Deborah Fillmer's » beads

Productivity And New Challenges // What I did this week…

deborahfillmer — Wed, 05 Aug 2009 19:35:59 +0000

I have been enjoying myself so much this week I haven’t had time to stop and tell you all about it. My classwork has slowed considerably since I am down to one class and next week is the last week of the Summer semester. So, I have been a knitting/sewing fool the past week and a half. Here are some things I learned how to do this week and some other things that I have either started or finished…

First up, I learned to do fair isle this week. I have only tried this on my own once (winging it) and it turned out nice, but this time I am working from someone else’s pattern and am actually going to produce a pair of socks to boot. The pattern is Elika, by Heatherly Walker. The yarn I am using is knitpicks essential and kroy socks. The pattern is bare bones and basically assumes you already know a lot about knitting socks. It also includes instructions for a short row heel, which I have learned that I DO NOT LIKE! The fair isle, on the other hand, is great!! I can see more fair isle in my future!

Next up is a pair of gloves/mittens. I have never made gloves or mittens before, so I figured I would make both at once and learn both at the same time. The pattern is easy enough, but contains errors. Actually, I expected better instructions in a pattern from Knitty.com, but free is free. The concept of the fingerless glove covered by a mitten cap is great! If you want to make a pair of these I suggest these notes as they helped me out tremendously! So, now I give you the left hand of a pair of Broad Street Mittens by Janis Cortese.

Left Hand Glove

Left Hand Mitten

About a week or two ago the secret knit a long that I put together for the Atlanta Knitting Guild ended. I designed an original lace pattern for them to knit so they could enjoy the experience of a knit a long and have a pattern (free) to call their own. The KAL was done exactly like the Secret of the Stole KAL’s, but exclusively for the guild members only. Here is the resulting pattern. This pattern will be for sale as soon as we get the photos done this weekend. If you would like to be notified when the pattern is available please join the Nautical Knitter Designs Yahoo Group.

Blocked and ready for the photo shoot this weekend.

As if knitting wasn’t enough, I also did a bit of sewing this past weekend. This top is from a Butterick pattern (#4684) and apparently I am a smaller size in Butterick than in Simplicity. Who knew? So, this top came out a size or two too big for me. I do like the pattern though and the next one should fit just right. This one is being gifted, if it fits and she likes it …

The mail held some wonderful goodies this week as well. I received 3 new books on my newest interest, socks. Remember the socks that I just finished that were too short? Well, I traded them for some awesome hand dyed sock yarn which also came. Unfortunately, the US Postal Service has not delivered the socks to her yet and I fear that all that hard work may be lost. If so, I will have to do something to compensate for this lovely yarn she dyed for me. Snail mail stinks!

Can you tell what is on my list?

Well, if you made it this far in the post you deserve a treat, so for those who have been patiently waiting I can officially say that I have begun test knitting the Secret of the Stole IV! YAY! It is probably the coolest pattern I have done to date and I can’t wait to share it with you all. The yahoo group is not open yet, but you can join the Nautical Knitter Designs group to be notified when it is. Until then, here is a teaser:

Could it be? Why yes, it is, SOTS IV in progress!

There you have it, my last week or so in a blog post. I hope your week was just as productive. Until next time, Fair Winds

I’ve Been Knitting

admin — Sat, 06 Dec 2008 04:00:47 +0000

Remember when you all voted and chose my next knitting project to cast on? You all chose the Way of Life Stole. After a frogging episode, I finally got on a roll with this one and this is what it looks like so far. It is about 20% complete.

Here is a close up of the lace pattern.

I have also been working on the Rona Shawl. Here is the proof…

Tonight, I also finished this year’s hat for my grandson. So far I have given him a Christmas hat every year of his life. He will now have three. Photos of the hat tomorrow.

Placing Beads In Knitting With The Crochet Hook Method

deborahfillmer — Thu, 24 Jul 2008 01:39:12 +0000

This video is by Ivy Kehinde of Knitting Step by Step and is a great tutorial on how to place beads in your knitting with a crochet hook.

