Skein Lane

Yoked Cardi for Baby

April 10, 2016 by Carolyn

Karen H has just completed this wonderful baby sweater and hat for a special baby person. Both the Yoked Cardigan pattern (available on Ravelry) and the yarn – 100% Extra Fine Merino Valley Superwash were purchased at Stitches West.

The complete “package”

The cardi

The buttons

As it turns out this same cardi has been knit in Malabrigo Worsted by Karen K of our LYS – Avenue Yarns. Each cardi is wonderful and has its own uniqueness of yarn choice and buttons. The buttons on Karen H’s cardi were found at Stone Mountain & Daughter – a go to place for a lot of us searching that right button.

If you are looking for a quick and lovely baby sweater, this just might be the ticket. You can see a model of the sweater in person at Avenue Yarns.

Posted in knitting | Tagged Avenue Yarns, Baby, Gifts, knitting, Malabrigo Yarns, Ravelery, Valley Yarns, Yoked Cardi | Leave a Comment »

Many moons ago….

April 5, 2016 by Carolyn

Indeed many moons ago I painted this ceramic plate as a Christmas gift for my niece Sundee. This “Mary Quite Contrary” plate hung in her room for years….then in her daughter Shelby’s room….and now it hangs in baby Aria’s room. Who knew that I created an heirloom that would be enjoyed by three generations. Warms my heart!

Aria - Lunch Date 4

Posted in Ceramics, Christmas, Creativity, Family | Leave a Comment »

Brickless -Shawl

March 8, 2016 by Carolyn

No more shawls for me I’ve been to known to say……until I see another beauty. This time it was Jan’s newly purchased “Miss Babs Yowza – Whatta Skein!” yarn to knit the Brickless shawl designed by Martina Behm. Earlier I saw someone else walking the Stitches floor wearing a beautiful shawl and I captured the name of the pattern….Brickless. It’s a popular one. Yes…..I “accosted” many walking the Stitches West floor wearing knitted garments that appealed to me. (It was easy for me to do as I was working/retailing in MaggiKnits booth #314.) In total I collected the names of over 30 shawls.

I was going to wait a bit to start Brickless, but decided to forge ahead because one of our Friday knitting group (not Jan) came to the knitting table with questions last Friday. Deb and I also met briefly this past Monday morning to review/find a mistake in her knitting.

Now I have some tips that I’d like to share with any of you who embark on this knitting journey.

Do a gauge swatch. I know it’s a shawl and one would think….”oh, no worries – I get gauge”. In this case the label on the yarn says 4.5 st – 5.5st/in US 608. The pattern says 4mm (which is US 6) or size to produce gauge of 4 sts to inch. I thought the fabric that I saw need on 4mm was a little more dense than I would like for this shawl. Thus, I swatched on both size 7 and 8 needles. Swatching on size 8 produced the gauge of 4 st/in which is what pattern specifies and has a soft drape.

There are 3 pattern sets – Lace, Garter and Rib – in each repeat. My mind is such that it wanders when I knit and relax which means I do a terrible job of keeping track of the number of rows (in my head) and the “benchmark” stitches at the end of each set. Notice my green cheat notes. I mark off each row and count the number of stitches so that I know the increases are happening sequentially. I like the idea of adding the expected number of stitches at the end of each pattern set – benchmark. This system also allows to more easily help anyone in our knitting circle.

Now onto the next repeats (5 more of 1st 3 pattern sets) before finishing with one lace set.

Happy knitting!

Posted in Creativity, knitting, knitting techniques | Tagged 100% Superwash Merino Wool, Brickless Shawl, knitting, Light worsted weight yarn, Miss Babs, Miss Babs Yowza | Leave a Comment »

Top-Down Custom Fit Sock Class

February 24, 2016 by Carolyn

Sock

This basic sock is being taught in 3 2-hr sessions (over 6 weeks) starting at noon on Saturday, February 27. With the top-down basic sock pattern, the skills that you will acquire or build upon include: the long-tail cast on, joining the round, knitting in the round, the heel, short rows to turn the heel, gussets, and the kitchner stitch. You will learn to custom fit the sock. Once you’ve made a sock, you will want to make more and more! Join us for this fun class.

Materials: sock-weight yarn and size 2 double point needles or worsted weight yarn and size 5 double point needles.

Day/Date/Time/Location

Learn how to knit this basic sock in this 3-wk sesson spread out over 6 weeks. Then you can move onto The Socks Forever Club

Date: Feb 27, Mar 12 and Mar 26

Noon – 2pm

First sesson: foot measurement, custom-fit, cast on, join and begin the cuff. Homework: Knit 6″ or desired lengthcuff

Second session: Heel flap, turn the heel, gusset. Homework: knit the foot

Third Session: Complete the toe! And now you will have a sock!

Fee

$65.00

Here is the link to sign up.

Posted in knitting, knitting techniques, socks, classes | Tagged knitting, Knitting Classes, Top Down Socks | Leave a Comment »

Quilt Exhibits in Oakland

February 10, 2016 by Carolyn

Time to let go of the temporary writer’s block…..let’s start with the trip that Jan and I took this afternoon to Oakland City Hall and the Oakland Museum to see two quilt exhibits.

The quilt exhibit at the Oakland City Hall “Visions of Oakland, Made of Cloth” was recently featured in the Art & Design section of The New York Times: Quilts With a Sense of Place, Stitched in Oakland. We saw some beautiful quilts depicting several Oakland scenes and history…..however, the ones that were featured in the news article were not on display. Maybe the young man who directed us didn’t tell us where they were all displayed….or maybe they have been returned to their owners. Here is what we did see. I particularly liked the quilt (bottom right) from the North Oakland Senior Center because of its words. “Our lives are like quilts – bits and pieces – this and that – stitched with love.”

