Yarnvent - Day 1

On the first day of Yarnvent, the fiber fairy gave to me . . .

A beautiful skein of madelinetosh Merino Light in very dark green. It's a "one of a kind" color, so it doesn't have a name. I love it!

While these all came from recently acquired parts of my hoard, I didn't keep track of which skein was wrapped in which paper, so each day really will be a surprise.

my very own Yarnvent calendar

I tried to buy one of Jimmy Beans' advent calendars, but it didn't work out. They ran out of ... something ... maybe beads, maybe boxes, I've heard different stories. In any case, I didn't end up with one. So I decided to make my own. I bought a 24-pocket over-the-door shoe storage bag for around $7.00 on Amazon. I printed numbers 1-24 on labels, cut them into circles and stuck one on each pocket. I wrapped 24 skeins of yarn from my hoard* and stuck one in each pocket. Not a great photo because it's inside a darkish room in December, but here it is:

*Most people use the word "stash" but that makes it sound too normal. Mine is a hoard.

The Poppy

I’ve had a hard time getting this one right. The motifs are getting a little more complicated as they go along and my "crochet French" hasn’t improved much so it’s taking longer to do each one. The first time through this one, for example, I didn’t understand that you were supposed to round the small petals rather than making them square-ish like the large petal. If I had looked at the photo I might have realized that something was missing, but I was just barreling along. While I still don’t know if I’m following Mme Hardouin completely here, I’ve worked it out well enough so that the end result looks like hers.

For the motif pictured I used:

No 60 thread

No 10 padding cord (pc)

1.00mm hook

Pattern uses US terminology

From the Guipure d'Irlande books by Mme Hardouin.

You can download or view it here.

No. 3 - Le Pavot (the Poppy)

Wrap pc around shaft of hook (or whatever) twice.

Work 35 sc in the ring and join

Ch 1, *1 sc in next st, 2 sc in next st,* repeat * to * across (52 sts), drop pc

Small petal

1 sc in the 1^st sc, 1 dc in next sc,

15 dc over next 10 sc (2 dc in every other sc),

1 dc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc, turn

ch 1, 1 sc in each stitch of previous row,

sl into ring (in same st as 1^st sc of petal), turn

1 sc in the 1^st sc, 1 dc in next sc,

20 dc over next 15 sc (2 dc in every 3rd sc),

1 dc in next sc, 1 sc in next sc, sl to ring as before, turn

ch 1, then 1 sc in each stitch of previous row,

pick up pc and sc around petal (2 sc in approx. every other stitch)

Make two sc on the round with the pc, drop pc.

Large petal

*ch 3, sk 1, 1 sc in next sc*, repeat 6x (creating 7 ch 3 spaces), turn

*ch 3, 1sc in first ch 3 space* repeat 6x, turn

*ch 3, 1sc in first ch 3 space* repeat 6x, turn

4 sc in each of the ch 3 spaces, turn

ch 3, then dc across, turn

sc in each dc, turn

ch 3, then dc across, turn

sc in each dc

Work slip stitches down side of large petal, pick up pc and work as in first petal, but make 3 sc in each corner.

Make second small petal

Stem

Make 40 sc on pc alone and turn

1 dc on each sc
Crown

Make a round with the pc a little larger than the hole in the middle (go around twice so the pc is doubled),

*5 sc, 1 picot* repeat * to * 4 more times, 2 sc

secure to original ring with a slip st opposite the stem

2 sc, *5 sc, 1 picot* repeat * to * 4 more times, 5 sc

secure pc and cut.

Sweet Briar Rose

I’m having fun with this one. This motif starts off by wrapping with the working thread rather than using padding cord. That’s a new one on me. Padding is only needed for the inner circle and the outer border, so maybe the original designer (Mme. Hardouin, I assume) didn’t want to fiddle with pc for the center. The book says this is a “small and lightweight design” and recommends thread Nos. 80, 90 and 100. I used 60 since that’s the smallest I have. It actually turned out prettier than I expected.

