if you like acorns...

Who can resist an acorn?
On a recent trip to the lake, we were hiking through the woods and came to a grove of giant oak trees. I couldn't resist scooping up a handful of acorns to bring home.
Shortly after that trip, I came across a pattern for a knitted acorn that I had printed up last year. I immediately had to find some yarn and knit one up that night.
Isn't it cute?

I didn't have 2mm dpns so I used a bit larger size with some worsted weight wool, thus it is a little bit larger than the original.

I'm thinking of adding a loop or hook and hanging some of these on the Christmas tree. Thanks to Suse for sharing this!

A Crocheted Body Part


Yes its exactly what it looks like.


A Lady's most intimate form, why.......

Inspired by the Stickkontakt Botkyrka Tumba project.

Stickkontakt


http://stickkontakt.blogspot.com

Botkyrka Konsthal


http://stickkontakt.blogspot.com/2009/08/jag-virkar-revir-ett-verk-initierat-av.html

My earlier post about this.

http://theknittingforartexhibition.blogspot.com/



L had a bracelet similar to this and of course I noticed it, I sort of guessed what it was and the button detail made me laugh.

Even before she had explained about the exhibit and the little cut away crochet in the wall, that was also a Vagina.

The exhibition in short "about immigrant women taking there space around them".

The Gray picture below is from exhibition.



I have worn mine for the last two days. To have my little part in the project and it's quiet funny the response.........

Either a glance and a nod as if a fun crochet bracelet.

Or

Others have smiled, as I think that they may have guessed a female form

That it in fact looks just like what it is supposed too be;-)




Why Indeed, my crochet lettering progress so far.



A little of my Crocheted art, I really like this so I'm sharing it.;-)

Some ideas just make you say "WOW"

Sometimes you come across something something which opens your knitting mind in directions never considered before. I have been accumulating these WOW's for some time, and want to share them with you:

Ravelry
Many, perhaps most knitters already know about Ravelry, the knitting community website. Yet, if conversations with random knitters in airports and waiting rooms are any indication, Ravelry remains unknown to a surprising number. So, if you don't yet know, Ravelry is a black hole into which you will fall with your knitting, never to emerge. Need 3 ways to bind off at 3 AM? A new way of keeping track of your stash and needles? Are you seeking just more ball of a discontinued yarn? Ravelry is all that, and more. The brainstorm of Jessica Forbes and Casey Forbes who administer and run the site with grace and humor, Ravelry is a game-changer: what has up to now been essentially lone pursuit is now a social one and knitting information previously restricted by area, custom or expertise is now in the public domain, archived and searchable by all. Sign up HERE. PS:  As Angie points out in the comments, Ravelry is a site for crocheters, too. (Not to mention that spinners seem to have gotten in on the act when no one was looking!)

Use every inch of that
expensive, fancy yarn sock
Ravelry is great because of the neat people you "meet" and the great tips they post. Here is an example of a really splendid tip from an expert knitter on Ravelry, who goes by the Raverly-name of "Potteryfreak." Potteryfreak (real name Cheri) posted as follows:

You could do something wonderfully cool to make sure you get the maximum bang for your [expensive sock yarn] buck, if you are making a plain sock: Start with a ribbed cuff in contrasting yarn. Switch to your main yarn and knit one long sock-leg tube until you run out of yarn, then end it with a second cuff out of your contrasting yarn. Measure it and insert two lifelines a row or two apart at the center of your tube. Snip one stitch and unravel the row so that now you will have two equal-length tubes of sock. With your contrasting yarn, make your toes down from the live stitches on your lifelines and your afterthought heels in the appropriate spot.

Cheri was careful to note that the idea was not original with her, and that she wished she could remember where she'd read it so as to give credit where is is due. A great tip nonetheless, and thanks Cheri, for permission to re-print your post. (PS: Cheri has an online shop here.)


