Modest Projections for 2013...Sigh.

Although only about 2 weeks old, I found myself quickly reviewing my last post (no I can't recall everything I've written, in fact there are days when my thoughts bounce around like a kitten chasing a ball of string). In my New Year's eve post I mentioned a few modest knitting goals I set for 2013. No, I'm not back peddling already - back peddling typically happens in June or July. So while I'm not back peddling, yet, I am having to update my plans, a smidge.

I've known me for 52 years (consciously for probably 48 years because everything before the age of 4 is suspect) so I shouldn't be surprised that my modest low stress crafting plan for 2013 has...morphed a tad. Now the morphing doesn't surprise me completely because as mentioned, I know me, but what has caught me off guard is how quickly the plans morphed. I'll get to the point.

My original thought was to spend 2013 picking away at modularly knit quilt blocks and knitting my 2 daughters Icelandic sweaters. This is still the plan, but in 10 days I've managed to turn 1 modularly knit afghan into 3 afghans, 2 Icelandic sweaters remain, but what should I make my son? Plus I've decided to learn Tunisian crochet (the hooks are in the mail) and I have the yarn for an as yet unspecified brioche project. While I'm at it, I have to confess to joining 2 (yes 2) block of the month quilting projects and I've signed up for a pattern writing course. For those of you who may not know me, I do work full time and I have a personal life with my husband that does go beyond what is clearly my crafting addiction. Stop me before I craft again!

What do you do when you've over extended your crafting plans yet again? I can tell you that hyperventilation does not help (I know that because of a box of yarn I received this week that I'd conveniently forgotten I ordered). Oh sure, you can breathe into a brown paper bag for a few minutes so you don't pass out, but once your breathing returns to normal, there is still a large box of yarn in your kitchen.

Plan B

My new plan is to work away at the variety of projects listed, hope like heck I don't add too many more projects and show you bits and pieces of my progress as I go. To that end, here is the tumbling blocks piece I threatened to felt in my last post.

Unfelted

Felted (tick that off my list).

This project taught me that combining Jamieson's 2 ply Shetland in the same project as Knit Picks Palette (a fingering weight Peruvian Highland wool) isn't seamless when it comes to felting. Both are fingering weight, both are 100% wool, and both are hand wash dry flat, but I think the Knit Picks Palette is slightly more processed. It's difficult to explain, but it has a slightly softer hand which may in part explain the felting results. The Palette yarn is fluffier felted than the Shetland 2 ply. You can see the difference when you look at the dark orange triangle (bottom left of the orange block) which is Shetland and the other triangles, which are Palette. There is more definition to the Shetland yarn, I think.

My felting procedure was quick, thoughtless and nasty. I tossed the tumbling blocks into the washing machine with hot water, a pair of blue jeans and the heavy duty laundry setting and walked away. No baby-sitting the process. When the washing machine was done I tossed the block into the dryer - which may account for the fluffy bits. The size difference between non-felted and felted is on average about 2 inches. Briefly I thought I might use the tumbling blocks for a cover for my ipad mini, but there was too much shrinkage. For now it remains an interesting piece of fabric.

I have moved forward on my original plan to knit quilt blocks. Aside from the tumbling blocks I went with 2 easy blocks - log cabin and churn dash. I'd thought I might felt them, but have decided against it for now because I intend to continue mixing the Jamieson's and the Knit Picks yarns.

My goal with the knitted quilt blocks is to use this bin of fingering weight yarn I've acquired over the years.

As I'm sticking with straight fingering weight and 3mm knitting needles my block sizes are about 6 inches square. Let's see, at 6 inches per block with a finished afghan of about 42 X 54 inches in mind, I'll need 63 blocks...I have 2 complete. Well the finished size is negotiable. I am taking notes as I go in case anyone wants to take a crack at the blocks themselves. Just let me know and I'll post what I have.
Last March or so I posted this picture of a box of yarn that I had planned to use for an afghan.

I started messing with that yarn on Jan. 1, 2013. My plan is to knit a bunch of squares in assorted mixes of all the colours. Having knit numerous blocks and colours and ripped them out, here's what I have so far... 2 blocks. It's tougher to pick your own colours and knit them at random than I hoped it would be. Philosophically, is it truly random if I chose one colour and rip it out if I don't like it? Probably not. Fortunately this project has no deadline, so I can knit and rip and change my rules at will.

