Inspiration-Leaves and Needles Shawl.

Inspired by the sky scarf (I am working on some kits for this with Colorshift yarns). I am plotting and planning a little knit along inspired by trees and how they change throughout the seasons.  My plan is to take a photo everyday of a tree and/or leafy thing that grabs my attention.  I will then match something from it with a yarn in the shop (fingering weight).  and knit a row or two.  I do like fringe so I think I am going to knit this one up to be a long and wide rectangular shawl.  Since I had so much fun steeking on the linen stitch scarf I am feeling the urge to include that as well.  I have day one (The image that first got my creative juices flowing) and a yarn picked out as well as a set from today.  Does anyone want to join me?  Leave your blog/flicker link in the comments section and like this blog.

Day 1

The inspiration are the vibrant red maple trees that line the front gardens of the houses where my shop is located.  Walking down the sidewalk causes many to stop and gaze at this vibrant fall show.

I put a selection of reddish Oranges on the table and sprinkled leaves from the trees.

Louisa Harding Grace yarn (silk and wool) in color 28.

Christmas Red in Cascade 220 (really close but a worsted weight yarn)

Lettlopi yarn from Lopi yarns in Brick Heather (9431) This is a heavy worsted or Aran weight yarn.

Lopi Einband laceweight yarn in Crimson.

 Vermont Farms Merino bulky yarn dyed with Madder Root.

Ultimately I chose this one: Black Trillium fingering weight yarn in silk and wool in the color way: September.

 Day 2:  

This morning when I went out to put my open sign up I found a pile of Oak leaves littering my patio, the steps down to my shop and the sidewalk in front of the shop.  Orenco streets are lined with Oak trees and apparently October 31st was the night they decided to drop leaves.  While raking and bundling these leaves up I had the opportunity to notice the vast array of browns that exist.  I dropped my rake and ran into the store to pull a variety of brown yarns. Look at them!! :)

Cascade Heritage fingering weight in Walnut

Lettlopi aran weight in Golden Heather (9426)

 The choice for my project today is Schaefer's Heather yarn in the color way
"Wilma Mankiller"

Not only does the color work well with the oak leaves but it also is appropriately dedicated as today is the first day of Native American Heritage month.  

 The Patterns:

Yarn:  Fingering weight.  You will cut your yarn at the end of each row so this is a great scrap buster project.
Needles: size 7 knitting needles or size e crochet hook.
Gauge is not really important.  The finished shawl will be approx. 60 inches long.


Knit:
Cast on:
1- Using your day one color using your preferred cast one method (i prefer the old fashioned twisted overhand for speed).
2-Cast on 15 stitches, place a marker, cast on 400 stitches, place a marker, cast one 15 stitches.  This shawl will be knit in the round.  Do not worry about twisting as we will steek it later.
Knit: each round starts between the two markers.  Start with the day one color.  knit 15, slip your marker, knit in the back of the next two stitches, knit until two stitches before the next marker, knit int he back of the next two stitches, knit 15 and cut yarn.

Days 2-365 are repeats of day one but with whatever color you find inspiration from outside your front door and the leaves and trees you see.

I will be selling appropriate lengths of these yarns in the shop (and hopefully soon online) If you just love one of the colors I choose or need to supplement your scrap stash.

Crochet:

1- Chain 302 in day 1 color leave a 8 inch tail as this will form fringe, turn and sc in the third chain from the hook.  continuing to use the day 1 color add 299 more sc across this row.  pull through your loop and cut your yarn (leaving an 8 inch tail of yarn.
2-leaving an 8inch tail of your new piece of yarn chain two into the top of the first sc in the previous row.  sc 299 across the row.  Pull through your loop and cut yarn leaving and 8 inch tail.

Days 3-365 are repeats of day 2 but with whatever color you find inspiration from outside your front door and the leaves and trees you see.

Meet Jack-You can knit one too!

Here is another free pattern for your enjoyment.  You can knit him up in traditional halloween colors or go with more subtle shades for look that will work through Thanksgiving.

Kokomo the shop knitting cat and Jack

This pattern is worked back and forth in a rectangular shape and then stitched up into a tube.  The bottom and top are gathered up and then secured with a button on the bottom connected up through the center  to secure the stem and create a dimple to make the pumpkin stand flat.

