I finished knitting my Helix scarf! It has lovely ripples when laid out, but is a bit short. I used all my hand spun blended wool and silk yarn, so if I need to add on, it would have to be a different color. Hm. I think I will block it (get it wet and lay it out) before making rash decisions.
I really love this pattern, and the way they do the short rows. It really is a wonderful way to show off hand spun yarn, and I like the subtle variation in color that the blended fiber produced.
I’ve been thinking about doing some throwbacks to projects I did before I started this blog. Here is a crocheted and embroidered Roman style helmet that I made for my sister in 2016. Yes, I’ve always been a serial crafter.
I’m still working on spinning the fawn-colored alpaca wool on my vintage Befra Willy spinning wheel. I’d like to get it finished up so I can give the wheel a good rub down with Howard’s Feed-n-wax, but apparently my fiber basket is bottomless. (Or I get distracted…)
Today’s distraction is an evenly wrapped bobbin. There are all sorts of devices out there designed to achieve a smooth wrap, rather than the bumpy wrap produced by the hooks on the flyer. A smoothly wrapped bobbin makes taking the yarn off the bobbin easier, with less potential for breakage.
I’ve been thinking on this, and noticed that I can turn my hooks and get a slightly different take up angle on the flyer. This helps a little, and if I did this from the beginning I would certainly be closer to that epitome of bobbin wrapping that seems to be so coveted.
Crew neck t-shirt necklines bother me. I don’t like things touching my neck, but I do like the longer short sleeves and longer hem of crew neck shirts. I have found a new way to fix the problem.
Rather than leave the raw edge, which looks OK from a distance but untidy up close, I whipped stitched a tiny hem around the neckline.
Yes, it is hand-sewing. I did see a tutorial that used a narrow zigzig machine stitch, but I’m not good with knits and machine stitching. I like sewing some things by hand because it gives me more control.
I liked this method so much, I pulled shirts from my closet and redid them as well!
I saw the idea of using a numbered chain to count knitting rows. A simple sequence of 1-10, with a melody clip to mark the tens, will allow counting up to 110. I did not want to buy plastic beads, but I did have copper circles and chain in my stash.
I started by punching two holes in the sides of the copper circles, then I stamped a number between the circles and planished the back flat. I connected the number links with links of chain.
I made a small melody clip out of 20 gauge copper wire. The size of the copper links means this will only work on knitting needles that are size 2 or smaller, which is perfect for sock making.
To use the row counter, every time you knit to it, you move it one link. For the start of the sock toes, I’m really just using it to keep track of odds or evens, an increase row or no increase row. This is because I had to rip out these socks already because I forgot the no increase rows. I do like the row counter!
Critters and Craft 