I’ve been working on this shrug for my daughter since last spring and finished it last night, just in time for her birthday today. It’s Encore worsted weight and she picked the openwork pattern. I designed it myself–not too hard! BTW–I also took this opportunity to learn a new skill in my photo editing software: saving a picture in a web-friendly size.
Annie in Wisconsin, USA
~~Doodlestein Designs Quilt Patterns
~~Finely Finished: Machine quilting worked on a treadle sewing machine.
See patterns, quilting, and National sewing machines at: http://community.webshots.com/user/damascusannie
Edited 11/13/2008 12:20 pm by damascusannie
Replies
Beautiful, Annie. I use a lot of Encore - great colors, economical, knits up well, wears well. Suddenly I'm thinking shrugs for gifts - thanks!
Katina
I really like Encore, too. Shrugs are great. They knit up faster than sweaters but make a nice change from hats and mittens as gifts. I'm hoping to knit a couple for two of my other girls for Christmas.
Err, impolite question - do you actually ever sleep?!
Certainly! But I quilt during the day and knit in the evenings. I'm a bit of a twitchy person, so it's good for me to keep my hands busy. The shrugs should work up fast in worsted weight on fairly large needles.Annie in Wisconsin, USA
~~Doodlestein Designs Quilt Patterns
~~Finely Finished: Machine quilting worked on a treadle sewing machine.
See patterns, quilting, and National sewing machines at: http://community.webshots.com/user/damascusannie
Edited 11/13/2008 5:42 pm by damascusannie
Very pretty and cozy-looking. Is it knit all in one piece, without any seaming necessary, as it looks? I'm not a knitter, but would like to learn.
Yes, it is knitted "in the round" without seams. I hate sewing up seams later.
We're members of the same club.
Katina
Very nice, Annie, & pretty colour. Looks cosy, too. Your daughter should get a lot of use out of it.
Gloria
Bravo Annie! Nice shrug, nice pictures, nice girl! Feels good to get a UFO done I'll bet. Cathy
It always feels good to finish a UFO. I'm knitting the second sock in the pair I'd started a couple of weeks ago on the new needles and LOVING them! They are smoother than my wood or bamboos, but not so slick that they slip out of the socks when I set them down. I really like the 6" length, too.
Bonus! A UFO on new toys! I am working my way through a mending pile right now. :( Stuff that should have been done last spring before things got packed away. Then I am putting that invisible zip in! It is NOW or NEVER time Girls! Cathy
Mending? I've heard people talk about doing it, but I have NO idea what it is. (giggle)
Um, let's see, fixing clothing that has had seams come undone due to poor thread. DH's pants that have had the back seam split, (an ongoing problem with his workpants), buttons to be sewn back on because they were not sewn on properly in the first place, holes in DH's work clothes. Come to think of it, the pile is mostly HIS! He is hard on his work clothes! I refuse to buy new ones he is just going to destroy just as quickly as mended ones!
I would rather make from scratch than mend, but sometimes...... Cathy
My husband is hard on his clothes, too, but since he works construction, he only wears button-up shirts for good and jeans for work. By the time the jeans need mending, they are pretty well worn out and he just gets new ones. It was different when we were farming because he'd often snag his jeans on barbed wire, so I would patch that sort of thing.
DH spends a fair amount of time walking the fields, checking the crops, marking and cutting fenceline trees, picking rocks from the fields. He has heavyduty workclothes because of it. There can't be any small cuts or tears that could catch in the machinery. So I spend a lot of time mending them. Better safe than sorry. Even the tiniest rip can catch in the PTO. He likes the workshirts and heavy jackets, and the fencelines sure do a number on them! Cathy
Yep--typical hazards of farming. Construction just doesn't seem to cause quite as much damage to Jeff's clothes as farming used to.
Maybe you should send him out the door with a roll of duct tape! (when I worked in an office I was always in charge of the "emergency sewing kit", I think if I lived on a working farm, I'd keep duck tape handy.)
