Knots Indeed

More beaded snoods

2012-01-28T16:21:00.000-05:00

Every once in a while I find myself working on similar projects. Sometimes it's just coincidence, sometimes it's due to the class I'm preparing, and sometimes other people encourage me.

Recently the bags have been due to the square-mesh class I'm trying to finish. The class would be done except as I was making them for the last time (checking out the instructions one more time), I realized that the handles were different from the ones I had before and that my written instructions may not be adequate for anyone other than me to follow. So I need to make 4 more videos demonstrating how to make those handles and 1 more demonstrating how to form the sides with square-mesh instead of diamond mesh.

While I am finishing up the bags to the point where I can start recording, you get the chance to name the handles. I've changed the prize just slightly. Instead of making the winners a net bag, I'll make them any net item on http://knotsindeed.com/patterns.html, or that has been pictured on this blog, that has less than 1,200 knots.

The recent posts about snoods was inspired by another person. In the past few weeks I received requests for beaded snoods. So, here is the latest beaded snoods: a round snood with staggered beads. Each snood is holding the same amount of hair.

the small version of the snood

and the large version of the snood

Name that Net Handle Contest

2012-01-21T22:22:00.001-05:00

This week I have been checking the instructions for the square-mesh rectangular bag patterns that will be included in the Square-Mesh netting class.

I realized that I have called all the handles "diamond-mesh handles" even though they are all slightly different.

I thought it might be fun to have you submit names for the handles. The four winners (one for each handle) will get a string bag of their choice. I will close the contest on January 31 at 11:59 p.m. Pacific Standard Time.

This is not a random drawing. It's very subjective. The winning names will be those that most appeal to me.

And now for the handles.

This handle is for the large square-mesh rectangular bag.

This handle is for the medium square-mesh rectangular bag.

This handle is for the small square-mesh rectangular bag.

This handle is for the tiny square-mesh rectangular bag.

I'm looking forward to your creative suggestions.

Netting Needles or A Wonderful Husband

2012-01-14T23:30:00.000-05:00

Christmas brought a fun and exciting present for me -- a brass netting needle. Part of the reason it was fun and exciting is that it was unexpected. I did not expect my husband to get it from Pallia, but he did.

Another reason it was exciting and fun is that this netting needle is a different shape than others I have used to make lace items.

When my grandmother taught me to net, she used one similar to the needle on the right. That was the only kind of netting needle we could get. She taught me to fill the right side of the needle and then the left side.

With my new needle I could see the advantages of filling the needle using a figure-eight pattern.

I was impressed with the amount of thread my new needle held and yet it still fit through the loops.

Finally it was fun because it gave me an excuse to finish a doily I was designing and a new beaded snood. I named the 22.5 inch doily Bachelor Button since it reminded me of the flower.

The snood was made using two strands of sewing thread. My new needle had no problem getting into the spaces I wanted it to.

The beads in this snood are attached to the side of the diamond shaped mesh.

Net Snoods and Beads

2012-01-07T07:00:00.000-05:00

Once I learned how to attach beads to netting I wondered how beads would look in a snood.

Plain Beaded Snood

At the time I was working on snoods / hairnets that covered the entire head.

Because the netting is done using dark thread, it is hard to see the netting, but the white beads show up nicely on the dark hair.

These beads were attached to the loop and allowed to slide however they wanted to.

Plain Nape-of-the-neck Snood

Once I started putting the snoods on a barrette and having them hang at the nape of my neck, I decided I needed to try one of this style of snoods with beads.

Here again the netting is close to the color of the hair, which makes the netting hard to see. Again, the white beads show up nicely.

These beads were attached firmly to the bottom of the loop.

Staggered Bead Snood

There were so many beads on the other two snoods I had made that it took a long time to make them. I wondered what it would look like with fewer beads.

In this snood I staggered the beads. It worked up much faster while still showing the effect of beads on the hair.

Diagonal Bead Snood

I wondered what it would look like if I attached the beads along the side of the diamond mesh and then put them in a line below each other.

Since the beads were placed on each row, they were not truly underneath each other. They followed the diagonal slant of the netting.

Staggered Bead Snood

I finally got around to wondering what a snood would look like if the netting were made in thread that did not try to blend into the hair of the person wearing it.

This snood was made in a light purple color thread. The beads are still visible and so is the netting.

Black Plain Nape-of-the-neck Snood

A few weeks ago I was asked to make a black snood - black thread, black bow, and black beads.

I used the same pattern for the snood as I had for the Plain Nape-of-the-neck Snood shown above.

Now that I've added beads to Christmas Tree Ornaments and Snoods, do you have any suggestions as to what I could add them to next?

Adding Beads to Netting

2011-12-31T11:06:00.000-05:00

Several years ago someone asked me if there was a way to attach beads to netting. I had no idea. Grandmother's instructions had not included beads. The little information I found did not describe the process other than possibly sewing the beads onto the netting when all was finished. So I started experimenting.

I discovered that I could slip the bead onto the loop. The bead was not firmly fastened to the loop, so it slid up and down on the loop.

In the case of this ornament, the knot was small enough that the bead slipped over the knot also. The bead still slid up and down the loops, but was caught inside the larger diamond.

Then I figured out how to attach the beads along the sides of the diamonds. They still moved, but only the length of the side of the diamond.

Eventually I figured out how to place beads at the bottom of the diamond so it stayed in place.

Christmas Poem 2011

2011-12-21T19:14:00.000-05:00

Peace on Earth

There’s a face missing at the old table tonight.

There’s a smile missing from ‘round the tree.

There’s a spot in my heart that is empty right now

Due to life’s mortality.

At this time of the year I can dwell on the fact

That I’m missing a loved one who’s dear.

I can weep, wail or curse (making everything worse),

And I’ll find no Christmas cheer.

Or instead I can ponder the story again

Of the angels the night of Christ’s birth

Who sang praises to God and who promised to men

Peace to all who dwelt on earth.

Oh, the peace that I need in my heart at this time

Is the peace that can heal my own heart.

And this peace he has given to all who will ask,

For our Savior did his part.

He has opened the doors of the grave and of hell.

He has let all the captives go free.

Through his great sacrifice all my loved ones and I

Can enjoy eternity.

So this Christmas, ev’n though a dear loved one is gone,

I will focus on what is to be

And the gifts that our Father and Savior have given.

There is peace and joy for me.

Each year since we've been married, my husband and I have created a Christmas poem. Often the events of that year influenced the poem. Though this poem was written after the death of my mother on December 7th, we decided to use it this year since we are not the only ones who have found peace through the Atonement of Jesus Christ.

May you all have a Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year.

Handles for Square-mesh Net Bags

2011-12-10T22:51:00.001-05:00

Last week I showed you some of the new rectangular, square-mesh, net bags I was working on. Now to show you a couple of the new handles I designed for those bags. Rather than use a 1/2" mesh stick for the entire handle I used a much wider mesh for most of the handle. I used wrapped loops to get the bigger meshes. Only at the ends do I go back to the smaller mesh stick. The smaller meshes make it easier to tie the two handle sections together.

This handle, from the small gift bag, uses half the number of square meshes across the width of the rectangle.

This handle, from the medium size net bag, begins with two knots in each of the square meshes along the width. The third row of the handle decreases the number of loops. An overhand knot sits on top of the fuller section of the handle.

Here is a closeup of the lower part of the handle.

I was hoping to finish the large shopping-bag size, but I finished the last video (Creating Wrapped Loops) for the Square-Mesh Netting class instead. Now I just need to finish the transcripts and patterns and that class will be ready.

Rectangular Net Bag - Square-mesh Style

2011-12-03T13:41:00.001-05:00

Last week's Rectangular Net Bag (made with square-mesh netting) was just an experiment to see it I could do it. This week I have worked on two different bags - a medium size one, and a small one. I think they turned out much better than the first one.

The small size is perfect as a baby-shower gift bag. It's big enough to hold the bibs I make and to hold bibs, toys, or whatever the new mother wants to put in it.

The medium one is a bit bigger. I needed a bag to take my books back to the library, I only had a few, so I piled them in and it worked great going there. The only problem was that while there I checked out more than a few books and some of those over-sized, so it did not hold everything on the way home.

I kind of like the look of the square meshes on the bottom of the bag.

This week I've also finished the videos devoted to making a rectangle of square-mesh netting. I was all excited, thinking the class was almost ready. Then, in the process of making the bags, I created a couple of different handles, one for each bag. As I made the first one I realized that there was one, maybe two, more videos I needed to make for the Square-mesh Netting class. I've listed it on the syllabus page for the Square-mesh Netting class.

Square-mesh Netting

2011-11-26T17:23:00.001-05:00

The class for Square-mesh netting is progressing. This week I was able to get the video taping done. Next week I hope to have the videos finished. I realized that for this class I have only small and large projects. Nothing in the middle, and nothing that would be quick to make and practical in an everyday sort of way.

So Thursday I asked family and friends gathered around our Thanksgiving table for some suggestions. Scarfs and dishcloths were suggested, and I may come up with some, but late last night I picked up some left-over yarn and this morning I finished . . .

. . . a rectangular square-mesh net bag.

The handles are diamond mesh, but the body of the bag is square-mesh.

Now, before you say anything, I know it's small, so tiny in fact that I could barely squeeze in the two apples and and orange. But now I know I can make one, I just have to figure out the proper number of squares for the width and the length.

Differences in Netting Methods

2011-11-19T23:09:00.001-05:00

There are several methods used to tie the netting knot. Lately I've been referring to two of them as the lace-maker's method and the net-maker's method.

Most of the time when I think of the differences between the two methods, I think of how they are tied. There are also differences in how the knots look after they are tied. This week I learned another way they are different.

I received an e-mail asking me if there was a way to create the Carrots Increase Stitch using the net-maker's method so that it looked like it does in the photo.

I was not sure, so I made a sample of this stitch using each method and I discovered a difference. Can you see the difference? The red sample was made using the lace-maker's method and the blue one made using the net-maker's method.

Look closely where the increases are made. In the red sample the 3 knots net into the loop follow the curve of the loop, while in the blue sample the 3 knots climb up the loop. The knots in the red sample are tied around the single strand of cord forming the loop. The knots in the blue sample are tied over both strands that form the loop. Since the knots in the blue sample are tied around the loop, the loop actually gets smaller.

So, when it comes to the question in the email, my answer is that it is not possible to get the same look to the Carrots Increase Stitch using the net-maker's method as you would get if you used the lace-maker's method. If you want the same look as the first photo in this post, you would have to tie the knots using the lace-maker's method.

Now I'll be the first to acknowledge that I don't know everything about netting, especially when it comes to the net-maker's method. I received personalized, one-on-one teaching from my grandmother when I learned the lace-maker's method, but I learned the net-maker's method from a book.

So my question, to those of you who are more proficient and experienced in netting using the net-maker's method, is: "Do you agree with me?" If you do not, please tell or show us how to get the same look.

New Netting Class and Mistborn Cloak are both finished

2011-11-12T19:38:00.001-05:00

It's done. After 11 months of working on it, Netting, More or Less is now available. This netting class shows how to increase and decrease while netting. It includes patterns for headbands, dishcloths, bags, and a snood (hairnet). To register for the class, click here. This class is ongoing, so when you can begin the class as soon as you register for it. (Contact me if you have problems.) I have also structured the class so that there is also no ending time. You can go back and review how to do something whenever you need to.

I've already started working on the next class: Square Mesh Netting. By checking the syllabus for Square Mesh Netting, you can see that currently there are six more videos to make and all the PDF patterns and transcriptions. I hope it will not take as long to pull together as the last one did.

Several weeks ago I mentioned that I was making a Mistborn Cloak as a Halloween costume for my son. I did finish it before Halloween. However, due to the snowstorm and downed power lines that arrived days before Halloween, he was not able to wear it for Halloween.

During the week when school was not held, I managed to get some photos.

It came complete with a pouch for coins and a belt / sash with places to store his "metals" vials.

Winter Fairyland or Natural Disaster

2011-11-05T13:01:00.000-04:00

It looked like a winter fairyland Sunday morning when I got up. The storm arrived before I took down my garden trellises. Everything was blanketed in 9-12 inches of white.

There were only a couple of problems with this winter wonderland. When I looked out an upstairs window Saturday night, I noticed something that had not been in our backyard earlier in the day.

Yes, a tree had fallen under the weight of the snow on its leaves. It knocked over the basketball standard and came within inches of the back porch awning. We were fortunate that it fell the way it did. It could have landed on the house.

By Sunday morning portions of a second tree had joined the first.

By afternoon the trees were without snow and we were without power.

We were without power from Sunday morning until Friday morning. However, there are those worse off. My daughter, who lives within a couple of miles from us (in the same town), lost power for a whole week - Saturday afternoon (October 29) to Saturday afternoon (November 5).

