I am a steek-virgin no more. I was surprised that cutting my knitting didn’t make me nervous, but the sewing did! Since my sweater is slippery superwash wool, I followed the directions I found at Getting Stitched on the Farm and sewed the front of the sweater securely before steeking. I also cut up one of my original swatches, which helped my nerves immensely – it was good practice. If you’re looking for more steek tutorials, there is another nice one on Excercise Before Knitting, and then the thorough Steeking Chronicles at See Eunny Knit.

Here’s the neckline of the sweater. If you want to see the stitching close up, just click on that little thumbnail picture.

Since steeking, I’ve knit the first arm of the sweater. Even shortening it to the smallest size available made it a bit too long, so I’m going to rip out the cap shaping and about an inch of the sleeve and then reknit the shaping. I’m hoping that will bring it into ‘close enough’ territory. I tried the thing on as I was knitting it, but I forgot to take into account that the arm of the sweater isn’t attaching to my side, but rather to the sweater, which is a bit closer to my elbow than my actual side. Ah, well, live and learn.

I figure after reknitting it will come out an inch too short somehow, but I can block that out.

This is a different sort of post for me. Usually, I don’t post about things until they’re over and done. But, I’ve been procrastinating about this project long enough – I’m going to give myself a little motivation by outing my lazy self to you all. My pretty green rogue has been in sweater purgatory for… well, a long while. I’m kind of afraid to see how long it’s been. It’s been waiting for… a steek.

Today, I had a nice long block of time available while I waited for the boys. So, I sat at the edges of a mass of middle-school-aged kids and Lego robots, and started hemming the sweater. Here’s a before picture for you – I hope to have an after in a day or two.

I’m planning to machine sew the edges before I cut – this is slippery superwash wool, knit loosely. The yellow cotton you see in the picture is going to be my ‘this is the middle stitch’ guide for when I’m machine sewing (and cutting, for that matter!)

If any of you have advice or encouragement, please sing out in the comments. I need all the help I can get! Better yet, do any of you have projects sitting in steek purgatory? If so, consider digging them out and steek along with me.

B now has a new pair of pajamas, sewn in 20 minute stretches over the past several weeks. Or months, but who’s keeping track? I love this pattern; I think it’s because they remind me of baseball uniforms. Seriously cute, without me having to mess with setting in a collar. The pattern is New Look 6131, and I picked up the fabric some time ago at my local Jo-Ann Fabrics store.

This boy grow up much faster than he does out, so I’ve gotten crafty with the bottoms. I added three inches when I cut them out, and made cuffs at the bottom of his pant legs. So, the first time he grows out of them, I’ll simply let the cuff down (they’re simply tacked up at the seams.). That will leave a deep hem, which I can let down for the second growth spurt. I think I’ll be rather lucky if the pants make it that long without getting worn out in the knees. But, he loves them, so I want to make them last as long as we can. Now his brother is asking for a cuffed pair of PJ bottoms, as well.

I have been knitting and spinning a little, and working on a quilt for charity. I’ll have some picture to show you all soon!

Well, it was a few weeks ago, but I’m still enthused about the Carolina Fiber Fest at the state fairgrounds in Raleigh. I’m already looking forward to next year. I took the kids over on Friday, and we had a great time. I armed each of them with a camera, and they took some really neat photos.

I just finished going through J’s photos, and realized that he’s quite taken with spinning wheels. It’s too bad he wasn’t there on Sunday when I went back to demo with the Twisted Threads guild – I saw even more wheels then. I took my camera, too, but I was too shy to take it out of the bag. The boys had no fear; in fact, I had to tell them to stop taking pictures a few times! The minstrel wheel showed up over and over in J’s photos. I don’t know whether he was taken with it, or whether it was simply the most popular wheel there. This wheel, however, is one of my favorites of the day. We came upon it out in the heritage village part of the fairgrounds. The blacksmith wasn’t in yet, but we found a really neat woodworker, and this was in his shop.