I shop at the Army/Navy Surplus stores for those heavy duty items like Carharts, it saves a few pennies. They quit selling women's bib overalls here, so last time I was in Illinois I went to the Farm stores and had my choice of several styles at great prices. I bought long ones and short ones. They are so comfy I don't think I'll ever get "too old" to wear them. I "should" embroider on them to make them more feminine though, just for fun like I did in my old "hippie" days.
I buy mega rolls of the stuff on a regular basis! You would be amazed what you can fix with that and baler twine in a pinch.
Even bubblegum! We were planting 25 acres of hay seed one year, when the seedbox developed a fine hole that the very fine seed just kept pouring through. We handed out sticks of gum for the kids to chew to the really sticky stage. We patched all the holes we could find, then smoothed them over best as we could. The seeds stuck to the gum and stopped the flow. It was a quick and easy fix in the field. At $7.00/lb you do not want to waste an ounce. Cathy
ha ha ha! Love that one! If "Necessity is the mother of invention", you are must be "necessity's" mother! Way to go, lady!!!
Invisible zipper - yes! You may be surprised how easy it is, compared to the lapped versions. Good luck. I finally tried my hand at sewing knits!...something I've been putting off for ages and ages, thinking my old machine just wouldn't do a satisfactory job. I bought a mock turtle-neck, right color, wrong style, and cut off the neck, making it a moderate scoop, cut a strip off the bottom of the shirt to make the neck-line band, sewed it on with a slight zig-zag, then top-stitched the seam down using a double needle. Re-hemmed the shirt and the cut-off sleeves with the double-needle. Success. I'm so proud, and so excited to know I can now do something with all those knits in my stash.
I had finally got the invisible zipperfoot for my machine...but misplaced it!:( Put it away safely while the studio was being cleaned and refreshed. Now I cannot find it. I thought I put it one place, and it was not there. Swiss cheese memory at work again. Found a few other things that had been "Lost", but not what I am looking for...
Going to bite the bullet and put the darn thing in without it. Need to move forward. I also found a couple of really cute doll/clown patterns that I purchased years ago. Going to make them for my step neices and nephews for christmas. Need something fun to work on. Cathy
I like to use my regular zipper foot to install the invisible. I'm pretty sure there's a video tip on invisible zipper installation, using a regular zipper foot, on the Threads site.Your doll/clowns DO sound fun (sorry for the caps, wish I had italics). You have lots of room for creativity there, yes?
Edited 11/16/2008 1:58 pm ET by Josefly
Yes, I have seen regular zipper foot insertion videos and instructions. Nothing ventured, nothing gained, right?
Yes, the doll patterns are similar to each other, but the clothing varies. I should be able to mix and match to hearts content. Lots of room for creativity. I should be able to use up lots of scraps as well. Cathy
There is a way. Just click on the I above the message typing area. (Or isn't that what you mean?)
Hmm. I can't find an I above the message area. I have such a selection in my email message area, but not here. Do you? Would that be a function of the browser?
Josefly, I clicked on Reply at the bottom of your message and the box comes up to type a reply. Just above the box, in blue, is a B, an I, and a U. You don't have that? I thought everyone saw the same thing. Hmmm. I use IE7. Does the browser control that? I thought this site does. Can't one day go by where I don't have to learn something, 'cause these days it's getting close to "one item in, one item out"!
The B, I and U don't pop up when I hit Reply either--and I have a Mac. Instead there's a row of blue boxes under the message and signature boxes. To include a picture, I have to click on the "Attach Files" box and follow the directions in the window that comes up.
Thank you for commenting. Now I know and can let others know who have the same situation. First thing I'll ask is if they have a Mac.
I do read your posts, have checked out your site and machines, and did admire your shawl. I have not commented because I thought Geez, this poor gal must be on here 24/7---does she need more posts to read? Of course, if you didn't want to be so helpful, you wouldn't, right? You are so busy that you might be eligible for the prize (see the comment in my profile). Thanks again.
don't worry about posting--I can type pretty fast. 8^)
Thanks, Annie, for checking out this mystery with me and JeanM. Do you mind saying which browser you use on your Mac?
