Feeds:
Posts
Comments

Posts Tagged ‘Marsha’

Marsha

More creativity from Marsha!

She has been working on a Tomten Jacket (design by Elizabeth Zimmerman)…..one of my favorite children designs (which can also be knit in adult sizes). It’s simple, practical, and elegant…all at the same time. In this case, Marsha was worried about enough yarn…she was using a sock yarn that was also taking a lot of knitting time. So….in the interest of time and yarn she decided to knit the sleeves “short” to fit so that sleeves fit right into the armhole but were only long enough to line up with the body of the sweater. Remember that this design has the sleeves “set” into the body.

This design also has a hood, but Marsha chose to convert that into a collar by leaving the hood off. This version can either be a stand-up collar or roll back. Isn’t it great to be so inspired by a pattern design that you can add your own touches?

Marsha did a beautiful job of the I-cord trim. She is now looking for the right closure. Will it be a frog that she creates from I-cord or will it be a shopping trip to  Stone Mountain and Daughter Fabrics in Berkeley for the best closure. Stay tuned!

Oh…and remember the Tomten is a modular jacket…any size yarn can be used…just need to get the propotions right…..1/4 of total stitches = back; 1/2 of total stitches = 2 armholes; and 1/4 stitches = 2 fronts. This pattern is available through School House Press.

Read Full Post »

  I was so excited recently!  Marsha returned from vacation at Rabbit Stick…..she came to knitting workshop full of such excitement and enthusiam and rightly so! I caught her enthusiam.

She had spent several days in Idaho at a creative native craft experience. She felted fabric from old sweaters and made boots. She crafted (pounded) blanket pins (cowboy pins) out of copper wire..looked like shawl pins to me.

She estimated that 300 + people were in attendance….Rabbit Stick was celebrating its 25th anniversary….Marsha has been going for years….I’m thinking it would be a wonderful experience!

Read Full Post »

Marsha in her self-designed sweater

Doesn’t Marsha (from Tuesday knitting   workshop group) look great in her self-designed sweater?

She knew that she wanted a simple sweater…and we designed it together. She chose Elsbeth Lavold’s Silky Wool. We took her body measurements….added the ease…she knit her gauge swatch. She then used this information to calculate how many stitches to cast on….she cast on and she was off knitting in the round.

It all went smoothly…trying on every so often to be sure that our math was working. Every step of the way the sweater looked great on Marsha.

And then there was the neck….it was too tight! Back up…. we decided that she needed more depth on the collar and a different cast off – P2tog…a wonderfully elastic cast off!

Here’s the cast off: P2 tog, *slip resulting stitch back to left needle, purl it together with the next stitch”, repeat until 1 stitch left on right needle. Cut yarn with 6in length. Thread yarn through last stitch and pull tight.

Read Full Post »

Here are more photos…..descriptions to be posted tonight…check back!

Read Full Post »

Natasha Marsha Elliot and Nina

Natasha Marsha Elliot and Nina

What an excitement loaded morning….designs, sharing, laughter and baby Elliot came with his mother Natasha. Once again….you’d think we’d never seen a baby….so many oohs and aahs! And he really is a lovely baby and so glad that Natasha can be with us. Some of the other highlights: Eleanor shared her Sock Summit experience (you might also want to check the Yarn Harlot’s blog), Terry shared another one of her creations, Cathy – a truly left-handed continental knitter – shared her latest translation of cable instructions as well as a baby sweater for her grandchild, Rebecca just completed a hat, Maurie is working on her adult surprise sweater, Susanne is finishing a cape stole, Diane has finished her Moderne Baby Blanket and is now working on the completion of her top-down sweater, Marsha is working on an adult Moderne Blanket, and yes…Natasha can still knit – she is working on an Feather Ripple Afghan using deep rich red and rust colors, Katie is knitting away with her gift scarves, Nina is on her rendition of MaggiKnits La Alhambra design, and Margo is making progress on her blue sweater…a lace design.

Margo was having a problem reading which row she should be on as she shapes the curves on the neckline. She thought she was on row 9 and I finally discerned that she wass on row 11….and that the first shaping on the right side of the neck was off….but I said “It’s not obvious so I might let it go.” Where upon Margo says looking at the rest of the group, “If she doesn’t care, then I don’t! (She usually does!) Let’s move on.” It’s hard to express Margo’s wonderful delivery of words and expression…but it is great and she makes us all laugh.

And a knitting tip from Cathy…as you are trying to remember names…use word association. This came up because Terry was trying to remember the name of the stitch pattern…you know the one where you just keep knitting…well it was garter. And here is Cathy’s tip: Gunsmoke – Miss Kitty wore garters! Another round of laughter.

One more tip from Eleanor which came from Charlene Schurch, instructor at Socks Summit and author of Sensational Knitted Socks….when you are swatching and changing needles in the same swatch (which is what I recommend that you do rather than casting off and starting a new swatch..simply change needles) use yo’s as separation between needle size swatches….this will control the tension between the different needle sizes used within the same swatch.

And now some more photos! Enjoy!

Coming next: works from Tues, Thurs and Friday.

Read Full Post »