The surprise box of yarn that arrived this past week is for a Knit Picks pattern called Hue Shift Afghan by Karen Dimeler-Laurence. Again, it's modular knit and so far it looks like this.

I'm finding this pattern extremely easy, which likely explains why I have more of it knit than my other squares. When someone else writes the pattern and picks the colours, all you have to do is knit - no thinking required. There is a lot to said for that approach.

Finally, the Icelandic Sweater for Cait. The yarn is apparently in the mail, so I may have a week before I start that project. I haven't ordered Meg's yarn yet, but will when I confirm Meg's colour preferences. As for the Tunisian Crochet, the Brioche and the quilt blocks of the month, I'll squeeze them in where I can. I'm nothing if not eclectic in my tastes.

The Prince Rupert Library Knitters met last Thursday and to my chagrin I was unable to attend. I look forward to seeing anyone who wants to attend with any project that keeps them happy next Thursday, January 17th at 7:00pm in the Library's multi-purposed room.

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Knitting in the New Year

Tonight I will be knitting in the new year and watching old movies with my sweetie. What can be better than that?

Writing this New Year's Eve edition of Woolfully has taken me all over the philosophical map and then some. I wandered into deep, thoughtful and ultimately ridiculous waters but thankfully came to my senses. Using moderately ruthless (you heard me, I said moderately ruthless), editing I have tried to spare you from some of the blah, blah, blah of a typical New Year's post but why make promises?

The past 12 months have been excellent fun. I've made some great new friends with the Prince Rupert Library Knitters (and crafters of all sorts). With my friend Daisy I had the honour of teaching the local Pathfinders group how to knit. They are a fun bunch of young women and their leaders Jill and Coral get gold stars all around for just being terrific. Basking in the success of knitting with Pathfinders, I fell to the earth (you may recall our earthquake a few months back) when I tried to teach the gals to tat. Whoever coined the phrase "quit while you're ahead" may have been on to something.

This year I plan to continue messing around with modular knitting. To refresh your memories, modular knitting is about knitting basic shapes together one piece at a time. I had a great time making the Irish Chain Afghan and as a result I'm going to play with knitting another "quilt" in the coming year.

Stranded colour work and Fair Isle knitting are a couple of ways to accomplish a knitted quilt but I've never been a big fan of multiple bobbins of yarn dangling off the back of my piece as I knit. No, I prefer the one tiny piece at a time method. Why? Partly because my days of rushing to finish things are long over and partly because knitting tiny pieces together to create patchwork feels more akin to sewing bits of fabric together to make a quilt. Of late I have been messing around with the tumbling blocks pattern. After a bit of trial and error I've come up with a diamond shape that knits quite well into tumbling blocks. Most of the diamonds can be attached as you knit, but there is always one short seam that needs hand stitching with each block. I can live with that, but I know hand stitching is a fingernail on the blackboard for many knitters.

My plan with the tumbling blocks below is to finish the burgundy row and then felt the whole works and see what it looks like. I have no particular project in mind, but I'm sure it will turn in to something, maybe. When I work out the kinks, I'll pass on the how-to.

Lest you think I've gone totally tiny block nutty, I do have a couple of non-modular items planned for this year. I am looking forward to knitting each of my daughters an Icelandic sweater. I haven't knit one of those in 30 years or so. I had a hell of a time with the armpits back then, hopefully 30 years later I've learned a thing or 2. I'll keep you posted.

I haven't any serious New Year's resolutions, I seldom do. New Year's resolutions are why the swim lane is suddenly full and you can't find an empty bike at spin class. No, I will leave the new year sweating to others. I do want to thank those of you who provided me loopholes for last year's rather elastic resolution (no online shopping after 8pm) which held strong for 6 months - okay 5 months but I was rounding up. The best loophole was waiting until midnight because technically that's a whole new day. The down side to that is that fabrics or yarns that seem like a brilliant idea at midnight seldom make any sense at all in the daylight and that's assuming I can even recall the purchase to begin with. The upside is I get so many surprise packages in the mail ("No, I'm sure it can't be for me, have you ordered anything, honey?")