I have Safari. Today for some reason I had trouble accessing the Gatherings forum for an hour or so, seems fine now.
Thank you for exploring this with me. One would think that it's the Threads website that determines what features are available. But I, U, and B choices aren't on my page, and I no longer have Internet Explorer to see what happens with it. Neither Safari nor Firefox offers those choices, at least in my Mac version of Firefox. I wish I had them. I could probably type my message in some other application and paste it here, but that's too much trouble. I'm lazy. I suppose the red-line spell-check feature that's been discussed, either in this thread or another, is also a function of the browser.
For bold maybe you could just type larger letters for that particular word or words. For italics maybe you could just do the ol' * such as: Threads *is* a good magazine. For underlining: hmmm, you're on your own with that one.
Ah, but you do have Italics! It's just an HTML trick ~
1) Check the "Check here if HTML tags..." box at the bottom of the Reply box.
2) Decide which word or phrase you want in Ital (or Bold, or Underlined).
3) Add the tags (BUT use the "greater than" (cap comma) and "less than" (cap dot) signs instead of brackets!): {I} before and {/I} after.
4) Substitute {B} and {/B} to make it Bold, and {U} and {/U} to Underline.
5) {p} inserted at any point will start a new paragraph.
6) Always "Preview" before you Post - it's amazing how screwy it may come out, if you didn't do it right. ;} But, no harm, no foul - just revise.
*Sorry this seems so convoluted! The "tags" setting means I can't type those symbols and actually have them show up!Kharmin
Wow. One can learn all kinds of things here besides sewing related things. Now do you know if there is a way to do a search at Blogger or if the exact name of the blog must be known. If there is, I haven't found it. The Search at the top of each blog seems to be for that blog only.
Sorry Jean ~ I read very few Blogger blogs - maybe lack of user-friendliness is part of the reason!
Hee
Kharmin
I read that million dollar prize and that LOL! Cute! It would be a miracle, but watch out, in this world, someone will come up with a way. They'll find a loop hole and challenge you! smile.
Edited 11/17/2008 6:03 pm ET by rodezzy2
Wow. It's a little cumbersome, but at least now I have the choice. Thank you for taking the time to show me that. :>) Joan So it is the browser? or just the Mac?
Edited 11/17/2008 6:38 pm ET by Josefly
In your Profile, go to Preferences, scroll down to Message Formatting Editor. There it states that using the underline, bold, etc. is available to those with IE 5.0 or higher. Now we know! I never thought to do this clicking when the topic was current.
Ahhh. There's the answer. That's why my pre-Intel Mac, without Windows processing system, and Safari browser don't provide me with those capabilities. Thanks.
That is beautiful. I wish I would sit down and knit that well. Thanks for the pics.
I have a couple of really good stitch books that help a lot when designing something like this shrug. The basic form of a shrug is easy, but that lace stitch makes it look much more complicated than it really is. The stitch itself is actually pretty easy as long as you don't lose track of which row you are on.
It's truly beautiful. You did a great job. Since I don't have a place to sew right now, I guess,,,well maybe....I'll knit some socks....don't hold me to it though...giggle!
I like having a small knitting project going for those times when I want to do something creative, but don't feel like sewing. I started my daughter's hat with the Koigu yarn tonight--I've only ripped it out THREE times trying to get the size right!
You'll get it right eventually. giggle
I think I FINALLY having it coming together. I could have saved a lot of time if I'd just knitted a gauge swatch,but I'm too lazy to do that, so it took about eight times longer to figure out the correct size than it would have otherwise!
Thats what I'm always told, "do a swatch" "do a swatch" "do a swatch"
He He I never do! But then I don't knit much. giggle.
