Holly Marie Knits

Sunday, July 24, 2011

A Glimpse Of Sadie's Life~In Photos.

Hmm...this looks cozy.

Bushel baskets make a nice place for a nap.

Do you mind? I'm fighting with a mouse here!

Whew, this is tiring!

These kinds of photos are all too common with Sadie. She moves so much.

Such a fun loving cat! She's hilarious to watch, and such a dear. We all enjoy her tremendously.

*As a note, Sadie is a Siberian Forest Cat.

Projects Galore!

I'm sharing a few projects, both old and new, with you today. By old I mean that it has been finished for awhile. It's been awhile since I had the chance to post so I am trying to catch up on a few things whilst I have the opportunity.

This is the "Reading In Bed Shrug" designed by Pam Allen.

I knit it out of some handspun I had around. This is one of my earlier skeins of handspun so it was quite lumpy and rather over plied in some spots, and under plied in others. But it is a nice cheerful green and I thought it would look great with this pattern.

I did change the pattern a little, in that I did a moss stitch cuff on both sides.
I haven't had a chance to wear it yet as the weather has been far too warm! This is another on of those knits that I can look forward to wearing when the cool days of fall arrive.

When I was taking these pictures and weaving in tails, Sadie had to come see what was going on. She didn't find it very interesting because I wouldn't let her lay on my shrug. So she cleaned her paws instead.

I haven't showed you much in the way of sewing these last few months. Over the summer I have had several different quilting projects going on, most are small wall hangings. The flying geese units pictured above are part of a quilt that I designed and am now piecing by hand. I find I prefer hand piecing, it is so precise and relaxing. I also am working on a flannel crazy quilt with all the little flannel pieces we have leftover from other projects.

I went to the quilt shoppe a month or so ago and got 3 sandwich baggies full of flannel scraps for only $1 a bag! My friend and I dug through the scrap tub and found all sorts of treasures. I'll have to go back in to the shoppe soon and see what they have available now. It helps to have a few other options to work from besides just my own stash of flannel scraps. I tend to only have certain particular colors and I want it to be an interesting throw quilt, so supplementing from the quilt shoppe scraps is quite handy.

Up-close on some of the quilting detail my green and red triangles wall hanging.

It is finished, I just don't have a photo of it yet.

I started this quilted center piece around the 4th of July. I made it up in two days but was undecided as to how I was going to quilt it, My Mother suggested stippling the middle which I thought was a wonderful idea. It looks nice and isn't overpowering to the overall design of the quilt in any way. I stippled most of it over a couple days, not I just need to finish a small section and move on to the outside wedges. Right now though I am helping take care of my Grandma who is recently out of a month stay in rehab. I did bring this quilt with me, but so far have not pulled it out to work on it.

This yarn I blogged about here. It is merino top that I purchased at the most recent fiber festival I was at. I was a little disappointed in how it spun up, the outside layer of fiber was slightly felted and I had to really work with it at times. But I am happy with the finished yarn.

I cast on for the Helix scarf the other day. Originally I thought I would try designing a cowl with this yarn. But my sister is knitting up the Helix right now, and I really like the way it looks. Plus with where the color repeats fall in this yarn I feel like the beauty of the fiber will be lost if I do a circular design. The back and forth rows of the Helix Scarf showcases the yarn perfectly. It is striping somewhat, but that is fine with me.

Ah! Knitting on the deck in the cool morning air with a cup of coffee.

I spun up less then 2 ounces of the 4 I had, so I have more to spin up soon. Usually I wait to start a project until I am done with all the yarn, but I was so enthused about trying this yarn with the Helix that I started right away.

I'll post finished pics of my Chocolate Mint Helix soon, Lordwilling!

For now, have a great week my friends!

My Juneberry Shawl is Finished!

So this seemed to be a long project, but in reality it only involved about six days worth of knitting time. However between the fifth day of knitting, and the sixth, about 4 months went by! The reason being that I ran out of yarn and was waiting to purchase my last skein.

I used Classic Elite:Moorland for this project and was very please with how it turned out.

So with out further ado, here is my June in March Shawl!

Blocking

After blocking.

This is a nice substantial shawl. I love the size, it turned out a little bigger then I was expecting. It will be perfect for wearing on those cold winter days, curled up with my shawl and a cup of tea. What a happy thought.

The edging simply MADE this pattern!

The wingspan is 61". I can't remember the depth right now but if anyone needs to know I can check it.

Up-close of the bobble details.

This is a fast knit for an experienced knitter, but I also have a friend who is making it as her first lace shawl. She's doing great, and is almost done with it!

I would definitely love to make this pattern again. In fact as soon as I bound off I felt like casting on again only in a different color!

I'll keep you posted if I decide to make another Juneberry in the near future.

The Heavens Declare The Glory Of God.

The heavens declare the glory of God: and the firmament sheweth His handywork. Day unto day uttereth speech, and night unto night sheweth knowledge.

