Last of the Knitted Christmas balls in 2012

These are the last of the knitted Norwegian Christmas balls for 2012. We opened presents yesterday at my Mother's house, because we waited for Katherine and Robert to drive in from Texas after spending Christmas with his family. My mother's Christmas tree is a small table size, so she had asked if I could knit Christmas balls smaller. I bought Gloss lace weight yarn (75% wool 25% silk) from Knitpicks and tried knitting them with two strands of the lace yarn. It worked... the little balls are half the size of the ones I had been knitting with DK weight yarn. My mother is very happy with them.

Here they are on the tree. You call also see two square needlepoint ornaments that my Grandmother Baba made years ago, and also three needlepoint stocking ornaments that my mother's best friend, Ann, made. The little cross-eyed clothespin reindeer is an ornament that Katherine and I made one year when she was a little girl. They were so fun!

Finished My Jelly Roll Race Quilt Top!

Today I finished my Jelly Roll Race quilt top which I started two weeks ago during the long distance Mother-Daughter quilt date that I had with my daughter, Katherine. While it took me several hours total (the woman in the YouTube tutorial does it in 45 minutes), it was very easy and fun! And the batik fabrics in blues and greens are beautiful - prettier in person than in the photo. The finished size is 52 inches X 64 inches. I haven't yet decided if I want to put borders on it to make it a bit larger, or just quilt it and bind it as it is. I'm leaning towards just putting a simple binding on it, because I think borders would detract from the simple beauty of the batik stripes.

Here are some more photos of the project as it progressed.

Jessica is enjoying her Inkle Loom

My niece, Jessica, tried hard to wait until Christmas, but with my permission, opened her present early and is now happily on her way, learning to weave! She's doing great... notice what a nice consistent width she is getting.

Norwegian Knitted Christmas Balls

Well, I've been knitting away at my Norwegian Christmas balls on and off since September (see my previous post). I meant to collect a large number and post a photograph of them, but I've been mailing them off to people as Christmas presents as fast as I can make them. So you are only seeing five of them here. In all, I think I have made 17 or 18, so far, and have at least another 8 or so to do before Christmas. And I am determined to make a couple for myself! Each one is taking around 3 hours to knit and another half hour to stuff it with craft wool and attach the hanging loop.

When my Grandmother Baba was alive, she made small needlepoint ornaments for all her children and grandchildren. We each got one every year for Christmas. Baba has been gone for many years now. I still miss her and I treasure the needlepoint ornaments she made for me. I'm having so much fun knitting these Norwegian Christmas balls, I think I will do it every year and carry on my grandmother's tradition, in my own way.

Merry Christmas, Everyone! Whatever your faith tradition, may you be surrounded by the warm love of family and friends. May you be well.

One of Baba's needlepoint ornaments

Mother - Daughter Quilt Date

If you follow my daughter's knitting blog, Will Knit for Math then you already know that we had a Mother - Daughter quilt date last night. We each bought a couple of jelly rolls at the Houston Quilt Festival last month with the intention of doing long distance quilt projects "together."

For our first project, we are making Jelly Roll Race quilts. Last night we sewed the forty 2 1/2 inch wide jelly roll strips together using 45 degree angled seams,for a total of more than 1600 inches of fabric! The woman in the youtube tutorial video pieced the entire top together in 45 minutes! She didn't pin or mark any seams and just zipped right through them. I didn't pin or mark my seams either, and I had to take the first several seams apart and start over because I had sewn "right" sides to "wrong" sides. This took about 20 minutes. But after starting over, I got the hang of it pretty quickly and it took me a little less than an hour to finish sewing all the pieces together. By then it was getting to be bedtime, so I stopped. This afternoon I checked all my seams and only found one I want to take out and redo because it is off a bit. Not bad. I, too, will trim and press the seams before proceeding with the next step.

Katherine's fabrics are colorful and fun! My jelly roll is called "Caribbean Blues," a collection of blue batik fabrics I purchased from Fabric Fanatics. So my quilt will be monochrome blues with some greens, yellows and pinks. I was afraid that it would be somewhat boring, but there is actually more contrast and interest in the fabrics that I expected,and more than you can see in the photograph. I can't wait to see the finished quilt! And this is so fun to do with Katherine!

Santa brought a Schacht Matchless spinning wheel!

Santa came early this year and brought me a gently used Schacht Matchless spinning wheel! I'm so incredibly happy! Actually, it was a purchase opportunity that I didn't have the willpower to refuse. After attending Yarn School in Kansas, I decided to buy myself a spinning wheel after the Christmas holidays were over and had narrowed my selection down to a Lendrum foldable, based on all the spinning wheels I had tried out at Yarn School. But this week a used Matchless popped up on a neighboring craigslist for sale. I knew that used Matchless spinning wheels are prized by experienced handspinners and don't come available very often. The price on this one was reasonable, especially since it came with 9 bobbins, a tensioned lazy kate, extra bands, 2 orrifice hooks, a large whorl and a niddy noddy. Plus the Schacht Ladybug and Sidekick use the same bobbins, a definite advantage should I decide to get a Sidekick in the future for traveling to conferences and workshops. When I tried the Matchless out, I found the treadling to be smooth and easy to control. I can't wait to begin to use and get to know it. We are going to be good friends!