Needle:  Size 6

Yarn: Worsted Weight (I used Cascade 220 in Orange, Green and Black) but beiges and yellows would be pretty too.

Cast on 43 stitches.

Knit 5 slip 1 with the yarn in front across each odd numbered row. You will have one knit stitch following a slip at the end of each row.

Purl across each even numbered row.

Work until your piece is as approx. 8inches long and ending ready to start a knit row.

Switch to green yarn.  Knit 4 rows.  Knit every other stitch together (28 stitches remain).

*Slip the first stitch with yarn in back, knit and then pass the first stitch over the second. 

Knit 8 (leaving remaining stitches on the needle for now-first 18 then 9 then remaining). 

Turn, Slip the first stitch on the needle (with yarn in the back), knit 1 and slip the first stitch over the second.  Knit the remaining stitches.

Continue in this manner slipping the first stitch on the needle, knitting the second and then slipping the first over the second at the beginning of each row until only two stitches remain.

Knit these two stitches together, cut yarn and pull loop through**.

Repeat this process (from * to ** for the remaining 2 sets of 9 stitches. 

The stem:  Cast on 12 stitches.  Knit across odd rows and purl across even rows until piece is 1.5 inches long and ending prepared to start a knit row.  Knit 2, knit 1 in front and back.  Repeat until all 12 stitches have been used and you have increased 4 stitches (16 stitches).

Purl across

Purl across the right side.

Purl across the wrong side.

Cast off

Using a scrap of green yarn and a crochet hook create a 15 inch chain.

Assembling:

With right sides together, using a whip stitch create a tube with your knitted square.  With a scrap piece of yarn and a darning needle baste around the bottom opening of your tube.  Pull tightly and secure the two ends with a strong knot.  You will have a cylinder shape with a round bottom.

Turn the pumpkin right side out.  Stuff with fiberfill.

Using a scrap piece of green yarn secure the top of the stem by stitching around the edge and drawing it tight.  Tie into a knot and the hide the ends on the inside.  With wrong sides together stitch up the side of the stem with a whip stitch and then turn the piece right side out.  Using a small piece of fiberfill stuff the stem.  Using a scrap of thread baste around the bottom of the stem and pull it close closed.

Position the stem down the top opening of the pumpkin.

With a darning needle weave the chained yarn in and out where the green color change appears on the tube (top of the pumpkin).  Pull the chained yarn tight and secure with a knot trapping the stem into the top opening.

Using a small button and a long needle, secure the yarn on the bottom of the pumkin, through the button holes, back into the pumpkin, up the center of the pumpkin and into the bottom of the stem.  Insert the needle back down through the center of the pumpkin and stem and back through the button.  Pull securely until you have a dimple in the bottom of your pumpkin. Secure by wrapping around the base of the button and tie the yarn off.

Using scraps of flexible wire (a garbage bag twist tie works well if you do not have wire laying around).  Push the wire into the chained and knotted ends.  Twirl them around a pencil to make pumpkin tendrils.

Using black or yellow yarn embroider a face on your pumpkin.  I used a chain stitch.

Final Photos from the Bear Knit-A-Long and a little Lo-Paca

You may remember the second post on this blog where I talked about the bear knit along.  Here is the finished results.  Three of us embarked on the project and we finished up officially this afternoon with the final bear getting his eyes.  It is quite nice that each of us selected a different yarn to use.  

 All three bears together.  Barbara White made a polar bear with a red sparkly scarf out of White Superwash Cascade 220.  I used Brown Cascade 220 and Julianne David Made a pastel blue bear out of Cascade Ultra pima Fine yarn.

 Small blue bear side view

 Small blue bear front view

Polar Bear, Brown Bear

Grace decided to ply a little mixture she calls Lo-Paca today.  She took one skein of Cascade Alpaca lace weight yarn and plied it with a skein of Hot Pink Lopi Einband yarn (a lace weight).  The result is a much softer sock weight concoction.  It turned out lovely and I cannot wait to knit some up to see how soft it is.

The finished product

Trunk Show Black Sheep Style and a Free Acorn

 Trunk Show With Photos: 

 Today Black Sheep at Orenco Opened its first trunk show with a lovely fibre artist, Malanie Dilworth.  Melanie owns Black Trillium Fibres.

