Starting an Afghan

I'm on a knitting high this morning. I just finished the third of four afghans, and I am starting the fourth. I thought I would walk through this project as I do it. It will help keep me on track, and explore some of the thinking that gets me into a new piece.

In general, my afghans are 40 x 50 inches. I'm not fiendishly obsessed by the numbers, but that's about what is expected for a full size throw. As always with a custom project there are some guidelines from the client. This throw is for an Ohio State University fan, and therefore it will be red and gray. I made a striped OSU baby blanket for the same client, and she liked it, so I am using the same yarn. This keeps me in the realm of the familiar. I know how this yarn acts and approximately how much it will take. The yarn in question is Knitpicks Shine Worsted. It is 60% pima cotton, 40% modal (beechwood fiber), has a lovely sheen, good stitch definition, and is soft as a cloud. With the amount I need for an afghan, the price is right, too. I don't have to charge an arm and a leg to cover an expensive yarn choice.

There are always other factors that influence my knitting. In this case, I ordered the red yarn first because I was also using it for another project. Meanwhile, the gray sold out, and I have to wait a few weeks to order it. This makes knitting the afghan in strips not only a nice design feature, but an essential time-saving factor. I can knit all the red strips now, and add the grey once the remainder of the yarn is available.

Last week I ordered a stitch dictionary - 400 knitting stitches from Potter Craft. I have paged through it, admiring various stitches, not really studying any particular one but letting them soak in and broaden my scope from the patterns that I've used frequently in the past. The last afghan I made had a diamond/triangle pattern (see the photo of the gold and black throw) that evolved without much thought. This time, I decided to swatch. I wanted a ribbed look but something more complicated than just a flat rib like knit 5-purl 1-knit 5. Lately I've been in love with cables, but a complex cable is beyond the scope and price of this piece. (Yes, I charge for extra complexity.) I decided to rib as follows: *K2, P2, 1x1 RC (right cable), P2 and repeat from *. You can see the red strip that I've worked so far, and a close-up shot. By the way, the gauge with a size 9 needle is 16 stitches to 4 inches and 24 rows to 4 inches.

A small digression: I measured gauge using Knitpicks combined needle sizer and gauge measuring device. It has a clear strip over the ruler that magnifies your swatch, making it very easy to count stitches and rows. This is one of the handiest knitting tools I've purchased, and it was only $2.99.

It just so happens that the strip I showed you was knitted from one ball of Shine Worsted. Measuring it I get about 18.5 inches x 5.5 inches. I can use this information to check whether my supply of red yarn will be adequate. In the case of this particular piece, I can also finish out my red yarn and order enough gray to make up the difference. Knitting one color at a time is helpful that way - your strip width can always change to accommodate the yarn supply. Some might ask why my initial strip is so wide - after all, 18 inches is a big chunk of 40. I'm avoiding the "scarf phenomenon", my term for the time wasted when you are constantly turning a piece of knitting to start a new row. It's just not practical to knit a bunch of narrow strips. You want a piece wide enough to keep your rhythm going and spend more time knitting than turning.

Questions are welcome. I'll continue until this piece is finished.

Peace.

Basic Knitted Hand Towels

January started with barely a pause for contemplation. My 2010 agenda is preset, and I'm on it. If last year was the year to move households, this is the year to make the business soar. I began with a handful of custom projects already ordered, and that list has grown a bit in the past week. It thrills me to have people show up for repeat business, and trust me with their special requests. A lot of faith is involved when you put your money and order in someone's hands and ask them to create something that is a one-of-a-kind.
One thing that bothers me is the list of obligations left from last year. I promised a few people patterns, and it's time to come through. These are not hard-and-fast patterns, but templates to work from to create some simple household items. I also received a request for a hat pattern, but I can't publish that one without charging for it, as it is unique and I am currently selling from it. So, here we go.

Hand Towels

I like hand towels to be approximately 16 x 20 inches, but many prefer a smaller, approximately 12 x 16 inch size. That's a convenient size for most guest use. It's large enough to dry hands effectively, but small enough for that little bar next to the sink, or to roll and place in a fancy towel basket on the counter. Some particulars that I like when making hand towels: a good washable material, like a cotton/linen blend; a design that makes a flat piece with no rolling edges; and an absence of fancy appliques that rub off or wear when one uses the towel. With those requirements in mind, I started a demonstration towel which should make approximately 12 x 16 inch towel.

