Gonna be a Big Star - Blanket

I was born and raised in Texas. As we are the "Lone Star State", one encounters stars on everything. I put together this collage of stars from some of the places and spaces near me.

One of my new designs, Gonna be a Big Star, makes a great motif for making pillows and blankets. I'm working on a bedspread size. Here is the first block:

It's 20" square. This photo shows it in an unblocked state, draped over a pillow. There a lots of ends to work in, so I will likely back it with fabric after completion. The fabric backing will also support the motifs and minimize stretching.  Here is the link for the pattern.

Gonna be a Big Star

I'll keep y'all posted on my progress.

Unnecessarily Huge knitting needles and crochet hook

Inspired by some meanderings around the internets, I requested that DH make knitting implements in size 50  25mm . Not one for just following directions - I had just requested a simple set of straights, he made a set of straight, 2 DPN, a crochet hook with an eye to make it an afghan hook and a sewing needle. Fans of the Japanese anime "Ranma 1/2" might recall the inspiration for the name of the needles and hooks.

I had originally started a huge version of one of my designs "Gonna be a big star", shown below in worsted weight (pattern available at garilynn.etsy.com Gonna be a big star )

I had finished one star section, weighted the yarn and found I would not have enough to finish the star section. I only have 6 pounds of this oatmeal cotton! The finished size would have been about 100". So, ripped back and started a seat cushion:

MIL had expressed a desire for a thin cushion to carry with her on walks to use when she rested. Her retirement community has wrought iron chairs and she wanted something a little more comfortable. This is a close up of the crochet test cushion. I have had DH give it the "princess and the pea" test and I fear that he will keep this one and I will be making another for MIL.

I used my Elastic Plastic Fantastic stitch markers while knitting the first sample, seen here in close up:

These stitch markers work very well on Unnecessarily Huge knitting needles.


Working with these is certainly different. I am used to throwing yarn with my index finger. With size 50 needles, I have to grasp both needles where they cross with my left hand and throw yarn held in my right hand. Somewhat awkward when you are used to flying speeds, but the huge needles and yarn make a fast project.

I made my Unnecessarily Huge yarn as I worked the project:

The yarn on the cone is about a worsted weight. I knit I cord on size 11 needles to make it Unnecessarily Huge yarn. I had only one cone of this particular yarn, so I could not strand it. My process is to knit a few yards of I cord, then secure the size 11 needle with the stitch markers (they cinch up nicely with the barrel cord lock). I pick up where I left off on the project, working until I run out of I cord yarn.

I have many cones of other yarn that will now be put in service to make Unnecessarily Huge yarn. I think I can get rid of some of the "what was I thinking" and "but it's such a good price" purchases. That 100" star will appear someday and then I'll have an excuse to replenish my stash.

I found this site to be inspirational with some nice giant knitting pictures, if somewhat beyond my Italian language skills:

Crowd knitting



DH's blog Toolmaking Art.


Find more of my work at garilynn.etsy.com, garilynn on Ravelry or garilynn on Patternfish

What the heck is "TFL"?

Working “TFL” as described on Raven Shawl http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/raven-shawl

One of my latest patterns has an instruction "K 2 tog TFL", meaning that you will knit 2 stitches together through front loops. I am a combination knitter, so I have to do a bit of convolution to make the stitches in YO, K 2 tog right leaning mesh have a smooth appearance with the second stitch on top of the final worked stitch.

If you are not a combination knitter, you might be helped by the video that I listed in the Raven Shawl pattern. http://www.theweeklystitch.com/2011/12/trellis-lace.html

Here you are looking at the next 2 stitches to be worked :

The stitch that will be on top of the finished stitch is the second stitch. The two stitches must be turned or worked in such a way for the second stitch to be on top. 

Here the needle tip of the right needle has been inserted from the front of both stitches, going in through the far side of the second stitch and then through the first stitch. 

Another way to work this stitch is to turn the two stitches around, see the loop of the second stitch is in position to be on the top of the stitch to be made:

Here are the two stitches turned around and on right needle and ready to be slipped back to left needle.

The completed stitch

Both methods will result in the correct placement of the stitches to complete YO, K 2 tog TFL.

Seeking 44 sales in my etsy shop

I want to reach 200 sales in my etsy shop this month. I just got one sale this morning, 44 to go to reach 200!