It's impossible to go through something like this without learning something. Here are a few of the things I learned:

have enough coolers to hold the contents of the freezer component of the refrigerator.
pans of snow (changed twice a day) will keep a refrigerator cold enough that the food in it will not spoil.
having a thermometer for the house, freezer, and refrigerator gives peace of mind.
the basement kept slightly warmer than the upper part of the house overnight.
just having people sitting in a room for a while (playing games) raised the temperature of that room.
sitting in the sun on an enclosed porch while the sun is pouring in through all the windows can get you warmer than staying inside the house.
layering clothing works.
sleeping bags work to keep children warm at night.
even a small charcoal grill will cook food and heat up water if you have nothing better.
fix meals before the sun goes down and it gets cold.
I need to find some "emergency food supplies" that are suited to no-power, no-heat, individual-portion situations that are nutritious, affordable, and will store for more than a couple of years.
I was just as busy as usual, but on different projects (a quilt, a moebius scarf, a rectangular scarf, a net shawl instead of websites and netting classes*).

I know my list would be different if the season and the disaster were different. And, speaking of disasters, I wonder what is coming next. So far during 2011, my area of the country has experienced an ice storm, a tornado, micro-bursts, an earthquake, a hurricane, and now heavy snow storm. Any suggestions what I should prepare for next? My oldest daughter suggested fire.

*Speaking of netting classes - Netting, More or Less is completed as far as the videos and transcripts go. I just need to have time on the computer to get the classroom up and connected to PayPal (something I was planning to do this past week).

Netting, More or Less - One Step Closer to Done

2011-10-22T23:12:00.000-04:00

The video transcripts for Netting, More or Less are finished! Videos, transcripts, and patterns are all colored brown on the syllabus! That means the class will be done and ready for people to take as soon as I get the classroom set up and everything uploaded to it.

It would be great to say that will happen during this coming week; however, I need to finish the Mistborn cloak for my son by Saturday. I hope to finish both - but this week the costume comes first.

Last week I showed a photo of a snood with a flat bow. Over the last few of weeks I finished a couple more snoods with flat bows.

Black and White Snoods, Finished Videos

2011-10-15T22:23:00.000-04:00

Several years ago I made some black and white snoods. I had fun putting black bows on white snoods and white bows on black snoods. I put a black bow on a black and white snood, but I forgot to put a white bow on the black and white snood. Well, last week I took care of that problem.

I made a black and white snood and put a white bow in it.

As I was looking through my snood photos, I realized that I had never posted my flat bow snood. So, even though I made it a while back, here is a different bow variation.

This week I didn't get much netting done. Instead, I worked on my son's Halloween costume - not quite finished. I also worked on the last two instructional videos for my "Netting, More or Less" class - FINISHED! If you look at the syllabus for the course, you will notice that I already have the patterns completed. That just leaves the video transcripts. I plan to put photos with them this week.

Netting around the Net

2011-10-08T22:20:00.001-04:00

About a year ago I found a marvelous netting needle. I mentioned it in a post. Then one day I went to look at it again and it was gone. Today I learned that the shop is back up, including the English version. It was great to see the netting needle again. Now I get to start saving my pennies again.

Today I also found that Barry Brown has updated his blog. While browsing in his net making section I found a wonderful looking hammock. Now, to get him to share his pattern.

I've been working on the videos for Netting, More or Less. I'm got two left to finish and they are both partially done. I would love to finish them up on Monday and Tuesday, but I've promised my son to work on a Mistborn cloak for Halloween on Monday. He doesn't think I can get it done in a day. We'll see.

Third Spiral Gift Bag for a Baby

2011-10-01T21:34:00.001-04:00

With three baby showers within a month, it's a good thing all the rectangular bags are done for Netting, More or Less. I am ready to move from rectangular bags to spiral bags for a little variety.

This one is similar in size to the two I finished last week.

The handles are the same straight design as the other blue bag, however the mesh stick used was smaller. This creates a firmer, easier-to-find handle.

The increases and grommet are also different.

In this bag all the increases are added in just two locations. The two loops between the handles - that were created when the handles were joined together.

There was no decreasing before the grommet was made. While the grommet is bigger than the other spiral net bags, the hole is still smaller than the meshes.

A Second Net Spiral Bag

2011-09-24T23:33:00.001-04:00

This week I finished the second net bag for the double baby shower.

It is also done as a spiral from the top, so it does look similar to the bag I finished last week.

However, since I have a hard time repeating the same pattern over and over unless I have a good reason, there are some differences.

First, the handles. They look different because of where the increases are placed.

Beginning about half way down the handle, the pink bag, made last week, has increases placed along the edges of the handle. This creates a triangular shaped as the handle nears the bag.

The blue bag has a straight handle. The increases are all added in the same row, just after the size of the mesh stick changes.

Another way the bags differ is in how the decreases that form the bottom of the bag are placed and the number of loops that are pulled together for the decreases.

The pink bag pulls the loops together in groups of three on one row. The grommet is formed in the next row. The blue bag decrease only 5 times on one row and then decreases directly below those decreases on two more rows. After those three decrease rows a grommet in the following row. This formed a five-sided shape on the bottom of the blue bag.

Both bags were filled with my favorite baby bibs and the net handles were tied into a bow.

Spiral Net Gift Bag

2011-09-17T23:27:00.000-04:00

Next Saturday I have a double baby shower to attend. This week I was able to finish the bag for the expected girl. The photos show the bag both with and without the bibs that will accompany it.

This bag is made from the top down. The handle is made in two pieces. After each piece is made they are joined together on one end to form the circular mouth of the bag. The other ends of the handle sections are tied together in a square knot. Once the mouth of the bag is created, I just net around and around the circle until it is as long as I want it to be. Then I formed a grommet at the bottom of the bag.

Net Gift Bag

2011-09-10T23:07:00.000-04:00

Several years ago I decided to net a small gift bag to hold the bibs I was giving as a baby shower gift. The bag could be used to hold the bibs or whatever the mother wanted to put in it.

This month I have three baby showers to attend. So I net this Small Rectangular Bag for the one tonight.

Once the bag was done, I added the bibs.

This will be the last Small Rectangular Net Bag I will make for a while. I need to make some circular and spiral ones so I can have some photos for those classes.

A Netting Riddle

2011-09-03T22:13:00.001-04:00

What do these two pictures have in common?

Post your answers in the comments section below.

To see my answer, click here.

New Netting Tools

2011-08-27T21:51:00.000-04:00

Recently I acquired some new netting ~~toys~~ tools from Marie-Jo at FILET LACE BY THE SEA. I have enjoyed looking at them and ~~playing with~~ using them.

They feel so smooth I could just keep rubbing them all day. I have not yet tried the two smaller ones, but I have used the largest. It's narrower than my white plastic one, but since it is thicker, it produces the same size meshes.

Along with the mesh sticks came the needle on the left.

I got the needle on the right after Marie-Jo showed me some photos of a few handmade netting needles she had. I am so glad I ordered one. It is so much sturdier than the other needles I have seen (like the one next to it in the photo). So, if you are looking for small netting needles for fine netting, contact her.

How does your garden grow? With diamond-mesh and square-mesh trellis

2011-08-20T13:26:00.004-04:00

It's been just over a month since I "planted" the last of my trellises. I was out weeding today and decided to show you that the trellises are no longer empty.

The beans have completely taken over this trellis. In a couple of cases the vines reached the top, went over, and started growing down the other side.

While not all the vine plants are taking over the trellis at the rate the beans are, they are attaching and climbing up.

And it does not seem to matter whether the mesh is square or diamond shaped.

I call it Netting - others call it Modano Lace?

2011-08-13T13:55:00.015-04:00

This week I received an email from a friend on the other side of the country. She sent me a link to an article written many years ago by her mother. The article, about 9 pages into the May 1980 issue of International Old Lacers (page 92 in the actual paper copy), was titled Modano Lace and was by Bertha Cragun of Washington. Judging by the drawings that accompany her description of how to start the center of a doily as well as the text of her explanation, I would say she is talking about the type of netting my grandmother taught me. She also tells how to create a tool holder for needles, mesh sticks, and other tools.

I had never heard of Modano Lace. So I did what any internet user would do - I Googled the phrase. Once I got rid of the dinnerware and the hockey players, I found another issue of the International Old Lacers, this time from January 1980. About 12 pages into the file, or page 52 in the paper copy, I found another article about Modano Lace written by Bertha Cragun of Washington. This article, titled "Circle It," contained "...things you can do with a circle --- of Modano Lace, ..." These things include "a charming skirt for a Shirley Temple collector doll," a pillowcase decoration, a "Lacy Shawl," a "Garden Hat," and a 6-pointed star. There are photos of all these items and basic instructions. It certainly looks like my kind of netting.

Both issues of International Old Lacers were located on a section of the University of Arizona's website. When I searched that section for Modano, I found the following tidbits of information:

On page 12 of A Guide to Old and New Lace in Italy:

"Modano, a very ancient net lace that is made without any embroidery is quite artistic in effect. The meshes of Modano may be large or small, round, square or shell-shaped, according to the size and form of the stick which is held in the left hand and the number of meshes taken or skipped in knotting into the row above. This netting can be varied indefinitely; it is often very pretty and to the untrained eye, it greatly resembles some of the varieties of pillow lace." (Brazzà, Cora A. A Guide to Old and New Lace in Italy, Exhibited at Chicago in 1893. Chicago: W.B. Conkey, 1893.)

And, in the Old Lace Manual

"Lacis: -- See Punto a maglia, Sfilatura, Modano, Filet, Netzarbeir. The ground net work is usually of linen thread, sometimes in colored silk, green, brown, and yellow a favorite combination. Square meshes, darned in with patterns, crossing and interlacing threads. Made from the beginning of the XV century, till the present time. The earliest designs, conventional diapers, religious emblems, two birds divided by the sacred tree, etc."

"Modano: --See Lacis. The early was not generally embroidered, but had knotted meshes in different shapes. Italian square meshed knotted lace, in white linen thread and colored silks, the design darned in. made in all countries, and in each century, after XIV." (Kohlsaat, Amy Milton. Old Lace Manual. New York: Privately Printed, 1910.)

So, do any of you know more about Modano Lace and how it relates to netting? Does anyone know how Modano Lace relates to Mezza Mandolina? If you know, please comment, so the rest of us can learn.

Net Gifts: Beautiful, Practical, and Unique

2011-08-06T23:36:00.004-04:00

Knowing how to net has given me the ability to create unique gifts for people in my life. This week has been no exception.

A young woman I have known since she was born was married in April in beautiful New Zealand. On Friday her parents held an open house for her and her new husband. I figured that weight would be at a premium as they returned to New Zealand, so I made the young couple a net doily.

Double Star is about 14" in diameter.

I still needed to make three more gifts this week. So I decided to make some 3" doilies. Yes, I can count. I made 4 doilies. I wanted to give those three people the opportunity to choose. Besides, I may keep one for myself.

Flower

Tier

Web

Well

Somehow a 3" doily did not seem like enough, so I decided to place each doily in a coaster.

I really like the way they turned out.

Beautiful, practical, and definitely unique.

For the first time in a long time, I found myself netting with thread instead of yarn. It felt different, but I enjoyed working with size 20 crochet thread and size 70 tatting thread.

What is a Chain of Netting?

2011-07-30T22:24:00.000-04:00

Most people are familiar with a chain of crochet. The crochet chain is one way to start a crochet project. The chain is also useful as a cord. Some people even use it to start knitting.

A chain of netting serves some of the same purposes. It is a way to start a netting project, and I have used it as a cord.

While working on the videos for my upcoming class Netting, More or Less, I put together a short video discussing a net chain, what it is, and when to use it. Come on over to Rita's Netting Nook, where you can view the video.

What is Square Mesh Netting?

2011-07-23T21:34:00.000-04:00

This month I mentioned square-mesh netting and trellises in the same blog more than once. I realized, because of this, some may think that a trellis is the only thing you can make with square-mesh netting. That is far from the truth. Come over to Rita's Netting Nook and view an introductory video about square-mesh netting.

Rectangles in Square-Mesh Netting

2011-07-16T00:00:00.003-04:00

For the past several weeks I've been working with square mesh netting. Several of the trellises I made were with square meshes rather than diamond meshes. By the time I had finished those trellises, I had the directions for making a square of square-mesh netting written and well tested. This week I have been working with square-mesh netting again - but with rectangles instead of squares. I made four different samples.

Two had an even number of squares across the width.

Two had an odd number of squares across the width.

I also made sure that the samples included two with an even number of squares along the length and two with an odd number of squares. I carefully wrote down the directions, for both the width and the length, noting the changes that occurred when an even or odd number of squares was wanted. I thought I had the directions figured out and accurately put into the computer.

I guess it was a good thing I looked at my garden yesterday and noticed that the tomato plants at one end of one garden box were starting to sprawl all over the place. The poor tomato plants were in need of a trellis of their own - the one spot in the garden where I had not already supplied one!

