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Archive for November, 2011

The Simple Quick Cowl

Posted in knitting, knitting techniques, Knittng slide shows, MaggiKnits, tagged , , , , on November 22, 2011| 3 Comments »

Need to have a quick knit on your needles for this Thanksgiving weekend? Check out these possibilities for a cowl scarf.

About three weeks ago Phyllis came to our Thursday night knitting group with the best looking cowl…simple, good looking and a quick knit. Her pattern called for a larger yarn on a size 17 needle.

The following week Debbie H. came with her three renditions of this cowl scarf. She had a wonderful knitting week! Notice the buttons…a lovely addition/embellisment! You can take any stitch pattern that pleases your eye…using the needles appropriate for your yarn cast on the number of stitches needed (gauge: number of stitches per inch x width) to create width of 5 to 5 1/2 inch….knit your pattern for 30 inches. You can end by including buttonholes, or not, join and add the buttons for embellishment. Phyllis used 1 skein of Malibrigo Rasta, Susanne used Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece, Debbie used various yarns from her stash and I’ve made several with Maggi’s Merino Chunky and another one with Rosarios 4 (both types available at Skein Lane Studio….used 3 balls for each one.)

To see the styles up and close you either click through the photo to the larger image or scroll to the slide show which is in larger image. Enjoy!

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More from Jean!

Posted in knitting, knitting techniques, Knitting Videos, tagged , , , on November 21, 2011| 2 Comments »

Jean wearing her Taygete Shawl

While it’s only been a few days since I posted about Jean and her stealth knitting, this post is about more of her work. The same day that we saw the ribbon sweater she was wearing a new shawl/scarf – Taygete – a design by local artisan Rosemary (Romi) Hill. I loved the design and the colors. I asked Jean more about her yarn choice and here’s what she had to say.

Taygete Shawl close up

“Probably the best thing to say is that I had a skein of her (Lisa Souza’s hand-dyed sock) solid colored yarn that I bought at Stitches and decided to add another color for the scarf.  I asked Lisa Souza if she would select a variegated color to coordinate with it.  She sent me one that I just loved!”

I’ve had a skein of Lisa Souza’s sock yarn in my yarn collection  for at least a couple of years that I too bought at Stitches. Jean’s creation has caused me to act. I now have the pattern, I’ve contacted Lisa for a solid yarn to match my variegated Paprikash. I couldn’t find a solid to match…I contacted Lisa…of course she knew which red was used in the variegated….it wasn’t listed as one of the colors on her web-site…she is hand-dyeing a skein for me tomorrow. I am so excited….is that the best customer service?!

Jean - Trinity Stitch Cowl/Scarf

One more thing! Jean was inspired by a cowl scarf that she recently saw. We were able to recreate the pattern…I knew it was a trinity stitch pattern (a multiple of 4 sts)… and Jean knew the size – 5 inches x 56 inches. I love this pattern stitch…..for little effort it creates a beautiful textured fabric.

The pattern:

Row 1 (right side): Purl.

Row 2: *(Knit 1, purl 1, knit 1) all in the same stitch, purl 3 together. Repeat from * across.

Row 3: Purl.

Row 4: *Purl 3 together, (knit 1, purl 1, knit 1) all in the same stitch. Repeat from * across.

Repeat these four rows for pattern.

Any yarn can be used for this lovely design. Simply work a swatch and determine your stitches to the inch, multiply that number by the width that you want…and round to nearest multiple of four stitches.

You can finish the project with a kitchner stitch or a 3-needle bind off. While I don’t particularly love doing the kitchner stitch join I do think it’s the best for this project.

There’s still time to knit gifts for this magical spiritual season! Tomorrow I will post about a simple, quick cowl that many of us have on….and in some cases…off our needles.

Happy clicking!!!

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Meet Jack

Posted in Cats, Dogs, knitting on November 17, 2011| 1 Comment »

Meet Jack - Now 7 1/2 years old

No….it’s not Lucy…it’s Jack. I met Jack when  he was a little more than a year old…a puppy…important to note for this tale.

Almost 6 years ago Mary and I traveled to Nashville, Tennessee to celebrate our life-long friend Peg‘s birthday. We always found time for a card game or two when we got together…this card night was at her daughter Shirley and husband Pat’s home….we met puppy Jack. This lively Jack Russell Terrier was beside himself with him joy to have yet more people to entertain him. We finally settle down to our card game…and the next thing we hear is Shirley’s laugh (it’s a lot like mine…not too quiet) and then Peg’s and then we were all in hysterics.

Jack was decorating the house with my yarn…who travels without their knitting projects…not me?! It’s been nearly 6 years…Shirley and I are still laughing about this.

Here’s our FB conversation today.

Shirley:  “Pat and I still laugh about that night…..Jack running off with your yarn/string…sorry don’t know what it is called!!!”

