Laura (lauralkeet) knits a lot in 2021

I'm in the "home stretch" of The Knitting Guild Association Master Handknitter Certification program and hope to submit my work for review sometime this year. I always have at least one other project on the needles, usually something fun that doesn't require as much concentration. The photo shows some of my favorite projects from 2020. Clockwise from top left: Longboat Key Tee, Purl Strings Sweater, a Fair Isle hat (original design), and a Gansey sweater (also an original design; the photo is a closeup on the sleeve).

Work-in-Progress

Master Hand Knitting Program
My final project for the program is an original design for an Aran sweater. The requirements are:
* A minimum of 4 different cables
* Bobbles
* A background stitch for the cables, such as reverse stockinette
* A "filler" stitch that is not garter, reverse stockinette, or stockinette.

Besides designing the sweater, I have to knit it (of course), and write a pattern. I have the design worked out and am currently knitting the back section.

Tiglar Sweater



This Tiglar sweater is my "fun" project, using navy blue Icelandic yarn my daughter gave me after a trip to Iceland, and two other colors purchased from River Colors Studio in northeastern Ohio, a shop Ravelry suggested as a source: a light gray tweed for the body, and a denim heather (the navy and denim will form the diamond pattern shown in the photo). I'm still waiting for the denim heather to arrive so I haven't done much on this yet.

Those really were some nice projects from last year. Hope you make good progress on your class and looking forward to this year's projects.

Agree with Betty, those were indeed some gorgeous projects. Looking forward to seeing all your work in 2021.

Hey Laura - Our food section of the paper this am had a recipe for a winter French 75. Thought I'd pass this along:

Winter Simple Syrup:
1 cup sugar
1 cup water
1 clove
1 cinnamon stick
zest of 1 orange
zest of 1 lemon

Cognac French 75:
1 ounce cognac
1/2 oz (1 TBLS) lemon juice
1/2 oz (1 TBLS) simple syrup
3 oz sparkling wine/champagne

I've been intrigued since you mentioned this cocktail, but haven't gone anywhere to order one.

>5 dudes22: ooh, a winter version! I love this idea, Betty! Thanks for sharing it.

Aran Sweater

Here's an early look at the Aran sweater I've designed for the Masters program. This is the back. There's about 2" of ribbing, and then the cable patterns will repeat all the way to the top.



Finding cable patterns that I liked, and that played nicely together, required a lot of swatching. I've also included a photo of the yarn that is more true to color than my photo above. The name of the color "crabapple," but I think it looks more like rosé wine. 😀

Wow, that looks fantastic! My head would spin right into orbit, I think, trying to keep up with all those rows.

I like the color. How interesting that it photos differently. I'll bet there's a way you could put all those swatches together for a wall hanging or a pillow maybe.

Thank you, Amber & Betty.

>8 scaifea: keeping up with the rows isn't as hard as it looks. Think of it as different "panels": a center lattice pattern, a group of 3 cables on either side of the lattice, and moss stitch at the far left and right. All of these are charted row-by-row, and I use highlighter tape to mark the current row on each chart.

>9 dudes22: I think lighting has a big impact on how the color turns out in the photo. I've tried tinkering with photos to adjust color, but I can never get it quite right. With my skills, it's just dumb luck when the photo comes out accurate.

>7 lauralkeet: I love designing and knitting Aran!
Are your various panels are multiples of the longest pattern repeat; that is if one panel is 24 row repeat, you might have 8, 6, 4, and 12 row repeats in the other panels? It looks like your D and F are with the E, and the B, D, F and H are with the C and G. Nice work and Cascade is a good weight.

I was interested to see that bobbles are a requirement. For some reason, with nothing behind it at all, I never think of them as a "required" component - maybe because they seem to ornamental for a working sweater and are in danger of being snagged.

I like the detail work on the Gansey sleeve. Looking forward to what you knit this year.

>11 SassyLassy: Nice to see another Aran fan! I've always enjoyed knitting cables. Designing has been a big challenge and the jury is out whether I enjoy it enough to do it again!

You are spot on about pattern repeats. One of the design books I read said you'll make your life easier if you design based on the longest pattern repeat. In this section, the center "snug lattice" motif is 8 rows, and the cables on either side are 16. Moss stitch is 4. So they all follow that guidance. For the front I'm planning to use a different center motif with a 24-row repeat, flanked by the same moss & cables as on the back. In this case the 24-row motif will stop at the neckline and the other cables will extend up to the shoulders. So I should be okay there.

I agree with you about the bobble requirement. They're not my favorite thing! Some knitters have gone crazy with bobbles, others have placed them "out of the way" on the sleeves. I'm planning to use them in the center motif on the front, and based on placement there will only be about 6 bobbles.

Thanks for sharing your knitting process. Very interesting to read. Very glad that I have resisted learning to knit or crochet or tat or anything similar in any way, shape, or form. The better to appreciate the work of others. I hope you complete the certification this year! It's all so beautiful!

>13 justchris: Thank you very much, Chris. It's nice to have a new visitor and I appreciate your kind comments. Knitting is both a relaxing and mentally stimulating hobby for me, depending on what I'm working on. A bit like reading in a way.

I am eagerly awaiting more posts about your sweater! It's so fun to see it come together when it's not me cursing a blue streak. lol

I've done my share of cursing over this and I'm pretty sure there will be more curse-worthy moments! But I'm happy to share photographic, curse-free progress. Everyone here is so supportive and encouraging.

I know this is a small problem in the midst of all the larger problems in the world but ...

I am still waiting for yarn for my Tiglar Icelandic sweater. You might remember from my previous thread, that I had navy yarn in my stash, and needed two more colors. I thought I'd use gray and white, but the white didn't look right. I contacted the yarn shop I ordered from and with their help chose a denim blue. I received a shipping notice right away. That was December 16.

I didn't think about it much more until after Christmas, especially given the severe delays we're currently experiencing with the US Postal Service. But when I checked on the status, it looked like that the package hadn't left the shop. Sigh.

I contacted the shop, they said they would look into it, and a day later the tracking information showed the package had been accepted by the local USPS facility. I was disappointed that the the shop never offered an explanation or apology, but at least it was on its way. That was December 28.

By the next day the package had moved one stop along the way, from a local USPS facility to a regional one. And it has sat there ever since. I'm sure the New Year's holiday had an impact, but I'm surprised the package didn't start travelling this week.

Ugh.

>17 lauralkeet: - I hear you. I sent some cookies to friends in AZ. I went to the PO on 12/24 and sent it Priority Mail. It got to Mass regional facility on 12/26 where it sat saying "in transit" until today when it shows it's made it to Tucson. I would be more understanding if I hadn't paid good money for Priority.

I know some of the places I order fabric from are upfront on their web sites saying it will take longer for them to process an order. I hope your yarn is faster than my cookies.

>18 dudes22: I've heard horror stories about priority packages not being prioritized this year. I think you should complain to USPS and ask that they refund the difference in parcel post and priority mail.

>17 lauralkeet: We had a similar issue with one of our purchases from BestBuy. They shipped the item and it traveled one leg of the trip but then got stuck in Ohio for almost 2 weeks with no updates. It showed up at our house with no intermediate scans on the rest of the trip. I heard some facilities just don't have the bandwidth to do scans and some packages are prioritized lower. I hope your yarn arrives soon!

Thank you for the sympathy! I checked the tracking this morning and my yarn has finally left the regional facility in Akron, OH. But it's likely to languish in another sorting center once it arrives in Philadelphia. I'm waiting on a couple of other packages in that situation. If only I knew which Philadelphia facility and where it is located. I'd consider going there and staging a sit-in until they handed over my stuff ha ha.

>21 lauralkeet: I was tempted to drive to Atlanta once my package showed up, but I hoped things were normalizing--and they apparently were.

I haven't had much trouble with packages getting stuck in warehouses and other facilities, but I've been highly annoyed by the shipping companies that don't seem to care about your requested pick-up places. Depending on which company you use, there are quite a lot of places both in town and here in my suburb where you can pick up packages (direct home delivery is usually very pricy and often not available anyway). All good there, but some of the places aren't convenient for me since they're across town or located in a place that's more for drivers than pedestrians like myself. So I always click on the place that's best for me. Do I get to pick them up there? No, they're still shipped to the places that are the most inconvenient for me. Why give me a choice if you won't listen? It's mind-boggling.

Rant over. Sorry.

>21 lauralkeet: Your package wait is far worst than mine. I'm waiting for a 2nd fabric order from Virginia that seems to be somewhere between Maryland (the regional facility) and here -- for almost a week (I'm so impatient! I suspect it is coming by dogsled) The one from Mississippi came lickety-split but the one, done the same day, from Virginia has not. I hope yours arrive very soon!

In the "getting old sucks" department, it appears I am dealing with the beginnings of arthritis around my left thumb. Damn.

A while ago I started feeling pain in my left hand while knitting. I had been working tons of cable swatches to design my Aran sweater, and thought I was probably gripping my knitting too tightly and just needed to chill out. But stretching and relaxing didn't have much effect. Fortunately, one of the women in my knitting group is a hand therapist and was willing to do a bit of consultation over the phone. She asked a bunch of questions and had me make certain movements and tell her whether they caused pain. She was pretty certain it wasn't tendinitis, and it sounded to her like thumb arthritis. She recommended the Comfort Cool Thumb CMC Restriction Splint as well as some ergonomic adjustments like knitting with a pillow in my lap to take the weight off my hands.

She also offered wise words about needing to perform activities "with respect," and save my joints for what I most want to do. With that in mind I've intentionally shortened my knitting sessions and am taking regular breaks as I work.

So far these recommendations seem to be helping. I plan to discuss this with my doctor at my next regular checkup. But I sure don't like having to think about this! Anyone else dealing with arthritis in their crafting?

>26 lauralkeet: Sorry to hear you dealing with that. I don't have any problems with my hands yet (thankfully) but I have had problems on-and-off with my knees for the past 20 years (since my teens). It's mostly been as a result of sitting still too much but I've also had problems when I've been running (physiotherapist said the muscles in my knees were too weak so I have exercises I do every day). But lately they've started hurting even when I'm not sitting and while I'm still leaning towards it being a result of sitting too much there is still the possibility of it being - arthritis. it runs in the family so I will most likely get it eventually, but I really hope I have a couple of decades left until then.
Will see a doctor about it when the situation with the pandemic starts to cool down.