~Psalm 19:1,2

Monday, June 27, 2011

New Free Pattern! Toe-up Cabled Bed Socks

Toe-Up Cabled Bed Socks

Notes: This pattern is worked from the toe-up. It is called a bed sock because there is no heel. Thus they can twist around on the foot without becoming uncomfortable, making them perfect for wearing to bed! The size is pretty flexible as it does not have a heel. I made this pattern for a friend's birthday. Her feet are smaller then mine, but the socks look well on both our feet. ***If you want to make them shorter or longer just add or decrease the cable repeats.***

Yarn: 1 skein Paton Classic Wool OR 220 yards worsted weight yarn

Needles: US #6 set of four double points

Notions: Measuring tape, cable needle, stitch marker

Approximate length: 14 1/4 inches

Cable Pattern

Row 1-4 :*K4, P2, repeat from * around.

Row 5: *C4, p2, repeat from * around.

Row 6: *K4, p2, repeat from * around.

Abbreviations:

k=knit

p=purl

k1f&b=knit 1 front and back (this is an increase stitch)

C4= slip 2 stitches on cable needle, hold in front of work. knit the next 2 stitches. Knit the 2 stitches from cable needle. One cable twist made.

Pattern:

Using Judy's magic cast-on, or your favourite toe-up method, cast on 14 stitches. Knit one row

Divide the stitches onto 3 needles as follows: Needle 1: four stitches, Needle 2: three stitches, Needle 3: seven stitches.

Round 1: K1, K1f&b, knit across to last 2 stitches of needle 2, k1f&b,k1. On needle 3, k1, k1f&b, knit across to last 2 stitches of needles 3, k1f&b, k1. ~4 stitches increased. 18 stitches total

Round 2: Knit

Repeat rounds 1 and 2 seven times. You will have 46 stitches.

Next Round: k1, k1f&b, knit across to the last 2 stitches on needle 2, k1f&b, k1. Knit across needles 3. ~48 stitches.

Next Round: Knit

Redistribute stitches on needles as follows: Needle 1: twelve stitches, Needle 2: eighteen stitches, Needle 3: eighteen stitches.

Now you will be starting the cable portion of the leg.

Work rows 1-6 of Cable Pattern 14 times.

Rib Row: *K2, P2, repeat from * around.

Repeat Rib Row 7 more times. 8 rib rows total.

Bind of loosely in a K2,P2 rib. Fasten off and weave in tails.

And your cabled bed sock is complete! You can also wash and block if desired.

A Little Fiber Update

Hello there my friends! I am back with pictures of my finished alpaca/silk yarn! I only spun up 2 ounces so far. I'm not one hundred percent sure on the yarn weight, I haven't measured the WPI, but it looks to be around a fingering weight, 198 yards.

I'm very pleased with how it turned out, it is just what I was hoping it would be. I still have no plans for the yarn. For now it is decoration on the piano.

I used my hand cards to finish prepping the last 2 ounces of alpaca fiber and silk. I haven't started spinning it though. Right now I am trying to clear up some of my other spindles. I have a bad habit of having to many spinning projects going on at one time.

Here I am spinning up merino that I purchased at a recent Fiber Fest. It is a lovely mix of aqua & brown. It is SO soft and lovely! I think it would make a great cowl.

And this bit of spinning is Corriedale. I found a new supplier for Corriedale and thought I should try spinning some up to see if I like what I am selling. So far it is wonderfully soft, and drafts smoothly. The colours are not really "me" but I am sure I will find a good use for the yarn, be it making a gift for someone or perhaps selling it.

And last but not least, my Lillia Hyrna Shawl! It is coming along beautifully, albeit rather slowly. But I don't mind that it is taking me awhile. As I probably said before, knitting with handspun lace is such a luxurious experience. I'm savouring every moment and thoroughly enjoying the process of knitting this shawl.

What about you? I'd love to hear what projects you are working on! Drop me a comment and let me know.

Have a beautiful day, and God bless you!

Thursday, June 16, 2011

Silk & Alpaca

Recently my cousin gave me this lovely bundle of silk sari ribbons. A couple of weeks ago I spun up an art batt that had some shredded silk in it, and I greatly enjoyed spinning the parts with thread in it. So I thought I would shred ribbon myself and card it with some of the alpaca we have.

Here is my pile of shredded ribbon. This afternoon my friend and I shredded up more and had the pile grow to twice the size pictured. It was very generous of my friend to employ herself shredding ribbon for me. We felt terribly destructive taking lovely lengths of ribbon, pulling them to bits and then ending up with a pile of multi-coloured threads. This silk ribbon is from saris, and were all frayed to begin with however, and by repurposing these they were going for a good cause.

This week I was away camping so I had to bring along all the materials for this project. I thought it would be fun to try something new whilst on vacation. Today was a rainy,dreary day so we were inside most of the time and that is when we shredded and carded for my silk & alpaca yarn.

Here is what I've spun so far. I am not yet finished carding up all 4 ounces of alpaca and silk, but I needed to take a break from the hand cards. Plus I was eager to see how it look spun up. I am very pleased with the results, it is just what I had in mind and I can not wait to see it plied and with the twist set. I am going to do a two ply because I figure that doing so will help anchor down any stray threads that might not be thoroughly spun in.
I'm still debating on whether or not to design a pattern with this yarn, or just find one and knit it up. I guess we'll see what the yarn wants to be when it is finished!

Cheerio my friends, and God bless! Have a lovely day!