Pine needle basket for Steve.

January 20, 2012

I spaced my stitches too close together on this one about half way through it.  Took longer than it should have to finish it as a result.  It is nice and firm for sure, but it seems a little busy to look at for my own liking.  But here it is...

Please note that my posts are somehow out of order.  You are seeing the finished product before the 'process' posts.  Instead of rearranging my entire blog I have just left it as is.  Please forgive any confusion.

Purple and blue, brown and yellow!

January 15, 2012

Just a shot of a couple of more pieces that were done over the course of my healing (in December).  The yellow and brown one was done on the pvc pipe loom, and I forgot to take pics while in the process.  Here is a shot of the loom with the bell pull piece on it, in case you haven't seen it.

It is rather labor intensive, in that I make a backstrap warp, mount it onto the loom bars and then wrap them around this frame and lash them together.  If you look closely you can see the wooden loom bars up near the top (I am almost done with this piece in this pic).  You can also see the threaded rods inserted into the pvc side bars for tensioning.  Works great! Rotating the warp when I can no longer find enough space to weave is a bit of a pain, but since this shot I have worked on that problem also.

But as usual, I digress.

Here is the brown and yellow piece I did on the same loom.  The yellow is called Maize and it is #3 mercerized cotton crochet thread, and the brown is #10 in Russet.  I love these colors together.

I see a day of sewing in the near future!

This one was done on the backstrap and gave me fits.  I had a really hard time winding warp with a bum shoulder.  It will probably just be a table runner.  Too wide for an envelope pouch, but might work as just a tri fold ....we'll see when I break out the sewing machine.

Red, white and blue for 'Captain America' !

January 6, 2012

New backstrap piece.  This one is a plain weave, 4 ft. long piece with 90 ends.  It will be made into either a belt for my 7 yr. old friend 'Monster' or maybe a pouch he can hang from his belt!  I haven't quite decided yet!

I put it on the backstrap knowing it would be 'easy peasy' and not hurt my shoulder to work on it.  Wider piece are still difficult.  So far so good.  If you look closely at the lower left hand corner, you can see that Wiggles little foot, she still keeps a sharp eye on my weaving skills. 

Simple, but striking non the less.

Edit:  So I am going for a little pouch that hangs on his belt.  Here is a few pics of it pinned together.

Remember this is just roughing it and theorizing.

Here you can see at the top I have created a 'loop' to slide his  belt through.

I called his mother and got some belt measurements...I certainly hope it works.  Wish me luck.

Happy New Year!

January 1, 2012

Happy new year!  I hope this one is better than the last.

Here is a little update on my socks.  For some reason I don't seem to be able to concentrate on any one project of late.  These have been on the needles for a while, but I find that some projects bother my shoulder more than others and by spacing out several different mediums I have less pain.

Sock number one is done to just past the heel...I still have to do the second heel, but I thought you might like to see it anyway.  I am using the Lucy Neatby "Cool Socks Warm Feet" book.  This heel is the short row garter stitch with wraps.  I absolutely love this heel as it is very cusiony. (sp).  My heels bother me when I have to stand for long so this is a good thing.  Also with the purl bumps on the outside the stitches aren't as noticeable on the bottom of the foot.  I have at times even made the entire foot with the purl bumps on the outside of the foot.

I strictly use double pointed needle's, 5, 4 per sock and one working needle.  This means two sets of needles, and no second sock syndrome.  LOL

I am very pleased that I still remember how to knit socks!  These will be mine all mine, and they FIT!

Finally finished!  Today is January 3, 2012.  They have been done for a week or so, turned out a little too long for my foot and will be gifted to my friend Dana for house socks/slipper.s