Weekly Update

Quilting:

I finished the coaster I've been working on.

Then I started the last one. I finished the quilting and started the 1st binding strip.

 

Swedish Weaving:

I also finished Southwest Memory from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

For my next towel I'm using Mountain Pines from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. I've already finished hemming the edges and have started the stitching.

 

 

Knitting:

I did some more work on the back of Soft Shoulders, a sweater designed by Kathy Zimmerman.

 

Crochet:

Finally, I did some more work on the step afghan (pattern here).

 

Weekly Update

Quilting:

I finished 3 flying geese blocks and half of 2 flying geese units on Around the Town by Dawna Baker.

I finished the 2nd binding strip on the coaster and attached the 3rd.

I pulled out the Tree Frog Trio (designer unknown) based on No Evil Frogs by Royce B. McClure and started work on it again. I seem determined to make mistakes on this project. I pieced together the remaining binding strips (necessitated by an earlier mistake), and then proceeded to trim too much of the backing away from the 2nd binding strip which I had already attached. *headdesk* No fixing this one: the best I could do was make sure to pin the binding strip so that the width matches the rest of the binding. It doesn't look too bad, and since this is going to hang on the wall rather than getting regular use the half-empty binding shouldn't be a problem. After I got it pinned in place, I started stitching it down.

Cross Stitch:

I did some more work on Joy of Computer Work which is based on artwork by Randal Spangler and adapted to cross stitch by Michele Sayetta of Heaven and Earth Designs.

Knitting:

I did some more work on the back of Soft Shoulders, a sweater designed by Kathy Zimmerman.

Swedish Weaving:

I've almost finished stitching Southwest Memory from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

Crochet:

Finally, I got back to using up my scrap yarn a lot sooner than I thought I would. Seeing a similar afghan online recently reminded me of an afghan that I've wanted to make ever since I saw one that my grandmother's friend had made for her. She called it a step afghan, but I'm sure there are other names out there. Working from memory and making adjustments to suit my own taste, I came up with the following:

The pattern's pretty simple. All rows are worked on the right side only with a different color for each row. Gauge doesn't matter; I'm using a size J hook, but use whatever feels right to you.

Make a chain the desired width of the finished afghan; it doesn't need to be a multiple of anything. It helps to use a hook 1 size larger than the hook you'll use for the rest of the afghan. Most people make their starting chain too tight resulting in the infamous triangular afghan; using a larger hook for the starting chain corrects for this. When your starting chain is complete, switch to the smaller hook.

Row 1: Single crochet in the 2nd chain from the hook and in each remaining chain across. End off. Do not turn.

Row 2: With a new color, join with a single crochet in the first stitch and single crochet in each remaining stitch across. End off. Do not turn.

Row 3: With a new color, join with a single crochet in the first stitch and single crochet in next 8 stitches (9 single crochet total). [Front post double crochet around the stitch 1 row below the next stitch (that is, around the stitch in Row 1), single crochet in next 9 stitches.] Repeat between the [] across. It's okay if the pattern doesn't come out evenly; just single crochet in each of the leftover stitches. End off. Do not turn.

Row 4: With a new color, join with a single crochet in the first stitch and [single crochet across up to (but not including) the single crochet before the front post double crochet in the previous row. Front post double crochet around the stitch 1 row below the next single crochet, single crochet in front post double crochet.]  Repeat between the [] across, single crochet in any remaining stitches (if you have 11* stitches left after your last front post double crochet, add another pattern repeat). End off. Do not turn.

Repeat Row 4 until your afghan is the desired length, adding pattern repeats at the left edge as the pattern shifts to the right. You can use the yarn ends at the end of each row as a fringe, or you can weave them all in; I'm opting for the latter since I don't care for fringe.

*Yes, 11. You don't want a front post double crochet right on the edge of the afghan; the first and last stitch of each row should be a single crochet.

Update:  I found as I was crocheting this afghan that because all of the stitches are done on the right side, the top and bottom edges curl up.  To correct this, I added borders of regular back-and-forth single crochet to each end of the afghan.  I did 5 rows for each border, but you could make them as wide as you like.  Also, I added both borders after the afghan was finished, but you could start the afghan with several rows of back-and-forth single crochet before starting Row 1 of the pattern.  If you're doing fringe, you would need to attach some extra strands to the border rows since there won't automatically be yarn ends on each row of the border.  Also, this afghan would benefit from blocking.  You can see my finished afghan here.

Weekly Update

Quilting:

I finished 1 flying geese block and 2 flying geese units on Around the Town by Dawna Baker.

Cross Stitch:

I did some more work on Joy of Computer Work which is based on artwork by Randal Spangler and adapted to cross stitch by Michele Sayetta of Heaven and Earth Designs.

I also worked on Serenity by Joan Elliott.

Knitting:

I did some more work on the back of Soft Shoulders, a sweater designed by Kathy Zimmerman.

Swedish Weaving:

Finally, I made good progress on Southwest Memory from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

 

Weekly Update

Knitting:

I did some more work on the back of Soft Shoulders, a sweater designed by Kathy Zimmerman.

 

Swedish Weaving:

I made quite a bit of progress on Southwest Memory from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly.

