Tag Archive | 12″ squares

Up next is…

Apr9

It was supposed to be my new sweater but  was not working out for that. I bought this alpaca yarn on a good sale as it was being discontinued so I have a limited amount to work with. It’s Blue Sky, I’m sure I can get more. I think it was just the colorways that were being discontinued. Anyway, I think I found a way to use all these 12″ squares. It’s a knitting pattern but so simple that it will work for the squares. It’s just a matter of will it fit me?! I’m forging ahead and hoping for the best! lol

So here’s my layout. I have enough (I hope) Navy to knit the ribbing. If not I also still have some of the colors so it could be as colorful, almost, as the squares. Well, these are the blocks but I cannot get a picture of my present layout. It’s a camera issue. But this one is going to take awhile as I did not weave the ends in as I went. I’m sure I have advised you to do so, in the past. I guess this is another case of “do as I say, not as I do!’ lol It will be sewn together with an overhand stitch. Pinned each time to avoid stretching out of shape. It’s a very soft yarn. Soft and drape-y.

 

       

The other thing is that it is also getting toward gardening season. The rain (knock knock) has stopped and the sun is out. Water is quite high in streams and the lake. We’ll have a full lake this summer! Took a ride north yesterday and got a picture of Scott Mountain creek! It hasn’t run like this in years! I wish you could hear it as well. It was Roaring!! Love it! all the branch creeks and seasonal streamlets were adding to it and by the time it reached the Trinity River and on down the canyon to join Coffee Creek, that one was roaring as well! But CC does not seem close at all to flood tho a lot of people who have moved up here in recent years may be a bit anxious since they’ll never have seen spring run-off.

 

Another one done!

Mar26

This one I’ve learned to hate! I’ve assembled and frogged and reassembled and frogged… So what do you do then? Something that can’t,  at least easily, be undone. Get out the Singer! So here is the Singer Infinity Cowel. Done & finished.

It’s been so long-3 years, I think – that the band is gone & I’ve no idea what it is. A nice yarn… just wasn’t working for me.

I’m beginning g to feel a bit more like I may live. Still not over it, but better. Himself has it now, of course.

Another one done.

Mar24

This is some handspun, a soft fluffy yarn, cannot of course remember what. I really do need to label stuff, but finished assembling the triangle cowel and wanted to weave a hat to go with but didn’t have enough of that yarn left so I knitted a head band. Which, as you will see, does not really work for me. lol I need a pretty young model! But none the less, if you have long hair this may work well for you . The cowel consists of twelve 7″ triangles  sewn together with the faggoting stitch, in this case. Pretty fast and easy to make.

      

The headband is a reversible cable. I modified from a scarf pattern. Cables don’t show up very good here.

CO 12,

1. Seed for 4 stitches them k1p1 for 8 stitches, and 4 more seed for the border.

2. Seed for 4, knit the knits, purl the purls for 8, seed 4. Work 8 rows and cable the 8 center stitches.

Repeat as long as needed.

I’d suggest working just 4 rows before the first cable so as to be able to join away from the last cable, If you are good at kitchner that would make it truly reversible. I am not so just did the knit together cast off, making mine a little less reversible.

So today we are photographing the looms for the new web page but I’ll get to the next one once we finish this. meanwhile, hoping my cold is on it’s last legs– or I might be! lol

Spring

May4

I love the pink oaks. They may not show a lot of leaves but the little ones they have are such a pretty color. The dogwoods have blossomed out, too. Yes, I know they aren’t flowers but, like ducks, if it looks like a flower and blooms like a flower than I’m calling it a flower. I saw lupine, mules ears sunflowers, pinks, poppy’s, buck brush, red bud,  and the lilacs in the farm yards are also bursting out. Of course, I did not remember to take my camera today but I got this one yesterday.

I stopped at Greenview on the way home and got Himself 4 more asparagus plants. He’d better get them planted this time and not let them dry up first like he did last year.  I also got some onions sets: white, yellow, and red, & some bigger starting pots for the melons and winter squashes. The little starting tray I bought is only about 2 inches deep at the most. Since the seeds want to be planted an inch deep and will put down long roots immediately, I decided to give them a little more starting room in case we get another cold spell and they don’t get planted out right away. He’s picking up the deer fence today

The email I got from the wordpress tutorial today wants me to “create a feature” which is a post I commit to making posts on a subject at regular intervals. I think it’s going to have to be about weaving. You may wonder where the weaving content has gone these days. Well, it’s spring and gardening season, but  weaving is still important here and still happening tho slowly and pretty much in the background just now. However… keep watching! I am going to do this! Meanwhile, a bit of history, here’s what I did when I started out in this type of weaving. It was a 7′ hypotenuses triangle for shawls.

 Amy’s  Elsie’s  has a shiny strand woven in. Karen’s

  

Two views pf Kathy’s.  One before and one after weaving in the ribbons.

Below is a wool plaid shawl for my Pop and one for Stephanie of very soft furry nylon.

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Dear Diary… the longest post you’ll ever see here!