"Cable reassignment surgery"
The problem: the Boye interchangeable needles have many excellent qualities, but flexible cables are not among them. The solution: as a result of a brainstorm, Fleegle got her old Boye needlemaster tips drilled out by a gunsmith to accept the far more flexible Knitpicks cables. Fleegle is a brilliant genius. Read more about it HERE.

Addendum, November 24, 2010:  Here is another "wow" way to make cables for a Boye interchangeable needle set.  This new method is ALL do-it-yourself!!


Home made yarn swifts
Two low-cost home-made yarn swifts that will have you slapping your head--wonderful Rube Goldberg devices of the first order. Webecca is a brilliant genius. Click HERE and HERE.


Three charting sites
Shut down your spreadsheet, put down your graph paper, retire your pencil. Instead, check out these three free charting sites
1. Chart-a-rama: Into the "form" box, you type a pattern written in standard knitting shorthand, formatted according to some easy-to-understand rules. Click "make the chart," and Chart-a-rama will automatically generate a perfectly-formatted knitting chart. This would be very handy if you prefer to work from charts, but only have a older-type knitting pattern written out in knitting shorthand instructions.
2. Knitting Chart maker by Jacquie: If you prefer to type in your chart symbols directly, this site has loads of symbols and is easy-to-use.
3. Microrevolt's Knitpro application makes a color chart directly from an image. Want to knit your dog's face onto the back of a sweater? Knit a message on your socks? Knit giant flowers onto your afghan? This app will create the chart for you, and it's pre-set at the correct knitting ratio of stitches to rows.


Needle gauge
I use a micrometer to size needles. It is accurate but delicate, so it never leaves the house. My needle gauges are allowed out of the house, but are flimsy and are now bent and banged up from their adventures. To the rescue came Agres, another Ravelry member, who noted in a post that "drill gauges are cheap and tough." A trip to a local hardware store confirmed that: for a few bucks, I landed a sturdy metal drill gauge with the sizes actually engraved into the metal, so they'll never rub off. With a conversion chart, or two my drill gauge sizes all. Perfect for road trips.

Surprisingly stretchy bind off
Last, but not least, here is a link to a new sort of  bind off--Jeny's surprisingly stretchy bind off. The raves are flying for this one! Try it yourself and see what you think.

Thanks to all these great knitters who've illuminated the community of knitters with their generous sharing of time, talent and ideas.


--TK

change of season

Summer here went out with a bang--beautiful, sunny, warm, dry days. We actually went over 3 weeks with no measurable rainfall. Fall is here now though, and suddenly it is dark at 5:30 when I crawl reluctantly out of bed. The mornings are cool and misty, and the rain has returned.
I did fit in a walk around the property on one of our last sunny days. The goldenrod is in full bloom...




...as well as pearly everlasting,
and asters...
...which look beautiful along side the Queen Anne's Lace...


And I found lots of cattails by the swamp...

The lumina pumpkins are ready to harvest...

The wood pile is growing and plenty is stacked in the garage, ready for that first chilly day that will require the woodstove to be put to use.

I'm finding myself ready for the coziness of it all, and looking forward to more time for some knitting, sewing and crafting.

Beer,Dolls,Shawls and Crochet of Cousre.


This is going to be an extremely long post...........
As for those who know me personally, will already know!

I always have way to much to say;-)

1st thing, the beer the weather in Stockholm has been great and to still be able to sit out and knit.

The beer pic I took at our family trip to Skansen as I was very spoiled, I got to have beer and crochet whist sitting out looking across the sky line of Stockholm;-)

Back to my post

Weird?
Or just a good use of waste.........

I love my Rasmus dearly but I'm not completely sure about wearing him!

Even I have a line that I will not cross, I do love to recycle and I have used some wasted "Dust bunny, corner of the floor, fur in my art.
"

But on my back, Oj oj oj
It did make me laugh as they look like there pets, cute.


Knitting with dog hair?.


This I found here.........

http://weburbanist.com/2009/02/06/knitty-gritty-15-works-of-knit-art-and-graffiti/

So my Suggestion
Or Recommendation is to read/click the link. Promised Smiles,inspiration and I do not mean the dog fur.

