I am back!

I have taken an incredibly long break from posting here over the last several years. My complete focus was on my teenagers as I followed them and guided them through their busy high school years. Now that I am about to be an empty nester, I thought it might be a good time to start my blog again.

My fiber passion has kicked into high gear again in the last several months with a lot of focus on crocheting blankets thanks to Lucy's wonderful designs over at Attic24. Finding her blog over five years ago re-ignited my passion for crocheting blankets (my first love as I was taught by my great-grandmother as a child). Here are a few of the blankets that I finished in recent years while away from the blog:

A Granny Stripe afghan for my daughter when she left for college over a year ago:

A Granny Patchwork Afghan modeled after one made by Lucy on Attic24:

This one sat for a year with a border that I was very unhappy about since I had forced myself to use yarn left over after completing the squares. The colors were not ideal, so I finally decided to order more yarn to create a border that I love! Here is a photo of the blanket with the old border:

As you can see, the older border emphasized the pink in the blanket too much when my original intent was to bring out the warmer tones and let the brighter squares pop here and there. The new border achieves this effect a lot better, is wider like Lucy's original version, and coordinates a lot better with my home's decor.

Lastly, I used left over yarn skeins from my original Granny Stripe, my daughter's Granny Stripe, and another baby blanket I had made awhile back to create this stash-busting Neat Ripple blanket:

I was so happy with the experience of making it and with the end product that I definitely see a lot more stash busting in my future (More on that in an upcoming post).

Currently, I am working on a Granny Stripe for my son who will be off to college in the Fall. He needs one just like his big sister! Here is the beginning of his afghan made in colors coordinated with his school colors and with colors approved for their marketing materials:

As you can see, I have a passion for making blankets. It is in the genes; my great grandmother, Mom Jo, was known for making an afghan for each one of her grandchildren and great grandchildren. She was from a very large Italian family! Here is a photo of the one she made for me that I use to this day:

I hope to match her blanket-making prowess. I am well on my way with the one I have recently made and several that I made in past years but never documented with photos, unfortunately. Happy blanket-making everyone. 

Just Because It Makes Me Happy!

I don't have a lot of new knitting/crochet to share today since I had a busy (wonderful) weekend attending my cousin's wedding. I got to knit a bit more on my cardigan, but there isn't much more to show. However, I wanted to share this picture with you just because it made me happy. 

I took it on a glorious Spring day last week when the sun was shining through the window for one of the first times in what seems like forever. It hit upon my crochet in a way that made me smile.

Looking forward to the small patch of fabric that is now the Granny Patchwork Blanket to grow enough to join its big sis, Granny Stripes, on the couch. Hopefully that will happen in time for the cold weather when it appears again come Fall. 

On a side note, I had a lot of fun reminiscing with my aunt about how we both learned to crochet with my Great Grandmother (her grandmother) teaching us as children. I hadn't realized that she had recently begun crocheting baby blankets again -- one for her new grandchild. It was a lot of fun learning that we shared this connection even though we live so far apart.

Yarn Likes to Be Washed!

In my knitting, I have always been a big fan of blocking finished objects. Wool likes to get wet, and gently blocking knitted items evens everything out and often eliminates minor imperfections. Issues with size can also be adjusted during the blocking process as long as the measurement differences aren't too large.

However, I didn't realize until this morning how much of a difference washing a crocheted afghan could make. I am so pleased with the result I achieved by washing my acrylic Granny Stripe Blanket on cold, delicate cycle and then drying it on low (as the yarn band instructed). Not only is the afghan a lot softer and fluffier, but the drape of the afghan has really improved. It used to feel a bit stiff, but now it is light and airy. 

But the absolute best improvement of all is that now my corners are not curling!! It appears that the stitches I added in the corners (as I describe in this post) actually worked to make the corners lay flat. I am so pleased. I am not adding a picture of the afghan here because a photo doesn't capture the improvement. It is all in the feel of the yarn and in the feel of the drape of the afghan, something that can't be shown well in pictures. 

Does anyone have any other tips about finishing crocheted items that help to improve upon the finished object? Please share in the comments if you do.

