Weaving for the rest of us

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So your packages are in the mail and though most of you probably haven’t gotten them yet, I couldn’t wait until you did to talk excitedly about the project.  I am one of those knitters who is thoroughly enamored of a lot of other needle arts and if I ever retire plan to take up crewel, rug hooking, needlepoint and at least 6 or 7 other things.  Including weaving.  I just love the color play you can get with weaving.  I even spent some time as the owner of a giant table loom that had no hope of ever being set up in my tiny home.  Now, thanks to the Zoom Loom, I don’t have to wait until that hoped for quiet moment to at least dabble in weaving.  I am sure there have been variations on this theme for a lot longer than I have wanted to weave, but this one is so easy to use that it managed to achieve escape velocity and break through the atmosphere (or fog) of my daily to do list.

Some of you have probably seen the Zoom Loom in your LYS.  They seem to have made quite a splash and I would expect them to be in a lot of stores.  If you have one already, great!  If you don’t, I am offering a 10% off price (well it is more like 10.002% because I want to round to $4) of $35 plus nominal shipping (I think it will be a couple of dollars).

Now that I have fallen in love with it, I might just have to do a few more projects with it.  I am interested in seeing how I can combine the squares with knitting.

My sister said “how do you make anything but a 4 inch square” and the answer, of course, is you don’t.  But that doesn’t bother me as I am into any type of piecework: modular knitting, granny squares, patchwork blankets…. Besides, what a stash-buster!

 

Happy Knitting (and weaving),

Sara

Lacy squares and missing stitches

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You will have noticed that there have been quite a few lace weight yarns and lacy squares coming recently.  And for a number of reasons, I guess.  One is that I am really into lace right now.  I am slightly late to the party as many of you have been lace crazy for years.  But, oh, it is so lovely!  And so fun to knit!  I love the look of complicated Fair Isle, but don’t really like to knit it: it makes me tense.  When I am in the mood for something other than the zen of Stockinette, it is to texture I turn.  Which, I guess, is why I like making these squares so much.

It is also a great season to be knitting lace.  The light-weight projects are great for spring and summer: easily transportable to the ball park or picnic site, not liable to make your lap too uncomfy in any sun you might be getting, and perfectly wearable for transitional seasons.  Lace patches can be sewn into a simple scarf or into a great shawl.  I think I will sew mine into a pyramid with the “base” layer (which will be worn as the top, of course) extra long.  That way I can tie it around my shoulders to make it easier to wear.

In the meantime: The stitch pattern for the Cozette square has some missing sts.  Row 1 should start with an extra K1 and Row 2 should start with an extra P1.  I guess I just forgot these border sts that were added to make the square just a touch bigger.

Happy Spring,

Sara

 

My first blog’s First Errata

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Ack! I can’t believe I have to post errata on the very first pattern of 2013.  Well, let’s hope it is not a harbinger of things to come.  And on the stitch pattern I was so happy about having developed, no less.  It is mostly right, but where you dip beneath the strands, you pick up one of the doubled strands of CC the first dip and then the other strand the second dip.  So into Rnd 6 add the few bold words below and it should work.

Stitch Pattern:

Rnd 1: *K1 CC, K5 MC*
Rnd 2: *P1 CC, K5 MC* keeping the CC float in front
Rnd 3: K1 CC, Knit around MC.
Rnd 4 and 5: Knit MC

Rnd 6: With MC *K2, insert right needle under one loose strand of CC and then knit the next st, bringing the new st out under strand, K1, insert right needle under the other loose strand of CC and then knit the next st, bringing the new st out under strand, K1*

Rnd 7, 8, 10 and 12: Knit MC
Rnd 9 and 11: Knit CC
Repeat these 12 rnds.

 

So sorry to anyone who started the pattern and spent any time in confusion.  And of course, you can always email me at if you have trouble with any pattern, whether it is due to a mistake on my part or not.

 

Yours,

Sara

Happy 2013!

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Well, the holidays are officially over and now we all play catch up.  At least, that’s how it is around here.  In the faint afterglow, it is time for cleaning, organizing, sitting quietly with no other plans.  As much as I love Christmas, I am comforted by this season as well.

I am not the only one who got a little behind this December.  Brooke Sinnes of Sincere Sheep faced multiple illnesses on top of her normal holiday chores and so the yarn for this month’s packages came a little late.  Of course, I assured her that you all would wait patiently and empathetically, especially for such wonderful yarns.

News Cycles

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As every American knows, there have been two major news cycles crawling all over our TVs and radios for the past weeks. One is the election and the other is Sandy. Well, the election is over and, while Sandy herself is over, too, the devastation she left is still big news. So let’s help!
Knitters and crocheters as a group are extremely giving and community-minded folks and offering help in this type of emergency is right up our alley. I am sure there are a ton of charity drives across the country that are collecting goods for the battered East Coast but here is the one I know about: The kind people at KFI, while still repairing their own Long Island offices, are collecting clothes and blankets from across the country to help keep NY warm. They are making it extremely easy on us — just take your donation of hand-made or in good condition used items to your local yarn store that carries KFI yarns (which includes Debbie Bliss, Elsebeth Lavold, Noro, Ella Rae, Araucania, Sirdar, etc.) and KFI will pay for them to be shipped and distributed. If you don’t know which stores in your area are KFI stores, check out their store finder: http://www.knittingfever.com/stores .
From the safety of my currently very balmy Oregon valley, it is hard to get a feeling of the devastation and danger being endured on the East Coast right now. The next storm, Athena, is coming and she is bringing snow, extreme winds and threats of more flooding with her. Sandy claimed at least 80 lives — let’s do our part to make sure Athena gets none.