norahsknits

I'm working on a creative crochet project using some left-over yarn, and having a lot of fun with it. The main color yarn is from Little Knits, and is Cascade Longwood Sport-weight superwash wool. Very soft, lots of yardage. The multi-color parts are a mix of yarns, and will be at the two ends of the wrap when it is finished.

I finished my plaid piece, and felted it this morning in the washer, on the "No Spin" setting so that it would not have creases set into the piece. This was knit in Valley Yarns "Amherst" which is a nice wool yarn, worsted weight. The project is an outgrowth of the Franklin Habit Plaid Knitting and Color workshop I mentioned earlier. Before working the cross-ways plaid stripes, the piece measured 18 1/2 inches wide by 28 inches long. After "plaiding" it measured 21 inches wide by 23 inches long. After felting, it measures 19 inches wide by 18 inches long. So the plaiding made it shorter and wider, and the felting even more so. This was fun to do. I'll post pictures later on of making the piece up into something. Here's a progression through the process:

I'll have some shawls and wraps, and purses in the sale. I'm preparing my inventory list this morning. Here's the postcard image for the sale with the location in Webster Groves: There are always a lot of lovely items in the sale, including hand-spun yarn - which almost cannot be found anywhere else! The Guild also has several exhibits underway right now - noted on the postcard. The exhibit at the University City Public Library includes a sheep-to-afghan project created by the WGSL Spinners and Knitters Study Group, in a display case near the check-out desk. A number of other beautiful garments and other items are on display in the gallery space on the second floor.

Pics of some items being blocked. I used to do full-blown pinned wet blocking, but have simplified my process recently.

Earlier this month, Franklin Habit taught three days of workshops for the Weavers Guild of St. Louis . The first day's subject was Mosaic Knitting.  After the workshop, I knit a small project using the technique. The yarn used is  Queensland Collection Brisbane - pure Australian superwash wool, 144 yds per ball, "5" weight (bulky or chunky weight). I purchased 2 balls at Knitorious recently - black and a black and white gradient. The yarn has a nice, squishy squeezability to it. The pattern is a modified version of the first Mosaic Knitting pattern in this Vogue Knitting magazine from 2014 (Winter 2014/15), which I happened to be paging through after the workshop.  (I also noticed a fair number of MK patterns in my back issues of Rowan magazine, although the technique is not labeled (never noticed before that the technique being used is never labeled in the Rowan magazines).)  I'm planning another project using the technique from the knitting plaid workshop th

I had a lot of scrap yarn and odds and ends saved up, so decided to use it for a really big bag. I used a big crochet hook and multiple strands of yarn. I'm planning to line this bag with the intact sections of old blue jeans. The last photo shows the inside pockets, one on each side. The plan is to attach the handles before inserting the lining.

I recently visited Purl Soho in NYC with my sister. She purchased a skein of Purl's silk yarn, which I agreed to knit up for her. We were actually in Little Italy/Chinatown, and realized that we were also close to 459 Broome St., so we walked over. I'm using a new-to-me lace pattern called Ostrich Plumes, which I saw in a recent knitting magazine. (Actually, I've seen it before but never tried it.) The pattern is a variation on the Old Shale pattern, which I use a lot in both knit and crochet. The difference is that the patterning is reversed every 12 rows. I will be edging this with crochet when the knitting is finished. Edit: photo of the finished scarf with crocheted edging is at the end of this post.  Also pictured below is a view of a scarf and a shawl in another new pattern, which I found in a Japanese knitting pattern book (recent purchase). Interestingly, this same pattern is shown in patterns in several recent knitting magazines that I have seen, so I'm not

I'm thinking that I will put some of my hand-crocheted handbags in the Weavers Guild of St. Louis sale this year, in October. The bags are lined and most have magnetic snap closures. These were all made in recent weeks. The dark green button on the blue, turquoise and black bag is a vintage button given to me by someone in a knitting group I used to go to. The dark green, red and black bag is not completely finished yet - I'm waiting for an order of magnetic snaps to come in before sewing in the lining - that's why you can see a speck of lining and can maybe see a pin.

