Zen in Fiber

Barbed Biased Blanket - my first published design!!

2011-05-21T23:21:00.000-05:00

I designed this for a blanket that I'm donating to Project Linus. I'm offering the pattern for free, in the hopes that it will encourage others to make this or another blanket for charity as well.
The name comes from a comment one of my friends made as I was working on it, she said the contrasting color looked like barbed wire. It's created on the bias, with simple increases/decreases to cause the stripes to be slanted. I learned the general bias technique at a Lili Chin workshop.
If you don't know of a group in your areas that needs blankets, I'd highly recommend checking out Project Linus, whose mission is "to provide love, a sense of security, warmth and comfort to children who are seriously ill, traumatized, or otherwise in need through the gifts of new, handmade blankets and afghans, lovingly created by volunteer 'blanketeers.'"

Barbed Biased Blanket

Skill Level – Easy (pattern uses basic increases and decreases)

Finished Size – Approximately 43 x 65 inches. Size can be modified by gauge or numbers or stitches/rows.

Materials

Worsted Weight (category 4) yarn in 2 or more colors.

Size K / 6.5 mm hook.

Tapestry needle.

I used Red Heart Super Saver in 4 colors – black as main color and dark gray (3 strips), blue (2 strips), and gray-blue (2 strips) as contrasting colors. Colors could be changed to suit the individual. I'd recommend one main color with multiple contrasting colors or multiple main colors with one contrasting color to unify the blanket.

Gauge

Gauge isn't critical to this project.

My gauge was 13.5 stitches equals 4 inches. Row pattern (4 MC rows and 2 CC rows) equals 3 inches high.

Pattern Instructions

Special Stitches

MC = main color

CC = contrasting color

fsc = foundation single crochet

dc2tog = double crochet two together (decrease)

Strips – make 7, or as many as desired.

Row 1 (MC): 19 fdc, turn.

Row 2 (MC): ch 3, dc in same stitch and in each across to last 2 stitches, dc2tog, turn. [19 dc]

ch 3 counts as dc throughout pattern.

Row 3 (MC): ch 3, dc in next stitch and in each across, turn. [19 dc]

Row 4 (MC): ch 3, dc in next stitch and in each across, turn. [19 dc]

Row 5 (CC): ch1, sc in same stitch, *ch 1, skip stitch, sc* across to end, turn. [10 sc, 9 ch1-spaces]

Row 6 (CC): ch1, sc in same stitch, *ch 1, skip stitch, sc* across to end, turn. [10 sc, 9 ch1-spaces]

Row 7 (MC): ch 3, dc across, into sc and ch1-spaces. [19 dc]

Work rows 8 – 12 the same as rows 2-6.

Repeat rows 7-12, until there are 21 MC/CC sections, or as many as desired.

Work rows 7 – 10 one more time, so that the strip begins and ends with the MC.

Assembly

Attach the decrease side of one strip to the increase side of another, so that the CC stripes are misaligned (they will slant on a bias). The edges won't align completely, part of the strip will stick out into a slight point, due to the bias nature of the strip.

I joined my strips by slip stitching in one strip, ch 1, slip stitch in other strip (down from the other sl st, not directly across).

Edging

After the strips are joined together, work sc edging around the entire afghan. On the top and bottom, there will be slight points on one side of each strip. Work sc on the part of the edge sticking out from the other strip and work 2 sc into each corner/point stitch.

This is my first published pattern, so there may be inadvertent errors. Please reach out to me if you have questions or suggestions for improvements. I'd love to see your finished blankets!!

2011-04-02T20:54:00.003-05:00

I'm a little behind on blogs for this special week, due to being sick a few days. I'm going to try to pick up where I left off and extended the posts into next week or longer if needed. I just hope someone will read them. :)

Day Four: 31st March. Where are they now?

Whatever happened to your __________?

Write about the fate of a past knitting project. Whether it be something that you crocheted or knitted for yourself or to give to another person. An item that lives with you or something which you sent off to charity.

