MOEBIUS IS DONE. . . Lace PATTERN given

Moebius cowl is done. I am pleased with how it turned out. Not so pleased with my self-taken pics! lol. What an old wrinkly neck!

As promised, here is the lace castoff [original patt from Barbara Abbey's lace book and tweaked by Elizabeth Zimmerman, and then me...]. Typed out below:
When garmet is at length/width desired, and right-side facing, cast on 5 stitches to left needle [I used a cable cast on, but a provisional cast on would work also and might be easier to weave the beg and end together... knitter's choice]. Remember you will be working back and forth on the 5 new caston stitches [pls the few increases] perpendicular to the edge of your knitting and gobbling up one stitch every other row [which in essence, casts them off]. Set up row: Knit the 5 stitches and turn work. [set up row is only worked ONCE and is required to get you to the proper end of the stitches as all ODD rows 1, 3, 5, 7 knit away from the work, and all EVEN rows 2, 4, 6, 8, work toward the work].
Row 1: Sl 1, K1, YO2, K2tog, K1. Turn [Slip ALL first stitches on all rows!]
Row 2: Sl1, K2, P1*,  [*this is from the double YO... careful don't lose the second loop], K1 , K2tog [the 2nd stitch will be from your project which will "cast it off"]. Turn
Row 3: Sl 1, K3, YO2, K2, turn
Row 4: Sl 1, K2, P1, K3, K2tog [one of edging and one of project]. turn
Row 5: Sl 1, K1, YO2, K2 tog, K4. turn
Row 6: Sl 1, K5, P1, K1, K2 tog. Turn
Row 7: Sl 1, K8. turn
Row 8: Cast off 4, K3, K2tog. [edging has returned back to 5 stitches at this point.] Turn and repeat rows 1 - 8 for pattern.
It is helpful if the number of stitches you have in your project that need to be casted off is divisible by 4... but a little fudging can make it all work out. I hope you enjoy making this lace edging.

Elly is the friend who found a pattern to make this cowl. Please go to Elly's blog --scroll down in her post to see her wonderful cowl...it is lovely!  Thank you, Elly! The pattern is also on Craftsy and Ravelry. I went to YT and watched Cat Bordhi's great vid on how to do the Moebius cast on. [the link is in former post]. After a few rows I decided I would do a lace castoff rather than the I-Cord castoff noted in the pattern. To set up for this, I added some eyelet "holes" during the last 9 rounds of cowl, so the lace edging would look more "planned". I hope you enjoy making one of these and that you will share a pic when you do.

And now back to our regular scheduled programming: quilting! lol. Until next time, what are YOU working on? I'm cutting a ton of batik strips from my stash.

Quilty Hugs,

LACE CAST OFF... finishing up the Moebius Cowl

This is a quickie-post. Just want to share the progress on the Moebius Cowl/Scarf I began eight days ago. Considering I have only been working on it off-n-on it has gone rather quickly. I'm surprised. It's already time to cast off! Instead of the I-Cord castoff that I had originally planned, I'm doing a Lace Cast Off instead.

The lace pattern is 5 stitches and 8 rows worked back and forth perpendicular to edge of garment/project. One stitch is gobbled off every other row which means working 10 stitches [more on the increase rows] plus two rows to cast off one stitch. This is not a fast way to cast off, but it will create a very soft edge to this cowl and who doesn't like a little bit of lace?

Count 7 stitches up and that is the next stitch to be cast off

If there is interest in how to do this lace cast off, I can write a post about the method, pattern, etc..  It makes a wonderful edging on caps, sleeves, and of course looks fabulous around a neckline. I've even put it on the flap of a knitted purse. It's fun to play around with.

Sorry I haven't posted in several days. I've needed time to recoup from all the activity and long drive to attend the Road2Calif quilt show this past week. And, I think I may have caught a bug because the wind is definitely out of my sails!

I have several nice pics to share from the Road2California quilt show and will try to get them up tomorrow or Wednesday. Also, I hope to share a little about the two-day class I took and the great teacher we had!  Meanwhile . . . until next time I am going to heat up some broth and go to bed! lol. What are you up to?

