Off the Needles: Floral Stripe Baby Cardigan

Another baby sweater. This time a top-down long-sleeve cardigan. The yarn is Bernat Baby Jacquards Florals in colorway "Petunia." The yarn is dyed so that little flowers appear among the white stripes. Gives a sort of fair isle effect without all the stranding work. The pattern is "Raglan Cardigan" from 60 Quick Baby Knits, a book featuring Cascade Yarns. To complete the motif I chained some button loops and added 3 flower-shaped buttons.

Off the Needles: Baby Cardigan in Shades of Blue

I had a stash of small amounts of yarn too short to use alone so I tried to find colors that would match up well. I started at the neck with the aqua until I ran out of it. The next part is a variegated yarn that has some of the same aqua in it. When I ran out of that yarn, I used a solid blue that is the same shade as the darker blue in the variegated. The result was a surprisingly put-together use of leftover stash. I've made this pattern before; it's from the Leisure Arts leaflet "Knit Lace & Leaves for Baby." I gave the sweater to my niece to give to her sister who recently had a baby.

Off the hook: Cotton Baby Blanket

This is a crocheted baby blanket I started last year and finished in January of this year. The yarn is a green cotton from an AC Moore bargain bin...it's similar to Sugar & Cream cotton yarn. The pattern is one I've used before because it works up fast and looks more complicated than it really is. I've had other fiber crafters say that they wouldn't sew all those squares together, and I tell them that it's all done in one piece even if it doesn't look like it. The pattern is "Simplicity" from the book Comfort Knitting & Crochet Afghans.

Off the Shuttle: Paper Hearts with Tatted Edging

I'm getting obsessed with tatting on paper. It started when I saw a posting in a tatting FB site where the tatter had cut a circle out of a Christmas card, punched holes around the edges, and then tatted an edging that was attached to the holes. I've done quite a few of these with my stash of years and years of saved cards, but I haven't posted photos of these yet.

My fellow tatter Alix saw and posted a photo in the Tri-Tatters FB site of some paper hearts with crocheted edgings using vintage tatting thread. I had to do these and it became a little quest to locate similar paper hearts. It turns out that the hearts were made using a Martha Stewart punch that has been discontinued and that is practically impossible to find (and if you do find one, expect to pay >$60 for it). However, there appear to be quite a few people who own this punch and sell ready-made hearts. I bought 2 dozen in three colors for a couple of dollars. Some sellers will even provide whatever colors you need for your project.

I already had lots of size 70 and 80 threads in pinks and reds, so the next step was to figure out a pattern that would look nice and lie flat. (I first had tried a simple crochet edging which started to curl up so I knew lying flat was an essential requirement.) After several tries, this is what works for me:

Ring of 8 ds, attach to hole, 8 ds, cls ring
RW
Chain of 4 ds, p, 4 ds
RW
Continue around the heart ending with a final ring
Knot the threads together to make a loop for hanging the heart

I leave the hole in the top center empty. The one time I didn't I found that the rings get a bit bunched up there...too much tatting in too little space. So now I just leave that hole empty. It could be used to attach another thread for hanging the heart. In that case, I'd hide the tails from the tatting. But all that seems to be more work than I care to do. I'm going to use these in Valentine's cards and so my plan is to make them as quickly as I can in time for mailing out before the 14th.

Year 2013 Projects

Here, in no particular order, are photos of the 30+ projects I finished in 2013. Some were started and ended within days; others had been left unfinished for a very long time, but finally got taken out of the UFO bin in 2013 and completed. Here's hoping I do an even better job of moving old projects to the finished list in 2014.

Off the Needles: Cowl for a Friend

This was a last-minute gift for a friend. I've lost the tag for the yarn, but I think it's an alpaca/wool blend (or maybe just alpaca) that I bought at one of the Carolina Fiber Fests. The yarn is a twist of grey and charcoal. It's very soft and cuddly and should keep my friend warm.

Here's a close-up of the cowl. I cast on 152 stitches and alternated 4 rows of k4 p4 with 4 rows of p4 k4 to achieve a checkerboard effect. Because the yarn is so soft and fuzzy the pattern doesn't stand out sharply, but think the effect is more pebbly and interesting.

Stephanie Pearl-McPhee's Talk in Chapel Hill

This weekend Stephanie Pearl-McPhee (the "Yarn Harlot") came to Chapel Hill to talk and teach. As a present to myself I signed up for it and had a front row seat at her Friday night talk. For most of the two hours I was laughing so hard I had tears in my eyes. If knitters had a comedy club, then Stephanie would be the headliner. She did get serious talking about how we knitters need to be doing a better job presenting ourselves and our work to the non-knitting world and not dismissing the importance of what we do. But most of the talk kept the audience in stitches (pun intended). Although she says public speaking makes her uncomfortable, she is a wonderful speaker and a great ambassador for the knitting community. I have been following her blog for some time, so I'm glad I had a chance to hear her in person. Thinking back at some of her stories, I'm still laughing.

Here's a photo Stephanie took of the audience. I'm on the front row, 3rd from the right: