The Lotions and Potions Christmas

  I started planning my Christmas gifts in September. It was going to need a bit of sewing and a lot of kitchen work. This year I am giving everyone on my list handmade creams, powders, soaps and other care products. I call them "Lotions and Potions."  I have been making my own care products for over ten years now. 

I met a great herbalist a few years back named Joanne Bauman. (Kansas herbalist | Prairie Magic Herbals | Kansas herb education

)  She has taught me to see the plants of my garden and even the weeds in my yard in a new light. Now you will find me harvesting dandelions for a Dandelion Hand Cream or drying rosemary for hair care as well as use in the kitchen. Out of all of that has grown my love of lotions and potions. In the photo you will see dusting powder, cold cream, hand cream, night cream, hot oil hair treatment, facial scrubs, hand soap, shaving soap, beard oil and after shave. My daughter has the nose of a perfumer. She helped me blend a cherry vanilla tobacco coffee fragrance for the men's products. It has memories of the Borkum Riff tobacco my brother used to smoke. 

It wasn't enough to plan to give the lotions and potions, though. They needed to be IN something. That is where the sewing came in. I made block bags or shaving kits, for the men and tote bags for the women. I found the block bag pattern on Pinterest. It was scaled for a child's bag,                  so I had to scale it up for my needs, but the instructions were clear and it wasn't difficult to get the size I needed. The ladies' bags are from Charm Patterns and called the Hattie Tote. Gretchen Hirsch, known as Gertie, designed the bags to hold her chihuahua. I would not be surprised if one of my family members uses her bag that way! Five tote bags and six block bags later, all my gifts are ready. I hope everyone has fun with them Christmas Day.

                            And Merry Christmas, 2025 to all of you!

My New Toy

 

I have a new toy! It is so new I haven't even tried it yet, but the concept is TOO COOL not to share.  It is a portable wrist yarn holder. When I'm traveling and knitting, no more losing the ball of yarn. It will stay secured to my wrist. Hm... Can I knit while riding my stationery bicycle?

This was found on Amazon. I assume there are other sources for it. 

Crocheted Dish Cloths

 I was on a Facebook page where someone asked for a crocheted dishcloth pattern. Someone suggested filet crochet, but it's pretty open. It works for curtains and string bags, but I don't think I'd want it for a dishcloth. I would probably use a waffle stitch and make a square that fits my hand. Commercial dish cloths are about the size of a face cloth. That gets bulky when hand made. I make mine about 6-8" across. If a person wants a design in the cloth, create it by filling in the waffles with solid stitches.  Hm... Now to find my crochet hook.   https://mirellamoments.com/learn-to-crochet-the-waffle-stitch/?fbclid=IwAR0ViZkdlRFkHUGKnrpBPoo8UfP1gbKJ6TDtMeWacnOVOHyXOMrg2w_8OR4

String Bag Bottle Carrier

 
Last weekend my son Joe; daughter-in-law, Lisa; and boyfriend, Leon and I made our first visit to the Baker Creek Seeds Festival in Mansfield, Missouri. It was the perfect day for such an adventure: sunny, just warm enough, and lots to see. We took my little red wagon that I use for gardening. By the time the day was over Lisa and I had it overflowing with tomatoes, cantaloupe, peppers, wisteria and other plants that will find their new homes in our gardens. 

We were all carrying water bottles, but Joe and Lisa had to juggle theirs all day while trying to carry plants or maneuver backpacks and the wagon. Leon and I were carrying our bottles in two string bags I made a while back. People wanted to know where we were buying those holders. What a good idea! 

I do believe I will be making more bottle holders for family!

I know I have posted this in an earlier blog, but I will repeat it here so it can be found easier. If you want one, here is the pattern:

String Bag Bottle Carrier

When using fingering weight cotton yarn [Hobby Lobby Sinfonia], this will have a 2 1/2” diameter at the base. If you use worsted weight cotton, the carrier will be bigger.

Be aware that the handle will stretch during use. It can be made shorter to start with, or a knot can be tied in it to adjust the length after it stretches. It is long so it may be used as a cross-body carrier. I see that I put in the directions to make the handle 50" long. Now that I know how much it stretches, I might start with 40". Make yours to suit your need.

 One ball cotton yarn (worsted or fingering weight)

Size F crochet hook

Scissors

Removable stitch marker (optional)

1. Chain six. Join to make a ring. 

2. Chain 1. Turn. Make  5 single crochet (sc) around the ring. Join with a slip stitch. [6 stitches]

3. Chain 2. Turn. 2 double crochet (dc) in each sc.  Join. [12 stitches].

4. Chain 3. Turn. 1 triple crochet (tc) in the loop of first dc. *Chain 1. TC in top of next dc.*  Repeat between the ** to end. Join. [24 stitches].  

