Buttons make the sweater....

My latest dilemma: Which button to choose?



I have a huge collection of buttons (if you want to see pictures see my button blog:) BananaButtons

I have a great deal of fun looking through the buttons for a project I am working on. In my opinion a button can make the outfit. If I put a fabulous button on a sweater even if the yarn or the style of the sweater is not so fabulous the sweater suddenly becomes fabulous. The button sets the tone and the look. It's like the purse and shoes is to an outfit.

You know you can have a cheap dress on but if you have a very expensive fabulous purse and shoes your outfit suddenly becomes great. I should add hair and make up into this mix also, if you have your hair and make up looking good and fabulous purse and shoes you can practically wear your pajamas and look "fabulous dahling".

Somebody wrote me an eMail and asked if she should keep her buttons she inherited from her grandmother "carded"?
I am by no means an expert, but when I have asked some real button "nuts" they have conventions etc. they say that the cards are very important. So if you want to keep their value as a collectable keep them on the cards, as with any collectable the more original you can keep it the more the value.

However, for me I don't care about the collectable value, I just love to play with them sort them touch them and once in a while use them on a project.

A new (to me) technique for casting on.

The German Twisted Cast On:

First stitch regular long tail cast on, then (the thumb really does all the work)
Under both strands on the thumb --do not go through the regular loop but go under both strands--
Push the needle through the loop dip the thumb way down kind of giggle it and hook the index finger yarn through the thumb loop.

This cast-on is also known as the German Twisted cast-on, the Old Norwegian cast-on, and the Twisted Half-Hitch cast-on, this is supposed to be a more "stretchy" and it is not as "curly" cast on. I will give it a try and see.

To see detailed instructions: http://knitting.about.com/library/bltgcaston.htm

Hanne Falkenberg project:

And now that I have finished the first one here is the progress of the new.....with my modifications...

The original Ballerina is back heavy and as I wear it after a few minutes it starts sliding back. Probably the way it was meant to like Japanese kimono feel to it. The front is short and the back is very full and heavier and as you wear it, it pulls back and this annoys me, I want it to stay put so on the new one I made less panels in the back and made the front longer. I've tried it on and it still looks pretty much the same but feels better.

*****************************

AT LAST I'm Finished!

I have now rewritten the instructions and made my modifications, (probably to Hanne's horror)
I'm knitting another sweater. Yes I'm a glutton for punishment!

This time it seems a lot easier. Once I got rid of the silly bottom bit, and replaced it with slip the last bottom edge stitch purlwise and knit the first stitch in the next row in the back "leg". This gives a lovely even edge and I don't have to count each row and pay attention to the bottom as well as the short rows and stripes.

This in my opinion is a good alternative and it looks really nice also it's easier to pick up stitches for the bottom edge if I want to add an extra edge. That bottom bit just complicates the whole pattern that is already complicated and badly written.

I also knitted a potato chip scarf to go with the sweater with black and sage one row edge. It looks just great. I will post pictures.

I didn't think the little bit of black yarn I had left over was enough so I sent an eMail to Hanne I tried to get an extra ball of black yarn, and got firm NEGATIVE. (I think I upset her to even dare to ask.)

She does not sell yarn!
Only the Kit!
So if I want an extra ball of yarn I have to buy a new kit!

It turned out that I had enough yarn left over to do this (it's a very skinny potato chip scarf but looks ok). It was very close though I knitted up almost to the last inch of the yarn. I would have liked a little more yarn...oh well....

(Potato Chip scarf if easy but if you want to have the pattern: http://www.knitpicks.com/projects/Projects_Display_Yarn.aspx?itemid=50355220# )


Thank goodness there are so many other brands of yarn out there!





The Ballerina,

This is what it looked like halfway done!
It's been a long haul a lot of detail to this one. At first I just was not getting the short rowing thing so I knit and then I "frogged" and I knit and then I frogged and I knit some more.