Seed Stitch Border Hand Towel

Materials: pair of size 5 needles; 1 skein of Knitpicks Cotlin (70% Tanquis cotton/30% linen; 123 yd/50 g)

Cast on 60 stitches.

Row 1-3: Seed stitch. K1, P1 for first row. Rows 2 and 3, purl the knits and knit the purls. This makes a non-rolling border.

Row 4: P1, K1, P1, knit across to the last three stitches, K1, P1, K1.

Row 5: K1, P1, K1, purl across to the last three stitches, P1, K1, P1.

Continue this pattern, maintaining seed stitch border for three inches on either side, and doing stockinette stitch in between. When you reach the desired length (or within 1/2 inch of it), change to seed stitch for three rows, then bind off in pattern.

This creates a very simple stockinette stitch towel with a seed stitch border. I like it for towels that I wish to decorate, as I can duplicate stitch a design or picture or words over the stockinette body of the towel. If you decide to use duplicate stitch for a pattern, keep in mind the way the towel will fold in half to hang over a towel bar, and place your decoration centered in the lower half of the towel.

To use texture itself as decoration for your towel, try a simple box pattern.

Box Pattern Hand Towel

Materials are the same. Cast on 60 stitches.

Row 1: K6, P6 to end of row.
Row 2 and all even numbered rows: Knit the knit stitches and purl the purl stitches.

Row 3-8: Repeat rows 1 and 2.

Row 9: P6, K6 to end of row.

Row 10 and all even numbered rows: Purl the purl stitches and knit the knit stitches.

Row 11-16: Repeat rows 9 and 10.

Continue in this sequence until towel is desired length, bind off in pattern. Sometimes I will vary this by making boxes of different sizes. The boxes above are 6 stitches x 8 rows. I might do a section with smaller boxes - 3 stitches x 4 rows, or larger boxes - 12 stitches x 16 rows, or even a mixture of different size boxes together. This makes an interesting pattern for the eye to follow.

It may seem obvious, but the simplest of hand towels can be beautiful, too.

Garter Stitch Hand Towel

Materials are the same.

Cast on 60 stitches.

Knit every row. When you reach desired length, bind off.

You get the idea. When I finish the green hand towel with the seed stitch border, I will publish a photo.

I've had questions about making wash cloths, so I will publish that next.

Since I last blogged, I've created a custom afghan. It was made from three kinds of cotton (double strand of Jo Sharp, single strand of Knitpicks cotton/viscose and bulky cotton), crocheted in a ring pattern. The smile in the photo is a "whoopee I'm finished" smile. I'm naked behind the afghan. Just kidding.

Peace.

The Flare That Won't Materialize if I Refuse to See It

I started my last post "Today was marvelous." I wrote one paragraph, then accidentally made it disappear. That's probably a fated ending. As I wrote, I realized that I was describing a day that was good, a day in which I accomplished a lot, but not a marvelous day. I worked hard with my daughter this afternoon. We brought all my Market supplies and products in from her car. Then we unloaded piles of things from the Pod. It felt good to know that we only need one more session to empty that giant box completely. I'd like to have it out of my driveway by Christmas.

While I performed all the physical work, I didn't feel the endurance and strength that I built up through the fall. Every lift and carry was hard. I was out of breath quickly. I didn't worry, because I know from my recent stress test that my heart is fine. I just felt a little discouraged, as though I've been working so hard and still don't see much in the way of sustained results. Later I stared in the mirror as I brushed my teeth, and noticed that my lupus rash is bright pink. I've been feeling the warmth in my cheeks for a couple of days, resting my hand there without the meaning of it really registering. When it sunk in this evening that I may be starting to flare, a familiar feeling of dread washed over me.

I understand why denial is such a powerful coping tool. It allows you to function without constantly fearing the inevitable--no, let's say the probable. I've pushed the mounting symptoms aside as far as I could, even the mild symptoms of colitis that showed themselves this week. Denial kept me from anticipating a flare or dreading a flare, or even acknowledging that my symptoms indicated a flare. Now that it is beyond obvious, I will call the oncology office and see when I'm scheduled to be treated. Maybe we can head this off without much fuss.

Still and all, this day and the one before it have had some of the properties of marvelous. I've been with my daughter and my newest adopted child. We went to an artists' sale yesterday, made small purchases, talked to people, ate fabulous snacks. I cooked. I knitted, coming close to the end of a very large toddler blanket that I'm making for a custom order. It is Knitpicks Crayon, very fluffy and soft with two strands drawn together. (See the pink and black above.) I began a pink and purple afghan from Southwest Trading Company's Bold, that expensive cotton cable yarn which I stashed when I found a sale.