There's been quite a lot of talk about arthritis/hand pain in my FB knitting group and the things I remember being mentioned as helping are square needles, using circular needles instead of regular ones, short bouts with breaks in between, exercises for the hands and the pillow underneath that you've already mentioned.
I hope you find some way of managing it so you can still knit as much as you want.

Thank you Paws! I recently had a baseline bone scan, which found indications of possible arthritis in my future. I just didn't think that meant "now," darn it. Thanks for sharing those tips from your knitting group.

I've also been down the knee pain route, having torn my meniscus in 2019 during some overzealous running on a treadmill. I tried physical therapy and a brace but ultimately had a cortisone injection which worked wonders.

IIRC you're considerably younger than me (I'll be 59 next month), so hopefully you'll be able to keep arthritis at bay for some time.

>28 lauralkeet: Yeah, I'm 36 so hopefully the day I get arthritis is still some time away.
I had a co-worker who took regular cortisone injections in her knees (4 times a year, I think), which worked well for her, but I hope I never have to use cortisone. I already have issues with, or am at risk of, several of the issues that are on the list of side effects for cortisone.

>29 PawsforThought: - We have a neighbor who gets regular shots for his knee (knees?). Trying to avoid knee replacement. He says it works well for him and for right now, he's willing to take the shots.

Sorry that you're having problems with your hands, Laura. I have one joint at the base of my right hand thumb that seems enlarged compared to the left hand, but no pain yet. I know the natural herb arnica helps with muscle pain but not sure it would work for joints. I used to send our granddaughter to college with a new tube from the organic place I order from every year. She played field hockey and said it really helped.

>30 dudes22: Betty, I just googled arnica and WebMD says it can help ease arthritis symptoms, so I'm going to look into that further. Thank you!!

I know we're not supposed to push companies but I got it from Moon Valley Organics. It's a muscle rub.

Thanks!

There's plenty to celebrate today with the Inauguration and all, but also: the yarn for my Tiglar sweater FINALLY arrived!

ETA: here are the colors side-by-side.


The main color is gray heather and the contrast colors are navy and denim heather. The pattern photo in >2 lauralkeet: shows how the colors are used together. In my sweater the navy will replace the black and the denim replaces the white.

Those are great!. I think it will look much better than #2.

Thanks Betty! The pattern photos is very masculine, IMO. You could also go really crazy with colors on a sweater like this, using colors that "pop" more. I started out thinking along those lines but was somewhat limited by what was available. In any case, I'm very happy with this combination.

>34 lauralkeet: Hurrah for yarn arrivals! The colours look superb, and now I really want to make an Icelandic sweater myself.

>34 lauralkeet: Those colors look great together and I can't wait to see the finished sweater. Well, obviously I CAN wait, because you have to knit it first, but you know what I mean. :-)

>37 PawsforThought:, >38 rosalita: Thanks Paws & Julia. I started this sweater while waiting for the yarn, because the ribbing starts with several rows of navy. I thought I'd have the yarn by the time I needed it, but then I had to swap out the white for denim and ... well, here we are. I'm looking forward to getting back to it soon.

Ooh, lovely yarn! Alafoss is so much fun to knit with and comes in such great colors. (Also easy to splice when I inevitably break it. Although it's much better than than plotulopi.)

Yay for the yarn delivery! And I *love* those colors together!

Thanks Amber!

Re: the arnica - My hubby went to the ortho yesterday. He's been having trouble with his ankles and thought it might be arthritis. (He fell off a boat in drydock many years ago and broke both heels. They told him then he would probably get arthritis or have to get his bones fused eventually) Anyway, the doctor gave him a brace to wear and some cream to use and guess what's in it? Arnica.

>43 dudes22: well that's a funny coincidence, Betty! I hope it helps him. I ordered a gel before you posted in >32 dudes22:. I looked for a product that specifically mentioned arthritis. There were many that mentioned only bruises and muscle pain. I really appreciate your recommendation and will let you know how it works for me.

>7 lauralkeet:: You do such beautiful work. I agree with the person who suggested making your swatches into a cushion cover. It would make such a lovely winter piece.

>45 tiffin: Hi Tui! Nice to see you around these parts. Thanks for your kind words, and thoughts about the swatches. I'm in no hurry to do anything with them, but who knows, maybe I'll feel sentimental when I finally finish the program.

>45 tiffin: is that 'tiffin' I spy?! I was just noticing the old threads at the bottom of the list of threads, one of which is hers.

Thought I'd share a photo of my Tiglar sweater. This measures about 25cm from the bottom edge. I'll knit 41cm before setting it aside to work the sleeves, and then come back later to work the yoke.

Oh gosh, that's so gorgeous. I love the colors so much, and look how neat and tidy your stitches are (as usual, I should say)!

Wow! I love those colors. Great choices.

I'll add my voice to the chorus of "you picked fabulous c9lors that work together beautifully". Of course, as usual I've managed to use twice as many words to say the same thing — my editors loved that about me (not)!

Thanks Amber, Betty, and Julia. Kudos to the yarn shop for helping me choose that denim blue. I really like the way the gray is knitting up with those tweedy flecks.

>48 lauralkeet: Your yarn is knitting up beautifully, Laura. I’ll keep popping in to see your progress. I’m just getting back into my knitting. Last year really put a damper on everything I enjoy doing, but I think I’m back on track now.

>53 NanaCC: Hi Colleen, it's so nice to see you here. I'm glad you're getting back into knitting and, more importantly, that you're feeling "back on track" generally.

>48 lauralkeet: I too ama fan of the blues! Happy knitting!

>55 justchris: Thanks Chris!

>52 lauralkeet: I agree about the tweediness - I love that look so much and love working with tweed yarns.

>57 scaifea: Yeah, this has renewed my appreciation for tweeds. I was just chatting with Chris (my husband, not justchris !) yesterday, about knitting him a sweater after I finish this one. More discussion needed to see what sort of pattern he'd like, but maybe there will be tweed in our future.

>58 lauralkeet: I think you both need new tweed sweaters to match that cozy new cottage you're moving into...

>59 scaifea: Sure we do, Amber!

For those wondering about the "cozy new cottage" Amber referred to ... here's what I posted on my 75 Books Thread earlier today:

Some Personal News

Last fall, Chris and I started talking about finding a vacation home that would allow us to occasionally escape the city and connect with nature. Our search led us to parts of Virginia near the Blue Ridge mountains. We found a lovely property but as it happens, it’s one that is best lived in year-round. So we suddenly find ourselves in the midst of a relocation. Our current house has just gone on the market, and we will be moving to northern Virginia in the next couple of months. Fortunately, in our last move we purged a lot of our excess stuff so at least we don't have that to deal with this time around. But still, this all happened MUCH more quickly than I would have guessed!





The house was originally built by a Pennsylvania Quaker, and the original section (first photo) dates to 1791. The second photo is a 1970s addition. It extends behind the vine-covered part of the front, forming an L-shape. The entrance to the 1970s addition is the one we’ll use day-to-day; it leads into a sort of foyer/small sitting room. The current owners remodeled the kitchen and it’s very nice. There’s a patio off the back. We lived in a semi-rural setting before moving to the city, and ended up missing the gardening and backyard wildlife more than we expected. This place offers lots of opportunity in those areas.

That's a big house, Laura! Lots of luck. You should be able to have plenty of room for yarn. 😉

>60 lauralkeet: What a great house! I found it using the clues you dropped about it and viewed the online video, photos, and floor plan. Looks like there are a couple of small built-in bookcases, but it definitely needs more.

>61 dudes22: Thanks Betty. One of the things we like about this house is that the master bedroom is on the ground floor. That leaves the upstairs bedrooms for guests. And yarn. HA1

>62 thornton37814: Thanks Lori.

That's a lovely house, Laura, and so much room (for both books and yarn)! I wish you all the best in your relocation. Is it a long move to the new house from where you live now? I hate moving with a passion, and am dreading having to do it soon-ish, even though I do *want* to relocate and I'm not going far at all. But the packing...

>64 PawsforThought: It's a 3-hour drive, Paws. It's not insignificant, but not like moving across the country either. Would the be considered a "long move" in Sweden?

>65 lauralkeet: I wouldn't consider it a long move, but I live up north, where towns are about 2 hours apart by car. I've gone to the next town just to catch a movie, and commuted there for university for two years.
The south is more of a cluster of towns so 3 hours would be a bigger deal there, but still not "long". My brother's family are planning on moving up from Stockholm, about 9 hours to drive. That's definitely a long move.

One really good thing about not moving very far is that moving is tiring enough without having to spend a whole day (or several days) on the road. You can pack up the last few things in the morning, get to the new place and have the essentials unpacked before you collapse from exhaustion.

Aran Sweater - Back



I finished the back of my Aran sweater today. Yay! This is a drop-shoulder design, with saddle sleeves, so the back is just a big rectangle. The front will have shaping for the neck and shoulders.

Just as a reminder, this is what the color really looks like:

That is some gorgeous cable work, Laura!

That cabling is gorgeous!

(and so is the new house!)

>67 lauralkeet: I love doing cables, Laura. That looks lovely. I bet it was fun to do.

Thank you very much Julia, Mel, and Colleen!

I love knitting cables too, and I have an entirely new appreciation for what it takes to design a cable sweater. It took me about 3 months, tons of swatching, and my first onset of thumb arthritis to develop a fully-thought-out design for the back and front, and a couple of reasonably-fleshed-out-but-not-final ideas for the sleeves. I'm really glad that I took part in a tutorial/knitalong about this time last year, to design and knit a sweater from scratch. This sweater has the same structure (drop-shoulder with saddle sleeves), so I was able to build on what I'd learned before. The cables added very challenging complexity, so it really helped to have some foundational knowledge.

It took just under 2 months to knit the back. I'll start the front soon.

That's really very pretty, Laura. Such interesting cables. I used to like doing cables when I was knitting.

>67 lauralkeet: That's amazing! I look forward to seeing the rest of it as it comes "to life".

Thanks Betty and Paws. The front will be quite similar to the back, except for the center, where I'm using a different lattice motif and will incorporate the required bobbles (ugh).

