Knitting Dragonflies

I’m knitting a Bone Yard Shawl by Stephen West . Using some of my handspun fiber. A Persimmon color Blue Faced Leicester fiber that I added a strand of Sulky bendable thread to it to give it some dimension. It looked so “flat” spun alone. I skein I had overspun, Ugh, overspun yarn is spun too tightly, when I hold it out flat it immediately winds up on itself and kink. The “fix” for this is to run it back through the spinning wheel the other direction and then I soaked it and dried it, to ‘'reset” the twist. That came out find, and didn’t take as long as I thought it would. So now, I just have a bit more to go before I’m done. I must have been stressed when I spun this! Read more on spinning yarn with the correct twist and balance, plus other helpful tips in Knitty article This was going to be a gift for a girlfriend who is going through tuff times, but when complications set in (with my knitting, not her), I ended up gifting her my Citron shawl Steve and Penny at the local ...

This is my Citron Shawl, done! I have been working on it for a long time. But had I knitted this all at once, it wouldn’t have taken too long. Love this easy, swingy pattern. Thanks Knitty! Free pattern here made by Hilary Callis . Knitty is a great online knitting and spinning magazine . Plenty of great articles and free patterns. This Winter Knitty 13 has a wonderful article about Ethnic Knitting Adventures by Donna Druchunas , it is about Designing A Norwegian Ski Sweater. Check it out, along with the other features they have. The pattern is a  semi circular shawl/cap (depending on the size yarn used and the length you knit it), It is all in stockinette stitch, with increases and decreases to form the gather/ruffle areas. Easy knitting, good for beginning knitter. Great item to watch TV, movies, or anything that you want to be on auto pilot. I was worried about the bind off, as I tend to bind off tightly. This pattern had so many stitches and they were at the full point of ...

I had  been thinking about sewing a fleece vest for my husband. Problem was I knew exactly how I wanted it to look. Of course. I couldn’t find a suitable pattern. So I decided I would draft a pattern for it myself. Inspired by the series “ Project Runway ”, which I am a long-time fan of. I found the confidence to give it a go. I used muslin and pinned it to him and then cut the pieces out. This did take 3 tries to get it acceptable. A lot of laughter and a couple of pin pricks. I used fleece on the out side and the lining, with batting in-between. My husband wanted the pockets to be a specific way. I settled on a simple pattern idea of a small stand up collar, basic front and back, zipper, and the most complicated part were the pockets! He wanted to be able to slip his hands in, and have a separate compartment with a secure flap. I had bought these lovely gunmetal grey snaps to apply to the flaps, but the fleece was so thick I had to default to using Velcro. I also decided to ...