Guinevere Has Dyed

DK — Wed, 23 Jul 2008 18:07:56 +0000

Technically, she has been dyed. Originally, I knit this stole in Dye Your Own Lace Weight Yarn from Knitpicks. I wore it in the natural color for a while and decided that the color was too beige for my skin tone. So, since my son is getting married in 10 days and the colors in the wedding are cream and chocolate, I decided to dye it a chocolate brown. The hardest part of this entire process was lowering it into the dye pot. Here are the results.

Before:

After:

Learn how to read an Every Other Row (EOR) knitting chart.

deborahfillmer — Fri, 18 Jul 2008 13:26:36 +0000

In this video you will, hopefully, learn how to read an Every Other Row (EOR) knitting chart. To get the most out of the video you will need to download the PDF file, below, and follow along with the instructions on the video. We hope you enjoy this first in a series of chart reading videos and, as always, please leave us a comment or suggestion if you have one. Thanks, DK

[display_podcast]

Please download the above PDF before watching the video.

Secret of the Stole III KAL Officially Opens for Members

admin — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:04:42 +0000

This is the day I have been working toward. All this lace knitting that I have not been able to share with you is finally complete and will be revealed within the next two months. The Secret of the Stole III KAL group is now open for new members and now the work really begins. I really love this part though, because it keeps me very busy and invariably learning new things.

If you would like to join the group click on the image and sign up. See you there…

Secret of the Stole III KAL Officially Opens

deborahfillmer — Sat, 12 Jul 2008 13:21:22 +0000

It’s official, the Secret of the Stole III knit a long is open for new members. We begin accepting new members today and begin knitting the stole on August 15th. The excitement level around this place just doubled. Now there is just so much to do….

If you haven’t been involved with one of our knit a longs before, now is your chance to see what it is all about. The group is located here:

Secret of the Stole III

Membership is free, but the number of new members is going to be limited, so don’t wait, sign up today!

Placing Beads on a Knit Stitch Video

deborahfillmer — Tue, 22 Jan 2008 16:13:44 +0000

Have you ever wondered how to place beads in your knitted pieces without having to string them onto your yarn before you begin the project? Placing beads using the crochet hook method eliminates the need for pre-stringing beads onto your yarn or thread. This means you no longer have to count the number of beads to string and the beads do not have to reside on your yarn, sliding up and down your yarn, until you use them. The beads also tend to lie flat in a more vertical orientation, rather than slanted when this technique is used.

To understand more about how this technique is done you can click on the video below. The video was created by Ivy Kehinde of Knitting Step by Step and she does a good job of showing how to place beads using a crochet hook on the knit stitches throughout your knitted piece.

How to Use Beads in Your Knitting

admin — Sat, 06 Oct 2007 15:15:16 +0000

The fact that I am a self professed enabler of the highest caliper is once again proven by this Secret of the Stole inspired video. Some of the members of the group needed a visual demonstration of how beads are placed on a knitted piece using the crochet hook method. Thanks to another member, Ivy, we now have a super video to show us all how it is done. My favorite part of enabling is watching others develop their talents that are just waiting to come out of the box. Thanks, Ivy!

OOOH, Sparkley

admin — Wed, 12 Sep 2007 22:31:24 +0000

I picked up a couple of crochet hooks while shopping the other day and decided to give them away as an extra prize for the Secret of the Stole, KAL. A tiny crochet hook is used to place beads within your knitted piece as you are knitting it. There is a great tutorial here for how this is done. Since many of the participants in this KAL have never done this technique before I thought I would continue my habit of enabling and put a couple of these hooks up for grabs. If you are a participant in the KAL and need a hook for your beading of this piece just leave me a comment on this post and I will have the DH choose two lucky winners tomorrow, September 13, 2007. You have until 5pm US central time tomorrow. Pithy, loquacious, and implorable comments are all welcome.