A few years ago, I made a pair of black, fingerless gloves, mostly made during a thanksgiving trip to the in-laws. Now, working on a project with black yarn during a night car trip turn out to not work out so well. But, once we arrived and I had decent lighting, I was able to progress on them well. If I remember correctly, I was able to finish the first glove during the extended weekend at their house. Not too long after that, I finished the second glove. They turned out pretty well, a tad big for me, but that made them good for layering over one of the many pairs of cheap store bought gloves I had.

At some point, I left them out and my husband, not being able to find any of his gloves, grabbed them. And didn't give them back.... he had his excuses: “they're so nice”, “my hands get so cold”. And I did have an idea for a special pair for him, so I took some alpaca yarn - so they'd be nice and warm and I could get mine back – and made him his own pair.

While I was working on them, he lost my pair. Yes, he heard plenty about how he better not lose this new pair. Luckily, he didn't lose them completely. After a few days, his friend mentioned that the gloves had been left at his house. I finished the new gloves and my husband LOVED them. The next time my husband went to visit his friends, he got my gloves back. However, his friend had borrowed them a few times, while they were at his place, and he LOVED them. He wanted a pair of his own.

Sigh. Well, after 2 men had started wearing them, they were a little stretched out... I had been thinking of making myself a new pair... So, I gave them to him. Technically, I sold them to him. See, he's a professional male burlesque dancer. In payment, my husband is getting some lessons. Who says crochet isn't sexy? :D

Funniest part is that the gloves I made are from the Happy Hooker book. They're called Ladylike Lace Gloves. But, apparently, they should be called Menlike, because the men sure seem to like them.

Unfortunately, I don't have a pic of them, but here's a pic of the new ones I made for my husband:

Thanks for reading!

Tidy mind, tidy stitches.

2011-03-30T18:59:00.006-05:00

Day Three: 30th March. Tidy mind, tidy stitches. How do you keep your yarn wrangling organised? It seems like an easy to answer question at first, but in fact organisation exists on many levels. Maybe you are truly not organised at all, in which case I am personally daring you to try and photograph your stash in whatever locations you can find the individual skeins. However, if you are organised, blog about an aspect of that organisation process, whether that be a particularly neat and tidy knitting bag, a decorative display of your crochet hooks, your organised stash or your project and stash pages on Ravelry.

My stash is primarily organized by weight and fiber content. When I'm starting a new project, I can look at similar yarns together to pick out the right color and texture.

I have threads, baby weight/colors, and sock weights (for a variety of projects) in an IKEA drawer unit...

Acrylic worsted and bulky (great for charity projects and amigurumi) in an under-bed storage container...

Miscellaneous yarns (great for freeform and smaller projects) in/next to a basket on a shelf...

Not as large as some stashes that I've seen, but it's a good start.

Thanks for reading!

Skill + 1UP

2011-03-29T19:59:00.008-05:00

Day Two: 29th March. Skill + 1UP Look back over your last year of projects and compare where you are in terms of skill and knowledge of your craft to this time last year. Have you learned any new skills or forms of knitting/crochet (can you crochet cable stitches now where you didn’t even know such things existed last year? Have you recently put a foot in the tiled world of entrelac? Had you even picked up a pair of needles or crochet hook this time last year?

I'm a new knitter. I've been crocheting for a long time, but picked up knitting recently. I found it hard to get started, since my hands were so used to having 1 stick and holding the yarn and project a certain way.

I just can't do the English method. I kept dropping everything. After struggling with it for a while, I tried the Continental method. That was a little better. I was actually able to get a few stitches done, though it took a while. Slowly, my hands adapted to this stranger and started to become friends with it. At one point, I even found it meditative to have to focus on the basic stitches. Crocheting I can do while watching TV, listening to a podcast, or several other things. When I started knitting, I had to stop my brain and focus on the stitches. It also made me appreciate how far my crochet skills had come. When I started crocheting as a child, it was also slow and something I had to concentrate on. Now, it's second nature.

So, when I got frustrated with my lack of progress when knitting, I'd switch to crochet. I still switch back and forth between the two a lot. However, these days, it's more about giving my hands a different motion to work on than switching between the focus of knitting or ease of crochet. My knitting skills have gotten a lot better, so I can relax with it more. I've even taking on knitting two sweaters (baby sweaters for a gift) and I think they turned out really cute.