Finished! Cozy Granny Stripe Blanket for the Whole Family to Enjoy

I put the finishing touches on my Granny Stripe Blanket this week, and I am very pleased with it. I decided to stick with Lucy's suggestion for the edging. I followed her directions closely, but I neglected to look at her photos as closely before completing several rounds. As a result, my corners aren't worked as well as hers were. I accounted for the need to add stitches to my corners by chaining three stitches at each corner the first time around. I then chained two stitches at the corner after a couple of rounds of not adding stitches when I noticed that my corners were curling in a bit. Even with those adjustments, my corners still curl in a bit if I don't straighten them. 

Of course, I noticed when it was too late that Lucy seemed to work her corners a little differently. If I make one of these blankets again, I will study her photos a little more closely to see what she might have done to prevent curling. I will also read Eddie Eckman's advice on corners in her book on borders that I mentioned earlier in the week. Why I didn't do that before I started my edging is beyond anyone's comprehension. As my mother always said, "haste makes waste." 

With all that being said, I am very happy with my finished afghan, especially since this is the first large afghan I have completed in at least six or seven years. It is nice to have a new one around the house. Here it is:

I made the blanket to put in our back sunroom, which has a blue, red, and tan color scheme, but I am finding that it actually looks good in just about any room in my house since there are so many colors in it. Here is what it looks like in the blue and red room:

Here it is all folded up nicely and neatly (something that will probably never be seen again in a house like mine with two teenagers).

Lastly, here is clos -up of the edging. I love the way Lucy's mind works. This edging was simple to crochet, yet it adds a touch of loveliness that really completes this afghan beautifully.

To recap the specifics about this afghan, it is the Granny Stripe Blanket by Lucy from Attic24.  I used various colors from Vanna's Choice yarn (details to follow on my Ravelry project page under suzknittyspinner). My color selection was random throughout the crocheting of the project. Measurements for the blanket will also be put on Ravelry when I get around to listing all of the colors I used there later this weekend.

I mentioned my great grandmother, Mum Jo, on the blog when I first started it, but I wanted to pay tribute to her again now that I have completed another afghan. She is definitely my inspiration for making these blankets since I vividly remember how she used to make so many crocheted afghans for her family members throughout her later years (she spent the earlier years crocheting exquisite dollies and table clothes) and how much these blankets were loved by all. She was the matriarch of a large family with nine grandchildren and upwards of 30 great grandchildren, and she was continually making afghans for each one she could before she could no longer crochet because of her advanced age. I feel very lucky to have been one of the older great grandchildren who received one of her afghans. I have it to this day, and I cherish it. I can only hope that one of my family members will cherish my afghans as much as I do hers. And maybe if I am really lucky, one of my descendants will also cherish the fiber arts as much as I do and learn from me so they can carry on as I have carried on Mum Jo's legacy.

So what I am up to now that I have a little more time to get back to focusing on my knitting? I am slowly making progress on my husband's Kearsarge sweater, knitting another chemo cap, knitting the lace socks I posted about last week, and trying to design my own cardigan. I will update you more on these projects in upcoming weeks.

(Just an additional note -- I guess I really do have ADD when it comes to fiber arts since I forgot to mention one other project I have been steadily making progress on, the Ivy League Vest. I will be casting on for the steeks soon, so I will update everyone on that with another "Adventures in Fair Isle" post soon.)

Putting the Finishing Touches on My Granny Stripe Blanket

Thanks to Lucy at Attic24, I have gotten back into crochet after many years where I only crocheted infrequently when needing to make a baby afghan. Crochet was my first fiber passion, and I am having so much fun bringing it back into my regular nightly fiber fun. I enjoy having several fiber crafts from which to choose (knitting, spinning, and crochet right now but weaving on a rigid heddle loom keeps calling my name). 

After a couple of months of work on my Granny Stripe Blanket, I am beginning to see the end of the road for it. It has been a very enjoyable process since the stitching is very simple and meditative, yet the color changes have provided a lot of excitement.  Here it is with all but the edging to complete:

I have begun the edging following Lucy's instructions to complete a 3 dc cluster in each space along the edge using the purple yarn in the photo above. I then plan to continue to follow her instructions using the green, the pink, and then finishing with the blue at the outer edge. I might throw in one more color between the green and the pink if I think I need it. 

