A pair of finished projects!

Like the Stormcloud Shawlette, these two have actually been finished for a bit, but as I was writing up the ones that I needed photos for, I realized I had not written these up either.  You can tell it's been a while if you look closely - the background in a few pictures is our apartment in CA and my hair is really long.  ;)  But here they are, finally!

Monet Neckwarmer

Free pattern in Ravelry.  My project raveled here

This was originally a plain white yarn (well, off-white) which I used when Sarah and I played with dyeing our own yarns.  I like the finished colors much better, but then, plain off-white isn't hard to surpass.  And Julie, be proud of me: As I painted this yarn, and watched the colors set, and then knit it up, the only thing that I kept thinking was how these colors reminded me of a Monet painting.  All these years related to an art teacher have rubbed off!  :)

The neck-warmer is a lovely little pattern.  The slip stitch pattern is very mindless and quick to knit.  I was so excited about this yarn that I needed a quick knit to use it in.  The slip stitch pattern also worked beautifully with the painted yarn, playing up the watercolor-esque look.  And since I only had 1 skein, a neck-warmer was a good solution.  The longest part of the whole process was finding a button I liked to match!  I couldn't find a button in exactly the same shade of any of the blues or greens or purples in the yarn, but I did find a good dark blue/indigo sort of shade that is a nice contrast.  I'm satisfied. 

Yes, it was indeed a very quick knit.  Two movies, maybe?  Perfect for my excitement level!  I did make a few changes to the pattern to suit my own preferences.  The 15 stitches cast on by the pattern were a little narrow for my tastes, so I cast on 17 stitches instead.  Also, for the I-cord loop, I added it to the bound-off edge, as part of the bind-off.  The pattern called for you to bind off, then sew the I-cord onto the cast-on edge.  Instead, I bound off 5 stitches, used the next 3 stitches to make I-cord, closing the loop to next 3 stitches (effectively binding off 6 stitches with the I-cord), then bound off the remaining 6 stitches.  Really, I just didn’t want to sew on more than I have to :)

 

The yarn (besides being beautiful, if I do say so myself) was pleasant to work with.  And it's nice and squishy and soft, so is a good addition to the winter neckwear in the closet.  The yarn is Lion Brand Kool Wool, now discontinued.  Another one of those yarns that was really nice to work with but got discontinued to make way for new trends.  I've another project's worth of it in my stash in plain black, so I know I'll enjoy that when I get to that point on the queue. 

Stashbuster Striped Cardigan

Pattern available free on Ravelry.  My project Raveled here.

One of those widely popular patterns out there: the Anthropologie-Inspired Capelet.  I've actually made this pattern before!  Me, who almost never does repeat patterns!  Yes, I liked it that much :)  It's a simple top-down raglan cardigan, but it's easy to adjust to be long-sleeved or short, or cropped or full-length.  Really, the pattern is just a nice basic starting point, and the 3,000+ projects on Ravelry show some wonderful variations!  In my case, I kept it as a cap-sleeved cardigan, but kept working until it was a full-length sweater.  I solved the "when should I stop" problem by knitting through the first skein (about one stripe past the armholes), then working the sleeve cuffs from the outside of the second skein, then finishing the body with the rest of the second skein.  I just knit til there was no more yarn!  By knitting from the outside of the second skein to do the cuffs, I didn't interrupt the stripe pattern in the body - one thing to be conscious of when the stripes are so bold!

 

I really, really liked the Plassard Symphonie I used for this sweater.  I had two skeins of it from a sale at Knit Wits back home that I'd been saving for a sweater like this one.  Finally got around to doing it!  :)  As I started, I worried about the stripes, that they would be too bold, too wide, but by the time I had a whole sweater's worth of them on my needles, they looked much more proportionate.  It's brighter than some of my usual colors, I guess, but not too out there, and I LOVE that dark teal color!  The yarn was a little scratchy as I was working with it, but not too bad (that's one of those things I'm sensitive to) and when I washed and blocked it, it softened up beautifully.  And the yarn spit-splices like a dream!  A little thing, I know, but it does make joining skeins sooo easy (though it does mean I have to be careful washing, as it will also FELT like a dream!).  Would definitely use this yarn again.

Knitting Done!

