Fickle Nickel Quilts in a Weekend

My apologizes for the long break in posting!  I'm back in school studying for my Bachelor of Science in Nursing (BSN) and have been very focused on my studies.  I took a much needed break this past weekend and visited my daughter in Texas. In a marathon sewing session over the three days, we each pieced a quilt top using Fickel Nickel Quilt kits we had purchased at the Houston International Quilt Festival last November. These kits use one yard each of five different fabrics.  The instructions are super easy and would be a good first project for some new to quilting. 

Here is a photo of mine a little closer.  It looks like I may have held the wrong side towards the camera....oops!

Back from my Orenburg knitting class

 

I returned this week from the 2 day Orenburg lace knitting class with Galina Khmeleva at the Lace Museum in Sunnyvale, California.  I had a wonderful time and learned more than I thought possible in two days!

I can't wait to tell you all about it, but first a report on my lace shawl from Russia that I took for Galina to look at.  The shawl I received as a gift while living in Russia in 1975 is the one on the right in the photo above.  Next to it on the left is a very fine Orenburg shawl that I purchased from Galina at the class.  Galina's assessment of my shawl is that it is Russian made by a skilled knitter but was not made in Orenburg.  The main telling factor is the number of holes in each edge "tooth".  Orenburg shawls have a distinctive pattern of 5 holes on each side of each edge tooth.  My shawl has six holes on each side of each tooth.  That is the main difference.  Another difference is that the yarn used to knit my shawl appears to be machine spun, whereas all Orenburg shawls are knit from handspun yarn from goats that live only in Orenburg that is plied with a little bit of fine silk for strength and durability. Galina thinks my shawl is goat fiber machine spun with viscous rather than silk.  So, I have a very nice Russian shawl, but it is not an authentic Orenburg.  As Galina said, "Your shawl never spent the night in Orenburg."  Happily, I learned how to mend a couple of places where holes have worn in the pattern, and I learned how to wash and block my shawl.

And now for some photos of the class and our work:

 

 

We knit these little lace samplers to practice the motifs found in Orenburg knitting.  Each pattern has a name.  Here you can see mouseprints. The yarn Galina gave us to us is Jagar spun 50% wool and 50% silk.

 

My first little lace sampler piece in which I practiced mouseprints and a knit-off bind off technique.  Also shown here is a stainless steel knitting needle from Orenburg (Orenburg is a steel producing region) and two little bobbins with more wool/silk yarn.

 

More bobbins of yarn.

A map of Russia.  Orenburg is situated at the base of the Ural Mountains in central Russia, just north of Kazakhstan and Uzbekistan, both in Central Asia on the old silk route.  Now that Uzbekistan is a separate country, Orenburg has lost its source of fine silk.

Here we learned how to block a little lace shawl sampler.

 

And here is my simple little sample shawl that I knit in fingering weight yarn.  I started it the week before class, using instructions from one of Galina's books.  I grafted the final corner (the upper left) with a little help from Galina in class.  Then I wove in the ends and blocked it at home.  Not bad, don't you think?  Now that I understand the construction of the shawl, it seems definitely within the realm of possibilities for me to eventually knit a lace weight Orenburg style shawl, if I am persistent and practice enough.  

Okay, here are the rest of the photos:

 

 

Hand made bobbin lace from linen (flax) grown and handspun in Orenburg.

My second attempt at lace weight Orenburg motifs.  I'm getting the motifs reasonably well, but my tension is uneven and the edges are abysmal.  Much practicing is needed to master working with fine lace weight yarn!

 

More photos of the shawl I bought.

Fetching Cabled Fingerless Mitts and Reversible Scart

I finished my reversible cabled scarf to go with my fingerless mitts. The scarf is narrow and relatively short, which makes it a bit dressy, which I like.   It has still been cold enough in the early morning that I have been able to wear them driving to work at 6 am.  And they will certainly keep me warm when I go to my workshop in Fort Collins, Colorado next month.

And I am sooooo excited to go to my Orenburg lace knitting class with Galina Khmeleva next week!  I'll post about it while I am there.

Fetching Cabled Fingerless Mitts - a larger size for myself!

 It's taken me a little while... but I finished a second pair of the Fetching Cabled Fingerless Mitts, designed by Cheryl Niamath.  You can find the link for the free pattern in my post just previous to this one.  I adapted the pattern to make them larger, adding an extra cable repeat in the wrist and the fingers, as well as five extra rows of stockinette in the middle.  I also increased the length of the thumbs to 12 rounds.  I'm oh so happy with them!  They fit me well and are beautiful, cozy and warm!

The reason it took me so long to finish them is because I ran out of yarn just before knitting the thumb of the second mitt.  The local store where I bought the Mochi Plus yarn didn't have any more of this color.  What to do?!  I briefly contemplated using yarn from my stash to finish the mitt, since I only needed another yard or so.  But in the end I wasn't willing to compromise quality, since the mitts are so beautiful.  So I ordered more yarn online and waited for it to arrive.

Since I had to buy more yarn, I've decided to knit a matching scarf to wear with the mitts.  Here it is, started.  It is a reversible cable scarf adapted from a free pattern from Lion Brand yarn.  You can find it on their web site.  The scarf is indeed reversible with three cables on one side and two cables on the other side.  The border is knit in seed stitch.  Again, I adapted the pattern.  The original pattern calls for working 6 stitch (3/3) cables.  I revised the number of stitches so I could knit 4 stitch (2/2) cables to match the cables in the mitts.  I'll post another photo of the scarf when I am done.  My plan is to wear them when I go to Colorado in a few weeks for a workshop.  It will still be cold there.

Fetching Cabled Fingerless Mitts

I recently finished these Fetching Cabled Fingerless Mitts, designed by Cheryl Niamath.  The pattern is available at Knitty:
http://knitty.com/ISSUEsummer06/PATTfetching.html

I followed the pattern except that I used Mochi Plus, a merino/nylon blend yarn that is soft, scrumptiously warm and cozy.  As you can see, the mitts as knitted are too small for me.  So these will go to a friend with smaller hands.

I have started a second pair and am increasing each section by  5-6 rows.  They are a fast knit and I can't wait to be able to wear them on cold mornings driving to work!

More Knitting Mindfully

 

I spent several days between Christmas and New Year's Day at Deer Park Monastery along with nearly 300 other people.  It was a beautiful way to end 2011 and start 2012.  People came from all over the United States and even from  South America for this holiday retreat.  The sense of community was strong and I made several new friends. 

I did a little mindful knitting during lazy afternoons while at the monastery - started a pair of cabled fingerless mitts which I will show you in my next posting.   So what is mindful knitting, exactly?  Well, mindfulness is simply a quality of attention that is focused, relaxed, alert and also friendly and caring, even affectionate.  One sees and experiences clearly what is happening right now in the present moment.  So when I am knitting mindfully, my knitting has my full, clear, relaxed and alert attention.  I am aware of my breathing and of my whole body and at the same time fully enjoy the feel of the yarn and needles in my hands, the colors and textures of the yarn, the patterns of the knitted piece, even the smell of the yarn.  The joy and pleasure are immense.

Robert's Reindeer Christmas Stocking

 Well, I didn't quite finish Robert's reindeer stocking by Christmas.
Here it is without antlers.  You can see that it was entirely functional anyway.  Santa filled it to overflowing!

Today I finally finished it.  It's not exactly like the one my sister made for Katherine many years ago, but it is sweet enough.