  Her sense of color and yarn naming is nothing short of brilliant.  With colorways like Beach Glass, Butter Beer and Portland Rose who can help but fall in love with her yarns.

 Malanie came in at 10am on the dot with two tubs full of wool/silk and wool/nylon sock yarns.  We literally filled a trunk with part of these yarns.  The remainder went down on the shelf below. Melanie stayed and hung out with us for the morning talking to customers and knitting.  I leaned a lot about the dying process from her and she has promised to help us run a yarn dying or painting class in January!

  Melanie also brought in two shawls to display.  The one in the back is a Color Affection Shawl by Veera Valimaki. in Black Trillium's Merilon sock yarn.  The colors are Inkwell, Good Egg and Charcoal. The shawl in the front is: Ishbel by Ysolda Teague. This yarn is Black Trillium's Pebble Silk in Claret.

Melanie went home in the afternoon but she left her shawls and yarns for us all this week.  Make sure and stop by to touch them, look at them or even take some home to keep! 

The Acorn

Over the past two weeks among many projects making slow progress I experimented with a little acorn pattern (OK a lot of experimentation).  My results are this knitting pattern to share.  As you work on these little gems remember that no two acorns look alike so experiment and do not follow the directions exactly.  My best results were with sock yarn but I made plenty with both worsted weight scraps and sport weight.  Each are fun and unique.  

 My favorites are these two made from Cascade Heritage sock yarns.  The one on the left has its color change on a purl row and the one on the right does it on the knit row.  I like that one has a little shorter nut portion and nobbly transition from the nut to the cap.

 Six knitted Acorns, seven real acorns, a knitted Oak leaf and a knitted Aspen leaf

 The brown acorns were made from worsted weight Cascade 220 in dark brown and the caps are from Cascade sport weight in a heathered brown color.

 The variety of nut and cap shapes and sizes are fascinating to look at and even more fun to try and duplicate by varying the number of knitted rows in each color of yarn.

 The Aspen leaf is knitted following (well attempting anyway) call Playing in Leaves by Jackie Erickson-Schweitzer .  It is available on Ravelry.  This pattern is not for the faint of heart.  It is full of yarn overs, knit three together, short rows and counting!

A close-up of the various brown acorns

 All of the acorns (knitted and real) together.

The Oak Leaf is a free one offered by Nicky Epstein.  Hers is as a luggage tag (which I love).  It is really nice to knit up and using sock yarn and small double pointed needles it comes out nearly the same size as the oak leaves off my tree.

Needles:  Two size small size double points (I used size 1).

Gauge:  It really doesn’t matter.

This is a very free form activity.  Adjust the number of rows you knit each time to create acorns that are as individual as they are in real life.

1. Cast on 1

2. Knit in the front and back of the stitch (2 stitches total)

3. Slide knitting to the end of the double pointed needle (to create an I-chord)

4. Knit in the front and back of each stitch (4 stitches total)

5. Slide knitting to the end of the double pointed needle.

6.  k1, Knit in the front and back of the remaining stitches (7 stitches)slide knitting to the end of the double pointed needle

7. k1, knit in the front and back of the remaining stitches  (13 stitches)

8. Turn to wrong side of knitting and purl across. From now on you will knit back and forth with a wrong side (purl) and right side (knit).

9. *Knit 1, K front and back, K1**.  Repeat * to ** until end of row. (19 stitches)

10. Purl across.

11. Repeat row 10 across (28 stitches).

12. Purl across.

13. Change yarn to color choses for acorn cap.

14. K1, Knit front and back across remaining stitches. (41 stitches)

15. P1, k1 across back.

16. K2 together, P2 together, repeat across. Knit 1.

17. P1, K1, repeat across. 

18.  P1, K1, repeat across (alternating stitches to form seed stitch)

19. Pi, K1, repeat across.

20. K1, P2 together, repeat across.

21. K2 together, P2 together, repeat across. (7 stitches remain)

22. K2 together, P2 together, K2 together (4 stitches remain)

23. Slide to end as if to made an ichord.

24. knit 1, knit 2 together, knit 1 (3 stitches remain)

25.  Make 2 inches of I-chord using these three stitches knit and purl in a random fashion to create a bumpy branch look.  

If you try one do send me a picture.  I will put up photos as they come in.