Angels we have...

Here are two crocheted angels drying on my kitchen counter. The little one is Small Angel Ornament #1 and the larger one is Tree Top Angel #4 from Leisure Arts Crocheted Snowflakes & Angels designed by Wilma Stash with a copyright date of 1983.

They were worked with a size 3 steel crochet hook in Baroque crochet cotton in Ecru.

Their heads are stuffed with merino top because that's what was at hand.

After I assembled them and sewed in the ends, I dipped their bodies, wings, and halos in warm water, then in starch. I spread a thin layer of starch over their heads so that there won't be color or sheen differences when they dry. I removed the excess starch with my fingers and paper towels before forming them into their angel shapes.

They are supported by cones made of leftover plastic Metro shelf liner stapled and taped together and held in place with bobby pins. I tried to support the larger angel's wings, but couldn't find anything that worked, so in the morning I'll probably have to re-flatten the picots.

I did not have any commercial laundry starch around the house, so I mixed pure corn starch and water together in a saucepan and boiled it until it got gloopy. Then I thinned it to a consistency I could work with. I could've "starched" them with sugar water, but I don't have as much sugar in the house as I have corn starch.

Hopefully they will both dry and harden before the people I made them for skip town for the holidays.

Fingerless Gloves

I made a pair of these for myself and didn't write down the pattern, now I'm going to try to make a set for a friend and write it up as I go.

Materials:
size 1 double-pointed needles
baby ull

Cast-on 72 stitches
K2 P2 for 20 rows

K1, knit into stitch 2 rows below needle, knit into stitch 1 row below next stitch, k1, p2, k2, p2 across
k4, p2, k2, p2 across
k4, p2, k2, p2 across
k2, knit into stitch 2 rows below needle, knit into stitch 1 row below next stitch, k2, p2 across
k2, p2 across
k2, p2 across
k2, p2, knit into stitch 2 rows below needle, knit into stitch 1 row below next stitch, p2, k2, p2 across
k2, p4, k2, p2 across
k2, p4, k2, p2 across

and so forth until there are enough stitches between the initial 2 stitches to go around the thumb.

will need to measure the gauge later.

Cotton bags

Recently I knit two small bags in cotton yarn from my stash on size 000 needles. One is small and sized to hold my iPod shuffle and its headphones. The other is larger designed to fit the iPhone, but ended up bigger than that and can probably hold a whole lot more.


The small one is 60 stitches around. The color pattern is pulled a bit too tight, but the fabric it made is lovely.

The larger one is 80 stitches around and I wrote out the pattern. The tension is better, but it has some really long floats (I chose not to anchor them) that show some indication that it may be too loose.

Some of the tensions issues on both bags can probably be improved by blocking them which I may or may not do.

The cords on both bags are 4-strand braids. Bring left strand under 2 strands to the right and back over 1 strand to the left, bring right strand under 2 strands to the left and back over 1 strand to the right. The structure is similar to Viking whipcord but I didn't have the set up for that where I was braiding.

Moorish Stockings for Summer Part III

I finished the Moorish stockings the other evening. Tonight I took pictures. They aren't quite as long as I'd like them to be, but I didn't have more yarn and I can't get more in that color. They will, however, be good enough for taming my Moorish pants in the summer months.

The pattern:

Cast-on 80 stitches. Knit until desired length or you run out of yarn, bind-off loosely.

Easy-peasy and boring.

Moorish Stockings for Summer Part II

I took this photo a while ago. I'm pretty sure the knitted bit on the left was the wrong size and shape and got frogged to be knitted into the right size and shape.

The yarn is Camila from Elann.com. 50% cotton, 50% linen. 113m/50g. Color 8007. I can't tell you what they call this color because it's not currently available. Despite what it looks like in the picture, the yarn is a slightly purple-ish grey.

The needles are Addi Aluminum double points in 3.25mm size, which is approximately a US size 3, but not close enough to size 3 be mixed with size 3 needles from other manufacturers.

The pattern so far: Cast-on 80 sts. Knit in stockinette until almost out of the 2nd skein. Bind off loosely.

They're going to be a bit shorter than I'd really like, but I'm sure I can live with it, as they'll also be a lot cooler for having less fabric scrunching around my lower leg.

Flat Cap the First

These are the promised pictures of the wool for the flat cap project. Sorry about the focus on the singles. I took 3 photos of that stage, and none of them look good. The yarn is slightly darker than it looks in the photos with the black background, and not quite as dark as the photo with the white background.

