Thursday, February 28, 2008

Knit Accent Scarves For Spring & Summer

I used to make bunches of these using a drop stitch cable on my knitting machines in lightweight cottons years ago. When going through my 'stash' of yarns, my 6 year old grand-daughter wanted one made of this fun fur yarn. I knit one up for her and and she loves it!

So using the Brother 390 9mm, I cast on 6 stitches and then did a staggered tuck stitch every other row (the Drop Stitch cable was a NIGHTMARE with all that eyelash stuff!!) so the 'new and improved' version with tuck really helped it not curl in except a slight bit. She was happy. She LOVES my knitting machines and she' really getting quite good with the 9mm. We've got a 'date' to make up a bunch of dishcloths in 2 weeks. I'll put up pics once she gets a few made.

I LOVE being able to share my knitting, whether it's machine or hand with grandkids. When my oldest grandson lived here in town, he was always kinda 'itching' to see the internal workings of the machines! Had to say no a time or two when he found the screwdriver that would dismantle them! YIKES!! He was only 10 or 11 at the time.

Thinking of HAND KNIT, my 'take-along' project for numerous Dr's office visits coming up is this scarf with that same type of yarn, but it's with brighter, summer type colors that I call Rainbow Sherbet. Luscious Orange, Lime Green and Raspberry colors! When I first saw these colors at JoAnn's, I immediately thought of warm summer nights, bbq's and rainbow sherbet.

YUMMMMM!!

~ Marge ~

Monday, February 25, 2008

Time Is A Frien-Emy

Is your crafting time your friend or your enemy?? Well, for ME, time has been the 'enemy' rather than my friend that it usually is around this time of the year. Too much going on in the family and personal time was not all that plentiful.

But it's settling down and is sorta a frienemy. Thought it was going back into overdrive the other day, but was able to get my diabetes under control again so all is well.

There are some summer craft fairs coming up and I want to get my ribber back on the electronic knitting machine and make some DBJ blankets for the Charity Booth. There are 11 cones of thin cotton I unearthed in the back of the closet the other day that really need to be used up. So my time had better stay settled down and progress from frienemy to friend, really soon!
~Marge~

Wednesday, February 13, 2008

Here's a Nifty Site!

I found reference to this site Cut & Keep in the Etsy Forums this morning. I went there and it's a fabulous site full of super hints, tips, how-to's on many crafts! You should check it out. I signed up. Hope to see you there. They've got great boards and a whole community. AND, one of the nicest things is you can link to your Etsy Shop! For FREE! Free is good. ~Marge~

Monday, February 11, 2008

Taming My Craft Room

Having been delayed for a couple of weeks with family issues and all sorts of stuff, I finally got around to attempt the taming that craft room of mine.

This past weekend I wanted to put up a fourth knitting machine (cleared a space for its table last week) in my 'workroom' (aka: formerly the family room). It's a bulky knit machine and I have a huge box of yarns I bought at an estate sale that will be perfect to use
on that one. It's the Brother 390 Convertible plastic bed machine. It can do either 4.5mm or 9mm, which gives me a lot of versatility. I should put up one of the HK100's as well so I can have more than one bulky machine up and running. But the Brother uses the regular mast assembly rather than having the mast on the carriage, which I prefer.

Well, I did get it up, but it took a lot more work than I'd originally planned. Oh, the space was there for the table, but when I started to try and do some knitting, I realized that I had little or no 'real' traffic space between the
various machines, tubs of yarn and my computer. Sigh. So after some re-designing of the space in the former family room, it finally came together.

I can at least get to the computer now and have removed one of my chairs (had 3 in here, will just wheel the knitting machine one back and forth between machines for awhile until I can get that darned book case moved).

Then the sorting of all those craft supplies began. Oh, boy. Tossed out several reels of ribbon and laces that only had a few inches or so on them. Dunno why I'd not done that before ... maybe I was in a rush. Actually, they're not tossed ... I've bagged them up and will put them into the two tubs for grandkid crafting days.

Now to get the yarn monster under control.
~~ Marge ~~

Saturday, February 9, 2008

SWATCHES!!

So many new people tell me they don't see why we need to do swatches -- after all, it uses up precious yarn!! Oookay, so I use probably 1/4 of a cone doing multiple swatches. I'd much rather 'waste' that than complete a sweater or something for one of the grandkids and find it doesn't fit at all!! So. I'm a firm believer in swatching but there are numerous things you can do with that swatch after you've done your pattern testing.

What are some of the things you do with swatches?

  • Afghans
  • Pillow Tops
  • Doubled-Up & lined for Pot Holders or hotpads
  • Doll Cloths / Doll Blankets
  • Cut 'n' Sew Quilt Pieces
  • Scarves
  • Hats
  • Doll Hair (kill & ravel out for great krinkle doll hair!)
  • Pet Blankets / Bedding / Sweater Pieces
  • Placemats
  • Casserole Carriers (great with knitweave swatches)
  • Ravel out the knitting, wind it firmly into a ball, then use it for creating I-Cord.

Those are only a very few of the wonderful things you can do with your swatches. You'll notice that many of the items require certain sizing. Well, if your gauge is not going to be compromised by making that swatch wider or narrower or longer, then pre-plan to use that swatch in something else from our list above.

I very often end up doing 2-3 swatches if I'm trying to get a new pattern *exactly* right. So taking the time to pre-plan the size of the swatch is not a problem. I have a clipboard above my knitting machine that has a list of general sizes of swatches that I can use for something else after I'm done with the gauge testing.

~Marge~

Friday, February 8, 2008

Double Scallop Trim


This is a great trim that you can do up very quickly. When sewn onto stockinette stitch items, it really helps with the curling of the fabric.

We did this at a seminar umpteen years ago ( I think it was in Sacramento back in the 80’s) and I unearthed the hand-out sheet with my own notes so wanted to share this with you.


Needle Setup: ( Definition – “I” = working or “B/D” position, “O” = non-working or “A” position)

I I O O I O O I O O I I

Use a closed edge cast-on (e-wrap or latch-on) over the working position “I” needles. Get ready to add weights after the first row!

• Machine on HOLD (Russell Buttons/Levers UP)
• Put the two single “I” needles into “E” position.
• Knit 6 rows.
• Release HOLD feature on your machine, knit 1 row.
• Pull the two single “I” needles back out to “E” position, machine back on hold and repeat these steps for as long as you want your trim.