Next month (April) we'll be celebrating two years of the Mawelucky Love group over at Ravelry. As a thank you to all the wonderful people I met over there I've created (well...am creating) a new design which will be done as a KAL.
The Birthday Pi is my gift to all the amazing folks who took a chance on me and were adventurous enough to try my patterns.
Tuesday, March 08, 2011
Wednesday, March 02, 2011
The secret is out
I suck at keeping secrets...I came up with the idea for my latest design sometime last year, but due to other obligations, had to sit on it until now. I'm so glad I don't have to keep it a secret anymore.
Tuesday, March 01, 2011
Friday, February 25, 2011
Another procrastinating post
Publishing PPaola was a very stressful process for me, and it took way too long. The thing is, I keep on having new ideas even when I'm knee deep into writing a pattern and test knitting it.
As I waited for the test knitters to do their job, I came up with another idea for a triangular shawl, and since I had some time in my hands (and some handspun I had no idea what to do with), I knit a prototype for the new idea (you've seen a bit of it on the video where I show how I knit).
The first prototype for the new shawl came out too small, as I had little yarn to work with, and by the time I came to the edging I was bored with it and didn't give it much thought.
I've since began knitting that pattern again - this time more serious about it. I've lost count how many times I've started and how many different yarns I've tried for this one. Which begs the question, are my patterns getting too complicated even for me, or am I just overwhelmed and not able to think clearly?
Anyway, I finally settled with a nice 2/8 lavender yarn from Jagger Spun and the shawl is now big enough for me to start thinking about an edging.
Ah...the edging...my nemesis. I went through my books and magazines, trying to come up with something that will fit. Been (over)thinking about it for a good two weeks now and...nothing.
My project is on hold, my test knitters are waiting and I can't come up with anything. There are moments when I get desperate and flirt with the idea of doing a simple edging, but I know I won't be pleased with going with the path of least resistance. So, my project and the test knitters wait as I try to fit different patterns in my head.
Last night, as I laid in bed trying to fall asleep, I came up with a pattern that might fit perfectly as an edging to this new shawl. I even edited (in my head) the existing charts and created the one for the edging. All I have to do now is to actually open the software and do it already. Yet, here I sit, procrastinating. Why? Because I know it won't be as easy as it was in my head.
I'll get it done, though. I have people waiting for me and I won't let them down. Also because there are other things I want to knit (and I'm already behind on the 11 shawls in 2011 -Ravelry link) and there are all those clogged up ideas that were kept on hold during the long process of publishing PPaola.
In April our group -Ravelry link will be celebrating it's second "birthday" and I want to give the members a little gift ;) I have all the charts for a simple version (well...all but...you guessed it: the edging) and am aiming at creating a more complicated version for those who want something more...labor intensive.
As I waited for the test knitters to do their job, I came up with another idea for a triangular shawl, and since I had some time in my hands (and some handspun I had no idea what to do with), I knit a prototype for the new idea (you've seen a bit of it on the video where I show how I knit).
The first prototype for the new shawl came out too small, as I had little yarn to work with, and by the time I came to the edging I was bored with it and didn't give it much thought.
I've since began knitting that pattern again - this time more serious about it. I've lost count how many times I've started and how many different yarns I've tried for this one. Which begs the question, are my patterns getting too complicated even for me, or am I just overwhelmed and not able to think clearly?
Anyway, I finally settled with a nice 2/8 lavender yarn from Jagger Spun and the shawl is now big enough for me to start thinking about an edging.
Ah...the edging...my nemesis. I went through my books and magazines, trying to come up with something that will fit. Been (over)thinking about it for a good two weeks now and...nothing.
My project is on hold, my test knitters are waiting and I can't come up with anything. There are moments when I get desperate and flirt with the idea of doing a simple edging, but I know I won't be pleased with going with the path of least resistance. So, my project and the test knitters wait as I try to fit different patterns in my head.
Last night, as I laid in bed trying to fall asleep, I came up with a pattern that might fit perfectly as an edging to this new shawl. I even edited (in my head) the existing charts and created the one for the edging. All I have to do now is to actually open the software and do it already. Yet, here I sit, procrastinating. Why? Because I know it won't be as easy as it was in my head.
I'll get it done, though. I have people waiting for me and I won't let them down. Also because there are other things I want to knit (and I'm already behind on the 11 shawls in 2011 -Ravelry link) and there are all those clogged up ideas that were kept on hold during the long process of publishing PPaola.