For the motif pictured I used:

No 60 thread

No 10 padding cord (pc)

1.00mm hook 

Pattern uses US terminology

From the Guipure d'Irlande books by Madame Hardouin.
You can download or view it here.

 

No. 2 - L’EGLANTINE (sweet briar rose)

Wrap thread (not pc) 25 to 30 times around the shaft of your hook (trying to wrap in the same place for a nice firm ring), remove ring from hook, work 20 sc in ring and join

*ch 5, skip 1 sc, sc in the next sc* repeat 9 times (10 total arches)

ch 2, 1 sc in top of first ch 5 arch, ch 5, sc in the middle of each remaining arch

ch 5, sl in 1^st ch of first arch

6 sc in each of the 10 ch 5 spaces

Petals

sc in next sc

ch 3, *1 dc in the next sc, 2 dc in next sc*, repeat * to * 3 more times, 1 dc in next sc (total of 1 ch 3 and 13 dc over 10 sts)

turn, ch 3, 1 dc in same dc and each dc of previous row (14 dc)

turn, ch 3, 1 dc in same dc and each dc of previous row (15 dc)

8 sl st down side of petal

2 sc in next 2 sc of the center

Repeat petal 4 times (5 petals total)

Hold pc against side of first petal and fasten at ring

8 sc up side of petal, 3 sc in corner, one sc in each dc across top of petal,

three sc in the opposite corner, 8 sc down side and 1 sc in the hollow between the petals.

Repeat for remaining petals, secure pc and cut.

new project

I've decided to try some of the motifs from the Guipure d'Irlande books by Madame Hardouin.

The Smithsonian owns a copy of the books (apparently a hardbound version containing 6 volumes) and it's been added to the Internet Archive. You can download or view it here.

The thing is, the books are in French and I don't speak a word of it. Some of the ladies in the Irish Crochet group on Ravelry have translated a few of the motifs to English, which is great. For most of the motifs, though, I can't find anything in English. So, it'll be slow, but I'm going to try them, translating as I go using online tools, starting with the simplest and moving on from there. As I work each one out, I'll try to post a photo of my motif with my translation.

I'm no expert at (a) French, (b) Irish Crochet or (c) writing patterns, so my "translations" are probably more like loose interpretations. If anyone does speak French (or IC or "pattern") and notices something I left out or did wrong, I'd be grateful if you'd let me know so I can fix it. Hopefully I'll get better as I go along.

Here's my first. I don't know if there's a different, more flowery meaning for this word in French, but I can't find any, so I present "The Propeller."(!) 

 

For the motif pictured I used:

No 20 thread

No 10 padding cord (pc)

1.10mm hook 

Pattern uses US terminology

Motif No. 1 - L'helice

Wrap the pc around the end of your hook, pencil, whatever, twice.

Make 35 dc in the ring, ss to close ring, turn.

First arm 

On the pc alone, make 1sc, 20 dc, 2 sc,

pull gently on pc to bend the arm, turn.

(At this point you might want to compare your work to the photo to make sure the arm is bending in the right direction.)

Skip 2 sc, and working in back loops only,

1sc in each of 20 dc, 1 sc in sc.

Make 5 sc in next 5 dc of ring (working through both loops), turn.

Second arm 

*On pc alone, make 1sc, 30 dc, 2 sc,

pull gently on the pc to create an arc,

Join to 14th sc of first arm (counting from ring), turn.

Skip 2 sc, working in back loops only,

1sc in each of 20 dc, 1 sc in sc.

Make 5 sc in next 5 dc of ring (working through both loops of stitch).*

Repeat * through * 4 more times.

Stem

On pc alone, make 1sc, 40 dc, 2 sc, turn.

Skip 2 sc, 1 sc in each of 40 dc, 1 sc in sc.

Make 5 sc in next 5 dc of ring.

Secure pc to back of work and cut.

