Moebius, kind of?

Never let it be said that I don't just jump right into a project.

For some reason (I blame the TraditionalKnitting list on Yahoo, you enablers, you) I discovered knit Moebius rings. Now I know these aren't exactly new, but all of the sudden they appealed to me. I don't know exactly why they didn't before, but I just HAD to make one. Looking at information about Cat Bordhi's books (http://www.catbordhi.com/) The Treasury of Magical Knitting and The Second Treasury of Magical Knitting, the pictures blew me away. Not that I'd probably end up making most of it, but it sure is inspiring!

Last night I read some instructions online and sat down and tried to make one. I tried to remember what I'd read, which I thought I'd remembered correctly. After four non-starts, I decided to go to bed. After all, it was almost 2:00 in the morning and maybe I'd be fresher in the morning. Go figure.

So today I actually printed out the instructions (http://www.planetshoup.com/easy/knit/scarfmb.shtml) and started again. This time I used a different cast on, since I think the problem I'd been having was in knitting into the bottom of the cast-on row. So once I used the right cast-on method, (here's a little animation of what I did, although I didn't do it at the end of an established row: http://www.dnt-inc.com/barhtmls/knit/sco.html) I was good to go. Or so I thought.

Somehow, I managed to put an extra twist into the Moebius band, so instead of one twist, I have THREE. Talk about overacheiving. Hahahahahah.

If I'd loosened up on my binding off, this would just barely fit over my head. Actually, if I really tried I could probably do it now, but I really kind of doubt I'd actually wear it as-is. For one thing, the color of the yarn goes with nothing in my wardrobe, and I've got in mind a shawl-kind-of-thing for this technique.

I've decided that I really need to get a copy of her Second Treasury of Magic Knitting for the bowls if nothing else. You can see a preview of her books here: http://www.catbordhi.com/downloads/Magical_Knitting_Sample.pdf and http://www.catbordhi.com/documents/TMK2Web_000.pdf. Sit down with a cup of coffee (or tea, or whatever) and take a look at all the cool projects she's got. Not that I'd end up making most of them, but wow are they ever inspiring!!

Now if only I can figure out the RIGHT way to do this, I might actually make something wearable. Oh well. I'll bet my daughter will end up LOVING this Moebius band. She tends to absorb many odd things into her wardrobe. (She's four and quite the little ham.)

Sweater Sampler almost complete!!

Last night after the kids went to bed (no small task!) I managed to get the majority of the sweater sampler finished. I'll do the last remaining step, the "afterthought pocket," tonight after the kids are asleep.

I had no idea exactly how big this thing was going to be. I could literally wear it as a sleeve--it's that long!

I learned SO MANY techniques on this! I especially loved the belt (which is probably why it's a bit too long!), and I can see using it for straps or handles. I want to try to figure out how to make it a bit wider, too.

The close-up picture shows the four different hems taught in the book. The lace one was a real challenge for me--it was my first attempt at lace! Not too bad if I do say so. I also managed to get the tension right on the faire-isle section, as opposed to the Coronet hat below.

The colors for this project are from yarn left over from a hat I made for my little girl, and SHE picked out the colors. It's Simply Soft, 100% acrylic, and I have to admit that I really like it. I might do a sweater for me out of it someday.

Yarn acquisition

Here's the yarn I bought today. The top left one is a JaggerSpun 50% Chinese Tussah silk, 50% fine Merino wool—wonderfully soft, but not much fuzziness. Yeah, like I needed more yarn. Ha ha ha ha ha! The two balls on the right are Kid Mohair from Feza. I like the fuzziness of this yarn, but I'm not sold on it quite yet for something around my neck. It was the softest of that type of yarn that shop had, so I decided to go ahead and try it. The one on the bottom left was on sale, and I think I'll use it to perk up a purchased sweater after I modify the turtleneck—I keep trying to wear it, but every time I put it on I feel like I'm being strangled. So, I'm going to attempt to re-do the k2 p2 neck with perhaps some stockinette, then lace? Not sure yet, but I'll be sure to post it here when it's done. I just don't wear turtlenecks anymore, unfortunately, because otherwise I really like the sweater. I was thinking I might add this to the cuffs and maybe a little around the neck, unless I make a moebius scarf out of it or something. Not that I've done one of those. Yet. The picture really doesn't do it justice. The pattern that prompted this sudden burst of buying is from HeartStrings, and you can see it here: http://www.heartstringsfiberarts.com/a45.shtm. I figured if I bought light-colored yarn I could always dye it. I don't usually wear light colors, but I didn't like any of the colors they had in these yarns. I love to dye wool fabric for rug hooking, so I already have all the dyeing supplies. One more overlapping hobby! ;-)

Sweater Sampler

For the past few days I've been working on my sweater sampler (or "what in the world IS that??") from Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee. It's really a trip—it kind of looks like a sleeve from The Twilight Zone or something. My husband just looks at it and shakes his head. He's truly a wonderful, wonderful man.