Wow, that is gorgeous, Laura! Well done, you.

Thanks Amber!

I'm rethinking my Aran sweater design a little bit. I mentioned in >74 lauralkeet: that I planned to use a different center motif in order to incorporate the required bobbles. This motif was actually the first one I chose for this sweater, and the rest of the design revolved around it. For reasons I won't digress into, I had to choose a different motif for the center back.

A funny thing happened while knitting the back: I started to love that center lattice, maybe even more than my first choice! I've done a bit of calculating and determined I could knit the front exactly like the back, and the neck shaping would still work out. That's appealing, because it makes the front that much easier

But I still need bobbles. They won't fit into that back/front design, but what about the sleeves? That would put the bobbles nicely out of the way, which I like. I'm now researching possible motifs for the sleeve that would a) complement the body patterns, b) have room for a bobble here and there, and c) work well with the overall sleeve length and the saddle length.

>77 lauralkeet: If you will be wearing the garment a lot, bobble on sleeves aren't always practical. They get caught, they wear down, they wear out. Is it possible to put bobbles in the centre diamond of your long braided rope cables? That lets you keep the centre motif from the back. Naturally the bobbles would be only on the front, since the back is done already!

Love the intriguing centre panel design. Makes you just want to keep tracing it.

I like the idea of bobbles on the sleeve. That center motif is wonderful. Could you use the motif that you had for the bobbles on the sleeve or would it be out of proportion? Maybe smaller? Do the bobbles have to be a certain size? Ok - I think those are enough questions for today.

>78 SassyLassy: That's something to think about. I'm just as worried about bobbles on the front for the same reasons. I'm often not careful enough when, say, I'm cooking.

>79 dudes22: All good thoughts, Betty. The former front center motif would work on the main part of the sleeve but I need to extend part of it from the sleeve into the saddle and I can't break it down to do that.

I've found the best approach is to swatch various alternatives to see what they really look like, and to take some essential measurements like length, width, and gauge.

Following up on some of Betty's questions, I thought I'd say more about the original motif I had planned for the center front. In the middle of the above photo is a swatch of two diamonds filled in with moss stitch (ignore the border on each side). Now visualize this repeating up the sweater. This would create a "stack" of moss stitch diamonds, and in between those, diamonds filled in with the background stitch (reverse stockinette). That's where I was going to place the bobbles. This is about 4.5" wide, a good width for a center cable and also suitable for the sleeve. However, as I mentioned, I would then have a problem with the saddle shoulder. If this pattern were, say, three diamonds wide, I could extend the center diamond up into the saddle.

Now, there *might* be a way to use this pattern in the main part of the sleeve and then continue into the saddle with diamonds filled with the background stitch. I do like the original pattern, especially the moss stitch which I've used elsewhere on the sweater. So ... this could be an option, and one I hadn't considered yet. I'm so grateful for the questions and ideas posed here, it's really inspiring!

>81 lauralkeet: I've used that diamond and moss stitch combination and have seen it with bobbles in the centre. It is quite effective. Even with two diamonds you could work it out so that the widest part of the reverse stockinette diamond was at the beginning of the saddle, and then continue the saddle with just that diamond.

>82 SassyLassy: Exactly, Sally. That's what I was trying to say in my last paragraph. You said it much more clearly!

So, Laura - how come the colors are different in post #67? Is it because the back picture is one you took and the other is one you grabbed from online?

Betty, I wish I knew! I took both photos although not at the same time. I always make sure there's only natural light (I turn off any overhead lights because they create shadows). The sweater was on my dining room table and the yarn on a coffee table in the living room, just a few yards away. Both tables are made of similar wood although the dining table is a bit darker. I am guessing it all came down to lighting? I tried to tweak the sweater photo to get closer to the actual color, but when I looked at the yarn photo I realized I wasn't even close.

I'm sure there's a science to this, I just don't have the expertise nor do I have any sophisticated photo editing tools. I just use what's on my phone.

Me too. I think the local OLLI has a course on taking photos with your phone. Once we're out of Covid, I may think about taking it.

I'm no expert; but nearly everything to do with color in photos has to do with white balance. If you are using an iPhone, the native camera app has some filters under the the three circle icon in the upper right. Also, once you have taken a photo, you can edit it. There are other camera apps with a bit better white balance control. For iPhone 7 Plus, you are looking for a setting called warmth (the icon looks like a thermometer).



Something I have done for ages is use the HDR setting on my iPhone. HDR essentially takes high, medium, low exposure; merges them for a more dynamic photo.

Two things that will help and are relatively low cost:

1. a work lamp with a daylight spectrum bulb -- I have two work lamps with the clamps on the end. Both have daylight bulbs in them. It's made a huge difference in getting the actual color of whatever I'm photographing with my iPhone.

2. a reflector set up -- something as simple as white foam board that forms a corner and a white poster board to bounce light off will work. I have a DIY lightbox using foam board and super thin tissue paper. I use it when photographing smaller things. It's a pain to leave up because it takes up vital crafting space; but I love the results when I use it.

Something a little more advanced that is worth the investment -- a ring light. You need a tripod -- even a table top one -- to use a ring light effectively; but it's worth it. My SIL has been using a ring light set up for work since the start of the COVID lockdown. She's always worked from home; but now she has a lot more video calls.

Edited to fix the photos I broke when I was cleaning up my Flickr photostream!

>87 lesmel: - That's some great info. I'm going to try fooling around with some pictures and see how it works out. Usually I take the picture with my phone but edit it with my IPad as it's bigger. I'll have to check both of them.

BTW - what is that?

>87 lesmel: Nice photo! Looks like a pink variety of oyster mushroom - am I right? I bought one of those grow-mushrooms-at-home kits for my parents for Christmas.

>87 lesmel: this is super helpful. I don't have the time to experiment with this right away, but I would really like to so I've favorited this message for future reference. Thank you so much!

>88 dudes22: & >89 PawsforThought: Pink oyster mushrooms, FTW! My brother and his family bought this for my Xmas present. I've never heard of pink oysters. I am beyond excited for this first flush.

>91 lesmel: Hooray! I'm excited for you. They are supposed to be a real delicacy so you have something to look forward to. I should make my parents get theirs out and started - I've eaten A LOT of mushrooms in my life but never oyster mushrooms (they don't grow wild here).

>87 lesmel: Yep, I can usually get my photos pretty accurate, color-wise, by fiddling with a handful of those settings on my iphone, which I really appreciated when I was running my etsy shop!

Aran Sweater Update

I've decided on cable patterns for the sleeve. Recall that I had decided to make the front identical to the back, and in >81 lauralkeet: was considering whether I could use a diamond pattern that I'd originally planned for the front.

Choosing the right cable patterns is tricky, because not only does each pattern need to look appealing and "play well" with the other patterns, but all of the patterns need to fit into the required length and width of the piece. This is the general shape of a drop-shoulder sleeve with saddle:



For this sweater's sleeve, I need cables to fit a 5-6" width. This panel of cables will repeat from the cuff up the sleeve and be surrounded by an increasingly wider field of moss stitch as the sleeve grows to the required width at the top. Part of the cable pattern will extend into the saddle. The cables that don't extend need to end evenly at the top, they shouldn't be cut off.

I ran into trouble making the diamond pattern fit the required dimensions. But once I worked that out and worked a swatch, the resulting design lacked continuity with the rest of the sweater. So here's what I'm going to do instead:



This swatch simulates the top of the sleeve going into the saddle. The center cable is one I'm using on the body of the sweater, so that unifies the design. And the cables on each side are a nice way to incorporate the required bobbles. The sleeve will be about 18" wide at the top, so there will be a lot more moss stitch.

The center cable repeats every 16 rows whereas the cable-with-bobbles takes 12 rows. The sleeve length requires 11 repeats of the cable-with-bobbles, and the center cable will just keep going into the saddle. The actual saddle will require two more repeats of the center cable than I've shown here.

I kept wondering what you meant by a shoulder with a saddle - now I can see it and understand what you were talking about. I really like the look of what you're planning. The bobbles aren't too intrusive and look like they fit right in. I'd like to see a little bit of that plain background on the outside of the cables so they are more pronounced unless I just can't see it in the picture. But I do like that design.

I think your new Aran plans look really good. That a good idea putting the bobbles in the cable pattern - ties everything in together.

>95 dudes22:, >96 PawsforThought: thanks Betty & Paws!

Funny thing about the cable-with-bobbles. I found it while perusing Barbara Walker's Treasury of Knitting Patterns (Vol 1). The photo did not show bobbles but the text describing the cable said it was well suited to a bobble and even specified where the bobble should be placed. It seemed like it was meant to be ...

Checking in to see the progress. I imagine you don't have much time right now to sit and knit.

>98 avaland: at the moment my reading is suffering more than my knitting, Lois. I often knit in front of the TV, which we do pretty much every night. I've had less time to just curl up with a book.

But at the same time, I have to be careful not to knit too much in one sitting as it aggravates my thumb arthritis. So I do feel like I'm progressing more slowly than I would have at times in the past.

>99 lauralkeet: I haven’t been knitting as much lately as I’d like, Laura, because my hands keep cramping. I can definitely relate to having arthritis and the cramping putting a damper on the things we enjoy. I did go to a hand specialist at one point for the arthritis and he gave me a cortisone shot. That did help alleviate the arthritis somewhat, but not the cramping. Packing up your house for the move will take up a lot of your time for a while, but that beautiful house will be worth it in the end.

>100 NanaCC: Thanks for the moral support, Colleen. The arthritis is a new thing for me, and it's been much better since following my hand therapist friend's advice. I hadn't thought about cramping vs. arthritis pain, but I suppose I do have a bit of both.

I've also noticed that cable knitting is harder on the hands than other techniques. As much as I love cables, going forward it's probably best to avoid projects as cable-intensive as this sweater.

And yes, I know the move will all be worth it in the end. If only I could wave a magic wand and make it so!

>99 lauralkeet: That was when I used to knit, too. Now I pull paper off the back of the paper-pieced blocks, sort fabric, of hand stitch the binding to some quilt.

Has moving preparation bothered your hands, also?

Not yet Lois. My thumb joint is aggravated by the ergonomics of knitting, as well as (I think) gripping the needles.