Jacob Top


Single on Spindle


2-ply yarn

Yarn on White Background

Productive Craft Day

A couch to Dye for

The burgundy procion I have is very muddy, so I mixed it with scarlet. Unfortunately I don't think I had enough dye and the slip cover to my couch is now VERY interesting.

Charitable warmth

The first scarf of this winter's charity knitting is about 14" long. Off-white acrylic in brioche stitch. 20 sts wide on size 8 needles.

Skirting the Issue

Sewed another seam on the skirt where I'm trying out a seaming technique I learned from the Attack Laurel's blog. There is one more panel to sew in. If my math worked after that I'll be ready to add the waistband and sew the hem. If my math didn't work, I'll be adding more gores to make room for my butt.

You Spin me Right Round, Baby

All of the Jacob is spun into 2-ply. I took the pictures of the yarn off the camera today (they'll get their own post when I decide which ones to upload). While I did finally figure out how to use the macro setting on my camera. Unsurprisingly, I'm not happy with the focus. I really need to get a tripod so I can mess around more with my camera's settings. A light tent wouldn't be a bad addition, either, but shooting outside would probably be easier to store :)

Fuzzy Yak

My wee tiny Golding spindle and I had some more fun with mostly pink yak down. I have absolutely no idea what I'm going to do with this stuff when it's all spun up.

A Pattern!

Or at least the chart for the design that I used on a pouch.

The latest

I've spun up all the Jacob. I even have pictures, but they're still on the camera.

I made 2 pouches of red and white cotton. The first in a diagonal pattern, the other in a pattern inspired by Roman mosaics. I've been asked to chart and share the latter pattern, and I shall.

The batik skirt with the new-to-me hand seaming technique is slowly getting closer to finished.

I've been spinning more pink yak down. I really do n eed to get pictures of that.

The first of the cotton/linen Moorish stockings is knit, and the second one is more than halfway finished.

Romano-Egyptian Stockings Part V

When there are 16 stitches across the instep, pick them up. (64 sts)
Work rounds for 8 rows.
K 58. Turn.
P 58.
K 64.
P 64.

Repeat last two rows 6 times
Bind off loosely.

Weave in ends.

Now to trim the ends, make ties, and send them to the person I made them for.

Romano-Egyptian Stockings Part IV

So, that plan didn't work. The heel is too shallow. So I'm doing some short rows.

After the heel increases, work 8 pairs of matching wrap and turns, one stitch from the end of the row.

K 46, wrap & turn
P 44, wrap & turn
K 43, wrap & turn
P 42, wrap & turn
K 41, wrap & turn
P 40, wrap & turn
K 39, wrap & turn
P 38, wrap & turn
K 37, wrap & turn
P 36, wrap & turn
K 35, wrap & turn
P 34, wrap & turn
K 33, wrap & turn
P 32, wrap & turn
K 31, wrap & turn
P 30, wrap & turn

K across, picking up wraps, K last st w/ bound off edge
P across, picking up wraps, P last st w/ bound off edge

K 47, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (48 sts)
P 47, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (48 sts)

for 14 rows

then start picking up the stitch from the bound-off edge instead of working it together

Romano-Egyptian Stockings Part III

Success!

Starting at the heel, in twisted stockinette...

figure-8 cast-on 8 stitches and one more on the right needle. (17 sts)
K 7 from left needle, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge. (18 sts)
P 8, pick up one st, P 8 tfl, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (18 sts)
K 8, PM, kbf twice, PM, K 7, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (20 sts)
P 19, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (20 sts)
K 8, kbf x 4, K 7 , K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (24 sts)
P 23, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (24 sts)
K 8, (kfb K1) x 4, K 7, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (28 sts)
P 27, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (28 sts)
K 8, (kfb K2) x 4, K 7, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (32 sts)
P 31, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (32 sts)
K 8, (kfb k3) x 4, K7, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (36 sts)
P 35, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (36 sts)
K 8, (kfb k4) x 4, K7, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (40 sts)
P 39, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (40 sts)
K 8, (kfb k5) x 4, K7, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (44 sts)
P 43, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (44 sts)
K 8, (kfb k6) x 4, K7, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (48 sts)

P 47, P last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (48 sts)
K 47, K last st tbl w/ st from bound-off edge (48 sts)

Repeat last 2 rows a bunch (I'll figure out how much later.