I realize this is not normal

What do you do when you have a whole lunch hour to kill and you have your thread, but you’ve left your hook with your other project? I’m pretty sure I know what normal people DON’T do. They don’t obsessively fashion a hook out of a plastic kitchen knife using the keychain version of a Swiss Army Knife, a pair of office scissors and an emery board, leaving no time to actually crochet anything. Because that’s … not normal. Heh.

Irish summer

I never liked dolls. Not ever. Yet, as a kid, I created a dollhouse out of some modular shelving that covered one wall of my room because I was fascinated by miniatures. I’d spend hours in there crafting tiny pies and chairs and blankets.

I also became entranced by a National Geographic article about Ukranian Easter eggs (pysanky). The colors and detail just drew me in. I remembered that article until adulthood, when I was able to search for information about pysanky on the internet. I loved them so much I had to make them myself. I bought all the equipment and started learning. Those guys in the photo are mine.

Tiny, detailed stuff calls to me like a siren's song. So it has been and ever shall be. When I started knitting, I went straight for the intricate lace, then intricate colorwork, then intricate cabling. I suppose it's really no surprise that I’ve gravitated toward Irish crochet.

 I’m not good at it yet. These are, literally, my very first attempts at real, padded motifs. But I’m having a blast. I've started with some motifs from Priscilla Irish Crochet No 1 and Dillmont (DMC) Irish Crochet Lace, both of which can be found in the Antique Pattern Library. The largest motif is actually one of the recent CALs from the Irish Crochet group on Ravelry. I don't have it with me, but I'd estimate it to be around 3.5" long.

Getting the supplies hasn’t been as easy as I expected. You'd think, living in a big city, you'd have easy access to everything under the sun, right? Not so much when it comes to old school things like crochet/tatting thread. I haven't found anything smaller than #20 thread locally, so that's what I've started with. It seems small to someone who started out as a knitter, but I want to go smaller. I bought my first pair of reading glasses to magnify the tiny thread and hooks. It helps a lot, even with the #20. I’ve just received some nice #60 thread and I’m looking forward to torturing myself with it at lunch today.

Antique-Style Cordelière for Drawstring Bags

This is a style of drawstring/strap that was sometimes used in patterns for crochet bags in the early 1900s. Many of these old patterns are public domain and are free if you know where to look (start at the Antique Pattern Library). While I didn't design this thing originally, I feel like the instructions in those patterns are lacking in detail for modern crochet vixens who haven’t ever put one of these together. I've made some adjustments and given a more thorough explanation of the construction.

The following instructions are for a bag with two rows of drawstring holes around the top into which the cordelière would be inserted. However, it could easily be modified to work for a bag with one row of holes. I used #10 thread and a 1.65mm steel hook for a bag approximately 6.5" across. If your bag is a different width, you might want to add or subtract length from the 24" sc sections.

Construction of cordelière:

Make a chain 15 feet long (no, really). Turn, skip the chain next to the hook and make 1 sc in each ch. until the work measures 24 in. Without breaking thread, make another chain, long enough to reach within 24 in. of the beginning of first chain made. Make 1 sc in each ch. to the end. You should now have a piece consisting of two approx. 24 in. sc ends with approx. 11 feet of double chain between (around 15 feet total).

Using a large hook (I used an “I” hook) and leaving the first sc section as a “tail,” using both strands of the double chain as one thread, crochet that loooong section of double chain into a single crochet chain, fastening off when you reach the other sc section. You should now have two 24 in. sc sections with a thick chain in the middle.

Small balls (make 4):
Chain 4 and join in a ring. Make 8 sc in the ring. Do not join, as the balls are worked around and around, both threads of stitch being taken up.
Second round: put 2 sc in each stitch of preceding round. 16 st.
Make four more rounds of 16 sc.
Make two rounds, skipping every third stitch on each round.
Fill with cotton and make two more rounds, skipping every other stitch.
Draw up with one sc, chain 10* and fasten off.