If you go here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/thingalong/ you can see what others' look like. Mine isn't going to look quite like any of those....

I seem to be having some difficulty following directions, although I've decided it's nothing crucial at this point. I keep having to put it down in the middle of something when my kids need me, and some of it is too new to even TRY to work on when the kids are awake (but I keep doing it anyway...).

My sampler will just be a little different from everyone (anyone!) else's. Not to mention that it's bright citrus green and cyan.

I'll post pictures as soon as it's done. I think I'm about 2/3 of the way done, which is good, since the book is on interlibrary loan and it's due on the 4th of July. I think I'm going to have to obtain a copy for myself since it's just FULL of good reference information.

Of course, what I should be doing is working on my quilting UFOs. Oh, well.

Ruffle and I-cord bind-off swatch

This rather odd-looking thing is my test/sample/swatch of a ruffle from Melissa Leapman that I saw on Knitty Gritty. It's a k3 p3 rib, then when you've got enough ruffle you k3tog and p3 tog to make the ruffle do its thing. Then I changed colors, did some stockinette, then tried an I-cord bind-off that I saw in the book Sweater Workshop by Jacqueline Fee.

The scan doesn't show the true colors, but I'm O.K. with that.


May 2005

Coronet hat

Here it is, my first completed knit project. It's the Coronet hat from the Knitty.com web site.

I was worried that I wouldn't have enough yarn, so I decided to add a black band just to be on the safe side. I couldn't leave well enough alone, though, so I had to add a pattern in there.

It turned out to be about 3" too long due to my poor memory (what, check the pattern? Why do that??) but I was able to shorten it under the band. I would've had enough of the red yarn if I'd followed directions....


Coronet hat from the Knitty.com site, with black band designed by me!

Bargello in progress

This quilt started from a class I took at Seams Good in Owasso. I was not terribly impressed with the class and pattern although I love the store. So instead of going to the second part of the class I went off in a totally different direction with the quilt and incorporated all the elements I wanted to put into a bargello.

It's not coming together very quickly, but someday I hope to have it finished rather than have it languish indefinitely in the great black hole of UFOs. I wish I'd been more careful sewing the strips together, as the strata don't want to line up very well. This one is NOT going to win any prizes for technical proficiency! I'm normally a lot more particular, but it's so overwhelming on this quilt that I'll be happy to just get it together.

I have too many other things I want to work on to make it perfect. It'll end up being around 58" x 52" depending on what I decide to do with the borders.

Bargello-in-progress copyright 2005 Kat LeFevre

Charity Quilt

Here's what's on my design board at the moment. I signed up to do the charity quilt challenge at the Green Country Quilt Guild (don't ask me why I thought I could actually do this on time!), and it was supposed to have been turned in at the May meeting.

Well, between my poison ivy, sinus infection, two herniated disks and subsequent pinched nerve, I haven't been doing ANYTHING but laying flat on my back, much less finishing this quilt. The quilt will have green on the bottom, with some vaguely bush-shaped spots on either side of the house. It'll be around 36" x 45" or so.

Not shown are the deer (!!) and tulips that were required to be part of the quilt.


copyright 2005 Kat LeFevre

Confusion abounds

Well, now I'm very confused. I'm not sure if I've posted the same photo three times or not at all.

It's late so I'll think I'll go to bed and try again tomorrow...

The beginning

Well, I'm joining (what seems like) most of the world in creating a blog.

Hopefully I'll be able to keep my friends and family updated on what I'm doing without cluttering up everyone's inboxes with tons of pictures, as I've been known to do.

Blogging seems to have been embraced by knitters, but I haven't seen many quilters' blogs (or maybe they just don't want to share?) so I'll be putting anything I create here.

So, watch this spot for quilting, knitting, Brazillian embroidery (if I ever get back to it!), crochet, stitchery, photos, scrapbooking, and maybe even some house projects....