5. Chain 4. Turn. 1 tc in top of first tc. *Chain 2.  Skip one tc. TC in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join in 3rd chain up from the bottom. [12 squares.]

6. Chain 6. Turn. Chain 3. TC in top of first tc. *Chain 3. TC in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join in 3rd chain up from the bottom.

7-17. Place removable stitch marker at beginning of Row 6 so you have a place keeper to help you count rows. Repeat Row 6 ten times. 

18. Chain 1. Turn. 1 sc in top of first tc. * 2 sc. 1 sc in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join.

19. Chain 3. Turn. DC In each sc around. Join.

 

20. Chain 1. Turn. SC in each dc around. Join.

21. SC in each of next for stitches. 

22. Chain 2. Turn. DC in next 3 stitches. [4 stitches]

Repeat Row 22 until strap is the length you want.  I made mine about 50 inches long so I could use it as a crossbody strap. When you have the length you want, fold the bag in half to find the attach point for the end of the strap (opposite the starting point.)  Slip stitch strap to top of bag. Fasten yarn. Burn ends.

If you want, you can add a drawstring to snug the bag against your bottle, but I have not needed it.

1. 
   

Pack Up Your Troubles in an Old Stringbag

I am in love with string bags! I understand they are a staple in Europe. Folks keep them in their pockets or purses and whip them out at the grocery because their culture doesn't expect a store to provide shopping bags.

They are fast to crochet  and wonderful to use. I made a large one (the varigated blue one) for collecting tomatoes from the garden. There are regular sized ones that live in my purse for trips to the grocery. I no longer fumble with those dratted flimsy plastic produce bags. I pull out my string bag and deposit the onions or potatoes or peppers in a nice, washable cotton bag. (Okay, I carry more than one bag so each veggie has its own string bag.) Yes, there is even a modified string bag for carrying a water bottle.  What isn't to love about a string bag?

So how do you make one? I searched Pinterest for ideas and put together a couple of patterns to create the one I make. One ball of yarn can make two or three bags. My favorite yarn at the moment is Hobby Lobby's Sinfonia because it is fingering weight and has a nice hand. You can see it as the yellow water bottle caddy. There really isn't a gauge on this, but if you find the Size F hook uncomfortable for the yarn you are using, feel free to change hooks. I do recommend sticking to cotton yarn. Acrylic and wool will stretch.

Once the foundation is established, the main crocheting creates the netting of the bag. You are creating squares with each triple crochet above the last. The number of chains across the top of the box will dictate the gauge of your square. I generally stop at 3 chains. If you want a tight netting, stop at 2 chains. Large netting, increase to 4 or more. By the same token, the capacity of your bag is dictated by the size of the base (roughly Rows 1-4.) I usually stop with a 24 stitch base and start expanding from there to create the netting. If you want a larger bag, move up to a 36 or 48 at or some other function of 12  before you expand to create the netting. This may take trial and error (if you are like me) or a bit of math puzzling to work out the rhythm of stitches to get to the multiple that you want. Whatever number you develop for the outer ring of your base will dictate the number of squares in your net. (I know. Clear as mud, but play with it and it will work itself out.)

CROCHET PRODUCE STRINGBAG

1 ball cotton yarn (worsted or fingering weight)

Size F crochet hook

Scissors

Removable stitch marker (optional)

1. Chain six. Join to make a ring. 

2. Chain 1. Turn. Make  5 single crochet (sc) around the ring. Join with a slip stitch. [6 stitches]

3. Chain 2. Turn. 2 double crochet (dc) in each sc.  Join. [12 stitches].

4. Chain 3. Turn. 1 triple crochet (tc) in the loop of first dc. *Chain 1. TC in top of next dc.*  Repeat between the ** to end. Join. [24 stitches].

5. Chain 4. Turn. 1 tc in top of first tc. *Chain 2. tc in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join in 3rd chain up from the bottom. [24 squares.]

6. Chain 6. Turn. Chain 3. TC in top of first tc. *Chain 3. TC in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join in 3rd chain up from the bottom.

7-17. Place removable stitch marker at beginning of Row 6 so you have a place keeper to help you count rows. Repeat Row 6 ten times. 

18. Chain 1. Turn. 1 sc in top of first tc. * 2 sc. 1 sc in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join.

19. Chain 3. Turn. DC In each sc around. Join.

 

20. Chain 1. Turn. SC in each dc around. Cut yarn. Fasten off. Bury ends.

Drawstring: Chain stitch 150 stitches. Fasten off. Weave through the dc at the top edge of the bag. Knot ends together.  

Enjoy your bag!

