Monkey Craft Brain - Being Multicraftual

I had the urge to start another VEVO (see last post). Rummaging around my office/craft room, I came across a large-ish ball of fine, laceweight yarn that was attached to an almost-completed crescent swallowtail shawlette. 90% finished almost 9 years ago.

I loved the colour of the 100% superwash merino yarn - curry.

I started knitting a new VEVO with the ball of yarn that I had freed (cut) from the abandoned project but quickly realized it was too thin. I decided to unravel the almost-finished crescent swallowtail shawlette, wind it into a ball and with my spinning wheel, ply it with now-freed ball of yarn. 

I hadn’t used my spinning wheel in years - definitely since before COVID but it worked really well. First I had to wind each ball of yarn onto separate bobbins. The curly strand was what I had unravelled from the shawlette. Each ball was about 38g. Then plied  them together.

The resulting yarn was about fingering weight. 

I cast on the number of stitches for fingering weight and started knitting. The yarn was a bit overplied and curled up a bit on itself, but I really wanted the two strands to stay together. I used a 4mm tip on a circular cord with a 3.75mm tip on the other end. As I’ve probably mentioned in other posts, when knitting in the round, having a smaller needle that you’re knitting from makes sliding the stitches onto it so much easier. The important needle size is the one you’re knitting onto.

After a few hours last night and this afternoon, I’m 2/3 finished. 

It looks like a scrunched up blob but with a hard, wet blocking those lace designs will open right up.

Hopefully I can finish it this evening and get it blocked.

While moving some things around yesterday I came across this sashiko kit my dear friend, Poppy, brought me from her textile tour of Japan last fall.

Earlier on, I had come across this little video showing an inspiring sashiko sample in the making.

So this afternoon, while I was knitting away, I watched several YouTube videos on the subject of sashiko. If it is pronounced properly the emphasis is on the first syllable - SA-shi-ko. (I’m just picky about pronouncing foreign words the foreigner would).

Poppy also gave me a kit for a patchwork bag that she had also brought from Japan.

All the homespun cotton fabrics were included. So what if the instructions were all in Japanese? 

Google Translate made quick work of converting them to English.

At some point I will construct this kit. In the meantime, I have sashiko designs dancing through my head.

Vent D’Est Vent D’Ouest (VEVO)

I’m pleased at how the latest neck ring turned out after blocking. 

It is so light and airy. Being alpaca, it is very snuggly around the neck, yet doesn’t have the bulk of a scarf.

It is easily jammed into a pocket, then easily pulled over the head. 

I’m going to check the laceweight and sock yarns in my stash and cast on another tonight. It only took three days to knit this. I don’t have any fixed plans for the weekend so can probably get a lot done before Monday.

I saw an interview with Mindy Kaling on TV the other day. She was promoting her new Netflix series, ‘Running Point’. The only recognizable actor was Kate Hudson. It’s somewhat Ted Lasso-seque - a woman taking over a losing team. This time it’s a major league basketball team. I was so hooked after the first episode, I binge-watched the entire series. The episodes are only 33 min. long so it wasn’t a huge commitment throughout the afternoon and evening. It didn’t get ridiculously silly yet was still pretty funny. Give it a try. 

Saying Goodbye

The brawny movers came today to take away my piano. 

I proclaimed 'Slava Ukraini' when they told me where they were originally from. They did an excellent job of getting the piano onto the dolly, 

out the front door and up onto the truck. 

I texted Jen3 when they left so she would be ready to receive them at her end. She sent me a picture of it in its new location.

I was kinda surprised at how emotional I felt after the guys left. Somehow it marked the end of a era. The piano had been a graduation gift from my mother 48 years ago. It didn't make it out of her house and with me until 6 years later when I bought my first home - then continuously over the next 42 years. I practiced on it in high school, played carols on it every Christmas, played tunes by the Carpenters, Elton John, Antonio Carlos Jobim, the Peanuts gang. I practiced piano parts for my vocal music class on it. Scooter practiced on it over the 10 years or so of his piano lessons.

Once out of the house, I moved the sofa over so it would be centred on the area rug for the first time. I also had to move the picture over to centre it above the sofa as well. 

Then I set up the new keyboard, organized my piano music a bit, and played for about an hour. It nice to not have to tune it - just turn on the power and go.

Even though I filled most of the space with the keyboard, it really does feel more spacious in the living room. Next, I'll have to do something about the flooring but that will have to wait until after the kitchen renovations.

I also finished knitting the neck warmer I started a two days ago. I used a ball of baby alpaca yarn I bought at Toft Farm in Dunchurch, England when I was on my UK knitting tour in 2011. The free pattern is Vent D'Est Vent D'Oest (VEVO) by Marie Adeline Boyer. I cast on the smaller size and knit Chart A according to the pattern and Chart B twice using a 4mm needle. It didn't use up the whole ball of yarn. I gave it a soak and have it pinned out to dry.

 It should be ready to wear tomorrow.

A Stretchy Bindoff and Kitchener Stitch

Poppy has been knitting like a fiend, finishing her Icelandic sweater for our upcoming trip. She recently consulted with me about how she should do the collar as she was modifying it from the original pattern. She decided to do a crew neck by knitting a ribbed collar and folding it, anchoring the edge inside where the yoke meets the collar.

Her first attempt yielded too tight a bindoff so we had to figure something else out. I invited her over to my place so we could solve the issue. After another failed attempt on my part, I realized we needed to do a stretchy bindoff at the same time we were attaching the edge of the collar to the inside. This is the bindoff we used:

Knit 2 sts, slip the first stitch over the second one, do a yarnover and slip the remaining stitch over the yarnover, leaving one stitch on the right needle. *Knit another stitch, slip the first over the second, then yarn over and slip the stitch over that. Repeat from * until all the stitches have been bound off.

The final task was to graft the stitches that were on holders under the arms. I showed, then taught Poppy how to do Kitchener stitch (grafting) joining two swatches together. 

Next I put the stitches from the two holders onto the two needles and started grafting a couple of stitches. I taught her the little chant, “Knit, slip, purl; purl, slip, knit”. Then let her do the rest of the stitches on the first underarm. We then got the stitches for the second underarm onto the needles and she did the whole graft by herself. Brava!

Then I showed her how to darn the holes on each side of the graft, running the darning needle around like a drawstring, then weaving the end in. 

She’s so proud of her beautiful Icelandic sweater!

 

All that is left to do is to weave in the ends and block it. We’re getting so excited for our trip to Iceland and Norway!

March Stitch Day

My guild has a stitch day the first Saturday of every month, all year long - even in July and August when we don’t have our business meetings. Yesterday I worked on two projects.

Cardinal’s Winter:

And Autumn Quaker:

Since I got the framing done on Live on Little, I can start a new project. I have The Light of Winter all kitted up and the fabric selected. 

I’m pleased to have found someone who wants to take my piano. I dreaded having to send it to a dump as it had sentimental value for me. My mom had purchased it from a friend when I was in high school and heading to post-secondary music studies, needing to upgrade my piano skills to an acceptable standard. My mom gave it to me when I moved into my first house - glad to have it out of her house. It has been in my houses for the past 43 years. 

I have already found an electronic keyboard on Marketplace that is very portable and won’t take up a lot of room wherever I put it. I still have most of my sheet music and look forward to hauling it out again and noodling a bit on the keyboard. There is so much stuff to get rid of. I’ll keep plugging away it it bit by bit.