Pre-Halloween Projects

An Overview of October Chaos

A little bit of this and that is one way to talk about the second half of September and the first five days of October but "scattered" is a more accurate description. I have several projects in the works right now and folks are volunteering new ideas daily. My biggest problem is how to tell this one or that one, "No, I can't devote a week to knitting you a pair socks for free. Sorry." I do need to figure out how to do that though, without offending. The only thing I can think of would be to start up a knitting class and make people pay me to teach them how to do what they'd like me to do -- I just don't have the time or the credentials. I swear. If you want to breathe these days you better have a certificate from an accredited junior college proving that you've been instructed on how to pull a breath in and blow a breath out.

On the Needle-Felting Front

I've finally decided what to do with a hat I knit and felted a couple of years ago. I used some of my bulky black hand spun and added a novelty yarn of sparse white fringes and gold flecks to the brim but wasn't happy with the result . I've pulled the hat out of the mothballs and I'm in the process of making a snowman bas-relief above the fake-fur snow. I'll post a picture when the tableau is complete and the hat is named.

Below the hat is a sock-monkey Halloween mask set. I'll have the pattern for this below, in case you have a little sock monkey in the house or are interested in dressing up a friend as something that should adorn a lady's bed.



Fairies and Angels

When I mentioned to a friend of mine that I was playing around with needle-felting brooches, she mentioned that while the market for vampire bat brooches is understandably small, there are always people willing to plop down 5 or 10 bucks for an Angel or a Fairy. And what luck ... they're basically made the same way with the exception that the latter is usually more colorful than the former. Using some silk I picked up at the Wisconsin Sheep and Wool Festival and some alpaca roving I bought on eBay I spun a single of each to make a two-ply. I happen to have the Hazel Rose Tiny Weaver triangle and square looms and from her Nativity Tutorial it occurred to me that I had just the right tools. I'm not sure if I'll be using the triangles and a pompom for the body, or needle felting something to attach to the wings when I've spritzed them with enough fabric stiffener. I may also try to make some wings solely from the silk singles.

The hand-dyed silk hankies were from Kindred Threads. I had a lot of fun learning how to spin the pink and gold silk on the high-whorl bobbin I bought from Nels Wiberg, inventor of my favorite spinning wheel - The Babe. Yes, he was at the WS&WF too.

Suri Alpacas

I finally had a chance to visit PaceSetters, a local Alpaca Ranch, and then go back to buy some of their rovings and raw fiber. In the past I've always purchased low quality fiber on eBay. The alpaca that I'm using on the Fairy/Angels was one such buy -- scratchy and full of VM -- Not something you'd really want to put next to your body. Dennis & Christy Pace, on the other hand, have incredibly superior Suri Alpacas on their ranch and there is something other-worldly and regal about those camelids.

I have a couple of ounces each from the Alpaca named Privateer and also from Loca Mocha. I purchased their fiber raw and there is so little VM in them that they will be a delight to spin. In addition I picked up 4 oz each of processed roving in white and black. It is so soft it's like touching a baby's hair. The black and white are destined to become a modular black and white scarf. Though the roving is made up in pencil roving width, I'm hoping to be able to spin it woolen. We'll see. All of the Llama Locks will not end up in yarn either. Part of that will be adorning felted Brownies.

Prodigal Socks for the Face

The whole sock-monkey mask and face sock explosion you see to the left, is a direct result of my year long battle with the short-row heel. Since I hand spin I'm never quite sure exactly how much yarn I have. I regularly spin a yarn till I get bored with it and then cast it aside to start spinning something new. That means I have vague idea of how long I can make my socks and that idea is usually treacherously incorrect.

Knitting both socks at once, from both ends of the ball, toe up, is the logical way to deal with any skein of yarn I spin. Knitting in this fashion, I stop knitting the cuffs when I run out of yarn or they are as tall as I want them to be or I get tired of knitting them.

My major problem was the heel. I was having a lot of trouble finding a backwards Dutch Heel, or more precisely, a formula for figuring and completing a backwards Dutch Heel. Instead I kept running into blogs singing the praises of the short-row heel.