One is Baby Sophisticate by Linden Down (available on Ravelry):

The other is Cabled Raglan Baby Sweater by Rebecca L. Daniels (available on Ravelry):

Thanks for reading!

A Tale of Two Yarns (2KCBW)

2011-03-28T12:13:00.006-05:00

Day One: 28th March. A Tale of Two Yarns.
Part of any fibre enthusiast’s hobby is an appreciation of yarn. Choose two yarns that you have either used, are in your stash or which you yearn after and capture what it is you love or loathe about them.

When I first got back into crocheting, I didn't understand all the differences between yarns (aside from color and price). I knew that yarns with different thicknesses would affect the size of an object, so when substituting yarns, I would pick another in the same category (one worsted weight for another, for instance). But, all worsted weights are not equal. There's a small range of thicknesses within worsted, plus the fiber content can affect the drape and final look of an object. There are other factors, like spinning technique, that also has an impact, but I don't worry about that too much at this point.

I had picked up Debbie Stoller's Happy Hooker book (which I highly recommend) and decided to make the Violet Beauregard skirt. The original pattern uses a cotton yarn. I decided to use Lion Brand Homespun, because I liked the softness and texture.

This was the first time I used LB Homespun and it was a little difficult to get started. The texture of this yarn made it hard to work consistently into the chain; it was tough to find the loops, since the yarn is a squiggly. But, I got into a groove and was able to work through the initial problems. Once I had a few rows established, it became much easier to work into the stitches.

After completing the skirt, I found that it was much heavier than expected. The weight of the skirt couldn't be properly supported by just the waistband. Bummer. I had spent a lot of time making it and now I couldn't wear it. It also would stretch a bit, so even if I cinched it very tight at my waist, I didn't trust that it would stay up. So, I frogged it.

I then tried making a different pattern from Happy Hooker with LB Homespun, FrouFrou. This worked out better for me. Because a sweater goes over your shoulders, instead of just hanging around your waist, the weight of the yarn was better supported and I didn't have to worry about it falling off (the sleeves help too. :) ). It's still grown a bit, but not as much as the skirt and having this sweater a little longer in the back works with this design. I also use LB Homespun for afghans and shawls. I think it's a great yarn, but no yarn will work for every project.

I did end up making a different skirt with different yarn. I reinyarnated an alpaca/wool/nylon/acrylic blend from a thift-store sweater. Using a bias technique I learned at a Lili Chin workshop, I designed my own skirt. It's warm, but not too heavy for a skirt.

Now, I have a much greater appreciation for the variations in yarn and how they can affect our finished objects and our satisfaction or frustration with them. Early on in a project, I stop and look at how the object drapes and hangs. I've also started swatching more than I used to. Swatching is really the best way to test run a pattern and yarn to make sure of having the right combination, before investing a ton of time and yarn.

Knitting & Crochet Blog Week

2011-03-20T10:07:00.004-05:00

I stumbled upon Knitting and Crochet Blog Week on Eskimimi Knits blog. I think it will be a good way for me to get my blogging mojo going. If you have a blog or have thought about starting one, check it out.

I doubt I can post every day during this week, but I'll either set up posts ahead of time to automatically post on the scheduled day... or I'll extend it over a few weeks. It's set up in a very encouraging/flexible way, which I appreciate. I did read through the daily topics (they're hidden for those that want to be surprised each day) - they have some good concepts in there. I'm already getting ideas...

Happy Blogging!

Feeling Loved

2011-01-13T20:17:00.010-06:00

Today is my 7 year anniversary with my husband. My wonderful, awesome husband. I wasn't sure if he would remember... well, he knows the date if you ask him, but he tends to loose track of what day it is, so I wasn't sure he'd realize what today is. But, he did. I walked into my home office and was surprised by this... :D

So, I proceeded to spend the next hour taking pictures of them and me with them, so I could get some good photos to post on facebook. They made my day....and probably the next couple of days.