Yup, one of those "more knitting posts to come" :)
 

This one is another one-skein wonder with a skein from a Yarn Crawl: Stormcloud Shawlette (I call it my Stormy Greys shawl).

 

The yarn:

Mini Mochi, colorway 307, which looks in my pictures like a lot of relatively uniform dark gray, almost a solid color.  It's not; it was just bad lighting.  The color is really several shades of grays, including some teal-greys and burgundy-greys.  It's really pretty!  You can see it a little more clearly on the color card at Crystal Palace, but even there it's only a glimpse.  The picture where my shawlette is blocking is probably the closest you come to seeing the stripes. 

 

 

This stuff is soooooooo soft!  I loved working with it.  Some people have mixed opinions on Mini Mochi, but I really like it.  The biggest complaints are knots (but Crystal Palace has a pretty good exchange policy) and that it's a rather loosely-spun single-ply yarn.  That might make a difference for socks and how they wear, but since I don't really make socks (and even less so, now that I live in Hawaii), the single-ply is just fine for scarves and shawls.  Yes, I do still wear those living here - I work in a notoriously AC-ed environment after all.  Humidity is bad for books, not just for curls!
 

The pattern:

Stormcloud Shawlette by Hanna Breetz.  It's a free pattern available on Ravelry or at the designer's blog, Ever Green Knits.  It's a semi-circle of extended garter stitch (one row, k1 yo; second row, drop the yarn overs) with a bit of a ruffle at the edge.  Nice and basic, and a perfect one-skein project - just keep on going until you run out of yarn!

The shawl is fluttery and drapey and makes a nice warm little scarf at the size I made.  You can see in the pictures, it's just a little flip-around-the-neck sort of shawlette.  The single ball of Mini Mochi yielded 74 rows of knitting, just barely past the last increase row (the one where you need to knit straight across).  So, I have a teeny-tiny little ruffle.  If you have a bigger skein, you will have a bigger ruffle and a bigger shawl overall.  Like I said, it's one of those patterns that you can just keep going til you run out of yarn. 
 

Notes, Adjustments, Overall Opinion:

A nice, easy, mindless pattern that's been perfect for binge-watching Netflix.  I made this one as we were watching old Law & Order episodes (seasons 1-8 available were on Netflix - we missed the window when they had more seasons to stream). 

No adjustments, really.  To get a gauge I liked, I used size 8 needles with the sock-weight Mini Mochi, and then size 10 needles to bind off.  I also used a lace bind off (k2tog, slide stitch back to first needle, k2tog, all the way across).  You want the bind-off as loose as possible so that the ruffle doesn't pucker up oddly.  Remember: loose, ruffly, drapey!
 

And here's a clearer shot of the stripes, though it still kinda blends into my grey blocking mats.  And as you can also see, I block aggressively.  With a loose stitch pattern like this one, that actually worked very well,  The resulting scarf feels very light and airy, but being Mini Mochi (i.e. wool sock  yarn) is still nice and warm.

My project is raveled here.

 

Tittle Tattle Shawlette: Test Knit

Now that Zach is back home, I recruited him to help me take a whole bunch of pictures of finished projects.  Some of these are older finished projects that I finally have "Project Completed" pictures to share, while others are ones I've done in the past year or so.  At any rate, I now have a ton of knitting projects to finish writing up.  Expect a flurry of knitting posts coming your way (You have been warned!)

This first one is a test knit I finished up about a year and a half ago.  I do enjoy those test knits, and hope my schedule calms down enough to start picking them up again.  They are after all (a) fun, and (b) keep me on a schedule.  I'm trying to be good about knitting regularly and from my stash. Yarn diet!  Since the test knits all have a due date, I have to keep at it, you see.  No projects slipping into hibernation.  And that strategy does work - lots of finished test knit projects on my Ravelry page :)

 

This test knit is a shawlette pattern.  I know I've mentioned before that Zach laughs at me about that - I think he thinks that all I knit are cowls and shawls!

The yarn

A good classic, Lorna's Laces Shepherd's Sock.  This particular skein came from a Ravelry swap a few years ago and had been lurking in the stash, waiting for a project that would be worthy of it.  The colorway is Mountain Stream, but it reminds me of sunsets.  Whatever you call it, though, it's a beautiful combination of jewel tones.  I love how the bright blue just pops out with the garter stitch.  Just lovely.