I don't knit swatches, I investigate different approaches with yarn/stitch pattern/needle size. Some of the time I then knit something with one of my results.
Joanne - so many ideas, so much fiber, so little time
Hey, Rodezzy, you still have your other sock to do - to match the first sock you ever knit - remember? :) (or will the lone sock be your Christmas stocking)? :)
Gloria
He He Busted! That was a practice sock with worsted weight yarn....giggle.....Gloriasews, you have a long memory...giggle. Tattle Tell! Giggle!!!
I thought that would get your attention! It didn't look like a practice sock - I thought it looked quite fine, so, again, make the matching one, since you've already got half the pair :). And here you thought we'd forgotten about that sock? Not!
Gloria
I'll see what I can do about that other sock (snicker)..... Ahhh that was summer yarn!?!
Well, if you do the other sock in winter yarn (same colour, of course), you would then have all-season socks! :)
Gloria
Girl, you knock my socks off with that one.....hahhahahahahahaha! I'll get around to some socks as soon as I settle down this apartment and get organized. So much to do, so little time. I've got some sewing to do.
I hear you, Rodezzy! Christmas is fast approaching & time seems to be flying faster than usual. You have even more things to do than I do - so good luck!
Gloria
Thanks, I'm going to need some luck to get things organized. I've to first get off of this computer. giggle. I'll come back later tonight.
You're going to find that, with a computer at home, you'll be spending hours on it every day! It can't be helped, it seems, especially this site as, if you miss a couple of days, it takes even longer to read all the threads you're interested in. Good luck with this, as well as the newsletter.
Gloria
Not only this thread, the games I like too. I can't get any games at work on that computer, but I can now and I spent several hours playing Mong Jong. I love that game. Well, I'm going to watch a little TV tonight I guess and get off here for now. I'll probably check back later. Hugs to you.
It's strange, but I've never played games on the computer, either at home or at work! I seem to be able to spend enough time on it as it is. Gad, if I started playing games, I'd never get off this machine! :) Have a nice weekend.
Gloria
I am addicted to Spider Solitaire. Calms me down and gives me think time when I am ruminating a problem. Have to set a timer tho...or I will be on it for hours, tee hee Cathy
I used to have Spider on my PC with Windows, but made a point of not having ANY games installed on my Mac. I could spend HOURS playing Spider!
You guys make me feel a little better. I, too, am addicted to that dumb game! I've tried to figure out why and think it has something to do with the speed in which you can immediately start a new game. I always think...oh, it will just be 2-3 minutes more to play one more game. I've wasted way too much time with it.
The very first computer I had got me addicted to Tetris. Thankfully I no longer have it. I have a sample game for Chuzzle that gives me the giggles, but it times out quickly thankfully. Otherwise I would play it for hours. I can see how some of the more intricate gamers get hooked! I would much rather spend social time here. Cathy
I've gone to bed many a night just bleary-eyed from playing Freecell solitaire way too late. Think what I could do if I spent that time doing something else with my hands. Then, my local paper has online Sudoku, crosswords, and jigsaw puzzles, in addition to, and different from, the Sudoku and crosswords in the daily paper. It's the devil in disguise!However when my 7-year old grandson comes to visit, the online Sudoku and the jigsaw puzzles are great devices for giving me a much-needed break. He's a whiz at them. (Some of the Sudoku puzzles, usually the ones that appear early in the week, are simple enough for him, and the jigsaw puzzles are offered with several levels of difficulty.)
Yea, I love freecell and solitaire too. I haven't played them much yet, because I've been too excited to have Mong Jong again. I'm going to purchase that game. I just have to have it. Or maybe I'll find it on a disk at one of the electronics stores. he he
There's a free version (or more than one) of Freecell, if that's what you meant you were going to buy. It's shareware, and when we tried to pay for it, the site to pay had disappeared. My DH tells me that Freecell is free with Windows computers, but we use a Mac. Not that anybody needs another addiction! :>)I don't know Mah Jong. I'll have to check it out.
