Fiber Craft Needs vs. Fiber Crafts Wants; and, Lace Shawl Trial Runs
Today saw a bit of a hiccup in my normal crafting routine. I've been mostly trying to complete Wearable Hug #10 (WB10) so as to get at least one project off the needles before I try to start my lace shawl.
The Green Monster?
I am nearing completion on The Green Monster, as I've come to know this one. But Gryphon informed me today that he had two pairs of pants where the hems were falling down, and they needed to be sewn. So my fiber craft want of finishing WB10 was replaced by a fiber craft need of repairing the pants so Gryphon has clothes to wear.
Okay, sewing is a fiber craft. But I don't sew pants hems by hand - the fabric is too tough, and I don't feel I can do a tidy job. This forced the issue that I had to clear my craft area and dig out my sewing machine so I could do the job.
Love/Hate Object
I have a love/hate thing with sewing machines. Part of me is fascinated with gadgets that do remarkable things, and sewing machines certainly qualify. But I've tried sewing clothing and things in the past, and my results have been very hit-or-miss.
I won't sew my own clothes anymore, that's just all there is to that. It takes too long, and I really don't want to invest that much time in clothing. And they never come out the way I want, anyhow. I've made some nifty things that weren't clothing. Drawstring bags, reversible banners with logos on them, that sort of thing. But it always seemed like, at some point in the process, the machine would do something annoying (break a needle, tangle the thread, or something), and I would be pissed.
This time, part of the annoyance factor is that the accessories for the machine are still in a separate box somewhere in the storage locker. Bobbins, machine oil, the little screwdriver you need to change the needles - all packed away and out of reach. I need to wind two new bobbins with thread to do this job, because each pair of pants is a different color. And all I have with the machine is one bobbin in place with navy blue thread. The pants are beige and green/gray. At least I found spare machine needles in a box here in the house, and Gryphon had a screwdriver of the right size he could lend me.
So, with our meager budget, I had to find some new bobbins today. Fortunately, there was a package at Jo-Ann's that only cost $1.49 for 4. (Sheesh! I remember paying that much for a bag of at least 10, last time I looked.)
What really annoys me, I think, is the amount of time it takes me to set up the machine and get it ready to go, compared to how little time it will take to hem the darned pants.
I've always had limited craft space - maybe that's why I don't like machine sewing. By the time I set up the machine, it's taken up all the space I have for fabric cutting and preparation. If I ever have room to leave it out all the time, I may change my mind.
Meanwhile, I've been doing test runs for how I'm going to shape my lace shawl. The tests are knit in acrylic worsted weight yarn on size 10-or-so needles. This is because; worsted weight yarn gives a large, easy to analyze, quick to knit sample; acrylic yarn doesn't need to be blocked to see what it will do; and I have a lot of cheap acrylic yarn laying around waiting for me to figure out something to do with it.
My favorite shawl shape, if I'm not going to do a Wearable Hug rectangle shawl, is a neck-down triangle. Tip-up triangles are easy do do, but I find them too narrow and long for my taste. I find that a neck-down triangle gives a wider wingspan with not quite so long a stretch down the back, and the proportions are just more pleasing to my eye. Plus, the angled lines you get from the rows of knitting in the neck-down triangle add a nice movement to the piece.
For a neck-down triangle, you want to either 1) increase 2 stitches on every row; or 2) increase 4 stitches in every other row. There are different cases where I may do one rather than the other; I can talk about them another time. I actually want to do an in-depth study of neck-down triangle shaping, complete with diagrams and everything. So I'm afraid, for the moment, that I'm going to leave my exact process and reasoning for the sample shapes a bit of a mystery.
I will say that, where you place the markers for those increases, and whether you increase before or after the marker, can make a big difference in how the shape of your shawl builds. Actually, we're not strictly talking triangles alone - you can get a trapezoid if you place the increases correctly, too. And sometimes the stitch patterns you use can throw some extra curves into the final product.
In this first sample, I was trying to create sort of a shield or diamond shape in the middle back area. The odd looking textured patch near the center top is a small bit of a lace stitch, but I soon decided it was distracting me from the shawl shape as a whole. I finished the sample piece off with several rows of garter stitch; I like how that threw an extra little flip into the tips of the wings. And having the center increases come all the way down to the bottom tip gave a little extra curve there, too.
Sample 1: Creature of the Sea?
I actually like how this shape came out a lot - just not for this shawl. Looking at what we've got here, I'm reminded of a manta ray swimming along under sea. I am storing this one for a future design - I will almost certainly be creating a Manta Ray Shawl at some point.
For my next sample, I decided to give the vertical band patterns in the center back a full rectangle, so the top edges of the columns would align at the back of the neck, and the patterns would extend all the way to the hem pattern. This gives me a central rectangle with the knitting direction being vertical, and a triangle on either side of that with the knitting going diagonally.
Sample 2 overview
This is looking like it will be the right way to go for the Wings of the Cat shawl. Keep in mind that the central rectangle will be much narrower in lace-weight yarn. Still, this will suit my taste for wider, shorter shawls, as the tip... well, there really is no tip, after all. So I don't have to worry about accidentally sitting down on this shawl and stretching the tip out of shape.