Shepherd's Sock is one of those yarns that people gush about, and with good reason.  The colorways always are gorgeous, and it's soft and easy to work with - no splitting or anything obnoxious like that.  And from what I've read in comments, it wears beautifully too.  As a shawlette, this won't be getting hard wear, like it would if this was used in socks, but it's still nice to know that it won't be pilling immediately or anything like that.

The pattern

Tattle Tails Shawl by Jeannine Hoeffler.  I just keep calling it Tittle Tattle because I watch too many British mysteries.  A character in the Jeremy Brett Sherlock Holmes series talked of 'tittle tattle,' and the phrasing stuck in my head in the character's voice.  So, on reading the name of this pattern, the voice came to my mind, and just stuck after that.  However, if you're looking it up on Ravelry, it's Tattle Tails, not Tittle Tattle :)

The pattern itself is a lovely little one-skein project, though you could make it larger if you wanted, I suppose.  With the pattern as-is and the amount of yarn I had, it's a good shawlette size - drapes across my shoulders, or wraps around my neck a time or two, but not really enough to bundle up in.  The tails are knit as you go along, which is rather fun, really.  The rest of the scarf is garter stitch, with just the increases along the sides.  It makes for a portable, relatively mindless project, but producing a lovely result.  Always a nice combination!

  

I added a big button at the end, for when I wear it all wrapped up around my neck.  I can button it in place, and it'll stay tucked up as I want it.  The button's a bright blue, about the same shade as the bright blue 'pops' in the yarn itself, so it's a flash of color itself.  You can see it a bit in the picture below (sorry it's dark; even with the shadows, though, you can see the blue of the button).

 

Raveled here.

Notes, Alterations, Etc.

For my skein (215 yds, an older skein - skeins now are 435 yds), I was able to fit 24 tails before beginning the end fringe.

It's a very easy pattern - all you really have to think about is keeping track of your rows to know when to make your next tail.  I found that tracking my stitch count at each tail helped.  You are increasing along the neck edge (the smooth side), then cast on for a tail at 10+ stitches from the previous tail.  You should end with 3+ stitches from the previous tail when you're done with that tail's bind-offs.  So, for you algebraically-inclined types:

x= stitch count
x+10 = stitch count when you’re ready to cast on for the next tail
x+3 = stitch count when you’re done with the cast off from that tail

With real numbers:

tail 1 ended with 4 stitches left (x = 4)
tail 2 was cast on at 14 stitches (x+10)
tail 2 post-bind-off was 7 stitches (x+3, new x=7)
tail 3 was cast on at 17 stitches (x+10)
tail 3 post-bind-off at 10 (x+3)
and so on… (13 stitches, then 16, 19, 22… hut hut HIKE!)

And if you want to make things really numerically fun (read: dorky), the number tail you are on is stitch count after the tail's bind-off minus 1 divided by 3

N = (x-1)/3

So, when you finish the tail with 61 stitches left, you will have 20 tails on your scarf

20 = (61-1)/3

I realize this might not help the majority of people who read this (there are a surprising number of knitters who are math-phobic), but it helped me keep the counts straight.

And of course, my helper:

While I was playing with my beads...

So, was playing with my beading stuff anyway (the bookmarks), and decided to knock out a few stitch markers as well.  They are such a simple project to do, after all.  This is just a quick post highlighting a few that I made.

 

One of the most common souvenirs here in Hawaii (besides food stuffs) seems to be plumeria jewelry and hair pieces.  Lots of stores selling little silk or foam or clay flowers on necklaces, bracelets, paired clips, hair ties... you name it.  Some hibiscus pieces too, but mostly plumeria.  I took a bracelet and a set of earrings that I found on sale, and repurposed them into stitch markers.  With some headpins and silver beads from the stash, ta-da!  New stitch markers, Hawaii-themed!  The smaller flowers are from the bracelet, and the larger one is from one of the earrings. I haven't decided what I'll do with the flower from the other earring yet - a pendant for a casual necklace maybe?

 

 

And while I was making Hawaii-inspired stitch markers, I pulled out some flower beads I had, and made a set with rainbow-colored accents.  A bit more muted than the other set, but still all flowers and rainbows (yes, that stereotype of the islands is very accurate). 

