Thursday 25 October 2012

Birds In The Hand



Is worth two in the bush. Well, there are few advantages about these beads. But they were once a bracelet that had never seen the day. 

When I made it I used some really terrible spacer beads and the bracelet just ended up at the bottom of a box.

Right now the birds has flown to keep warm during the winter. And I could really use some reminder about them coming back again. 

So I decided it was time to get those birds out and have a turn around my arm.

I picked out the spacer beads and added a few more beads - that also were just lying there. And it sort of worked.

The beads are made of polymer clay. I made a rainbow cane and added slices to logs of clay.

They were then shaped as birds. After curing in the oven the beads was sanded with six different sand papers and then polished by hand.

With all that work it is a pity to let the beads just lying there.

Anyway, it always seems like it takes a lot of time to get a little job done. I am not quite that happy about the birds.

There are something about the shape of them that does not work. The colors are fine and I actually think I am going to use it now. Who can go wrong with a bit of a rainbow around the arm?


Saturday 20 October 2012

The Bleeding Shawl

The final stitch was bind off, the four ends was wowed in. I filled cold water and Soak into the basin - and loaded my shawl into it. At the same time the colors started bleeding. All dark colors like red and brown started to run over the white stripes.

I pulled it out fast and realized that the yarn Drops Delight looks great before washing. And that a lot of hours had gone into a shawl I had no idea what to do with.

As I managed to get it out of the water in an instant most of the white stripes are still somewhat white. In some places they look dirty and that annoys me.

I started experimenting with vinegar, cold and warm water and other detergents. Nothing helped - the bleeding continued.

Well, this was not the worst thing. My scarf Wool For A Star is knitted with the same yarn but in another color way.

I knitted a swatch and dipped it into cold water. Same thing happend. All colors started to run into the water.

That scarf took me forever to knit and I love it. In addition I really started to regret using that terrible yarn.

A friend told me about some cloth called color catcher and advised me to put the scarf in the washer with the cloths.

Saved with Color Catcher.
I was terrified - this was either hours thrown into nothing or keeping my scarf. So I washed it - and the colors were running like mad. But when the machine stopped I saw the cloths had picked up a lot of the colors and the scarf was saved.

I was so relieved - I can see the bleeding on some of the white. But not enough to destroy the work I have done.

The shawl is really not in my colors and were just some mindless knitting. But still, yarn are not supposed to bleed no matter what.

As a comfort I started a new shawl from the same pattern in Noro Silk Garden Sock from my stash and Panda. I love the pattern - totally mindless but fun to knit and Noro makes it shine. I hope it is not bleeding....

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Drops Delight (bleeding nightmare), Pt2 Panda
Needles: 2.5mm
PatternJosephine Shawl (free)
My Ravelry PageStripe By Stripe
Wrong side of the shawl -  the bleeding is not easy to see...

Friday 12 October 2012

From Stash To Gold


Well, this post is mostly about the stashed yarn and the fact that it turned out to be gold. I just had to use it the right way and see things differently. Learning about using color in knitting has helped me using my stash to create just what I love: A lot of colors playing together in my garments and things I knit.

This is my scarf knitted entirely from stash.
This collection is made of stashed yarn - and you are right. I should stop buying yarn, knit more and give more to charity.

How many shawls or scarves does a person need? A million? Thousands? Hundreds? I think it must be the last... LOL.

I tend to think that we way too often in life judge people and things before even bother to find out what they are.

And way too often the verdict is simply to throw it all away. Or tell people to get lost.

Well a lot of people were told that they were a lost cause. But if anybody had bothered to look closer they may have seen the hidden treasure inside.

And I often think about that when I dive into a pile of stashed yarn or beads. I can make the yarn shine if I take the right choices.

Just like we can make a person shine - if we look closer.

Have a lovely weekend - I hope you will be seen as you are.


Monday 8 October 2012

Using Up Stash Beads

You can see my large stripy scarf here.
It is not only stash yarn that have been used lately. All these polymer clay disks where just lying there. They are all left overs from my colorful braclets. So, since I am stash busting all the time so I can get more stash to fill up the space left from the stash used (!!!), I found out that these beads should be used.

The beads in the S for Stash...
I have this very long striped shawl or scarf that I really love wearing. I so love all the colors and the fact that I used so much stash.

And bought some more to get the right colors. Well, enough about that stash - LOL!!!

I took out all the beads left overs and started to put them together the way I knitted the stripes.

I could have made some more - but that would be an extremely bad excuse to make even more beads.

And even more stashed beads.

So, to make a long story short: Here is the bracelet. Quick and easy and a fun thing to wear with my striped stash buster. Oh no, there is that word again: Stash...

Keep Calm And Stash Down
Me
Stringed and ready to be a bracelet. I use stretch magic 1.5mm for these heavy bracelets.

Friday 5 October 2012

A Heart Of Wool

What could be better than a heart of wool? Soft, warm and everlasting - right from the needles. I bought the book Med hjerte for strikk or With a heart for knitting in english by Sidsel Presterud Røvik. The book is in norwegian - but I believe it is possible to knit from it without knowing norwegian. The charts are simple to understand.

Anyway, I love this book. You can really see the author has her heart in it, literally.

And the hearts she has designed are lovely. It may not be a knitting revoloution but it certainly has great ideas for knitting a heart as one desires.

She has used paper, wool and wire and even included pages so you can design your own heart. You can knit pillows, penguins, jewelry and hearts for the christmas tree. There are endless possibilities.

The photos are really good and the book is a joy just to read and get inspired from.

I had to try out one of the patterns just to see how it worked. It was a bit fiddling with only five stitches to begin with.

But after a couple of rounds it is ok. I used a fingering yarn and one of the charts for a kind of norwegian look. I will try more of the patterns - the hearts has a nice shape and is not as round as you often see knitted hearts.

A warm heart makes the world a better place. Even if it is knitted. Have a lovely heart warming weekend.

The Stitch Story
Yarn: Rauma Finull
Needles: 1.75mm dpn
Pattern: From the book Med hjerte for strikk
My Raverly Page: Heart Of Wool
A little heart in my hands - together with my new mittens.