This scarf uses yarn purchased at the Weavers Guild of St. Louis' DeStash event which was held a few weeks ago. The light-colored yarn is all-silk, four strands held together, giving a bulky weight. The black yarn is silk/merino yarn from my stash. While I'm not sure the scarf is suitable for spring/summer, it is really attractive. The bag is lined, with a functional button. It is crocheted, using a reverse single-crochet to finish the edge. The scarf has not been blocked yet - I'm leaving that up to the person I made it for!!

I recently had great fun participating in an Eco-Dyeing workshop, using leaves (and other materials) to dye silk scarves. I'm in the center above, and my two scarves are the third and fourth ones from the left. The workshop was held at Sharon Kilfoyle 's mid-Missouri studio, and all materials were provided. Several of us from the Weavers Guild of St. Louis drove out for the workshop, bringing snacks and a pot-luck lunch with us. More details on my scarves: the pale turquoise one (3rd from left) is raw silk, and takes the dye differently than the silk charmeuse one to the right of it (the one with the bright blues and red on the clothes line in front of me). The leaves I used were ginko leaves and sweetgum leaves.

I had built up a basket of lots of partial balls of yarn and longer scraps, which I knit up into this shawl. For this item, I just used the yarn as it came out of the basket, tying the ends with 2 inch tails, and knitting the garment in garter stitch, placing the tails all on one side. (For projects of this kind, I will often measure out 4 or 6 yard lengths of left-over yarn and tie them together with an overhand knot leaving 2 inch tails.) This shawl ended up being very large - 17-18 inches deep at the back neck and about 84 inches long from tip to tip. The photos show both the "civilized" and the "deconstructed" sides. I love the way the zig-zag edging came out. The idea for the edging came from a sweater pattern in an old Rowan knitting magazine that I paged through a few weeks ago. I'm planning to use it again some time.

I'm just about caught up with blocking my finished items. The last few are pictured below. The dark multi-colored yarn is handspun from the October 2018 Weavers Guild of St. Louis sale.

Yarn for these two items is handspun that was purchased from WGSL members - the purple in the purple/pink crocheted scarf, and the rose colored yarn. I'm very pleased with the results! The Weavers Guild of St. Louis' sale in October has an abundance of handspun yarn available for purchase.

Started this a day or two ago. A non-taxing knit which adds a twist to a technique I have been using a lot lately: crescent-shaped shawl with lace patterning and saw-tooth side edge. I'll be bringing this project to our neighborhood knitting group get-together on Sunday. Edit - finished shawl is below - finished with 5 rows of crochet in darker green, being blocked.

Made this for my sister with handspun yarn purchased at the Weavers Guild of St. Louis 2018 sale (October of every year). The yarn was spun to a chunky or bulky weight, and was about 350 yards. The edging is done in Elsebeth Lavold Silky Wool (one ball). It's quite large but very pretty. I started at the top edge with approximately 190 stitches, and used two sets of short rows and spaced increases to shape it. 

Finished over the weekend - a cap and cowl for a child (my grandniece). Knit (& crocheted) out of washable yarn. Cowl instead of scarf because I thought it would be harder to lose. She wore it for 5 whole minutes before setting it aside.

This pretty yarn was a Christmas present. I'm knitting a scarf for myself - reversible leaf pattern with a wide ribbed border at each end. I'm really happy with how it is turning out. Will need some serious blocking, though - the reversible leaf pattern pulls in like ribbing does.  We have re-started a local knitting/handwork get-together (Stitch & Bitch), and I worked on this then. Next get-together is the third Sunday in February, February 17th, 2 to 4 pm at Kitchen House Coffee (original location just east of the corner of Shenandoah & Compton). Anyone who knits, crochets, embroiders, or does other portable crafts is welcome!!