I look forward to meeting with the Library Knitters in the coming year and seeing all the nifty projects under construction. Feel free to join us every Thursday evening (except the 1st Thursday of the month - that's the Camera Club) at 7:00pm in the Prince Rupert Library multi-purpose room. We are not a knitting-centric group by all means bring your craft or your desire to learn something new and we'll be there to help you out. It's fun, it's free and it's never mandatory - what can be better than that?

Join us!

Happy and safe New Year everyone!

 

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Are You A Serial Gift-Crafter?

Serial Gift Crafting


Are you a serial gift crafter? Not sure? Consider the following 8 questions.

1. Do you love your craft like a crazy lunatic?
2. Do you make articles of clothing for family and friends without knowing their actual size, their favourite colours, or styles?
3. Do you make items for family and friends but never actually see them using or wearing the item, ever?
4. Do you make items first and then try to think who to give it to?
5. Do you tend to assume that because you loved making it that your family and friends will love receiving it?
6. Do you assume that because you think it's clever or cute that everyone you know will will also think it's clever and cute?
7. Have you ever made something that people thought was a funny joke, except that it wasn't?
8. Have you ever made something as a joke that the gift receiver took seriously?

If you answered yes to 2 or more of these questions you may be a serial crafter. First, don't panic, the world is full of serial crafters who function quite normally in everyday life. I am working on being a reformed serial crafter myself. It took me decades to realize that I had serial crafting tendencies. I have knit countless sweaters for family without knowing their actual size. I did try to think about about choosing styles and colours that my family would like to wear, but I have knit sleeves that are 6 inches too long, slippers that looked like hats and vests that are 3 sizes too big.

So where am I going with this? Christmas is coming. Today is November 1st, this is the date when most crafters making items for the holidays have already started making or planning their projects. If you haven't started your projects, give it some thought. Have you really looked at those "last minute gift ideas" books and magazine articles? Certainly there is usually an item or two that might actually be useful and wanted, but the rest of it, quite frankly is crap. It's crap that you don't want it your house, so why make it to put in the houses of your family and friends?

How often have you wandered through a craft fair and seen tables and tables of crafted items that clearly took a great deal of time to make but the colours, materials and patterns are absolutely ghastly? I realize that ghastly to one isn't ghastly to all, but I suspect you know what I mean.

Are you a craft fair participant who isn't selling your items? Are people walking by your table without looking you in the eye? Yikes, just because you bought that pink and orange tweed yarn on sale is not the reason to crank out 6 baby sweaters, or 20 nasty potholders and try to sell them. Face it, some yarns and fabrics are on sale because they didn't sell. This is an important point, so I will repeat it. Sale yarns and fabrics are often on sale because they didn't sell - nobody wanted them. So if nobody wanted them as a ball of yarn, what makes you think that people will want them knit up as a cover for their spare toilet paper or a tea cosy or a pot holder or mittens or scarves? I think you get my point.

Just because you liked making it (which is absolutely okay by the way), do not assume that your family and friends will want to own it. Certainly someone may want it, but put serious thought into who that person might be. I purchased bright pink and lime green cotton yarn (no it wasn't on sale) to make each of my teenage daughters a summer top. What was I thinking? Fortunately one of my daughters caught wind of the project and stopped it in it's tracks. Too bad she didn't catch me before I handed over $60 for the yarn.

So what do you do with all those items you are making because you love to make them and you love the style and you love the materials? Consider donating them to a charity auction or the hospital auxiliary. Again, do consider what you are making. Are you really sure someone will want that item in that colour? Are you thinking that charities should be grateful for anything you make? We've all seen those dust covered baby sweaters in the hospital gift shop. Ugly is ugly.

As the cataloguer at the Prince Rupert Library, I get to see every book that goes on our shelves. The other day I catalogued a book that is one of my top 10 favourite stories. The book is called "Lester's Dreadful Sweaters" by KG Campbell. Take a peek at the cover.

This poor kid has a relative who knits him crazy stuff and his family forces him to wear it.

I loved this book! It speaks to every horrible gift I've every recieved and to my chagrin, every horrible gift I've ever given - for which I humbly apologize. I really think that "Lester's Dreadful Sweaters" should be mandatory reading for all crafters not just serial crafters.

To sum up. The holidays will soon be upon us. Start your projects now. Really consider your victim (I mean gift recipient) and really think about what you are making and why. Happy crafting!

The Prince Rupert Library Knitters (and crafters) are not meeting the first Thursday of every month, but we are meeting all the rest of the Thursdays at 7:00pm in the Prince Rupert Library multi-purpose room. Everyone is always welcome!