Not only do I have yarn organized on shelves, I have art work on my walls. This place is feeling more and more like home. We've worked a simple system. We bring in a large load of stuff, put it away or organize it for donation, then we bring in another load. Gradually it is shaping up. One difference in this house is that my daughter is amenable to putting more of her own work out for us to enjoy and others to see. With fewer square feet of display space, they will take the place of family photos and art that I was not wholeheartedly supporting. Our collection will get better.

I failed to mention that I have stopped using my exercise bike for a clothes rack and book shelf and have been riding it. Ten minutes today. I was reading Dakota by Martha Grimes as I rode. It's a testament to her amazing writing that I didn't realize the time had passed. I've read all her Richard Jury mysteries and several of her other novels. Thankfully, I can look forward to a few more.

My Christmas shopping is finished. If you see me in a store, slap me silly.

Peace.

Dream Knitting

I am dreaming about knitting. I see myself designing flowing capes and stylish hats. My hands are busy with beautiful yarns, and I stroke them and sort through them, letting each inspire me with a new creation. This is my dream, but it is also my daily life. Taking the yarn from bags and arranging it on shelves and in bins has been a spiritual experience. The beautiful colours and assorted textures take away my breath and make me sigh with contentment.

There are wonderful products on my plate, some for my store, some as custom orders. Handling all those balls of beautiful, randomly striping Noro made me fall in love with it again. I am halfway finished with a Silk Garden loose cowl which has a feather-and-fan lace bottom and ribbed neck. I'm crocheting some heavy wools, mostly Brown Sheep Burly Spun but also some Artyarns hand-dyed, into a rug. That will be a fun felting project, probably in someone else's washing machine. A friend wants a ruffle scarf appropriate for Miami weather (my choice is a silky bamboo). I just finished a custom scarf knit from cream Burly Spun with two strands of Mini-Mochi in a gorgeous red/purple/rust colorway. I've ordered yarn for a custom pink and black striped baby blanket that will have the little girl's name duplicate-knit in the center. I'm using two strands of Knitpicks Crayon to make it fluffy and soft. My second order of Therapi has arrived, so I'm finishing a salmon-pink cap with cables all around. I made myself get out of a right-cable rut and learned to make left-cables without using a cable needle.

Lately I've come to think of my Chattanooga Market booth as a real store, not just a place where I tote my wares and set up a make-shift sales venue. I requested the same location for the remainder of the season, wanting to be associated with a specific place in the minds of our regular shoppers. I cried when I was too sick to attend Market this week. I had repacked my car the day before, making everything more efficient, assuring that I had the maximum number of products that are appropriate for the season. I woke on Sunday with coughing and wheezing. Still I bathed and dressed in warm "work" clothes and went out in the rain to sit in my car. I was so uncomfortable that I knew I couldn't go, but I sat behind the wheel for a while, savoring the feeling of being ready for market day. I have three more days-November 29, and the December 4-5 special holiday weekend.

Today is the day that I finish getting yarn on shelves. I'm off to Office Depot for a few more small, clear bins.

Peace.

Ruffled Scarf and Other Market News

I am writing at 3:30 a.m. because I fell asleep before 9 p.m. My brain thinks it is morning, so I'm taking advantage of relative alertness to make this update.
Sundays frequently end early, as I'm up by 6 to start the hectic market day. I begin by loading equipment and products into the car, if I haven't completed that task the night before. Then I have a quick breakfast and get cleaned up and dressed to present a nice vendor image. After I drive downtown, I check in, get a cup of coffee, and unload my equipment. It takes about two and one-half hours to put my booth together and get all my products displayed.
Yesterday was a milestone, my first run of three consecutive market weeks. Now that I know I can do it, I have prepared for the rest of the season and the coming spring by upgrading my equipment a bit. No, I didn't hit SmartFurniture.com for a fancy display setup (think $3000). I spent a few bucks at Bed, Bath and Beyond on snap-together cubes made of metal grids, a reduced flat bedsheet and two rolling hanging clothes racks. For less than $130, I now have a nice cube system that sits on top of my table and holds items like hats and wash cloths, plenty of hanging space for scarves, baby sweaters, baby blankets and adult clothing. I was thrilled to have a more professional looking, organized store yesterday.
With a proper display system, I attract more lookers and shoppers. People were stopping in awe just to say "Did you make all of these yourself?" and I could proudly say that I designed and knitted or crocheted everything in the shop. It was much easier to show what I had and help buyers select things for themselves and for gifts. I even had a proper packaging station set up, and room to write down my credit card purchases and special orders.
One of the most fun events of yesterday's market was recruiting neighboring vendors to help me sing "Happy Birthday" to my mom. It was her 90th. I knew I would be exhausted and that call would have to do for the day. We sung with enthusiasm. No one would have special-ordered that performance. I asked my mom how it felt to be 90, and she said "I feel old." She's entitled.