In April our group -Ravelry link will be celebrating it's second "birthday" and I want to give the members a little gift ;) I have all the charts for a simple version (well...all but...you guessed it: the edging) and am aiming at creating a more complicated version for those who want something more...labor intensive.
Monday, February 14, 2011
A PPaola to dye for - a tutorial
I know...it's been a long time since I last wrote here. I was busy with a very welcome commission and then nursing a cold - such a bad one I didn't even want to knit!
Anyway, I had promised the test knitters that once we were done with PPaola, I'd post a tutorial on how to dye the finished stole. The photos were taken some time ago, but like I said, I was busy doing some other (not so fun) things.
Here is the image of the second PPaola I knit. It was done with Franklin sock yarn, using AB beads instead of nupps. (I tried everything I could think of, but blogger insists on placing the image sideways). You can find the specs for this one here.
This was my first time "painting" a knit item and I probably made a bunch of mistakes, but it was fun and easy to do.
Since it was the dead of winter (and I don't have much space outside anyway), I did all the dyeing on my dinning room table.
You'll need old newspapers and some plastic (I used the real big grocery bags). There were two colors used to get the result you see above - Evergreen and Blue Spruce. I used Country Classic Wool Dyes, but you can use anything you got handy. You'll also need a few jars to put the dyes in and one or two foam brushes.
We'll start by soaking the item in water for at least half an hour. A few tips here: if you used coned yarn to knit your item, you'll probably need to take whatever sizing the used on the yarn off - so, first soak it in very hot water (DO NOT AGITATE!!!). I used a few drops of dish detergent on the water as I wanted the colors to "run" a bit - soap lower the surface tension.
After letting the stole soak for a good time, I made my first mistake: I took the excess water out by using the spinning cycle of my washer...because of that the yarn didn't quite work as a wicker as I wanted it to. If I were to do it again, I'd just squeeze the excess water out with my hands.
On the other hand, by spinning it on the washer I didn't get a big mess of puddles in the carpet ;)
Anyway, I had promised the test knitters that once we were done with PPaola, I'd post a tutorial on how to dye the finished stole. The photos were taken some time ago, but like I said, I was busy doing some other (not so fun) things.
This was my first time "painting" a knit item and I probably made a bunch of mistakes, but it was fun and easy to do.
Since it was the dead of winter (and I don't have much space outside anyway), I did all the dyeing on my dinning room table.
You'll need old newspapers and some plastic (I used the real big grocery bags). There were two colors used to get the result you see above - Evergreen and Blue Spruce. I used Country Classic Wool Dyes, but you can use anything you got handy. You'll also need a few jars to put the dyes in and one or two foam brushes.
We'll start by soaking the item in water for at least half an hour. A few tips here: if you used coned yarn to knit your item, you'll probably need to take whatever sizing the used on the yarn off - so, first soak it in very hot water (DO NOT AGITATE!!!). I used a few drops of dish detergent on the water as I wanted the colors to "run" a bit - soap lower the surface tension.
After letting the stole soak for a good time, I made my first mistake: I took the excess water out by using the spinning cycle of my washer...because of that the yarn didn't quite work as a wicker as I wanted it to. If I were to do it again, I'd just squeeze the excess water out with my hands.
On the other hand, by spinning it on the washer I didn't get a big mess of puddles in the carpet ;)
Wednesday, January 19, 2011
Time flies even if you don't have fun
I finally managed to release the pattern for PPaola. The test knitting took way longer than what I've imagined and since (sadly) I can't turn off life when I have other things to do, it wasn't all fun and games.
So, after a few personal crisis averted and/or solved, the holidays, the pursue of a personal goal (still on going) you can finally buy it here.
I've done a second one using Franklin sock yarn and beads instead of nupps. Working on the second one I had at least one aha moment, which will become another post. I used undyed yarn on the second stole and took pictures of the dyeing process (to become a tutorial).
I haven't taken pics of the second version yet, as I'm waiting for a good day to take photos of the finished stole.
I've done a second one using Franklin sock yarn and beads instead of nupps. Working on the second one I had at least one aha moment, which will become another post. I used undyed yarn on the second stole and took pictures of the dyeing process (to become a tutorial).
I haven't taken pics of the second version yet, as I'm waiting for a good day to take photos of the finished stole.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)