The question has come up if it's difficult, I would say yes! It is a lot of knitting on size 3 needles and a lot of detail to pay attention to.



This is what it supposed to look like when I finish! Well Maybe.....stay tuned....

What is felt?

Felt is the oldest textile fabric. People figured out that making felt was very useful, felting came before spinning, weaving or knitting. Probably during the Bronze Age. When I visited Otzi in the museum in Bolzano Italy, they found felt among his clothing and Otzi is well over 4,000 years old. You know who Otzi is: the ice man found high in the Alps along the Italian/Austrian border. Because he was frozen he was perfectly preserved including the contents of his stomach. So they could tell what he ate, what he wore for clothing and what tools and accesories he had with him.

They say that sheep may have been the first animals to be domesticated after dogs. The sheep provided them with milk and as a by-products their skins and fiber for clothing. The early man figured out really fast that a wad of wool from the sheep was not only warm but it probably made a nice comfortable bed for sleeping. After a few nights of tossing and turning and sweating maybe even rain they found that the woold felted. Feltmaking and the use of felt is still a part of many cultures around the world.

Wool is hair and just like human hair, it has "cuticles" or overlapping scales, you've see dreadlocks well they are just felted hair. Wool pretty much acts the same it tangles and sticks together.

They say that wool fibers absorb eight times their weight in water. But it really depends on the wool, what animal it is from.

VooDoo Scarf

Knitted and felted. This took a while to do because I first knitted it about 40 stitches, then I crochet the edges. Then I felted it in the machine with an old levi jacket and some tennis balls. Then instead of shaping it wet I just dried it in the machine. So now it's machine washable. But I think it came out nice. All wool and very warm. A little late in the season... but...

Introducing VooDoo Embroidery

I'm especially pleased in the way the sleeves match exactly and the VooDoo Embroidery on wool gabardine, pocket lining.



What is VooDoo Embroidery? I think I made it up. I call it VooDoo because it is so magical. There are no rules! There is no right or wrong! Neatness does not count!

Stress reducing, mezmorizing! It's my new Yoga! Wonderful way to meditate!

I call the jacket "Szöges"





Ok it's a bit too warm for the summer but it's been great early in the morning walking at the beach



How I started

Basically the pattern starts with 3 stitches and you increase 2 stitches per row, alternating two stitches in on either side of the center stitch then one increase at each at the beginning and at the end of the next row. Then I just knit until I reach the with that I want, then I start on the sleeves with the same pattern.

I've been hand knitting most of my life. About 3 years ago I decided that maybe I should look into machine knitting I thought it would boost the speed of my work. One of the women I know who knits for a living used a machine at least to partially knit her garments and it seemed like a fun thing to get into. I knit continental style which goes pretty fast but once in a while I think I just could knit something really fast, so a machine seemed to be just the thing.

So I researched and ended up deciding on the Bulky knitting machine, which supposed to be able to knit with hand knitting weight yarn so I purchased a Brother KH260 on Ebay. This is a machine they do not make anymore I guess the interest is just not there. Although I belong to a couple of discussion groups and there is whole machine knitting community out there in the world. Machine Knitters Unite!

Now I had my machine and had no idea what to do with it, then I heard about a class Tricia Shafer was giving so I signed up. It was great! I learned how to cast on, how to decrease and how to increase and finally cast off. About one and a half hours of instructions and I actually made a child's hat! I loved it.

So I got home immediately set up my machine with my son's help and sat down and cast on all the needles! (I don't know what I was thinking?) Then I passed the carriage and promptly all the stitches fell off. My son is in the background snickering at me. Ok maybe I should do fewer than 100 stitches. So this time I cast on 50 stitches. Passed the carriage and shish one more time all the stitches fell off. I'm not sure what I was doing wrong but my son was laughing at me by now. So I think maybe I should cast on 25 stitches, same result. I really wanted to prove to him that I learned how to do this, I just knit this great hat!