 



A quick bookish project

So, playing with my beading supplies, and ways to use the odd bits of leftover ribbon I've got stashed, and found this idea online.  There are tons of variations, of course, as simple as it is.  Searching on Etsy provides multiple ideas, as well as searches on Pinterest or in the blogosphere.  Flamingo Toes, for example, is a crafting inspiration favorite of mine (and has more than one version, as you see), but there are tons of others too.  Everyday Beauty by Andrea Singarella , Adventures of a DIY Mom, A Creative Life by Debbie Saenz, Rings & Things, Shelterness, Country Living, Intimate Weddings... the list goes on.  Oh, not all those are instruction sites - some are just finished projects or photos of things available in their shops.  Still, as simple a project as this is, that's really enough.

The instructions can be found on several of those websites, or at least variations thereof.  A lot of the variation comes in the attachment of the beads to the ribbon - are beads on both ends of the ribbon?  Are they attached by crimp bead or by larkshead knot or sewn into a fold in the ribbon?  More personalization can be added by the ribbon and bead choices.  Fancier ones use velvet ribbons and sparkly beads or old jewelry findings.  I used what I had in my stash :)

  

So what did I do?

1. Start with a length of ribbon that is longer than the book(s) you would be using it with.  I just used the lengths I had left on some of these (I was stash-busting after all).
2. Add a ribbon clamp to each end.  Ribbon clamps can be found at jewelry or craft supply stores, or just big-box stores.  They come in different widths, usually corresponding to standard ribbon widths.  I think I got a multi-size pack from Wal-Mart, so it doesn't have to be fancy if you don't want it to be.
3. Add beads to the loop on the ribbon clamp.  These are just attached on head pins, like I attach dangles to my stitch markers.

And, ta-da!  All done and in use!

 

The Penguin crochets now too!*

*more accurately, the Penguin CAN crochet, though she definitely still prefers to knit.

 

 

One of the programs we have at our library is a knitting and crocheting program.  Knitters meet in the evenings on 1st Tuesdays, crocheters on the 3rd.  Mostly basic learn-the-craft type instructions, but that's all good too.  Everyone has to start somewhere, right?  And no, I actually don't run them. My shifts are usually during the day, because of my own programs and duties, and we have another knitter on staff who leads these groups.

 

Last month, it looked like there'd be a night where I actually did have to lead the group, though.  And of course, it wasn't the knitting night.  It was the crocheting.  So I had to brush the rust off and fill in some gaps in my crafting knowledge.  It's only a beginning group, like I said, but I still need to be able to answer questions, right?  The way things turned out that week, I didn't need to cover the group's meeting after all, but that wasn't before I'd already knocked out two and a half dishcloths relearning the crochet stitches!

 

Not wasted time and effort though, since I might have to cover one or the other group again in the future (the only other needlecrafter on staff), and it gave me the motivation to actually figure out crocheting.  I've known the basics (in theory, not in practice) for a few years now.  I am comfortable making a chain, and using crocheting to edge my knitting or to seam it or to add tassels or something.  But an actual crocheted object?  Not until now...

 

 

One of the biggest hurdles was the act itself, not just making the stitch.  You hold a crochet hook usually one of two ways: like a pencil or like a butter knife.  This is INCREDIBLY awkward for a lefty holding a hook in her right hand.  It took a good bit of repetition to just feel remotely comfortable doing that motion alone!  Why don't I just use my left hand, you ask?  Because as I'm re-teaching myself, I'm depending on images and videos online or in magazines; I don't have someone I can easily ask in person.  And there are many, many more righty directions than lefty.  So, to make my movements match the directions, I have to use my right hand (easier to do than trying to mirror everything while still learning).  Plus, whenever I feel brave enough to try a crochet pattern, that'll be written for someone using their right hand.  I've learned to transpose my knitting directions as needed, but I'm not quite ready to do that crocheting!

 

So what did I actually make? 