Apr23

Every day when Himself comes home the first thing he asks is, “What did you do today?” I don’t think he really wants to know, it’s just a conversational gambit thingy but I usually am unable to answer. I know I’ve been busy all day but most of it was apparently not notable. So I thought I would let you suffer through a day with me and lets see what it is I do all day!

April 23, 2018

  • 5:32 am: Woke, glanced at the clock, sighed and got up.
  • Bathroon first, as usual
  • Started the coffee, Himself gets it ready before he goes to bed so I just have to push the button.
  • Checked the temperature. It was 63 in here, not really cold but chilly enough to warrant a fire in my opinion so I built one.
  • Poured coffee and turned on the tablet, checked my usual morning sites and email, by that time Himself was up.
  • So I got dressed and started breakfast. Eggs and sausage this morning, toast & applesauce.
  • Then, lets see… Printed out paperwork for loom orders, boxed up same, let the cat out, printed postage and hauled them out the the truck so he could drop them off in the mail box (it’s a big one!) on his way to town.
  • Answered some more email, put my shoes on and managed to get out of the house in time to meet Tsuneko for our morning walk. Lovely warm morning, I left the window open we I left, the fire having been long out. Visited with a couple neighbors and our old mailman on the way. Jack has been delivering mail up here for many many years and loves to talk. It was his idea for us to put up the big box so i don’t have to drive to Trinity Center to the post office to mail the packages. He’s got his grandson taking over the route, (nice boy) but he still does Monday and whenever Peter needs a day off. I wore just a light sweater this morning and it was getting to be too warm by the time I got home. Cat weather~ see below!
  • 12:00 Opened up the house, turned on the drier to freshen up the load I didn’t get folded yesterday, made my lunch salad and am now typing this. Next I’ll eat my lunch while defeating Evil with my Viking hero- that’s my noontime treat. Rest of the day coming later….
  • You know it’s a warm day when the cat naps on the deck. she’s loving the sunshine!
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  • After lunch cleaned up in the kitchen, loaded the dishwasher and washed the bread machine pan, ready for the next batch.
  • Got sausage out of the freezer to thaw for tonight’s meatloaf. Brought in and folded rest of laundry while I was there also put away the soup I canned yesterday and straightened stuff out for the new shelves he built this morning.
  • Planted kale seed and some marigolds. Also some garlic bulbs that sprouted in the kitchen. Dunno if they’ll make new roots or not, but decided to chance it as they looked  fat and healthy. The peas are showing leaves now, too. And I have some tulips blooming just across the path.
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  • Gathered pine cones for a basket, found a checkered cloth, and “decorated” the corner table in the rental cabin. Mom-in-law says I am not to clean it before she comes in mid May as she’ll need a project while she’s here. All it needs is dusting and airing out, tho I intend to paint the back bathroom, it’s a gloomy place as is.
  • So now I’m ignoring the fact that the dining table is full of clutter again. I guess that’s next, tho, as it has reached the point where we have to push stuff aside in order to eat dinner each evening. Shameful, I know, but it’s such a handy spot to dump whatever you have in your hands at the time. I took off my pretty cut work white cloth, I had spilled gravy on it and he has what looks like coffee stains at his place! Yikes, I knew better than to put that on in the colder season. In summer we eat on the deck so the cloth would stay pretty. Table may still look cluttered to some of you, but the stuff in the top right corner is His. It’s a box that he sometimes hits with his mail and paper work. The turn-table in center top has stuff like salt & pepper, napkin holder, the electronic candle from my MIL and the SFGiants gnome from the same lady! On my place mat, there on the left, are a couple packets of arugala seed, last years, but I’ll offer it to Tsuneko, if she wants it. I found that I detest the stuff! Yuck, in fact. Right along with cilantro, and that stuff they make with basil- pesto! I don’t object to basil in reasonable quantities but pesto made of it… no thanks. I made some once when I first heard of it and had lots of garden basil. My buddy loved it so she got it all! lol
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  • Tossed the kitchen rugs into the washer. I’ll mop tomorrow.
  • 3:30 pm Himself has come in now and he & the dog are sharing a bag of salami. So I guess it’s time for me to head into the kitchen and assemble the meat loaf. I baked hamburger type buns and am planning meatloaf sandwiches and slaw for dinner. I might bake a batch of brownies for the game later.
  • Meatloaf in the oven. Decided against the brownies, too much oven. Had a graham cracker crust in the pantry (love $General!) and a packet of vanilla pudding plus a can of cherry pie filling. Not fresh strawberries but it’ll do until they come along in another month or so! And it’s pretty!
  • 4:30 Dog has quit following me around, she was smelling hamburger and thought I was making her dinner. She’s ever hopeful! Disappointment! I don’t have to make hers for a couple more weeks, just made a new batch. Her dinner is thawing on the counter so she’ll get it at the proper time.  The vet put her on grain free because of a chronic ear infection, says grain feeds the yeast. So I make her meat and veggies & freeze them in baggies, she loves it but I can’t see that it has helped her ear problem much.
  • But now I’m going to sit and read a new knitting pattern to see if I really want to do it. My loom and yarn is ready for when the game comes on this evening. The Giants are playing the Nationals, coming off a win and a fun game with the Angels!
  • 5.35 pm: Meatloaf is done, slaw’s made, as is dressing. Do we need beans? Nay. Himself is reading the news, I’ve been doing x-words here, Jays are fussing at something. Who knows? Jays are always bitching about something. They are just a mouthy group. I guess that’s why I like them- We have much in common!  The temperature is starting to fall, too, so I think I’ll close up now. Seems a shame but I don’t want it to get too chilly in here for old people!
  • Where’s dinner, Ma?!
  • Dinner’s over, time for the kitty to go home. She lives in the studio since there’s no room here for that necessary box that house cats need. Dishwasher is loaded and going. Game not on for another 10 minutes so here’s the end of my day. Game and weaving a square. Last email to my sis or both, take my melanin pill (it’s supposed to cure my tinnitus), brush teeth – all the usual bedtime stuff and off to dreamland.
  • Well, if he had asked what I did today, I could have told him.
  • He didn’t, of course.