We picked up the materials to make the frame, and last night I found some unused seine twine Mason Line to use for the netting. As I was netting the trellis, I found a mistake in the instructions that I thought were all finished and correct. I guess it pays to check and double check the instructions.

And this morning, with the help of my youngest son, we threaded the netting onto the frame.

The tomato plants are no longer sprawling; they are climbing instead. I even saw a few small, green tomatoes.

Net Doilies and Networking Dreams

2011-07-09T17:03:00.003-04:00

I had other ideas for this blog until I sat down at the computer and read two blog posts this morning, and I have been thinking about them both all day. So, while I have been busy making another video for the upcoming class, I'm not going to talk about the class. You will just have to visit the syllabus for the class and see for yourself what I've done. And I'm not going to send you to Rita's Netting Nook today to get the rest of the blog, either.

Now for those posts that have stuck with me all day.

The first was Round Knotted Netting. The net doilies shown there are simply gorgeous. There are also a couple of links that show more net doilies. Be sure to look at those doilies also.

As I looked at these doilies, my fingers started itching to start another project. Only time will tell who wins - me or my fingers. Seeing these lovely doilies makes me want to start right now on my next class, Netting Around, which will deal with circular netting (including doilies), instead of finishing Netting, More or Less, the current class I'm working on.

The second post talks about social networking, but with a twist. It points out that :

"The truth is that all the social networking and Internet ‘world shrinking’ is making us more distant. It’s virtual connection. There are only two ways to make it real – real world interactions, interactions that are so strong (because of shared passion or shared purpose) that they are nearly as good as real world interactions."

It mentions there are three ways that a social based network could help make the network less virtual and more real.

"Help people make real friends. A shared passion is perhaps one of the best ways to build great friendships."
"Strengthen the art/pursuit itself. You help people get more of what they want . . ."
"Provide recurring real human connection. Not the meaningless type of ‘who has the longest friends list’ type of connection – the real human connection where both of you are in love with . . ."

While this post began by talking about Ravelry and then about books and reading, I immediately thought about Rita's Netting Nook. This is the kind of experience I want us to have. In order for us to achieve that, I need your help. What do you want (as far as netting goes)? More netting patterns, more basic instructions, more advanced stitches, less of me asking you questions? Help me out.

Net Trellises in the Garden

2011-07-02T12:11:00.003-04:00

Back in 2007 our family tried a new approach to gardening - a couple of Square-Foot-Garden boxes. At that time I made some 4 foot by 6 foot net trellises to match the larger frame shape and some 4 foot by 4 foot ones for the smaller frame shape.

This year we had more plants that wanted to climb than we had squares in which to put them. We decided to try the frames without the Square-Foot boxes. A couple of weeks ago we bought the supplies, set up the frames (5 feet by 5 feet), and planted the seeds. My goal was to get the six net trellises made before the plants needed them.

It turned out to be an opportunity for me to practice making squares of square-mesh netting in preparation for my upcoming class, "Netting, More or Less," where I will be teaching about square-mesh netting. It took me three trellises to get the written instructions to match what I was actually doing.

That left me with three more to finish, and I was beginning to get bored with repeating the same pattern over and over. I started thinking, "What would happen if . . .

To find out what I was thinking of experimenting with and how the final net trellises turned out, come join us in Rita's Netting Nook.

Netting Without a Mesh Stick

2011-06-25T21:52:00.001-04:00

Most of the time when you net, a mesh stick is used to create uniform-sized meshes. There are a few times, though, when the mesh stick needs to be discarded, eliminated, not used. This technique is one of the skills taught in "Netting, More or Less," the class I'm currently preparing.

On Rita's Netting Nook I have a short video which discusses when I don't use a mesh stick.

Netting Knots: The Same or Not?

2011-06-18T19:06:00.000-04:00

A few weeks ago I was asked if the structure of the netting knot remained the same, no matter what it was called or which method was used to tie it.

I figured the best way to answer that question would be by video so you could see the examples and come to your own conclusion.

Come on over to Rita's Netting Nook and see what your answer might be.

Naming a Netting Stitch

2011-06-11T17:36:00.000-04:00

Where do you go when you want to know the name of a netting stitch?

The last few weeks I have shown you a variety of stitches that use increases, decreases, or a combination of both. The names used in those videos are the names by which I know the stitches.

Finding the name of a netting stitch used to be quite a problem for me. The video that recaps my experience in finding the names of netting stitches is located on Nook News. Come on over at take a look.

More Netting Stitches

2011-06-04T19:31:00.001-04:00

If the tornado's destructive path had been about a mile further north on Wednesday, this blog may not have been sent. However, since it did not, you get this entry.

The last couple of weeks I have shown you some netting increase and decrease stitches. What happens if you put an increase stitch and a decrease stitch together?

Come on over to Rita's Netting Nook and take a look at the video posted on Nook News to find the answer.

Decreases video finished for Netting, More or Less

2011-05-28T19:01:00.003-04:00

Last week I gave you a sneak-peak at the introductory Increases video. I just finished another introductory video. It's about Decreases.

Why decreases? Well, since last week covered the More in the class title, it seemed only fair to look at the Less portion of the title.

You don't see a video here? That's because it's found at Nook News located on Rita's Netting Nook. Come on over and take a look.

First Video Finished for "Netting, More or Less" class

2011-05-21T21:49:00.001-04:00

Hurray! The first video for the new netting class is done! I've still got over a dozen more to go, but this one is done.

"What's the video about?" you ask.

Increasing. It explains the "More" in the title of the class. It gives some background, discusses increasing in netting, explains some of my terms, and shows some of the stitches created by just increasing.

I was going to be mean, give you all this hype about it, and then say you had to take the class to see it. I was. . . Say, why don't you come over to Nook News at Rita's Netting Nook and see what I decided to do?

Netting, More or Less: a class dealing with increases and decreases

2011-04-11T22:45:00.000-04:00

Time seems to be flying by as usual. My new netting class is beginning to take shape.

I did finally finish the Projects Page for my new netting class. It took longer than I had planned, but is now up. I also added a Supplies Page and a tentative list of the videos and handouts (otherwise known as the Syllabus) that will be included in the class.

Oh, yes, I did decide to include the snood pattern in the class.

Why do favorite authors have to die?

2011-03-31T14:29:00.001-04:00

It's happened again. One of my favorite authors, Diana Wynne Jones, recently died and there have been many blogs written in response. Since I never personally knew her, I am grateful to those who were able to share some of their memories with us, like Patricia Wrede, Robin McKinley, Neil Gaiman, and Emma Bull.

I began reading her books in the 1970. Because I was a young mother, married to a college student, one of my favorite places to visit was the local public library. Since there was no inter-library loan in those days, I was stuck reading whatever the library had in their possession. I do remember reading Dogsbody, Cart and Cwidder, Drowned Ammet, and The Spellcoats. I think I also read Charmed Life, The Magicians of Caprona, The Homeward Bounders, Witch Week, Howl's Moving Castle, and Archer's Goon at this time.

Then we moved again to a town where the library did not have any of her books and no way to request them. One day, while visiting a local bookstore I found the complete Dalemark series including the fourth one, which I had not read. I decided to splurge and get it.

Once the library had free inter-library loan available I made sure to request all of her books that I could. I made sure to introduce my children to this wonderful author.

Links to the past: Net hairnets and snoods

2011-03-21T19:57:00.000-04:00

I just found a wonderful list of links to hairnets (snoods). Some are net with embroidery; some have the design net into them; all are different and beautiful. A special thanks to Alys for compiling the list and for Alwen for directing me to it.

Progress is being made toward the second beginning netting class in Rita's Netting Nook. I think I've decided on the techniques that will be taught (increases, decreases, square mesh netting, and creating a net chain), finished the first time through the patterns that will be included (more rectangular bags, more headbands, dishcloths, and maybe a hairnet / snood), and photographed half the finished projects. I am almost ready to start writing scripts and filming the videos.

If I do decide to include a pattern for a hairnet or snood, it would be this one.

I hope to have the photos up on a new Projects page posted on Rita's Netting Nook by the end of next week (if not earlier).

Oh, the weather outside . . .

2011-02-12T23:02:00.002-05:00

The past few weeks have been filled with ice, snow, and schools closed because of ice and snow. I just read that in the month of January alone we got 40.5" of snow. So far in February we have had 15.7" and since November we have had a whopping 63.1" of snow. The record for snowfall for this area was set at 107.7" back in 1996.

While I have been doing netting and knitting, some of my time (more than I'd like) has been spent shoveling the driveway with a snow shovel and the help of two sons who are still at home . . .

. . . and moving the snow off the roof of the carport. We measured about 20" and figured we had better remove it before the next storm.

The poor mailbox is almost hidden in the piles of snow that surround it.

This week is the first week since Christmas break that school has been held every day. I'm hoping the last part of February and the month of March will be easier on us than January and the first half of February have been.

I've got my boys to help me shovel

2011-01-12T12:43:00.003-05:00

Yesterday I was reading an e-mail from someone about my age who was commenting on the fact that she just had herself, her husband, and a cat at home. I found myself wondering how that would feel. This morning I decided not to envy her at all.

When I woke up and looked outside, the overnight snowfall had the snow higher than the three steps to my front door. When I opened the screen door, it bushed the top of the snow.

I had forgotten that snow could get this deep. At this point we figure it was about 20 inches. Plenty of snow for me for one day, but it is still coming down.

Looking Up to the Front Door

Looking Down from the Front Door

I am grateful that I have two strong sons who are still living at home and who can help me shovel my way out of what Mother Nature so kindly dropped on our doorstep. No need to get a snow blower yet.

Receiving His Gift

2010-12-24T20:02:00.004-05:00

God’s gift to the world when Jesus was born is ours to enjoy all year long.
Each day can be brightened with peace and good will as the angels proclaimed in their song.

Worried souls can be calmed, broken hearts can be healed if we listen and truly believe
In His teachings and power to transform our lives. Let us open our hearts and receive.

We receive His gift fully by doing His will. It’s not ours if we simply admire.
By our taking His hand and our following Him, it’s our legacy, full and entire.

Does someone have burdens I might help to lift or tears I could help cease to flow
Or wounds I could heal that I know nothing of or need comfort that I could bestow?

I’m already busy, of course; aren’t we all? Our schedules we needn’t belabor.
Even if I had time, I have scarcely a dime I can spare for a friend or a neighbor.

So why should I worry about other people? I’ve got such a big load to pull.
And then through my protests I hear words profound: Serving others enlarges your soul.

In serving your fellows, you’re serving your Lord. As you have done unto the least,
So have you done unto the greatest of all. And your love and your joy are increased.

So come unto God as you give of yourself, and thereby you are storing up treasure
In heaven. Meanwhile here on earth you will give and receive sheaves of joy beyond measure.

Don’t tackle the world. Start small, close to home. And gradually you’ll come to know
The difference that even small efforts can make. From little starts good things can grow.

Merry Christmas to All
December 2010

Each year since 1971 my husband and I have crafted a Christmas poem. This poem is number 39.

"Net Like A Lacemaker" Class Is Done

2010-12-20T15:02:00.005-05:00

It's done, it's DONE, IT'S FINALLY DONE!

You can finally register to take my basic netting class - "Net Like a Lacemaker."

I feel like I've been working toward this forever, even though it's only been a year. But now the class is ready (at least I hope it's ready).

All the instruction videos are done.
All the handouts are done.
All the patterns have been made (at least twice).
All the pattern instructions are written.

It's time to actually hold the class and hope the nice, wonderful, understanding people registering for the class will work with me in taking care of any problems that come up.

There are a couple of things you need to know about registering for this class:

Class size is limited this time.
You need to join Rita's Netting Nook as a free member or login if you are already a member.
Register for the class.
Get the supplies you will need for the class.
Wait until Jan. 3, 2011 when the classroom opens.

Basic information about the class:

Cost: $35 USD
Start Date: 3 Jan 2011
Length: 8 weeks

If you want to see what is included in the class, look at the syllabus.

If you have questions or problems registering, contact me.

I hope to see you there.

"Net Like A Lacemaker" Class Is Almost Done

2010-11-27T23:16:00.003-05:00

It’s been almost a year since I started Stefanie Japel’s very informative class: How to Teach an Online Class Workshop. The class started November 30, 2009.

While I was hoping to get my beginning netting class finished and open for students many months ago, I am very excited to report that I just finished another video and accompanying handout. I only have one video left to get done, and I’m half way done with it. Check out the syllabus to see what will be included in the class (and which video still needs to be finished).

This past year has certainly been one learning experience after another.

Instructional Handouts for Netting Class

2010-11-01T16:09:00.004-04:00

I finally met a goal in connection with my netting class. (I wondered if I ever would considering the way things have gone for the past 9 months.)

I said by Nov 1 I would have the handouts for Net Like a Lacemaker posted for view and I do!

There are a couple of things that should be stated. These handouts can only be viewed by members of the site. Since that is a free membership, I don't see a problem.

Second, these handouts do not contain anything pertaining to the patterns that will be used in the class.

