norahsknits

  I've made crocheted potholders for a long time, but at a Weavers Guild of St. Louis event on Sunday, I learned a new method. These are made in a similar way to my crocheted handbags, starting with a chain that forms the bottom edge and working around and around in a spiral. When the item folds diagonally to form a square, you crochet the inside edges together (I used a chain stitch). 35 stitches for the starting chain, using a Size G hook and Peaches & Cream 100% cotton yarn yields a two layer approximately 6 inch square potholder. 

  Here's a link to information about the sale - over 30 vendors are planned, all with hand-made goods:   TDLC Nov. 26th Winter Market Photo above is of one of my hand-knit items, showing the Ostrich Plume lace stitch. 

 I will have hand-knitted and crocheted shawls & wraps in the sale, along with two of my crocheted bags. 

I've been working on a second pair of fingerless mitts using the same free pattern as the last post - St. John's Wort pattern. For this pair, I used size 3 double-pointed needles and made the mitts longer at the cuffs and at the finger-opening end. The pic was taken before the second mitt was finished and before thumbs were worked. (The thumb stitches on the first mitt are held on a short piece of black ribbon.) I'm enjoying this pattern and may make more pairs for family gifts. (I never sell items made from someone else's pattern.)

  The above - two hat and cowl sets - were knit from mohair & merino yarn from  Rainbow Fiber Co-Op . Interweave Knits mentioned the website in a recent issue. The yarn was lovely to knit.  The fingerless mitts below are from a free pattern from Webs:   Webs - yarn.com  I'm using Berroco brand Boboli Lace  , which is a single-ply fingering weight (despite its "Lace" name). The thumb stitches are being held on a strand of yarn - I'll work them both at the end, so that I don't forget what I did after the first one. The stitch is called "St. John's Wort" - I looked for it in the three Barbara Walker stitch books that I have, but did not find it. 

I'm using the Porcupine Stitch from one of Barbara Walker's books, knit in Sensai ITO yarn, which is a mohair & silk blend. I added 10 side border stitches on each side of the pattern, plus four 12 stitch repeats in the center. Size 6 needles. The pattern is a 9 row pattern, so the right and wrong sides switch part-way through the repeat.   

 Alpaca and silk lace-weight yarn, will be an asymmetrical shawl. Started at the point with four stitches.  Experimental shawl with large eyelet pattern, made using leftover yarns.  Working on the second mitten of the set below; the first mitten is finished except for the thumb. The pattern is "The Gates of Moria" from this source:  https://www.ravelry.com/patterns/library/the-gates-of-moria

 It's been a while since I posted. But I am still knitting & crocheting a lot. Here are some recent items. One item is some freehand embroidery on a scrap of denim.