I Googled short-row, sock heels, toe up heels, etc. ad nauseum and read and read and read and tried and tried and tried and still could not knit a short-row heel without holes. I finally gave up and found a pattern for a toe-up gusset heel that I really like, and have been using for my personal socks.

And that would have been the end of that if it hadn't been for a Harriet Carter catalogue and my love of walking in the winter. The biggest problem I have with winter walking is lung freeze when it gets really cold. You can layer your body against sub-zero temps, but the whole scarf rigmarole to protect your lungs from the nose-hair freezing air is always faulty. And the need to have several scarves available because of pesky frozen snot was also a major impediment for me. I balked at allotting that much time to making that many acrylic (machine washable) scarves.

One day, paging through ta catalogue I saw a face mask touted as the perfect thing for winter outdoor exercise. I realized it was nothing more than a short-row heel translated into a polar fleece sewing project for slave labor manufacture in the far-east to be sold to us to sabotage our economy.

The face sock was born.

I can knock-out a face sock in a couple of hours from left-over machine-washable yarn. Since it attaches to the face via a couple of crocheted ear-loops, there are no infuriating attempts to adjust and re-adjust a scarf while wearing two pairs of mittens. The face-sock does its job. Once home, into the clothes hamper it goes.

The sock monkey mask pattern below is for a Child Size Stocking Cap and an Adult size Face Sock. I'd double the number of stitches for an (adult size cap) and halve the number of stitches and short rows on the Face Sock for a (child size). The numbers in parenthesis are approximations. I leave it up to you to stop and check the size of your piece as you go, and make necessary adjustments.

You will need one skein each of Lion Brand Jiffy yarn (or any 5/Bulky machine washable yarn) in White, Brown and Red. One size 11 circular needle suitable for magic loop (or double-pointed needles size 10.5 to 11) for the hat. I used 10.5 straight knitting needles for the Face Sock. A darning needle for finishing.

Sock Monkey Hat - Child

Approximate Adult size in ()

Using size 10 magic loop circular knitting needle and with brown cast on 48 (96) stitches -- or any multiple of 4 stitches you prefer.
Join.
Knit 2 Purl 2 for 2 (3 or 4) inches.
Change to stockinette stitch and knit for 1 inch.
Change to White yarn and continue knitting in stockinette 2 (4) more inches.

Place stitch markers every 8 stitches on next round for child size. (Divide number of stitches by 6 and place markers appropriately for adult sizes. If you have 'extra' stitches, as in [9,9,9,9,9,12], parse the extras out as evenly as possible between the markers [10,9,10,9,10,9] and eliminate the extras via K2Tog in the first row after the marking row.

K2Tog before each marker, each round, until you are left with 6 live stitches. Leaving a long tail, break yarn, thread darning needle. Dropping the stitch markers as you go, run the yarn tail through live stitches twice to bind off. Cinch up the 6 stitches and sew the yarn through the cinch a couple of times to secure.

Make one large pompom from Red yarn and sew to pinnacle of the cap.

Sock Monkey Face Sock - Adult

On 10-1/2 single point knitting needles cast on 30 (15) stitches in brown.
Row:
1. K1P1 to end.
2. K1P1 to end.
3. K to end
4. Change to White and Purl to end
5. Knit up to the last stitch (knit 29). Yarn to front, slip 30th stitch, yarn to back, turn work, slip first purl stitch. This completes the first wrap.
6. Purl across to the last stitch and wrap it (yarn to back, slip, yarn to front, turn work, slip wrapped stitch). *Please check online tutorials regarding short row heels if this is confusing.*

Continue working short-row heel in white for 7 WRAPS EACH SIDE.

Begin picking up wraps, the first left and right wrap in white.

Join Red and work the 6th through the 2nd wrap portion of the heel in the red color. Break red and rejoin white and work the final two wraps in white.

Break and join brown.
Knit one row
Purl one row
Work two rows of k1p1.
Bind off. Weave in ends.

If you try on the face sock now, you will see that the heel turn fits over your jaw, with one side of the heel covering your throat and the other covering you face up to and over your nose. The raw sides of the heel go up and over your jaw joint and should nearly touch the lobes of your ears.

With size 10/G crochet hook and brown, single crochet 9 stitches around the raw right 'ear' side, chain 9, slip stitch back into first single crochet to make an ear loop. Repeat with the left 'ear' side. Weave in ends.