That being said, go take a look. Then come back and give me some comments.

Basic Netting Instructions Coming

2010-10-23T22:10:00.003-04:00

After working part-time (8-11 hours a week) for 7 years as a custodian for my church, I will no longer be paid to clean the meetinghouse. The church has decided to turn the cleaning of the meetinghouse over to all the members. This was my first week of not being responsible to have the church clean. It felt a bit strange. It also felt wonderful.

Now I have time to work on my netting class!

I have also come to a decision this week. As a special thank-you to all who have signed up for membership on Rita's Netting Nook, and have been patiently waiting for me to finish Netting Like a Lacemaker, I'm going to release the basic netting handouts for the class in PDF format. My plan is to do it on or before November 1, 2010 (though we all know where my plans have taken us this past year). This release will not include anything to do with the patterns. I'm still working on finishing them.

So, keep watching here or at Nook News for updates.

P.S. As soon as you sign up for the free membership you are eligible to look at and download the handouts -- once I have them posted.

I Love the Internet

2010-09-04T23:08:00.007-04:00

Isn't the Internet wonderful.

I was looking for something yesterday and stumbled across some wonderful netting blog entries from A Stitch in Time.

I don't remember what I was looking for or even whether I found it, but I fell in love with the netting needle shown in Netting Needles, part II and Hairnets, part III.

Now to figure out how can I justify spending 55 Euro (about $70 USD) on one netting needle.

Netting Needles, part I
Netting Needles, part II

Hairnets, part I
Hairnets, part II
Hairnets, part III
Hairnet, current status
Hairnet finished - well, almost...
New Hairnet
Hairnet: Finished and Reloaded
News about Netting!
Hairnets, part IV
Work weekend, here I come.

New Home for Rita's Netting Nook

2010-08-14T20:34:00.005-04:00

At the end of February I announced the opening of Rita’s Netting Nook (nettingnook.ning.com). It contained 3 free pre-netting classes. I hoped to put the first netting class together faster than I had done the pre-classes. It didn’t work out that way.

On May 3rd I blogged about how close I was to being ready with the class. On May 4th Ning sent out a message stating that by July their sites would no longer be free. (They have since given site owners until August 20th to choose a paid option.)

It soon became evident that only the most expensive option would allow me to use video the way I wanted to in my classes. Since there were other features of Ning that I did not like, including a limit on the number of classes I could offer, I decided to look for something that would better meet my needs.

So, for the past several months I have been busy creating a new home for Rita’s Netting Nook.

The new home for Rita's Netting Nook is nettingnook.com.

Come join us. Register for Free Membership.

As of August 19th nettingnook.NING.com will close.

Since I am still building parts of the site, there may be some things that are not yet finished. I appreciate your understanding and working with me. Feel free to make suggestions; just realize that I may not be able to implement them as quickly as either of us would like. Much of my time will be spent finishing up the videos for my class. I really want to make my class available to those who want to learn to net.

Since you have been so patient with me, I want to share some of the handouts and maybe a video that I have prepared for Net Like a Lacemaker, my beginning netting class. Keep an eye on the class syllabus and we'll see how quickly I can put something up for members.

A Water Bottle Bag

2010-05-12T17:57:00.011-04:00

Several weeks ago I was busily netting away at the local library's Knit-Along. The conversation turned to net bags, and particularly how well a net bag would hold a water bottle. One family seemed very interested, so I committed to make at least one for the daughter on the condition that I could take pictures of the bag being used.

Today I remembered to take my video camera to the Knit-Along, and they remembered to bring the bag and a water bottle. So, thanks to Dora and her mother, here is how to use the long-handled net water bottle bag. (Please excuse the background noise; the Knit-Along was right around the corner and there were many people there today.)

If you would like to make a water bottle bag like this one, come on over to Rita's Netting Nook. The first class, which will include this pattern, is almost ready.

String Bag Patterns for Upcoming Online Netting Class

2010-05-03T20:38:00.011-04:00

And I thought the free netting classes took time to create. I've really not been playing video games with my son but I have finished 12 videos with 5 more to go for my first netting class. Some days I feel like I'll never get it done; then other days I think it'll be done in a couple of weeks. I hadn't realized it would take months to complete.

Besides working on handouts and videos I have been working on some patterns that are easy but useful.

First, there are a couple of water bottle bags.

Then there are medium sized bags. Some have short handles; some have long handles.
This one is even filled with baby bibs for a baby shower.
Finally there is the full size large shopping bag.

Rita's Netting Nook

2010-02-27T11:32:00.010-05:00

It's taken much longer than I thought it would, but

Rita's Netting Nook is now online.

[For updated information see this later post.]

There are photos, forums, videos, and opportunities to chat.

There is even some free classes that shows what my online classes will be like. The classes have videos and handouts about:

netting equipment and where to find it

knots you should know before learning to net

how to fill netting needles and shuttles

Come visit.

Happy New Year - - to the winner

2010-01-02T21:46:00.006-05:00

And the winner of a Klein Bottle Bag is . . .

Bettina Groh.

Congratulations Bettina.

Happy New Year everyone.

Klein Bottle Bag

2009-12-14T18:23:00.004-05:00

Would you like your very own klein bottle bag? Just make a comment and tell how would you use it. On New Year's Day (or soon thereafter) I'll draw a name from among those that comment. The winner will receive their own Klein Bottle Bag.

To learn more about Klein Bottles check out Acme Klein Bottle.

Anyone besides me want a Klein Bottle Hat?

Variety Is the Spice of Life

2009-12-12T21:03:00.016-05:00

I decided to try something new -- a video instead of photos.

Gift Bags

2009-11-06T14:40:00.006-05:00

Before leaving for a three-week trip to visit grandchildren I found myself making bibs and gift bags for new arrivals (my standard baby shower / new baby present).

Of the four I made, each was different, though they all used size 3 crochet thread and a 3/8" mesh stick. I seem to have a problem repeating a pattern (unless it's a necessity) when there are so many potential combinations in my mind.

This lovely bag started at the bottom with a 28-loop grommet. The two handles are each twisted into a moebius. That means, technically speaking, the bag has only one surface and should really not be able to hold anything - except it does. I still have a hard time understanding that, when it holds the baby bibs so nicely.

This pretty-in-pink bag started with a grommet of 13 loops. The Medieval increase stitch doubled the number of loops to 26. The single handle is 13 loops wide.

This light blue bag starts at the top with the handles. While I could have joined the handles with a twist to create two moebius handles, I decided to make these handles straight. The bottom of the bag had a couple of decrease rows to bring the number of loops from 24 to 12 and finally to 6. The grommet at the bottom is the last thing formed.

The dark blue bag started out like the pink bag, but with 16 instead of 13 loops in the grommet. It's a bit hard to see, but half way up the bag (right where the green bib is) I added a few rows of the eyelet stitch. The single handle is 16 loops wide.

Shrugs - Knit and Net

2009-09-19T11:04:00.018-04:00

About Christmas time I found a shrug pattern I wanted to try. It looked quick and easy. It also looked like a shrug I would wear. I mentioned it to my husband and, wonderful man that he is, he bought it for me. I was right. It was quick and easy to make and I love wearing it. In fact, I've made more than one.

So finally, here is my version of Sherry's Easy Shrug.

When I visited my daughter-in-law in Missouri this past July I gave her the green shrug I had made and asked her if she would like a light weight net one as well (similar to the one I blogged about in April ). She wanted one! She even found me some yarn to make it. It's only taken me 2 months to get the photos from my thumb-drive to the blog. Much faster than Sherry's Easy Shrug which only had to move from my computer to the blog.

Here the shrug is viewed from the back.
The arm is stretched out to show the continuous flow from back to sleeve.

Above is a front and back view of my daughter-in-law wearing the shrug.

Below is a front and back view of me wearing the same shrug.

The color of the blouse under the shrug appears to change the color of the shrug.

Because of the yarn used, worsted weight for this shrug and Red Heart's Light and Lofty for the previously made one, the plain netting stitch shows more clearly in this shrug. That makes it looks like a different pattern. I also love the fact that netting stretches so easily. We can both wear the shrug even though I am smaller than she is.

It appears that my blogging time is gone, gone, and really gone. So the net Klein bottle bag, also from my Missouri trip will have to wait until next time.

Where did the summer go?

2009-09-05T14:10:00.009-04:00

I left for a short vacation just after my last blog - a visit with a new grandson. When I returned I could never seem to catch up with what was going on. After I sent my youngest daughter across country to college a couple of weeks ago, I was sure I could find time to make a blog entry. Alas, even with just one child home, and in high school at that, time vanished faster than freshly baked cookies.

So today I decided to just grab a few minutes while no one else is around and show off some photos that have been waiting way too long in a folder on my desktop.

Several months ago I became fascinated with reversible cables. I made a hat and a couple of scarves.

The Palindrome Hat, shown here with the brim up ...

and here with the brim down, was fun to make. It is slated to be given away and will probably go to Warmer Winters.

Having tried one version of reversible cables I wanted to explore some more. I looked online and found several. Some of the reversible cables I looked at were Tangy, Reversible Cabled Brioche Stitch Scarf, and Irish Hiking Scarf.

I designed the cables for this scarf using some of the principles I learned through browsing online. I really liked the fact that they were reversible, but they required a bit more concentration than I wanted to exert when needing to do mindless knitting.

Then one day I noticed a friend wearing an elegant looking scarf. When I asked her about it, she told me that it was very simple to make and reversible. So I tried it. It's called the Wexler Scarf.

That's all the time I have to spare today. Netting show and tell (such as a klein-bottle bag)will have to wait until I can find or make a few spare blogging moments.

Scarves using a variety of netting stitches

2009-07-06T18:51:00.015-04:00

I wanted to try some different netting stitches. Scarves are the perfect way to do this. So, here are five more scarves with different stitches and with different edges on the ends of the scarves.

This scarf is made using a combination of the Crisscross Stitch and plain netting, with a pointed end.

Here are two scarves made using the Lantern Stitch. Each has a different edge stitch at the end.

The Narrow Lantern Stitch Scarf on the left ends with a Sawtooth Edge.

The Wide Lantern Stitch Scarf on the right ends with an Acorn Edge.

This scarf uses the Spike Stitch.

The edge is the Lacy Pointed Edge.

This stitch is called Diagonal Netting.

In the photo on the right, the stitch is stretched out more than the one on the left.

The edge is similar to the Ice Cream Cone Edge, but the ice cream part is longer and the cones start right on the edge of the row instead of 3 loops into the row.

Teacher Gifts - part 2

2009-06-25T07:41:00.004-04:00

My youngest son and I negotiated. Doilies for his teachers - smaller and fewer knots. He also suggested that 5 would be great (instead of 9). So I have been netting doilies. The first doilies were finished on schedule.

Ruffle (small)

Foxfire

Chocolate Chip Cookie

I was ready to continue with the 7.5" doilies that he had selected when I received a new book in the mail. Malla was filled with gorgeous doilies having a different look than mine usually do. Though I loved the style, they were much too time-consuming to make right now with an end-of-the-school-year deadline. So, for the final two doilies for my son's teachers, I based the designs on the style of the doilies found in Malla.

Fireworks Display

Waterfalls

They were a bit larger, with more knots, than the other doilies, but I told my son I would not hold him responsible for my creativity. They were also finished in plenty of time for him to deliver them to his teachers.

Another wedding announcement arrived in the mail from a nephew. Fortunately, I was almost done with a doily using one of my grandmother's patterns.

Center Star

I quickly finished it and sent it with my husband when he traveled west for his mother's 90th birthday celebration.

Caul

2009-06-24T17:05:00.005-04:00

Several weeks ago I was sent a link to this lovely caul. Although I am still trying to figure out how to make the stitch, I was interested in making something similar -- and simple. So I called upon a friend who is involved with SCA (Society for Creative Anachronism) and together we came up with the following caul in plain netting

as seen from the back and the side.

It was fun. Now to try some different stitches

and wait for my hair to grow out again. Yesterday my youngest daughter and I donated our hair to Locks of Love. Her hair was barely the required 10 inches, mine was well over 12 inches. It's been almost two years for my daughter and close to two and a half years for me.

Now I either have to figure out how to attach a caul without braiding my hair first, or wait a year or so until it is long enough to play with again.

Teacher Gifts

2009-06-05T08:44:00.011-04:00

It's that time of year again when my children look at me and ask for gifts for their teachers. So, for my youngest daughter who graduates from high school next week, I made four doilies for four teachers / counselors who had made an impact on her high school experience.

I did ask that each doily have 3,000 knots or less and that she choose from the doilies that I wanted to remake. Several of my doilies were made and photocopied before I got my digital camera. That was fine if the doily was less than 8.5 inches. If it was over that measurement, parts of the doily got chopped off in the photocopy. Since the doilies were usually given away as gifts, to obtain a full photo I need to remake the doily.

