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Thursday, June 22, 2006

Baby Flower Bracelet ------------------------------- An Early Morning Amusement

Here's a little something I whipped up this morning as I thought about how I REALLY need to update my BurryBabies website. I'm almost finished, but who has the time to get it to the last stages - proofreading, adding new photos and descriptions, rewriting text, connecting all items to Paypal?

So instead, I was thinking about how people now buy beaded bracelets for their babies and how I NEVER would have put one of those on my three babies -- too much danger from chewing on beads and choking!

So I crocheted this little flower bracelet that has no beads, no buttons, no snaps -- just 100% cotton yarn and a lot of love. Look: I'm a frustrated non-grandmother. How do you think Burry Babies got started anyway?

Here's a photo of the little flower bracelet. If there's a baby you love, it's up for sale on Etsy for only $4.00!



Hope you have a happy day today!
I think I'll just go make some more baby bracelets.

Monday, June 19, 2006

An Answer from the KnittingGuru ------------------ How to Knit Half-Linen Stitch


Recently Linda wrote to Ask the Guru:

"I am trying to find instructions for a "half linen stitch". Have you heard of it?"

The KnittingGuru answers:

I am familiar with this stitch. It isn't always called Half-Linen Stitch, however. Barbara Walker calls it Woven Stitch, for example. Most knitting stitches have numerous names and sometimes this causes problems when we try to research them.

One thing that's important to be aware of is that this is a very dense stitch. It belongs to the category of stitches called Slip Stitch and as such it involves slipping certain stitches over two (or more) rows. This is sometimes called Mosaic Knitting and it's an interesting technique in that you can knit fabrics that have patterns without using two or more colors in the same row. You are always knitting with only one yarn at a time for the whole row. The slipped stitch can be made with the yarn in front of the work or behind it. This gives two very different textures.

I knit the samples using sport weight wool (DK weight) with size 8 needles and then with size 10 needles. If you were knitting stockinette, you would probably use size 4 or 5 needles with this yarn. With Half-Linen Stitch, the size 8 needles yielded an extremely thick fabric with no drape. Even with size 10 needles the fabric is quite thick. You will also find that compared to stockinette, all slip stitch patterns have a gauge with many more rows per inch and often with many more stitches to achieve the same width. Be on guard about this! You cannot substitute slip stitch for plain knitting in a pattern or you will end up with a VERY SHORT garment and maybe a very narrow garment, too!

This is how the Half-Linen Stitch is knit:

Cast on an odd number of stitches.
Row 1 - Knit 1, *slip 1 stitch with yarn in front, knit 1* repear from * to * to end.
Row 2 - Purl.
Row 3 - Knit 2, *slip 1 stitch with yarn in front, knit 1* repear from * to * to end.
Row 4 - Purl.

Here are photos of the Half-Linen Stitch shown on both sizes 8 and 10 needles. I have also shown the "slip with yarn in front" component of the stitch. By the way, this is a very simple stitch to knit.


This photo shows the yarn in front of the slipped stitch.


Now the yarn is placed behind the needle in preparation for knitting one stitch.


This photo shows the Half-Linen Stitch done on size 8 needles with sport weight yarn. It would be suitable for a very heavy and warm winter jacket with no drape.


This is the same stitch and yarn knit on size 10 needles. It is still thick, but has a softer, more open texture. It would be suitable for a warm sweater.


This is the Half-Linen Stitch knit on size 10 needles with two colors. Rows 1 & 2 are knit in light gold and Rows 3 & 4 are knit in black. Doesn't this make a great tweed? Can't you see this as a fabulous fall jacket?


Here's my swatch with one of my KnittingGuru Swatch Cards attached for my records. I know never to trust to my memory about these statistics and so I always use a card. You can buy these in the KnittingGuru Boutique.

I hope that Linda and the rest of my readers found this discussion to be clear and helpful, and that you'll try this stitch next time you want something really warm to wear or use as a blanket.

For other interesting Knitting Articles please check out KnittingGuru. I am always happy to answer your questions at Ask the Guru.

Wednesday, June 14, 2006

BIGGER BETTER BOBBLES!

This week on KnittingGuru I have a visual tutorial
on making Bigger Better Bobbles. There are 13 photos
showing details, so please be patient as this useful
tutorial downloads. See it at:
http://www.knittingguru.com

Also New at KnittingGuru:

A Cool Blue Waffle Textured Long Cotton Scarf
with Vintage Button Decorations $25.

and

A New Knitting at the Beach Kit --
A Deep Pink (Magenta) Textured Knit Bag
with a 1950s Vintage Button.
The kit includes an instruction card, yarn, &
the button, and is packed in a lovely gold gauze
drawstring bag. $10.95

You can see the scarf and bag at:
http://www.knittingguru.com/boutique.html

SORRY FOR THE PHOTOLESS BLOG ENTRY, BUT I AM REALLY BUSY!

Not only am I knitting like a fiend and designing kits, etc. but also I am having major renovations done at home. This is taking physical energy, but most of all psychic energy. Oh, the mess, the phone calls, the forgotten tasks, THE MONEY ITS COSTING.....

Anyone out there who has gone through major renovations, tell me how you manage to keep the rest of your life going. I'd really like to read your comments.

Tuesday, June 06, 2006

Where Does the Time Go? ................................ Or, Time Flies When You're Knitting & Listening



I can't believe how long it has been since I last wrote here. Of course, I did take some time off for Memorial Day Weekend - 4 days in fact! We heard a truly great Shostakovich concert that really revitalized me. I'd never heard his Preludes & Fugues before and was amazed how much like Bach they were, and yet in an entirely different spirit. Very exciting music!





I never do stop knitting, however, no matter what else is going on. Here's one of a series of skinny cotton scarves I've been knitting. This one's hot pink with semi-precious bead decoration. This works just as well as a belt, and offers so many ways to wear it as a scarf. I'm posting a lot of photos of this so you can see the variations. In fact, it reflects the theme and variations of the Shostokovich music I so loved!






You can get this scarf at my Etsy store now. I will be putting it in the KnittingGuru Boutique soon,
too.









I do love comments and questions, so let's have some feedback here, OK?