hanna birke

knitting update

Quick update on projects.

The striped socks for my mother have been done and mailed.  Reports indicate they are appreciated and in use.  

Progress with the seed stitch jacket is slow.  My aim was to be at the underarms by today but I'm 3 inches off this.  Many other things requiring attention besides knitting these days.  Well work and photography mostly.  At first I was not enjoying working on this jacket but once I got past the 4 inches mark I became more interested in working on it.  

Waist shaping has been done at the sides and in the back.  There are still a few decisions to be made with this jacket.  Alternating the colors creates a messy front edge so I need some sort of a band or crochet edge.  Will decide this at the end.  Also need to decide whether I'm going to do the sleeves in the solid grey or do the sleeves in the same blue and grey mix as the body.  Will decide this when I get the body done.  

Also made this weekend was a little crochet string of hearts.

A young woman in Japan (Keiko Toyoshima) has a lovely flickr project where she sends out envelopes of paper hearts.  To get some paper hearts you just need to send her an e-mail.  The hearts arrived last week at the  perfect time and I wanted to make Keiko something in return so I got out some indigo dyed silk and left over cotton yarn from the Flower Power scarf and made Keiko a sting of crocheted hearts.  This will go in the mail to Keiko tomorrow morning.

knitting now and Flower Power modeled

First what I'm knitting now.  After the crochet scarf I wanted something that would just roll off my needles.  I'd been thinking about a sweater/jacket and also another skirt but wasn't quite ready to commit to either of these.  So I went to the stash - this its turning out to be an unofficial stash bust year for me - and found a single skein of Lorna's Laces purchased on impulse and on sale.  I had no plans for it when I purchased it and I've pulled it out of the stash a few times with no ideas forthcoming.  This time I left it on the couch for a few days and woke up one morning thinking humm ... entrelac?  scarf?

So there you have it - an entrelac scarf.  Shhh though it's a gift for someone who did me a nice favor. 

A skirt might be next - as we speak I'm dying some cotton for it.  

Now to the modeled photos of the Flower Power scarf.  They aren't great.  My husband took a few on Monday before work and we were both rushed so the photos were terrible!  They've been deleted.  I tried again today.  Many photos in front of the mirror and here are two I'm willing to show.  The problem isn't the scarf - it's divine, feels great on and is fun to wear.  The problem is me.  I'm not real happy with how I look these days.  I like short hair during the summer but by September I'm so over it and want longer hair.  I also think I look old and tired.  I'm not tired - I just look it.  

Note to Jane: those beat up Blundstones in the first scarf photo - you do not see those.  

FO - Periwinkle becomes Flower Power Scarf

A big thank you to everyone who encouraged me to go with the Periwinkle as a scarf.  I'm much happier with it as a scarf.  It's surprisingly weighty but feels great on.  

I've changed the name from the Periwinkle to the Flower Power Scarf.  

I still think the Periwinkle top is a lovely garment.  But with this project I learned that for me to wear a top that ornate I'd need to make it in white or cream.  If anyone feels up to the challenge of the Periwinkle I would recommend doing it in a solid color and going with the recommended yarn.  If choosing crochet cotton I recommend doing the motifs with a tight tension as the weight really does add up and I think you need firmer motifs than I have for a crochet garment that won't droop.  

A modeled shot of the Flower Power Scarf is coming - at the moment my husband is away but when he returns I will ask him to photograph me wearing the scarf.  In the meantime here is one more photo of it.

In closing I have to say I've never lost so much sleep over a project and but now that it's all done I'm really glad I made this.  

Periwinkle update

When you wake up at 3:00am with a sick feeling in your stomach about your current fiber project maybe your hobby isn't as relaxing as it should be. 

Last weekend I spent 18 hours on the assembly of the Periwinkle.  And as you can see we have the front and back done (minus the ends woven in) and still the sleeves to go.  

I phoned my mom the other day and here's a bit of the phone conversation.

Mother: Your grandmother would be so proud to see you crocheting.

Me:  Maybe not.

Mother: What do you mean 'maybe not'?

Me:  Well this doesn't look like anything Rhoda would have made.  (Any crochet she did was in tasteful black or grey).

Mother: Well what does it look like?

Me:  It's 122 flower motifs in four different colors.

Mother: Yes that does not sound like you at all.  Maybe you should sell it on eBay.

Maybe not.  

Suddenly I totally get why couture costs what it does.  It's about emotional compensation for the designer.  Although I think it's the seamstresses and embroiderers who should get the lion's share of the compensation.

Honestly this top isn't even finished and it feels way too busy for me.  What I should do is take what I have apart and make a scarf out of it.  A scarf I could wrap around me and take off easily in moments when it feels too flowery.  But I'm having a hard time letting go of the 18 hours already invested in the assembly.  Although as I write this I see that's ridiculous.  I should let go of last weekend's work and frog the freeform and make this a scarf. 

See how pretty it looks all bunched up.  It's wants to be a scarf right?

crochet enduro

You know that crazy place where you start making up nicknames for your current project?

I'm there.  

The Periwinkle has now been dubbed the Crochet Enduro.  I started this in mid-August and am still working on it.  122 crochet motifs have been done and now I've started on the sleeve bands.  

Here's one done and laid out quickly with a few of the motifs to give you a rough idea of where I'm going.

I've got both sleeve bands done but am thinking of redo-ing the first one because the edges are wonky.  But first I will do the back and front bands for the body of the tunic and then I'll decide.  After the bands are finished it's a matter of freeform crocheting the motifs together.  

The good news is I've kept working on this and the bad news is that 122 crochet motifs might not be enough and I may have to do a few more.  I'll cross that bridge when I get there though.  

up next

Next is the Perwinkle crochet top designed by Marie Wallin and featured in Rowan magazine 41.  I had hoped to start this in the beginning of July instead of the end of August but you know how it goes.  The pattern calls for Rowan Calmer but I'm using crochet cotton I've dyed with lac, madder and logwood.  

I suspect the likelihood of me wearing this garment is low but I'm determined to make it.  Most my knitting is worn so to my mind I have credits in the wearable bank and can venture out a bit.  The crochet motifs are fun to do however it will take about 120 motifs to complete this so I'm reserving the right to complain about them somewhere along the way.

Below is another photo of the motifs taken when I was camping a few weeks ago.  Kind of proud of myself - went camping and put up my own tent and built my own fire.  Botox who needs botox?  Just go camping - I swear it took 10 years of wrinkles away - for a few days anyway.