J, you asked about spindles?
My email pal, J, asked about making spindle shafts with tapered ends, and brass hooks. Well, J, head on over to my tutorial blog, Rosemary Knits Tutorials, and see for yourself! It's easy, and takes very little time. Thanks for asking.
Grace's MiniSweater
Grace finished her sweater - it took her no time at all! She made this to wear to ballet, but it came out too cute to wear only in the Ballet Barre. Here is a link to the pattern Minisweater.
Grace made a couple of changes - she eliminated the poofy sleeves, and she made her sleeves long with a bell at the end. Completely darling! Also, she knitted long ties onto the bottom band, and the ties are long enough to wrap all the way around so that she can tie it in the back, or in the front.
Actually, this band is not knitted as per the Minisweater directions, but like this - knit to the bottom of the sweater, before the bottom band starts, and set the sweater aside - still on the needles, or on a stitch holder. With another ball of yarn, and another pair of needles, cast on 5, and knit in garter stitch until you are completely goggly eyed, or until the band is about 40 inches long, whichever comes first. Then, knit onto the bottom of the sweater, as if you are knitting on a border. When you go all the way around the sweater, you are back to knitting a 40 inch long band onto the other side. Cast off and you are done. Grace knitted a buttonhole under one arm, to keep the band in place.
Here, you see the back of Grace, and the side of Emily, my new yarn mistress. You also see a pair of the most uncooperative models in the history of blogging, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves!!! You also see one of Emily's completely darling needle-felted animals - her dog. Ooooohhh... it is too cute! In the very top picture, you can see Emily's sheep on the other side of the pedestal - it's white and black and is holding a flower in its mouth. That Emily makes the best needle felted sculptures! I'll post more in the future. She teaches classes, too.
Also - Grace's sweater isn't see through - it's that flash-thing. This is the reason why you should always wear a black bra with a black top - you never know when someone will be ready to snap your picture, lol.
Stats on the sweater -
Pattern - Glampyre Minisweater, knitted to gauge, with modifications as listed above.
Yarn - Plymouth Encore, Navy Blue
Needles - home-made circs approx size 9.
Grace made a couple of changes - she eliminated the poofy sleeves, and she made her sleeves long with a bell at the end. Completely darling! Also, she knitted long ties onto the bottom band, and the ties are long enough to wrap all the way around so that she can tie it in the back, or in the front.
Actually, this band is not knitted as per the Minisweater directions, but like this - knit to the bottom of the sweater, before the bottom band starts, and set the sweater aside - still on the needles, or on a stitch holder. With another ball of yarn, and another pair of needles, cast on 5, and knit in garter stitch until you are completely goggly eyed, or until the band is about 40 inches long, whichever comes first. Then, knit onto the bottom of the sweater, as if you are knitting on a border. When you go all the way around the sweater, you are back to knitting a 40 inch long band onto the other side. Cast off and you are done. Grace knitted a buttonhole under one arm, to keep the band in place.
Here, you see the back of Grace, and the side of Emily, my new yarn mistress. You also see a pair of the most uncooperative models in the history of blogging, and they ought to be ashamed of themselves!!! You also see one of Emily's completely darling needle-felted animals - her dog. Ooooohhh... it is too cute! In the very top picture, you can see Emily's sheep on the other side of the pedestal - it's white and black and is holding a flower in its mouth. That Emily makes the best needle felted sculptures! I'll post more in the future. She teaches classes, too.Also - Grace's sweater isn't see through - it's that flash-thing. This is the reason why you should always wear a black bra with a black top - you never know when someone will be ready to snap your picture, lol.
Stats on the sweater -
Pattern - Glampyre Minisweater, knitted to gauge, with modifications as listed above.
Yarn - Plymouth Encore, Navy Blue
Needles - home-made circs approx size 9.
Knit Night!!!
Emily is such a dear - she has a knit night at her store, Colorado Fiber Arts! Oh my, we do have fun! Its great to see what everyone is up to.
Here you see some of the regulars - you know Grace, in the front, and do you remember Annette, in the back, in a white sweater? This is the lady who learned how to spin merino on a drop spindle, while on a hike and she learned to spin in 2 minutes flat. Now, she's picked up sock knitting. Yes, she just picked it up and is cranking out socks right and left. I studied and swatched for weeks to learn how to knit a sock, but not Annette - she's a quick study for sure! This "learn some complicated new process in two minutes flat" thing seems to be a habit of hers.