This is really just the icing on the cake. He's my rock, my balancing point, and my knight in shining armor. When I needed him the other day, he was there, no complaining, no judgment, just "what do you need?" I'm a lucky woman.

I love you!

Missing the Delta

2010-04-24T03:49:00.004-05:00

What is it that makes a place a home?

I've been pondering this for the past 2 weeks, while I'm in India and very far away from my home outside of Chicago. What is it that I miss? I'm staying at a nice hotel, the food is good, and the people I'm working with during the day are very nice - they're glad I'm here to work with them they're more than happy to help me out when I need it (though I'm not comfortable asking for help, so don't do it as much as I should).

I just moved to a new hotel, to be closer to the office I'm working out of for the next 2 months. It's on the ocean and I have a great view. But... I'd rather be home. Would MUCH rather be home. This is nice for today, but the thought of staying several more weeks is... depressing.

I try to rationalize why I shouldn't miss home. Good opportunity for my career, nice hotel on the beach, room service, driver to take me around.... but I don't care. I think part of the problem is that I have trouble communicating with people here. Most Indians speak English, but it's British English, with different terms, and it's not their native language, so many people speak only broken British English. It's also hard that I don't know how things work over here. What I mean is that the way of life is different - there are lots of small, unorganized shops. They do have malls that are similar to what I'm used to in the States...sort of. I went to a mall last weekend and the shopkeepers are more aggressive and try to solicit people into their shops. It's not a place where you can walk around, window shopping, and relax. I also don't have my car that I can just jump in and drive where ever I want to go. I'm much more dependent on other people and I'm not comfortable with that.

But there's something else about home that I miss. It's intangible and difficult, if not impossible to describe. It's a mysterious, ancient magic that calms and comforts. It's something that's there, but not here. In science and math, the difference between two numbers is often called the delta.

I miss my delta.

Kinda the same, kinda different

2010-04-17T06:22:00.005-05:00

A reflection on my first week in India (Chennai):

It's hot. And there are a lot of people. These things seem obvious. However, knowing them and experience them are very different things.

Driving in Chennai takes focus, skill, and a lot of luck, I think. Bikes (both bicycles and motorbikes) weave in and out of traffic. But, so do the cars, as much as they can. They have lane lines drawn, but I think they're just there to make us foreigners feel better. My coworker, who's from India, put it well when he said that Indians don't drive on the left side of the road, they drive on what's left of the road. If there's space, someone will squeeze in. People really know where their car or bus is, I've seen hundreds of cars come within inches (or should I say centimeters) of each other. And they pack people in. If the bus is full, people will hang off the side of it. And several people will sit on a motorbike - I saw four the other day, a family, I think. Dad was driving, Mom was behind him holding a toddler, and a young girl was standing on the bike in front of Dad.

The office of the consulting firm I'm visiting is nice. It's a large complex that's still under construction. The hallways are outside, but covered, so it's tolerable. And the A/C inside is cranked, which is fantastic. The team is very friendly. They're very patient with all the questions we ask about their culture.

Went shopping at a large mall today - Spencer Plaza. It's similar to the malls in the US, but it looks like it started as a smaller building and was added on. And the shopkeepers often stand outside their shop and try to direct people in. And they really wanted to sell me Pashmina shawls... I think 20 people asked me. And some of them did a double take when they saw me. Apparently, foreign woman are exciting. Probably they think I have tons of money to spend. I did pick up a cute tunic. The shop was run by women and they were much less in-your-face than most of the other shopkeepers. The woman who helped me picked out my size perfectly. And she helped me troll through all the different shirts. It's not like the use where there's a rack full of the same shirt in different sizes. They were piled up in stacks and you just dig through a find something you like. A young girl was there, I think her daughter. She was wearing a really pretty tunic and I complimented her on it as I was leaving. She got a big smile on her face.

My Crochet Story

2010-03-13T11:20:00.003-06:00

Everyone has a different story of when they learned to crochet and, very often, when they picked it back up after a hiatus.