My daughter made her choices and I began. Everything worked just fine for Summer. I finished it, starched it, and displayed it for a knitting group I attend. They had never seen a net doily and loved it. I even let them choose which one I should start next.

Summer

They liked the partial photocopy I had of Eyelet and so I started it right there. Within a couple of days I had finished this doily also.

Eyelet

I decided to make Delicate since it had fewer knots than either of the others and should work up quickly. Then I could take two newly completed doilies with me the next time the knitting group met.

This doily hated me. It did not want to get completed. Usually I can net and listen to what is going on around me, so I took the doily with me to my daughter's class day. I really can't blame the first problem on class day since I was already on round 13 when I arrived there.

Somehow I missed adding one loop during round 11, which I did not notice until near the end of round 14. I decided to fix that spot by cutting back 3 rows in just that one area. I did not feel like cutting off 3 rounds of netting and there were too many knots to even consider untying each one individually. I was able to make the repairs and continue on round 14.

On round 16 I misread the instructions and did not notice until that evening when I was finishing round 19. I could have cut back to round 15 and tried again, but I decided to keep what I had and create a new doily pattern. After 3 false starts I decided how I would decrease to get to the "correct" number of loops.

Like I said earlier, this doily did not like me, or maybe I was just tired. At any rate, when I arrived at round 22 ready to start the edge, I realized that I had twice as many loops as I had wanted. There was no pretty way to decrease at this point in the doily. I decided that I had put enough effort into this new doily and did not want to cut back to round 15, so I went ahead and made the cube edge even though the doily was fuller than I like for that edge.

So instead of Delicate, I now had Party, which I took to the knitting group along with Eyelet.

Party

I also ended up with a new decrease stitch I decided to call Cupcake.

I was determined to complete Delicate, so I started again. This time I finished it with minimal trouble.

Delicate

* * * * *

This is also the time of year for weddings. So I have finished two more doilies for weddings.

Maypole (large)

Muse

It looks like I will have at least one more doily to make for an upcoming wedding.

Then yesterday my youngest said, "Mom, do you think you could do some doilies for my teachers?" As a high school freshman he has 8 classes plus shop, and there are just over two weeks before he is done with school. We may have to negotiate. . . .

Scarves, Scarves, and More Scarves

2009-05-09T16:08:00.017-04:00

This was a fun scarf to make. Once I cast on 30 stitches and then went circular with a knit 1, yarn over, repeated around for the first round it was just mindless knitting. Good for watching a video with the family. I knit about 24 inches before I cast off.

Casting off was scary. The easiest way to do it was to slip a stitch, drop a stitch all the way around. Once that was done, it was just a matter of binding off loosely. The catch is that you have to drop the stitch that was originally a yarn over in the first round. If you do it wrong, the whole scarf falls apart.

The fun part is where you intentionally drop the stitches all the way down to the yarn over.

The scarf grows from 2 feet long to 6 feet long and the knit stitches expand.

I folded the tube of knitting into a long, flat scarf and tied the tube together at the ends with the fringe. That way the scarf was double thick.

I wanted to see how a narrow 5 loop diamond pattern would look, so I decided to do it as a scarf.

I liked the way the diamond shapes appeared in the scarf as it goes from one diamond to two diamonds and back again.

I wasn't sure if I liked the way the edge turned out.

So I decided to try again.

This time I made the scarf a bit wider. This one goes from two full diamonds in a row to three full diamonds and back again.

Using black yarn, changing the edge to a single point, and adding width gives this scarf a different look than the red one.

I'm curious. Which scarf do you prefer? Or do you like one from last week better?

Shugs and Scarves

2009-05-01T13:12:00.020-04:00

Last week was school vacation. Before the two children still at home left on an end-of-the-week youth conference I had my youngest son help me photograph some of the projects I recently finished.

I seem to be in a shrug mood lately. I've finished three recently. I love how they keep my neck and shoulders warm without getting in the way of what I am doing.

This is a free pattern from Lion Brand Yarn. It was the first time I made a long sleeved shrug.

Just right for cool spring and autumn days.

Back in February at the very end of my entry I mentioned that I had been working on some scarves. I meant to take pictures of them, but life kept getting in the way. So once the end of the week arrived and the children and my husband were gone (taking the car with them) I had time to photograph some of them.

I don't have time to show all of them right now, but I will show 4 of them with their different edges. I like some of the edges better than others. Which do you like best? Please leave a comment.

The following scarves were all made with Bernat Glow-in-the-Dark yarn.

Each of the scarves uses about 72 yards because that is how much yarn was in each ball.

They would work great for a child. To make one for an adult would require closer to 140-150 yards.

This is just plain netting with a touch of fringe on the edge.

This scarf was made using what I call the Ivy Stitch and instead of fringe I used the Rigging Edge.

This Cube Stitch Scarf has a bit of Ruffle Netting at each end.

Here is the Eyelet Stitch paired with an Ice Cream Cone Edge.

Sweater and Shrug -- Knit and Net

2009-04-24T21:20:00.007-04:00

It's been a wonderful month. I actually finished several projects that have been patiently waiting for their turn.

When I last mentioned my brown sweater it was April, 2008. At that time I had finally finished it and sewed it together only to discover the sleeves hung down to my finger-tips. Since the sleeves were knit from the ribbing up, I was not sure what to do. Because I had other things to make the sweater got placed in a bag and "forgotten" until the lady who gave me the pattern asked about my progress. When I told her of my problem she said it would be easy to fix.

She told me to cut one of the stitches on the edge of the sleeve and pull that piece of cut yarn all the way across the sleeve. She assured me the old ribbing would come off the rest of the sweater and I would then have live stitches at the new bottom of the sleeve where I could attach new yarn and knit the ribbed cuff. According to her, I could even reuse the yarn that was part of the old ribbing.

I believed her because she showed me with a sample piece that it was possible. I did not feel brave enough to try it on my own. So eventually our schedules meshed. Within an hour both sleeves were on circular needles ready to have a new cuff knit. It did not take many days after that before the ribbing was finished to a more comfortable and usable length.

It has been nice to wear this sweater on those cool spring days when a coat is too warm.

* * * * * * *
More than a year ago I tried to net a shrug. The biggest problem with this project was that I ran out of yarn and could not find any more in the local stores. I was not even sure what yarn it was. Thanks to the Internet I not only figured out what yarn I had used, but was also able to order another skein of Red Heart's Light and Lofty #9261 (Citrus).

Then the shrug sat because I was trying to decide what to do. No, that's wrong. I knew what I had to do, I just had to psych myself into the right frame of mind to do it. One sleeve was tighter than the other one and both were tighter than I really wanted. That meant I had to undo all the knots I had tied around the body of the shrug and both sleeves. I had to undo enough knots to bring it back to when it was just a rectangle.

Eventually I untied the knots and made the rectangle several rows longer. Then I redid the sleeves and the body of the shrug below the sleeves. This past month I finally finished it. I love to wear it. It was worth the few hours spent untying those hundreds of knots. I am surprised how warm it keeps me even with all those holes.

Diamond Netting not Diamond Mesh Netting

2009-03-18T21:17:00.008-04:00

There is a netting stitch, "Diamond Netting With 5 Loops," that I have been meaning to make for many years. The stitch pattern is formed by combinations of long loops and short loops.

Each time I tried the stitch it did not work out the way I knew it should. I didn't know if the problem was with me or with the instructions I was using. The instructions from The Dictionary of Needlework by Sophia Frances Anne Caulfeild and Blanche C. Saward were originally published in the early 1880s.

Last week I felt I had time to try the stitch again. I wanted to use this stitch in a scarf. I picked up a small ball of scrap yarn and began. By the time I reached row 9 of 13 rows I could tell that something was wrong. Since I could not find any other description of the stitch, I decided to try the Swiss Netting (which was 4 loops instead of 5) found in The Art of Netting edited by Jules and Kaethe Kliot. I hoped that by working through the 4 loop pattern I would learn how to fix what was wrong with the 5 loop pattern.

I wanted to know how the stitch was actually put together and not just follow the instructions blindly so I began with a couple rows of plain netting and then did row 1 of the pattern. At this point I stopped, cut the thread and began again. This time, after the beginning rows I did row 1 and then row 2. Once again I stopped, cut the thread and began again. I worked to row 3. The next piece of netting took me to row 4 and so on through the 10 rows of the pattern. It took some time, but when I finally finished row 10 I knew how the pattern worked.

I learned that for me there was more to the pattern than just long and short loops. There were actually three different ways I created the long loop and two different methods I used to form the short loops. I found it helped to describe the type of loop I wanted and the type of loop I was netting into. With these insights gained I wrote down instructions that I could use to repeat the pattern.

Photo of one repeat of Swiss Netting or Diamond Netting with 4 Loops.

I felt pleased with what I had accomplished and decided to see if I could figure out the Honeycone or Single Diamond Netting stitch pattern. I had done it once years ago, but since then I had not felt confident in my ability to work with long and short loops. I was surprised at how easy this 4 row pattern was after the Swiss Netting.

Photo of 4 repeats of the Honeycone or Single Diamond Netting stitch

I now had a better idea of what the long and short loops did and how they interacted with each other to create Diamond Netting. I decided to try the Treble Diamond Netting stitch. Using a combination of the instructions given in The Dictionary of Needlework and my new-found knowledge I was able to figure out the Treble Diamond Netting stitch. Several times I had to put the netting on my lap, see what needed to happen next, and decide how to accomplish it.

Photo of 2 repeats of the Treble Diamond Netting stitch

I was delighted at how everything was coming together. I had now made (with the help of some instructions) Single Diamond Netting, Treble Diamond Netting (which had 3 loops) and Swiss Netting (which had 4 loops). Now to get daring. On my own I would see if I could make Double Diamond Netting (which would have 2 loops). I didn't know if such a stitch existed, but I decided there should be one and I would make it. So I did.

Photo of 2 repeats of the Double Diamond Netting stitch

By this time almost a week had passed and I had run out of excuses for avoiding making the Diamond Netting With 5 Loops. Once I began it did not take me long to discover that part of the problem was with the instructions. Rows 2 and 3 were printed with the same instructions. That is what gave the pattern 13 rows instead of 12 rows. All the repetition and the practice I had given myself in the earlier samples certainly helped. Now that I knew where the long and short loops belonged it was fairly easy to figure out each row.

Photo of 2 repeats of the Diamond Netting with 5 Loops stitch

It was such a wonderful feeling of accomplishment and satisfaction when I finally cut the last thread and looked at the finished sample of Diamond Netting with 5 Loops.

Sounds fun

2009-02-27T13:24:00.001-05:00

I saw this blog post and figured it would be fun to play - so I'm in!

The first three people to respond to this post will get something made by me! My choice. For you.This offer does have some restrictions and limitations:
1- I make no guarantees that you will like what I make!
2- What I create will be just for you.
3- It’ll be done this year.
4- You have no clue what it’s going to be.
5- I reserve the right to do something extremely strange.

The catch is that you must repost this on your blog and offer the same to the first 3 people who do the same on your blog. The first 3 people to do so and leave a comment telling me they did win a FAB-U-LOUS homemade gift by me! Oh, and be sure to post a picture of what you win when you get it! Who’s in?

More Net Doilies

2009-02-02T20:11:00.008-05:00

With a wedding in November, December, and January, I have been busy making doilies. Since all three of the weddings involved family - two nephews and one niece - I used patterns designed by my grandmother (their great-grandmother), Esther Peterson Bott Freeman. (Of course, I was not as busy as one of my sisters who had a daughter married in December and a son married in January.)

In alphabetical order the doilies are:

"Decor - small"

(about 14.5 inches in diameter)

"Midnight Sky - large"
(about 14 inches in diameter)

and

"Starfish"
(about 14 inches in diameter)

Oh, yes. There was another doily I made for a wedding last summer. Since it was not for a family member I used a pattern I had designed.

"Ice Crystal"
(about 8.5 inches in diameter)

I was planning to show some of the scarves I have been netting during the January, but since I don't have any photos taken yet, I guess I will have to save that for another day and another post.

Merry Christmas

2008-12-22T11:10:00.004-05:00

This has been a very busy time of year. Projects are getting completed, just not photographed yet. I did take some time yesterday to update the snood page of my website. It now has additional photos of several different styles and stitches.

The separate pages are children and adult snoods, if you want to visit them directly.

And now for our 2009 Christmas poem.

Bethlehem Treasure

Where in this desert can we find a well to fill our empty vessels running o'er?
Where is He who will rescue Israel, the Promised One we've so long waited for?
In Bethlehem of Judah, scriptures say, the long-awaited Sovereign will be born.
Behold! The star that guides us points the way. Haste! Lest delay should bring imperial scorn.

But, lo, a humble dwelling here we find. No palace this! Yet reverently we kneel
To give these gifts, as if for all mankind, to One whose majesty our souls can feel.
This burning in our hearts bids us behold with eyes to see beyond our dusty scrolls,
As if eternity would here unfold a priceless understanding to our souls.

