Necktie crafting

I’m still spinning, knitting and anything fiber related but I have started trying some new things. With the opening of a Goodwill Outlet store locally I have been able to find some crafting supplies cheap and in abundance. So, I have been trying different craft ideas with neckties and the one that has been successful for me has been braiding ties and sewing them into rugs. This rug took approx. 93 ties, braided into 31 yards and most of the ties are silk. It ended up 3 feet wide and feels so good under my feet. This was my third and final rug. Now onto and new project for 2022.

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Spring 2020

The year started out great and we were looking forward to a year with as few problems as possible.  Well that line of thinking has certainly gone to hell with the world being in a pandemic from the Corona virus or Covid-19.  Being in the over 65 crowd I’m following the CDC guidelines pretty closely.   I do miss going to the gym with my sister so I’m walking around my neighborhood a couple times a day to help with the anxiety of being stuck at home.  But on a good note I’ve got a sock knitting machine out doing some designing. Plus my inkle loom is set-up and working on a pretty spring band for a purse.

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Kitchner Stitch or Grafting Stitch

For me the Kitchner stitch has always been a challenge so as a reference for myself and maybe help someone else I’ve put together a little tutorial.  I have tried all sorts of ways to setup the live stitches so I could see them better. I have settled on putting the stitches on needles so I could  rid of the waste yarn, one less thing to get in my way when stitching.  After watching many videos and looking at lots of blog sites with instructions, it seems that everyone has their own little twist to the process. But not one could answer my question of “How are the stitches loaded onto the needles so the stitches don’t twist?” So here is my interpretation of the KITCHNER Stitch.

Stitch set-up on needles:

Pick up the leg of the stitch that has an X.

Terms that I use:

Getting Started:

1. With yarn that is to be used for the sewing, bring up through the first stitch on the lower needle as if to purl. (Purl on)
2. Then put the yarn through the first stitch on the upper needle as if to knit. (Knit on)

Main sewing:

Lower Needle

1st stitch (Knit Off)

2nd stitch  (Purl On)

Upper Needle

1st stitch (Purl Off)

2nd stitch (Knit On)

Continue this way until last stitch on each needle. Then I usually do the first half of the stitch.  Knit Off and purl into the next  stitch, this stitch has already been knitted. Upper needle purl off and knit into the next stitch, again this stitch has already been knitted. Then push the needle through to the inside if it is a sock or through to the back of the work if it is a scarf or something flat. Weave off the end and trim the working yarn.

Finished seam:

The yarn for this pair of socks was spun from Jacob wool and knit on the LeGare 400 sock knitting machine.

 

 

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A couple of Iowa events

I was able to get to a couple of events this spring. One was the Federation of Spinners and Weavers meeting  that was held in Cedar Rapids this spring. I had the opportunity to meet Mr. and Mrs.  Rick Reeves, they are very lovely people. I had been having an issue with my 24″ Saxon style wheel not to wanting to wind the yarn up on the bobbing.   I had exhausted my bag of tricks, so I took it along for Rick to look at.  It took a few minutes for him to find the problem and to give me the solution. I followed his advice and the wheel is purring along just fine.  Sorry for the blurry pictures.

Mr. and Mrs. Reeves

I bought a beautiful CVM fleece from this lady, unfortunately I have misplaced her business card. I think she is from around Waterloo.

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I also had a chance to go to the Iowa Sheep and Wool Festival in Colfax, IA. A lady I know from work had her alpaca fleece and yarn stand set up.

Lisa and her Mom were manning the stand.

Lisa pulling a batt of Alpaca into roving.

All in all Margie Meehan organized another great festival.

 

 

 

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Dana Bickford Sock Machine – 1875

This machine has been a challenge to get up and knitting. I’ve been working on it now for about 6 months and finally succeeded. I just cleaned it up enough to be able to work with it, so there is still some work to be done. A previous owner had put lithium grease in the groove that the drive teeth run in,plus the grease had found it’s way into the cylinder needle grooves, finally got all of that stuff cleaned out. After taking every screw out and dismantling the whole thing and putting it back together again and again and again, I was able to get it to knit. The next trick was to get it to knit without dropping stitches. There is a brass ring clamp that fits into the cylinder groove that holds the needles in,so all the tension on the needles has to come from the weights pulling down on the knitting. The next challenge will be to get it to knit back and forth in order to do short rows for sock heals, at the moment I’m just happy to have it knitting.

There wasn’t a yarn mast with the machine so I had to improvise.