WATER BOTTLE CARRIER VARIATION

There are only 12 squares in this net instead of the 24 in a produce bag. The bag is narrower but the same height. It has a crocheted strap attached. 

1 ball cotton yarn (worsted or fingering weight)

Size F crochet hook

Scissors

Removable stitch marker (optional)

1. Chain six. Join to make a ring. 

2. Chain 1. Turn. Make  5 single crochet (sc) around the ring. Join with a slip stitch. [6 stitches]

3. Chain 2. Turn. 2 double crochet (dc) in each sc.  Join. [12 stitches].

4. Chain 3. Turn. 1 triple crochet (tc) in the loop of first dc. *Chain 1. TC in top of next dc.*  Repeat between the ** to end. Join. [24 stitches].  

5. Chain 4. Turn. 1 tc in top of first tc. *Chain 2.  Skip one tc. TC in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join in 3rd chain up from the bottom. [12 squares.]

6. Chain 6. Turn. Chain 3. TC in top of first tc. *Chain 3. TC in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join in 3rd chain up from the bottom.

7-17. Place removable stitch marker at beginning of Row 6 so you have a place keeper to help you count rows. Repeat Row 6 ten times. 

18. Chain 1. Turn. 1 sc in top of first tc. * 2 sc. 1 sc in top of next tc.* Repeat around. Join.

19. Chain 3. Turn. DC In each sc around. Join.

 

20. Chain 1. Turn. SC in each dc around. Join.

21. SC in each of next for stitches. 

22. Chain 2. Turn. DC in next 3 stitches. [4 stitches]

Repeat Row 22 until strap is the length you want.  I made mine about 50 inches long so I could use it as a crossbody strap. When you have the length you want, fold the bag in half to find the attach point for the end of the strap (opposite the starting point.)  Slip stitch strap to top of bag. Fasten yarn. Burn ends.

If you want, you can add a drawstring to snug the bag against your bottle, but I have not needed it.

Old favorite: Mon Tricot Pullover and Scarf Hat

One of the first big knitting projects I started when I was a beginning knitter was a hooded scarf. I found the pattern in the D-J 1974 02094 Mon Tricot magazine.  (That's the photo from the magazine.) The hood was a simple stockinette pattern with a small design around the face. It was made in sportweight yarn and knitted with Size 2 needles. It should have been fast and easy. Five years later, the scarf languished in time-out. I don't think I ever finished it. I still like the idea of a hooded scarf. Now that sportweight yarn doesn't intimidate me, I wonder if I will try it again?  My notes say it needs 5 skeins of the main color and 1 skein of the alternate color. There are even directions for machine knitting. Now that would solve the boredom of endless stockinette!

Lesson learned?  Beginners need to see progress and sportweight yarn and Size 2 needles take forever to make a scarf.  If you are teaching a beginner to knit, may I recommend bulky yarn and something big, like Size 15 needles?

Let's see if I can post the directions from the magazine.  You will probably have to copy them and print them to get the directions large enough to read. The directions come in adult and child sizes.

Those Blasted Argyle Socks

I have been working on a pair of socks for my boyfriend for three years. Yes. THREE. And I still have not finished the first sock.



We do living history re-enacting. He demonstrates the pennyfarthing bicycle. I demonstrate hand-crank sewing machines. As you can tell in the photo, Argyle socks are the right thing for a pair of knickerbockers. Alas, commercial ones that we have found are too short. (He's wearing a very stretched out pair of my knee socks for this photo, if I remember right.)

Now I knit. I can do color knitting. What should be so hard about knitting a pair of Argyle socks? I started them three years ago. I admit I distract easily, but after about 10 months, the first sock was ready to try on. (Grr. Top down knitting is for the birds. Toe-up I'd have had them ready much sooner.)

Leon was able to squeeze them on with lots of help from me tugging them over the heel. The socks were too small. All that work... and I'd have to rip it out! Well, on the good side, I did learn that the socks should be one more pattern of diamonds taller. (Faint consolation.)

I haven't been as diligent with the new socks, and I'm into year two on the first sock. I will finish them but they are a chore now, not a joy. Other projects lead me away but I come back to them. The new socks are on larger needles and I am being very careful about stitch count.

Things I've learned:

1.  Stitch count means everything. It is very easy to lose a stitch along the way and that throws the diamond pattern off and contributes to the socks not fitting.
2. Lifelines are critical.  Every so many rows, I weave a "lifeline" into my work. This is a line of contasting color threaded through a row of stitches like a permanent "needle" going through the loops. If I have to tear back my work, I need only go as far as the last lifeline to find a point where the stitch count was accurate. I can rebuild from there and not have to tear back to the cuff.  Believe me, I did that a few times before I remembered the art of the lifeline. It was not pretty.
3, Intricate patterns need to be worked where you can concentrate. These are not traveling socks. Most of my knitting is done when I am a passenger in a car, gazing out the window, chatting and knitting. Not these. They require total concentration. No TV. No conversation. No fun. :(

I will post pictures of the final socks (in a year or so at this rate.) Leon says that knowing how hard I have worked on them, he will be nearly afraid to wear them.

