Wash or Not?

Does one wash a finished quilt top? I do not remember doing it with my baby quilt, but it puckers ;-)

Some of the fabrics may be prewashed, some are definitely not.


Just thinking about this to tide me over until I can do some other fun stuff - What batting will I use, what backing (I *want* the Pink Polkadot fabric, yeah! *grins*), binding - a bias tape or my wolf fabric? How should I quilt it? That is probably the hardest part. I have seen some lovely machine quilted pieces with pretty shapes all over, but I also somehow want to *whisper* hand quilt it, to honour the handsewn squares that make up the "Meat" of the blankie. The quilt my mother made me is mostly hand quilted - it is made up of squares and rectangles where each side is 5 cm or multiples thereof,and mostly black-and-white, with musicians, piano keys, notes etc. :-) She quilted notes, C-keys and some other things onto it - it is gorgeous, of course.

So, Handquilting and machine quilting maybe? I could quit little flutterbies all over it.. Or maybe not. Maybe I'll just let my mind flow and imagine, and when the time comes when I will quilt it, I may have *The* idea. Suddenly, the top will speak to me and tell me what it wants to be. (Says she who spent fourhours on the floor arranging squares for a Hourglass Baby Blankie).




The blue fabric is a heavy cotton with little white flowers. I cut up a lot of fat quarters in pink and blue colours (Actually, the pink ones were for a blankie for my sister that got postponed for so long that it disappeared). I had tried out many different arrangements, but none seemed to work until I put the blue squares in one end and the pink in the other, putting all identical squares tip-to-tip (Instead of trying to arrange them so that none would touch). I had at least two, and in one case 8 identical squares because of the piecing method used.

Have a nice day

/Lene

I'm so tired.

Got up very early and went to the Equestrian Games my riding club is arranging this weekend. It was quite good. I'm so tired because I was constantly herding people, horses (catching some too), running from one place to another. Sadly, I wasnt riding, and wont tomorrow either, but it is great fun to see all the great horses all the same.





Here is the finished Patchwork top. The picture is weird. I am too tired to redo it. Isnt it lovely? The pink corners are really nice and bring the blanket from "Tone in Tone with grey background" to "Hey That's a nice blankie!".






Here is also a finished Fana Sleeve. I have cast on for the second now, and may finish the starry cuff band tonight. It is lovely, but heavy - I bet I could take a walk in the snow with in (If we get any snow) without feeling cold. Provided I am wearing other, appropriate clothing, like pants and boots.

Have a really nice day

/Lene

Many Many stitches

My mother rescued me today.

She brought me 1/4 yard of fabric so that I would have enough for sashing (<-- Ha! I learned a new word!) between the two sides of the quilt, freeing up the wide fabric to make a border on top and bottom. There will also be corners in the new fabric - a totally unfitting, yet strangely cool hot pink with light pink polka dots *giggles*.

She did not do my Fana-kofte any good though, because I got on a roll and sewed the whole top together. I cannot decide if I think it is too narrow? It is 55"*82" without the binding. (That is 140 cm * 205 cm) I have a wonderfull quilt that is about 54"*70", and if anything I would wish for it to be wider. But the narrow sashing (in the wonderfully, hideous and gleefull pink-polkadot fabric) looks so good.

I also had a visit by my paternal grandparents, which turned out nicely (They admired my furniture, my quilt, my kitchen and my orderly finances), but kept me from Fana, too. When they left, I got cracking and sewed the whole top even though I only thought I would sew half of it - and by the time I wanted to cast on another sleeve, I left to do some voluntary work. That's it, my day was gone (in a good way), and I may have a nice warm quilt for next winter. If I decide on how it shall be quilted and get it done, that is.

Have a really nice day.

/Lene


PS: Yes, YAY indeed! Just a leeetle different from the picture :-)

Yay or Nay?

For once, this is not about knitting, but if you squint and look through the door to my bedroom, you can kind of see the fana sleeve... heh.

This is a quilt I am making. It will be my first adult size quilt - well, first and first, I did most of the piecing for a quilt my cousin Nehle got a few years ago, because we were on a strict deadline, my grandmother broke her arm, my aunt and mother both were crazily busy - so I was the only one left. I have also sewn a baby quilt for my nephew, and while it is gorgeous it is not ideal because it was only backed with fleece.

My best friend gave me three handsewn pieced blocks with another one on cardboard and ready to go. They were sewn by his late wife around 1989, probably for his daughter, but never got finished. When he moved, he gave them to me because he knew I probably would make something out of them. They are delightfully 80'ish - pink in the gruefully way.
They had an awkward measurement. 50*50 cm. I t made sense, though, when I examined the rest of the fabric that was stashed away with it, because there were strips whose measurements indicated that the finished size would be something along the lines of 115*170 cm - perfect for a petite teen girl. There also was enough fabric to make two more squares.

I sewed the other square together, and let it sit for a while while I was thinking. There was not enough fabric of two kinds to complete two more blocks. But, when I was in Taiwan a while after, I found a bunch of Fat Quarters in delightfully 80'ish pinks! To machine sew the two squares, I tried to take measurements on the paper pieces. They turned out miniscule! It must have had something to do with the extra fabric around the edges of the cardboard. I bordered the blocks with a fantabulous wolf fabric. That was when I tried to find a way to make the squares larger without making them look goofy. My mother and I counted and discussed and drew for a while until we agreed on the 33,33 degree turned angle the squares are in now. We made a few mistakes with the triangles, and will have to cut two more since two were turned the wrong way (You can see how I laid the with the wrong side up).

