It's mid-January now. The holidays are over for the most part and the bulk of the gift-giving season is done for another year. There's still the odd Valentine gift being knitted, and some birthday gifts on needles probably right this very minute. However, the last push to finish that Christmas sweater, four pairs of socks and a hat for every kid in the family has finished and some of us are at loose ends, knitwise.
I, however, am still desperately trying to motivate myself through the mid-winter blues to finish that second pair of socks. I know I bang on about these damned things, but they really do feel different and fit and don't make me think I'll soon be losing a foot to loss of circulation when I wear them. So I push on. I'm really excited because tonight I'll bind off the first one and hopefully put the toe in of the second before they kick me out of my local Starbucks. That's the thing about knitting - it can be really exciting and fulfilling and creative and relaxing, with great wedges of time in between that is the most boring thing in the world!
So why do it?? I think I've written this bit before, but I do it because the end product is a pair of socks that really fit me, a gorgeous shawl that I get compliments on while staying warm, and socks my husband wears to bed to keep his feet warm. When you look at knitting pattern books and online websites where all these gorgeous projects are displayed, you think that must be an exciting project! I look at the show and tell section on New Stitch A Day's newsletter every week and I get inspired to make little sweaters and dresses and layettes for kids and beautiful lace wedding shawls. I look up the patterns and I read over them and about half-way through it hits me: this must have taken YEARS to put together!! The reality of it all is these projects had moments when their crafters thought "I could be doing ANYTHING but this." And then they thought how much joy and usefulness they would bring and they knit on.
So the moral of this little rant is that if you are flagging on a project, just remember that those socks WILL fit, that sweater WILL be warm and beautiful, and you will have MANY compliments on your shawl as you proudly wear it to work and parties and church. Even the kids will love that you knit them a sweater...especially if you accompany it with a small toy (maybe also knitted).
I hope your week is filled with warm and fibery fun...and a little boredom!
txdonna
Friday, January 11, 2013
Friday, January 4, 2013
The Legend of Karen's Quilt
It all started quite innocently. I wanted to knit my best friend a pair of socks. Being she's allergic to wool, I wanted to find some cool cotton that she could wear and something that was funky....so I went to Fiberfest 2012 in Dallas. I found some of the coolest denim yarn. I was so excited! I also found the pattern I had been obsessing over - the hexipuff quilt pattern! Everyone was blogging and talking about these! Everyone was making one! So I thought what a great idea to get rid of some of my miscellaneous yarns!
I knew I didn't have enough in just two balls of yarn to make a whole quilt, so I thought about what I could match to the denim that would be about the same size yarn. I couldn't quite match it all together, so I decided I'd take them on the road and see what I could find. I found an absolute gem in Abilene, Texas! Yarnies. I love these folks, and I will definitely be going again when I am through Abilene next! Hey, gang! Can't wait to see you all again! I hope you are all well!
There I found the best yarn - Berroco Remix in all sorts of cool, country colors. They went well with the denim, and I was off and running!
Over the next few months I knit hexipuffs in the movies, in bed, at lunchtime, in Starbucks, in the car on trips, and through more than a couple of meetings. I would cast on, knit, turn, fill, and close up each one. Then I came to the realization I would have to get more yarn if I wanted to make a sizable quilt and the denim was no longer being made! I went to my local shop and found they didn't have any of the Remix...so they graciously pointed me to another source and I anxiously awaited my order to arrive.
I want you to understand that I didn't always work on these. I stopped to make several other projects. But as the months wore on, I started to panic and I redoubled my efforts to get this done in time for Christmas.
My next hurdle was to get the layout the way I wanted it. It went through several layouts, some actually attached and then taken apart, before I came up with the framed path pattern.
I developed corner pieces and edges to make the whole thing fit square, and tied sections in order to get the number I lacked to finish.
Many of the colors I had plenty leftover, but a couple of colors I had to pray in order to get enough puffs. Here you can see I had very little yellow left.
Once I had it all tied together I had to decide whether I would close up the spaces or not. The original pattern, by Tiny Owl Knits didn't specify, but I wasn't confident it would go through the washer (it is all made of cotton and reclaimed fibers, after all) and remain intact. I left it for a while and worked on some other projects, all the while pondering if I needed to somehow secure it better.