No, that's not the point. The POINT is not even this pattern will get me to quit. :)

Sweather for My Mother

As I work on the Argyle socks, I have been remembering the first time I did multi-color knitting. In the early 1990s I made this sweater for my mother.   I have always loved this pattern because it was "so Mom." She was an outdoorsy, casual woman who always enjoyed the color blue. She loved the sweater but didn't get to wear it too often. Kansas doesn't get cold enough for such a warm sweater very often.

I do not like to make large

Mom in 2000

projects. They take forever to knit. This sweater took close to two years to complete. (The heirloom sweater from an earlier post took three years.)  It is not that I am a slow knitter. When I am knitting, I can chug out the stitches like a sewing machine. The slow comes from interruptions. My knitting can languor for months on end while I am gardening, or sewing, or reading or doing whatever has distracted me. Ah, well. They do get done.

I enjoyed knitting this. The diamonds are knitted in, not embroidered afterward. It required me to develop a two-handed knitting technique where I held the main color in my right hand and the carried color in my left hand. I would weave the carried color over or under the knitting needle to be caught by the main color as I created each stitch. Mom, who had always been my knitting mentor, said a sign of good multi-color knitting is for the back to be as tidy as the front. I won't promise that happened for every part of this, my first try, but I was pleased with the outcome.

Today the sweater belongs to me. I'm waiting for Kansas weather to get cold enough to wear it.

Russian Bind

How do you join two ends of yarn without a knot? My favorite method is the Russian Bind.

1.  This can be used with yarn (or rope) of uneven sizes. Begin by looping the two ends over each other. Thread one end into a needle.

2. Sew the yarn back into itself,  working the needle in and out.

 3. Flatten the yarn. Remove the needle.

4. Repeat steps 1-3 for the other piece of yarn.





5. Ta da! No knot!

Intarsia knitting: challenging but fun

We are the Merry Cranks! Leon and I do some living history demonstrations with the hand crank sewing machines and the (foot cranked) pennyfarthing bicycle. We dubbed ourselves the Merry Cranks when one venue wanted to know our name.

I enjoy making garb for us. I have several dresses of various periods and have made period garb for Leon. I made his vest and adapted some thriftstore pants to be the knickerbockers, but Leon's 1890s bicycle garb has had one problem. He needs knee high Argyle socks. The ones I have found ready-made are too short. WELL...I am a knitter...

Enter intarsia knitting. I wasn't certain what intarsia knitting might be as my brother does intarsia wood-working where images are built from various pieces of wood. The different colors and textures of wood shade and build the images. Intarsia knitting works the same way. The fabric is built from multiple kinds of yarn drawn into the pattern.

 At first juggling those multiple strands is both the challenge and the fun of intarsia knitting. I am carrying eight strands. Some of the time I am working two strands at the same time as I knit with one color and carry the other color behind the work. It helps to be able to knit with both hands for this. I use American knitting techniques for the main color and European knitting techniques for the carried color.

I was a bit chagrined that I could not do this pattern toe up, two at a time, and in the round. Because you carry the main color behind the pattern color in the center diamonds it has to be worked flat.  There is no way to get the carried color back to the start if you are circular knitting. (sigh). I suppose you could carry it behind every stitch all the way around the circle, but it would make your socks dense and they would lose some of their stretchiness. Ah, well. It doesn't hurt to knit some things flat.

The first problem I had was with all those bobbins dangling from my work and getting snarled together. I posted to Sunflower Knitters Guild on Facebook to ask for help. I got lots of good suggestions and ended up using a mix of them.  Colors that use a lot of yarn, such as the cream of the body and the grey and brown of the diamonds I carry in bobbins. The red that uses less yarn, I allow to hang free. I usually have about 12-24 inches of red working and 36-48 inches of the other colors in the bobbins. If the red tries to snarl, it is easy to pull the thread free. The other colors are usually far enought apart they don't tangle. If they do, shorten the tail by winding up more loose thread onto the bobbin. A Russian bind secures the next section to the existing one: no knots!

My next problem was keeping the stitch count correct. Oh, have I ripped out this

project! (Six times so far, and it could happen again.) The pattern requires 75 stitches across. Unlike ordinary knitting, if you drop a stitch, it is difficult to ladder down and weave back up to repair the mistake. I immediately saw the need for lifelines. The red of the cross threads is bold enough to be noticed and I had plenty of it, so that is what I used. Any other scrap yarn would work just as well.  I place the lifelines at the beginning and middle of the diamonds. When the colorwork is done, I will pull them out.

