Monthly Fiber Arts Thread - February 1-29, 2020

February 1, 2020 | Diana in Wisconsin

[Qiviut]

Okay, I promised on last month's thread to post my “Gomer Pyle” yarn experience. Think “Surprise, surprise, surprise!” and you'll get the reference.

I've been on a “Mitten Madness” kick (before I got eyeballs deep in baby blankets) – knitted mittens, rather than the usual crochet, since I've very recently figured out how to knit at a speed faster than 'box turtle'. I have been going through my yarn stash looking for yarn to knit up & I found some that I bought on sale at Hobby Lobby years ago. It is an 'I Love This Yarn' print called “Pomegranate Stripe”. It's got a lot of color, some combinations of which are not something I would automatically think of using, but it's still rather attractive in a bold, colorful sort of way.

So, it's called Pomegranate STRIPE …. what would you expect? This is what I got … I started knitting kind of late in the evening & I think I finished at about 2 in the morning because I could NOT stop … couldn't wait to see what would happen next!! This has never happened to me with yarn before.

Is that not just the craziest thing? It is striped, but looks like Fair Isle knitting! You'll notice I have not woven in the ends … I may have to take this apart & start at a specific place to try to get a matching mitten. In looking at the color pattern, there is a wide pink band under the red markings near the top. Looking down the mitten, under the red markings, there is no wide pink band repeating … not sure if it will occur later in the skein or not. Anyway, I do have two skeins of this stuff, just not the same dye lot so it may not knit up quite the same.

After showing this to a couple of people, they all want to give this mitten & whatever match I can come up with, a home. I'm not sure I can give this one away.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

We just started it in January. I’ll add you to our Ping List. :)

[Governor Dinwiddie]

Miss Diana, Thanks you for that link! It is so comforting to watch!! Watching knitting is a total comfort for us guys. There is something totally beautiful and feminine about it.

When I was in high school many, many, many years ago they had "home ec" classes. Do they even have those anymore? The girls would sew beautiful dresses and skirts.

When I went into school in the morning there would be hallways filled with lovely bare legged girls in colorful pleated skirts, swishing down the hallway. If you want to catch a boy, you have to have good bait! LOL.

[Qiviut]

Secrets to Great Pom Poms
https://www.masondixonknitting.com/secrets-great-pom-poms/

Steaming ... who knew? Not me!

++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++

Also, I found this article on fiber interesting - trying to talk a relative into some sheep ... or maybe angora rabbits, cashmere goats ... if I ever win the lotto, I’m going to get alpacas!

Better Know a Sheep: Breeds and Yarns
https://www.masondixonknitting.com/better-know-sheep-breeds-yarns/

The article also mentions ‘alpaca’ fiber, too - just splurged on some 100% baby alpaca yarn for a project ... we’ll see how that goes.

[Sioux-san]

Gawwwllleeee, Q!!! I love how that mitten turned out. I have used the I Love This Yarn in cotton, but not this variety - what is the fiber type in this one?

There’s gotta be a way to figure out where to begin on the next mitten without tearing this one apart. I would keep unravelling the skein onto a ball winder until you start seeing that sweet spot, cut it and commence on Mitt#2.

[Qiviut]

The yarn fiber is 100% acrylic. ‘I Love This Yarn’ acrylics are much softer than Red Heart Super Saver, which is why I like using them. It makes wonderful mittens & I’m going to do a hat soon & I’ll bet that will turn out with a nice, soft texture. The yardage/skein is decent - solids are 355 yds & ‘prints’ are 252.

The color pattern isn’t repeating exactly the same way on the mitten, which is why I suspect I might have an issue. Then again, it might just be a matter of going further in the skein to find what I’m seeing.

Specifically, if you start at the top, under the red boomerang-looking part, you see a fairly wide solid pink stripe, before the burgundy section starts. Coming down the mitten to the red boomerangs again (about half way down the gusset), they are not followed by that wide pink stripe, but a narrow stripe of gray, then the burgundy part. If that wide pink stripe was an anomaly, that’s going to be trouble in matching. I haven’t had time to go through unraveling, looking for enough yarn for a another wide pink section. If I can find one, then I can backtrack to a place to start & come close to matching what I’ve got. No wide pink & I’ll pick a specific starting spot & make two more mittens that match.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOL! That’s the truth! :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Baby Blankets (crochet) that went to 'Project Linus' a while back. Red Heart 'Ombre' 10oz skein for each.

