New Knit Stitch a Week: Lace Insert

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I kind of hit a busy spell - one week with a lot of parties and other projects, so I had to skip, but here we go with this week's. I like how this breaks up the fluffy routine of garter stitch with some nice, open pauses.

I cast on 12 stitches on size 9 needles (I forgot my trusty size 8's) - left is a thick, acrylic yarn I lost the tag to, right is Caron Simply Soft

Rows 1 to 6: knit
Rows 7 and 9: *yo, K 2 tog*
Rows 8 and 10: *yo, P 2 tog*

Stitching Saturday: A little cross stitch

This weekend and last, I decided to catch up on a little cross stitching. This is one of those pastimes that takes forever. Above was my starting point, last Saturday morning...



And here she was after a good 6 hours of stitching...



And here she was after another 6-8 hours of stitching. Can you even see the progress? :) I'm filling in the wings. Reading the graph is one of those things you must have an absolutely clear head for - all those little black and white symbols make your head spin. :)

Any of you working on something huge? Or am I the lone crazy one? ;)

New Knit Stitch a Week: Double Drop Stitch

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I cast on 14 stitches in Stitch Nation Washable Ewe on size 8 needles.

A bit of a funky look as a swatch, but it looks very nice when stretched out. Working all of the drop stitches was fun, and less tricky than I thought.

Rows 1, 3, 5, 7: knit
Rows 2, 4, 6: purl
Row 8 (wrong side): K00 (winding thread twice around the needle)
Row 9: rep Row 8, letting the extra loop drop
Row 10: K, letting extra loop drop

Feline Friday: Ice Cream update

So, it's been 7 months since I started feeding the cats in my back yard. They have all come such a long way in terms of tameness (at least with me), and one by one they have all let me pet them. Ice Cream, above, was the only holdout. Up until a few weeks ago, she would still hiss if I appeared too quickly, and would never, ever let me pet her. But I was dogged and determined. Every time I fed her, I tried to pet her, and she'd bolt. I'd try to pet her, and she'd bolt. But every time, I tried, and she seemed to know I would never let up.

Finally, last week when I went out to feed the cats, she walked straight towards me and greeted me with a meow, something she'd never done before. When I reached down to pet her, she not only stayed put, she purred. Just like that! She also loves to be brushed, and although it took her forever for her to come around, she is among the most trusting of the cats with me now. She lets me scratch her tummy, and just purrs and purrs.

Her colors have also darkened - she went from being snow white, with little gray tips on her ears, to having chocolatey blotches on her back, and darker points, which confirms my suspicion that she is part Siamese. Also, her meow sounds Siamese, too, and she only uses it to say hi.

New Knit Stitch a Week: Drop stitch lace

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I cast on 14 stitches in Stitch Nation Washable Ewe on size 8 needles.

Rows 1 to 4: knit
Row 5: K 00 (winding thread twice around the needle)
Row 6: K, letting extra loop drop

I really liked the look of this stitch, and it looks the same, right side and wrong side. I'm not sure what I would use it for, but it's a nice texture.

Stitching Saturday: Finished Baby Blanket

Yup, there it is - my finished Chevron Baby Blanket (free pattern from Purl Soho) - I really like how this blanket came together! As you can see I did thin stripes of ivory, light pink, darker pink, light green, and turquoise in Love This Yarn. I went with thin stripes so I could use up leftover bits of yarn - that's all very well but it meant LOTS of ends to weave in.

The texture is a bit thick and nubbly, but not unpleasant - it would probably feel amazing underfoot in a sturdy cotton - I might try that soon. The only thing I'm not impressed with is how I bound it off - I followed the directions, took it apart, and tried it again, then decided just to leave it and not let it bug me. But if you study it closely, you can see the peaks on the bottom, where I bound off, are not as pleasantly pointy as they are on the top. I bet blocking might help with that, but again, I love it and I won't let it worry me.

I washed and dried it and handed it off to my work friend yesterday, and she seemed to really love it. She says her husband's a shutterbug, so I may even see a few photos with baby on it - yay! Now I need another lap blanket to knit up - this was fun!