The best way to prevent needing to frog a section ("Rip-it! Rip-it!") is to check your stitch count every row. This can be a bore, but it sure beats frogging! If I keep checking my count, I might actually get the first sock finished.

Hand Knit Reticules

 Leon and I enjoy contra dancing (and a bit of living history re-enactment as well.) When I put on garb to go dancing, I hate to carry a modern purse. How tacky!

Reticules

Knitting to my rescue! I have started making reticules. The flat white one was designed to hold a cell phone, a few dollars and some ID. You can slip the drawstring on your wrist and keep it with you. (Don't swing your partner too enthusiastically. A cell phone up side of the head is no fun.)  

Contra Dancing 

My flat reticules are based on a toe up sock pattern, minus the heel. If my lady wishes a more traditional shape, she can also make a round drawstring bag, such as the one below. I have described it in other posts. I remember in the 1950s my mother and grandmother both carried large drawstring bags made of a lightweight but bulky nylon yarn. They were very similar in design to the small white bag I have made, just larger.

If you would like to make a flat reticule, here is the basic pattern. I cast on 20 stitches for both sizes of bags. The yarn size and needle size makes one smaller than the other. The white flat bag, for example, was knit with size 0 needles and acrylic fingering yarn. The salmon bag was knit with size 5 needles and Hobby Lobby's cotton Sinfonia yarn. The sea foam green yarn is also Sinfonia.

Cotton Reticule (to hold a large wallet)

Below are directions for the salmon cable knit reticule. You may use any design that can repeat over 18 stitches to decorate your bag.

1 skein cotton Sinfonia yarn from Hobby Lobby (this is closer to fingering weight than other cotton yarns such as Lily Sugar n' Cream, which is more a worsted weight.)
US Size 5 16-inch long circular needles or  US Size 5 double pointed needles (set of 5 needles). 
Stitch markers (one should be noticeably different from the others to mark the beginning of each round)
Cable stitch holder
Row counter

Circular knitting will be done by the Magic Loop method where loops of the cable protrude from either side of the project like rabbit ears. You will work across these loops when you move from one side to the other. If you prefer to circular knit with double pointed needles, I will define where to break for each needle.

Cast on 20 stitches.
Row 1: Increase in each stitch. (40 stitches).
3. If using a circular needle, remove needle from yarn, (Don't panic. Your loops will hold their shape). Starting from the side that does not have the ball end of the yarn, and alternating left needle/right needle work stitches onto each end of your circular needle. When done you will have 20 stitches on each needle. The left needle will hold the left stitches of each increase and the right needle will hold the right stitches of each increase.
3. If using double pointed needles: Leave yarn on 1st needle. Taking 2 new needles, work left and right as described above until 20 stitches are on each of 2 needles.
Row 2. Circular needles: Knit 5 stitches. Place unique marker to identify beginning of round.  Knit to stitch 20. Insert Row Counter onto cable. Knit to end. Pull a loop of cable out of the stitches between stitches 20 and 21 and between stitches 39 and 40. These are the Magic Loops that allow you to maneuver around your circle. Be sure to draw your stitches tight when you jump to the next row and close the loop to form the circle of this bag.
Row 2: Double pointed needles: Knit 5 stitches. Place unique marker to identify beginning of round. Knit until 1 stitch remains on first needle. Knit this stitch onto 3rd needle. Knit first stitch of 2nd needle onto 3rd needle. (2 stitches on new 2nd needle)  Knit next 18 stitches on old 2nd needle. When you reach the last stitch on the old 2nd needle, knit this stitch onto the 4th needle. Pick up 1st stitch from 1st needle and move it to 4th needle.  (2 stitches on 4th needle) You will now have 18 stitches on Needle 1; 2 stitches on (new) Needle 2; 18 stitches on (new) Needle 3; 2 stitches on Needle 4.  Attach Row Counter to end of Needle 4. Be sure to draw your stitches tight when you jump to the next row and close the loop to form the circle of this bag.

I will not distinguish between circular and double point needles for the rest of these instructions unless needed. Whenever you jump from one needle to another or across a Magic Loop, pull tension quite tightly for the first three or four stitches after the jump so the tension doesn't work loose at these joints. If the fabric below the joints keeps the same tension as the rest of your work and does not show excessive laddering, you are doing it correctly.