The Critical Juncture
I'm looking forward to knitting this one up in lace!
The Green Monster?
I am nearing completion on The Green Monster, as I've come to know this one. But Gryphon informed me today that he had two pairs of pants where the hems were falling down, and they needed to be sewn. So my fiber craft want of finishing WB10 was replaced by a fiber craft need of repairing the pants so Gryphon has clothes to wear.
Okay, sewing is a fiber craft. But I don't sew pants hems by hand - the fabric is too tough, and I don't feel I can do a tidy job. This forced the issue that I had to clear my craft area and dig out my sewing machine so I could do the job.
Love/Hate Object
I have a love/hate thing with sewing machines. Part of me is fascinated with gadgets that do remarkable things, and sewing machines certainly qualify. But I've tried sewing clothing and things in the past, and my results have been very hit-or-miss.
I won't sew my own clothes anymore, that's just all there is to that. It takes too long, and I really don't want to invest that much time in clothing. And they never come out the way I want, anyhow. I've made some nifty things that weren't clothing. Drawstring bags, reversible banners with logos on them, that sort of thing. But it always seemed like, at some point in the process, the machine would do something annoying (break a needle, tangle the thread, or something), and I would be pissed.
This time, part of the annoyance factor is that the accessories for the machine are still in a separate box somewhere in the storage locker. Bobbins, machine oil, the little screwdriver you need to change the needles - all packed away and out of reach. I need to wind two new bobbins with thread to do this job, because each pair of pants is a different color. And all I have with the machine is one bobbin in place with navy blue thread. The pants are beige and green/gray. At least I found spare machine needles in a box here in the house, and Gryphon had a screwdriver of the right size he could lend me.
So, with our meager budget, I had to find some new bobbins today. Fortunately, there was a package at Jo-Ann's that only cost $1.49 for 4. (Sheesh! I remember paying that much for a bag of at least 10, last time I looked.)
What really annoys me, I think, is the amount of time it takes me to set up the machine and get it ready to go, compared to how little time it will take to hem the darned pants.
I've always had limited craft space - maybe that's why I don't like machine sewing. By the time I set up the machine, it's taken up all the space I have for fabric cutting and preparation. If I ever have room to leave it out all the time, I may change my mind.
Meanwhile, I've been doing test runs for how I'm going to shape my lace shawl. The tests are knit in acrylic worsted weight yarn on size 10-or-so needles. This is because; worsted weight yarn gives a large, easy to analyze, quick to knit sample; acrylic yarn doesn't need to be blocked to see what it will do; and I have a lot of cheap acrylic yarn laying around waiting for me to figure out something to do with it.
My favorite shawl shape, if I'm not going to do a Wearable Hug rectangle shawl, is a neck-down triangle. Tip-up triangles are easy do do, but I find them too narrow and long for my taste. I find that a neck-down triangle gives a wider wingspan with not quite so long a stretch down the back, and the proportions are just more pleasing to my eye. Plus, the angled lines you get from the rows of knitting in the neck-down triangle add a nice movement to the piece.
For a neck-down triangle, you want to either 1) increase 2 stitches on every row; or 2) increase 4 stitches in every other row. There are different cases where I may do one rather than the other; I can talk about them another time. I actually want to do an in-depth study of neck-down triangle shaping, complete with diagrams and everything. So I'm afraid, for the moment, that I'm going to leave my exact process and reasoning for the sample shapes a bit of a mystery.
I will say that, where you place the markers for those increases, and whether you increase before or after the marker, can make a big difference in how the shape of your shawl builds. Actually, we're not strictly talking triangles alone - you can get a trapezoid if you place the increases correctly, too. And sometimes the stitch patterns you use can throw some extra curves into the final product.
In this first sample, I was trying to create sort of a shield or diamond shape in the middle back area. The odd looking textured patch near the center top is a small bit of a lace stitch, but I soon decided it was distracting me from the shawl shape as a whole. I finished the sample piece off with several rows of garter stitch; I like how that threw an extra little flip into the tips of the wings. And having the center increases come all the way down to the bottom tip gave a little extra curve there, too.
Sample 1: Creature of the Sea?
I actually like how this shape came out a lot - just not for this shawl. Looking at what we've got here, I'm reminded of a manta ray swimming along under sea. I am storing this one for a future design - I will almost certainly be creating a Manta Ray Shawl at some point.
For my next sample, I decided to give the vertical band patterns in the center back a full rectangle, so the top edges of the columns would align at the back of the neck, and the patterns would extend all the way to the hem pattern. This gives me a central rectangle with the knitting direction being vertical, and a triangle on either side of that with the knitting going diagonally.
Sample 2 overview
This is looking like it will be the right way to go for the Wings of the Cat shawl. Keep in mind that the central rectangle will be much narrower in lace-weight yarn. Still, this will suit my taste for wider, shorter shawls, as the tip... well, there really is no tip, after all. So I don't have to worry about accidentally sitting down on this shawl and stretching the tip out of shape.
The Critical Juncture
I'm looking forward to knitting this one up in lace!
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