Special orders have increased lately. Last week I had three from the market, and I completed the pair of extra skinny fingerless mitts, the green ruffled scarf you see below, and an entrelac organic cotton wash cloth this week. The holiday hand towels you see were knitted for another special order, and I finished Valentine's Day and blocked them both for mailing tomorrow. The little Christmas trees and heart are duplicate knit. Simple patterns like that can be free-handed, but if I have any requests I will publish the diagrams.

Speaking of patterns, here's the ruffled scarf:

The scarf is worked back and forth on circular needles. The final length is about 74 inches. Gauge is unimportant.
Materials: approximately 220 yards of worsted weight yarn (I used Superwash Worsted from elann.com, but their Wool/Bamboo would have worked nicely, too.), a long circular size 6 needle, a long circular size 7 needle, and a yarn needle for weaving ends

With smaller needle, cast on 180 stitches loosely. You don't want a tight, uncomfortable edge around the neck.
Row 1: Knit.
Row 2: Knit into front and back of each stitch. (360 stitches)
Row 3: Changing to larger needle, knit.
Row 4: Knit into front and back of each stitch. (720 stitches)
Rows 5-7: Knit. You can make the ruffle wider by adding more rows here.
Final row: Cast off loosely.
Weave in ends.


A note about the hand towels. They are knitted from knitpicks.com Cotlin, 50% linen, 50% cotton. It handles beautifully, softening as you knit. Most of my series are knit on size 5 straight needles with a fairly simple block pattern. The Valentine's towel is the exception, as the lacy pattern suited the theme. Keeping in mind where the center fold would be, I knit a section of stockinette into each towel to serve as a background for duplicate knitting motifs. You want this in the lower half of the towel so that it shows when you fold it over a towel bar. I have two more to complete this custom holiday series (I began with Halloween and Thanksgiving, and St. Patrick's Day and 4th of July will complete it.) I'll publish stitch counts and basic construction as I work on the final two.

My early morning awake time is fading fast. I think I can manage two more hours of sleep.
Peace.

Counting Down to Closing

One week 'til closing, and the sale of my house is all consuming. I held my breath for inspection and came away with a short list of repairs and investigations to be performed in this brief final period. I had to miss knitting group to meet a handyman-a definite indication of the urgency of these activities.

The chaos of moving holds some treachery for me. After a few near-misses, I tripped over a box and fell, doing a slow, continually sliding, grabbing, descent against the side of my recliner, and ending with a number of bumps and bruises and what feels like a broken toe. This morning I am feeling the full effect, limping and learning which limb to favor for which activity. Adults are not made for falling. We think too much on the way down, rather than letting the natural instincts take over. Moreover, I was grabbing at a recliner that was slowly changing position as I went down. My chances would have been better with the floor.

Ah well, if this is the worst result of my real estate adventures, I think I've come off well. I finished the night reading aloud to my daughter from a favorite Agatha Christie. She had a migraine and was bored to tears with lying still in the dark. Why Didn't They Ask Evans always has her imagining herself to be Frankie, the sassy, adventurous daughter of an earl. My daughter's expressions and gestures had me laughing, contributing to my hoarseness from reading 11 chapters.

I'm in hand towel heaven with my current custom project. I've become very comfortable with Cotlin, Knitpicks.com's cotton 50%/linen 50% DK blend. It softens very readily with handling, and knits quite nicely for me on size 5 needles. I've been knitting hand towels that are holiday designs. Christmas is ready for blocking, and I'll cast on Valentine's Day shortly and figure out how many hearts to throw across it.

I took on an experimental crochet project last weekend without the desired result. Dayna hoped for an interestingly patterned scarf from Spud & Chloe's Aztec Scarf pattern. She wanted a soft, flowing, indoor version, and we attempted it with Cotlin, but it didn't fill in the pattern enough. I may try again with another yarn, but she's already on to the next project. She had admired the bands of V-stitch on my crocheted baby blankets, and now that is the basis for a long crocheted scarf. V-stitch goes quickly and loooks lacy and beautiful. An easy teach is found here: http://www.woolcrafting.com/v-stitch-crochet-pattern.html. I showed my "client" both the half-double and double V-stitch, and she preferred double, so my work is more open than the example photo shown at the link.