>99 lauralkeet: I've found that knitting at lap level helps. I used to knit at chest level, which meant the wrists are supporting the weight of the knitted object, which as you know with Aran work can be quite substantial, but having it supported in my lap takes some of that weight off.

I've really let this thread go, haven't I? For most of March I continued making progress on my Tiglar Icelandic Sweater and am ready to join the sleeves to the body and work the yoke. My Aran sweater is also coming along, but I set it aside about two weeks ago because of our move. My concentration was flagging and I felt like I would end up making stupid mistakes.

This past week we moved from Philadelphia to Virginia, with the movers unloading our household goods on Thursday. We are currently in the process of unpacking. If you're interested in that sort of thing, you can read a short recap on my 75 Books thread here: https://www.librarything.com/topic/331011#unread

I hope to be back to knitting soon!

>105 lauralkeet: Lots to do for some time to come, me thinks. We'll be here when you can return to knitting.

>106 avaland: I managed to knit a little bit this week, so that's a start. I've found myself more tired than usual at the end of the day, so I gravitate towards more mindless activity.

>107 lauralkeet: - That's understandable.

>107 lauralkeet: As Betty notes, that should be no surprise. You have had a busy few weeks! Still, I get, the 'zoning out' thing.

Things are settling into a rhythm here and I'm back to working on my Aran and Icelandic sweaters. And last week, I joined the Fiber Guild of the Blue Ridge. The guild encompasses knitting, spinning, weaving, and felting. In addition to a monthly general meeting there are "study groups" that convene around each of the different crafts. I attended the April general meeting, which was held in a picnic pavilion at the local park, with about 12 people present. This was their first in-person meeting since the pandemic began. People were masked or not depending on their vaccination status, and we all spread out among the tables for distancing. The formal agenda included a recap of some of the programs offered at recent meetings (e.g., a virtual tour of someone's farm), details of an outreach project some members have been working on, and some upcoming plans. After the formal meeting there was time for "show and tell" which I really enjoyed. I didn't bring anything with me, but I described what I was currently working on, and showed off the socks I was wearing. I plan to check out the knitting study group when it meets in a couple of weeks.

The Fiber Guild sounds fun! I’d love a tour of a farm, virtual or not, and it sounds like there are plenty of fun things happening and being arranged.

That sounds great, Laura. Nice to find a place to fit in so quickly. I've tried a couple of quilt guilds over the years, but am not currently in one. The first one I was in was really nice but it was a about 45 min away and over two bridges that made it hard in the winter. But the people were really nice. The other one I tried is perhaps the more well-known in the state but after waiting on a waiting list for a few years, I went to 3 meetings where no one even said hello. So I quit. The closest one now is about 30 min away and I may try to join it when things get better.

ETA: There is some kind of spinning/weaving guild that always has a demonstration at the county fair and is interesting to watch.

>111 PawsforThought: I'm hoping for more farm tours myself, Paws.

>112 dudes22: I went to 3 meetings where no one even said hello.
That would have put me off for sure, Betty. I am always nervous walking into a group of people I don't know. I sat in my car for a few minutes watching the group assemble, waiting until there was a critical mass of people and summoning my courage LOL. It was a good sign when a couple people greeted me as I came in, and others did so as they took their places. At the next meeting I'll feel more comfortable initiating conversation.

>110 lauralkeet: Oh, wow, that sounds wonderful!

>110 lauralkeet: So nice that you’re starting to be able to meet up with people now Laura. I would quite like to find some sort of craft group locally but I’m not sure there’s anything appropriate. Our reading group is currently on track for opening up face to face at the beginning of July though.

>114 scaifea:, >115 SandDune: I'm kind of excited about it, too. First of all, it was nice just to be in contact with someone other than my husband LOL. But also, I really enjoy connecting with other crafters. I was sad to leave my wonderful social knitting group in Philly. This group is a guild, so it does educational and outreach kinds of things as well as social time. That appeals to me, as does its broader focus on fiber arts. I've thought about learning to weave one of these days (but not until I've completed the Master Hand Knitting program), and there are a lot of weavers in the guild.

Before all this *waves hand in vague gesture* I was in the process of starting a Bring Your Own Craft Club at the library. It was a program I was planning as part of my job at the library, but I may volunteer to do it anyway starting maybe this summer? I do miss having a craft group.

Ooh yes Amber, do it!

Incidentally, the Fiber Guild seems nicely connected with our county library system. I learned about the guild through a recent library-sponsored online talk about traditional knitting, presented by a guild member. And at the meeting I learned that last February the guild had started a "learn to knit" program at the local branch, which sadly had to be abandoned when lockdown hit.

>118 lauralkeet: I think that must be pretty common; the group I used to go to in WI was also connected to the library.

I'm glad the group seems promising. I like the idea of a mixed creative group. This is why I like this group. I've not had much luck with groups, but I like the idea of a loose group of creative people who support each other. I've tried one local quilt guild and it was just too big, too busy, too ...well, extroverted.

Today was the Fiber Guild's Annual Meeting, which included the usual monthly agenda, show and tell, box lunch, and a "stash reallocation event" where members brought yarn, books, and anything else they wanted to give away, trade, or sell.

I brought a bunch of surplus yarn with me but only managed to unload one skein. Well, it's a start. We're doing a similar thing at the monthly knitting meeting in a couple weeks, so maybe there will be other takers.

I sat next to a lovely woman named Laurie who had just converted her daughter's old bedroom into a studio. She showed me photos of that as well as of her craft storage in the basement. OH. MY. GOD. The studio looks well equipped and she has so much stuff for a variety of fiber crafts, all in neat boxes on shelves, some of it sorted by color. It was a thing of beauty. I really wanted to ask for photos to share with you but thought that might be weird ha ha.

We have a room in our house that I want to turn into studio space so this was really inspiring!

>121 lauralkeet: Oooh, a craft studio sounds very nice. It would have been very nice to see the photos, but completely understandable that you didn't ask. We'll just have to wait until you create your own studio and look at photos of that... ;)

Stash relocation sounds like a smart thing to do, even if you didn't get rid of that much this time. It's all about who else is there (and what they're after at the moment), right?

>121 lauralkeet: I would love to follow your conversion of an empty room into a studio! I know how fun it can be!

You might check with some of the senior groups; an acquaintance told me that she would welcome any of my extra yard as she works with the women at the senior center.

>123 avaland: that's a good thought, Lois. I think the guild also does some education/outreach, like teaching knitting to kids, and the yarn might be useful there as well. I'm not in a hurry, but I do have some, mostly left over from projects where I bought too much, and I'm not likely to use it again.

I've been working on creating a studio in our new house. Time for a tour!



The furniture is all repurposed from different rooms in our previous house. My husband Chris made the table -- it was in our dining room. The cabinets are modular and stackable. We used them in a couple different places before. Most have doors, with a shelf inside. A couple of them are open. Below is a view from another angle, with a better view of the cabinets.



Let's take a closer look ...



I'm using canvas baskets in the open cubbies, because they look nicer than plastic boxes. The baskets hold notions, scissors, etc. as well as some work-in-progress. The plastic boxes have lids that snap closed which I hope will protect yarn from any possible moths. I bought a pack of 4 to see how they would work out, and will probably pick up some more. The closed cabinets also hold bulky items like blocking mats and a yarn winder & swift.

And about the owl ... my parents bought it in the 1970s, from a PBS on-air auction, a very popular fundraising method at the time*. It's actually a candle, although it's never been used that way. It's very weird and funky, but has sentimental value. My brother and I just couldn't toss it after my parents passed away. I'm surprised it's held up through the years and the house moves.

-----
* for those outside the US, PBS is the Public Broadcasting Service, a not-for-profit radio and television service that is funded, in part, by individual donations.

Oh, it looks great!!

Love the studio - great colour on the walls. And I like the owl - if my mum ever saw that she might attempt to steal it.

That's wonderful. Love the owl. And it looks like you're already putting the room to use. I like the way the blocking mat can be taken apart to store smaller.

Thanks Amber, Paws, and Betty. I'm pretty happy with the setup so far. Yesterday I spent a nice bit of time at that table inventorying my knitting needles. Ravelry has a feature where you can keep track of how many you have of each type. I had discovered some inconsistencies, and I also wanted to add notes where I had more than one of the same type (i.e.; a 24" circular in size 6 one of which is a fixed circular needle, the other part of a set of interchangeables). It was oddly satisfying.

Paws, I love that color too. And the best part is, the walls were already painted.

Betty, the blocking mats are a set that interconnect, so you can use as many as you need for the project:
https://www.knitpicks.com/blocking-mats/p/80597

I'm so glad to see all the owl love!

That is a great studio setup, Laura! I love the wall color and of course the owl is marvelous. I remember those PBS auctions but I don't remember ever seeing that owl. :-)

If you decide you like the plastic boxes, can you share the brand? I really need to get a better storage system for my yarn than paper shopping bags on the floor of my closet.

That is really a great room, Laura! And, the owl is just perfect.

>130 rosalita: Hi Julia, here's a link to the boxes:
https://smile.amazon.com/Hommp-4-Pack-Storage-Plastic-Latching/dp/B07LCCRV7K

They are not very large, but they fit well in the space I have. I spent ages wading through a plastic box search on Amazon, and I checked out The Container Store as well. There are sooo many choices, it's pretty overwhelming.

Also, I don't know if you noticed the Ottlite in the first photo, at the far end of the table. You are to blame for that purchase ha ha!

>131 NanaCC: Thanks Colleen. I didn't realize the owl would be such a hit.

>132 lauralkeet: Thanks for the link. It looks like you have the same OttLite model that I got! I'm happy to take the blame as long as you are not regretting the purchase. :-)

It is the very same model, Julia! I searched this group to find your posts about Ottlites and you'd posted a link to the model. I looked at some others, thinking at first I just wanted a tabletop lamp, but ended up choosing this one. I haven't had much opportunity to use it, but I'm pleased with it just the same.

>125 lauralkeet: You mean I don't have to kneel on the floor anymore fighting to get the pins through layers of old towels? That's brilliant!

Nice space and whatever is on the wall between the windows looks intriguing. Colour choices?

Anyone looking for storage boxes should look carefully at the latch systems. I have a variety and it seems that if anything will fail, it is the latches. It pays to get good ones. It looks like you did.