We attended a cotton demo on Friday given by one of the owners of Dew Dance Farm in Sanford, NC. After seeing how cotton was processed, we wandered off, and then came back when the crowd had died down. Both boys got to card cotton and make a puni. In typical fashion, they were terribly enthusiastic about it all. I think they’re ready to grow cotton. What interested me is that she grows white, brown, and green cotton! She said that as you wash colored cotton, the color deepens instead of fading.

There were many wonderful vendors, and I had to keep reminding myself that I was only after one thing: a sweaters-worth of BFL combed top. I found what I was looking for at the Misty Mountain Farm booth. I bought a pound and a quarter on Friday, then got nervous and bought another half pound on Sunday. I’ve never spun a whole sweater’s worth of yarn before. I figure it’s better to have extra than to run out! Isn’t it pretty? It’s so, so soft.

Yes, I am still knitting, but it is all socks, and nothing much to show for it. So, I’ll show you a bit of embroidery instead. My kids are knee-walkers and sliders, so I am happy if I can keep one pair of jeans unpatched. I was feeling all spring-like and embroidered a lucky little clover for this one. Unfortunately, after a time through the washer and dryer, the blanket stitch around the outside was trying to shrink like crazy. Maybe I should use doubled sewing thread for around the outside instead of embroidery floss?

Up next is this little guy. When I was on my forced knitting break due to my damaged nerve, I found that I could still hold a sewing needle. I found a clip art owl to trace and embroider. My original intention was to make a small trinket bag out of him, but I’m really not sure what he’s going to be now.

I had quite a hard time trying to find any marking pencil that would show up well on jeans. I finally asked a friend who does this sort of thing what she used, and she recommended washable markers (yes, the kind kids use.) It worked swimmingly, until I tried to wash the owl. In most of the areas, everything went well, but the marker really soaked into the floss in the eye area. All that satin stitching just sucked the ink right up.

I spent a lot of time with paper towels, trying to get all of the ink out. You can still see some in the eyes if you look. If anyone has suggestions for marking on jeans, or for what to do with this little owl, give me a shout. He stands between 5 and 6 inches tall.

In fibery news, a new local yarn shop opened up. I need another project like I need a new hole in the head, but I had to go over and see the new place! It’s a lovely shop (Downtown Knits in Apex, NC) and I walked out with this pretty gradient sock yarn from the Unique Sheep.

If you are going to be near Raleigh next weekend, stop by our 2nd annual Carolina Fiberfest! I’ll be around on Friday and Sunday afternoon, if you want to say ‘hi’. A lot of fun demos and neat vendors are all lined up to go. I can’t wait!

Life is full. I am off juggling right now. I’ll be back soon.

Book covers are another quick gift idea for kids or adults. I just realized that I never shared my first two book covers with you; they were paperback covers for my boys. This particular cover is for a composition book. I hope it will make a nice place for the hopes, doodles, and lofty plans of its new owner, who wants to build and fly airplanes someday.

I used the same basic design as I did for the paperback cover. My brilliant mother-in-law used to sell them in craft shows way back in the 80’s, and she taught me this method. Each cover has a ribbon bookmark sewn in at the top for ease of use.

Since composition books aren’t variable in size, I didn’t have to worry about an adjustable back flap. I sewed pockets on both sides for the cover to slip into.

I decided to go for a magnetic closure for the ‘wow, spiffy’ factor. It really added to the cost of the cover (the closure was about $5.50 at my local fabric store.) My boys each want a cover, but I think I’ll try to find a regular magnet and piece of steel for the next ones. This particular closure has little pointy bits on it, and I’m afraid they will wear through the fabric eventually. If, like me, you are sewing on a metal-bedded sewing machine, please make sure your sense of humor is in place before sewing anything containing a magnet. It helps. Also, if anyone has advice on other ideas for a magnetic closure, or a good source of small, strong magnets, please let me know.

Here’s a quick shot of the inside of the cover. I didn’t bother with a lining fabric, as you don’t see the white of the interfacing when the composition book is in place. I was hoping to put a pen pocket along the spine, but I ran out of time. Birthday presents are like that, sometimes. Hopefully I’ll get it worked out for version 2.0.