Linking to: Connie at FreeMotion by the River.
Quilty Hugs,

SEWING ROOM RE-DO and Moebius progress

The sewing room re-do is finally under way! Yippee. The trundle twin bed set has been donated to someone who needs two beds. Removing those beds opened up a ton of room in here! Love it. Shelves to go up soon, but it's a start.

View from doorway

The "board" leaning up against the back of my sewing machine cabinet needs mounting on its hinges. I'm saving that task for one of the guys in the family. *g*. It will be wonderful to use this flip up space when I am FMQ a large quilt.

Moebius cowl in process - knitting

Some progress has been made on the Moebius scarf/cowl. It is about 1/2 complete. Can you see the needles in the pic above? These are from KnitPicks and come with different length cables. I really like how they feel in my hands and especially the fine tips -- so helpful when working with fingering weight yarn. Oh the yarn in from KP also: 100% Merino wool. So so soft!  The really fun part that I am looking forward to is the I-Cord bind-off. I love the way it looks and it is fun to do.

That's all for today. Sew, until next time. . . I am off to the Road2California Quilt Show to learn more about EQ7 and PPing. What are YOU up to?

Quilty Hugs,

MOEBIUS. . . A beginning

Tonight after a long day of house-re-arranging, I decided to knit while I was checking email. I watched Cat Bordhi's vid on YouTube to see her version of the Moebius cast on. I have four rows done. Now trying to decide if I will insert a pattern, or just keep it simple. Who knows?! I tend to make these things up as I go along. Do you do that, too?

Wow... look at this nasty keyboard! No, please don't!  Photos always show everything! lol

Missy... who is almost always firmly planted in my lap was having a lot of fun swatting at the yarn as I was knitting. Just love this cute kitty. Missy has so much personality.

Missy is a little camera shy tonight

This is just a quickie... sew, until next time. . . I'm going to hit the hay and take my knitting with me. What are YOU up to? Thank you for popping in to visit... please come back again.

Quilty Hugs,

FRILL, FRILLS, FRILLY... it's all in the yarn

Today saw another finish. Yippee Skippee, love that! I had some Sashay yarn by Red Heart that was calling my name.  I had already made one frill scarf by crocheting it [sorry no pic], but I wanted to try a knitted version.



So fun to throw around the neck and over the shoulder



Lay across neck front [ends will be in back]; bring ends to front... see pic below for the final twist



... now just flip the ends together and voila! a nice jabow [probably didn't spell that right]



The frills on this scarf are more plentiful and pleasing to me than the crocheted version I made previously

I used my metal, size 9, 'square-shaft' straight needles. These needles are fun and so easy to hold!  So, I knitted and knitted and... well, I worked on it off.n.on for just over a week. Whew. Finished today. Result? I prefer the knitted version b/c it is so soft and the frills are really frilly! But if I needed one fast, I would crochet it!

Oh, please do not mind the old, droopy and wrinkly neck in these photos. I had to use myself b/c my gorgeous DD wasn't available. And, btw, that's what happened to the other scarf... she modeled it for me and then it went to live with her! lol. I never even got a picture of it. The pic is in her phone! *big sigh*

Until next time. . . what are YOU working on?

Quilty Hugs,

Surprise Gifts from Germany... & Photo u/l problem solved!!

Friends are so wonderful! Not too long ago a surprise package arrived from Germany. Brigitte had knitted a beautiful shawl for me- see below - and our mutual friend Katrin made me a Pouch and hand crocheted Key Cover to tuck inside the package! Big surprise!
The darling pouch holds my new iPhone perfectly and safely - the front pocket holds the 'ear buds' or the charging cord.  I just love the fabric Katrin used!

See my iPhone - the black, just barely peeking out the back pocket??

I just love the darling lime green closure snap. Not sure what it is made of... plastic maybe? Never seen them before. Because it is soft, there are no worries the phone screen will get scratched.