Cross Stitch:

Finally, I did some more work on Joy of Computer Work which is based on artwork by Randal Spangler and adapted to cross stitch by Michele Sayetta of Heaven and Earth Designs.

 

Weekly Update

Swedish Weaving:

I finally got around to hemming the ends on the Feathers To and Fro afghan from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. It's now finished.

 

I really didn't like working with the monk's cloth. My next afghan will be done on aida with pearl cotton.

In the meantime, I've started a series a towels using huck toweling. I'm finding this fabric to be much more pleasant to work with. I bought a piece long enough to make 8 towels. Since it's got a nice selvedge on each side of the 16" wide fabric and the weave isn't too loose, all I had to do was put Fray Check on the ends and throw it in the washing machine -- no basting. Then I squared off the ends, cut it into 8 roughly equal lengths, and ironed each piece just enough that the fabric laid flat and there were no huge creases. I didn't try to get all the wrinkles out -- these are going to be towels after all. Then I rolled each piece up and put them away until time to use them.

When I was ready to start my first towel, I pulled out 1 piece of fabric, cut the selvedges off, and hemmed the sides. The huck toweling is a lot easier to handle and behaves better than monk's cloth, so this wasn't as arduous a process as it was on the afghan. The hem looks nicer too.

For my first towel, I'm using the Southwest Memory pattern from Learn to Make Monk’s Cloth Afghans by Marilyn T. Magly. (If you've got this book, please note that the center knot mark is in the wrong place: it needs to be shifted 6 squares to the left. Also, pay attention to the horizontal repeat; it does not fall on the edges of the graph.)

 

I'm finding huck toweling to be an absolute dream to stitch on, particularly with pearl cotton. The fabric has a lovely hand, and the floats are very easy to pick up with the needle. Both the fabric and thread have a nice sheen. The huck toweling does have some foreign matter woven into the fabric that needs to be teased out with a needle (apparently this is par for the course with Swedish weaving fabrics; what gives, fabric manufacturers?), but not as much as the monk's cloth did. Overall, I'm pleased with it.

Cross Stitch:

I finished stitching Happy New Year!, a Mini-Kats™ design by Linda Connors of Calico Crossroads®, adapted from the artwork of Kathleen Kelly of Kats by Kelly™.

 

I've already stitched the designs for February and March, so the next one I do will be in April.

Quilting:

I finished quilting the coaster and attached & stitched down the 1st binding strip.

Knitting:

Finally, I did some more work on the back of Soft Shoulders, a sweater designed by Kathy Zimmerman.  For some reason, my camera doesn't like colors in the teal/aqua range, so the colors in this photo are odd, to say the least.

 

Weekly Update

Quilting:

I basted my remaining 2 coasters together and started quilting one of them.

Cross Stitch:

I started Happy New Year!, a Mini-Kats™ design by Linda Connors of Calico Crossroads®, adapted from the artwork of Kathleen Kelly of Kats by Kelly™.  I have the entire set of these, and I figure that if I work on them during the months they represent I should be able to get them all stitched (but not finished) by the end of the year without getting too burnt out, especially as some of them are already done.

I also did some more work on Joy of Computer Work which is based on artwork by Randal Spangler and adapted to cross stitch by Michele Sayetta of Heaven and Earth Designs.

 

Knitting:

Finally, I pulled out yet another UFO. This one's a sweater called Soft Shoulders designed by Kathy Zimmerman.  Here's what I had already done: It's the back of the sweater.

There are a few problems with this. First, it's been so long since I worked on this that I have no idea where I was in the pattern. Second, I was using an old set of needles that I don't like. Third, I used the wrong size needles on the ribbing.

I could probably have figured out where I was in the pattern, but the other 2 problems necessitate starting over.

Variations in manufacturing and materials mean that different sets of knitting needles will give you a different gauge even if you use the same size, so it's important to use the same set of needles throughout a project.

Most sweater patterns require that you use a smaller size of needles on the ribbing to make it cling a bit tighter than the rest of the garment. I find that with my wide hips womanly curves I get the best fit if I use the same size needles on the ribbing for the body as those used on main part of the sweater. For some reason, I seem to have forgotten to do that on this UFO.

So, since this won't fit me properly and the needles would drive me crazy, I'm cutting my losses and starting over. I've cut the UFO loose from the ball of yarn and have put it away in case I need to rip it later for the yarn. I haven't frogged it yet; if i don't need it for the yarn I may see if I can make it into something useful.

Anyway, here's what I got done this week. Again, this is the back.

 

Weekly Update

Quilting:

My arthritis improved enough this week to let me use the iron, so I did some piecing on Around the Town by Dawna Baker. I finished 3 flying geese blocks and 2 ½ flying geese units.

Cross Stitch:

I got quite a bit done on Joy of Computer Work which is based on artwork by Randal Spangler and adapted to cross stitch by Michele Sayetta of Heaven and Earth Designs.

 

I did some more work on the Celtic Jewel Bookmark from the Textile Heritage Collection.

 

I also worked on Serenity by Joan Elliott.

Finally, I did a bit more on the Rose Cross by Irene O. Thomas.