Cold days for knitting

 These cold cold days I have been knitting and reading.  We went out the the river the weekend before last so I knit on the blue sweater 4 hours up and 4 hours home.  I just finished one sleeve and now the other I want to get it done to wear to the Summit basketball tournament in March I wear the colors but I don't wear words.  In between I have knit a few rows of the pink yarn from Ireland.  I like the fit better now.  That knits fast on #9 needles.  So knit a little, read a little, knit a little, read a little, sometimes a lot....my socks and my mug are color coordinated.  Hope you are staying warm --Ann--

A quilt top!

 

Finally something to show on the quilt front. It took all week to get the last 9 rows sown together, some weeks are like that…….my brain was thinking more on what fabrics I would use next instead of focusing on the current project. It’s together now start a stack of quilt tops because I don’t layer and pin baste until I have 3 or 4. It’s too much bother to move chairs and set up the quilt frame for one quilt. —Ann—

Low tech weekend

 

It was a very low tech weekend— Grandma wouldn’t turn on the tv and find any kids shows!!  Instead it was sugar stamp cookies, paper dolls and quilt forts (grandmas who quilt can make the best forts) and lots and lots of picture books for quiet time…….naps are becoming a thing of the past.  —Ann—

Not loving it

 It’s not finished until I love and I’m definitely not loving it. I tried knitting the pattern a size smaller because my gauge was bigger 14 stitches over 4 inches instead of 16.  There is too much fabric across the chest and over the armpits.  I have 10 inches of positive ease which means it’s 10 inches bigger in the bust than I am. I spent hours online looking at patterns again and finally found one that I like. Point and click and a few minutes later I’m reading the pattern. I’m going to ripped back to 3 1/2 inches from the center of the neck, it took me 12 minutes to rip sweater and wind the yarn . Instead of raglan increases every other round I will increase every 3rd round. That’s the plan and it’s too warm to wear this sweater anyway. It’s only February there is still time for a good snowstorm. While I was stewing about the pink sweater I started another and so far so good.

A yarn and a pattern I have used before. Clickhttps://straythreads-straythreads.blogspot.com/2024/05/its-not-done-until-i-love-it.html Knitting is just tv time my hands need to be busy . —Ann—

One more round

I didn’t get as much done as I wanted to this week, the weather was too nice, I went for a walk every day the sun was shining, the wind was calm and the temps kept climbing 50+F.  Going for a walk was a necessity! The indoor activities could wait for a chilly day.  I still did a little sewing.  I rearranged a few blocks and decided to add one more round. Looking at my stack of extras I thought the border would be dominated by golds and brown but the dark diagonals asked for a continuation of similar colors. So I scattered the extras around then sewed more blues and reds to finish. I almost turned the sewing and pressing into an aerobic exercise sew a couple squares jump up and press then stretch to put them in place, step back and repeat for 30-40 more little squares. The iron never had a chance to cool off.  Now I can sew the rows. Enjoying the weather and the winter —Ann—

Design wall Monday

 

Finally something on the design wall. I started this last September and then life happens lots of trips to see the little girls and they really are only little for a little while. Whereas the stash of fabrics stays the same until I take the ruler and blade to it then the sewing machine and iron. Hope your week ahead is productive. I have ambitious ideas…..we will see how the week progresses. —Ann—

Happy Feet

 

I have knit so many pairs of socks they are fool proof. I can’t remember the last time I ripped a pair of socks…….happy feet.  Sweaters on the other hand I knit and rip and knit again. Hopefully I got it right the second time. I knit the swatch on 3 sizes of needles to get the right gauge but also to feel the difference in the fabric I just created, smaller needles make a firm dense fabric, larger needles a softer drapier fabric. Then I look for a pattern to match the fabric that I like best and not finding one I’m making adjustments. My first attempt fit like a potato sack so start over a size smaller and be consistent with the tension of the yarn.  I started with a 15 stitch gauge (15 stitches over 4 inches of knitting) then I got loosey goosey and was knitting a 12 stitch gauge under the arms. It makes a difference if you are pushing the stitch off the needle or gently pulling it off the left hand needle. Now I have a consistent 14 gauge on # 9 needles.  I also did a lot of math,  # of stitches of circumference of body of sweater (under arms) divide by stitch gauge x 4 inches =  inches of circumference of sweater. The pattern added 10 stitches under each arm to join the front to the back, 20 stitches was like adding 5 to 8 inches to the circumference I cut that down to 4 stitches under each arm. Fingers crossed I’m getting it right. It’s cold here below zero it’s a good day to curl up and knit.  —Ann—