 

 

I ended up making 5 dishcloths (4 shown above - the 5th is just another round one like the 4th).  For the first three, I chained about 20-25 stitches, then worked a stitch until the piece was dishcloth-sized.  Left to right below (and above, actually), we have a single crochet square dishcloth, a double crochet, and a treble (triple) crochet. The single and treble crochet squares actually came out pretty neatly.  I don't know what happened to the double crocheted one, coming out wonky like that.  I mean, I know it's because my stitch count changed between rows, but why I was not tracking... a mystery for the ages.  Probably got too absorbed in the episode of whatever I was watching!  :)  Still, very good practice and it's perfectly functional as a dishcloth.

 

   
 

The last two were ones worked in the round.  I found a basic diagram and just worked it in single crochet until, again, it was dishcloth-sized.  I'd provide the link, like I always try to, but I probably couldn't find it again if I tried.  It's a pretty basic crochet-in-the-round circle, though, nothing too fancy.  And like I said, I made two round ones.

 

 

Overall, yes, I do definitely prefer knitting.  My hands got more tired crocheting than they do with knitting.  When I knit, I don't turn my work; I'm always looking at the right side.  This is a little unusual, but it also means that I'm not ALWAYS doing the same movement.  Gives my hands a little bit of a break, which means that I can keep going longer without getting sore or stiff.  In practical terms, I can knit through a whole movie without feeling cramped or stiff, not just a TV episode (standard units of measuring time, right?).  Crochet uses the same motion all the time, and always with my right hand.  And I probably grip my hook a little tightly too.  A consequence of still learning and being a bit unsure of what I'm doing.  Perfectly understandable, but it is more tiring on the hand.  It's like writing really long essays by hand, if you remember those days in school.  Your hand just gets tight and stiff and a little sore if you keep pushing it.  That's how crocheting was for me.

And in general, I like the knit stitch and it's resulting fabrics better than I like the crocheted equivalents.  Not that there aren't cute or pretty crocheted pieces.  Just in general, I prefer the look of knitted fabrics.  Personal preference, so just take it for the quirk it is!

 

 

Still, crocheting is very fast, and can use up a lot of yarn very quickly (the crochet stitch uses more yarn per stitch than the knit or purl stitch does).  Perfect for gifts or for using up craft acrylic or dishcloth cotton!  And it is always nice to have another crafting skill under my belt, just in case I want to make that super cute amigurumi...

Requisite kitty-crafting picture, you ask?  Take a look at the very first picture.  Yes, those are kitten toes at the edge of the frame.  Scruffy has to investigate anytime I'm taking pictures of my crafting stuff, but I was able to snap the shot before he decided he wanted to sit on it to gain my attention. :)

Geekin' out

One of the coolest 'toys' at the library where I work now is the 3D printer.  Yup, we've got one, and it's available for public use (send us the files, and we print it up).  I'm taking a course online, too, learning more about using the printers, designing 3D files, tons of applications, and so on.  Very, very cool. 

 

The model we have is a Makerbot Replicator.  It's about the size of an average kitchen microwave. The final products are all solid-color plastic (we can't change colors on our machine mid-project), though there are models out there that can print in other materials too.  It's really neat what people are researching as possible printing material - metals, circuitry, cellulose (wood pulp), food... As for what ours can print... pretty much anything that fits on it's platform and within it's frame.  You can even print things with moving parts, printed all at once!  That's one of the really cool things about 3D printers.  Anything that's bigger than the Makerbot dimensions has to be broken down into smaller pieces, then fitted together after all the parts are printed (i.e., you could print a life-size R2D2 model, but he'd have to be printed in pieces and assembled after the fact).  But other than that, yeah, sky's the limit.

 

 

So, how does it actually work?  The machine is loaded with a plastic filament which reminds me of spools of weed-whacker line.  Not quite as stiff as weed-whacker line, though.  The plastic line is fed through the machine, where it is heated up at the extruder tip.  (FYI: That's why we do the printing, not the general public - that tip gets very hot in order to melt the plastic - not something you want people getting curious around).  The heated plastic is then extruded through the tip and fed onto the platform.  It comes out in very thin strands - reminds me a little of hot glue, out of a much finer point than your average glue gun.  You even have little threads of plastic to clean off your finished object, just like hot glue threads!