Fine I'll start with 3 stitches and increase on up. Yes! that worked! So I started increasing one stitch at each end and when all the needles were used I cast off. Now my son took a look and said "What is it? A wind sock?". Well I'll show you, I started to fold it this way, fold it that way and Voila! A pancho! Now it needed some edging so I crochet fringes to weigh it down so it would not curl so much (the machine only knits stockinette stitches), then I decided that it needed pockets for my cell phone etc.

And there is my first machine knitted project! I love my Bulky but there is lots to learn.

My new wallet

As always it's still a work in progress. I knitted a piece in white wool and felted it in my washing machine. Then I added the zipper and sewed the sides. Then I did some VooDoo Magic and VooDoo Embroidered it. Great Fun!

Freeform Knitting & needle felting.....

Lots of great inspiration from this beautiful book.
Here are a few of the pictures from the book, as you can see with freeform sky is the limit.

Well now that I see these beautiful projects I want to delete my pictures of one of the projects I'm working on but it's a work in progress, besides it looks a lot better in person then in the pictures.

Progressing slowly..... but a lot of fun....I just keep adding bits and pieces....


I started this project while I was traveling around the country because it is a yarn that is sold at JoAnn's Fabric store. Most major U.S. cities have a JoAnn's so I could pick up more yarn anywhere...."paprika"
Patons Classic Merino Wool Yarns - 100% Wool

Budapest Flooding..

The Danube runs over!


Why you may ask do I have pictures of Budapest flooding? Well I was born just a few blocks from that very bridge. I am a Hungarian Refugee. My family and I escaped in 1956 during the Hungarian Revolution.
http://fog.ccsf.cc.ca.us/~sgati/gatiproductions/starting_over/revolution.htm

Progress Report on the Electra...

Progress Report on the Electra...



Right now I'm knitting a Twisted Sisters "Electra" http://twistedsistersknitting.com/catalog.php?id=45 it looks suspiciously similar to Hanne Falkenberg's http://www.knit.dk/dac.htm

Bet you the Twisted Sister's pattern is easier to follow than the Falkenberg.

The magic of Felting...I can't get enough of it...

"érmelegítő" woollen wristlet
Wonderful for working on my computer and keeping my wrist and thumb area warm.
"dóm" bracelet
Needle felted wool.



What is an UggSock or UggCroc?

Crocs Rock, I can't get out of them! They are so comfortable and light weight that I can wear them all day in total comfort. I've been wearing them for about a year and a half and now I have them in many colors. I especially love them with hand made felted socks. My version of these socks I call UggSock, or when I wear them with my Crocs they become my UggCrocs.

I can't get enough of them. I originally made them to wear around the house for those early morning chill. I live at the beach in an old Spanish house and some mornings my office gets very chilly. But I found these UggCrocks so comfortable that I started wearing them all day and now I wear them out in the world.

I start with a machine knitted rectangle:


Then I block it using Magic Sizing:



Then I sew up the seam and felt it:



Then I just trim it to my foot, a few more stitches sewing up the trimmed bits and it takes shape of my feet as if magic. So far I only have made two pairs but I've had so many people asking me for them that I may just make a couple more for some friends.

My Husband made me a Swift...

Another Shawl finished...

I started knitting this while I was away at a retreat in the Desert, (Palm Springs, California area). I didn't want to follow too many instructions so I decided just to make up the pattern. At first I wanted just to knit, I do love the process, but then just garter stitch seemed too boring.

Start with 3 stitches and increase one at the beginning of each row, then when I got to about 8 inches it looked like it needed a little something so I started to knit the stitch below on every other stitch leaving the border in garter stitch. When I completed the shawl it looked too boring so I added my "stash buster" crochet "frufru" edging to it.

The yarn I used for the shawl is by Creative Yarns, Hearty Worsted New Zealand Wool. The FruFru got whatever I grabbed of some of my leftover stash.