(*for second ball of each pair, ch 3, catch 4th ch. of first ball, ch 6)

Slip balls (make 2):
Chain 6 and join in a ring, 12 sc in the ring.
Second round: 2 sc in each stitch. Make six more rounds of 24 sc.
Make 2 rounds, skipping every third stitch. Fasten off, but leave a long end of thread.

Assembly:
Slide one slip ball onto each sc section and move it up towards the thick chain so it’s out of the way. Now, starting on one side of the bag, thread one end (sc section) through the bottom loops. Alternating over and under, go all the way around the bag and come out where you started. Even out the two ends of the sc section you just threaded through so that they’re about equal length.

Now, starting on the opposite side of the bag and using the upper row of holes, do the same thing with the sc section at the other end of the thick chain. After that's done, one each side of the bag, you should have two lengths of sc emerging - one attached to the thick chain and one hanging loose.

Slip each remaining loose end through its respective slip ball and attach firmly to the thick chain. Slide the slip balls over the join, fill them with cotton.** If necessary, draw them closed using the long thread-end, Anchor the top in place. Fasten two small balls to the bottom of each slip ball (I actually fastened mine to the chain inside the ball, but it's up to you).

Now engage in your favorite celebratory activity because, after 30 feet of chain and all that other hoo-haw, you deserve it!

** I recommend cotton instead of fiberfill. Just get some real cotton balls. Cotton, being denser, is slightly easier to work with. Fiberfill is hard to get a grip on in such tiny amounts.

Rivendell's a Wrap!

Done. I love the finished sweater. It's exactly what I had envisioned. At first I really wanted the Waterslide color (turquoise), but I think I prefer this color now.

If I were willing to re-do the sleeves (which I'm not), I'd pick up a few more stitches under the arms when starting the sleeves. There's a bit of pull across the chest because I picked up so few (9, I think). Live and learn!

I'll tell you what, I didn’t enjoy weaving in the ends on the backside of a p2 x k1tbl ribbed item. I tried to keep the joins in places that wouldn’t be seen much.

The weather was really beautiful this morning so the photo session got a little hot, even though this is a fairly lightweight sweater. Not surprising, I suppose, because of the wool content. I’m actually glad because it’ll keep me warm at the office (aka Ice Station Zebra).

KnitPicks seems to have discontinued this yarn (Risata) and I haven't found a good substitute. There are a couple of other stretchy cotton/wool sock yarns (Paton's Stretch Socks and Mary Maxim's Bounce), but neither have a good selection of solid colors. I'd love to know if anyone is aware of any similar yarns. Fixation doesn't work because it's more of a sport-weight.

One Sleeve Down

The first sleeve is finished. I was prepared for the grafting to be imperfect because of the ribbing and sure enough, it was. To camouflage the imperfections I decided to add a set of cluster stitches over the graft line by “sewing” them on. I put the sleeve on my left arm while sewing to make sure I got the tension right. It was only mildly problematic doing it with one hand.

The fit of this thing is so “painted on” that I really have to adjust it after putting it on to make sure that the pattern is straight, that all of the ribs are lined up, that the sleeve isn’t pulling down the neckline, etc. The good news is that once it’s all adjusted, it looks great. One sleeve to go!

More Rivendell

I’ve finished the body. It’s sooooo stretchy that it really didn’t require any shaping, but I threw in some increases toward the bottom to accommodate my own extreme angle in that area.

I’ve started the sleeves. The plan is to do the lower part of the sleeves bottom-up on size 0 needles. I’ll be doing the sleeves from both bottom and top to meet in the middle. It’s a tortured way to make a sleeve, but that bottom part is critical because that’s how this whole thing started. When I get past the Rivendell pattern I’ll stop and switch to working shoulder-down on size 4 needles, changing needle sizes as I go until I’m back at 0. Eventually I’ll graft where the two pieces meet.

Rivendell Sweater

I recently started working on a pair of Rivendell socks. Just before I started the heel flap I slipped one of them onto my arm to stretch out the pattern so I could see it properly. It looked so nice there that I thought, “this would make a great sleeve.” My mind took off from there and before I knew it, I’d bought the yarn (Knit Picks’ Risata in Woodland Sage).