PS. Stop by the Prince Rupert Library and take a look at the Lorax Quilt, made by library staff to donate to the Novel Idea Auction on Nov. 9th. We are all pretty proud of ourselves.

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It's a Novel Idea

 

After a busy fall and 3 weeks of the flu I'm back on the blog. The Friends of the Prince Rupert Library are gearing up for the 6th Annual Novel Idea Auction. It's a fun night where items created/donated by local wonder folk are auctioned in support of the Prince Rupert Library. At it's inception the novel ideal behind the Novel Idea Auction, was to have people create items inspired by novels they had read. A good idea, but a little difficult in practice. The auction has broadened it's base to include items created by anything you've read, anywhere (this includes magazines, the web, advertisements and cereal boxes). We still get a few lovely items donated with no source in mind, but library staff can usually pair the donation up with a nifty book or 2.

In the past I've knit, poetry mittens, lace shawls and scarfs, sheep puppets and a rabbit. One year I boldly went forth and made dog biscuits with my teeny tiny food processor --imagine 3 lbs of raw liver being ground up in a 1.5 cup food processor! It took hours and I'm feeling nauseous just recalling that evening. Clearly, some ideas are more novel than others.

My contributions to this year's auction are the Miss Marple Knitting Bag and a hand knit tea cosy with the song "I'm a little teapot" knit into the fabric. I always have fun with the knitting projects I do and "I'm a little teapot" was enough of a challenge to keep it interesting without being onerous. One problem I encountered was that I ran out of yarn before I could knit the i-cord drawstring for the top of the cosy. I scavenged bits and pieces and crocheted and braided a new cord using sock yarn, tatting thread and a wee length of yarn from the project I had left over. I added a couple of beads and I think it turned out okay. The moral here is - always check your guage!

The teapot that I bought to go with the cosy is indeed a "little teapot short and stout", but selection was limited.

I'm pretty happy with my Miss Marple Knitting Bag. The fabric selection nearly killed me - pink, orange and green oh my! The reason for the colour choices was due to my purchase of hand dyed tatting thread from a woman in Texas. The colours looked great online, but were a little alarming in person. I remained undaunted and shuttle tatted the lace anyway. After the choosing the fabrics I hand stitched the lace to the bag, not hard but time consuming. I put lots of pockets in the tote and I also made a detachable gadget bag to hold scissors, stitch holders etc.

Not finished and still in the design phase is a small purse made from a dark wool jacket I bought at the thrift store and cut into pieces. I have a lace dragon I tatted that might look nice on the side of the bag. I may get this done for this year's auction or I may save it for next year's auction.

While I really enjoyed knitting the tea cosy, I think I more pleased with the tote bag.

Why is that you wonder? Well the tea cosy is not my design, the pattern and yarn choices came from a kit and someone else's clever brain. Sure I knit the cosy, but I didn't create the cosy, if that makes sense. On the other hand, I messed with an assortment of tote bag patterns to create Miss Marple's Knitting Bag and the idea is more my own.

As you may have guessed I'm trying to inspire the local readers of my blog to make something for the auction. It's a really fun night and the money helps the library, so you get to have a great time and help the library all in one fell swoop. It doesn't get better than that!

The 6th Novel Idea Auction is Friday, November 9, 2012 at the Lester Centre of the Arts.

Viewing starts at 6:30pm with the auction starting at 7:00pm sharp. William, my library co-worker has been diligently photographing submissions and putting them up on the Prince Rupert Library's website. Here's a link if you'd like to see what's there so far.

http://www.princerupertlibrary.ca/picture_gallery/331

Knitting Thursdays at the library is up and running again starting October 25 at 7:00 pm. We are going to be meeting every Thursday until Christmas (with the exception of the first Thursdays of November and December), and you are very welcome to join us.

Keep creating and enjoying the experience, Christmas is just around the corner and if you haven't started yet, now may be the time! Or you can be up late with Santa, Christmas Eve, if that works for you too.

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Still Summer, Still Knitting...a Bit.

