:Knit:

In the Midnight Hour

Nicky4 Comments

It’s no secret that I love swaps.  I love stalking my recipient, finding his/her likes (yes, there are guys on Rav who knit, crochet and participate in swaps :P) and putting together a great package.  A package with the minimum requirements and then some!  I love the thrill of finding items the recipient would love at a low cost so I can make the package obese.  But sometimes — swaps can go ridiculously wrong!  Bad swappers lists are in almost every Ravelry forum — that alone should indicate how wrong things can go.

So far I haven’t been on either end — giving or getting a “sub par” package but I’ve seen others receive them.  In the swaps I participate in and other things like Secret Santa etc.  Don’t get me wrong, I try not to have any expectations of what I’d get and neither do I have any Emelda Marcos caliber outlines of what I should or should not get in my Ravelry profile (those are a whole nother post :roll:).  I do understand that not everyone has the same financial resources available to them and that sometimes, even with the best of intentions,  sometimes individuals can’t spend as much as others.

With every swap, I sign up to be a swap angel.  If a person doesn’t get his/her package or if the package received is “sub par”, then swap angels swoop in and rectify that situation.  It’s not to say I have unlimited financial resources (I wish) but I can say that in some ways I’m blessed enough to be able to share what I have.  Be it yarn or other items. 

In one of the swaps I participated in recently, I was asked to be a swap angel.  In addition to sending the recipient some yarny goodies, I wanted to give her something that reflects our shared love of teas.  Last night at midnight, I didn’t feel sleepy so I decided to add some tea bags to the package.  That led to thoughts of how I was going to package the teas and that led me to the following project.  It was quick and easy and gives the knitter an opportunity to add personal touches to it.

Project Details

  • Name: Tea Toters
  • Pattern Designer: Julie Tarsha
  • Pattern Modifications: None.  Made a monogram letter from felt and embroidered on the back of the “toter”.  Ha, HS embroidery classes eventually paid off!  😀
  • Techniques learned: Backwards loop cast on (in the middle of an already cast on row)
  • Yarn: Red Heart Soft in Teal
  • Yardage Used: Didn’t calculate but based on the size of the F.O. it’s not that much.
  • Number of “There’s only room for one of us in this house, yield or be broken!!!!” episodes: 0  😀

This little precious was finished off with a monogrammed felt letter which was hand-embroidered onto the toter then finished off with a vintage button.

Quick, easy, beautiful for any tea drinker.

Look Ma — Lace!

Nicky9 Comments

It’s not like I’ve never done lace before; about two months after I learned to knit, I did my first “Feather and Fan” sample.  I was pretty proud of that sample especially when my knitting guru commented that she’d never been able to keep the patterning right even after years of knitting.  Go me!  I didn’t finish that scarf, I just kept the sample as something I’d done then moved on.

Fast forward about 18 months later.  I was involved in a swap that required a handmade gift.  I was sending my giftee 2 books and thought a bookmark could be a quick, easy gift.  I searched patterns and the best looking ones in my opinion were all lace.   The one I loved the most was not only lace, but it was all charted (no written instructions).  Err … whatchutalkinbout Willis?  I’ve only ever knitted using written instructions.  😯   Added to that, even if you’ve never done lace, every knitter knows that the beauty of lace is in the blocking.  Post blocking the patterns really shine, but errr … I’d never blocked anything before.  But hey … I’m crazy like that, so I decided on the yarn then it was all guns blazing.

Since I started knitting, I’ve gotten frustrated at times but NEVER have I swore at a project and tossed it across the room.  I heard that lace could reduce Mother Theresa to a crying mess, but I didn’t think that that comment related to small projects.  How could that be?!  Well, I found out!  I started that project over 7 times.  It seemed that the more I knit it, the less I was able to count!  Really?!!!  Get outta here!!!!  I didn’t do like other knitters and have multiple cussing episodes.  I just stopped, swore, had some fruit, cooled off, then came back to it.  Like an arrogant so and so, I was trying to do it without using lace help — aka lifelines, stitch-markers or my trusty pattern holder.  Nut!!!  How arrogant was I?  🙄

I whipped out my pattern holder and used the magnets to block out the lines above and below the one I was working on.  Eureka!!!  After cooling off then doing that, I was able to knit through the first section.  Break.  Knit the second section.  Shorter break.  Then the third section, make the tassel, block the project, wait two days for drying, add the tassel, admire the little beast, ship said beast to recipient then wait for the reviews.  I opted not to starch it but the recipient can if she wants to.  Reviews: she loved it!!!!!!  😀

Just to prove that I’m not making this up, here’s the little bugger in all its lacey glory. 

Look Ma — lace!!!!!

Project Details

  • Name: Leaf Me Alone — I’m Reading (Lace Bookmark)
  • Pattern Designer: Leigh Myers
  • Pattern Modifications: None technically, except I knit the project on the wrong sized needles (5 instead of 3) so it came out longer than the designer’s sample.  Next time, I’ll do it my way but only do one repeat then the ending chart to shorten it up a bit.
  • Yarn: Knitpicks Felici (in Tyrian Purple)
  • Yardage Used: 27 yards (excluding the do-overs)
  • Number of “There’s only room for one of us in this house, yield or be broken!!!!” episodes: 1

And whatdoyouknow … even after all that, I’m getting ready to do some more lace.  A wash-cloth next time — that should be interesting!  😛

Stay tuned.  🙂