Romano-Egyptian Stockings Part II

Well, that didn't work. The heel is way too poufy and the whole thing is a little bit too long. So I'm going to try again with the heel as an 8 stitch figure-8 and increasing 4 times every other row but for a few more rows. Hopefully that won't be an overkill of a correction, but the heel is basically gathered-looking right now, so it needs a LOT less increasing or at least slower increasing.

Romano-Egyptian Stockings

I'm knitting Romano Egyptian stockings, inspired by these and these. So far, I've knit the front part of the foot and the bottom of the heel of both stockings. As usual, I haven't tried to take a picture.

Here's the pattern so far:

Lang Jawoll, size 2 needles

work in twisted stockinette

figure-8 cast-on 4 stitches, inc 4 every row until 32 stitches, inc 4 every other row until 60 stitches

Work until 6" long, bind off VERY LOOSELY

figure-8 cast-on 12 stitches and one extra on right needle,
1. knit to end of left needle, k tog w/ back loop of bound off edge,
2. purl 12 sts, place marker, pick up 1 stitch, purl 1 stitch, place marker, purl 11 sts, p tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
3. k 12 sts, k bf in 2 sts, k 11 sts, k tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
4. p12 sts, p 4 sts, p 11 sts, p tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
5. k 12 sts, k bf in 4 sts, k11 sts, k tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
6. p 12 sts, p8 sts, p 11 sts, p tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
7. k 12 sts, kbf in 8 sts, k 11 sts, k tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
8. p 12 sts, p 16 sts, p 11 sts, p tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
9. k 12 sts, kbf in 16 sts, k 11 sts, k tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
10. p 12 sts, p 32 sts, p 11 sts, p tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
11. k 12 sts, (kbf in 1 sts k 1 sts)16 times, k 11 sts, k tog w/ back loop of bound off edge
12. p 12 sts, p 48 sts, p 11 sts, p tog w/ back loop of bound off edge

And so I have this all in one place, here's the friend's measurements:

Foot
length 9.5
instep 9
ankle 10

Works in Progress

Here is the update to the works in progress list.

• shoes - currently just a taped up foot, might toss and start over - tossed
  
• grey wool legwarmers - need to find - found, and likely to be abandoned as I don't think I need a pair this thick, but currently living in the SCA to-do box
  
• greyish cotton legwarmers - rip and start over wider - ripped and started over wider, but they're now too wide, I'll finish off this skein and try again. currently my on-the-go project
  
• disco kitty - needs to be sewn and stuffed - done
  
• Shimmer - needs to be blocked - done
  
• Jeannette - I think I'm going to rip this one and re-do it narrower - no change in modern to-do box
  
• velvet veil - needs to attach balls - started attaching balls, living in SCA to-do box
  
• red fingerless gloves - first glove, thumb gusset part-way done - done
  
• book - decide whether or not to re-sew it, if not, sand and attach boards - no change
  
• chemises - find out how many and if any of them are likely to fit - there was only one and it was way too small in the arms
  
• tablecloth - hem and embroider - no change
  
• napkins - embroider and hem - no change
  
• Roman socks - working on heel - no change
• Viking dress - need to finish the rest of the seams and sew the hem
• Romney - cleaning and combing

And as always, I don't have nearly enough pictures of my projects.

Belated MDSW Post

Since my last post, I've been doing a heck of a lot of craft stuff. The most notable was participating in the medieval textiles demonstration at the Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

I showed off sprang. There I am warping my cheap-ass sprang loom (picture taken by the other person doing sprang at the festival).

New Clothes
Because I have no evidence of sprang being used in early 16th century Spain, I decided to make a set of viking clothes. A new chemise/smock in 3.5 oz white linen and a new dress in lightweight yellow wool gabardine, and an apron dress in fulled black/olive wool that had a not-quite checkered pattern before fulling.

The chemise and dress both have rectangular construction and tapered sleeves. I now have a "good enough" pattern for making more smocks of this style. I want to check a few sources, but I think the pattern with a different neckline will also work for Spanish dresses. I could probably make these dresses fit a bit tighter, and still they'd be OK, and that might be worth working on for the next attempt.

I made the apron dress out of some lovely wool I had sitting around. I fulled the wool, which in hindsight was a mistake. The fabric didn't full evenly the first time around, so I had to try again, the dress is shorter than I really want it, and the lovely drape of the original fabric is completely gone. I think I'll be using this fabric for shoe mockups and hats and other sturdier things.