My last post was July 13th (Friday the 13th for those of you who roll on the dark side), and I felt a brief re-cap would be in order. When last I posted I was a few days away from taking a 3 week vacation - oh the plans I had! Five weeks ago my goals for the summer were:

1. Practice, practice, practice at machine quilting.
   
2. Keep working on small projects
   
3. Contemplate knitting for the Hospital Auxiliary
   
4. Perhaps work on an Entrelac Scarf
   
5. Finish a short row shawl
   
6. Relax - actually that wasn't in my last post but it should have been.

So how did I do? Before I jump into results I will start with an excuse...because it's what I do. Originally my husband and I planned a stay-cation. We were going to do short camping trips out of Prince Rupert, consider building a shed and contemplate our navels for 3 whole weeks. This was all fine and dandy until vacation-eve or very nearly vacation-eve Bob (my husband) found a tear drop trailer for sale on used Victoria. To shorten an already growing long story we bought said trailer and our holiday plans morphed from a staycation to an actual vacation. With the help of my daughter Meg and her boyfriend Joel (Joel received hero status in a much earlier blog for making Meg a swift for her yarn) we purchased the trailer had a great Victoria visit and hit the road. For those of you unfamiliar with tear drop trailers, here is a picture of ours - not quite the traditional tear drop shape but a tear drop nonetheless.

What's cool about these teeny tiny trailers is that they can be towed with smaller cars and when you unpack them they look like a gypsy camp.

Anyway, 3 weeks on the road ended my plans for practicing machine quilting, so that skill, while still on my bucket list, has been moved down a notch or 2. In keeping with my teeny tiny trailer I only travelled with enough yarn for the perfect travel knit plus one more in case I finished.

The Perfect Travel Knit

After years of knitting on the road I declare the perfect travel knit to be the Tanta shawl designed by Emily Ross. The pattern is available for purchase on the KnitPicks website. Here's a link: http://www.knitpicks.com/patterns/Tanta_Shawl__D10211220.html

Here's a picture from the website:

Here's a picture of mine (un-blocked, so it looks a great deal smaller):

What makes the Tanta shawl so perfect for travel knitting?

1. It can be knit with one skein of fingering weight yarn (423 m per 100 gr.). I used KnitPicks hand-painted Stoll which is 75% superwash merino and 25% nylon - yes it can also be used for socks. Starting the project as we rolled out of Prince Rupert on July 20th, I was knitting the last few rows as we drove over the Rainbow Summit back towards home on August 8th.
   
2. The pattern has an interesting edge with just a few yarn overs and the rest is garter-stich. A perfect combination of interesting and easy.
   
3. The edging has a very short 8 row repeat that is easy to memorize (honest).
   
4. The pattern starts with a few stitches, grows to many (while I don't recall exactly it's around 80) and then immediately starts decreasing to the finish.
   
5. It's easy to see where you left off when "Holy cr*p! That guy is driving up a freeway off ramp!" and your mind does summersaults with the shear stupidity of some drivers.
   
6. Did I mention one skein of yarn? Oh, yes I did, but that's important when you are trying to cut down on baggage.

Okay so, back to my summer goals:

1. Machine quilting was a non-starter.
   
2. I did work on a small project but I didn't knit more than one.
   
3. I admit that the Hospital Auxiliary didn't enter my mind (but it's there now).
   
4. Entrelac scarf?- nope.
   
5. Finish the short row shawl - not one stitch.
   
6. Last on the list was relax. Now I did a great deal of that, so the staycation turned vacation was a success.
   

The other thing I picked up this summer was Shuttle Tatting. Learning that skill has been challenging and really fun. What is tatting? It's a form of lace making that's been around for hundred's of years (think lace collars, cuffs and doilies). I believe tatting pre-dates crochet but I'm prepared to stand corrected on that. I really enjoyed (and I'm still enjoying) trying to get a handle on this new skill. I have no idea why I decided now was the time to learn but I'm glad I did. I am truly surprised by how much I like tatting. Who knew? Here's a picture of a few of my attempts.

Knitting holds first place in my heart, but right now tatting is holding a close second.

The Prince Rupert Library Knitters will be meeting this Thursday, August 23 in the Library's multi-purpose room at 7:00 pm. Drop by and say hello!

 

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Summer Knitting

 

Up on the North Coast of British Columbia some might successfully argue that we haven’t had summer. So far we’ve managed to maintain a balmy 10-12 degrees Celsius, which keeps pace nicely with our winter mean temp. Having said that it is sunny today, it was sunny yesterday and it may be sunny tomorrow, tomorrow I love ya tomorrow…but I digress. Where am I going with this weather forecasting? It's my awkward segue way into summer knitting.