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Shepard’s Market 2014

My sister and I went to the Shepard’s Market on Saturday, this was a great wool market to attend. The event was organized and put on at the Vinton, Ia high school by Sue H. from SunRise Suris Alpaca ranch.  The location was really nice to be able to have enough room to roam around in and be able to visit with vendors and to shop.  I would like to “THANK”  Sue and all the vendors for having such a nice show.  Here are a few of the vendors that I had a chance to visit with.

Janette

My sister and I took a little break from shopping and we sat down for awhile.  So I decided to pull out my little Indian book charka and spin some cotton for a few minutes.

All in all it was a great day, looking forward to next year.

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Sweater-Cable

Here it is almost Christmas and I just got done, except for the buttons, with son’s sweater.  This is only the second sweater that I have ever made and I think it turned out very nice.  When I asked son what he wanted for christmas he said he wanted me to knit him an Irish type sweater so I gulped and said sure why not, but only if he would  pick out the yarn he wanted it in and the style of sweater.  He went and picked out Lion Brand Fisheman’s  yarn in 100% wool and oatmeal color.  There was just noway I could get enough spun in the timeframe to make a sweater, this was just after Thanksgiving. The way it was it took me close to a month to machine knit the sweater.  I used the KX350 knitting machine.  So here are some pictures of the sweater.

Getting started, the supervisor needed to keep tabs on my work.

Yup, you made a mistake, you will need to fix it before I can approve it.

 Progress

Toothpicks make a great button substitue.

HE IS HAPPY WITH THE SWEATER!!!!!!

Now back to my comfort zone of knitting socks.

eta: more pictures

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Antique Acres Old Time Power show

My best friend suggested going this show, so we did. Hubby stayed home so we made a day of it. Tromped all over the grounds and all through the flea market.  While going through the museum building we got to meet a spinner and sock knitters.

Barb from Barnett Sheep and Wool was busy spinning away on her Majacraft “Rose”.  She raises purebred Karakul sheep and spins and weaves along with many other  things.

As we continued through the museum we met a couple of sock knitters using their sock knitting machines.  Glenace Shank from “Blue Heron Knits” gave me some information about PIGS (People in Glorius Socks) the Iowa sock knitters group.  Hope to be able to attend the convention next spring.

We were getting about whipped out so it was time we left.  So, we hit the cassino on the way home. No luck there!!

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March to August 2013

I have been busy dyeing and spinning for the last few months.  But yet I don’t feel like I have gotten anything accomplished.  I did have fun with Kool aid and gentian violet.  Gentian violet is a medicinal dye used to treat yeast infections.  The wool used for the gentian violet was Scottish Blackface, it’s a little on the harsh side, just right to use for the feet in socks.

For this batch of kool-aid dyed wool I used an adult romney fleece.  It was a beautiful fleece that took the kool-aid well.  I am almost done spinning up this batch.  Will be using in sock tops and in the sock feet with a mohair carry along yarn for strength.

A couple of weeks ago I found a spinning wheel on Craig’s List that just called my name to come and rescue.  It had all of it’s parts but you could tell it was a very old wheel.  So we took a little trip about two hours west of our home and brought her home, she needed very little repair, just a new front maiden bearing and a good cleaning.  Turns out she was also signed by  her maker “G:Yunker”, according to Spinning Wheels and Accessories   by Pennington and Taylor, he was a maker that lived in PA/OH.  In their book this wheel is referred to as a “Left-foot” wheel because of the way the treadle is built.  The cross over brace goes from right to left to accommadate the uprightness of the wheel.  She is a little fussy but she does spin a very fine yarn.

I finally took the plunge and knitted a TAM, they have always looked difficult to me, so I took on the challenge to my brain.  Here is the results of my challenge.  It’s not perfect by any means, but at least I didn’t say F—it and frog it. I learned so much about the construction of the tam and strand knitting it was worth the challenge.  The tan yarn is alpaca and the dyed yarns are various wools from other projects.  Blocked it over a large dinner plate and run some cotton around the opening edge and pulled it up to stretch it out.

 

 

 

 

 

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Shepherd’s Market 2013-Vinton, IA

3-16-13

Shepherd’s Market was a new and fun fiber/fabric festival that was produced, organized and put on by Sue H

from SunRise Suris Alpaca Ranch.  Sue and her crew did a fantastic job.

Sue H

Here are few of the fibery folks I had the opportunity to visit with:

Katy

Katy has a crochet group in Hiawatha:

Bob the Woodcarver and Kim S with her Mom were sharing a booth.  I got a beautiful romney lamb fleece from Kim.

Bob R, Kim S & Mom

Debbie B has a needle arts store in Manchester, IA.

Quilter Elayne from MYTymeCreations

Elayne

Looking forward to next years festival !!!

 

 

 

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