 

 

The 3D printer processes the 3D design by slicing it into very thin layers.  The printer then prints each layer of plastic, stacking them one by one, until the 3D object is complete.  The extruder move back and forth across the platform according to a grid to lay down one slice of the object. Then the platform drops a little lower, and the next layer gets added on.  It's a process called additive manufacturing (as opposed to taking a big block of the original substance and chipping away until your object is done).  It can be a pretty slow process, depending on the size and complexity of the object.  And you do feel the layers (they aren't two dimensional, after all).  If you run your fingernail across the side of a 3D printed object, you'll probably be able to feel the ridges of the printed layers.  People who have created smooth 3D printed objects have either used a different type of machine (there are several types of 3D printing) or have smoothed or sanded the finished object until it felt seamless.

 

 

So where do you get 3D files to print?  There are some websites out there where you can design your own, or see what other people have designed and then shared.  Thingiverse is more a sharing site than an actual designing site, but it's a pretty good place to start if you're just getting exposed to the possibilities.  There are ways to make shared files customizable, though, which a lot of people have done.  The project pages are just marked as "Customizable," so just keep an eye out for that.  Like signs or name tags, where you can customize the text.  Or tools or figures that you can customize the size.  Some of the users that are my favorites are computer science teachers who've shared files like that, with some notes about how they use it in their classes.  Good learning tools.  Not all files are customizable, of course, but  you can still start playing around with design on Thingiverse, if you want.  I find it very easy to maneuver, based on a pretty simple key word search system. So if you're looking for chess pieces, or replacement Crock-pot knobs, or Christmas ornaments, or desktop storage cups, or cell phone cases, or whatever else, you can just search for that and see what turns up!  From there, a free account lets you build collections (save-for-later type sorting), download files for printing, upload your own design files, mark favorites, and share pictures of completed projects.

 

When you're ready to start getting a little more into designing, TinkerCad is a good next step.  It's a basic 3D drawing site, where you can start building your design from scratch, or import a file and tinker on it.  Don't be intimidated.  They have some very handy lessons for learning the tools and controls, so you can play around some before you start actually tinkering, if you want.  It's a pretty usable set-up, with similar tools to other drawing programs you might have encountered.  The hardest part for me was getting the hang of the camera controls; you can move in three directions, after all.  When you're done tinkering, your files in TinkerCad can be downloaded for printing, or you can share them onto Thingiverse, if you're so inclined.  If you're moving on past TinkerCad, there are more complex designing and drawing programs out there (we're learning a few in my courses too).  But Thinkiverse and TinkerCad are pretty good starting points if you just want to be introduced, get your feet wet, and see what all the fuss is about.

 

People have been really excited about our printer, and part of it is just seeing one in action or seeing the final products.  The printers have become more affordable, so they're appearing more in the news, in tech articles, in computer store sales specials even.  And they are becoming more common in libraries, in colleges and universities, in Maker hubs, and so on.  But people really aren't sure what they can make yet, so seeing ours is a great opportunity to be introduced to it all.  Society's still very much in the mindset to just go and buy what we need, even if that's not quite a perfect fit.  3D printing allows for repairs or inventive improvements to things we already have. I mean, a lot of things in Thingiverse are repair parts and adjustment pieces for existing objects.  Crock-pot knobs, for example (or any other plastic knob).  Or a clip for your shirt to hold your earbud wire in place as you run.  One patron submitted a rotor for a model helicopter that his kids had.  The rotor had broken, so they printed up a new one.  And it worked - very stylist copter too, with those bright yellow blades :).  A lot of businesses use 3D printing to print customized objects to sell - form-fitted earbuds, for example.  Unlike with big mass production efforts, it doesn't cost proportionately more to print one set of earbuds for one person, tweak it, print a different set for a second person, and so on.  With most mass-production methods, this is just impossible to afford, since each set of earbuds would require a different mold.  With 3D printing, it's the same cost per printed set of earbuds.  This same cost benefit makes 3D printing really good for mock-ups and models for companies during the design phase.  They can easily and cheaply print and adjust plastic models before actually producing a finished product in another material.  These sorts of benefits and uses are part of what we've been talking about in my courses; besides the design aspects of printing, we've talked about the economic possibilities and importance too.  All really very interesting, so if you get a chance to see or interact with one, take advantage!

 

 

This is a final project that I submitted.  No, I didn't design it (not quite that experienced yet).  I just submitted it to print as I was learning about the machine.  Yes, it's a yarn bowl.  It's still me, after all. :)