Here are the last of the Olivers. Or, rather, I should say the last of the Olivers for a while. This is a nice, simple, attractive pattern, so I’m sure I’ll see it again. These are for J, who picked the glittery, loud yarn from my sister’s stash all by himself (hi, sis!). He adores them, but doesn’t really want to wear them because all that glitter also makes them a bit scratchy. Please note that he’s really sensitive – your mileage may vary.

I got quite a lot of practice in left leaning decreases over these three pair of socks, including a sort I’d never tried before – the ‘slip yank twist knit, or SYTK’ method from TECHknitting. I’ve decided that my personal favorite in stockinette stitch where you’re decreasing every two or three rows is a good old ssk with a twisted knit in the non-decrease row. It’s amazing how well that twisted knit stitch helps to even out the decrease line.

My folded and much marked-up Oliver pattern is currently missing, so I’ll just promise to post my new numbers for the socks when I come across it. You can find my size mods for the first pair of boy Olivers here (same size; yay twins.) I do recall that I made this pair a bit wider, and they could still stand a smidge more room in the width department. John’s man-sized Olivers are here.

Happy Weekend, everyone!

Details:

Started:	17 Dec 2009
Finished:	25 Jan 2010
Pattern:	Oliver by Marlowe Crawford. Link to pattern on Ravelry here. It was $7 US when I bought it.
Yarn:	Berocco Sox Metallic.
Needles:	US 1 / 2.25 mm
Notes:	Modifications to make it boy-sized: My kid’s foot is about 7” around and 8 1/8” long – child’s size US 3.5 / EU 35.5. 52 sts. 5” cuff. I’ll add the other details if/when I recover my notes. My Ravelry project page is here.

Painted t-shirts are one of my go-to gifts for kids. They are so easy to tailor for each kid’s taste and level of individual quirkiness. Plus, the time to cut the stencil and paint is short enough that I don’t gasp when the recipient grows out of it in two minutes flat.

For this shirt, I embraced my inner nine year old. What’s better than owning a bearded dragon? Watching it eat lunch! Nom nom nom. Run little cricket, R U N !

You can see some variation in the lizard color on this photo; some of the paint went on a bit thicker, and it really shows up in the photos. In real life you barely see the variation, especially when the shirt is on a nine year old boy who is whizzing past you on a skateboard.

The lizard was done with a freezer paper stencil. I opened out the top of the shirt, put a paper bag inside of it, and stenciled the lizard right around the neck hole – its tail goes right around the back of the shirt. I did have some trouble with fabric buckling around the neckline; next time I will either have separate stencils for the front and back, or just apply it half at a time.

I cut the little crickets out of template plastic (thinner is easier), and then used a repositionable spray adhesive to keep the paint from running under it. The beauty of using a plastic template is reuse – I washed it and flipped it over for the second cricket. Originally I was going to paint more crickets on the back, but I didn’t leave myself enough time.

My arm and hand seem to be getting better, so I should be back to knitting and spinning soon. In the meantime, I’ve been exercising my embroidery skills. Photos soon!

Here is my first real skein of yarn. It started out as combed corriedale fleece. I spun it worsted, and also from the fold to mix up the colors. I got a lot of practice in joining. Here are photos of the original fleece, the singles, and the resulting yarn; click on any of them to see the photo in greater detail.

It hasn’t been washed yet – it will likely puff up when it is. I think it’s overs-pun and over-plyed, but it is balanced, so YAY! It’s coming in at about 14 WPI before washing, so I’m going to guess it will be sport-weight.

On a cautionary note, if you are plying for a long time, do NOT prop your back arm over the back of a chair. I was plying in a folding chair and did just that. It has been about a week and a half, and the outside bit of my left hand and arm are still numb; as near as I can figure it, I’ve damaged my ulnar nerve. But, it doesn’t hurt much, and very likely just needs me to leave it alone so it can heal. It’s too bad that the things that irritate it include typing, writing, and knitting. Guitar playing is quite difficult with numb fingers, too. If I’m good, I’m about to have a very boring, restful few weeks.