Festival Loot
While I was at the festival, I picked up a set of Viking combs and a big back of fleece from a black Romney sheep (cue Baa Baa Black Sheep song), and a handful of honey straws from the Bee Folks whose website is currently unavailable.

Related Projects
Since then I've been adding more finishing touches to the yellow dress for the Viking outfit. I'm finishing all the seams with a line of running stitch in red crochet cotton (it's what I had available), and when that's done, I'll hem it.

I've also been cleaning and prepping the Romney for spinning. A wash in the bathtub to get most of the smell off, then scouring a smaller batch in the sink to get most of the lanolin off, then a righteous combing to make it fluffy. I tried spinning some of that on my spindle last night. I'm either going to need to do more prep or use the wheel so I don't have to worry about the weight of the spindle as I draft the fiber. Since I want more of a woolen yarn than a worsted one, I think I shall go with the wheel because hand-carding takes AGES.

A Break from Fiber

Tonight I made the sign to accompany the knitting guild's display at Kingdom Arts and Sciences Festival this weekend.

I can't scan it until it is dry, but here are the steps I used to make it.

1. trace the clewe (ball of yarn) in pencil from the Pennsic Traceable Art Project
2. fought with my fountain pen to get the permanent black ink to flow through the calligraphy nib
3. wrote the name of the group with the largest calligraphy nib I have for the fountain pen
4. fought with the fountain pen to get the permanent black ink to flow through the non-calligraphy nib
5. wrote the description of the group with the non-calligraphy nib
6. traced the clewe with a marker brush
7. painted the clewe with undiluted cobalt-colored acrylic paint
8. painted a second coat of blue on the clewe
9. set in a safe place

After it dries, I will re-ink the lines on the clewe, covering them with black acrylic if I have to. Then I'll scan the final result.

Moorish Stockings for Summer

See that blue thing on my leg? That's a Moorish stocking used to produce the look recorded in Weiditz's Trachtenbuch.

They're just a long tube of blue wool. Rather warm, which is great at this time of year, but not so spiffy in the hot of an Atlantia summer.

Here are the details of the new stockings.

Yarn: 4 (?) skeins elann.com Camila. 50% cotton, 50% linen, 113m/50g
Needles: 3.25 mm
Gauge: 24 sts/36 rows = 4"

Cast-on 100 stitches. Knit stockinette stitch in the round. Bind off loosely.

Make 2.

Works in Progress

Here is my WIP list so that I can figure out how much longer before I can start the crazy idea that a friend of mine put in my head today.

• shoes - currently just a taped up foot, might toss and start over
  
• grey wool legwarmers - need to find
  
• greyish cotton legwarmers - rip and start over wider
  
• disco kitty - needs to be sewn and stuffed
  
• Shimmer - needs to be blocked
  
• Jeannette - I think I'm going to rip this one and re-do it narrower
  
• velvet veil - needs to attach balls
  
• red fingerless gloves - first glove, thumb gusset part-way done
  
• book - decide whether or not to re-sew it, if not, sand and attach boards
  
• chemises - find out how many and if any of them are likely to fit
  
• tablecloth - hem and embroider
  
• napkins - embroider and hem
• Roman socks - working on heel
  

Later, I'll annotate the list with what they are, how much is left to do and maybe even pictures

Shimmer Progress - Part 2

Finished the knitting tonight. I had to re-do the ribbing because I picked up too few stitches the first time and it didn't lie flat. I also had to rip out the first few stitches of the bind-off row because they weren't stretchy enough. I re-did them with a bigger needle.

Tried it on (can't find camera) and the fit is much better with the new ribbing. I probably should block it, but it looks damn good as it is.

Now to weave in the ends, graft together the armpits, and wait for the weather to cool off a bit because I was sweltering when I tried it on over my tank top.

Shimmer Progress

Shimmer is currently my Metro knitting. Not because it's small and convenient, but because I want to finish it some time this century.

I'm most of the way through the 2nd attempt at the back and yoke. When I tried on the first attempt, I realized it was too big and that the sleeves are each about an inch too long. So I frogged a lot, and tried again.

I've decreased away all the front stitches and I still have more than twice the stitches I need to have to start on the neck. It's not quite long enough to try on again, but it will be soon.

Current Project List

The active projects:

• Shimmer from Knitty
• Jeanie from Knitty
• turning a batt from String Theory Fiber Arts into string

When Shimmer is finished, I'll go through the WIP bin and see what's hiding in there.