I was picturing a tight-fitting, long-sleeved pullover with a mock turtleneck. I couldn't really find any patterns like that in fingering weight so I started with some numbers from the closest thing I could find (a scoop neck) and did some calculations to get 36 stitches each for the front and back and 9 stitches for each sleeve for a total of 90 stitches.

Using the magic loop method, I cast on the day the yarn arrived. I made the neck about 2” before starting the increases for the body. The increases look a tinier bit messy than I’d prefer, but not so much that I’d rip it back and re-do it. If I ever do this again I’ll figure out a different increase method.

I decided on 3 repeats of the pattern across the front of the sweater as if it were an “opened up” sock. Since I’m doing it top-down and it’s a top town sock pattern, the pattern is right-way-up. I started the pattern at about row 34. I only made a couple of adjustments to the Rivendell chart. The first one was to “crop” the ends a bit for the first row of wrapped stitches since I didn’t have enough stitches across at that point for the whole pattern. The other was to switch a lot (but not all) of the YOs to paired lifted increases since I didn’t want all those holes across my chest.

Due to the ribbing, the negative ease and the stretchiness of the yarn, this thing looks like it’s made for a 3-year-old! Not to worry, it fits great so far.

Yarn Over Bind Off for 1x1 Rib

I love the yarn over bind off for a really stretchy bind off. Unfortunately I dislike the ruffle that it tends to give to a 1x1 ribbed sock cuff.

My version is very simple - really just like binding off "in pattern," except that you add YOs after each knit stitch. This adds just enough extra yarn between stitches to allow the edge to stretch without giving the "curly" effect of the sewn bind off or the "full" YO bind off.

Here we go. Assuming the first stitch is a knit stitch, the first three stitches are just "normal" in-pattern bind off:

1. Knit the first stitch.
2. Purl the next stitch, slip the first stitch on the right needle over the second and off the needle.
3. Knit the next stitch, slip the first stitch on the right needle over the second and off the needle.
4. YO (bring the yarn to the front, up and around the right needle).
5. Slip the first stitch on the right needle over the YO and off the needle.

Repeat steps 2 through 5 over the whole edge of the sock. Here are some photos illustrating steps 4 and 5.

Step 4: YO (bring the yarn to the front, up and around the right needle)

Step 5: Slip the first stitch on the right needle over the YO and off the needle.



In the above photo you can also see what the edge looks like after a bit of the bind off has been completed.

Here's a photo of the stretched edge. It pulls in slightly here because I was binding off quite tightly on purpose. This is about as tight as it can get:

That's it!

Taking shape

Hey, this is actually starting to look like part of one side of a garment instead of a shapeless blob. That's progress!

The photo didn't come out that great today since we're having another dreary (!?!) July day here in Venice and my camera prefers full sun, but I think you still get the idea.

Probably taking the rest of the day off to go loft bed shopping for E. We need to update his room a bit to accommodate his new teenage-ness. Our friend George (shameless promotion - watch the new season of The Colony on Discovery starting July 27!) is going to build shelves for the reptile cages and E's computer will go under the loft bed. Hopefully this will somehow make room for the big TV E's mom is long-term-loaning to him. I wonder if we'll ever see E again once all this is done.

New Blue

Here are the socks I've started on my new sock needle of happiness. I really like this colorway, think I'll be keeping this pair. Sadly there were several knots in this skein which is something I've never run into in a skein of Tofutsies before. I guess there's a first time for everything. When my LYS went out of business last year (sad) I was able to pick up a gazillion skeins of Tofutsies at a vast discount, so I'm not going to complain about a couple of knots.

In the next two photos I've stretched the toe over a darning egg to show the details of cast on and increases.

My favorite cast on for my toe-ups is Turkish. I used magic cast on for a while, but Turkish is easier and gives you the same seamless look. I've also used it for purses and even my little camera sock.