Hand crocheted KeyCover - created by: Katrin /Cattinka

The beautiful shawl below, was knitted by Brigitte. Isn't it gorgeous?!! Thank you so much. This lovely shawl is the pefect size to wear draped over one's shoulders, or looped and secured with a shawl pin [like a scarf]. I've worn it both ways and absolutely love it!

A big hug to my DD Laura who agreed to model the shawl so I could get some pictures. Thank you, Laura!

This great pic really shows off the beautiful yarn Brigitte used.

Thank you again, Brigitte and Katrin. I'm overwhelmed by your generosity and I will always treasure these lovely gifts.

Blog photo u/l problem solved: A HUGE Thank You to Cath, Mary and Tina who offered excellent advice in their comments regarding the photo uploading problems many of us have been dealing with lately. Today's fix turned out to be a very simple one: I tweeked Tina's suggestion and just toggeled between "compose" and "html" in the post editor. Select 'html' to u/l pics, then toggle back to 'compose' to move pics around, add captions, edit/write the text, etc.. Worked like a charm!  One note: b/c I am a novice with HTML, I found it easier to select/copy/paste and move the text around... NOT the photos. Was pretty easy.  Thank you again, ladies... aren't bloggers wonderful?!

Until next time. . .

Quilty Hugs,

KNITTING SOCKS - A good use of my "waiting time"

Yesterday I spent several hours in a waiting room. The light wasn't good enough to sew. What to do? KNIT. I don't know about you, but I cannot stand to just sit and do nothing. Drives me nuts. Besides, one can always use another pair of socks, eh?!

SockNeedle Holder for DPNs

I really like the little tubes that hold my work-in-process safe and protect the tips of the DPNs [double point needles]. With these tubes on I can just stick a pair of socks in my purse. Great!

Notice the needles "slide" into the slots and then the other tube closes everything up.

CloseUp of stitch: Looks like a 'cable' but is ribbing with incr/decr + M1.

I love this simple stitch pattern [see close up pic above]. It looks like I'm knitting cables, but actually it is ribbing "posing as cables" by using Left and Right increase/decrease, plus a "made" stitch to keep the stitch count correct. So easy but looks complex. Gotta love that. Besides with all the ribbing these socks will actually stay up and not droop. Love that, too.

Yarn by the South West Trading Company

The yarn is TOFUtsies by the South West Trading Company. Lovely, soft yarn to knit with and it holds up and wears well.

Until next time, I hope you have fun knitting, crocheting, or stitching up something that makes you happy.  Please leave a comment if you like posts about knitting.

Quilty Hugs,

BUTTONS ON & HAT TO MATCH... fun with knitting

Finally got the buttons on. Attached them using the sweater yarn, but split the 4-ply yarn and used 2-plies to sew on buttons. Turned out ok:

What to do with a leftover ball of yarn? Make a Tam O'Shanter, or beret. Just for fun I repeated the lace-like insert I used next to the button band on the sweater and repeated it 7 times on the little hat:

I blocked the Tam on the biggest plate I had in the cupboard:

Here is a closeup of the buttons I found. And a better pic of the small lace-like insert next to the button band:

All in all I am happy with the project. I prefer to work with natural yarns for garments and hats as they block better, but love the acrylics for crocheted afghans.

Thank you for popping in for a visit. Until next time. . . it is back to sewing/quilting for me. What are you up to?

Quilty Hugs,

DONE, DONE, DONE... FINISHED EVEN. . .

Cardi D O N E! I think I knitted parts of this sweater three times! lol. But it's done and it did turn out the correct size. . . a nice redeeming quality. It is laying on the blocking board drying right now. Tomorrow it will get its buttons sewn on and then be off to its new home with one of my DD's.

This was a KAL sponsored by LyonBrand Yarn. It is the Simple Raglan Cardi. The pattern is free on their site. If you visit Ravelry, there is a link there also.

I made several changes to the original:
Body: short rows across upper back to lift neck edge; a few more short rows across mid-back to elongate it and keep sweater from riding up; also lengenthened body to just past waist. Did a 10% dec just before bottom ribbing to pull it in. At front edge did a very simple lace insert over 6 stitches of: Sl, K1, YO, K2Tog, YO, K2Tog, continue to work even across row to last 6 stitches: K2Tog, YO, K2Tog, YO, K2. [I slip the first stitch of every row!]

