Holiday Decompression

One of the best things about Xmas is the days AFTER.  Presents have been given and received and there is no more pressure to do last minute design corrections and last minute re-weaving/knitting/crocheting/tatting/spinning.

Additional benefits are the leftover bits and pieces -- the oddballs.  With oddballs comes the status of creating a personal piece, tied to the gifts given that year; a piece that can be worn by the maker.  

This year I'm making an Idiot Shawl which in a couple of years will be joined to next year's idiot shawl to make an afghan. 

Assemble the bits and pieces of wool left over from this year's projects and separate into groups.  Decide which color will be the main color throughout -- I usually choose the color that I have the most of in either spun or dyed roving/yarn .  If you don't have one color that stands out as the main, you can tie all the stripes of color together with a purchased or spun or dyed yarn.  Black is a good choice if your colors are bright and you like the illuminated/stained glass look.  White is excellent if your colors are pastel.  Something I learned recently while researching different Granny Square patterns, was that any darkish color can be used to crochet all the finished squares together as long as it works with the colors it abuts.  Using a color that isn't as harsh as black or as bright as white can make the same difference as, say, using fresh ground pepper instead of tobasco at the table.  The visual feast presented by that type of moderation is far more digestible.

The idiot shawl is based on the idiot washcloth pattern.  The only difference between the shawl and a washcloth is that you never decrease when knitting the shawl.  You will increase until you get a shawl the size you want or you get to the last odd ball. 

Pattern:

1.  Cast on 4 stitches
2.  Knit 2, increase by knitting in the front and back of the 3rd stitch, Knit stitch 4.
3.  Knit 2, Yarn Over, Knit to the end of the row.
4.  Repeat Row #3 until the shawl is as wide as you would like, or get to your last odd ball.
5.  Knit 2, Yarn Over, *K1, K2tog, YO*, repeating between * * until you get towards the end, finishing the row with a YO, K2.  Fudge if necessary.
6. & 7.  Knit.
8.  Bind off loosely, weave in ends.

Note here -- I join the balls together using Russian Join .  It gives you a little time to decide if the colors you're putting together actually belong side by side.  Alternately, you can overlap the old and the new yarns and knit with both for a a few stitches before dropping the old yarn and continuing on with the new.

Have a very happy New Year and see you soon!

P.S.:  I've been watching Lone Ranger re-runs while working on this blog post and the episode plaing now keeps mentioning a little western town called Colby.  Colby, Wisconsin is the birthplace of Colby cheese and I have a sudden, uncontrollable urge to run out and buy some ... and some fudge of course ... and maybe some pears.  Happy Happy!

Those little extra things ...

You may recall that this past year I've been learning tatting as an additional skill.  I've also used it this year as a way to enhance the holiday gifts I've been making.

There's always someone, though, a hair-dresser a health care worker or a co-worker, who should get a little more than a tip or a card.  Something that could be considered an enhanced holiday card and so not demanding a reciprocation, and finally something that lets that person know they are valued.  

It's even better if that extra something can be attached to the inside of the card in such a way as to make it easily re-gift-able.  Post-It-Notes serve that purpose by holding the earrings in place and also displaying them while making moving them to a new card easy.
 
After searching everywhere for a good, small snowflake, I designed this earring.  Designed is a strong word for what I did.  I kept trying various options until I finally happened on this and had the foresight to write down what I was doing while I was doing it.

Materials:

Size 5 tatting needle
DMC Blanc No. 20, Cebelia, white cotton
6/0 Czech Glass Beads

It took a lot of trial and error to devise this pattern and I learned two of three important answers.   

First, I initially planned on placing the beads on the tips of the snowflake but encountered two problems.  

1. Beading the ends of the picots caused the flakes to fold in on themselves -- not good.  
2. I was having difficulty maintaining the space between the bases of the six rings.

Using the beads as bumpers between each ring made the thread between each ring uniform in length.  It also created an equally weighted circle in the center of the motif. 

Second, I wanted all the picots, both those at the tips of the rings and those joining the rings, to be of equal length.  I found the best option was drawing a 3/8" line on my index finger in black ink, and then washing the finger so the stain wouldn't transfer to the thread.

Third, and this is the problem I've not yet solved, the final joining picot ends up twisted, no matter what I do.  There are plenty of tutorials online advising shuttle tatters how to avoid that twisted link, but I have yet to find one for tatting needle users.  I just placed the twisted picot where it seemed the least noticeable.  Here's the scribbling I did.  You can see how I was documenting my progress, then scratching out and trying something else.

And here is the finished pattern.

Prep:

String at least 6 beads on the thread.  You will need to use the tatting needle to do this as it must be able to slide through them.  If any bead won't slide over the needle, either discard it or set it aside for use with a #7 or #8 needle on a different project.  

R = Ring
- or p = picot
+ = join
3 or 2 = number of DS

First Ring.

3-2-2-3 Close. Tie.  Do not Reverse.
Slide a bead up in place at the base of the ring along the ball thread.  
Pass the tatting needle through the bead once more so the ball thread and needle thread are coming out of the bead, and laying parallel.

Rings 2 through 5

3+2-2-3 Close. Tie.  Do not Reverse.
Slide a bead up in place at the base of the ring along the ball thread.  
Pass the tatting needle through the bead.

Ring 6

3+2-2  
Fold motif in half vertically in order to join to the first side picot created on Ring 1.

+3  

Closing this ring can be tricky.  Before cinching it tight I re-arrange it gently so that the top picot lies to the outside of the ring and the two legs of the ring point to the center. Tie.  Do not Reverse. 

Slide the last bead up in place at the base of the ring along the ball thread. Pass the tatting needle through the bead then pass the needle through the base of the first ring, knot.  

Finishing: 

 Weave tails into the rings and clip short.  When a sufficient number of snowflakes are finished, get them wet and pin them out to dry a styrofoam block.  I like to spritz them with 3 sprays each of fabric stiffening spray and let them dry a couple of days before hanging them from an ear-wire.

If any of you know how to avoid twisting a picot while needle tatting, I'd love to know for next year. 

Now this particular pattern, in sport weight or worsted weight yarn, adorned with 2/0 beads would make excellent detachable tree ornaments for the front of a card for next year.  Have I tipped my hand there?   Happy Hollandaise!!!