>135 SassyLassy: Well, you can still kneel on the floor if you want to, I won't stop you! I admit I've knelt on the floor with my blocking mats from time to time.

The art on the wall is a mixed media piece by a Philadelphia artist, e.c. bradley. From his website:

e.c.bradley is an outsider whose work has been influenced both by his career in biomedical research, looking at nature at the microscopic and molecular level , and by his strong roots in mid-century minimalism. His thick, almost sculptural surfaces, use of rough and natural media such as plaster, wood, string, and fabric, and subdued color palettes are characteristic of many of his works.

We visited his studio a couple of times during "open studio days" and came away with I think 3 pieces overall. This one was a serendipitous good fit with the wall color. I love when that happens.

I noticed that piece also and wondered about it. Some of his work is almost "quilt-like". And how nice that it fit there. When we moved, I found that I don't have large sections of wall to display some of my quilts. The two largest walls are actually in the guest room which no one really sees.

>136 lauralkeet: I do really like that.

Thanks for the link. It's great to see the detailed work. I'm particularly attracted to the "farmers fields" and "abandoned garden"

I set up some bookshelves in the studio today:


This area is directly opposite the wall with the artwork that you see in >125 lauralkeet:.

I need a few more bins for yarn storage, but other than that, I'm good to go.

Very nice, Laura.

I like that, Laura.

Thanks Colleen and Betty!

When I shared photos of my new studio space (>125 lauralkeet:), I gave you a sneak preview of my Tiglar sweater. I finished it nearly a month ago, but the hot weather kept me from taking a photo wearing it. We've had milder weather this week and it's supposed to heat up again this weekend, so I took advantage of the opportunity. I'm happy with the sweater, both look and fit, and I can see myself wearing it during late autumn garden cleanup, to stay warm without a coat.

Wow! That's gorgeous, and I love the fit.

Very pretty, Laura. I love the colors.

Thank you!

I forgot to mention that I had to redo the neckline because when I knit it to pattern instructions, I couldn't get the sweater over my head. I've never had that happen before! The pattern called for going down three needle sizes, where it's more typical to go down just one size for ribbing. So I redid it that way, and used a bindoff method that would be more stretchy as well. My head *just* makes it through.

>143 lauralkeet: That's beautiful, Laura.

>143 lauralkeet: It looks lovely, Laura, and the colours really suit you. Well done.

Thank you Colleen & Paws!

In other news, I'm nearly finished with my Aran sweater, the last thing I need to complete before submitting my work for Level 3 of the Master Hand Knitting program. I have 4 rows of knitting left on the front, and then need to block that section. The back and sleeves are already finished and blocked. So then I'll just need to do the seams and a neckband. Woo hoo!

I have a couple other projects on the needles, since I always like to have something other than Masters work to do.


Petty Harbour Socks
This is an easy-to-knit textured stitch pattern that doesn't require tons of concentration so it's a good travel project or take-along for knitting group. This is a pattern photo; I'm using a denim-colored solid yarn.


Sumiko Lace Tee
I won two skeins of linen yarn in a giveaway, and this pattern calls for two skeins of the very same brand. This is another pattern photo, my yarn is red. Not too deep of a red, leaning towards rose/pink.

>143 lauralkeet: Oh gosh, I love that sweater. Well done, you!

Thanks Amber!

I like that sock pattern. I have a friend who likes to knit socks and I think I'll give her the name of that pattern - who knows - I could get another pair of socks. ;D

ETA: Nice that you're close to finishing your sweater for your Master Class.

I love that sweater, Laura! And it looks fab on you!

>152 dudes22: Betty, the best part about the sock pattern is that it's free! If your friend is on Ravelry, she can find and download the pattern here:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/petty-harbour

>153 avaland: Thank you Lois! I'm pretty pleased with it, I gotta say.

>143 lauralkeet: That sweater is utterly gorgeous, Laura! Though I have a thing about necklines being too high and tight (I can't wear even mock turtlenecks) so reading that part made me gulp a bit.

If you were to knit another from the same pattern, would you alter the neckline any more than you did in your fix?

Thanks Julia. And yes, I think the neck opening could be just a tad wider. I'm not exactly sure how I'd do it. In one of the last rows before the neck ribbing, you reduce the number of stitches significantly. You could modify that step, but it's tricky because the increases as written also eliminate a second color in the row so you get down to just one color for the ribbing. I puzzled over it a bit on this sweater, but ultimately decided to just forge ahead.

I found and love this technique for binding on and casting off - it's really incredibly stretchy and pretty easy, too. I've only used it for socks, but I can't imagine that it wouldn't work for sweaters, too:

The bind off:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C-GqitE8Qt8

The cast on:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3n8E3I6Cg2k

>157 scaifea: Thanks Amber! I've seen those techniques mentioned but haven't tried them yet. The name always reminds me of Jeni's ice cream, and then I get distracted ...

>158 lauralkeet: Ha! YES. You know, Columbus is the home of Jeni's Ice Cream. And we're all happy to support our local business here at Scaife Manor...

ETA: I was skeptical at first that these would actually be stretchy enough, but the really, really are.

>159 scaifea: One of my Kenyon alums introduced us to Jeni's. But I'm still a Graeter's gal, remaining true to my Cincy roots. I was super happy to see both brands available in my local supermarket. We just treated ourselves to a pint of Graeter's Raspberry Chocolate Chip this weekend, in fact. Yum.

>160 lauralkeet: Graeter's is excellent, too! We're lucky enough that the shopping area we frequent most has both a Jeni's and a Graeter's.

I've finished and blocked the pieces of my Aran sweater. Here's a view of how the pieces fit together, and the pieces themselves. Next I will seam them together and add a neckband, and it will be done. I'm not gonna lie: I am beyond thrilled with this.

>162 lauralkeet: Wow! You have every right to be thrilled with it - it looks superb! What a beautiful sweater! I’m so envious.

Lordy! Lordy! That sure is pretty! This is the first time I've seen those type pf sleeves although I know you mentioned them. But seeing them is so interesting. I need to show my friend this.

Oh, Laura, you've done *such* a great job with that sweater! You definitely deserve to be proud of that!

Thank you, Paws and Betty.

I'd like to say I chose the drop shoulder with saddles construction solely for appearance and comfort. I do like the style, but the choice was more about reducing complexity in the design. I used this construction on the only other sweater I've designed (the Gansey style sweater I made last year), so I could build on what I already knew. And the nice thing about saddles is that you don't have fuss with making sure the cable patterns on the front and back line up at the shoulder seams.

>162 lauralkeet: That is lovely!

Thank you Rhian! It's been a fun challenge, and at the same time I'll be really happy when it's done.

That sweater is going to look wonderful. The color looks really pretty.

Thank you very much, Colleen. I know Aran sweaters are traditionally knit in Natural (off-white), but I really wanted a color. Mostly because anytime I wear a white an off-white sweater, T-shirt, you name it, I spill something on it. Ha.

Our friends came in after we went to dinner a few days ago and Lori was really interested in your sweater. (She's the one that made me socks.). She was curious about the shoulder structure. I was showing her pictures of various projects of yours from the past few years and she was oooing and aahing. Not knitting, but she crocheted her daughter a coat sweater from various sizes of granny squares and designed her own pattern to put them together a couple of years ago.

>171 dudes22: Aw, thank you Betty. It's so nice of you to share Lori's feedback. And I'm impressed that she made a garment from granny squares. I can see where you'd need various sizes of squares to make it fit ... ouch, my head hurts thinking about it.

>172 lauralkeet: - I'll see if I can get a pic to show you.

Today I sent off my work for Level 3 of the Master Hand Knitting program. The package includes a binder with:
* 2 reports
* 4 reviews (2 books, 2 magazines)
* 18 swatches with associated written information such as instructions for working the swatch
* Written answers to 20 questions
* Bibliography

And then, of course, the Fair Isle Hat and the Aran Sweater projects. Here's the sweater, all finished!



I expect it will take at least 3 months for my work to be reviewed, and then I will have things that need to be corrected and resubmitted.

I feel sort of "empty" now without this to work on! But I'm also looking forward to some fun projects while I wait.

Wow, the sweater is amazing, Laura!

>174 lauralkeet: Superb work on the Aran, Laura. It is gorgeous!

The sweater is gorgeous, Laura! I really like the way you did the sleeves.

Thank you so much Amber, Paws and Colleen. Designing the cable layouts was really challenging, and I still feel like it's a minor miracle that it all worked out.

That is really fantastic. Do you get to send pictures showing how it fits? We'll be waiting to hear that you passed first shot!

>179 dudes22: Thanks Betty. And that's a great question! The answer is yes. In addition to the actual sweater, I have to submit a written pattern with instructions for making it (thankfully, only in the size made, not in a range of sizes). And the pattern needs to include a photo of it being modeled. Because, as you say, the reviewers need to see that it actually fit. I used all three of the photos in >174 lauralkeet:.

Thus the three sides :)

Here's another thing I've been working on ...



The pattern had some issues: a couple of errors, and instructions that weren't very clear in places. But it all turned out okay in the end. And I'd forgotten how much I like warm weather knits. So much so, that I felt like I needed to immediately start another summer project. So, as a reward for finishing my Master Hand Knitting work, today I visited the yarn shop in our town. I'd held off on this to avoid the temptation of other yarn and projects. The shop owner is a member of the fiber guild, and she has a really nice selection. I haven't lived this close to a good yarn shop in several years, so I was pretty excited to see how nice it was.

That's really nice, Laura. Great summer color.

Thanks Betty! Red is one of my favorite colors but I have a surprising lack of it in my wardrobe. I won the yarn in a giveaway a couple of months ago, and so glad I did. I'm not ready to take on another sweater yet.

Yesterday was the Fiber Guild's monthly meeting. Instead of our usual format (a "business" meeting followed by a presentation on a fiber-related topic), we had a Dye Day at a member's farm.