I first learned to crochet when I was 8, I think - somewhere around there. My mom always made a lot of afghans and I loved how the colors and patterns came together. So, she taught me and I started on a little ripple afghan. It only ended up being about 2 feet long before I had enough. Too small for a person, but I put it at the end of my bed and my cat loved napping on it. I also made a few other things, but it hadn't become an obsession yet.

I picked it by up after my hiatus, when my husband came up to me one day and said - "you know how to knit, right?". "Nope, no clue," I told him. He was obviously disappointed until I said, "but I can crochet and can probably make anything that's knitted in crochet." His happy face came back as he asked me to make him a Dr Who scarf. I found a simple crochet pattern online and told him that it'd be no problem. Then I realized it was 14 feet of sc. Woah.

10 months later (working on it fairly regularly), it was done and he was thrilled:

But then he needed a hat to go with it. I took the leftover yarn from the scarf and made up a hat to go with it.

After that, I found the Happy Hooker book and realized all the fun, cool things that could be crocheted. I had been a little stiffled by the lack of patterns I liked, but Debbie Stoller's book got me up and running. Then I found Ravelry, which lead me to the Midwest Fiber and Folk Art festival and that introduced me to the local crochet guild. And now, there's no turning back - I'm obsessed.

Not sure where I'll go from here. I've started designing a little and I think I may try to get something published soon. I've also done a little pattern testing for people, which has been a lot of fun. I do want to make sure that crochet stays fun - I have enough stress at my day job. So, I ponder becoming a crochet professional, but I'm not driving towards it too hard... yet.

Eleanor Roosevelt was a Cool Lady

2009-12-23T14:47:00.006-06:00

I stumbled across a great book a few weeks ago and want to share it with the beings of the internet, whomever you may be.

I've been participating in some leadership seminars at work. Once of the recommendations that I decided to act on is to read a biography of a leader. Real-life examples are usually helpful. I thought about various historical occasions - the Revolution, the Civil War, the Roman Empire... and settled on WWII. It' s fairly recent and I didn' t actually know that much about it - my high school history teacher ran out of time and had to cover it very quickly. And, I'll be honest, I didn't pay that much attention in history class - I've always been a math/science girl. :)

So, I went to the biography area of the Fremont Library and started looking for biographies of FDR. I caught sight of a book in the adjoining section - Leadership the Eleanor Roosevelt Way by Robin Gerber. Hmm... it was about leadership and it covers the WWI era. I took a quick glance and decided to check it out.

It's fantastic. I never knew how amazing Eleanor was. She's done so much for women's rights, civil rights, rights of the poor. She didn't have a position of authority, was not elected to any office. Didn't impede her in the least. She knew how to influence people, network, listen, show compassion and understanding... all the things that a great leader needs to do.

The book itself is very well written. Stories from Eleanor's life, sprinkled with leadership advice and examples from other women leaders showing the same leadership behavior. Makes it not your typical biography and yet not your typical leadership book.

I highly recommend this book to all aspiring woman leaders and anyone interested in history or leadership.

Digitally yours,
Zen

Baby Hats!

2009-07-25T12:00:00.008-05:00

Several of my coworkers are expecting babies - either them directly or their wives. So I decided that this weekend is baby hat weekend and I've made good progress so far:

I used the following patterns, with my own modifications:

(upper left) Dot Matthew's Lil' Darlin' Baby Hat
(upper right) sweaterbabe.com's Crochet Pixie Hat
(lower right) Haakpoes' Noodle Baby Hat
(middle) one that I don't remember what pattern I started with, but it didn't work out well, so I improvised
(lower left) and one that I made up as I went along

I also discovered that a small ball I have is 15.5 inches in circumference. According to a size chart I found online (thanks, Bev and friends!), that's the same size as a 3-6 month old. I think that's a good size to aim for, since some babies may be born bigger than average - my parents tell me I went straight into 3-6 month clothing when I was born. And if the baby is average or a little smaller, they can still grow into it. Since I don't have much experience with babies myself, it's nice to have a 'model' to use as a santity check. And my cats weren't thrilled with the idea of modeling for me.

Do you have a good baby hat pattern to recommend? Please post a comment with a link. I have a large department, so I know there will be more babies on the way.