Right now I am having to deal with all of the ends that changing colors so frequently produces. This was the part I have always dreaded about color changing in crochet and knitting. However, I am finding that if I just buckle down and bite the bullet, it isn't too bad. The pictures below show the edging and the way that I first crochet over the two ends left for each color change row. You can see in the second photo that even after I crochet over them, there are still ends that I need to weave in a bit more with a tapestry needle since crocheting over them with only three dc doesn't seem secure enough to me. I would rather take the time to secure them now than regret it later if the blanket begins to unravel.

The 3 dc edging on the first round

I am so happy with every aspect of this project so far. It has been a joy to crochet and the Vanna's Choice yarn was nice to work with for this project. As you probably know from reading this blog, I am primarily a wool kind of gal. I love everything about wool from spinning it to knitting with it. However, for crochet, I have always found acrylic to work just fine. It is more cost effective when making a large afghan, it is easier to wash and dry, and a wide range of colors is usually easy to find. 

Has anyone made the switch from acrylic to wool in his or her crocheting? If so, could you add your reasons in the comment section below. I would love to hear about the differences you have found in using wool for crochet if you have decided you like it better. I just may try it soon as long as I can do so without completely blowing the budget! I think I see a crocheted shawl or scarf made in wool in my future.

Adventures with Fair Isle - Follow-up

I was thinking about the post I wrote a few days ago with information about all of the sources upon which I drew to help me learn Fair Isle, and I realized that I left out a few. Recently, I found a great blog that inspired me to try Fair Isle again since the writer had knitted some glorious sweaters and had also taken the time to share her knowledge with others. The blog is called By Gum, By Golly, and the writer, Tasha, is an incredibly skilled knitter and seamstress. She loves vintage clothing, so her Fair Isle work is inspired by vintage Fair Isle patterns. I found her tutorial on stranded knitting incredibly helpful since she focuses on several aspects about which most beginners wonder:

• How to hold the yarn using various techniques, depending on which suits the knitter best (I especially like that she admitted to dropping yarns, being careful not to let them twist, when she first began stranding. She asserts that this is actually a valid technique and that if one is comfortable using it, they should continue to do so. I have actually heard of prolific Fair Isle knitters using this technique, so it was nice to see it validated. As an FYI, I actually use the two-handed technique just because this is how I began.)
• How to strand the yarn to avoid "puckers" and to produce "even stranding" (more on this below)
• How to choose colors for vintage patterns

Tasha's writing on this subject has been especially helpful to me in calming me down a little bit about my worries that my stranding might be too tight (yes, I tend to be a perfectionist, but I always call myself the perfectionist who can never get anything perfect :) ). I can clearly see that my stranding on the wrong side looks very even and is not tight in any way, yet the front side still looks a bit uneven. Here is a photo of the wrong side to show the stranding:

It looks pretty even to me, and I even see a few spots where the floats actually look a little bit loose. That doesn't concern me, though, because Elizabeth Zimmerman always says in her videos "better too loose than too tight" because you can "snug up" loose floats. Please feel free to share your opinion if you see something here that indicates it might be too tight. Now here is the front.

I am fairly happy with it, but I keep having sneaking concerns that it might be a bit puckery. Here is where Tasha's By Bum, By Golly blog really helps quiet my inner-critic; she shared a post of the before- blocking and after-blocking photos, and the difference in evenness is distinct. Here is the link to the post: before and after blocking. This blog is the only place I have seen photographic evidence of the wonders of blocking on Fair Isle, so I am so grateful for Tasha for sharing. I am paying it forward by making you all aware of it, so hopefully I can help calm your own inner-critic.

