I've been knitting

My sister in law mentioned the other day that she wanted some dishcloths. Apparently her daughter in law loves them. I knew I had  cotton yarn waiting to be used and began to knit and knit and knit.  This is an easy pattern and after some trial and error used this technique to create smooth edges,

I started with 4 stitches, then for each increasing row: purl into the front of the stitch, knit one, yarn over, knit to last stitch, slip knitwise.

For each decreasing row, purl into the front of the stitch k2tog, yarn over, k2tog, knit to last stitch, slip knitwise. 

I have heard this called Grandmother's Favorite Dishcloth but for me it is my go to pattern for dishcloths.  I still have quite a stash of cotton thread to use up.

I will get back to tatting soon.

Knitted Slippers

 You might think I live in the Southern Hemisphere as I have  knitted some warm slippers, but no I just found more yarn.  You can see the label below and I believe this is a lovely 3 ply worsted Merino wool from  Norway.  The label say it was made in 1965.  Please correct me if I am  wrong.  I have three large skeins, all different color blends.

I made these slippers after converting a free pattern from  instructables.com   It took me a few tries to get the size correct but I've written the pattern out so I can make another when needed.  

How does one "find" yarn, every crafter knows. :) 

Mother's Hands

My mother could tat but she excelled at knitting. To the left is a doily she knit in white size 30, 24 inches across.  It has a stain and I want to clean it up to use in my home. For those of you who have read my earlier posts or know me, will know that my mother taught me to tat.  I completed one small hanky using rings only and it wasn't until 40+ years later that I learned to tat chains and began expanding on my tatting techniques.  My mother passed before I finished my first tatted doily, she did see it half way done.

So a very strange thing happened to me today.  I was searching the depths of my summer clothes looking for a pair of shorts to wear during the heat wave we are having and much to my surprise I happened upon this piece of tatting which must have been tatted by my mother.  I've pinned it out and it is tatted using ecru about a size 10.  I have some Christmas bells that mother also tatted but don't recall this doily but who else could have done it.   So after pinning it it looked familiar and as happen-chance this is the same pattern as the white doily I had been gifted from my sister, Vintage Doily Mystery, could it be that they were both tatted by my mother? Possible as they did know each other and exchanged gifts. The white one on the right has a few more rows but they are the same pattern. Wouldn't that be something but we will never know.
 

        

Update on the monsterpiece,  I am still on row 12 with one medallion left to go around before I start the next row.

TIAS 2016 - Getting Ready

Couple of things first.  Firstly welcome 2016, I resolve to do even more tatting this year. Secondly, I finished my cap or toque to match my 4 ply legwarmers.

TIAS is an acronym for Tat It And See. The TIAS 2016 run by Jane Eborall will be starting on Wednesday January 6, so join me and many other tatters in the fun.  Be sure to read the introduction here.  Don't forget to share your pictures and progress with Jane and read about other tatters around the world on the TIAS blog.

I have chosen a thread and found two shuttles to begin.   Oh, I need to hunt for just the right beads too.  Let the Fun Begin!

Legwarmers - 4ply

I have finished my legwarmers and have given them a try out.  They are 17 inches or 43 cm long, light and soft. This is a great project for a beginner.  I have now started a hat to match and almost ready to start the decrease rows.  I have made a significant subtraction to the cones of yarn I started with shown in an earlier post.

These two projects are the same color yarn but lighting makes them look different.  I used natural light for the legwarmers and artificial for the hat below.

Both photos taken with my phone and posted with an app.

This is the last post for 2015, wishing you all a very blessed, prosperous and happy new year.

4 ply

So funny how life works don't you think.  These cones of yarn were gifted to my mother and she did knit with them a bit. After she passed I packaged up all her yarns (bags and bags) and gifted them to one of my sisters who knits a lot. I gave away most of her knitting needles (I say most because I have come across additional ones). 

I kept some cottons to crochet with and any tatting threads she had.  Well my sister went through the bags of yarn and found some large cones of very fine wool.  She brought them to me thinking I could use them for tatting but they are unsuitable (too weak for rings and hairy).

Instead I put these four cones together to create a lovely 4 ply lace weight yarn. The colors used are gold, white, tan and brown. 

I needed a new pair of leggings so before I knew it these are now growing in length. I made a K1P1 cuff and chose a simple YO K2tog pattern. These leggings will replace the leggings I have used for the past 30+ winters. 

Below is a close up of the knitting and homemade 4 ply yarn. 

Toe Up Socks

These short socks were found in a bag full of various UFO's.  They needed the ends woven in and once that's done they will be great to wear.  I believe the yarn was one of Patons KROY yarns, most likely not available in this color anymore.  It is a yarn made specifically for knitting socks and one skein made this pair of short adult socks.  Looking at the color I am confident I made these for me. :)

When I first learned to knit socks I was taught to do them Toe Up and I do the heel in a similar manner.  It is an easy method and you can very quickly do up a pair of socks just for the fun of it.  I make mittens the same way, starting at the fingertips.

Just a little diversion, now back to tatting.