15 Knitted Art/artists

The article is fab but unfortunately it runs half the page of ad's
(now I know that this pays)

But when it comes to inspiration I want to see the whole page.
That said it really is a good article;-)


Blythe Dolls and there new Shawls.


Mabels new Karin Shawl, she may have flown across the pond but her fashion seems to be very Scandinavian.;-)



Karin's stitch I have now perfected, Sundays knit cafe an education.


Turning the Lemon sample into a shawl for one Blythe,
And on my walk home, continued and made a second.(Yesterdays tweet)

Sun shone and as soon as I got home a little garden photo shoot was a must. The Red creeper in my garden the perfect back drop for this little shawl.

I am taking so many photos at the moment, Stockholm is just so pretty with all the Autumn shades. Probably the best time to visit.


I had few issues, well my camera a dirty lens and then I need the hood as the sun was very bright and whilst I popped in side she fell, I returned to find Holly flat out! The wind, fortunately she didn't land face down in the mud.

The eye seemed to widen with the shock of being left to fall into the wet ground.
Or maybe I'm just spending to much time alone;-)

But any how I wanted to show this as I think that the eyes are very funny so much expression and it's just a doll.

Currently I'm really enjoying using photo shop.



Startled Blythe.......


Gelfling Blythe this is a real fairy like shot.



Spot the tiny snail/nature.........Autumn Inspiration.

Vintage Impression's

This shawl could possibly be vintage and the mohair was a very old yarn that I purchased from a charity/thrift store.

Its made of three yarns all actually charity shop brought, two where hand rolled balls and the Mohair hair was once a very old ladies stash, as I had to actually tug apart the strands and the fibres had seemed to fuse.

Adding to its knit story, this is a basic knit,knit three add one new stitch each row, knit two, yarn in front add the new stitch.

My daughter has already claimed this........ whist it sat in my finished project bin I had to remove it from her shoulders, needing to get photo proof for
my hand made by me;-)



Fun with the photo, my broach vintage.... well I have owned it for six/seven years I think that makes it Vintage it's a leather flower, pearls models own ;-)



Flowers from my anniversary,

The start of sept, this is another thing that I like to do.
To make the memory last a little longer.......

They die so quickly that I then dry them out. Nothing technical just take away the water and leave them in a place that will not be in the way.

A week or so and on return a beautiful display piece.


Molly- A Grown Up Version


Here is my Molly hat all completed. I'm very glad I chose to make the solid color version for myself.
I am in love with this yarn Artesano Alpaca 4-ply, and this color Fern is gorgeous. I love the heathery flecks of blue and yellow tones.. but then again I have not yet met a shade of green that I didn't like.

Click here for the pattern. Click here for the yarn.


The patterned brim doesn't stand out nearly as much as it does on the striped version, but I think it's pretty just the same.
Just a nice subtle detail to add interest.


I'm sure I'll be getting a lot of use out of it this Fall.

the winner is....

Wow, about 150 of you offered up name suggestions for our little rooster! Great ideas too, that I never would have thought of...some of our favorites were Ozzy, Ludwig, Spike, Stanley, Barney, Einstein, Ziggy, Beaker, Maestro, Kramer, and Ringo. And of course if he had only been a she, Phyllis Diller was a definite favorite.
It was terribly difficult, but we did finally narrow it down to two top contenders: WALTER {submitted first by Erica M.} and CLUCK GABLE from 'Gone with the Hen' {submitted by Julie in Oklahoma}.
Erica said::"Walter. Soon as I saw him I thought of that name. Not sure why, as I don't know anyone or any characters named Walter for him to resemble. It just seems to fit."

Julie said::"Is he much of a fighter? How about Cluck Norris" (Claw-ratay champion and star of Good Guys Wear Black Feathers)? Or is he more of a gentleman? Then I would go with "Cluck Gable" (from Gone with the Hen)."