I met the Cuban "Soup Nazi"

I was in Las Vegas recently after visiting a few "too much food" buffets my friend and I decided to venture out and look for a local restaurant. We found "THE SPIRIT OF CUBA" absolutely delighted with out find after carefully reading their menu choices we decided this may be a good one for lunch. We were starving and actually anything would have sufficed at this point.

Located on the corner of Sahara and Decatur, with a nice friendly decor. As you walk in there is a dance floor and musical instruments including conga drums on the stage, one can just imagine the Cuban music and dancing at night. The granite tables and sturdy leather chairs, offset by framed photos depicting Cuba in the halcyon days before Fidel was just lovely.

Thinking that we may have to come back during the dinner hour and maybe enjoy some Cuban music and dancing. The prices seemed reasonable $8.95 for the Ensalada Mixta con Pollo. When my chicken salad Cuban style arrived I decided that there was just not enough chicken and I wanted a little more protein, so I ordered the Sopa de Frijoles Negros-I figured a nice black bean soup and the salad should be enough for my lunch.

The soup arrived and after tasting, it was just bland no taste at all, so I politely asked the lovely and very handsome young waiter to please bring me some salsa to spice up the soup a little. There is a Brazilian Restaurant that I frequent here in Los Angeles and they too have Sope de Frijoles Negros and Fatima the owner serves it with a lovely home made salsa. I was kind of hoping for that, when the waiter kind of looked at me with a "OH NO" expression and said that he would ask the chef, I kind of got worried. So my friend and I were laughing as I told her about an experience my son and I had once at a Japanese Restaurant on Ventura Blvd. in Encino. We wanted some soy sauce and the chef came running out and practically threw us out of the restaurant for not liking his creation. He told us that it did not need any more soy sauce it was just fine the way it was! Eat it the way it is or leave! So there! That was the Japanse Sushi Nazi.

We laughed and my friend said, that sounds like you're making it up. I said no that really happened to me. And no sooner do I get those words out of my mouth here comes a very angry woman with her hands on her hips, asking me "What is wrong with the soup?!!!!!????? Well if looks could kill I would have been dead. The Cuban Soup Nazi, she said THIS IS NOT A MEXICAN RESTAURANT! If you want salsa go to a Mexican Restaurant. There is nothing wrong with the soup!

She was dressed in beautiful gabardine slacks, with a button down shirt, lovely belt with a sterling silver buckle. Lovely silver bangle bracelets and a pair of glasses she must have gotten at the L.A. Eyeworks boutique. Where Elton John shops for his glasses! But she was pissed!

My friend was laughing so hard she could hardly contain herself, and me I folded. "I'm sorry I don't like your soup, could you find it in your hear to forgive me?" She said NO.


Oh yes we were charged $4.00 for the soup I didn't eat or didn't like! But at this point I was scared to confront the Cuban Soup Nazi. But it was worth $4.00 for the tale and the good laugh..... So if you are in Las Vegas be warned about the Soup Nazi.


http://www.thespiritofcuba.net

It's been so long....

It's been so long since I've updated my blog that I forgot my password. Shish so many passwords, so little time.

I have been so busy knitting and some traveling and cooking that I have not had much time to pay attention to my blog. But I'm back. I want to post my latest kinitting projects:

and the back view:


I designed this piece with "something to warm my shoulders" in mind. When I completed the project I took it to "Stitches from the Heart" my LYS and Brandi put it on and she looked great in it, so I gave it to her.


It's made of "Noro" wool. There was 3 hanks but no label so I'm not sure which Noro it is. All I had was 3 hanks so I just started knitting a triangle by starting with 3 sts and increasing one stitch at the beginning of each row for 10 inches. Then I switched to increasing 2 stitches at the end of each row: the last stitch I knit then knit in the back and knit in the front.

Voila! Sewed the tails to the V left arm holes then added the fringe by picking up stitches all the way around with my 60" circular needle. Increase every other stitch, knit one row and crochet bind off.