My playlist for this blanket was an interesting mix of (fittingly) Call The Midwife - really an excellent show, you should definitely check it out and (not so fittingly) Game of Thrones, which was really just a compilation of guttural sounds (every time I hear a gush or splash, I don't look up), awkward sex scenes, and male on female or male on male brutality. I have tried to get into Game of Thrones, but aside from admiring the author's ability to create a universe of complex characters, I can't get into the constant brutality. The books start off ok, and get more and more graphic and strangely, boring. But I will keep going, if only to see Daenerys rock their world. Her, Arya, Brienne, the costumes, and the dragons are pretty much the only thing that keeps me going.

New Knit Stitch a Week: Oblique Openwork

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I cast on 12 stitches in Yarn Bee Andes Alpaca in Peacock, size 8 needles.

Row 1: K1, *yo, K 2 tog*, K1
Rows 2 and 4: purl
Row 3: K2, *yo, K 2 tog*

I'm really liking this open pattern, but it depends on the yarn. It's kind of hard to see the open spaces in my photo, but it's a nice eyelet sort of look. I first tried a mustardy acrylic Vanna's Choice yarn, and it looked kinda like 70's macramé (not my favorite):



The wrong side makes a pretty pattern - I like both sides equally, I think:

Feline Friday: To Sir, With Love

I've been feeding this old fellow for about 2 and a half weeks now, but he did make a few appearances here and there before that. The entire time I've known him, he's been sick and very skinny, and I worried over his runny nose and labored breathing. I'd been hoping his stubborn cold would clear up so I could get him fixed, so I made sure to feed him well and make sure he was comfortable.

Saturday, however, when getting up to greet me, he fell over, then pulled himself up, then stumbled and fell over, again. I felt terrible for not being able to take him in sooner - I bought myself a cat carrier, lured him in with a bit of food, and trucked us both to the Animal Emergency room. He was so patient and calm in the carrier and with the vets - a perfect gentleman.



$300 of savings later, I learned he was a very old cat indeed (I didn't get an estimate of exactly how old) with bad teeth and a nasty respiratory infection, but aside from that he was very healthy for his age. He was also negative FeLV and negative FIV, which is good news for fighting his infection. He was given an antibiotics shot and an injection of fluids, and he earned some much-needed downtime in the garage with a comfy bed, food, and water that evening and the next.



Once he's better, my first project will be getting him fixed, then hopefully seeing to his teeth - you can tell he has tooth issues by the way he holds his jaw, up above. I am intimidated by the cost.

Have any of you had cat dental work done? How much was it? This will help me plan / save accordingly...



Here he is in his favorite spot - my mom's garden. He's careful with the plants and never lays on them or poops on them - he just seems to love laying on the wood chips. He's such a sweet, polite fellow, I often call him "Sir."

New Knit Stitch a Week: Seed Stitch

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I cast on 11 stitches in Yarn Bee Andes Alpaca in Peacock, size 8 needles.

Every row: * K1, P1 *, K1

After years of trial and (mostly) error, I finally mastered the seed stitch! I'm still not impressed with the way mine looks - other people's seed stitch look so textural and pleasantly bumpy, but at least I got the basics.



I was so excited, I stitched it up with 3 different kinds of yarn: Turquoise- Yarn Bee Andes Alpaca; Pink- Stitch Nation Washable Ewe; Grey- Vanna's Choice. I like this stitch most with a plump yarn, like that Vanna's Choice or Andes Alpaca.

New Knit Stitch a Week: Trinity Stitch

Teaching myself one new knit stitch a week, from the Complete Guide to Needlework book, c. 1979.

I used size 8 needles, and cast on 11 stitches in Vanna's Choice yarn in Eggplant.

Rows 1 and 3: Purl
Row 2: *P 3 tog, KPK into next st *, P3 tog
Row 4: *KPK into first st, P 3 tog*, KPK into last st

I was looking for a bobble-type stitch that was easy to work - I get lost in complicated instructions, I'm hopeless at keeping track of them. This stitch was it - super easy, once you know the basics. I think I'd love to knit this up as a blanket or hat pattern.

I recommend this youtube video if you'd like an excellent visual demonstration.