I've never used dyes before, so it was fun to learn the technique and see the results. Several vats of indigo dye were set up under a tent. Everyone brought material(s) they wanted to dye whether that was yarn or fabric. Some advance preparation was required; for example the yarn had to be soaked for an hour and kept wet in a plastic bag. To dye the yarn, the skein was immersed in the vat and gently swished for 10 minutes. To maintain the pH of the dye solution, it was important to keep the yarn submerged. Contact with air would introduce oxygen into the solution. There was also a preferred method for removing the yarn from the vat, slowly squeezing out excess water while making sure the yarn didn't dip back in. Once out of the vat, the oxidation process would deepen the indigo color. After 15 minutes you could repeat this process if desired. The last step was a 5 minute vinegar rinse.

I brought three yarns, all wool but in different base colors. The natural and white yarns were dipped twice, the yellow only needed one dip. Here are before and after pics:

>185 lauralkeet: That's lovely! The shade of blue that your top hank of yarn became is a gorgeous color.

both of those sweaters/knits are awesome!

That sounds like fun. And I like the results. Someone I worked with years ago had a wife that had her own yarn store and sold yarns that she dyed there also.

>186 rosalita: I'm rather partial to that one myself, Julia.

>187 al.vick: Thank you Alison!

>188 dudes22: Betty, the person who hosted the meeting is no stranger to dyeing yarn either. She's one of the partners in Solitude Wool, which has brought together several people with small flocks to produce and sell wool. That reminds me: I need to pick up some of their yarn!

I have a new toy!



This Ashford 16" rigid heddle loom arrived last week. The first challenge was setup. There are a lot of pieces. The instructions are well written and illustrated, but I still found it helpful to also watch videos on Ashford's website.



I visited my local yarn shop to buy some yarn to play with. I chose two colors of Berroco Vintage DK, a wool/acrylic blend. And then it was time to warp the loom. There are several steps involved and again, I found a combination of instruction manual and video indispensable. That said, I still made a mistake when threading the yarn through the eyes. I was still able to weave but I'll be interested to see how correct threading changes the results.



This is my first sample. For now, I want to spend quite a bit of time just experimenting, critiquing the results and learning how to improve tension and weave quality. For example, at the front of this photo there are visible gaps in the weave. I don't know if that was just because I didn't quite know what I was doing, or if it's a common issue when starting a piece. You can see I was able to get a tighter weave further on.

I also want to experiment with using different types of yarn in the weft (thicker, thinner, different color combinations, etc.)

>190 lauralkeet: Wow, that is fascinating, Laura. I'm looking forward to seeing you "learn the ropes." Sorry for the pun; I just can't help myself sometimes. :-)

>190 lauralkeet: Looks like fun! I look forward to seeing your progress.

Thanks Julia & Paws. I've been thinking about weaving for a little while now, but made myself wait until I'd submitted my Master Hand Knitting work so I wouldn't get distracted by the fun new toy.

I'm going to continue playing around with this but I'm also probably going to take an online weaving course. I've found someone who specializes in this type of loom and has a basic "how to" class as well as courses to teach more advanced techniques that people often assume can't be done with such a basic loom. I'm all for trial and error but I'm thinking the "how to" course might spare me some pain.

That's pretty interesting, Laura. As we were coming out of covid, a local gallery had a show of woven items. It was interesting to see the different "techniques" (?) that were used and the results. I think your approach is a really good one.

Looks like you are having fun with your toy!

Very cool, Laura! My mom has a rug loom and she loves it. *Much* bigger operation, of course (it's *huge*) but the concept is much the same. I can't wait to see your finished projects!

Hi Betty, Lori and Amber. Yeah, I think this will be fun. I like learning new things and we'll see where this leads. I've met a few weavers through the Fiber Guild and most of them have the larger floor looms but that seemed like overkill for a complete beginner.

Oh, that looks like a really fun toy!

When I've seen small handwoven pieces done on looms warped that way, there usually are small "gaps" like that where the bundles of warp split. I think there are things you can do with either the first few rows of weaving or with an edge finish once it's off the loom, but if it's left with the bundles of warp as a fringe it looks like part of the design.

>198 melannen: Thanks for that tip! I took some measurements this morning and realized that the piece is more consistent than I thought. The weft is mostly 8 ppi (picks per inch, or the number of threads going across). It gets wonky at color changes and, as you mentioned, close to those bundles of warp. I can see where fringe would make it look more natural, but I'd still like to learn how to minimize the gaps.

I will investigate and keep trying!

After finishing the top in >182 lauralkeet:, I immediately ran out and bought yarn to make another summer top. This was fun to make. The construction is really basic: no shaping, no sleeves, no seams. A few rows of garter stitch separate each lace stitch pattern, and the neck & hem are worked in garter as well. You decide which lace patterns to use, in what order. This also makes it easy to make a longer or shorter top, if you wish.

Beautiful, Laura!! I love the color, too.

That's a great pattern. Is the yarn a basic cotton? I agree with Amber that the color is great too. I love green. I might ask Lori if I make it would she block it for me. It's a little late for this summer but I can plan for next summer. I might show this to her today when I see her. Can you give us the info on it, pls?

ETA: Actually I cam back to say - I bet you could wear it over a thin turtleneck.

>200 lauralkeet: That is gorgeous and it looks great on you!

>200 lauralkeet: That’s really pretty, Laura. I bet you could make it to wear over a turtleneck as >202 dudes22: says. Even in a light winter wool. I’d love to purchase the pattern if you give us details.

>201 scaifea:, >203 avaland: Thanks Amber & Lois!

>202 dudes22:, >204 NanaCC: This pattern gives you a lot of options so you can make one that works for you. For example, it recommends DK weight yarn but the pattern actually takes you through a mini design process based on gauge and body measurements so you can use it with any type of yarn. You could also make it roomier so it would fit over another garment. It's not complicated and the instructions guide you step by step. Best of all, the pattern is free and downloadable on Ravelry:
https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/sierras-lacy-tunic

I used Berroco Remix Light yarn, a DK weight blend (30% Nylon, 27% Cotton, 24% Acrylic, 10% Silk, 9% Linen) made entirely from recycled fibers. It's lightweight, airy, and really soft.

>200 lauralkeet: Oh, that looks great, and really suits you! I admire your lace knit - that’s not something I’ll ever do much of.

Thanks Paws. I've had my battles with lace, that's for sure. It's far too easy for yarnovers to drop off the needles and mess up the pattern. Normally I use stitch markers to section off a repeating pattern so I know if I'm on track. I couldn't do that on this top because each pattern's repeat was slightly different. Well, I guess I could have repositioned the markers every time but I was not motivated to do so. The most fiddly pattern was the drop stitch that you see near the neckline. The designer recommended two sections of it near the neck and I do like the way it looks, but I only used the drop stitches one other time (right below the bust). I ended up with extra stitches every single time and had to make adjustments.

I showed my friend Lori yesterday and she likes that top a lot also. I think she's going to check out the pattern and maybe we'll both make one.

>208 dudes22: That's great! I hope you have fun with it.

Ooh, that looks really good! And fun to knit. I'll have to save the pattern too.

>210 melannen: Thank you!

I finished the Weaving 101 course, and produced this thing:



The pattern was for a cowl, which would be sewn together after weaving, but I was just doing this to learn with no expectation of wearing the finished product. It also came out too short to be a cowl, so that's one lesson learned. 😂

I also had some issues with my selvedge edges. Here are four examples:


The bottom two photos show loopy selvedges, which I now know happens when the weft (the yarn you feed across) lies at too wide an angle before beating it back with the heddle. But once I fixed that, my selvedges began drawing in (top two photos), so my finished piece ended up about 1/2" narrower than at the start. Drawing in can happen when the weft angle is too narrow, or if you aren't advancing your fabric often enough so you don't have as much room to pass the yarn through.

The cure for all of these ills is practice, so I signed up for the Weaving 201 course which is about colorwork. The course covers some aspects of design and weaving common to all multi-color projects, as well as techniques for certain types of projects. Several patterns are included, all striped or plaid kitchen towels. I bought a yarn bundle to make these Lemon Lime towels:



While I'd like to buy a bunch of yarn and experiment with color, I decided to start with a bundle so I could focus more on technique. After making a towel or two I might try one of the other patterns with my own yarn selections.

Oooh, very cool! My mom had some of those issues with the edges of her rag rugs when she first started working with her loom. It didn't take her long to adjust to the new techniques, and I'm certain it won't take you long, either. I love the look of those towels - I can't wait to see how yours turn out!

>212 lauralkeet: That looks really good for your first try, Laura. It's difficult to tell in the first picture that the edges are uneven. I'm sure you'll master it in no time.

And I like the towels too, I'm really into that style.

Thanks for the encouragement! I just received the shipping details for my yarn, and it looks like it will be delivered on Saturday. On Sunday I'm working the Fiber Guild booth at a country fair, so I probably won't be able to do much with the yarn until next week.

I think that's a great first start. I love the colors in that bundle. I may have already told you this, but I went to a weaving show at a small local gallery last spring (I think it was spring) and there were some really nice pieces. I'm sure you'll get there.

ETA: it might have been last fall.

>216 dudes22: it might have been last fall
2020 was such a blur, wasn't it?

I joined a Facebook group for Yarnworker patrons (Yarnworker is the website of Liz Gipson, who teaches the courses I'm taking). I'm getting lots of good yarn recommendations there, especially for inexpensive yarn that is good for learning. Some weaving yarn comes in giant cones for about $30. First, it's a lot of yarn. Second, it's a lot of money unless you know you want to use that color a lot. So it's good to have some alternatives.

>217 lauralkeet: Oof! Yeah, $30 is a lot for something when you’re just starting out and trying to get a feel for how things work.
Those cones are great for people who know they’re going to use it all but that’s not everyone.

>174 lauralkeet: On Friday, my Master Hand Knitting work was returned to me with the customary feedback letter. As expected, I have a few resubmissions to work on. Some are written work (responses to questions, corrections to patterns) and some require actual knitting to correct issues. Feedback letters also include a lot of comments/advice as well as compliments, so I generally come away from it feeling good about my work and motivated to push over the finish line.

Yesterday, I started warping my loom for the Lemon Lime towels pictured in >212 lauralkeet:. I had to order the yarn bundle and then I realized I also needed additional pegs to be able to warp the length required for four towels. Every hobby requires new toys, right?

I admire your tenacity with the Master Hand Knitting project, Laura. I know I'd be tempted to throw those letters and their demands for corrections across the room! Ha! That's likely why I'm not a super-accomplished knitter...

