My newest project: Gregg’s sweater

Well, DH asked me to knit him a sweater. I think that I just stared at him for a minute or so because we’ve been married for over twenty years and he’s never asked for a sweater, let alone wore one.

I take that back, he bought one two years ago when we were in Peru. He bought an alpaca sweater! O.k. maybe he is the sort of guy that wears sweaters. Anyway, I started this gorgeous Na Craga sweater from Alice Starmore in a nice marled yarn from Cascade 220. Knit it up to 10″ when a horrifying realization dawned on me: it’s too small! Even with the weight hubby lost over the last couple of months the only way he could successfully wear it would be to wrap him from shoulder to hip in siran wrap. Soooo, after a couple glasses of wine I frogged back to the ribbing. Here’s the new and improved version:

On a lighter note: I finally broke down and bought a Wooly Board.
Woo hoo! It’s only taken twenty years to come to my senses. Maybe it had something to do with the cost. But it does make a noticeable difference with the blocking!

Here’s the first sweater to get blocked on my new board:

Nice, isn’t it? yep, I knit that sweater twenty years ago for hubby and he really never wore it. Knit that puppy out of a cabled cotton on size US3’s.

 

Deckchen – aka Holey Moley

Well, I finished my Fuchsienbluten, but haven’t blocked it yet. I was anxious to start a new Niebling known as Deckchen and here it is.

This lace piece is all about pushing the envelope. My goal was to knit a piece of lace using the finest thread available. I found some DMC ‘Cordonnet’ size 100 thread and cast on 6 stitches using US 00’s! The knitting is slow, methodical, and tiring. So far I’ve dropped a stitch, and even split the thread a couple of times.

I don’t like the Cordonnet thread as much as the Cebelia. The thread has a harder twist (3 2-plys twisted together) so the fabric has a stiff, almost scratchy feel. The Cebelia is a 3-ply thread and knits up to a softer fabric with nice drape. This project is one of those learning lessons!

I’m finally on Hiya Hiya circular needles. The finish is not as slippery as the Addi turbo needles, but the tips are pointier. I started on Inox steel needles and like them for their finish and tips. The lace slides nicely along the needle when pushed, but stay in place when not being worked; in other words: they don’t fall off the needles!

 

Fuchsienbluten Niebling

I’m almost done with my latest Niebling lace project. There’s only 89 rows here, so the piece will block out doily size. I used DMC ‘Cebelia’ 30 cotton on size US 0 needles. All that’s left to do is the crochet bind-off. My friend Kristine agreed to give it a good home.

 

Wire-wrapped beaded earrings

I found this idea in a beading book and was so intrigued that I had to give it a go. The earring are kind of clunky, but fun. I used fire Czech beads and silver wire.

It took hours to wrap the wire! Oh, and the beads were the wrong size (4mm, instead of 3mm).

 

Silver charm bracelet

This is my newest project. I inherited a charm bracelet from my dad’s wife who traveled with him through Europe. I also travel a lot and started to collect silver charms to commemorate my trips. My favorite ones are shield-backed silver enameled charms. They’re mostly found in western European countries (and on the internet), so in eastern Europe, Asia, Africa, etc. I’ve had to find other trinkets to round out my collection.

On one trip in Brussels I found an out-of-the way tourist shop that had really old charms and just went nuts! They had shield backed charms for Japan, Turkey, and several other places I’d been unable to find charms for. Oh! I dream of coming across another out-of-the-way shop again and another bounty of special charms.

 

Amber, yellow jade, and turquoise necklace

I bought this amber pendant to use with some carved yellow jade beads I bought years ago. The yellow jade was somewhat difficult to design around as there are so many different color schemes available. I liked the milky color of this amber piece and thought it complimented the jade nicely. The turquoise rondelles are just an extra bonus.

I had some extra turquoise rondelles and silver spacer beads left over, so I made this companion piece.

 

Jade and aquamarine necklace

Sometimes pieces come together with almost no effort. This necklace was not one of them. I worked out this design over several weeks focusing on the carved jade pendant I bought at a gem show. Overall, I really like how this necklace turned out.

Here’s another view: I used two sizes of jade beads. The large round beads are aquamarine. The gold-toned beads are vermeil.

how

 

Crystal necklace reworked

I made this Swarovski necklace a couple of months ago and really didn’t like the cubed crystals I used for the drops. I’ve reworked the necklace using teardrops and like it much better.

 

Pearl lariat

Pearls are one of my favorite gemstones. I knew I wanted a rope-style pearl necklace with a detachable pendant so this one wasn’t on the design board for very long. I created this piece using freshwater pearls, Swarovski bi-cone crystals and Bali silver.

 

too funny

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