It wasn't until the very last minute that I decided to sew it all together and I took up needle and thread and began to sew the spaces between the tied corners. One particularly interesting evening at Starbucks garnered a lot of comments from passersby. (It's the most attention I've ever had while knitting, as a matter of fact.)
So the big day came and it was time to unveil the gift. I took a few last shots of it with the homemade card on top and a few technical shots so I would have them for reference for future quilts. Then it was folded into a gift bag and delivered.
Karen, you had to know something was up when my husband accompanied me with a camera!! hahahahahaha
The next few pictures show what happens when you knit your best friend a hexipuff quilt.
Merry Christmas, my friend!!
Epilogue:
That's it! That's the big secret project I've been keeping! I hope this post honors my dear friend and inspires someone to do this! It's an awesome project and while it feels like you will never finish, it's not detailed enough to make you lose interest.
Until next time, I hope you're week is filled with lots of fiber fun and interesting projects. I'm back to my toe up socks...got to finish that second pair, since it is obviously not going to get warmer for a few months.
txdonna
Fiberfest 2012
I naively went home happy in the knowledge that I could put together a great pair of socks and a kickin' quilt! Well, I soon discovered that my yarn I had set aside for those socks had no memory, which is uber important when making socks, so I was stumped. I got curious about my other find, so I tried making the hexipuff. I have a picture of my first one somewhere, but not to hand so I can't show you. But I decided I might actually be able to make those socks into a hexipuff quilt for my friend. So I cast on the denim yarn and began to make my first large hexipuff in May 2012.
It went like a dream! I made more and began planning.
I knew I didn't have enough in just two balls of yarn to make a whole quilt, so I thought about what I could match to the denim that would be about the same size yarn. I couldn't quite match it all together, so I decided I'd take them on the road and see what I could find. I found an absolute gem in Abilene, Texas! Yarnies. I love these folks, and I will definitely be going again when I am through Abilene next! Hey, gang! Can't wait to see you all again! I hope you are all well!
There I found the best yarn - Berroco Remix in all sorts of cool, country colors. They went well with the denim, and I was off and running!
Over the next few months I knit hexipuffs in the movies, in bed, at lunchtime, in Starbucks, in the car on trips, and through more than a couple of meetings. I would cast on, knit, turn, fill, and close up each one. Then I came to the realization I would have to get more yarn if I wanted to make a sizable quilt and the denim was no longer being made! I went to my local shop and found they didn't have any of the Remix...so they graciously pointed me to another source and I anxiously awaited my order to arrive.
I want you to understand that I didn't always work on these. I stopped to make several other projects. But as the months wore on, I started to panic and I redoubled my efforts to get this done in time for Christmas.
My next hurdle was to get the layout the way I wanted it. It went through several layouts, some actually attached and then taken apart, before I came up with the framed path pattern.
I developed corner pieces and edges to make the whole thing fit square, and tied sections in order to get the number I lacked to finish.
Many of the colors I had plenty leftover, but a couple of colors I had to pray in order to get enough puffs. Here you can see I had very little yellow left.
Once I had it all tied together I had to decide whether I would close up the spaces or not. The original pattern, by Tiny Owl Knits didn't specify, but I wasn't confident it would go through the washer (it is all made of cotton and reclaimed fibers, after all) and remain intact. I left it for a while and worked on some other projects, all the while pondering if I needed to somehow secure it better.
It wasn't until the very last minute that I decided to sew it all together and I took up needle and thread and began to sew the spaces between the tied corners. One particularly interesting evening at Starbucks garnered a lot of comments from passersby. (It's the most attention I've ever had while knitting, as a matter of fact.)
So the big day came and it was time to unveil the gift. I took a few last shots of it with the homemade card on top and a few technical shots so I would have them for reference for future quilts. Then it was folded into a gift bag and delivered.
Karen, you had to know something was up when my husband accompanied me with a camera!! hahahahahaha
The next few pictures show what happens when you knit your best friend a hexipuff quilt.
Merry Christmas, my friend!!
Epilogue:
That's it! That's the big secret project I've been keeping! I hope this post honors my dear friend and inspires someone to do this! It's an awesome project and while it feels like you will never finish, it's not detailed enough to make you lose interest.
Until next time, I hope you're week is filled with lots of fiber fun and interesting projects. I'm back to my toe up socks...got to finish that second pair, since it is obviously not going to get warmer for a few months.
txdonna
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