Sleeves: Lengthen to 3/4; work straight to this length then rapid dec of 15 stitches to equal 40, then rib with size 6dpn needles - this gives a one-inch negative ease which perfectly fits DD's elbow/arm circum' of 8.75inches. Working in the round eliminates the sleeve seam and makes this cardi almost seamless [except for weaving 6 stitches at underarm].

Front Band: b/c body was lengthened, more p/up stitches were required. I used 88 which is a muliple of 4 for the K2P2 rib with extra 4 for beg/end and a sl 1 at beg on each row. Size 6 needle. Buttons = 5/8 and 3/4 inch: i bought both and will decide which to sew on tomorrow... probably 3/4 inch.

If I make this again I will knit two rows plain after all yoke increases are finished where yoke, sleeves, body are separated for knitting the lower body. This will greatly facilitate weaving the underarm stitches later. Also, will either knit the whole in the round with a front steek, OR knit the front bands at same time as making the sweater. It seems counterproductive and too much extra work to this knitter to BOTH work back/forth AND pickup for the front bands. This is a nice and very easy pattern. I ran into a bit of trouble b/c I wasn't paying attention when I made several changes to the original pattern -- life happens, eh?! lol

If you decide to knit this little cardi, I hope you will share your project. There is a group on Ravelry. I am "KnittyCyn" - come visit.

I can't close today without sharing what I caught Missy doing the other day. It seems the porcelin bowl was calling her name. I don't understand the facination she has with the sink... at least it is not the toilet! lol

That's it for today. Thank you so much for stopping by. Until next time. . .

Quilty Hugs,

STRINGING ALONG & Knit Cardi Update

Eight blue string blocks completed. I just love to string piece. Is it the randomness, free-construction, tons of color and texture? Maybe all of the above. Do you like stringing? Do you know why? Hmmm, maybe I don't need to know why, just enjoy it. Right?

A quick trim and they look real nice:

Knit Cardi Update: Things were moving along so well... almost to the waist. Then OOPSY!

Frustration doesn't come close to expressing what is happening with this simple knitted cardi. Made another mistake! Yipes... and right smack dab in the center front! No way around it, frog knitting would be involved. A LOT of it... like just over 1/2 the body length! Because the mistake was in the front lace edge, there was no way to drop a few stitches off the needle, let them run down to the mistake, and then hook them back up again properly. When a YO gets left out and everything shifts to the left one stitch... there is no easy fix that this knitter knows of. Oh well. Perhaps it will serve to build more character! lol

That's all for tonight. I hope you had a lovely weekend and have some time this week to stitch up something that makes you happy!

Quilty Hugs,

LINKING TO: Connie's Blog for the Tuesday Linky Party

ON THE NEEDLES - A Simple Raglan Cardi Sweater

Saturday evening, in addition to all the hub-bub preparation for Easter weekend, I began a new sweater. Yeah, I know... a bit insane. If you would like to make one also, the FREE pattern can be found on the Lyon Brand Yarn site. It is called: Simple Raglan Cardi. Below is what mine looked like by Saturday bedtime:

I have several more rows completed now. This sweater is made from the Top down. I usually begin at the hem, so this is a nice change. It is for my DD Lonna. I am making several changes to the pattern: Sleeves will be 3/4 length; Body will be to waist; Front Edge has small lace insert. A ribbed front will be added after-the-fact for buttons, buttonholes, etc.

Lyon Brand is also hosting a KAL for this sweater, so come join in the fun. All the scoop can be found HERE, as well as a link to the free pattern. A few have finished their sweaters already as they started in February. Some nice photos can be found on Ravelry.

That's it for now. I am off to round up some strings for tomorrow's Friendship Group Meeting. We plan to sew up a storm of blue fabric! Until next time. . .