He comes to minister to everyone, both those men love and those whom men despise.
He'll bear our pains and griefs, the very Son of God, for each of us he'll agonize.
And so He's come at last, as prophets said, the One who brings us hope in darkest night,
That those who mourn in shadows may be led to see the dawn of faith and love and light.

Lo, after He has borne our sins and tears and died, He'll rise and live forevermore.
Through all millennia, centuries, and years, each one of us whose pain and grief He bore
Can treasure memories of His sublime and humble birth. Each heart may keep one of
These treasured gems to ponder every time the soul would bathe in warm, refreshing love.

Through countless generations you'll recall the light that shines for us in Bethlehem
And know He lives! His light still shines for all mankind who've lived or will live, all of them!
To seek this child we've traveled long and far, traversing deserts; perilous paths we've trod.
Yet we were guided by a heavenly star to find this child. This is the Son of God!

He's come to earth that He might consecrate His life for those who dwell in every land.
He manifests to us a love so great, it goes beyond our power to understand.
Now rise and render homage into deeds of love and service quietly bestowed
On those beset with silent, hidden needs, as well on those who bear an obvious load.

If we can dry a tear or render care to one with broken heart or feeble hand,
That deed will manifest the love we bear to Him who sees all. This is His command,
That we might live with love for one another, helping those whose lives seem gray and grim.
Be they a sister frail or ailing brother, the load we bear for them is borne for Him.

Merry Christmas from our family.

Scarves

2008-11-12T13:25:00.016-05:00

Several weeks ago my middle daughter sent me some information about the 2009 Special Olympics World Winter Games Scarf Project. It interested me, so I bought two skeins of blue and one skein of white. I found the white skein I already had and began to knit.

The first scarf I did was a ribbed scarf similar to the pattern found on the Coats and Clark Website.

Since I don't like to do the same thing over and over, I decided to do a two-color, ribbed moebius scarf adapted from Cat Bordhi's book A Treasury of Magical Knitting.

At this point I decided to try netting a scarf. Since I had to use the two colors, I decided to wind the two strands together onto my netting shuttle.

Several years ago I received instructions from David Keller for a "Blizzard Buster" net scarf.

When I asked for more information about his Blizzard Buster scarf, David replied, "For the Blizzard Buster I like to use fuzzy, soft baby yarn, or angora. Using a 1" mesh stick, I make it 16 across and net 64 to 72 rows. I finish
by putting fringe on the ends. For the little ones I adjust the size down."

I wondered how this yarn, and two strands of it, would work with his instructions. I liked the way the two colored strands worked together. I used both colors for the fringe.

I started another knit scarf at this point - a seed stitch pattern, but it was taking more time than I really wanted to spend, so I asked myself, "What would a scarf look like if I used two strands of yarn in the moebius scarf pattern?" The only way to know for sure was to try it. So I tried it.

It worked out just fine, though as you can tell, the stockinette stitches want to roll to the center.

By this time I had finished the first skein of each color and started the second. I wanted to see how the ivy stitch looked as a scarf.

I took the basic instructions in the Blizzard Buster (1" mesh stick and 16 loops) and changed the "net 1 knot in each loop" plain stitch to a two-row pattern. One row stayed the plain stitch and the other row became "net 1 knot in first loop, *skip the next loop, net 1 knot in the next loop, go back and net 1 knot in the skipped loop;* repeat from * to * across the row ending with net 1 knot in last loop."

These two rows alternated until the scarf was the length I wanted, about 6 feet. Then I added fringe to the ends.

I enjoyed seeing the columns of open meshes alternating with the columns of filled meshes.

I still had some yarn left, so I decided to try netting another scarf.

This time I chose to use the cube stitch. It did not take me long to realize that this pattern is very close to the ivy stitch. It is a four-row pattern.

I decided to begin with 3 rows of plain netting. Then I used the following instructions: net 1 knot in first loop, *skip the next loop, net 1 knot in the next loop, go back and net 1 knot in the skipped loop;* repeat from * to * across the row ending with net 1 knot in last loop.

That row was followed by a row of plain netting, one knot in each loop. The 3rd row started like the first except I net 1 knot in each loop for 2 loops before I started skipping loops. I also ended with net 1 knot in each loop for the last two loops. The 4th row was a plain netting row. These 4 rows were repeated until I was almost out of yarn. I ended with two rows of plain netting before I cut the yarn and prepared to add the fringe.

As I looked at the scarf I realized that I could see not only the "cube" I was expecting but also a "6-pointed star". This stitch has certainly moved up in my list of stitches I really like.

While I was still working on this scarf, my youngest daughter came to me and asked how easy it was to make a moebius scarf. She wanted to have some mindless type of knitting to work on while she was listening to some presentations and participating in discussions in her AP English class. I measured off the yarn I figured would finish this scarf and gave her the rest of the blue and white. When she came home she had used up all the yarn and was a bit more than half way done. I looked at the seed pattern scarf I had started (one square in blue and one in white) and decided to "frog" it and hand her the yarn to finish hers. After all, what are mothers for if not to help their daughters in their knitting experiences?

So when I finally finished this scarf, I had to go hunting for some white to use for the fringe, since all the blue was gone.

So with 4 skeins of yarn (2 blue and 2 white) my youngest daughter and I were able to create 7 scarfs. It was fun, provided a chance for creativity, occupied our fingers, was a good conversation starter, and gave us the opportunity to provide encouragement to those who participate in the Winter Special Olympics. That's not bad for about $12.

Net Bag with the Handle on the Side

2008-10-18T11:04:00.019-04:00

Back in April I was talking to my oldest son on the phone. We got to discussing some of the net bags I was making. He reminded me of one I had made years ago (so long ago I had forgotten I had made it for him) that had a crocheted strap that went from the top of the bag to the bottom of the bag. He wondered about a net strap that would work the same way.

We discussed starting the bag with a chain, how to fasten the handle at the top and the bottom, the use of split rings as the grommet, and putting a drawstring through the loops at the top of the bag. He also wanted it made of a thick cord and a mesh that would not allow one of his martial arts sticks to fall through the mesh. The stick was 1/2" in diameter.

I went looking on-line for some thin parachute cord. The 550 size was too bulky to work with at that size mesh. I finally found something I thought would work at Supply Captain.

I did a bit of experimenting while working on my missionary son's sweaters, but did not start in earnest until after I finished the sweaters. Then it became a race with the clock since my oldest son's birthday was the middle of October and I figured that would be a perfect present for him.

I finished it shortly before his birthday, took a few pictures, and shipped it off.

This is a picture of the inside of bag, including handles looking from the top of the bag to the bottom of the bag. If you look carefully you can see where some of the joins are. (That's what makes it the inside of the bag.)

Here is the full handle stretched from the ring to the mouth of the bag. When finally finished, the handle was longer than the bag. It took 100 feet of cord to make the handle and 950 feet to make the bag. I used a total of 350 yards for the entire bag and handle.

On the left is the start of the handle. I net into the top round of loops and then went back and forth decreasing one loop each row. This created a wider handle to go over the shoulder and help support the bag when it is full.

On the right is the bottom end of the handle attached to the split ring. The split ring will also hold the loops at the bottom of the bag.

This it the outside of the bag with the handle attached; the drawstring is pulled closed.

Here is the handle attached to the outside of the bag at the bottom. I put the bottom loops onto the split ring until the handle was ready to be added. Then I added one loop from the handle and one from the bag until all the handle loops were added. Then I finished adding the rest of the loops from the bottom of the bag.

Because the split ring was 1" in diameter, the stick that my son did not want to fall through the meshes would certainly fall through the ring. To prevent that I wound the cord back and forth in such a way as to completely block the stick from falling through.

Yes, the bag arrived in time for my son's birthday. And it met all his expectations. The stick did not fall through.

To help me see that the bag truly worked, he threw a few juggling, martial arts things into the bag and, with the help of his wife who operated the camera, sent me a few photos.

Below are a front, back, and side view.

Oh,yes. Just as I was nearing the end of the bag for my son, I needed another gift bag for a baby shower. So I experimented with a top down bag and was able to figure out how to make the opening for the handle shorter than the opening for the bag. That way the bag has more room where it opens. Now to try the same thing for a shopping bag.

Knitting and Netting - Sweaters and Doily

2008-09-27T10:45:00.008-04:00

A few months ago my 19-year old son learned that he would be spending 2 years in Bulgaria. I had already started making him a couple of sweaters (single color,long-sleeved, V-neck) to take with him. My obvious goal was to finish them before he left. He leaves on Monday.

Both sweaters were made from the top down so I could try them on him and get them to fit him as he wanted.

It was the first time I made the ribbed one in worsted weight yarn.

I made the cabled pattern twice before (once for each of his older brothers).

It felt great to finish both sweaters before he left. I remember that when my oldest son left I was finishing the ribbing of the first sweater as we took him to the airport. I kept it to use as a guide to make the second sweater. The first sweater was a basic stockinette sweater and the second was the cable sweater. I had to mail both sweaters to him while he was still learning Portuguese and before he left the USA for Brazil.

I wanted to give a gift to a friend, so I spent a few hours and using my Grandmother's pattern made another copy of Springtime.

The last time I made this pattern I did not have a digital camera, and was unable to get a picture of the entire doily. Technology is great (as long as it works).

I am currently working on a net bag, with a side handle, made out of thin parachute cord. Oh yes, one other requirement -- mesh small enough so that a 1/2 inch diameter stick will NOT fall through. Pictures to follow when it is done.

Two Different Net Doilies

2008-08-13T21:41:00.008-04:00

I have been slowly working on one of the beautiful patterns I received from Herman Mangels. It has taken a bit of time since there are about 9,200 knots. But I finished it on Saturday and starched it yesterday. This one was designed by Martha Kupfermann. She called it Large Aster (well, that's an English translation of the German). It measures about 23 inches in diameter; the instructions said about 67 cm. It is hard to measure precisely since the edge is scalloped.

On a much smaller note (10.25 inch diameter) is the doily I made just before starting Large Aster. I was planning on re-making one called Ice Crystal. I thought I had followed the directions carefully for each round, so I was puzzled when, on round nine, I noticed that I had more loops than I was supposed to have -- twice as many.

Looking at the doily in one hand and the instructions in the other, I soon discovered my problem. On round four I was supposed to net 2 knots in a loop and then skip a loop around the doily. I had forgotten to skip the loops. No wonder I had more loops than I was supposed to have.

When faced with the decision of either undoing all the knots from round five to round nine, cutting off rounds five through nine, or creating a new doily pattern, I chose to create a new pattern.

It looked like a sunflower to me, but I already have a doily pattern named Sunflower. I decided to call it Helianthus.

In the process of designing this doily, I ended up with a new decorative stitch which I called Flame.
Oh, I forgot to add one other thing that made me decide to create a new doily. I only had a limited amount of thread. I had chosen Ice Crystal because it used only a small amount of thread. The amount of thread also influenced my decision to try a new stitch, which eventually became Flame, instead of keeping all the extra loops and doing a different edge. I ended the doily with about a yard of thread left.

Net doilies and NO GUILT

2008-07-17T14:39:00.005-04:00

Almost a month ago I finished a doily for a wedding present. I promised I would display it when it was starched. Since the wedding was last week, let me present Energized.

Then, right after starching Energized, before any other projects could be completed, I got a wonderful package in the mail from Herman Mangels. It contained several beautiful doily photos and patterns, but the instructions were in German. My wonderful husband, who spent 2 years in Germany as a young man, was willing to help me read and translate them. We did one that evening!

I was able to start working on that one right away and not feel guilty about starting a new project before finishing an older one since I have another wedding coming up next month.

Where did the last month go?

2008-06-19T18:35:00.016-04:00

This past month has been fun and very busy. I was able to attend a two-day workshop with Cat Bordhi and picked up some great knitting tips. I was also able to knit a pair of socks for my husband. I made the Dove sock found in her book New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One. Most importantly, they fit him.

The knitting workshop reminded me of Cat's Magical Knitting books with moebius bags that I had worked with a few years ago. I still wanted to see if I could net a moebius bag. And then it happened. I was traveling along Interstate 90 heading toward Worcester, MA. Suddenly, into my mind sprang the way to create a net bag with a moebius handle.

The most frustrating part of the whole situation was that I was driving and could not write down any reminders as to how to create the moebius handle.

The second most frustrating part was that I could not try out my idea until I had completed my trip to Worcester and returned home.

The funnest part was when the bag was finished. I placed my hand on the handle and without lifting my hand went up around the handle, down into the bag, up the "other side" of the handle, around the "outside" of the bag and back to the where I started, thereby proving that the entire bag had only one surface and one edge.

It seems that having done it once I could think of several different ways to create such bags.

I was invited to a bridal shower and moebius net bags would not leave my mind. So I gave in and made another one.

This moebius bag was created from the top down with a hole in the side.

The same bag is pictured with the shower gifts in it on the left and with onions in it on the right.

