap but it's hidden in the photo.

 

The front of the bag is once again decorated with the techniques I learnt from Stupendous Stitching.  This time I only used one layer of interfacing as I didn't want it to become too thick.  

 

Work and play

Well you can't work all the time can you?  I have the warp on the loom waiting to be threaded and then last night and this morning I started playing with a new technique.

When you weave there are always "thrums";  the end of the warp, on my loom approximately 25cms long.  I weave a lot with silk and that's a lot of silk that can't be used.

Last week I saw a photo of a bag on FB made by a girl who explained her technique.  Well, I immediately saw a use for all my thrums.  This is the result.  At the moment it is just a piece of fabric but when I have time I will sew it into a small bag.  

And now, back to work!

Baby steps

Happy dance.  I woke up this morning and was determined to add the shop link to the blog.  Nothing like  a fresh mind and a good typepad help page.  So now you can click the link to your right and go straight there.  Let me know what you think.

I still have to add more items but I'm getting there slowly.   The sun is out today so a photo shoot may be in order.

In the meantime I am warping a gradient warp using greys and many different pinks for a short series of baby blankets.  I was delighted to be asked by an English lady/friend who lives near me in France to make a blanket for her first grandchild.  I am warping enough for three blankets and will list them (guess where!) when they are finished.

 

 

Spring Fever

A short time ago I saw a photo of a beautiful cardigan on the MK Facebook page.  It was love at first sight and I immediately started working out how I could make something similar.  Before I start I want to credit the designer of the original - Sidsel Hoivik and if you click her name it will take you to the website and the original photo.  

My cardigan is not identical but it is pretty close - the border design and the colours for example.  

For any colour work on the machine I mostly use Supersoft from Mon Sheep Shop.  The range of colours is wonderful and Cindy sends out the orders very quickly.  This yarn is lightly oiled and passes through the machine beautifully.  

The body worked up easily and as usual I left three centre needles out of work for the front so that I could cut open the centre and not have to worry about matching up the pattern.  The collar was also cut and sew.

For the arms I tried something new to me.  I always find it very tedious stitching sleeves to the body (laziness) so I decided to work them top down.  I do this anyway when I knit by hand so it was just a matter of figuring out what to decrease and when.

All went well and I cast off the first sleeve.  And tried it on.  And it was way too short.  Hmmm.  That border involves a lot of colour changes and I was a little low on the dark green.  

And so it was surgery.

 

Out came the scissors and I cut just above the two rows of dark green that start the border.

I ripped back the main part of the sleeve to a place in the pattern that would be recognisable and gathered both lots of loose stitches onto spare needles.

And then the fun started.  I had to rehang the sleeve on the machine and make sure I matched up the pattern.  I can't really explain how I did this.  Suffice to say that in future I will make sure I know which the centre stitch really is.  

I ended up being off by one stitch but fortunately the green and silver grey are close in tone and it is invisible to all but me.

And so I reknit the sleeve, adding the required amount of length and I then joined the sleeve to the cuff using Kitchener Stitch.  It was ok I suppose.  100 stitches on each needle and you definitely get better as you go along.

It's a bit messy but never mind.  I knit the second sleeve top to bottom.  And tried on the jacket.  And the sleeves were now 7cms too long.  Hmmmmmmmm plus a few expressions of frustration.  I have long arms but 7cms is just too much.  Guess what.  I told myself that the only way to get better at Kitchener Stitch was to cut off the sleeves, remove the offending 7cms and join them again.  And so I did.

 

All finally went my way.  The join was so much better that it is now barely noticeable.  The button bands went on and as I couldn't find a zip for the front I machine sewed button holes.  (Green thread would have been better I know.)

I am ultimately very happy with this little cardigan.  Plenty of room for improvement but I'm looking forward to warmer weather when it will be perfect.

Quick socks

I truly don't know how it happened but somehow a skein of Cascade Silk Heritage sock yarn was found in my stash.  This would not be so bad except that the colour was ORANGE!  This is not a colour I wear and this is not a colour I buy.  Not unless it is mixed with other colours to the point of disguise or invisibility.  But there we are, it appeared and it needed dealing with.

Since I only wear my knitted socks under blue jeans and I can't therefore see them it seemed that a pair of socks was required.  The knitting machine was gasping for a second project after the corriedale jumper and off we went.