This blog entry marks the first time that all three of my children are in a blog post - oh, wait, no, that happened back on the mountain.... Anyway, you see Sam in the baseball hat, and Emma in the pink pullover and you all know Grace. Annette's children are in the black tee shirt and the green pullover. A handsomer bunch of kids would be hard to find, don't you think? They are studious, courteous and hardworking. Annette and I think so, at least.
Emily's store is right across the street from the public library, and the kids just wandered over after a teen function. Not only does Emily have all the yarn one could ask for, and not only does she offer all sorts of neat classes, and not only does she host a Knit Night, but gosh, she put her store right across from the public library! How cool is that!
To top it all off - she serves chocolate at knit night.
Here you see some of the regulars - you know Grace, in the front, and do you remember Annette, in the back, in a white sweater? This is the lady who learned how to spin merino on a drop spindle, while on a hike and she learned to spin in 2 minutes flat. Now, she's picked up sock knitting. Yes, she just picked it up and is cranking out socks right and left. I studied and swatched for weeks to learn how to knit a sock, but not Annette - she's a quick study for sure! This "learn some complicated new process in two minutes flat" thing seems to be a habit of hers.
This blog entry marks the first time that all three of my children are in a blog post - oh, wait, no, that happened back on the mountain.... Anyway, you see Sam in the baseball hat, and Emma in the pink pullover and you all know Grace. Annette's children are in the black tee shirt and the green pullover. A handsomer bunch of kids would be hard to find, don't you think? They are studious, courteous and hardworking. Annette and I think so, at least.
Emily's store is right across the street from the public library, and the kids just wandered over after a teen function. Not only does Emily have all the yarn one could ask for, and not only does she offer all sorts of neat classes, and not only does she host a Knit Night, but gosh, she put her store right across from the public library! How cool is that!
To top it all off - she serves chocolate at knit night.
Stretchy Cast on, still photos
I've posted the still photos of the Stretchy Cast On to my tutorial blog, for anyone who might be interested.
Rosemary Knits Tutorials
Cheers!
Rosemary Knits Tutorials
Cheers!
Stretchy Cast On
I just posted a youtube video on my tutorial site, Rosemary Knits Tutorials, or I think I did, so head on over there, and take a look. Let me know what you think. (Let me know if it's even there as I can't make it load up on this computer. Grrr...)
I'll post still pictures too, for those of you who are still on dialup (like me!) and can't access youtube videos. You can save the still pictures, then play them as a slide show, and it will be nearly as good, lol. I can't do it right now, however, as my Library Internet timeslot is all used up! Maybe sometime next week?
Cast on!
I'll post still pictures too, for those of you who are still on dialup (like me!) and can't access youtube videos. You can save the still pictures, then play them as a slide show, and it will be nearly as good, lol. I can't do it right now, however, as my Library Internet timeslot is all used up! Maybe sometime next week?
Cast on!
New Yarn Store!
I'm so excited that I can hardly contain myself. My little town now has a proper yarn store!!! I've lived for so long, buying yarn at Hobby Lobby, and now, I can buy REAL yarn, lol. Visit Emily here, Colorado Fiber Arts . She has it all, and it's such a cute store. I wish her all the best!!!
If I can do two things - (1) remember to take my camera to knit-in, and (2) actually remember to snap some photos, then I'll post pix of our wonderful Tuesday night sit and knit sessions at Colorado Fiber Arts store. Stay tuned!
If I can do two things - (1) remember to take my camera to knit-in, and (2) actually remember to snap some photos, then I'll post pix of our wonderful Tuesday night sit and knit sessions at Colorado Fiber Arts store. Stay tuned!
Baby Surprise Jacket
Now, isn't this just TOO CUTE? I just love to knit this baby jacket. Elizabeth Zimmermann was a pure genius.
I knitted this out of Artyarn's "Candy" in the colors "jujube" and "lolipop." This yarn felt a bit stringy in the ball, and felt a bit stringy after being knitted up, but after a trip through the washer and dryer, it's soooooo soft. The ball band says to hand wash, but I felt adventurous, and threw it in the machines and it came out fine. It's a cotton/acrylic blend.
Look how cute it is from the back.
We had the most gorgeous sky last night. Take a look. Ahhhh.... The sunlight, reflected from the clouds made the sidewalk pink! I love it when this happens.