The hole is present so the bag can be filled with something like onions and people can reach in from the side instead of the top or bottom of the bag to get the contents of the bag.

I also finished netting 5 doilies for my youngest son's teachers (as a thank-you for working with him this past year) . . .

Waltz

Lacy (large)

Virtue

Mystic

Midnight Sky

. . . and 4 doilies (one not yet starched) for wedding presents.

Prism

Celebration

Clusters (small)

Time Flies ...

2008-05-12T16:10:00.014-04:00

"Time flies on wings of lightening" and "time flies when you're having fun" apply to the past month. The time has been filled with vacation, knitting, netting, reading, mundane house and family related chores, and work, even though I have not been blogging. Sorry.

So now for a quick look at some of what has been done the past month.

These socks from Cat Bordhi's book, New Pathways for Sock Knitters: Book One, can be worn with the rings scrunched down (left) or pulled up (right) .

Either way my 4-year-old grand-daughter loves the socks. She should since she chose both the yarn (Softee Baby in Bongo Blue - a sport D.K. Bernat yarn) and the pattern.

The visit / vacation was just long enough to finish them.

Of course her year-old brother deserves a pair of his own, but for grandma's sanity, a different pattern from Cat's book.

I have been working on string bags - net with net handles - including one used as a baby shower gift bag for my middle daughter's youngest. This gift bag was made bottom up, with a pentagon increase for the base and two handles. Before you ask again, a pentagon increase base is where I start with 5 loops and increase to 10 in the second round. After that I add 5 loops to each round by increasing in each of the "closed" loops. That continues until I have the number of loops I wanted for the mouth of the bag. This time it was 40 loops. I finished it with just minutes to spare and so did not take a picture. I'll have to borrow it back to get a proper photo, unless she beats me to it and displays it on her blog.

I have also been busy decoding the doily sent me my Nancy Day. I used much larger mesh sticks, but I think I have figured out the center.

Nancy's is on the left and mine is on the right.

Her doily uses at least a 0000 knitting needle for the mesh stick, mine used a 3 knitting needle for the mesh stick.

I used size 10 crochet thread. I suspect her doily used 70 tatting thread.

Her doily center was about an inch in diameter, while mine had a diameter of several inches.

I would have continued onto the next portion of Nancy's doily, but there was a wedding on Saturday . . .

. . . and this was the present, so I needed to put an edge on quickly. I created the edge using some of the information gained in making the earlier portion of the doily.

One other project I have been working on is a sweater for my 19-year old son. The entire sweater is done in knit 4, purl 2 ribbing. I changed the pattern to work down from the neck instead of up from the ribbing. I have done down to about 6 inches under the arm and am taking a "break" and starting the sleeves, yes both at the same time, picking up stitches from around the armhole. When I have the sleeves at least 6 inches long I will try to take a picture. And ... since this sweater and another one need to be done soon (maybe next month), I better leave this blog and get back to knitting his sweater.

I love top-down sweaters, I think. I definitely love net bags

2008-04-16T11:15:00.012-04:00

I was just reminded why I like to knit top-down sweaters. I finished the brown one I have been slowly working on for the past 6 months. It was made in pieces, from the bottom up. It's great except for a few small things like ...the sleeves hang down to my finger tips and the cuffs are not tight at all (which would compensate for the long sleeves, maybe, by holding the end of the sleeve to my wrist). So, now I have to decide whether to leave the cuffs loose and just frog the sleeves to where I can eliminate a couple to three inches, or just frog the sleeves completely and see if I can get the cuff to fit (maybe even making it circular instead of flat).

At any rate that sweater will have to be set aside for a few months. One of my sons is turning in his mission papers next week and if his list of things to bring on his two-year church mission is anything like those of his older brothers, he will need two long sleeve, single color, v-neck sweaters. Since clothing stores here in Massachusetts have already taken such things off the shelves in preparation for warmer weather (here's hoping that weather makes an appearance soon), I plan to knit them for him (just like his older brothers).

Naturally I don't want to make it easy on myself and do exactly the same sweater patterns as before (actually I can't, as I would have to tweak those since he is a size or two smaller than the other boys were). So yesterday I pulled out my patterns, bought some yarn, and began.

Of course I want top-down. Need you ask, after my opening rant? And of course the one pattern I really wanted to make for him is bottom up, with separate front and back sections. Thank goodness for Barbara Walker's Knitting From the Top and a wonderful daughter who gifted me that book several years ago. With the initial try-on, it looks like this sweater is going to work and fit him.

Maybe a picture later.

I have not been idle on the netting scene though. People have been asking me for a simple net bag and so my mind got busy and I came up with a net bag that is just diamond mesh netting along with increases and decreases. This one used size 10 crochet thread and a 1/4" mesh stick.

The shaping of the bag is done after all the netting is completed. It could make a small gift bag. In my case, I'm using it to hold my crochet thread snoods.

I have finished a shopping-bag-size one, in addition to one with two handles as opposed to the tied handle above. If you're interested in the instructions for this rectangular bag with tied handle, click here and go to the bottom of the page to order an e-pattern.

Water Bottle Bag for use with a Walker

2008-04-01T16:27:00.012-04:00

I had fun today. I delivered a net water bottle bag to a friend who is currently using a walker and wheelchair while recovering from foot surgery.

I had to be a bit creative in netting this particular water bottle bag. The problem was that there was no place on her walker to hang a water bottle bag using one of the net handles I made before. All of those handles worked on the idea that there would be a hook, peg, knob, or something on which to hang the bottle in its bag.

The walker had none of the above-mentioned items. It only had metal bars that were permanently attached to each other.

To solve the problem I decided to start the bag at the bottom using 12 loops over a 1" mesh stick.

Once the bag was deep enough I made one long strip of netting, 33 rows worth of plain diamond mesh netting over a 1/2" mesh stick using half the loops.

Once that strip of netting was finished I went back and did the same thing to the other half of the loops.

Once the bag was made and the bottle placed inside, all my friend had to do was tie the long strips of netting around one of the metal bars on the walker and her water bottle could travel wherever she went.

She also found that if she were in her wheelchair, she could tie the netting strips together to form a handle that could then be placed over one of the handles at the back of the wheelchair.

The past few weeks have been very busy, but I was gifted with an hour each day to do crafts while I substituted for a co-worker out on medical leave. Of course it was at 6 in the morning while my daughter was attending early morning seminary, but, thanks to that daily hour during the month of March, I have almost finished the wonderful brown sweater I started last fall. The early morning gift is now gone as I am out of the Facilities Management office and back to cleaning the meetinghouse during that time.

I love the cable stitch on the front and sleeve. The cables were the reason I asked a friend for the pattern.

Just after I lost my early morning craft time I was able to block the sweater and sew the front and back to the sleeves. I needed to do that before I could finish the band. The pattern told me how to make the band but neglected to say how many inches to make it. I needed to measure from the bottom of one front; across the top of one sleeve, the back, and the other sleeve; and finallly down to the bottom of the other front. I figured it out, and the band is almost done. Maybe this week-end I will be able to finish the sweater.

I was also able to finish a pair of baby socks found in Cat Brodhi's book New Pathways for Sock Knitters. Now to decide which grandchild they will fit. Probably one of the grandsons. I know, to be fair I should make a pair for each of them. Then the granddaughters will want a pair also ... some people wonder how I get so many projects started.

Beautiful heirloom net doily

2008-02-23T15:32:00.004-05:00

Yesterday I open a package and found a simply gorgeous net doily. Nancy Day had sent it to me to see if I could reproduce it. It has about a 9" diameter and so won't fit completely on my scanner, but I had to try to let you see it.

The 8-sided figure in the center is only 1.25 inches in diameter.

Each of the 38 small circles that go around the edge are only 3/4" in diameter.

I am still trying to figure out how the person who netted the doily did some of the things that were done.

Like these small details which occur in the middle of the doily. These two diamonds only join at the bottom, but show no sign of a knot at the end of the diamond shape.

Too bad all the knowledge and skills did not get handed down. I know my great-grandmother had some netting techniques that her daughters could not remember how to do and so my grandmother could only say that her mother had joined circles together (maybe like the edge of this doily) but she did not know how to do it, so I do not know how either.

Looks like I am going to have to invest in a good magnifying glass so I can see what was done and maybe figure out how to do it again. Actually, I am kind of excited to try this. It will certainly not be completed quickly.

Knit Finger Puppets

2008-02-23T13:07:00.006-05:00

On Wednesday, as my cold was coming to an end, I spent the evening knitting with a group of delightful women. Because my car had two other places to go that evening, my middle daughter gave me and her younger sister a ride to the shop where the group was meeting.

During the evening the other women asked my youngest daughter what she was making. When she showed them the finger puppet she was knitting, they all wanted to know where her pattern came from.

I had to confess that I had created the basic pattern about 2 and a half years ago. They all wanted a copy of the instructions. Since they were willing to test the instructions for me, I went home, found my handwritten instructions and entered them into the computer. Then to see how to explain attaching the skirt, I made another one.

For Christmas 2006 I made my young granddaughters some finger puppets and you can see some of them on my finger puppet webpage .

Socks, Socks, Socks

2008-02-23T11:30:00.008-05:00

Either my days have been blessed with fewer hours than usual, or I have been busier than usual. Blogging has taken a back burner for most of the month. Time to show and tell what has been going on in my life -- at least as far as crafts go.

I have made a few sock over the past 40 years, but only with worsted weight yarn. My middle daughter is very persuasive, so, many months ago I started a pair with thinner sock yarn. I finished the first heel in October. I wanted to knit both cuffs at the same time to get them the same length, so I started the second sock shortly after that. Well, I finished them both a few weeks ago.

Now with these socks done, I could start the learning socks in Cat Bordhi's book New Pathways for Sock Knitters. I was given some leftover yarn by my enabling middle daughter (I still love her),

and the Little Sky Sock - the first learning sock- was soon finished. Amazing how much quicker baby socks knit up. (Especially when the yarn and needles are bigger.)

That meant I was ready and eager to start the second learning sock. I decided to use my
leftover sock yarn this time.

Little Corilolis worked up almost as quickly, so quickly in fact, that within a week I had finished 3 pairs or socks. (Of course 2 were baby size, but I'll try to ignore that.)

Now I thought was a good time to get back to work on my brown sweater -- supposed to be for fall, now to be for spring.

I even spent enough time on it to reach a point where I need to begin shaping the sleeves and armholes. Then the week-long school winter vacation started, I came down with a cold, and life seemed to get busier. Oh well, cold is now gone and vacation is almost done.

Shrugs and tiny mesh net bag

2008-02-02T22:44:00.001-05:00

I've decided it's easier to find time to knit and net than to blog. Time having been at a premium this past couple of weeks, it got filled with knitting and netting and no blogging. So to make amends . . .

I saw a picture of a shrug recently in Lace Style called Retro Redux Shrug designed by Mercedes Tarasovich-Clark. I liked the look of it and wondered if it would keep my arms and shoulders warm. So, I found some unlabeled worsted weight wool I had been given and gave it a try.

I was pleasantly surprised at how warm it did keep my shoulders and upper arms.

My next thought was, "Can I create a net shrug?"

So I dived into my left-over-from-other-projects yarn and grabbed some fluffy type of yarn. Using just a plain net stitch, I came up with a pattern that will serve as a springboard for other shrugs.

My biggest problem was that I used up all the yarn I had in that color and type of yarn. The shrug will work, but in the future I will want to add more length to the sleeves, and more of an edging to the rest of the shrug. I also have some ideas for fancy stitches and shrugs.

I was delighted with the way it kept my arms and shoulders warm, while at the same time it didn't get into things while I was cooking or cleaning like a cape or shawl would.

I finally got the heel turned on the second sock and now I can work both socks at the same time and not need to worry about one being longer than the other.

I guess at this point in time knitting socks is not exactly on the top of my list of things to do, since the heel of the first sock was turned back in October. I do hope to finish these sooner rather than later, since I really want to get into Cat Bordhi's new sock book and I am insisting that I will finish this pair before starting one from her book (which I got for my birthday).

Oh, yes. One other project that has been gradually making progress. The very tiny mesh net bag.

I finished the circle going from the center to the edges.

It looks like an oval because it is not stretched out evenly.

A bit of pinning took care of that problem.

Then I needed to create a foundation loop in the middle of a circle. I took some crochet thread and formed a square in the center of the circle (seen here from one side, and then the other).

(No I didn't change the color, the computer / camera did. The bag is still a lovely shade of light purple.)

The white doubled crochet thread becomes the new foundation loop. The orange stitch marker indicates where the first circular netting round began.

Now it is just a matter of netting around and around until the bag is as tall as I want to make it. Then I will net some handles.

The mesh is small enough that size 2 knitting needles will not go through the mesh, although size 1 will barely. The mesh stick is a 0000. I am hoping to make it large enough that it will hold a ball of sock yarn and the needles as well as the socks being made.