I'm having a "buy anything from my etsy shop, get 2 free knitting patterns free" (pdf delivery, excluding the shop keepers Knit Stitch Graph Paper bundle).

http://www.etsy.com/shop/garilynn

My Knit Stitch Graph Paper product is something my husband & I worked on together. I wanted graph paper that looked like a knit stitch. I scanned a stockingette stitch scarf and gave him a print of the image. He created the final product. Here the logo:

Here's some pictures of my 6 section hats:

Game Winning Home Run:

 Hyacinth Bucket Hat:

 Elementary Deerstalker hat, one in safety orange and camo, the other in brown, the last in green:

What is Skein Snake?

Several years ago, I invented Skein Snake:



It's a zippered skein jacket that you place around a skein of yarn. Why would you want to do that, you ask. Well, at the time, I was working with a lot of linen and hemp. I kept hearing that these fibers soften with washing. I wanted them soft while I was working with them. I have heard of the usual method of washing a skein, a million safety pin in a pillowcase, which did not appeal to me. The lightbulb of inspiration clicked on and I sewed up a prototype, zipped it around a skein of linen, tossed it in the washer, then the dryer and PRESTO - soft linen yarn. AND pre-shrunk!

I thought this would take the Knitting & Crocheting world by storm. Thus far, it has been more of a couple of sprinkles. I plan to put the pattern on Ravelry in the coming weeks and see if there is more interest in folks trying to make it themselves. Here is a slideshow of how it works:








 

Patterns to make Skein Snake yourself as well as finished, ready to use Skein Snakes for sale at garilynn.etsy.com

The colors I made the Skein Snakes with came about because of a favorite song from my childhood:

Where have you been all day, Henry my son
Where have you been all day, my beloved one
Woods, dear mother, woods, dear mother
Oh mother come quick 'cos I feel very sick
And I want to lay down and die, die, die, die
Die, die, die, die

What did you do there, Henry my son
What did you do there, my beloved one
Eat, dear mother, eat, dear mother

What did you eat there, Henry my son
What did you eat there, my beloved one
Eels, dear mother, eels, dear mother

What colour were they, Henry my son
What colour were they, my beloved one
Green and yellow, green and yellow

Those eels were snakes, Henry my son
Those eels were snakes, my beloved one
Yuck, dear mother, Yuck, dear mother

What colour flowers d'you want, Henry my son
What colour flowers d'you want, my beloved one
Green and yellow, Green and yellow

Oh mother come quick 'cos I feel very sick
And I want to lay down and die

The Skein Snake logo was designed by DH, based on an oroboros and snakes that were in "Ouran High Host Club", a japanese anime.

Pivoting I cord stitches

I am very fond of the finished look of garter stitch edged with I cord. I think it is the influence of my Home Ec teacher, Mrs. Ashlock. She graded on the outside & inside of the finished garment. I learned to love finished edges in sewing and carried that over to my knitting.

Many of my garter stitch patterns have a method that I call "pivoting". This is necessary for the I cord edge to flow along all edges of the finished item. Simply put, you are reversing the order of the first and second stitch. The first stitch will become the second and the second will become the first. Pivoting is the method I have found easiest to accomplish this. Here is a photo tutorial:

In this photo, the I cord stitches are slipped purl wise to the right double pointed needle. You can also use a cable needle.


In this  photo, the 2 I cord stitches on the right DPN or cable needle are halfway through the pivoting. Pivoting is done clockwise.
 

Here the stitches are pivoted around, the order is reversed. In most cases, you will put the yarn back, slip the 2 stitches back to the Left needle and continue as instructed


One of my free patterns, Giving Heart   http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/giving-heart , is a free download that uses this technique, if you want to practice it. I would love to see more projects of this pattern on Ravelry!

Take care and keep your yarn dry.

Butterfly Silk

This is the larger of the two butterflies in my pattern "Butterfly Motif". It is knit of 2 ply Bulky Silk yarn from White Rabbit Fibers (www.whiterabbitfibers.com) , custom dyed by Fun House Fibers (www.funhousefibers.com).

For fun, I added a bead. I am new to beading and found that if one does not have adequate lighting and magnification, one should not try to work with thin black thread.

The pattern is available at  http://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/butterfly-motif-2 for $1. I also have a kit with the pattern, yarn for one butterfly of both sizes and some beads for embellishments at garilynn.etsy.com.

Almost finished with "Stone River Shawl". Pictures soon.Lots of blocking in my future!

Take care and keep your yarn dry.