The red strips are original ones (The fabric also appears in the squares) that I was about to put away, but suddenly thought... Why not see how much there is? If it can work with my idea in some way? (I have enough of the narrow to go between all blocks).




So, what do you think.

Yay or Nay?

Have a nice day

/Lene

Fana Sleeve

Here it is!

Courtesy of my mother, who yesterday asked me "When do we get to see a picture of your "Fanakofte"? Shouldnt you be finished now, thick needles and all?

Irony, Irony (I hope). It is knit on US 4 needles, with Dale Heilo and Knitpicks undyed Wool of the Andes. I am changing the pattern a bit, because the original sleeves probably would have been huge. I dont like huge sleeves. Long is OK, but wide, nah.



This sleeve has used up a bit more than one ball of the red until now, and I have (had) 11 of the red balls. If my grandmothers formula of 3:5 applies here too, I should be just fine with oneandahalf ball for each sleeve and five (or more, since there is no armhole shaping) for the body.

I am a little sad that I could not knit the whole sleeve with my Ebony Holz and Stein DPN's, because they made the knitting such a joyfull experience - having good tools pays off!
Already looking forward to start the next sleeve or the body soon, when I have finished the star motif on top of the sleeve, because that means I can knit while reading again :)

Have a nice day

Lene

Say Welcome!

The blog title has changed, as you might have noticed, because I have invited my mother to join me here. She has wanted to start blogging but not been entirely sure, so we thought it would be a nice thing if she could test it before comitting to it.

My mother is a skilled knitter, accomplished mother of four and can cook really good :-)

I hope that she will post here within the next few days to show off a few of her wonderfull works - among others, a duck sweater for the most charming Nephew that I have.

/Lene

Right On!

My sleeve / swatch had 24½ stitches to 4" before washing and pinning, but 22 stitches to 4" after washing. That is spot on gauge! Very exiting. The Fanakofte will be my test run before I start the big and complicated Peer Gynt Anniversary Sweater, which has a star all-over motif, and a nisse riding on a moose-like animal right smack in the middle of the star pattern. Oh my, it looks like the colourwork is winning over the lace - but not for long, my WIP's do want to be finished. I am just multitasking.

Have a nice day

Lene

Fana-swatch

"Cast on 151 / 163 / 175 / 187 / 197 / 209 / 245 / 257 /267 / 279 stitches with 2,5 mm needle, and knit stockinette back and forth for 4 cm...."

Swatch swatch, I am supposed to have 22 stitches to 4" (10 cm) over stockinette on 3,5 mm needles (The 2,5 are for the hems only). With worsted weight? Hm. I have knitted this Dale Heilo on 4,5 mm's with 20 st / 4". My mother even has used a 5mm with it.

I am yet undecided which size I will choose - but it will not be the largest :-) Either the M or the L - this pattern ranges from 2 yars to XL, where the XL is 134 in the bust. My actual bust is somewhere around 107 cm, so 123 or 129 cm at the bust should be good. This is a buttoned cardigan, after all. (But I really dont want a whole foot of ease! I am SO over knitting sacks!)


Have a nice day

/Lene

Stairway to Heaven

These are the "Stairway to Heaven" socks - only one in the picture, because I did not have a photographer and was unable to get both feet to look good at once.

They are knit in Lornas Laces "Purple Club" - the first skeins of this yarn that I have ever touched, and they are so wonderfull. Thankyou Emily for helping me get it. It took over a year to knit these because I got caught up in lace shawls. The pattern is of my own making, and breaks up the colours nicely - better in real life than in my washed-out picture. I chose to call it Stairway to Heaven because the first sock was knit on planes and in airports. (And because I love the movie, the ending is really something that can make me cry).

Tomorrow I can start my Fanakofte! Yay!

Wicked Pictures

My new favourite spring/fall sweater! It is simply gorgeous, feels good, fits really good, and is perfect for when you are not entirely comfortable with just a tee, but dont want a long-sleeved tee - and for many occasions in between.

Stats:

Yarn: Dale heilo, on sale, in a rich, yellowish brown.

Pattern: Reverse-engineered "Wicked" from Zephyrstyle, with many many alterations, for example CO 10 st. under the sleeves to avoid excessive pucking under the sleeves.

Time: Five days, from April 25 til April 30.

Amount used: 6 balls and roughly another ½ ball. That means i used maybe 650 yards?

Comments: Fits, is warm, has a nice colour and cost me 5$ to make! It does not get much better than that. Plus, it makes me feel like a woman and not like a tent, a thing that is a good thing. (I have felt like a tent for years when I weighed well over 60 pounds more than now)


I will leave you with a bonus picture:

Into the Sky!

/Lene


PS: Thank you, stalking weirdo. You make me feel special, spending time and noticing when I post, making me laugh and help me grow self confidence. It is just like having a good friend, except, you obviosly are not :-)