Banjo-Helen - the blanket is done

and there is a new wip (work in progress) to report. Last weekend was the Annual Knitters study group camp, and as usual I didn't take a camera - but others did so you can catch up on a little detail here at Shoebox Sally's blog. I'm in the first photo, way down the end of the table - next to Pam, and Lorna our local knit guru is the one standing at the far left right next to Pam. All in all there were fifteen of us and we knit lace, narrow lace trimings. Some of us with more forethought than others, mine has been rethought.

 But first things first, the Banjo-Helen baby blanket is done, blocked out to 42" from side to side and relaxed to 39". I have come to expect that - some relaxation over the few days after the blocking is released, as the knitting finds its own shape and size. Here the blanket is in the last of today's daylight, at around 5pm ... it was either that or lug it to work and photograph it during the daylight hours. Given that we had snow on the hills forcast for today, which translated into sleet and rain on the lower parts of town and work - that seemed a tad extreme. Yo-yo as usual turned up to supervise. I'm rather pleased with this, its a large soft, squishy blanket with an interesting centre and a nice chunky lace edge. Details, handspun blanket knit on 5mm needles, edge on 4mm,  a modified version of KnitSpots Rosebuddie, knit without any roses between the corners, and omitting the lace band before the edging. I suspect I could knit this again and again -  the corner increases are rather lovely. I've knit this before, in pink handspun, and I suspect I'll knit this again before too long, just one of those patterns that is worth returning to.

 So Knit Camp, the project was lace edges, in linen or cotton, as used on fabric. There were several variations available to chose from, and this wee one with the leaves caught my fancy. We were presented with two options, to knit the lace, then to attach it to a circle of linen, or to finish the edge of the linen and then knit the lace onto the finished edge. Me being me, I decided to knit my lace onto the edge as I worked the lace. I was using 2mm needles, and liked it well enough, but now I'm home I think the lace is a tad open and I'd like to knit it on smaller needles, so I've switched to 1.75mm to see what effect that has. The last leaf is knit on the smaller needles - and I think I prefer that gauge. Its firmer,  less floppy and the pattern cleaner, sharper.

Here is a close up of the edge, first I thread marked my circle on the linen, then I marked a second line 4mm inside the circle - also with thread. I then worked blanket stitch over the two guide threads. Once I'd completely worked around the circle, I took my small sharp scissors and trimmed away the fabric outside the blanket stitch. I then used a teeny tiny crochet hook to single crochet around the blanket stitch. This crochet chain provides the loop that I pick up and knit(purl actually) together with the last stitch on the lace edging. My linen choice was limited to pink or green, what I had at hand, whilst the local shops had only white and shades of cream linen .... ideally I'd be working the edge in a yarn that was the same tone or shade as the fabric.

and no, I am not usually a lace doily kind of person, but I have got a linen lace basket liner that I use for serving baking. Knit from the same green yarn - these two projects together will make a nice set of cloths for the table. Imagine this under a plate of warm scones, or muffins.

Yum ... and I'd best go, its now nearly 7pm and I'm sure I could be useful in the kitchen as dinner is readied.

na Stella

There is almost always a bit that needs a little tidy up

I've realized that, over time, that there is invariably something that needs a little polish, a little tidy, a little tweak or something before it can be called finished and done. I've come to expect that with my projects, as I near the end I start looking more carefully at the whole, at how might appear to someone who hasn't been part of its making since the beginning. This post is all about those kinds of end of project expectations, how I now see something that I can improve, that I think I can make the change easily, and and the usual expectations around finishing and blocking.

Banjo-Helens baby blanket is no exception, there very first corner of the lace needs replacing. At the time I started the edge I decided to start just before the corner, and somehow that would be better when I finished. Now I realize that the corners work better if I have short rowed them so there are double the rows and the edge can stretch around the corner easily. Bother, but fixable. I will cut the yarn just after the corner, and frog across, then I should be able to unravel back to the start of the lace edge. Should is the term, I'll report back next post and let you know if what should have been possible was.

And this is the blanket in its near final finished form. I'm expecting it to grow by about one third when it is blocked, making this a cot sized blanket. A cot sized but that also be used as a play rug, or a car snuggle or folded into a thick pad to provide a warm barrier against the chilly winter winds in Central Otago. Most of the time those winds come straight off the snow of the mountains, or the glacial lakes - either way its  a cold wind most winter days. I'm also expecting this to be done tonight .... all going well and no dramas.

I'll  see.
Take care.
na Stella

Some of this, and some of that ....

and I'm really feeling the need for more hours in my days and weeks just to play with all the things that I want to play with. I spent some time knitting and some time dying this week, and even started on a new and tempting hobby activity. 

The knitting is fairly monogamous right now, just the Banjo blanket, and pretty much going round and round and wondering when is a good time to stop and add an edge. Of course that involves making a decision about the edge, either the one from the pattern, or a side-knit band that matches the corner increases. And then there is a decision to make about proportions, I'm thinking twice as much burnt orange and brown is a good proportion for the edge colour.

Thursday little cub had friends around, and I wanted to leave them to their own play as much as possible. I like the idea that they are old enough not to need an adult to direct their play. Doing that mean I wanted to sort something for me to do, nothing so interesting that they would all want to join in, so stamping was out. I just knew any use of stamps with owls and flowers and frogs and colorful inks would result in requests to join in. So I opted for dying, I worked away for most of the day, worked is very much an overstatement as my dying involves leaving the pot for 20-30 minutes between different dyes being added, and not stirring or mucking the fibre about to much. Pretty much walking a short distance away and doing something else like knit. A whole day  and this is the result, four 100g merino top plaits, and two 150g perendale top plaits.

I had been inspired by the fibre dyed by Fibre Optics, the gradient dyed top is stunning, and I love the idea of a yarn that shifts from one colour to another. Her shop was bare, at the time I was there so I played. There was much play and a lot of learning and I found that whatever she is doing -- it was not what I was doing, as I had to return fibre to the pot and add more dye. Almost every batch had undyed patches when first removed from the pot. I suspect that her dye vat is larger than my dye pot, and that there is room for the fibre to be spread out a little more. Perhaps I should try 50g batches? And one day I might perfect more subtle colours ... something with less punch?

Some weeks ago I picked up a Paper recycling kit, and this week the cubas and I made paper. We used printer waste and two sheets of the deep purple tissue that VP yarn comes wrapped in. I was pleasantly surprised, we were successful. One side is smooth and the other has the mesh pattern from the screen, and the pale purple is rather pretty. The tissue didn't dissolve as I thought it would, instead resulting in deep purple feathers,  but did leak a huge amount of dye. All up this took us slighlty less than an afternoon, involved two cubs and I, and  was heaps of fun. So much so I'm looking forward to doing more of this. I've already had to stop myself pricing deckles, and I really had to stop myself pushing the buy now when I found a set that had not only A4 and A5 sized paper but an envelope shaped deckle as well to make matching envelopes with. I don't have enough room for the stuff I have now .. so really shouldn't be adding more on a one afternoon whim. Besides we already have a perfectly good  kit and it works just fine.

Which brings me back to where I began, wanting more hours in my days and more days in my weeks just to play with all this fun stuff.  If any one has answers please share.
Take care ...

na Stella