>220 scaifea: Ha! The thing is though, the review & feedback is an integral part of the certification process. The work is done entirely on your own. There's lots of online content but no "live" instructor to guide you along the way (although you can post questions in a Ravelry group). So when you've finished this pile of work you send it all in to be "graded." The feedback letter is very detailed (~10 pages) and provides the direction you need to achieve the desired standard.

Maybe it's a bit like writing a research paper, or some other long-term academic project?

Funny, I was thinking about your course recently and wondering how long it would be before you heard anything. Seems from your comments that they didn't have huge problems with it, so that's always encouraging.

I’m the same as Amber, I hate having to adjust or correct things and would likely have said some not-very-nice things. I’m a do-it-and-be-done-with-it kind of person.
Which is likely part of the reason why I never went higher academically than a bachelors’s.

>221 lauralkeet: Oh I totally get what the process is, but I'd just get mad that it wasn't perfect the first time. Long-term academic projects actually have a lot more flat-out rejections and not-at-all-helpful criticisms ("this paper doesn't align with my own opinions on the subject so you should change it so that it does" kind of stuff, which is one of the reasons I left academia the first time). Ha! The knitting certification comments are at least actually helpful, it sounds like, so that's good! (I'd still get mad and throw things, I suspect.)

I also totally understand the idea of throwing a fit / kicking the box to the curb / etc. !! At this point I know how the process works and I'm used to it.

Here's what the Lemon Lime towels look like so far LOL:



That's the warp, which creates the stripes. The warp yarn is a worsted weight cotton which will give the towels some heft.

Each towel is woven with a different weft color, which will give each towel a slightly different look. The weft is also cotton, but a much lighter weight than the warp. It was difficult to get the colors right in the photo below. The one just left of center is more green, kind of a sage. The one just right of center is a more yellow shade of green.



I started the first towel yesterday using the darkest green on the far left.

>226 lauralkeet: Looking good, even if you haven't actually started weaving yet!

>226 lauralkeet: Very cool! I used to love watching my mom's loom rugs come together when she'd set up the loom for plaid rugs. So interesting.

>227 PawsforThought: Thanks Paws! I did actually manage to weave the header and about 1" of the first towel yesterday. The header is 1.5" of scrap yarn that spreads the warp yarns out evenly and reduces those gaps created by tying off the yarns.

This pattern creates all four towels from one very long weft, which means I won't be able to photograph a single towel until they are all done. I have to remember to take a photo of each towel in progress before I move on to the next.

>228 scaifea: It is interesting to me too! I like learning how patterns are made. This is just a start.

Also ... getting that warp in place is quite time consuming. I didn't do it all at once so I'm not sure how long it took, but it was at least an hour to get to the photo you see there. I'll probably get faster with practice, but it's enough to make me think of the warping step as part of the project rather than just a quick bit of preparation.

I find this fascinating although not enough to try. How do you separate the towels if they're all done from one long weft? And how do you know how long it should be?

The towels are separated by a short area length woven in scrap yarn. That gets removed at the end and the towels are hemmed (somehow ... I haven't gotten to that part yet).

Just yesterday I watched the section of the course on measuring progress. The instructor described a few methods so you can try them and see what works best. One way is to hang a stitch marker off one side, weave for a while, and then measure before you advance the fabric. With this method, you have to write down (and add up) each measured segment along the way. Another method is to use a fabric tape measure that you pin to the fabric where you start measuring, and it runs up the side of your work as you go. The tape measure gets rolled up with the fabric as you advance the piece. I can't use that for this project because my tape measure is a tad too short to measure all four towels plus the space in between. There was a third method that I can't remember right now, because I'd pretty much decided to try the stitch marker method on this project, at least for the first towel.

>229 lauralkeet: "Also ... getting that warp in place is quite time consuming."
OOoooh gosh yes. It takes my parents the better part of a day to thread up her rug loom. It's a *huge* production and the main reason I told my mom "no thanks" when she asked if I wanted it when she's gone. I have nowhere near that level of patience.

>226 lauralkeet: Neat!

That looks like a great hobby, Laura. I would find that relaxing. Can you listen to a book while doing it?

>229 lauralkeet: >232 scaifea: Warping is the worst. I've been putting off warping my little card weaving loom for weeks now, and that's really simple in comparison.

The towels look amazing though! It's almost making me want to try a loom like that! I love the colors.

>232 scaifea: OMG I wouldn't be up for that kind of ordeal, either!

>233 thornton37814: Thanks Lori!

>234 NanaCC: Good question, Colleen. It is relaxing once you get going. And I suppose you could listen to an audiobook, similar to when you're knitting. Right now when I'm still learning it takes a bit more concentration, but I can see where it would be possible.

>235 melannen: Thanks! Before I knew anything, I thought warping was a quick & easy setup step. I was quickly disabused of that notion, but I can also see a bit of zen in the measuring and threading.

Oh dear, it's been ages since I posted here! So sorry ...

I've been busy working on my Master Hand Knitting resubmission. I'm in the home stretch now, with all but one item complete. That one item is a kind of big one though. They asked me to re-do the crown on my Fair Isle hat. My design had some issues, and I was panicked at first because I had really struggled with it. Funny thing though, when I pulled out all my reference materials again I figured it out quite quickly. It made me wonder what was wrong with my brain the first time. So I created a new design and tested it with a swatch. I'm going to attempt to unravel my hat back to the start of the crown and work a new one. I am super nervous about this and I don't know if it will work, but it's worth a try.

Weaving has taken a back seat to my knitting work, but I managed to finish the first towel in a set of four. Here it is as a work in progress:



This towel used a dark green thread for the weft (the part that runs left to right). The remaining towels will use different shades (see >226 lauralkeet:).

For this project, the idea is to warp the loom once, work all four towels, and then take them off the loom for finishing. Things didn't work out that way. Halfway through the first towel I started having problems with loose tension in the warp, which caused a few (fixable) errors and just kept getting worse. By the time I was ready to start the second towel, it was a real mess. My best option is to cut the yarn, remove the first towel from the loom, redo the warp, and start fresh with the second towel.

I was feeling a bit down and frustrated about all of this, because the problem was preventable. But hey, at least I think I know how to prevent it from happening again. And this redoing of the warp will use up a bit more warp so I may not have enough for four complete towels. But on the plus side, I had the chance to see my first towel as a near-finished object. And you know what? I'm pretty happy with it! It was the right length, so my measuring technique worked. And, most satisfying after my first project, is that the selvedge edges look pretty nice and don't draw in. The width is pretty much the same from one end to the next.

So: hurray for learning experiences!

That's lovely, Laura. Your perseverance is commendable. Not being a weaver, I have nothing intelligent to contribute. Glad to hear you are still working on the master hand knitting, too (you are a very busy woman since your move!)

That is very nice. I don't weave either. I gave it a thought for about a minute once when I went to an exhibit of weaving at a local gallery. I'm still having trouble visualizing how you make 4 all at once, but that's ok. Glad to hear your knitting project is hitting the home stretch.

>238 avaland: I'm getting really close to finishing the Master Hand Knitting program and it turns out, I'm even closer than I thought. In >237 lauralkeet: I mentioned needing to re-do the crown on my Fair Isle hat, and that I was trying to gather the courage to unravel my finished hat and knit a new crown. Lying in bed this morning, awake but not ready to get up yet, it occurred to me that the feedback I received does not mention submitted a finished hat. I thought it couldn't hurt to ask for clarification and I'm so glad I did. Turns out I only need to submit the crown portion. This is a roughly 5" circle, so more like a Fair Isle doily LOL. But MUCH less work and stress. Yay!

>239 dudes22: Betty, let me try to explain how the towels are made. As you work the woven fabric is wound around a beam at the front of the loom (kind of like a paper towel roll). To make the towels themselves you weave a piece that is roughly 12" wide and very long: each towel is 24", and between each you either weave 3" in scrap yarn or insert a cardboard spacer. When finished you remove the very long piece from the loom, cut the space between towels, and hem them.

Enjoyed reading the comments, the photos, and your explanations but I've only ever made pot holders on a plastic weaving kit when I was about 7, so have nothing of value to add.

Well hello Tui! No comments necessary, just nice to know you're here.

>40 melannen: - I suspected that it was something like that except I didn't see the "hem" in my mind. DUH! Couldn't see what you would do with all the loose ends. Do you machine hem? or by hand? or glue (I think I've seen some that look like they're glued down)

ETA: I'm sure there will be a picture at the end...

>243 dudes22: I think I'm going to hand-hem these with a whip stitch, Betty. That's what the pattern suggests, anyway. Machine-hemming would work, too.

Yay for the much less work on the revisions! Whew! I always get nervous when I think I have to unravel knitting. I'm not very good at it and worry that I'll go too far and not be able to figure out where I am!

>245 scaifea: I was really sweating it, Amber. It would have required unraveling 18 rounds, most of which could probably just be gently pulled out. But ultimately in order to resume knitting I would have had to get 144 stitches onto the needles and the probability of dropping stitches was too high to be imagined.

Since the hat and the Aran sweater are kind of the capstone projects of this program, part of me would have liked to have a finished hat with the new crown as a sort of memento. But I don't want that badly enough!

I also hate unravelling since it's inevitable that I'll miss stitches and then have to back up even more. I know people sometimes knit in "safety lines" (an extra thread that goes through the stitches every 10 or so rows) to minimize dropped stitch issues - I think I'll do that when I move on to bigger projects like sweaters.

I'm glad to hear you won't have to re-do the hat, even if I understand your wish to have the hat as a memento (it still will be, though)

>247 PawsforThought: Those "safety lines" (aka "lifelines") are a godsend. I've found them especially useful on lace projects. With all the yarnovers, it's super easy to drop stitches or just get lost.

>248 lauralkeet: Oh, I can imagine they'd be a godsend for lace work.

>237 lauralkeet: I have successfully redone the warp on my loom. I woke up today after a little anxiety dream where the re-warping had no effect. Once awake I realized that an issue I'd spotted the day before needed to be corrected in a different way than I'd thought (an odd time for this to come to me, but there you go). Got it all sort out this afternoon and was able to start the second towel.