Tiny mesh net bag started

2008-01-15T21:09:00.001-05:00

I like variety and, while I can and have made a pattern over and over if there was a good reason, I decided there were many techniques I had not yet tried with net bag making. So this bag is different from the others I have made recently.

I decided to make a circular base, but since I am using such a small mesh stick -- 0000 size knitting needle, I decided to make it using decreases only. To accomplish this I need to start in the middle of the circle, with the maximum number of loops, and work toward one end gradually decreasing the number of loops and forming a half circle. Then I will go back and, starting again at the middle of the circle, work the opposite direction toward the other end decreasing the number of loops to create the full circle.

I started by netting a chain of 72 knots. That gave me two rows of 36 loops. I then ran a crochet thread through the 36 loops on one side to create my foundation cord.

I attached each end of the foundation cord to an old pillow using safety pins . . .

. . . then I net 1 row across the 36 loops not in the foundation cord, creating row 3.

Here is the 3rd row with the mesh stick still through the loops.

and the same without the mesh stick.

I gradually decreased the number of loops to create a half circle. When I had only 7 loops in the row, I cut the thread and joined the thread in the netting needle to the thread left hanging from the starting chain.

Here is the half circle attached to the pillow, with the needle joined to the thread from the starting chain.

Here is a close-up of the netting. The reason it looks more like a half oval than a half circle is because it is not stretched out. That will happen when it is blocked as a circle.

To start netting the other direction, I removed the foundation cord from the 36 loops of row 1 and replaced it in the 7 loops in row 36.

With the thread in the netting needle joined to the wide middle of the circle it is time to create the other half of the circle by repeating the process used in creating the first half of the circle.

The 0000 knitting needle mesh stick is at the bottom of this photo and the foundation cord is in the 7 loops at the top. The second half of the circle has begun.

Finished projects - first of many for the new year

2008-01-09T16:14:00.000-05:00

And here I thought January would slow down. HA!

I have finished a few projects and finally taken photos.

First is the front of the "rag" quilt. . .

as well as the back side.

I found my hands were getting cold when driving early in the morning. So I decided to make a pair of mittens. My middle daughter showed me some she was making and I decided to make myself a pair of peek-a-boo mittens. I like the fact that my fingers can get out easily, but will need to make some adjustments with the opening. My hands do stay warmer than with the gloves I had.

Now with these projects out of the way maybe I can try to get some netting done. Maybe a net bag to hold my knitting?

Christmas Tradition

2007-12-20T10:58:00.000-05:00

Each Christmas since 1971, our first as a married couple, we have written a Christmas poem. In those early years it was an inexpensive way to give a present to our parents and nearly 20 siblings. Eventually it evolved into an annual tradition. This year I finally placed the poems online.

As Christmas rapidly approaches this year I wish . . .

A Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year to All!

Unto All
Heavenly choirs sang out with joy, proclaiming Jesus' birth
To shepherds watching o'er their sheep. They sang of peace on earth.
The startled shepherds hurried forth to Bethlehem to find
The baby wrapped in swaddling clothes, the Savior of mankind.

The joyous angel songs can now be sung by every voice.
The joy the shepherds felt can cause our own hearts to rejoice.
We too can fill the air with songs of praise to Christ our king.
We too can bow to honor him, to him our greetings bring.

We can fulfill the promised bliss of peace to men on earth.
We can esteem each child of God as one of precious worth.
With love and service to the least of these our fellow beings,
We render love and service to our Lord, the King of Kings.

by Robert and Rita Bartholomew
Christmas 2007

Advent Calendar

2007-12-14T17:33:00.000-05:00

The last couple of weeks have been busy. I recently saw an advent calendar that I really liked and so proceeded to make a couple, one for me and one to give away to my oldest son and his family (we drew his family for Christmas). Since that one has been given away (received and displayed) it is now safe to show it. I still have the pattern and I may, over the next several years, make more to give to my other married children.

I like the way that Mary and Joseph travel a bit each day going from Nazareth to Bethlehem.

The shepherds and their sheep are also present.

And the stable has its manger filled with hay. Part of me says the star should not have been glued on but should have had Velcro attached to it so it could be placed above the stable on Christmas Eve. Oh well, maybe I can do that next time.

On the back is a small doll, wrapped in "swaddling clothes," waiting to be placed in the manger on Christmas Eve.

I also finished clipping my 3rd son's quilt and washed it once. Then I had to find all the holes in the seams where I had accidentally cut the thread. Now I just need to sew up those seams and wash it again. Then, after I take appropriate photos, I will present it to him. Only 6 months late.

Quilt Progress

2007-11-29T16:19:00.001-05:00

I finally finished sewing all the squares together for my son's high school graduation quilt.

The back and front are completely different - his choice.

Front is on the left. (reds)
Back is on the right. (blues)

The front has the raw edges which will be clipped into quarter-inch fringe.

The back looks more like a traditional patchwork quilt. The two diagonal lines I earlier sewed across each square create a diamond pattern across the entire back.

I have finished clipping in one direction (the columns); now I have to clip the other direction (the rows) and around the edges. It took me about 15 minutes to clip each column. When I tried to do two columns (one after the other) my thumb started to go numb and tingly. I guess that means it will take longer to complete cutting the quilt since I will have to do a little bit each day for several weeks instead of finishing it up in just a couple of days.

Net Shawl -- Finished!

2007-11-26T08:19:00.000-05:00

It's done! And I like the way it turned out.

Actually the netting part has been done for a few weeks, but the blocking has been on hold while I created a blocking board . But once that was made I actually blocked the netting on Friday and wore it to church on Sunday.

The shawl will open out to a full circle, but when I tried to block it that way, I pulled too hard and snapped the double strand of yarn that held the center loops together. After I re-threaded them onto a doubled, double strand of yarn, I decided to fold it in half and block it that way, thereby putting less strain on the center.

If I were to try it again, and I probably will, I think I will use yarn that is heavier than the lace-weight I used this time and see how it works up with a thicker yarn.

Baby Gift Bag

2007-11-19T15:07:00.000-05:00

Last week I was busily preparing to attend a baby shower this past weekend.

My standard gift for such events are three tea-towel bibs with ribbing at the neck. I received one years ago and loved it so much that I copied the bib to create my own pattern.

As you can probably tell, they are expecting a boy.

I also zig-zag around the edges of the small circle that is cut out. That creates small wash cloths the baby can hold.

This time also I decided to knit a small sweater and hat to accompany the bibs.

While I was finishing the hat I thought, "It's too bad that I don't have a gift bag to hold all of these items." About that time a light bulb went off in my mind and I knew what I would do -- NET a gift bag!

Of course it was impossible to use one of the bags I had already designed. My brain was already creating a new pattern.

I took the concept Alwen had used for the base of one of her net bags. However, I reversed what she did.

I started from the top of the bag with the handle and ended by decreasing to form the circular (well, actually a pentagon) base for the bag.

What really thrilled me was that the idea actually worked!

The only thing I would change would be to make the handle a couple of inches longer.

The ladies at the baby shower were impressed. One commented that the bag would be great for holding bath toys and another was heard to say, "... and she made everything, including the bag!"

Net Bags for Knitting

2007-11-01T15:20:00.001-04:00

A couple of weeks ago, while I was working on my sweater, I got very frustrated. Because the cable pattern is simple and appears once on each sleeve and once on each front and not at all on the back, I decided to try knitting all five sections at one time, from five different balls of yarn on one long circular needle. It was simple until the balls of yarn got tangled. I tried hard to keep the threads straight, but it was not working well.

As I was sitting working on the sweater, I found myself wishing I could run the knitting needle through each ball of yarn to keep it close to the section of the sweater it belonged to, even though I knew that would not work since the needle would interfere with the way the yarn was pulling from the skein.

Then it hit me. A net bag could hold the yarn and slide along the knitting needle right next to the section of the sweater that needed that skein of yarn.

So I took some brown waxed 1 mm cord I had been trying to find a use for and made a plain mesh bag.

When I saw that the idea seemed to work I made a second bag to check my pattern. I placed the yarn for the left front in one bag and the yarn for the right front in the other bag.

I decided that I wanted to try something a bit different for the sleeves.

So I chose some green 1 mm hemp cord I had recently purchased and made another bag. This time I used the eyelet or rose stitch.

Again I made a second bag to check out my pattern. Then I put the yarn for each sleeve into a bag and put the two bags on the circular knitting needle.

Now that I had a bag for the sleeves and the fronts, I thought I needed one to hold the yarn for the back.

For this bag I decided to use some #3 crochet thread. I thought I would try out a new stitch and chose ivy.

When the bag was finished, I placed the yarn for the back into the new bag. Since there is no need for a second bag I guess checking the pattern will have to wait.

So now I have all five skeins of yarn hanging onto my needle.

It may look strange, but it works just fine. No more tangled yarn!

Oh, yes. I have almost net the shawl back to the place where I had to cut off nine rows. I am currently three rows from the end.

Socks and Quilt

2007-10-25T21:09:00.001-04:00

Some might think that no blog = nothing done on any projects. They would be wrong.

No blog = no time to take pictures or make blog entry.

My middle daughter has been helping me knit my first sock in years. I think I made two many years ago with worsted-weight. They were okay, but not great, so I did not start any more. Anyway, she has convinced me to try again. And earlier this month we were both at the same conference, so I brought my sock so she could talk me through the heel.

It was a great Time Out for Women, and I got the heel finished.

Progress has also been made on my 3rd son's high school graduation quilt. I know I'm slow, but progress is progress.

I have taken the 240 squares and made 120 sandwiches out of them.

I put a bluish print, a smaller batting square in the middle, and a red print in a pile, with the right sides facing out, and fastened them together with a pin. Now I get to sew an X (from corner to corner twice) on each square. That will fasten the batting to the top and bottom fabric.

Here are the squares with the bluish side up

and now the same squares with the red side up.

I have also worked on the net shawl (including cutting off 9 rows when I was 2 rows from the end -- stupid mistake that did not show up until then), and the sweater. Now I need to go watch the Red Sox in the World Series. I still hope to get something finished before the series is done.

Progress on Projects

2007-10-09T19:45:00.002-04:00

I have been busy these past few days on a number of different projects. I just did not have the time (take the time) to document what was happening until tonight.

I have made progress on two quilts. I cut 240 nine inch squares for one quilt (back and front).

One of these groups will be the back and the other will be the front.

The squares will be paired with a back and a front with the batting in the middle.

The next step is to cut the batting into seven inch squares -- 120 squares to be precise.

The other quilt will be a map of middle earth. I am having the map blown up to 54" by 45" and then plan to transfer it to the quilt using iron-on transfers. Now I need to get the blank transfer paper.

I have progressed on the sweater. I have done the the ribbing and about 2 inches up from the ribbing. I am knitting all the parts at the same time.

When I am not knitting on the sweater, it is hanging in one of the net bags I finished recently.

Of course I worked on the net shawl. I decided to add eight additional rows before the border. At this point I have finished one and a half of those eight.

And finally, I wanted to do something quick, so I took a few minutes to check the directions of the crisscross bookmark.

I wonder, by the end of the World Series, which of these projects will be completed. Anyone care to make a guess?

Progress on the net shawl

2007-09-29T16:09:00.001-04:00

I worked on the shawl a bit longer than the baseball game and finished round 13. By the time I got to the middle of round 14 I decided it was too late to finish it, so I quit and went to bed.

Starting a new sweater and a net shawl

2007-09-28T20:54:00.000-04:00

I really want to make a net antimacassar to go with my newly re-upholstered couch. The problem is that the yarn I want to use was originally purchased to make a sweater. There should be plenty of yarn for both, but I need to make the sweater first. I had requested the instructions from a knitting friend and want to show her I can follow through and complete the sweater. So this week I began.

I spent much of a two hour meeting I needed to attend with my daughter getting started. This is what it looked like at the end of the meeting.

I started at the very beginning with a gauge swatch using size 8 needles (size called for in the pattern). That swatch was way too big.

So I tried size 6. Still too large.

I thought surely size 5 needles would bring the swatch to the proper size, but no. It was not to be.

Eventually I was able to get the correct gauge on size 4 needles.

And that is why I hate trying to figure out my gauge for knitting. Of course I have to do it. Can you imagine how the sweater would have fit if I had not gone through all that. I don't even want to think about it.

I decided to knit all the sections (back, fronts, and sleeves) at the same time. I just finished the ribbing today and began the first few rows of the cable pattern.

I also began working on the circular net shawl. I'm in the middle of round 10 and hope to finish that round and maybe two more during the last of the Red Sox ballgame. Maybe I will have a picture of that tomorrow.

New Net Shawl

2007-09-26T07:22:00.001-04:00

I think I have decided which doily pattern I will use to try to make a shawl. I called the doily Luminescence.

We'll see where this experiment goes. My thought is to at least double the size of each mesh stick and see how it looks. That should bring the diameter of of the shawl from 20 inches to about 40 inches. I may have to add a few more rows. I think I'll use the yarn I had left over from Mystery Stole 3. Hope I have enough.