Quilty hugs,

Another Purse... & ANTIQUE GFG QUILT

My time and goals of late have been to bring some little projects to completion. I wonder why I get so excited about doing/making something and then let it sit and languish somewhere uncompleted? Shoot... I have absolutely no idea. Does that happen to you? I can understand it with long complicated projects like making a Dear Jane quilt, but not knitting or crocheting up a little purse! lol... of course in all fairness, sometimes not having or finding just the right fabric for the lining, or perhaps stumbling over a couple of design decisions can muddle things a tad. . . that's what happened with this knitted purse. I knitted it in the round; made the bottom with Emily Ocker's Beginning and swirled the increases to make it pretty and then knitted it straight up until it was deep enough to make some eyelet openings to later run I-Cord draw strings through and then finished it off with a bit of a ruffle to give it a "girlie touch".  I was inspired by a picture I saw in an ad for Lion Brand Yarn. Actually Lion Brand has a ton of free patterns available on their site.  So, this little purselette was easy peasy... but the lining slowed me down. SOLUTION! I remembered I have a wonderful gadget by Olfa -- their Circle Cutter -- OMGosh this is a neat tool. If you don't have one, please do yourself a favor and run out and get one! I see a bunch of circles in my future! LOL. So after cutting a few circles out of TemTex to stiffen the bottom, I made a double pocket on the lining to hold Kleenex and Cell Phone in neatly in place and then sewed the thing up... slipped it inside the purse and whip stitched around the top edge to hold lining in place.  Very straightforward. Below are some pictures of my process. 

Note the muslin double circles folded in half and put edge to edge--that's so I can remove or replace the TemTex as the whim strikes me... I'm happy with that little idea and will probably use it again in future purses/totes. A little zigzag around the edge to tidy it up.

I did a purl round to set off where the circle of increases ended and where knitting straight up the sides begins... this also made it easy to put the lining in later.. no guessing... I like that! lol.

Last night I printed up the last of my FF hexes, cut them out and hope to sew them today & applique to their b/g squares tonight... then the fun part: embroidery! I sure do have the embroidery bug lately. . . do you like to embroider? What kinds do you do?  If you are interested, there is a button on my sidebar so you can click over and see what some of us are doing with these FF blocks... cute, small, quick & fun.

This is a GFG quilt that my neighbor brought over yesterday. Isn't it gorgeous?  The color choices are amazing! Every intersection is perfect and this is stitched hex-to-hex... no EPPing! Keep in mind that this was pieced sometime in the 1940's before rotary cutting and Inklingo. This was made by someone with serious and extraorinary quilting skills!  So here's my neighbor's dilemna: "... what do I do now?"  As she wants to actually use it, binding it will be necessary. Once the edges are stabilized the stain removal process can begin. Can you believe this was rescued from a tattered box in a garage?! Unbelieveable! My first inclination would be to LIGHTLY trim the sides by about 1/2" to true them up, then bind with a bias binding... the scallopped top and bottom edges could be saved with even more careful trimming before binding. I wished she had shown this to me before she ran it thru her washer a few times as the edges could have been saved... I don't relish doing all of that mitering, but it would have been beautiful... of course, facing is always an option too.  Now, before doing anything, I'll be doing some online research today to hopefully find some local people who can advise about other options for this beautiful antique quilt. She wants my help to fix it, but I want to gather more info first. The repairs are no problem, but when it's an antique I think gathering some opinions from the experts is always a first good move.  We do have a couple of very well known and admired quilt appraisers and quilt judges in my area... I'll try and reach a few for their thoughts.  I'll post more pictures of this beautiful quilt as we go along. If you have specific recommendations, or know of some experts in the San Diego area, I would very much appreciate some contact info... please comment here on this post or email me. Thank you.

Missy lounging in her supervisory spot at the end of my bed while I sew. Note how she has taken over my hand knitted shawl. . . she now thinks it's hers and uses it all the time! lol..

That's it for now... I hope everyone has a lovely day. I'm thrilled to be moving around more and actually sewing, etc.. Prayer is incredible and I sincerely appreciate all the prayers and well-wishes I've received... I am doing well and the healing process is moving along. Reconstruction surgery will be in about 10 days to two weeks... then I'll look normal again... well, what every "normal" is... lol

Hugs,

Cyn; -)