>240 lauralkeet: I'm also blocking the new Fair Isle hat crown. I think it's going to be okay, but I have enough yarn to knit another one if I find imperfections I can't live with. I'm struggling with a desire to just submit everything and get it over with, and a desire to submit my very best work.

>250 lauralkeet: - I don't think I've ever had a dream about a quilt. Of course, I never remember my dreams anyway..ha, ha. But glad you've got it straightened out.

While we're here in Tucson for Thanksgiving, we went with our friends to the Tucson Botanical Garden today. They had a small room of tapestries and weavings and I thought you could use this for inspiration:

Oh my that’s incredible Betty! Thanks for thinking of me.

>252 dudes22: Lovely!

>252 dudes22: Oh, wow, that’s really impressive!

A few weeks ago, my knitting group had a demonstration of Shadow or Illusion Knitting. This technique looks like plain stripes when viewed trom the front, but viewing from an angle reveals a design. Our speaker showed us this amazing piece of work and discussed the technique. Each stripe is two rows of knitting and the stitches are simple knits and purls. The illusion is achieved through the placement of knit and purl stitches in a single row. The purls "pop" and create the design.

I was intrigued and wanted to try it for myself, but not on anything as ambitious as the Mona Lisa, LOL. I found a pattern for this Snowman and Snowflakes dishcloth, which made for an easy sampler:



The snowman is kind of visible on the front view, if you know that's what you're looking for. But he really pops out in that side view.

This was a quick, fun project.

Cool! I've seen patterns for this kind of thing on Ravelry and have long wanted to try it. Maybe someday... Yours turned out so great!

That's interesting, Laura. I think I may have heard or seen this before but never figured out how it's done. I just showed this to my friend we're visiting who knits and she caught on right away.

>256 lauralkeet: I’ve seen a couple of examples of illusion knitting, but that Mona Lisa is to most impressive one I’ve ever seen. Holy cow!
And I like your snowman, too. Very cute.

Having worked my little snowman, it seems to me that designing a shadow knitting piece is the challenging part. To knit it, you just have to be able to follow directions LOL.

And Paws, I totally agree that the Mona Lisa piece is impressive. It was really fun to be able to see it up close, circling around the table to view from different angles.

P.S. I just realized that's me in the upper right corner -- wearing a gray top and knitting a sock.

>256 lauralkeet: How interesting! I like your little snowman, too.

I finished the Lemon Lime Towels, my first legitimate woven thing. I posted earlier about tension issues with my first towel which required me to re-do the warp and as expected I only got three towels out of this instead of four. But the second and third towels were much easier to make and the overall quality is better. The pattern says says the finished size will be 18.75x11.25." Mine are a bit longer (20-22"), and spot on in terms of width. I couldn't be happier with the results.

Each towel was woven with a different weft color, which results in some color variation (it's more obvious in person; you may have to zoom in to really see it). In the photo above, the top towel was made with the darkest green weft, the middle towel with the color second from left, and the bottom towel with the yellow on the right:



The next project in this course are towels in a log cabin pattern. More on that when I have yarn in hand ...

>262 lauralkeet: They look great! Well done!

Those came out great!

Oh, very cool! I love the variation in color!

>263 PawsforThought:, >264 dudes22:, >265 scaifea: Thanks Paws, Betty, and Amber.

I love seeing how color affects a design, be it in knitting or weaving. What fascinates me about the Lemon Lime towels is how a seemingly small change can make such a difference. The warp (which makes the stripes in these towels), is worsted weight cotton, a medium-weight yarn. The weft is 8/2 cotton which is very fine, a bit thicker than sewing thread. And that alone gives each towel its own look. Amazing.

The next project in this course are Log Cabin towels. The pattern makes two towels. The first is more stripey, the second a traditional log cabin design. Here's a pattern photo:


In this design both warp and weft are worsted weight cotton, and I've chosen my own yarns: purple and silver. The new skill in this project is managing color changes in the weft to create the desired effect. I'm eager to dive in but my yarn hasn't arrived yet.

>266 lauralkeet: Oooh, those are very nice. I wouldn't mind having towels like that. I'm sure the purple and silver will look amazing.

Talking of weft and warp reminds me of my prom dress, which was woven silk with either pink weft and blue warp or the other way around. It mostly looked purple/lilac but shifted colour depending on the draping and the light.

Ooh that dress sounds gorgeous, Paws.

Those are really nice too. Can't wait to see your color combo.

>266 lauralkeet: Those towels are lovely, and purple and silver will be gorgeous!

>269 dudes22:, >270 avaland: Thank you! I also considered purple and gold/yellow. Maybe another time. Purple is one of my favorite colors.

>271 lauralkeet: One of my favourite colours, too. I have several small projects percolating in my head that will be purple or purplish.

NEWS FLASH
I am now a Master Hand Knitter! I just received notice today that I passed the third and final level. Hurray!

>273 lauralkeet: Hurrah! Congratulations Laura!

YEAH!! Time to splurge on some new yarn.

Thanks Paws! And I like the way you think, Betty. I'm actually trying to decide what to do for my next project so a visit to the yarn shop is not out of the question.

WOOT!! Congrats!!

Congratulations!

WOOOOOHOOOOOO!!!!!!!!

>277 scaifea:, >278 melannen:, >279 lesmel: Thank you all! I'm still basking in the glory of it all LOL.

I have congratulated you elsewhere on LT but why not again! Congrats on this wonderful accomplishment. It wasn't easy at times but you persevered!

Thank you Lois!

I was thinking exactly the same as Lois. It has been a relatively short span of time since you first began to knit, so having achieved Master Knitter status is nothing short of incredible. You sure put the effort in and are justly recognised for it. Bravo! ETA: never mind the effort, you are so talented at this art form.

>283 tiffin: Oh my. I'm not sure I'm worthy of such high praise, Tui, but I appreciate it nonetheless. Thank you so much.

Today I warped my loom for the log cabin towels (see >266 lauralkeet: for pattern photo). The warp consists of alternating bands of each color. You probably can't tell in the photo, but the top threads alternate groups of purple and silver from right to left, and the bottom threads alternate silver, then purple.

I can't see the purple, but I do like the idea of it!

>286 avaland: Yeah, the colors are muted in the photo. There are two colors, and the purple is the darker one.

I started weaving the piece yesterday. It begins with 1.5" of scrap yarn, called a header, which you remove when finished. This spreads out the warp threads evenly at the bottom and gives stability for the rest of the weave. The next step was 2" in 8/2 purple cotton, which will make up the hem. 8/2 is just a bit heavier than sewing thread, much lighter than the worsted yarn used for the rest of the pattern. Using 8/2 at this point keeps the fabric from being too thick when you fold it over for hemming.

After weaving the 2" section it was starting to look like cloth. I find it so satisfying to see fabric emerge from the loom, and I haven't even created a colorwork pattern yet! But I just stood there for a few minutes feeling good about life. That was nice.

I've felt this way with knitting projects before and I'm guessing every craft has those moments.

>287 lauralkeet: Aw, that sounds great, Laura. I definitely recognise that moment of "wow, this is really working and looking good". It's a great feeling.

Work in progress. This first towel is more of a striped look, to get comfortable working with two colors (the next towel will be a traditional log cabin, with the two colors woven in a different sequence). In the photo you can see the hem area at the bottom followed by alternating purple and silver worsted weight yarns. The purples are more similar/complementary than they appear here.

Interesting...

>289 lauralkeet: Oooh, I love it!

This all seems like magic to me. I can't visualize what the fabric will look like until I weave it. I suppose over time, with more experience, you develop knowledge that helps you "see" the likely result from a combination of warp and weft patterns. But for now it's like a little miracle every time. And I'm okay with that!

>289 lauralkeet: That looks really pretty. I love that shade of purple, one of my favourite colours.

>292 lauralkeet: Magic and miracles - we can all use a bit more of that these days.

Amen to that, Paws.

That is awesome, Laura!

Here's the traditional Log Cabin towel in progress. I used silver 8/2 cotton for the hem on this one. It was only after buying two colors of 8/2 that I realized I only needed one, so I figured I might as well see how this one looks.



Stating the obvious, the pattern is achieved both by the order in which threads are placed in the warp, and the order in which they are woven. The woven threads are easier to see in the photo, running horizontally across the piece. Starting at the top of the hem, the purple and silver threads are woven as follows: PSPSPSPS-SPSPSPSP
And then you repeat that until done.

>296 lauralkeet: Oh, that looks so nice, Laura! Can’t wait to see how the end result looks.

Thanks Paws. I'm about halfway through this towel. Then I'll need to wash and hem both towels, and I'll post photos when all that is done, could be after the holiday. Not that you're sitting here on pins and needles or anything ...

That's looking nice. The purple/silver is more navy/cream on my computer but I'm using my imagination.

I finished the Log Cabin towels over the holidays. I'm reasonably happy with the results and am learning a lot with each new project. My selvedge edges were rougher on the traditional log cabin check pattern than on the stripes, probably because of the different way of managing the two colors. But I know that will improve with practice, as it did for the stripes.

And because no matter how hard I tried, I couldn't get the purple to look truly purple in the photo, here's a pic of the yarn itself:

>300 lauralkeet: Oh, they look great, Laura! Well done! I don't think I've ever seen that kind of pattern on towels before and now I want some of my own.

>301 PawsforThought: The course instructor pointed out that the towel is just an easy way to structure the course, but once you understand how to create a log cabin pattern you can make placemats, napkins, table runners, etc. They're all rectangles, after all. I wouldn't mind some new placemats one of these days, so that's percolating in the back of my mind.

>300 lauralkeet: Oh, those turned out so nice!! And I love the purple color. It's so frustrating when you can't get colors to come out properly in a photo, isn't it? I have that trouble all the time.

Those are really pretty. I love the design. I sometimes have trouble with the color too on pictures.

Thanks Amber & Betty. I'm glad I'm not the only one struggling with color in my photos. The yarn photo was taken on a different day, but in the exact same place. I'm thinking it had something to do with the purple and silver together.

I know I should spend time researching this to learn techniques for taking and editing photos, and then practicing those techniques. But instead I keep getting to the point of wanting a photo, right now. And even though most of my photos fall short in one way or another, I have yet to take any action to change that. Sigh.

OLLI has one of those short courses on how to take better photos with your phone and I keep thinking I'll take it, but something always comes up.