Knit and Crochet Blog Week: Join in on the Experience

Thanks to reading Jenny's Blog on Knitting, I am joining Knit and Crochet Blog Week from Monday to Sunday of this week.

There is a question to answer each day of the week about your passion for fiber from how did you start to the yarn you yearn to own. Visit Eskimimi Knits for all the info and here is the list of questions.

Today's question is: How and when did you begin knitting/crocheting?

My mom and a learn to knit book taught me how to knit. I can't remember exactly how old I was, but I know by the time I was about ten I had experimented with knitting. An abysmal  failure to be able to knit mitts put my knitting career on hold. I turned to crochet which for some reason I picked up much quicker from my mom.

Eventually, I took on knitting again and was knee deep into it by my early teens. I remember one early project was a knit garter stitch apron and hot mat for my mom on Mother's Day.

Some thirty odd years later I'm still both knitting and crocheting. I have taken the the odd hiatus only to return more passionate than ever for these fiber arts.

Happy blogging about your passion!

Multnomah Shawl Unleashed!

My Multnomah Shawl is unpinned from blocking and unleashed on the world. I'm enjoying wearing it as a shawl...

as a scarf...

on the side...

My first shawl project completed. Will it be my last shawl? Probably not.

I'll be looking to see what projects my fellow Fiber Arts Friday-ers have finished this week over at Wonder Why Gals.

Happy Fiber Arting!

Knitting Green Challenge: My Knit Basket for Earth Day

It's Earth Day!

Knitting Daily issued a Knitting Green Challenge for Earth Day. I decided to give it a whirl and came up with a creation. This is my earth friendly knit basket repurposing cotton from a chair slipcover and reusing gift ribbon.

The tools I used were scrap fabric, old ribbon, scissors and large knitting needles.

My pile of cotton scraps from the slipcover were transformed into cotton yarn by cutting one rectangular piece of cotton into one long strip.

Casting on 16 stitches with my 12 mm needles and knitting 12 rows in garter stitch gave me a rectangular piece of knit cotton.

Using my recycled ribbon, I threaded a piece through each corner of the rectangle and tied a bow.

All four corners are tied and magically it's a basket.

It took only an hour to complete.

Lisa of Molto di Moda Designs also took this fun challenge. See her creativity here.

Happy Earth Day Knitting!

On Your Mark, Get Set, Starting Jared Flood's Urban Aran Cardigan

I'm excited to finally begin knitting the Urban Aran Cardigan as done by Jared Flood of Brooklyn Tweed. This is the beginning of the back.

I'd been looking for a sweater to knit my hubby for a while and this one turned my knitting crank.

The pattern is from Patons and originally designed for a woman. Jared Flood turned this pullover into a zippered cardigan modifying the pattern to suit a man's physique.

While he talks about his modifications on his blog, they are not detailed in terms of exact changes in shaping and how to accomplish them. You are kinda on your own for that, although there is a Ravelry forum that offers some advice.

I decided to knit a woman's medium. My first modification is to add 2 inches to the length to accommodate hubby's longer torso. I'm adding 1 inch before I start the diagonal side cables. Then, I 'll add the next inch once they are complete. I didn't want to move these diagonal side cables too far down the torso of the cardigan, or they might loose their design effect.

I'm a bit worried about the width. I'm  hoping the cables will draw the knitting in and narrow it.

Wish me luck!

Happy Knitting!

Blocking My Multnomah Shawl: Finally!

My finished Multnomah Shawl is now pinned to the back of my chesterfield drying.

I decided to block it with more pointed than curved edges.

It was a frustrating project but that was my fault. Even though I checked out the Multnomah Shawl KAL to look for pattern problems and interpretations before I started, I still messed up! The fan and feather lace was knit wrong and ended up like a ruffle. Way too many stitches!  I ripped the shawl down to the garter stitch and knit up the fan and feather again. Voila, you see the result above.

When the shawl is dry and I have my chesterfield back, I''ll model my creation.

Happy knitting!