Since our guy is really not the suave, dignified sort, but more of a 'Walter Mitty', we finally settled on Walter. Like Erica said, to us anyway, "it just seems to fit".


So, Erica is our 'Blogging for Bliss' book winner, but because Julie's suggestion was so imaginative and funny, I would like to send her a consolation gift {yet to be determined) as well. If both of you ladies would e-mail me with your address, I will get your packages sent on their way :)
Thanks so much to you all for taking part!!


Eventfull Crochet


Karin cracked it........ my new Crochet stitch,

The one that I just could not make it sit flat. And my eventual
progress turned it into my own production line of Doily's.
(Handy but not really what I was trying to achieve)

So here it is in my practice yellow acrylic size 4 hook. I had to master the proper stitch before I could work
on my own version;-)

This is a Little to delicate for my liking but what a pretty little stitch.



WHY



Why indeed
/My business card.

Image above at the very start of my new Project Graffiti lettering.

Me oh my

My new business cards, I'm very pleased and had my first occasion to give one out.

On a boat
trip to town,crocheting as usual My why beginnings I attracted a little group of tourists, she asked me what was I making...

I guess if I had replied WHY! it could have been a little rude, so my answer just a W.


She took my yarn and hook and showed me a traditional stitch and then I gave her my card;-)
(fair swap)



Why Not!



Me oh my


Showcasing my new business card,replacing my home made of 2007/08.


My web site has just had a make over so click below if you would like to see.


http://knittingforart.com/


Qwack


Ducklings.......... I have been a little quiet on the duckling project, but i have been quite busy with the other knit/communtiy projects, so now I can get back to my own little project.

Face book link
http://hi-in.facebook.com/pages/Crocheted-Plastic-Ducklings-For-River-Knit-Graffiti-Project/122294704587?

Duckling in a crocheted jacket and a random Santa in the back ground?

I didnt realise he was even thier...........The flower's are the seeds from Gemma wedding favours in July.

I planted mine as I can never wait and luckily they just made it before winter hit;-)

Working in too-short ends: a classic dressmaker's trick, handy for knitters

Is there a knitter anywhere who has not had to work in a too-short end? The fix often smells faintly of desperation such as a dot of glue, or spells a lot of hard work, such as undoing the knitting to lengthen the end. Here is a classic dressmaking technique which may save the day next time you're faced with an end too short to work in by conventional means.

In illustration 1, there are two ends waiting to be worked in: one green and one pink. The green end is long enough to work in by the ordinary "skimming in" method, so first we'll see how that works. Then we'll look at the variation on this method which is a clever dressmaker's trick to work in the very short pink end.


Illustration 2 shows threading the green end through the eye of the needle.


Illustration 3: Pierce the needle through one or two plies of each underlying stitch, as shown.


Illustration 4: Draw the needle up all the way, which draws the end through the piercings you have made. Once the yarn is all drawn through, remove the needle from the yarn end by working the end out of the needle's eye. This leaves the yarn "skimmed in" to the back of the work. (For more information about the skimming-in method, click here.)

With the too-short end, this simple technique will not work, because the end to be worked in is shorter than the sewing needle. So, as shown in Illustration 5, if the yarn cannot be brought to the needle, the needle must be brought to the yarn. This is done by using the unthreaded needle to pierce through one or two plies of several stitches, as shown.


Illustration 6: Stop the needle when the eye is just opposite the too-short end. Without moving the needle, use some form of sewing ingenuity or employ some tiny tools such as a tiny crochet hook, or a needle-threading hook, or a wire threader for hand sewing to draw the too-short end through the eye of the needle.


Once the needle is threaded, draw up the needle, and keep drawing it up. As the needle travels through the fabric, the too-short end be drawn out of the eye, and will come off in the fabric.In other words, the needle will come out naked, but along the way, the too-short end will have been worked in to its fullest possible length, and illustration 7 shows the finished result.


One final note and two final links: The sort of needle to use for this job is a sharp pointed needle, and this is because you want to pierce through the underlying yarn. For more info about the two different types of sewing needles, click here. And, just in case you missed the link above for more information about the "skimming in" technique, click here.