Approximate Child Size

I'd cast on 15, and follow the 2 row ribbing and 1 row stockinette in brown, one row stockinette in white described above. I'd then only do 3 rows of short-row in white. At the turn, I'd change to red immediately and work all short-row increases in red. Change to white for 2 rows stockinette, then brown for one row of stockinette before the top 2 rows of ribbing would finish the mask.

The ear loops might be problematic for a small child, in which case chain stitching Surgeon's mask ties to bow tie at the back of the head under the cap might be the answer.

That's it for today! If you have questions or suggestions, post or email!

The Needle Felted Sheep Look Up

Too much fun is still being had this weekend at the Wisconsin Sheep & Wool Festival in Jefferson. A little less than 60 miles away from Footville via Route 26, the Jefferson county seat fair grounds annually hosts shepherds, sheep and fiber enthusiasts from around the state. In the fair ground parking lot there were also license plates from Iowa, Indiana and Illinois.

I've been trying to make it to Jefferson in September for about five years. There's always been something in the way: lack of cash, lack of time or lack of both. This year I signed up for a couple of classes early and so forced myself to budget time and money in order to get there. I'm glad I did. Needle Felting was a delight and Beret Weaving Off the Loom was an eye opener. Next year I hope to take more classes.

This weekend was a lot like going to a Science Fiction Convention with a few extra species, and not just because it takes place in September. The people had expressions of child-like delight. The dogs were happy and hyped. The sheep were a bit worse for wear. Don't get me wrong, the ewes and rams and lambs were all fine specimens and obviously well-cared for and cherished. But I got the feeling the sheep were more than slightly suspicious of the goings on. The aroma of mutton on the breeze may have contributed to their skittishness.

The dogs, on the other hand, knew that they were a welcome, valued and honored part of the party. Sheep dog trials involving brilliant dogs, stubborn sheep and harried owners were ongoing. You don't really appreciate the partnership between man and dog until you witness a Border Collie convincingly pretend to be listening and taking direction from its owner while moving sheep into a pen. Those dogs exhibit multi-tasking and tact skills which far exceed mine.

Sheep milking demonstrations, sheep cheese tastings, spinning, weaving, rug hooking, shearing, skirting, dying, knitting, felting -- if it had something to do with sheep it was happening there.

The main reason this festival reminds me strongly of a SF Convention is that for a brief time I felt a little less "odd." It's a common phenomenon Fen experience at their first Worldcon. After spending years being treated as geeks, many discover at their first convention that they are FAR from odd. They discover that they will never be as odd as the guy dressed entirely in day glow orange or the girl dressed in a tiny pair of fairy wings and little else. At the WS&WF there were a lot of people who make their living solely from sheep. Wisconsin currently has the most dairy sheep farms in the country as well as being home to many meat and wool herds. All of those sheep mean a lot of people make their living by processing, buying or selling sheepish products.

Though I knit, crochet, spin, weave and now (thanks to a class I took yesterday) needle felt, there were actually people at the festival who are more involved with wool than I. I was less odd and it was such a welcome feeling. I knew I could open my mouth and say any woolly thing I pleased and be greeted with smiles and nodding heads.

I'll be going again next year, and I urge you to take advantage of any convention that coincides with your hobby, obsession or occupation. All of us spend way too much time defending our self-esteem from the constant assaults of the talentless and uninspired. Conventions and Festivals give us an opportunity to be affirmed and affirm. It gives us an opportunity to realize that even the goofiest of us isn't all that goofy.

Two Successful Experiments

Couldn't Believe My Eyes

You know how you read things and say to yourself, "Sure that could happen." But when you sit down to replicate what you've read there's that nasty little voice that says, "Maybe someone else can do this, but that's not me."?

That happened to me while I was weaving this scarf from Bernat Baby Sport and some Pink/Red/Off-White hand-spun of mine. The original piece looked too flimsy and tacky and ugly to amount to anything. I was sure I was wasting my time. But I kept going. Once run through the washer to felt it, I got this. Now I admit, it's not going to win any national beauty contests, but when I sit down to the loom again I won't be smacked in the gut by despair. Lesson Learned: If nobody's eye is going to be put out, go ahead and run with it. It might work.