Another source of constant help and inspiration to me has been WendyKnits. Wendy's writing on knitting has been so important to me for over 10 years, ever since I found her blog back in the very early days of blog writing. As you can see, she is very skilled at Fair Isle, and if you look at her archives, you will see that she has knitted many of the Alice Starmore Fair Isle designs. Her work is amazing! If you read the posts in the archives for some of her Alice Starmore designs (Mara comes to mind immediately), you will see that she talks about Fair Isle technique in many of them. 

Lastly, I just noticed that Spring edition of Interweave Knits has an article on Fair Isle knitting, and it seems to provide a lot of great information on it. I have yet to read it, but I am looking forward to a quiet evening without distraction to curl up and see what it has to offer.

As you can see from the scant progress made on the Ivy League Vest in the pictures above, I haven't had a lot of time lately to work on Fair Isle knitting since work has been busy, and family life has had me on the run. As a result, most nights I have needed something cozy yet simple to help me wind down from the day, which has allowed me to make significant progress on this glorious crocheted afghan by Lucy of Attic24, the Granny Stripe Blanket.

I am so grateful that I found Attic24 earlier this year since it has rekindled my love of crochet with the amazingly bright, adorable projects that Lucy shares with her followers. Being able to work on something colorful and warm in the evenings of this bitterly cold winter has been a blessing. Fair Isle also brings color to my life, but it isn't something I can do very easily in the evenings when I am tired since I am still too new to it for it to be mindless. Crochet, especially this type of repetitive, double crochet stitch, row-by-row crochet, really fills my need for color and mindlessness in the evenings. 

If any of you knitters have never tried crochet, I highly encourage you to do so. It is a lot of fun being "bi-crafty" (an expression I heard on one of the podcasts I listen to, but unfortunately I can't remember which one in order to give proper credit). I am loving crochet again so much that I have ordered a large quantity of Stylecraft Special DK (at Lucy's recommendation) on sale from Deramores so that I can begin another one of her afghan patterns as soon as I finish this one. I am considering either the Ripple Blanket or the Granny Patchwork Blanket. Crocheters out there, which one do you recommend more? They are both wonderful, so just let me know in the comments which one you like best if you have done them both or even if you are just looking at the pictures!

Happy knitting and crocheting, everyone!

Adventures with Fair Isle, Part III

I haven't disappeared in case anyone was wondering! Sorry to keep anyone who might be interested in reading more waiting, but it has been a busy week with work and the kids' schedules. I knew when I began this blog over vacation that it might be tricky keeping it going once work got busy again, but I am determined to hang in there. I am really having fun with this, and I hope those of you who are checking in from time to time are too. Please leave a comment to say hello or to add your two cents if you would like to do so. Just click on the area that currently says "no comments" and help me change that to "1 comment" or more. :)

So here is what I have been working on in the few spare minutes I have each evening -- something mindless and soothing: Granny Stripes from the delightful Lucy of the Attic24 blog.

We have been living through a very challenging winter here in Ohio, so I find the colors in this blanket to be soothing yet lively in contrast to the greys of winter. Lucy talks about "soul colors" on her blog, and anyone who knows her blog knows that her soul colors are deliciously bright and cheerful. My tastes run a little more to autumn colors, though, so this blanket provides me just enough pep to lighten my spirits yet make me feel at home.

Onto Fair Isle! I haven't been doing much of it this week since my mind hasn't been in shape in the evenings for any more challenges, but I have been thinking a lot about how I learned the little I do know. I want to share with all of you some of the wonderful sources of information that helped me to get to the point where I feel confident to try to knit a Fair Isle vest. Here are some of the books that have been my guide over the years:

Like many, my first introduction to Fair Isle techniques was Alice Starmore. Many years ago when I wanted to read about Fair Isle, her original book on the topic, Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting, was out of print and cost around $200 to buy on ebay. I couldn't begin to think about forking over that kind of cash for it, so I checked it out of the library and read and reread it, hating to part with it when it was due. Foolishly, I let an opportunity to buy this book at the regular price of $40 when I saw it in a knitting shop along side Alice Starmore's original Aran Knitting. I wanted both books very badly, but since Aran knitting is my first love and my true love, I decided I could only afford one of the two books -- it had to be Aran Knitting. I regretted not buying both within a week, went back to the shop to buy Fair Isle Knitting, only to find it had been sold that very morning to someone else. I will regret that mistake for the rest of my knitting life. I have since been able to buy the reprint of Alice Starmore's Book of Fair Isle Knitting much to my delight and as much as I love it, I still wish I had the beautiful, hard-cover original with the picture of Mara being knitted on the cover. 