--TK
You have been reading TECHknitting on: "working in short ends in knitting"

NeverNotKnitting Event

Tomorrow, September 27th I will be meeting with the local knitting group at Woodstone Market in Avila Beach 2:30pm. Ill be there with all of my design samples answering questions and talking about the process of designing your own handknits.

Join us if you can!

Stranded Worsted Weight Patterns

I've been on Ravelry a while now and I'm firmly convinced the most valuable feature is the pattern finder. I'm going to be extremely busy the next few months with work stuff and I was worried I wouldn't have enough knitting output to keep this blog going. I went to Ravelry and found a bunch of worsted weight stranded accessory patterns that I can finish quickly so I'll have something to show on the blog. In fact I found so many patterns I'm wondering if I have enough Cascade 220 to last until the end of the year.

Here are a few of the patterns I'm considering making this fall. I've noted which ones are free patterns.

Tuulia's Red and Black Celtic Gloves (mittens actually, free pattern)
SpillyJane's Quo Vadis Mittens (free - I might do this in a rainbow sequence)
Dave's Latvian Winter Mittens (love the candle on the thumb)
Inka Hat (check out some of the variations using lots of colors)
Virginia's Floppy Fairisle Hat (one of those rare hats I might actually look good wearing)
Dancing Stars Hat (designed for multi-colored yarns but I might just use striped background)
Bernat Stranded Balaclava (I've never seen a stranded balaclava but I think DH might wear it)

I also want to mention a few books that contain stranded patterns for worsted weight yarns. Anna Zilboorg's hat, mittens, and sock books I think call for DK weight yarn but I always substitute worsted and go down a needle size to get her gauge. Also, Kristin Knits by Kristin Nicholas has a lot of stranded worsted weight patterns.

If you're in central New Mexico and you're interested in helping out a great cause, check out this lovely rabbit quilt some of the local rabbit rescuers made. It is being raffled off - tickets are $1 each or 6 for $5. You can purchase tickets and see the actual quilt (38 by 50") at the upcoming Weems Artfest or tomorrow, Saturday, September 26th at the House Rabbit Society Adoptathon at the Petco on Lomas from 10 am to 2 pm. Next on the agenda to be raffled is the gorgeous rabbit Christmas stocking Kate from San Francisco donated - I'll let you know when that occurs.



Friday

Bokyrka Konsthall

Graffiti Pram, very cool maybe this could be for modern day Mummy's and Daddy's as they push their new born. Not traditional blues but instead nontraditional graffiti print.

Spotted this at http://www.blogger.com/post-create.g?blogID=6043249374821585071
I Spent the afternoon with
http://stickkontakt.blogspot.com/

7 Dancers and Crochet ,an afternoon of culture.
To read more
http://theknittingforartexhibition.blogspot.com/

Graffiti Workshop

I finally get how to make a flower!, for some reason it flowed............tried many many times before and it never worked out.

But I got it!, I even managed to teach as well.

Blooming Beautiful

My flower progress.
..........The one's that I made at the work shop, I left for the graffiti knitter and this morning I had a quick go, just so I didn't forget.


Luckily I think I remembered how;-)

Flowers will be a WIP.

Friday Family outing to Skansen.

http://www.skansen.se/pages/?ID=221


Purple rinse

We took a boat trip in to town and as we where waiting for the boat to empty this lovely ol lady got off.

I just had to capture her candy floss parma Violet hair.


This morning(awake early, whist my family all sleep) I had watched Johnny Depps, Willy Wonker and this was defiantly Verruca salts hair.

It got me thinking, that maybe I could knit a loopy wig?
So when I'm old I wont need to rinse as I'll just pop on my loopy wig;-)


Even the Lemmas are at one with the Swedish culture of sunbathing. The sun shone and they lined up to tan;-).

Unbeknown to me, what I thought was his foot was in fact his man parts.

He was very at one with his little self;
-).

Rasmus's cousins