No, I have that free with my Microsoft word program, but I wanted to purchase the Mong Jong.
Great shrug.
Joanne - so many ideas, so much fiber, so little time
Thanks!
Wow! You did such a great job on that shrug! It is lovely and so is your daughter, she looks great in that blue color. You never cease to amaze me with all you do so well. Mary
In real life, it's a bright purple with a bit of blue "heathering". It's funny that the blue showed up so much more in the photo.
Yeah, the photos never do the real item justice. The heathered colors sound lovely. I guess that means your daughter is even prettier in person. Does she share your love of fiber arts? (my daughter will say she "wants to learn" but never takes that first step, my grandkids all like to sew but rarely have time for it.)
Rachel does like to play with textiles. She's into dyeing right now, designs and sews a lot of her own clothes, and does simple knitting. When she's a bit less of a social butterfly, I expect that she'll pursue these things more consistently. She sewed a funny "woodland fairy" costume for Halloween this year.
I'd love to see that costume! I was going to make one for my grand daughter but she changed her mind. I love fairies and nature creations! I have a concept all figured out for a tree spirit costume for myself one of these days.
Your daughter sounds like a very talented young lady who has inherited your creativity and love of fiber arts. (My grand daughter is a social butterfly too, I'm waiting patiently for winter break and hoping she has some time to play with me in the studio.) I'm hoping she'll want to make scarves or something for her friends.
Mary, recently I adjusted my color on my screen, and it makes a lot of difference in looking at photos. I used to see green when something was meant to be blue, e.g. It took about 15 minutes to go through the calibration - it's under System Preferences, Hardware, Displays on my computer. I have a Mac, so I don't know about other computers. Do you have a similar set-up under System Preferences?I say this because the shrug looks purple to me.Edited 11/16/2008 1:35 pm ET by Josefly
Edited 11/16/2008 1:35 pm ET by Josefly
Yes, my "confuser" has that too, but I don't like to make my brain cells work that hard on left brain activities. he he, especially when I'm sick. I'll ask my grandson to check my settings next week, it's probably the constrast?
I don't know, but my thread colors in my embroidery software look the same as the spools of thread so maybe I should leave it alone. What do you think? Is it hard to get the original setting back once you adjust it? Mary
Yeah, I can see how you would want to be careful. My computer saves the new settings under a new name, like "Color LCD Calibrated" as opposed to the original name, "Color LCD", and then the settings can be selected at will. It turns out there are several different sets of settings already, and I haven't checked them out... some of them have the name "Adobe" on them, probably associated with my Adobe Photoshop software. I really shouldn't pretend to be an expert - it's all mystery and magic to me.
Very nicely done! If you live close to Toledo, stop by and show us in person. If you live farther than 25 miles, you'll also get a 15% discount on yarn for your next project! Love to see sewing and knitting interests cross over - glad you posted.
Jackie Goff
Uptown Fibers
Sylvania, OH
I'm just a bit further out than 25 miles....600 miles to be exact. 8^) If I'm ever in the area, I'll try to stop by--it sounds like you've got a great shop!
LoL! Well - as soon as my website is up and running - I'll let you all know and you can still participate in shop events - virtually! And. . .shop sales . . .really!
I'm looking forward to it--yarn shops are few and far between around here, so most of my yarn shopping is done on-line.
Oh goody! All we need - another opportunity to stash up supplies. Looking forward to this
Katina
What a terrific incentive idea! Be sure you highlight that "Over 25 miles away? Get 15% off in person!" discount on your site!
Happy to hear that the trunk show has proven fruitful, too.
Bright Blessings!
Kharmin
You are the bees knees damascusannie. That's a lovely shrug on a lovely young lady. Congratulations. You did it!!!!!
Oh, when this came up I didn't remember it. But the comment still stands....giggle.
Edited 12/26/2008 9:15 pm ET by rodezzy2
Thanks!
Very pretty and your daughter looks so pretty in it.
Thanks!
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