If you could look at the stacks and stacks of magazines I’ve purchased or perused (which you can't because I donated most of the them to the library) over the years you would notice an obvious lack of summer issues. For the most part summer issues (roughly May to August) hold very little interest for me. They tend to be full of flimsy little numbers that would take days to knit and by the time you finish summer’s over. Certainly they include the odd pair of socks, string bag, toy or placemat, but the clothing options are rather retched. Having said that, consider the source, I’m a meat and potatoes type of knitter or for my vegetarian knitters I guess that would make me a tofu and tomato type of knitter. Summer or winter I don’t waste my time on trendy difficult items that are likely to fall out of fashion before I can finish them. In other words I rarely knit anything from Vogue Knitting magazine. Do the editors of Vogue Knitting actually think people will knit that stuff? Sorry, I rambled off into a rant there.

So what do I knit in the summer? I tend to use the summer as a time to experiment with stitches and patterns that are small and relatively quick. This summer I’ve got a few small projects on the go. I’ve stumbled into Entrelac knitting after years of avoiding it like the plague. A tour around the Ravelry website will show you a number of do-able entrelac projects that look nice too. I’ve just finished an entrelac cowl with a Noro yarn and all it’s rich colours. Now I'm contemplating a scarf.

Learning to knit and purl backwards was an interesting challenge and not nearly as difficult as it sounds. It's a skill that is handy when knitting short rows as I found out with my other WIP (work in progress). I'm working on a lace shawlette that involves numerous sets of short rows The shawlette pattern is in the early fall 2012 issue of Vogue Knitting magazine...Okay so not all their stuff sucks, she muttered (but note it is a fall issue not a summer issue).

I've set myself the goal of getting a handle on machine quilting this summer. I know, it's not knitting, but variety is a great thing. Besides, when I end up with another rats nest of threads on the back of my practice quilt, it will be nice to go back to knitting and feeling successful.

My other plan is to knit something with beads, I've got a few ideas in mind but no beads. If I find myself in range of a bead store I'll remedy that, but for now that project whatever it is, is on the back burner.

I'm pondering doing little knits for the Hospital Auxiliary store. I had a chat the other day with the volunteer working in the little booth and came away with a few possibilities. Might as well knit for someone else's baby as I don't have any of my own (and by the way that is not longing, nor is it a hint to my children). I'm just saying that knitting for babies is cool, because it's small and cute, just like they are.

You will have noticed a shocking absence of photos for this blog post. I apologize for that, but it is July 13 and as I write this blog there are 164 days, 3 hours and 12 minutes until Christmas. What does Christmas have to do with summer knitting and Leah's lack of photos, you wonder (as you curse me for bringing up the "C" word). Summer is the time of year I start knitting gifts for the yuletide and if I show you photos of my WIPs Christmas will be ruined. So maybe you should get started on a holiday project or two because now there are only 164 days, 3 hours and 5 minutes left until Christmas.

The Prince Rupert Library Knitters are still getting together through out the summer. Call the library for times and dates. Happy holidays! (summer holidays of course).

 

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Getting it together

I hadn't really noticed that I'd become a habitual block knitter until I was asked by a friend why I knit so many blocks. Briefly it crossed my mind to point out that I've knit many things and most of them aren't blocks. However I realized the futility of that response because I was knitting a block at the time. I was also knitting blocks just prior to this blog post, so my friend was correct in her observation.

Back to the original question, why so many blocks? Easiest answer is that I like them. Knitting blocks is as easy or difficult as your mood demands. Want something mindless to keep your hands busy (yes please!), then try garter stitch or basket weave stitch or moss stitch. In the mood for a small challenge requiring your full attention try Fair Isle, or cables, lace or entrelac (although entrelac is pretty simple once you get the hang of it), There is a knitted block out there for everyone. You can repeat the same block numerous times in different colours or you can stick with the same colour and change the stitches. The possibilities are infinite.

Knitting blocks is all well and good but what do you do with them when they are done? Absolutely they can exist as one offs like a dish cloth, hot pad, coaster, placemat or lonely square. My tendency is to veer away from random block creation. Generally I try to knit with a final purpose in mind, which, with blocks is usually an afghan.