Row 3: *K1, P1, K1, P1.(mistake stitch pattern) Slip marker. Knit 10. Add marker. P1, K1, P1, K1 (continuing mistake stitch pattern). Increase as to knit in next 2 stitches.*(4 stitches on  Needle 2.)  Repeat between stars adding a marker after first 4 stitches. Double pointed needles now have 18 stitches Needle 1; 4 stitches Needle 2: 18 stitches Needle 3 and 4 stitches Needle 4.  Set Row Counter to 1. (44 stitches)
Row 4: *P1, K1, P1, K1. Slip marker. Knit 10. Slip marker. K1, P1, K1, P1. Knit 4.* Repeat to end. Set Row Counter to 2.
Repeat Rows 3-4 until 5 rows have been completed.
Cable Row: *Continue mistake stitch pattern for first 4 stitches. Slip marker. Transfer 5 stitches from left needle to cable needle. Move cable needle to back of fabric. Knit next 5 stitches. Pick up cable needle and knit those 5 stitches onto right needle. Slip marker. Continue mistake stitch pattern for next 4 stitches. Knit 4.* Repeat for other side. Reset Row Counter to 0.
Repeat Rows 3-4 until 10 rows have been completed.
Cable Row. Reset Row Counter to 0.
Make three full cables with 10 rows between each cable row.
After 4th cable row, reset Counter to 0. Continue in pattern for 5 rows.
Anchor Row: Knit to end. Remove all markers except 1st "unique" marker.
Drawstring Row: *K1, YO, K2tog* to end.
Anchor Row: Knit to end.
Knit next five rows. Bind off loosely.

Crochet or Icord two cords of equal length. If you want a short drawstring, make the cord long enough to go around your wrist about 1 1/2 times. If you wish a longer cord, make to your desired length. (I have made small phone bags with long cords that can be hung around the neck). Entering eyelets from one of the sides, weave one cord from the left and tie off. Weave second cord from the right and tie off opposite the first cord.  Pull each one out left and right the way the Magic Loops extended beyond the bag. Pull drawstrings to close the bag.

If desired, add fringe on the bottom by cutting yarn into 10-12 inch lengths. Group 5 strands together. Draw through the outer edge of bottom of bag. Pull through and loop the loose ends of the yard through the loop to make a half-hitch. Pull tight. Repeat at Center and then Opposite End. Fill in between these three points until the fringe is as full as you wish.

copyright 2016 Iris Evans

Pincushion Dolls and Living History Garb

This Victorian kick has been a lot of fun.  Besides contra dancing, Leon has a high-wheeled bicycle, called a penny-farthing, that we like to take to living history events. Recently we have started adding hand-crank sewing machine demonstrations to our living history endeavors. Some folks may focus on Renaissance period, or Civil War or Colonial or Mountain Man. We are finding ourselves happy with the Gay 90s.

I have a black and white gingham prairie outfit that works when Leon wears his cowboy hat and stresses our farm roots. Recently I have finished an 1890s walking skirt and mutton-chop sleeve blouse that suits the penny-farthing better. It was for this I made the Victorian corset. I have patterns for more garb, such as a Gay 90s split bicycle skirt.

Honestly, I don't know if I enjoy doing the stuff as much as I enjoy making the garb!

But all this sewing reminded me of the pincushion my Mom had when I was a girl. It had a china half-doll sitting in a pincushion that formed her skirt. That pincushion fascinated me. (After the doll broke, it was never the same. [sigh]). So... you can find anything on the Internet, can't you?

I found several inexpensive ceramic half-doll bodies on Etsy. I ordered a few and have been making dolls. I have already planned who will get one, but gee! Which will I keep for myself? As it turned out I gave them all away and ordered a fifth half-doll that will be my pincushion. She is a French court doll rather like the pink and blue one with all the lace. Hm... What fabric should I use for her skirt?  I wonder. Could a skirt be knitted?


Two of these dolls are technically sewing baskets rather than pincushion dolls because their skirts have extra pockets and loops to hold notions. I made them from a Simplicity pattern that I have had for years. (Simplicity 7105) Sure glad I kept that pattern. It is no longer in print.

Corset Making Class

My girls, Jennifer and Lala and I have had a great weekend learning to make Victorian corsets from Marti McCartney. Each of us has a different reason for wanting a corset. Jen has always got a sore back. I am doing more and more re-enacting and need the right foundation for my garb. Lala is a beginning seamstress. Each new technique she learns adds to her skill.

I started with the hand crank Singer 99K. I thought it would be a hoot to say I made my Victorian corset on a Victorian machine (1919 or so, but hey, that was very late Victorian, right?)  I didn't use it very long before granddaughter Lala took it away from me. She didn't like the speed the electric machine had. She wanted the control she could get with the hand crank.  It wasn't nearly as intimidating to a beginning seamstress. Who am I to complain? She sat quietly in her corner, cranking away and like the turtle and the hare, she plodded along and got more done manually than her Mom did with an electric machine.