I have made masses of socks during the past ten years, most of them by hand.  Making them on the machine is a joy.  A ball of wool in the morning is a pair of socks by lunchtime.  I stick to the plain and simple - ribbing on the leg and stocking stitch on the feet.  If I want something more interesting on my socks I will make them by hand.

They are a perfect fit and very warm and comfortable.  I think they know that the colour is shocking and they are trying to make up for it.  Apart from the odd flash when I'm tying up my shoes I only have to look at them when they are hanging up to dry.  I'll cope.

Spinning for the knitting machine

2017 is turning into the year of the knitting machine.   At the beginning of the year I started spinning some corriedale for a project and thanks to the bitterly cold weather I managed to do the whole lot in a relatively short time.  The project was for a fair isle jumper and so the yarn needed to be quite thin - which would also mean it would be made on the knitting machine.  

Having never spun corriedale before I didn't know what to expect.  The result was very light and lofty with the added advantage of good behaviour during spinning - unlike merino and silk for example.

The knitting as easy.  The yarn passed through the feeder like a dream.  I was determined to get to grips with the ribber and bingo.  Although the ribbing at the bottom of the body is a little loose the cuffs are tighter and the ribber worked perfectly.  I don't know why the ribber and I can't be best friends but who knows, maybe one day.

So here is the result.  It is a fraction short and the green is too dark but it is very warm.  The collar was cut and sew and so I folded it in two in order to cover and protect the cut bit.  The arms were knitted from the top down.

 

Knitting again

2016 was a year of baby wraps. I was fortunate to receive orders from a number of young mothers and it was a very enjoyable experience.  

Since the New Year the orders have dropped, not off, but away.  New weavers have appeared and I suppose I am no longer the new weaver on the block!  Such is life.  

It does make for a more relaxing life and so I have been trying to finish off half done projects.  The first is this.  A cable jumper that started life as "Queen Anne", a very intricate design by Alice Starmore.  But I became so fed up with the different design elements being separated and having to turn the page every time that I gave up.  It was probably too big anyway and I knew I would never finish it.  So Queen Anne became Queen Anne's Brother, much less refined but probably more useful:

 

As I was using previously knitted wool the stocking stitch sections are not as flat as usual but it doesn't matter.

The design is a simple top down raglan and I basically knit until I ran out of yarn.  It is thick, long and very warm.  The neck is a little high but no matter.  The cold weather returned today so I am a happy girl.

 

The final photo shows one of the advantages of top down knitting:  merging cables into the ribbing without jarring mismatches.  Most people don't worry too much about this but it annoys me hugely.  To avoid this I decreased one stitch in each group of 2x2 cables and one stitch in each group of 4 purl.  I then decreased a few stitches on each side in the stocking stitch.  The cabling is therefore a mix of 3x3 and 2x2 but it all matches up!

 

I will try to be good and blog a little more frequently this year.  Next up will be some weaving photos.  

Not as busy as I'd like

 

I have been weaving scarves.  I am doing a sale at the end of May and rather need some stock.  I have three waiting to be finished but whether or not they will be good enough for the sale remains to be seen.  I had a very frustrating two days of breaking threads.  VERY close to giving up but someone on Facebook suggested I spray the warp with hair spray.  Not something I have lying around but luckily my husband uses it for the spud gun and had some handy.  It worked more or less.  I will finish the scarves and decide afterwards which box to put them in.  I don't want to look at them for at least a week!

But I also bought some silk and wound a couple of warps for some silk scarves.  This red one is awaiting the fringe twister (mysteriously vanished so I have one on order).  

And now I have a second silk warp, this time in violets and blues.

I love this pattern and the way the black plays against the silk. There will be two scarves on this warp - I can't decide what to use for the second weft.  Inspiration will come no doubt.

Finally, I have more cotton arriving next week for the next batch of baby wraps.  It has taken a while getting here but at last I will be able to try to catch up.  I have learnt the hard way that cotton can take up to five weeks to arrive.  

 

Merino Berry Scarf

A glimpse of the next scarf.  I will be doing the finishing tomorrow and as it is made with the softest merino and a weft of cashmere and silk I think it will be a beauty.  The design is by Ingrid Boessel and can be found on the Fiberworks website.

I am loving my new Megado!  It does make things a lot simpler.