I've relisted all my hats and scarves, as the season is here. No sales at the store yet, and I've not been able to free up time and energy for the market. Maybe next week. I've no doubt that the heavy work of moving will make me much more fit for market days. Swinging those metal grids in and out of the car, setting up tables, hauling bags of product-none of those seems difficult now that I've dismantled and sorted the old house.

I finished all my cardiac testing last week. A summer of cooking less (no food odors in the house you're showing, please) and eating out more left me with an elevated cholesterol and LDL. I'm on medication now, but hopefully regaining my better habits will render that unnecessary. None of the other test results have been discussed yet.

Okay, first neighbor complaint. The folks directly behind me have a boat. Hubby insists on weatherizing it himself. He treated us to a good spell of deafening noise yesterday and I went out and hollered over the fence to see if anyone was dying. We had a congenial meeting and he explained his mission, and that he will save $200 by doing it himself. Hah! It is 8:45 a.m. and he has just started again, revving his boat motor and drowning out my thoughts. Hmmph. That ends my blogging for today.

Peace.

Singing the House Sold Song

I am singing a song. It goes something like this:

I sold my house.

I sold my house.

Dee dee dee dee you heard me baby

I sold my house.

Oh yes, I sold it,

I sold the house.

Dee dee dee dee I know they'll love it

I sold the house.

I promise you I was not waiting for an acceptable offer to post here. I've just been totally, daily, happily involved in moving. The movers made their official trip from old house to new exactly two weeks ago. My daughter and I made an immediate scramble, putting away enough items to get the boxes and bags out of walkways and keep us functioning with daily necessities. Since then, I have struggled to continue cleaning out the old house. If you remember, new house is less than half the size of old house, so we couldn't have the movers pick up all the old contents and dump them over here. Instead I am sorting, selling, donating, discarding at warp speed, managing the leftovers and spillovers and other overages.

During that process I decided to hire painters and make the entire inside of the old house an indisputably neutral color, something that would make the most white-bread buyer comfortable. I chose something that would erase that black/Hispanic zest for color that injects such life into our dwellings-vanilla brandy, the paint company calls it. The smooth, creamy cafe au lait color is nice, but the only way I could live with it would be to plaster the walls with my colorful art collection.

Speaking of art, I have not hung one painting in the new place. It also has contractor walls - a creamy beige with a hint of green undertones. Lovely and calm, and desperately in need of my art. Unfortunately, there are things that take priority, like getting curtains hung so that I am not parading in front of my neighbors in ugly pajamas. It will feel like a party when I finally select the spot for each piece and start hammering nails and slinging those frames up where they can be seen.

You might think that I've been too busy to knit, but something has to happen when I hit the wall and can't pack or unpack boxes any more. Most days I spend a few hours on moving, an hour or two on administration (schedule appointments, pay bills, change utilities, maintain my store) and several hours on knitting and crochet. I've finished two baby blankets for a special order. The red and gray stripe (sorry for the washed out colors in the photo) is for Ohio State U for a baby boy who isn't at all brainwashed, and the pink is a crochet piece for a baby girl, equally brain-washed but in a different mode altogether. The other pieces are for the store: First a blue and cream crochet cotton baby blanket, then a striped hat in Noro Silk Garden. Finally, a multicolored, hand-dyed cashmere/wool scarf and mitts, crocheted in a ring pattern. There are more items that haven't been photographed yet, including a pale pink cashmere bumblebee hat that I must get my model to show off. Nothing else would do it justice.

I have a whole set of hand towels to make for a special order. They are six holidays (Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, and 4th of July) and one college emblem. I'm having a ball duplicate knitting symbols on them - you should see my turkey! Don't worry, photos coming. I'm making most of these in Knitpicks.com's Cotlin - a 50/50 mix of linen and cotton that is lovely to knit with. It comes in lots of colors and handles well, and I really like how my towels look. I haven't learned how to put my photos where I want them on Blogger, so scoot back up to the top and look at the unblocked Halloween towel. If you must ask which it is, we need to have a serious talk.

I think it might be evident that I'm enjoying myself. Just in case you can't tell, let me say it. I am enjoying myself. It's a good space here, sharing digs with my daughter, working on the new house, reveling in the down-size project (hmm, maybe becoming a little self-righteous about it). It's one of those times when my life seems to fit just right with no awkward bulges.

Peace.