Textileophile

 I wanted to get into a few more details about how I knit stranded socks (and sleeves and other small circumference stranded items). I realize that last time I mentioned it in the post about socks, I didn't actually show a great picture to give you any idea of what I was talking about! XD Stranding just means that you're holding two or more colors and knitting with them in pattern to make designs and motifs. There are quite a few regional conventions and traditions for stranded knitting, Fair Isle and Norwegian being two of them.  The umbrella term "stranded" covers any and all of them.  Intarsia is another way of doing color work, but it does not involve stranding and is usually done flat. I generally like to knit socks and sleeves using the magic loop method. This means on either side of my work there are two cables that are looped around as I knit across the sock that connect the back to the front, making a circle of stitches that is much smaller than the circumfer...

I don't know if you know this, but we crafters make mistakes.  I know, shocking. We make ghastly ones that cause tears and frustration, and the call of frogs can be heard over the sobs of knitters (rip it rip it rip it). We make small ones we keep in the knitting, either to remind us of our own mortality, or with the knowledge that if someone looks at object from 3 meters away while riding a horse they'll never see it in a million years. If anyone points out we crossed a cable the wrong way, they're close enough to stab is all I'm saying. And sometimes, it's not us.  It's the pattern or it's the yarn. And sometimes it very much is us. At the time of thinking about writing this post, I had two recent errors in mind to talk about.  But I found a third, ghastly error to talk about, so you get three for the price of two. Last night I was merrily knitting on some self-striping socks for Hazel, my daughter, when I realized something was going wrong. And it wasn...

 Hi there!  Hope you had a fab thanksgiving!  I'm back to chat about shawls I knit this year! I used to be a knitter of great lace shawls, but recently I've been picking things with texture: brioche, cables, and mosaic details. There's nothing more cozy than a smooshy garter stitch based shawl, I tell you what.  And this shawl, the Spice Market Shawl, is one that is super fun because you can use any single skein of yarn with 6 colors contrasting yarn.  You can play with gradients, or put a pop of something in. I also knit the Oracle half-pi shawl, which has a fun brioche detail inter-playing with lace. Early on in lock down, I knit the Ishneich shawl, which has a really interesting cable set on a garter background.  The designer is known for reversible cable designs and some gorgeous celtic knot work.  I love cables that close in on themselves.     The last shawl I worked on this year is actually still a WIP.  The yarn is my own handspun...

 Back in January my mom died.  And it hit me way harder than I thought it would.  But I was sad. And so I ordered yarn. And with reckless abandon, I cast on to a new sweater.   The unfortunate side of knitting and crafting that no one tells you about is when you craft through your grief, it sticks to the project.   It was a good project for me though.  Lots of interesting stitching, a good easily modifiable pattern, and a beautiful wooly yarn that I'm in love with.     I finished it the day before Valentine's day, so I thought of it as my Valentine's sweater (as if there is such a thing).     But it'll always make me think of the happy times I had with my mother, and the difficult times later on, and the grief.     But that's OK. Grief is important. I promise next post won't be a huge bummer, guys. How about I talk about the shawls I've knit this year!? yes, yes.  Sounds good, see you then! Pattern: Poet by Sari Nordlund M...

Sometime around May, I noticed quite a few of my favorite podcasters were working on crochet blankets. They were made of scrap sock yarn and a solid white, and I felt a strange pull.  I don't know if you know, but  I am *not* a blanket person.  My only attempt at blanket was knitted (first mistake) and modular (which was not a mistake) but I lost steam and never looked at it again. So, I do not make blankets.  But something was happening to my mojo.  It was slipping away. I was feeling so tired, so depressed.  So lost.  And then I made a pair of squares.  And I daresay I found myself. And then I made a few more in the next few days.  But it was not for a blanket. I don't make blankets.   And then I ordered some white yarn. You need the same amount of white yarn as scrappy yarn, but I started out with three skeins. I didn't want to go overboard at first because I didn't know if I would lose steam. Ultimately, I used eight and a half. But ...

 I'm about to talk about some highly addictive crafting stuff.  brace yourselves.   Hexies.   Small, paper pieced hexies. Perfectly seamed, perfectly placed.    And what are they for? exactly?   Who knows?  They just multiply and multiply and multiply. Like tribbles.   I'm only kidding, really, I am securely in the product mode for hexies.  See, there's a dichotomy that exists in the crafting world: product or process? Are you one to make things to have the thing, or are you one to make things cause you just enjoy making the thing.  I fall, like most of us I imagine, right between.  It depends.  I honestly couldn't tell you day to day.  Sometimes I really motivated to finish something because I look forward to the item.  Other times, I know that there's miles to go before I sleep, so I enjoy each stitch. I decided when I first started paper piecing a few years ago that I wasn't going to let it get out of control...

 Hey there! I've spent quite a few posts talking about what I've finished in the last year or so, but I haven't made any posts about my WIPS (works-in-progress)!  Horror or horrors!  I've actually been burying myself in cross stitch for the past few weeks and thought I'd switch things up and move away from knitting-centric posts.  I bought this kit off of amazon back in February, a whole lot of embroidery thread from craft store and had at it. This was my first time using linen, which is a trip, but you kind of get used to it after awhile.  I'm used to Aida fabric, which has distinctive squares with only holes on each corner, here you stitch over twice the space, so there's a lot of extra holes.       It makes it difficult to venture far away from established stitches because you could be half a stitch off and it's a nightmare.   Ripping cross stitching out is some of the most difficult and heart breaking things to do.   I've persev...