The toe increases I use are the paired lifted increases that Cat Bordhi demonstrates here. To my eye they're an improvement over other types of increases I've used and certainly an improvement over a generic m1.

 

Can't wait to wear 'em!

Sock needle smackdown

I love knitting socks - they're highly portable, mostly mindless and very practical. My favorite way to knit socks is magic loop, 2-at-a-time, toe-up, on a size 0 needle with a long cable. The needle I’ve been using (pictured here - no idea what brand it is) has joins that are pretty rough. You can see the little lip in the photo. It's a problem, so I've been looking for something with a smoother join. I was also looking for sharp-ish tips because my favorite sock yarn (Tofutsies) is very splitty. I find it less frustrating to use needles with nice, sharp tips (which my old needle here has). Not that I've looked that hard, but I’ve never been able to find both a smooth join and a sharp tip in the same needle.

When browsing the Knit Picks site recently, the photos and descriptions of their fixed circulars convinced me to give them a try. I ordered 2 new pairs of size 0 circulars with 40” cables. I got one Harmony and one Nickel-Plated so that I could see which I liked better. The center, Nickel-Plated, needle looks like it has a finer tip here, but it really doesn't - the sides of it just blend into the background in the photo. In reality all three tips are equally sharp, which is great!

After admiring my new needles, I got out a skein of Tofutsies and cast on, Turkish-style, with high hopes.

Harmony - At size 0 you don’t get much of the typical “Harmony” color effect (it’s mostly brown), but it's still lovely and I do love wooden and bamboo needles so I really wanted to love this one. It has a nice, springy feel, smooth join, soft cable and a pleasingly sharp tip. A few stitches in, however, I realized that the needles were feeling more “sticky” than what I’m used to with sock needles, so I started over with the...

Nickel-Plated - Again, smooth join, sharp tips, soft cable. Loved it immediately. The yarn glides so nicely over the needles. I didn't even realize it before, but obviously glide is another important feature for me with sock needles.

Winner: Nickel-Plated.

Mae Flower Necklace

Materials
Size 10 crochet cotton
1.65mm steel crochet hook
Approx. ½” shank button
Sewing needle
Beads and findings (optional)

Special stitch
Petal cluster: sl st in next sc, ch 3, dc in same sc, holding back last lp on hook (2 lps on hook), dc in next sc, holding back last lp on hook (3 lps on hook), yo, pull through 3 lps on hook, ch 3, sl st in same sc

Instructions
Large flower (make 1)
Rnd 1: Ch 6, sl st in first ch to form ring, ch 1, 12 sc in ring, join with sl st in beg sc, ch 1
Rnd 2: 2 sc in each of next 12 sc, join with sl st into beg sc (24 sc)
Rnd 3: 12 petal clusters around, fasten off, leaving at least a 6” tail

Small flower (make 2)

Rnd 1: Ch 6, sl st in first ch to form ring, ch 1, 12 sc in ring, join with sl st in beg sc, ch 1 (12 sc)

Rnd 2: 6 petal clusters around, fasten off, leaving a tail of at least 6”

Ring (make 33)

Rnd 1: Ch 6, sl st in first ch to form ring, ch 1, 12 sc in ring, join with sl st in beg sc, ch 1, fasten off, leaving a tail of at least a 6”

Large ring* (make 1)
Rnd 1: Ch 10, sl st in first ch to form ring, ch 1, 20 sc in ring, join with sl st in beg sc, ch 1, fasten off, leaving a tail of at least a 6”

Finishing
Using yarn tails, connect (sew) one ring to each side of the large flower, then connect one small flower to each ring as shown in the photos

Connect 16 rings to each small flower, using the large ring as the final ring on one side, sew button onto center of last ring on other side (not too tightly – leave enough room so that when buttoned, the large ring is sandwiched between the button and the small ring)

Attach bead(s) to large flower if desired

____________________
*If you have a very small button, you can make a 34th small ring instead of the large ring. Just make sure you can push the button through one of the small rings.