Sometimes Unraveling is a GOOD thing

2009-07-12T09:34:00.008-05:00

I remember times when I felt like things were unraveling and I stressed me out. Now, I've discovered the fun of unraveling on purpose! Thanks to my southern friend, I'm addicted to pulling apart sweaters. Plus, it's so earth friendly, since it recycles yarn without additional chemical processing.

My husband and I went on a treasure hunt to Goodwill (he'll never say no to that). Before I left, I reviewed Neauveau's tutorial on recycling yarn (http://www.recycleyarn.com/), so I felt confident that I'd be able to find a sweater with good seams. If you're interested in unraveling, I HIGHLY recommend reading her tutorial. I know it saved me a ton of disappointment, since I knew what sweaters to pass on. Thanks to Neauveau (ravelry name) for putting this together!

This is the first sweater I unraveled. It's from The Limited - 53% acrylic, 20% wool, 16% nylon, and 11% alpaca- and was $5.

Is it sad that I spend most of my Saturday doing this? I was thrilled when I finished unraveling a sleeve and had a good sized ball of yarn. Here's the unraveled sleeve next to the yet-to-be-unraveled sleeve (and a deck of cards for size reference).

And, now, it's lots of fun yarn for me to use.

And all for only $5! Woo-hoo.

Next, on to two 100% cotton sweaters I also picked up. The green one from Arizona was also $5. The blue one from DKNY was only $1.50 and a men's XXL - score!

Bad Blogger!

2009-06-22T19:27:00.003-05:00

I know, I know. I'm such a bad blogger. I had this great vision of the awesome blog I would create and all the followers that I'd get. So, I created the blog (back in Feb) and had two great posts (imho). Then, I didn't post again until June. June! How'd it get to be June already? I even got a comment on my blog, but just figured out now that I need to publish it. Maybe I should change that setting...

But, I'm back. And I will be a better blogger. I will be a better blogger. I will be a better blogger. Where's a chalkboard when I need one?

I will post about my crochet projects, including a few designs! I've started getting design inspiration as I wake up - especially waking up from a nap. Hmm, I guess naps are good for the brain. Gets those creative juices flowing.

....think I just ran out of mental yarn, so it much be time to grab a new skein. See you later, peoples of the internets!

I Did It In Public!

2009-02-27T19:28:00.008-06:00

Yesterday, I did it in public. It's a way to promote the Midwest Fiber & Folk Art festival and the wonderful crafts that are showcased there. (for more info, check out fiberandfolk.com).

I was surprised about how much fun I had. It was invigorating to be around other crafty people working on their craft. There were people knitting and crocheting, of course. But, also, rug hooking, which was more beautiful than I would have expected. One woman shared some of her experience with spinning. She was working on a lapghan for a friend, with yarn that she made from the sheddings of a Burmese mountain dog (if I remember correctly). Now, I want to learn how to spin. I think my Maine Coon's fur would make fantastic yarn. Couldn't think of a better source (maybe my other cat). Not that I'm biased. Here, this is my Addy, isn't he cute?

Wouldn't his fur make a great sweater? At least, it would make me feel better about the sheddings all over the house. My husband and I have joked about making another cat from all the fur, but I didn't think it was possible until now. What do you think? An amigurumi cat made with cat fur yar?

I can't wait to Do It In Public! again.

Expanding My Blogging Lungs

2009-02-24T19:51:00.004-06:00

Here it is. My blog.

whoopie!

I long debated whether or not to create a blog. What would I write about? Would anyone actually read it? What would they think? I hope the first person to find this will leave a comment. I'd like to know how long it takes for someone to find it and read this post. Leave a comment, won't you? At least to say 'Hi'?

As I thought about my first post, an image came to mind. A baby taking it's first breath. It's not trying to use that breath to sing an opera or to address a nation. It's just trying to expand it's lungs. After all, it hasn't used them yet. It needs to expand it's lungs before it can really breathe. So, this post is how I will expand my blogging lungs. Soon, I'll be breathing with the best of them.

Breathe with me now... in through the nose... out through the internet...