Now that I know that this technique really works and I can really do it, I'll be spinning specific yarns in felting and non-felting and feltyish versions in fun funny colors and eventually go to town with this one.

This scarf is currently not in the store ... if you're interested let me know.

From a Different Point of View

I know something is going to be fun when I immediately start thinking how to approach it from the backside or the top or the bottom ... the astrophysics of knitting. You may recognize the "blossoms" on the end of this skinny scarf. They're a different take on the modular shells from the Isis Scarf and the Isis Cuffs that are currently available at Artisan Local Gift Gallery in Janesville. Again, I'm using my hand-dyed, hand-spun yarn for this fun project. I'll be labeling it and taking it in to the Gallery next week and will post here when it's available there. Same thing goes, though .... if you're interested in this piece let me know.

ALGG
If you're like me and not always interested enough to click a link, but still wouldn't mind seeing a picture, here's the Main Street entrance of Artisan Locale Gift Gallery in Janesville.

And here's the view from the river side.

The cooperative shop is located in a historic building which has something to do with Mr. Jane, the settler for whom the city is named. I'll get more data and report next post. I realized after I downloaded the image from the camera and cropped it for inclusion here that the street address is 6. I think I need to find out if there are any apartments upstairs that are available for rent, and if they are done in kubrick-nouveau-modern-continental style. And yes. City Hall does have a dome.

Updating Prodigal Sock

I'm still in the process of updating the Website. I'm altering the "Store" and making other needed renovations to make it load a tad faster. Until next time ...

Be Seeing You!

Long Time No See

Some things are worth waiting for and some aren't.

I've been posting tutorials on Facebook instead of putting them here where they belong and learning a great deal about what I can and can't do with my life during this recession.

A real-life venue

I finally looked into a real-life way of selling my work and found it in the Artisan Local Gift Gallery on Main Street in Janesville. I'll be moving the Facebook tutorials over and will be updating here on new items I have for sale.

An online showroom

I'll be setting up pictures in the "Store" section of the main Prodigal Sock website as a showroom. Items will be labeled to let you know if they're available in case you've had a chance to handle my work before and are willing to chance buying without fondling first.

What I have at the Artisan Local Gift Gallery

Just in case you are in Janesville, here are the items I currently have at the Gallery.



Isis Collar

I read an article in "Spin-Off" about modular knitting with left-over bits and pieces of hand spun and jumped for joy. Over the years, I've made several gifts out of this "Sky Blue" Merino and have always been amazed at the luxurious feel of it against the skin. Since I will NEVER buy an uncleaned merino fleece again, this is a one of a kind item. Because it was handwashed by me before dyeing and spinning it is incredibly soft. This piece is a collar-size scarf designed to be worn with a broach either on top of a cardigan or a coat. As the piece grew on my needles it reminded me of images I've seen of Isis, and so the name. I kind of like the idea of a neck protected by a goddess.


Isis Cuffs

When I finished the collar I had four extra scallops and quite a bit of exquisite soft white hand spun left, and so decided a goddess could probably stretch herself to protect a woman's wrists and hands. These cuffs are very elastic, and can be pulled down to cover most of the hand, or be worn as I prefer, as an additional layer of insulation over a light winter or leather glove.

Wine Colored Shetland Scarf

I had quite a bit of left over roving I'd dyed a wine color for a scarf. After reading an article in "Hand Woven" about texture weaving on a rigid heddle loom I realized I'd found the perfect project. Since the "Shetland" texture weave is close to a waffle-weave, this scarf is very dense. It could easily be crossed once across the chest under a coat and keep the wearer a little bit TOO warm.



Shetland Scarf

I'll be using this particular texture weave for scarves for a couple of years because it's just such a fun way to make clothing that can stand up to bitter winters. This version is a more traditional length with the twist that the warp was space dyed turquoise and wine, while the weft is solid white.

In both of these scarves, I've braided the fringe extra long for the convenience of any obsessives who choose to purchase them. There's enough length to re-knot and trim the fringes so they are all the same length. Me, I like fringe -- well -- fringey.

That's all for this post. I'll be moving tutorials over and highlighting new finished pieces and works in progress as time allows.