Me: “That made me break out laughing….I will have to post about this on the Skein Lane blog and link it back to the blog about your mom. It was really funny to see Jack running with my yarn. Sometimes Lucy and both cats will still have a “field” day with my yarn. OMG…the first year it was like I was always being teepeed…is that how you spell it?”

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A partial wrap on the knitting weekend!

Posted in Japanese Inspired Knitting, knitting, knitting techniques, tagged , on November 13, 2011| Leave a Comment »

Lucy, me and the "Fan" Bolero

…oh you must click through on this link of the Fan Bolero to see the many views of this delightful garment that some of us are knitting. We were inspired by Terry…..several of us tried hers on and it looks wonderful on so many of us.  I’ve started mine and I am on row 5 of 34 for the fan shell edge….the foundation is now set and I should “fly” through the next 30 rows of the edging…after that it is basic knits and purls and some shaping.

Join us if you can for this knitting journey (call Skein Lane @ 510.525.9276)

We did indeed have a lot of knitting fun this past Saturday…more to follow.

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Getting ready for Sat knitting

Posted in knitting, knitting techniques, Mason-Dixon Knitting, tagged , , , on November 12, 2011| 1 Comment »

Can it be a week has gone by since our last highly energized Saturday knitting workshop? Last week it was an explosion of energy…..tales to share, work-in-progress to share, and in some cases finished garments. Each tale was delivered with its unique sense of glee.

Susanne and her latest Moderne Blanket

Susanne showed her latest Moderne Blanket (featured in Mason-Dixon Knitting) that is on her needles. Both of her sons have married in the last year or so and each has received this lovely blanket as a gift….well this latest one is to be delivered soon. You can check out the first one here. Once again she is knitting with Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece…..and finds this blanket to be great “comfort” knitting…..garter stitch that can be knit without a lot of effort…simply the joy of knitting and watching the blanket grow and the colors unfold.

Check out this silly moment…. Susanne modeling this creative teapot cosy.

Susanne in teapot cosy knit by Debbie H.!

The Sock Showing

The Sock

Then there was Diane….feet in the air….showing her sock…gathering looks of awe.

PJ - Happy Knitter!

PJ wore her No Yoke Ribbed  Sweater. It was knit in Queensland Collection’s Kathmandu Aran. Her sweater is a perfect fit and she enjoys wearing it now.

We had a bit of “technical” grafting under the armhole that turned out just fine.

PJ - The details

Another knitalong can be set up for this sweater….let me know and it can be scheduled to start in January.

There was more show and tell of items on the needles…and a welcome back to Carol C who has been absent for this last year raising dogs and caring for grandchildren. Imagine her surprise when she found that the sleeve to her top-down cardigan was safely here at Skein Lane Studio.

Rohan with his show and tell

And through all the tales, show and tell, and laughter young Rohan kept on knitting.

…..now onto other  Saturday of knitting. Today it’s the Saturday morning workshop – noontime mini-top down series – and the Fan Bolero workshop.

Let the knitting day begin!

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Jean has been doing stealth knitting!

Posted in knitting, tagged , on November 11, 2011| 2 Comments »

Jean - Wrap Stitch Ribbon Sweater

Jean and her fan club

Jean - another view

Jean knits and knits and most of the time we at the Friday morning knitting group get to see her work in progress. Today she quietly brings out a ribbon sweater (that we’ve not seen before) which she is about to assemble…the knitting is done…now time for the dreaded seaming and weaving in the loose ends. We “pounce” on this new garment and want to know more. It’s a wrap-stitch ribbon sweater inspired when she visited her life-long friend – knitting guru Barbara Scott.

During the 15 years that I have known Jean she has knit numerous beautiful sweaters, vest, cardigans, scarves, blankets, baby clothes…she knits. Ellen K of our knitting group says it for all us.

“Jean, what can I say.  You’re my knitting hero!  Everything you make fits you perfectly–how do you do it?  You’re new garment is lovely, as are you.”

The details….

Neck detail of ribbon sweater

Stitch detail of ribbon sweater

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Marsha’s latest “log cabin”

Posted in knitting, tagged , on November 1, 2011| 3 Comments »

Marsha knits and knits and she recently embarked on another log cabin afghan…similar to the Moderne Blanket but different. This pattern came from May 2011 Creative Knitting magazine. This past Saturday she showed the almost finished afghan….she is now edging with a garter edge. The yarn she chose was once again Brown Sheep’s Cotton Fleece.Here are the six colors that she used….Peridot, Rue, Jungle Green, Lime, Wolverine Blue and Banana.

As many of you know this is one of my favorite yarns to knit and it behaves well before and after! My niece has a sweater that I knit for her son…it went through many washings for two sons…and it is now in the family archive. Stay tuned for photo of that sweater to appear.  I asked my niece if she still had it….her response…”Of course!” She will send a photo soon and then I will share. I will also share my latest Cotton Fleece creation in the next couple days.

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