 In Jen's defense, she is making the most complex corset. We started this class knowing that Jen was about to have gastric bypass surgery. How could she create a corset that would shrink with her?  Marti pondered and decided that Jen needed a maternity corset that she could tighten as she got smaller. Inventing this has been a challenge for Marti. She says teaching the three of us has been the longest class, the most fun class, and the most challenging class she has ever taught. (We are taking more time to get it done because we chatter, laugh, sing, and tell stories, but we are always sewing, too.)

 I got a head start on my corset because Marti had a partially finished one that someone had commissioned but was not able to finish. It fit me, so I picked up in the middle and went from there. Here I am at a fitting. Look at that. I am getting a waist!
 I really like the embroidery embellishment that was put on at the end. Some of it is functional. There must be stitching over each stay to keep it flat. Now that stitching can be plain and white, or a lady can get fancy with her needle. Marti showed me some decorations in one of her books. I copied some onto my corset and then started playing. The "ribbons" on the cups are actually satin stitching.
Now all I have to do is adapt my Victorian garb to work with the new foundation wear. Who knows, I might corset under the Renaissance Faire garb, too.

Why do I Blog Less?

You would think that now that I'm retired, I'd be blogging left, right and sideways. Instead, the blogging has dried to barely a trickle.  I've been pondering this. Why? What is different?

Well, EVERYTHING is different. My life doesn't have the routines that it had when I was working. There is very little sitting down after supper and surfing the Net. Now I have Internet on the cell phone; on the tablet; on the laptop. I can check e-mail everywhere. Anywhere. Because it is so easy, I use the laptop less and zip in and out on the Android things.

If I am not on the laptop, there is no inclination to pop open the blog and post an entry. For the blog I want a REAL keyboard. And time. And access to my photos.

The real culprit, however, is that big time waster: Facebook. If you drop a sentence to your friends that you spent the day in the garden, it has been said. The Inner Writer has expressed herself. Why sit down and compose a few paragraphs on the topic?

Now that I know this, I hope I will skip Facebook and post more often. There are interesting things going on around the Old Home Place. I should record them.

Grrr...Where did the Photos Go?

It appears that about 90% of my blog photos have gone MIA. I deleted my Picasa account because I was tired of every stupid thing I might snap with my phone camera (the steering wheel and one foot; that poster I was going to remember to tell my daughter about; the one where my finger was over the lens, EVERYTHING!) was being posted to Picasa. This was in spite of me turning off all of automatic settings I could find. I had visions of all sorts of things I didn't want to see the light of day winging through the ether for Tom, Dick, and Harry to enjoy. So, I deleted my Picasa account. All of it.

What I did not realize was that my blog photos lived in Picasa. Now they too are gone forever.

Not exactly forever. Most of those files are stored elsewhere on my computer or a CD archive disc. Slowly I am reconstructing the evidence. This will not be an overnight restore because I have multiple blogs and some of them have many, many posts. (There is a reason this knitting blog has had over 9000 views-- so far.)

In the meantime, dear reader, please accept my apologies.

So Who Cares About Gauge?

You have a new yarn. You have a pattern. You are hot to get started on the project, but the first thing the instructions bore you with is a discussion of GAUGE. Arrgh. Do we have to mess with this stuff? 

Yes. Gauge is probably the most important part of knitting or crochet, just as ease is important when you are sewing fabric. If you create a dress using woven cotton fabric using a pattern designed for a stretchy knit, it will fit your full, curvy figure like something intended for a prepubescent male. If you don't test the gauge of your knitting, your finished product won't be the size you want either.  

Check out the three pairs of socks shown in the first picture. They are all done by the same knitter (me!) using the same basic pattern (64 stitches around, toe-up, two-at-a-time knitting.) The only differences are in decoration. The red pair has a different lace pattern than the yellow and blue striped pair. I haven't gotten to the embellishment for the green pair yet. Still -- they look like they are for Mama Bear, Papa Bear, and Baby Bear. What happened?

Gauge happened. The red socks were knit with a beautiful hand spun, hand dyed yarn that was very fine. The card suggested I use size 2 needles, but I found that size 0 fit the yarn better. It took forever to make these socks, but they fit beautifully. The hand of the yarn is elegant. I enjoy wearing them and enjoy the feel of them on my feet. $25.00 for one skein of sock yarn, ah! but my feet are in heaven!

Moving to the yellow and blue striped socks, I felt like I had been set free. The ball band said that it was Size 1, Superfine yarn and it recommended that I knit with 2.75 mm needles which are the small Size 2 needles. I wanted a tighter knit, so I used 2.50 mm, the larger Size 1 needles. Larger needles, somewhat thicker yarn: the socks will still fit a woman comfortably, but they are less delicate than the dainty red yarn. The upside of this yarn is that it is machine washable and dryable. My friend who is getting them will not have to baby these handmade socks.