Progress! No- really!

Apr20

I am just one shy of halfway done weaving my blocks. Counted 11 today. Yeah, not nearly one a day, but I think I denied that possibility right from the start. But now that Baseball season has started I will probably get more done as I can do that and listen to the game at the same time!  I think they are looking good (the squares, if not the team) but also they seem to have a little more draw-up than I figured on so I’ll likely end up needing more squares. Which may mean some creative coloring in order to do it since I have a limited amount of this yarn. Well, I have never objected to colorful so we’ll see.

I’ve up dated this blog so that I can post videos on it but so far have not been able to make that work. In part, I’m sure because of my very slow connection here in the backwoods. I’m going to try again today or tomorrow. A nice summer day, I think people are going to want to be outdoors instead of sitting by the fire with the internet so maybe there’ll be a little extra bandwidth for me!

If I can get this working I’ll have all sorts of things to share with you, we can weave together at last… so keep your fingers x-ed for me!!

New years resolutions?

Feb18

Well, maybe.  I cleaned up my Love Seat yesterday. That’s where all my projects and yarn- UFO’s, WIPs, new yarns etc end up. I just have too many projects started and many of them are never going to be done so I decided to seriously prioritize.
I decided on two projects. First, a fast one with a new yarn. It’s called Bernat Maker Home Dec & says it’s 72% cotton & 28% nylon. I wanted to try it for a dishcloth. I wove the ends in and then secured them by sewing the ends in with sewing thread. I’ll let you know of it makes a decent dish cloth or not. The skein comes with a crocheted blanket pattern. The yarn “tube” is about the size of a #4 knitting needle, quite elastic. It’s a knitted tube with a tiny bit of stuffing.

The second and long term project is a new sweater. My orange one is getting pretty ratty looking and I have been swatching for a new one lately and finally decided to use the bag of alpaca I bought on sale a few years ago. It’s Blue Sky 100% baby Alpaca in a sport weight. I have 5 skeins each of these three colors and several balls of two greens and a charcoal that may end up being the trim if I run out too soon. It is going to be many colored but I think it may end up looking a bit tweedy once it is woven and assembled. But in any case, I need a sweater and I want to use stash so it’s going to be what it is. I am using the 12″ Quilt Weaver square for the sweater, the same one I used for the old orange one. That one I did many years ago before I tried cut & sew so the sleeves in it were knitted. This one is going to be all woven so I am planning 24 squares, hence long term. I figure about 1 hour per square and I doubt I’ll be able to manage one a day, practically speaking. All of us have Other Lives which interfere with our weaving. sigh…;-)

     

WAL!

Nov30

December 1 starts the WAL for a square a day to make into something for Christmas. It’s being hosted on Ravelry, Looms To Go. And also on the Facebook pin looms group.

I hope you will all join us. I’m starting the day with the Elf Shoe. It’s one 4″ square or a Tiny Weaver square to make the tree ornament. You can make one with your larger looms and have a table decoration. Fixing a little bouquet of fir branches or holly. Here’s a picture of that.

 

There will be more, not just mine, but anyone can join in and share their ideas. Lets have fun and make this a great WAL! You will not have to weave one a day, of course, you can join in and share at any time & I hope you will!

 

UFO

Aug6

Picking up an abandoned project. It’s 4 colors of Lopi. Can’t remember where it came from, a swap, maybe? Anyway, I think it was supposed to be a vest and that is what it is going to be now. Haven’t had a new vest in awhile.  It was lovely out on the deck this morning so I will weave and sip until the sun makes it over the firs.

Finished

Jul14

The Green Thumb Top is done. The shirt looks nice but I am not very good at the selfie thing! Here I am with my mouth open.. no comments on that, please! But it fits well tho it’s probably a good thing my cleavage is a bit lower than it used to be! As you can see it kind of wandered away from the original sketch, but that’s the way projects usually go. I’m happy with it.