A new inkle loom for Christmas!

A particular person on my Christmas list is getting this wonderful Schacht Inkle Loom from Santa Deb! Since the giftee has never done any weaving before, I thought it would be helpful if I warped it for her the first time. A good excuse to get it out of the box and play with it before wrapping it and sending it on, right? I couldn't keep my hands off it! So... I made some yarn heddles using unwaxed linen and then wound the two color warp on. Then I wove a cloth header in and wove a few inches of band (plain weave). Schacht has a couple of very helpful tutorials on YouTube. It took me about an hour to do all this. What fun! I hope my unnamed giftee enjoys it as much as I have, so far!

Pumpkin Shepherd's Pie - Vegan Gluten Free

My friend, Jan, and I made this delicious Pumpkin Shepherd's Pie for dinner tonight. We started with a recipe in the current issue of Sunset Magazine, which uses a lamb stew for the base. We made several substitutions to make the recipe vegan and gluten free and it worked! The result was delicious and definitely company quality tasty and beautiful. Specifically, we used a box of gluten free tempeh instead of lamb, increased the baby portabello mushrooms to 16 ounces and added halved brussel sprouts to the veggies. We quick sauteed each vegetable separately in a frying pan to seal in the flavors and then layered them in the ceramic baking casserole. And of course, we used gluten free flour for the gravy. For the mashed pumpkin, we used Silk soy creamer instead of dairy cream. And I reduced the salt by half. Everything else is the same. Delicious!

Handspinning at the Yarn School

Katherine and I attended our first ever Yarn School session in Harveyville, Kansas two weekends ago and it was fantastic! We joined about 25 other women from all over the country for a weekend of handspinning on spinning wheels & drop spindles, a dye lab workshop, knitting, eating and socializing. This was my first experience ever at handspinning and I had a blast! I'm definitely hooked. Above you can see my first clumsy efforts using a spinning wheel. The skein of yarn on the right is the first one I did and the skein in the middle is the second. Both are chunky and loose, but I can see a little improvement in the second. I brought the rest of the top home with me and when I buy a spinning wheel after Christmas, I hope to spin enough more yarn to knit a small cowl that I can actually wear. One of the highlights of the weekend was a field trip to the Wildcat Hollow Alpaca ranch nearby. There were many alpacas and they were all gentle, soft, adorable and friendly. The neatest thing about them was that they are curious and get to know you by nuzzling up to your face and sniffing your breath. It felt like they were "eskimo kissing."

Here is some beautiful alpaca/merino blend yarn that I bought while I was there. It was wonderful to meet the alpacas who produced this fiber.

And here are the results of our dye lab adventure.

2012 The Year of the Norwegian Knitted Christmas Ball

Last year this time I was crocheting reindeer stockings for Katherine and Robert. This year, thanks to Arne and Carlos, I and thousands of other people around the world are knitting Norwegian Christmas balls for the holiday season. This green one on the left was knitted by my friend, Jeri. I just got started on my first one, here in red and white. So far, it is fun and easy. Arne says he can knit two or three in one day, and I believe it. I calculate I am 20% done with mine and it only took me one hour. I encourage you to follow the link to Arne and Carlos' website, and especially to watch their two short videos. Oh my gosh, they are hilarious! And as cute as they could be!

Candra's Apron

I finally finished the red and white egg beater apron for my friend and nurse colleague, Candra! This apron has been on my UFO list for a year! Candra helped me start it last summer (2011)and we had hoped to finish it before Thanksgiving, so she could use it to cook Thanksgiving dinner for her family. But we both started school (RN-to-BS programs) and each had our nose to the grindstone for the entire year. I just got my first real break from school, and really enjoyed getting this project back out again. Candra, in addition to being beautiful and smart and an awesome oncology nurse, is a fabulous cook and home maker, so this apron is perfect for her! She makes the best apple pies in the state of California!

Vexillo Baby Blanket for Baby Karen

I finally finished the knitted baby blanket I've been working on for my cousins, Rodger and Leslea's first grandchild, Karen. The rocking chair the blanket is draped over is the one I bought when my daughter, Katherine, was born. The blanket is simple and fun to knit, using self-striping sock yarn. The pattern is called Vexillo and is available free from Berroco.

This is a photo of the wrong side so you can see the seaming. The seaming wasn't as fun as the knitting, but once I got into it, I didn't mind it all that much. I had slipped the first stitch in each row of knitting as if to purl with the yarn in front. This left a nice, clear edge and made the seaming pretty easy.

And this is baby Karen on the day she was born in April.

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.