I encourage anyone who is interested in Fair Isle to buy the reprint of this book immediately for the following reasons:

• It provides an excellent historical account of Fair Isle and the island from which it developed.
• It discusses patterns in detail, including how to choose them to create your own designs. It also includes many pattern motifs.
• It provides an in-depth discussion of Fair Isle techniques such as stranding using the two-handed method that A.S. recommends and steeking. The illustrations used are excellent and easy to follow.
• It provides an in-depth illustration of Alice Starmore's inspirations for her designs. 
• It provides many patterns for sweaters and hats.

My second "bible" of Fair Isle knitting is Ann Feitelson's The Art of Fair Isle Knitting. I adore this book. In many ways it has been even more helpful to me than A.S.'s book. Feitelson does an excellent job of providing history and techniques, but she even goes one step further by providing in-depth explanations of color dominance (yarn dominance) in stranding. Before reading her book, I hadn't heard about the importance of consistently holding the background color of the pattern in one hand (usually the right hand when stranding with two hands) and holding the pattern color in the other hand (usually the left hand when stranding with two hands). After reading her book, I have a great understanding of how important it is to keep the background color strand running over top of the pattern color strand and the pattern color strand coming up from underneath the background color strand if one wants the pattern colors to stand out and wants the motifs to appear consistent. This tip alone (which she learned from speaking with Shetland knitters) makes this book worth its price in gold! Of course, Feitelson explains many other aspects of this craft brilliantly in her book and provides some great patterns. Here are some of the highlights:

• History - great detail gained from her experience interviewing Shetland Isle knitters
• Techniques - steeking, stranding, choosing colors, choosing patterns, and doing the math
• Illustrations - helfpul, clear, and beautiful

The other two books I show above have been helpful to me, too. Stranded Color Knitting by Nanette Blanchard, seems to be out of print now, but I found it to be incredibly helpful since Nanette provides simple, clear instructions and illustrations of many of the techniques I learned in the previous two books I mentioned. I had followed Nanette on her former blog years ago where she provided many tips for Fair Isle knitting. You can still find some of her advice on the group pages for Stranded in Ravelry, but it appears that Nanette is no longer blogging. Lastly, Sheila McGregor's Traditional Fair Isle Knitting was one of the first well-known books written about Fair Isle. The motifs included in this book are very helpful to anyone who wants to create his or her own patterns.

Lastly, I must give a lot of credit to Eunny Jang! Her inspiring work on her former blog, See Eunny Knit, really got me interested in trying Fair Isle way back when. Her amazing instructions and illustrations in her Steeking Chronicles are still available for free online for anyone who wants to view them. I highly recommend them as I do her dvd, Introduction to Fair Isle: The Ivy League Vest. 

I must thank one more designer for her help to me in this process of learning Fair Isle, Beth Brown-Reinsel. For my fortieth birthday a few years back, my husband treated me to a two-day workshop with Beth focused on Fair Isle. She had us all make a small, teddy-bear-sized Fair Isle sweater with steeks to learn the entire process in a hands-on manner. It was the most wonderful birthday gift I have ever received! Unfortunately, I nearly lost my job, because the school at which I was teaching was closing, right after that and had to plunge full force into job-search mode and then become familiar with learning the ropes of a new college. Fortunately, I am very happy where I am now and I am blessed to have landed safely after nearly losing my teaching career. The knitting did take a backseat during those years, though, as it should have, so my inspiration to really master Fair Isle waned for a bit. I am now back on track and hope that all of this book-learnin' pays off soon! It is time to dive in and really make a go of it. We scholarly types can sometimes lose ourselves in reading and studying instead of doing, so now it is time for me to do. I recommend that you try some studying, though, if you are new to all of this since it is a whole lot of fun and time well spent.