I used a basic pattern off of their site; super simple.

[Qiviut]

I love doilies and have made a lot of them (they're a challenge, like a puzzle), but what to do with them? Mine are in a box in my "project trunk" where I store completed items for future gifting or use in some way. I saw this today - the doilies are pretty & it's a good way to display them without cluttering up tables, etc.

Here's the pattern for Aunt Lydia's Suncatcher Mini-Doilies

[Qiviut]

I love your baby blankets - so cheerful! I also love the Red Heart Ombre colorway. I did a baby blanket for my great-niece in RH Ombre .... the pattern is pretty cool - it's called Lunar Crossings by Kim Guzman. Great-niece's mom loves green and I wanted to do something different from pink so I used the color "Spearmint".

Here's how the Ombre did in that pattern:

If anyone is interested in the pattern, you can find it HERE Kim G. also has other variations of this pattern (like a shawl) & the links are at the bottom of link I'm posting. It's a very 'easy' pattern to follow & with a yarn in an ombre, stripe or some other multi-color, it's fun watching it work up. I've also done a prayer shawl in the Baja Blue ombre - reminded me of the ridges of the Blue Ridge mountains which was meaningful to the recipient. PS - This is the "square" version - I'm thinking it would make a nice lap robe, too - the ombre colors are just so pretty.

Lucky babies who got one of your blankets, DiW!!

[Qiviut]

Here's the Baja Blue prayer shawl .... the Baja Blue is more of a 'blue jeans' blues - my favorite of the Ombre blues. My mountain-loving relative received the shawl mid-October after she let us know of her diagnosis for Stage 4 aggressive lung cancer in early Sept. She called me Dec. 5th and we had a really good 45 minute talk. She died Dec. 20 and I will always be grateful for & remember that call.

[thesearethetimes...]

Beautiful!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Agreed! I like the blue and the orange the best in that series. It’s fun to see what happens. :)

[knittnmom]

A friend at church knits scarves, then gives them to a crossing guard near her to give to kids who might need them. She was lamenting that she's gotten behind (she's been hospitalized and has some major health issues). So Ellendra and I decided to help her out. I've started a knitted scarf, and Ellendra will be starting to crochet one when she finishes her current project.

FYI for anyone in the Madison, WI area: Wisconsin Craft Market on Whitney Way is going out of business and has their crafts marked down. Ellendra and I went there on Monday and they still have a huge selection to choose from.

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that ! I have a gift card, so I’d better get over there!

I was hoping they could hold on; it really is a great shop, but that whole Mall is DEAD and I think there’s some revitalization project slated for the property.

ALSO - St. Vincent’s is having their Yarn Sale starting February 12th!

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Oh, I’m so sorry to hear that ! I have a gift card, so I’d better get over there!

I was hoping they could hold on; it really is a great shop, but that whole Mall is DEAD and I think there’s some revitalization project slated for the property.

ALSO - St. Vincent’s is having their Yarn Sale starting February 12th!

[Qiviut]

If a “temperature blanket” is too big a project, a temperature scarf would be something more manageable for a lot of people. Frankly, I never thought of doing a scarf ....

A Woman Knitted a “Temperature Scarf” to Reflect January’s Fluctuating Weather—and It’s Going Viral on Twitter
https://www.apartmenttherapy.com/temperature-scarf-global-warming-twitter-36713437?amp=1

[Qiviut]

This is really very pretty. Unfortunately, B Hooked didn't explain how she did this ... hopefully, she'll post something soon!

Her comment (FB post): "One of my favorite things about crochet is how changing just the placement of a stitch can give you a whole new look. This Catherine wheel stitch now looks like scales!"

[Diana in Wisconsin]

LOVE the colors in that scarf. Just a simple shell stitch to start. :)

[Diana in Wisconsin]

Scarves I made last year. I kept the white and 'mocha' one for my own use; the other two went to 'Warm Up America.'