Monthly Archives: September 2009

How to join a new ball of yarn to your project (video post)

Posted on by
Reply

I’ve been so engrossed in “Fitted Raglan Shawl” class that I totally didn’t blog last week!

I was on such a video blog roll, too!

Well. I’ve got some stuff. I’m working on LOTS of videos for class, and I thought I’d share this one with all of you:


Find more videos like this on Fitted Raglan Shawl Class

We’ve been having some discussions in class about how and when to join new yarns. I was always taught to join at the edge of the knitting, but I think that if you use a splice (like the spit splice that I show you in the video) you can just join new yarn anyplace you run out and need to start a new ball. There are certainly as many ways to join / splice yarns as there are knitters, so if you google, you’ll find LOTS of techniques. These are the two that I use the most.

By the way, that’s Cascade 128 in a beautiful light blue, almost silver gray color. LOVE IT for this shawl. I use a bulkier yarn and bigger needles for the video examples so that everything shows up. I’ll add the directions for this bulkier version of the shawl to the pattern when I finish it.

Fitted Raglan Shawl Pattern: Worsted Version

Posted on by
2

Woo Hoo! The worsted version is finished, the pattern is finished, you can purchase it here and in my Ravelry Store!

Mirth: Worsted weight version

Mirth:
a Fitted, Top-Down Raglan Shawl in Three Weights
©Stefanie Japel 2009
Technical Editor: Jenn Jarvis

Materials:
Sock Weight Shawl, pictured in colors “Autumn Wine” (2 sk.) and “Rockwell” (1 sk.):
3 skeins Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock [80% Superwash Wool, 20% Nylon, 215 yds. / 2 oz.]
DK Weight Shawl, pictured in color “Mirth”:
3 skeins Lorna’s Laces Green Line DK [100% organic merino wool, 145 yds. / 2 oz.]
Worsted Weight Shawl, pictured in colors “Chagrin” (1 sk.) and “Courage” (1 sk.):
2 skeins Lorna’s Laces Green Line Worsted [100% organic merino wool, 210 yds. / 4 oz.]

Needles:
Sock Weight Shawl: US 5 / 3.75mm
DK Weight Shawl: US 7 / 4.5mm
Worsted Weight Shawl: US 10 / 8mm

$5


What is it about wearing a shawl that makes me put my hair up like this? I kind of look like some Amish woman stole my shawl. I’ll try to get pics with better hair some other time! :)

Sock Weight Mirth is DONE!

Posted on by
1

Doesn’t it go well in our new house??

Mazie jumping off the hearth (and Mirth in sock weight)

Mazie loves this hearth!! We went over today to let the City people in to turn our utilities on. Mom and Dad came over and checked it out…and gave us the seal of approval, so that was good. My dad is able to sniff out safety hazards like nobody’s business, and he didn’t mention any. (Doesn’t mean he didn’t SEE any, but he liked it enough that he didn’t have to MENTION any.) :)

SO…the Mirth pattern is so close to being done. I just need to get the finished dimensions from the worsted weight one, and we are DONE!!

STATS:
Mirth:
a Fitted, Top-Down Raglan Shawl in Three Weights
©Stefanie Japel 2009
Technical Editor: Jenn Jarvis

Materials:
Sock Weight Shawl, pictured in colors “Autumn Wine” (2 sk.) and “Rockwell” (1 sk.):
3 skeins Lorna’s Laces Shepherd Sock [80% Superwash Wool, 20% Nylon, 215 yds. / 2 oz.]
DK Weight Shawl, pictured in color “Mirth”:
3 skeins Lorna’s Laces Green Line DK [100% organic merino wool, 145 yds. / 2 oz.]
Worsted Weight Shawl, pictured in colors “Chagrin” (1 sk.) and “Courage” (1 sk.):
2 skeins Lorna’s Laces Green Line Worsted [100% organic merino wool, 210 yds. / 4 oz.]

Needles:
Sock Weight Shawl: US 5 / 3.75mm
DK Weight Shawl: US 7 / 4.5mm
Worsted Weight Shawl: US 10 / 8mm

Mirth: sock weight version closeup

Class starts September 7, and we’ve already got a lucky 13 people! AMAZING! I never cease to be amazed by you guys.

Turn old Tshirts into yarn and FOUR great projects (video tutorial)

Posted on by
4

In the middle of preparing the “Mirth: A Fitted Raglan Shawl” class and pattern, I’ve had another idea for a class. I’m knitting along thinking of great spots to do videos, and then…poof! New Class Idea!

You know we just bought a house, and I’m packing and getting ready to move. I looked in my husband’s closet and found at least 50 Tshirts. Some of them are cool, like the “Black Flag: Loose Nut” Tshirt that I’ve commandeered for today (makes an awesome-looking preggo-belly!) Some, however, are really old and nasty, some are just lame free ones from various companies. I just don’t want to throw them all out! I’ve seen T-shirt yarn on Etsy, so I’m not the first person to think of this, BUT.

I made this video on the weekend:

I’ve decided to offer a class at http://stefaniejapel.ning.com.

Making yarn out of old (or new) Tshirts is such an easy process in and of itself. I decided to show you how to do that for free in an tutorial. I see that there are already a few demos for this on YouTube… so now you’ll have my take on it! :)

(The video is also a description of the class that I’m offering.)

In class, we’ll go through how to not only make the yarn, but how to figure out what weight it is (worsted, DK, etc.) and then how to cut to get the weight of yarn you want, as well as how to cut so that you make “special effects” like thick and thin, fringe, etc.

In week 2, you’ll learn how to dye your yarn, using both natural and commercial dyes.

You’ll also get a PDF booklet of four projects so that you can actually USE your yarn! (It would defeat the purpose to just cut up the shirts and then have a bunch of yarn that you don’t know what to do with!) Week 3 of class will focus on tips and tricks for the four projects.

UPcycled t-shirt yarn class!
This is a great project to do with kids, as long as they’re old enough to work with sharp scissors.

And, like all of my online classes, you can work at your own pace. The material is available to you for three weeks, but you can go through everything all at once if you want to.

We bought a house!

Posted on by
8

back porch

Here’s a picture of me on the back porch.

This house is a little 4-bedroom, 2 bath ranch house in an older part of town. It was built in the 1950s…and has had some really interesting additions and fixes over the years. It has a really funk layout, great bones, and TONS of potential. We’re so excited to get in and start painting, rip out the kitchen and start that again from scratch, and make the back porch into a lovely hangout.

It has a huge back yard with mature shade trees (not a ton of Southern NM homes have this!):

back yard

See the basketball court? Won’t that be a great tricycle-riding spot?? I also can’t wait to install a composter, get a garden going, and get really self-sufficient veggie-wise!

fireplace
The room on the left has a fireplace! I was hoping for a fireplace, and this house has one! We may eventually put a pellet stove in there, to maximize heat production, but for now…YAY! Fireplace! You can see some of the questionable update choices of the last owners…weird tiile in the kitchen space, and ugly wall colors / no wall colors.

The carpet is brand new, and while I’m not a carpet fan, it’s going to be great for the new baby to learn to crawl on! So, that will stay for now.

We’ve got a month crossover with the house we’re in now, so we can get in and clean and paint this weekend, and then spend a couple weeks moving everything over.

This house is such a blank slate, it’s going to be amazing to get to design it and fix-er-up! :)

PS: Nathan took these photos while we were there several days ago for the home inspection…so that’s why he’s not in any of them. I’ll be sure to post lots of pics during the renovation stages, so you’ll see more of him then! :)