Yellow and blue striped socks are done. On to the next pair. Again, the ball band says that this is Size 1, Superfine yarn, but it feels nearly twice as thick as the yellow yarn. Compared with the red yarn, it feels like worsted weight (Size 4). The ball band recommended Size 3 needles. Ugh. Heavy yarn, but huge needles for knitting socks. I opted for 2.75 mm needles which are the small Size 2 needles. I am glad I did.  These socks are HUGE. I had intended to make them for a woman, but will now make them longer and give them to a man. (Ah, the joys of toe-up knitting. You can adapt as you go.)

When you go back to the first picture you can see that a lot of things are going on here. In spite of all of the yarns being "superfine," they are not identical. They require different needle sizes to work with their yarn thicknesses. Because the yarn is of different sizes and the needles are of different sizes, the socks come out different sizes. If I were trying to get all three pairs to be identical to the yellow and blue striped socks, I would need to use larger needles with the red yarn and much smaller needles with the green yarn. The red yarn would come out very open, even lacy, and might not be as comfortable. The green yarn would be extremely tightly knit and would be a dense, warm sock.

Socks are pretty forgiving. As long as you can get them on your feet, and they cover the arch and fit the heel, the rest is okay. Not all patterns are this easy. If you are making a sweater that needs to fit closely around the bust or to drape nicely around the hips the yarn and the stitches need to be where the designer intended them to be in the row where the designer intended them. You will save yourself a lot of heartaches, frogging, and words that would make my late husband the Sailor blush if you create a test swatch in the beginning and determine that your needles will create the fabric you intend to make. If you are concerned that the size needle you need to create the proper gauge doesn't work well with the yarn (as in the red socks), consider using that yarn for a different pattern and find a different yarn for the pattern at hand.

Finally finished!

It's finished! It's finished!

I started making the crocheted version of Lion Brand Flattering Jacket #668 about 1999 or 2000. I worked on it one winter and finished the back and right side. When it came time to do the left side the directions basically said "do the right side in reverse" and I couldn't get my mind wrapped around reversing the shaping of collar and armhole simultaneously. I threw the sweater down, tossed it in a box and sometime later unraveled it and turned it into a blanket for my grandson.

In 2009 I picked up some lovely Montera llama/wool yarn. It was just the color I wanted for this sweater coat, so I tried again. This time I would do the knit version of the pattern, #753.

My first winter's efforts got lost in a closet over a couple of summers. When I brought it back out I had to rippit back to square one and start over. I got the back and both front sections finished last winter. This fall I declared I would get the sweater finished so I could wear it all winter. All my sock knitting paid off! I found an extra long circular needle in the proper size to knit the sleeves and did them two at a time. Yep. The are exactly the same shape and length.

Oh, yes, I still found the instructions less than helpful for the left side of the front, but I started studying it and realized that there is no back or front to the fabric. I could make 2 right sides and just turn one over to become the left side when I sewed the sweater together. That's what I did. No stress. No trauma.  It would have been nice to have had a drawing of how the facings worked around the front and neck of the sweater. The directions essentially said, "Sew it together" and left you to your own devices. My first attempt didn't work at all so I pretty much said, "I don't care what they want, this is the way I think it should go." Everything came out looking like a sweater. I'm happy.

I finished the sweater on November 17, just in time to wear as the days get cooler and the house gets a bit chilly.  However, a year or more of construction time in a house full of cats and dogs meant the yarn was full of hair that never saw a llama. I know it isn't good to machine wash and dry wool. It will shrink and/or felt. On the other hand, as large as this sweater is, I would never get it washed properly by hand. I crossed my fingers, gritted my teeth and put it in the front-load washer on cold wash/gentle cycle and prayed that it wouldn't become a Barbie sweater. When it came out of the washer I placed it on towels on the kitchen table and allowed it to dry for a day before putting it back on Groomhilda, the dressmaker's mannequin, for final shaping.

It did shrink, and it felted a bit, but I'm glad it did. Had it not shrank it would be WAY to large for me. As is, the pockets fall just below my fingertips. The felting makes it warmer, but it is still an attractive sweater. Shaping the 90% dry sweater around Groomhilda allowed me to tug it into my shape.

Now if I could just find that shawl pin I bought a few years ago, I could even pull it shut in front and close it.

For more history on this sweater coat, see Lion Brand Flattering  Knit Jacket, Mom's White Sweater and Hurricane Carla posted May 20, 2009 in this blog.

http://www.lionbrand.com/patterns/khs-flatteringJacket.html