So, how do I turn this:

Into this:

There are a number of great books on seaming in knitting. Two pieces of knitted fabric can be seamed together in a variety of ways ranging from grafting and invisible seaming to whip stich, crochet and three needle bind-off. Any book on general knitting techniques will show the variety of options available. My primary ''go-to" books are Vogue Knitting c1989, and more recently Interweave's 'Knitter's Companion' by Vicki Square.

Typically I use one of the following methods to put blocks together. They are all easy, relatively quick and they hold the blocks together, which, at the end of the day is the point of the exercise.

Crochet

The crochet hook is my most frequent go-to tool for joining blocks. It's fast and easy. What's not to love about that? The key for success with a crochet hook is making sure you have a fairly solid set of stitches to pick up. If your edges are a bit sloppy (holey or uneven), it can create an uneven join. Also I find that my crochet hook size should be a bit smaller than the knitting needle size. As example the blocks in the photo were knit with a 4 mm needle and they were joined with a 3.75 mm crochet hook. I find the smaller hook size makes joining the stitches easier. I join with a slip stitch or sometimes I slip one stitch and chain one stitch if the join feels too tight.

Whip Stitch

If you are not comfortable with the crochet hook then whip stitch might suit you better. Whip stitch makes a quick join, but be certain you don't spread the stitches too far apart or you could end up with holes in your work. If your whip stitch is too tight, you may be able to see the stitches from the front side of the work. Whip stitch is my least favourite of the 4 examples I'm giving because it seems to me to be the slowest. If you absolutely love hand stitching then speed won't be an issue and this may be the joining method for you.

Three needle bind-off

I take it back, whip stitch isn't the slowest of the 4 methods, the three needles bind-off is. This makes an interesting join which changes depending whether you are knitting knit stitches or purl stitches. This join has more 'give' than the previous 2 examples. This join also adds a row to your final seam, as opposed to crochet and whip stitch which tend to subtract a row. The three needle bind-off is achieved by picking up stitches along the edges of your work. With right sides facing you knit through the front stitch of both needles, you then cast off each stitch as you go.

Three needle bind off looks like this from the front. Using this method resulted in a more pronounced division between my blocks and I'm okay with that. Incidently the pattern for this afghan is called "Mitered Crosses Blanket" by Kay Gardiner of masondixonknitting.com. I purchased the pattern at Ravely.com.

Knit as you go

This method involves attaching the blocks as you knit them. You start by creating one block, then add the next block while you knit it. This method is explained really well in Vivian Hoxbro's book "Domino Knitting". I find that adding blocks as I go is great for small projects, but for larger efforts I'd rather create blocks in manageable sizes and then put them together. A large knit-as-you-go project means you spend a good deal of time with a large pile of knitting in your lap (not so horrible in winter but even in a North Coast summer it's a tad warm). I used the knit as you go method to create the blocks in the Double Irish Chain Afghan. Once the individual blocks were done, I crocheted them together.

While these 4 methods are only a few of the possibilities for joining blocks together they are the ones that I use the most often. I can use the above methods without referring to a book. While grafting, blanket stitch, and other invisible seaming methods are great, they feel like more work and they take a tad more thought (translated that means I have to get up off the couch, walk down the hall to my craft room book shelf and refresh my memory with a book). Frankly, at the end of the day I don't want to work that hard. Lazy, I know.

Blocks of another sort are on display at the library this summer. Beautiful quilts made by local quilters are adorning the rafters and walls of the library until September. Come in and take a look. If you can't swing by the library, photos of the quilts are on the library's web page. Here's the link that will get you there. It's worth the trip.

http://www.princerupertlibrary.ca/news/prince-rupert-library-wants-your-quilts

The next adult knitting night is Thursday June 28th in the Prince Rupert Library multi-purpose room. We'll see you there!

The Prince Rupert Library Knitters adult group will continue to meet alternating Thursday evenings through out the summer. Check with the library for dates and times.

PS. Speaking of blocks, I finally completed the Double Irish Chain Afghan I've been blathering on and off about (I even managed to get it hung in the library's quilt show if you'd like a peek in person).

There isn't a pattern for this afghan as I made it on the fly. The little garter stitch squares speak for themselves. The cable Celtic Knot is a version of a motif I saw in "The Best of Kniiter's Arans and Celtics" c2003. If you would like more details I would be happy to share what I can.