Beautiful marble staircase

China Town

Oakland Parks

North Oakland Senior Center

Next stop was the exhibit of “Yo-Yos & Half Squares: Contemporary California Quilts”” at the Oakland Museum. We just happened to arrive at the same time as a local quilting group led by instructor Barbara Rydlander. Jan and I both benefited from hearing the guided tour while hanging on the edge of this group. We also learned once again what a small world it is – I immediately saw quilter and knitter friend of Skein Lane Studio – Debbie G. Shortly Jan saw one of her friends. Yep….a small world!

Posted in Creativity, Events, Friendship, knitting, Quilting | Tagged Cultural History, Oakland City Hall, Oakland Museum, Quilting Exhibits, Yo-Yo & Half Squares | Leave a Comment »

Dorothy – A 100th Birthday Celebration

January 15, 2016 by Carolyn

Three years later: Dorothy just celebrated her 103rd birthday today with some of her family in her home where she has lived for as long as I have known her….which is now like forever. We met when I was 11 or 12 yrs old…..depending whether you count church or when I became one of her students in Jr High School. Her family is planning a larger birthday celebration for this coming Sunday, January 17. Happy Birthday to Dorothy!

Skein Lane - IN THE LOOP

Invitation to celebrate Dorothy’s 100th birthday!

Dorothy Cross Smith Brown is celebrating her 100th birthday today.

I spoke with her a couple of days before Christmas as I chose not to attend because we have family illness here in the Bay Area of California. So many of my school friends and family will be there. Dorothy said, ” I understand. Come in the spring and spend a weekend with me.” I will.

I love and admire Dorothy!

Dorothy Smith – photo from early 60’s yearbook.

Who is Dorothy? In the spring of my 12th year my family (parents, sister and I) moved to my dad’s hometown – Stratton, CO. It soon became one of my home towns….I have three – Stratton, CO; The Bay Area of Northern California and Geelong, Australia. I met Dorothy at church but it was later in the fall when I actually turned 12…

View original post 581 more words

Posted in knitting | Leave a Comment »

The Week Before Christmas

January 4, 2016 by Carolyn

I believe it was the Saturday before this past Christmas that I woke to dive into Facebook….well right after I got coffee….yep always looking for new ideas as well as connecting with my friends. This idea for potholders got me fired up. I remembered I had some fat quarters of fabric that I purchased at a quilt show some time ago. I dug into my stash. Here are the results.

I really enjoyed making these. If you like to sew and want a quick gift, I highly recommend that you try this project.

Batman theme for nephew Daniel – who has takaen up cooking.

TKU gift for my wonderful cousin BeV

For niece Honara and Scott – they both like to cook.

For niece Shelby and her hsuband John….he works/supervises at Chipolte

Posted in Christmas, Crafting, Creativity, Family, Holiday, Sewing | Tagged Creativity, Fat Quarters, Gifts | Leave a Comment »

On the Pillow Case Creation Trail again

January 2, 2016 by Carolyn

I am just getting ready to create some more personalized pillow cases and realized that I had not posted these from earlier in the year. Each was so fun for me to create.

The horse themed pillow cases were a wedding gift for cousin Colleen and her husband. The Tinkerbell theme was for cousin Amy’s high school graduation gift…yes, she is still in love with Tinkerbell. The last pair was a college graduation gift for cousin Jade. Her mom (my 1st cousin) helped select the fabric by sending a photo of Jade’s bedpread/comforter. In this case, I purposely made the trim on each pillow case a different color.

You too can make customized pillow cases with the help of this tutorial.

My friend Mary called the other day saying “you know I have this really good friend who made me a special pillow and can you believe I left it at the motel. Do you think she could make me another one?” Thus, I found myself at the fabric store a couple days ago and guess what I will be sewing? Here are some of my new fabric choices……stay tuned for how these pillow cases turn out! Hope to have them complete next weekend….although the next few days are really busy! Happy New Year all!

Posted in Celebrations, Crafting, Friendship, Sewing | Tagged Creativity, Horses, Sewing, Tinkerbell | Leave a Comment »

“tis the Season – Saturday Knit Group

December 31, 2015 by Carolyn

The Saturday morning group had their second celebration on Dec 19th….the first one was a joint birthday celebration which was followed up with this ‘tis the season gathering.

There were so many wonderful happenings. Susanne came down from Chico (she and her husband retired there last year). The cooking theme was desserts….there were many wonderful choices. Maurie couldn’t join us because she was sick but she still sent her GF (gluten-free) cookies. We had so much on the table including champagne, cookies (many made by Diane and Maurie), cakes, egg dishes, baked brie with homemade cranberry sauce, cheeses, and fruit….I fear I may have missed some of the dishes. Here are two recipes from the dishes on the table. The Biscotti was made by PJ using her friend’s recipe which is posted on Channeling Nonna’s blog. I loved this cookie and will be making it soon. Another dish (also prepared by PJ) that many of us “loved” was the Bacon Onion Marmalade.

We even found time to knit when we weren’t eating. The latest showings were worn by PJ and Susanne. PJ’s stunning red cowl was inspired by the pattern for Oliva Cowl from Swan Islands…the yarn was of the same name.

Susanne’s Wallaby Hoody Sweater (pattern from Vogue Knitting) was a beautifully knit garment and fit her perfectly. You may recall my posting from a while back when the sweater was in its infancy stage.