A finished item! (the crocheted charity baby blanket)

Ooh, a post for May!  And it's an actual blog-related accomplishment!

The baby blanket I've been working on for a while is finished.  I handed it over before measuring the amount of yarn I used, but at least I got a photo!

It took a while to decide on an edging.  I ended up doing two single crochets in each gap all the way around, and then did a round of reverse crab stitch (putting the hook between the single crochets of the previous round because I'm lazy that way).

It still slightly ruffles, but it's better than some of my other attempts at a border, which either ruffled or pulled in or both (ruffle on the sides, pull in on the ends, or vice versa).

It's small, probably less than 30" square, but reasonable enough.  And it's pretty cute.

I like the variegation combined with the texture and the slight bling of the mylar.  Hopefully the recipient will like it, too.

I could have taken more yarn for another baby blanket, but I took some darker blue acrylic instead and will knit another hat or two for either this charity or a different charity.  Then maybe I'll do another crocheted baby blanket.

(The blanket is going to a local organization that works with women and children.)

My pink shawl is continuing to make progress, yay!

My green sweater is not, boohoo!

And I haven't yet started another project in any of the crafts that I write about on this blog.

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I did get together with friends last week to mordant some wool for an upcoming natural dye day.  We just did alum plus cream of tartar.

Since we all had different backgrounds in dyeing, we all had some different experiences with quantities.  How much alum and cream of tartar does one need?  What is the actual procedure for mordanting?  If you want to refresh a mordant solution to mordant additional goods, how much do you need to add to refresh?  Which alum, in particular, since different chemicals in the same family may share the name "alum" when we go to buy them?

It turns out that there are many answers to these questions.

Which means that it's a pretty forgiving process.

And I guess we'll see what happens when we do Round 2 -- Dye Day!

The longer answer is that every good dyeing book and reputable website (reputable meaning that they sell dyes and mordants and aren't just AI hallucinations or twee misinformation from people without much experience) has a slightly different method with slightly different percentages and what-not.

Anywhere from about 5-20% WOF is suggested for alum, with many clustering around 15%, and with several sources warning that too much (i.e. over about 20%) will mess up the wool.  The percentages weren't significantly different for the different types of alum that are commonly found through natural dyeing supply shops.

Cream of tartar is used to acidify the bath and reduce chances of stickiness and is usually suggested at around 5-6% WOF (and often said not to be necessary or desirable for mordanting silk).

Refresh amounts range from one-quarter to one-half for the alum, with no refresh needed for the cream of tartar, and some also suggested using a hydrometer to calculate appropriately.  Some said to discard the bath if it got cloudy or had precipitates in it, while others said it made no difference.

Time and temperature were all over the place, though all agreed that keeping the bath at a simmer or below was preferable.  Some suggested that the goods should simmer for anywhere from 20 minutes to an hour and then cool in the mordanting bath overnight, while others didn't seem to care.  Some people had good luck with room-temperature mordanting (a cold soak of several days to a month) while others didn't.

I have heard that the post-mordanting treatment can affect the results, too.  Do you dye right away?  Keep the skeins damp (but not moldy)?  Let them dry and store them?  Put them in the refrigerator or freezer?  I have no idea what effect, if any, these variables would have on the dyeing.  We won't be dyeing for at least another week, so we know these particular skeins will be stored for a while before getting dyed.  I don't think we have enough dyestuffs to require us mordanting up anything more for this round.  And I don't recall anything weird from former dye days where we mordanted in one pot, pulled the skeins out of the mordanting bath, and then dropped them into the dyebath.  So who knows?

I am not a professional dyer and don't care if I have a fully repeatable process or get any specific colors.  As long as I end up with interesting and colorful yarn (or cloth or roving) at the end, I'm fine.

Time for another progress report!

 I haven't posted since last month, yikes!

Knitting and what-not is still happening, though I've been very busy with things unrelated to having fun with fiber.

I haven't started any new doilies yet.

My travel shawl is still growing.  I'm on the second (and final) ball of yarn.

I'm not sure how much of it will get used as I finish up the actual pattern.  Then, once the pattern (as written) is finished, and if there is yarn left, I'll need to decide what to do.

I could grow the pattern a bit more -- add another band or two in the same style.

I could add a sideways-knit lace border.

Or, if there's enough yarn left, call it good, and then make a pair of socks or fingerless mitts.

I have no idea how large the shawl will be once it's blocked.  It's kind of a weird little shoulder-sized poncho thing at the moment.

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My sweater has had close to zero progress since the last time I wrote about it.  Hopefully I'll return to it soon since I'd like to get it done.

No pics, because what's the point?

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I have started a new project, though!  It's a crocheted baby blanket.  A friend of mine ended up with a stash of acrylic baby yarn, and asked all of us if we'd like to take some yarn to make baby blankets.  The blankets are destined for a local shelter that serves women with children.

I'm holding two yarns together.  One is something like Woolease, mostly acrylic with a bit of wool, in white with a bit of mylar.  I can't resist the sparkles.  The other is some skinny boucle-ish thing in shades of green and yellow.

I'm doing a very simple pattern.  Chain a likely number of stitches.  Then, all rows are dc, ch1, with the dc going into the space of the ch1 of the previous row.  Once the blanket is roughly square, I'll probably do a round or two of dc for the edging, estimating how many dcs will be needed so that nothing ruffles or binds, and then maybe a round of crab stitch to finish off.  If I'm feeling it, I'll switch to a different yarn for the edging -- that same boucle yarn but in yellow rather than green-and-yellow.

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I went to the first local fiber fair of the season this month.  I hadn't intended to buy anything, but, well, 4 ounces of a pretty gray Romeldale roving followed me home.  It's a blend from several different sheep, white and dark, which overall reads as a medium gray.

I guess I'll need to drag out a spinning wheel and do some spinning in order to keep my fiber stash at steady state or better!

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So there's my relatively meager progress report for the past month or so.

The First Doily of Spring 2025 and other blatherings

I started a new doily today.  It's an FdA pattern that doesn't seem to be on Ravelry, not that it matters.  It has a chart and a bit of a description, all in French.  I think the original publication had a text version of the pattern but only rounds 45-59 are preserved in the copy I have.  That's OK -- a chart is easier to work from.

This is almost certainly a Herbert Niebling pattern.  It starts with hex mesh, so there are already rounds that begin and end with yarnovers by round 7.  Soon it starts getting into crossed stitches, k5tog, make-10, and other fun stuff.  Well, I think it's fun.

The motifs are ones I've seen in other Niebling patterns.  In addition to hex mesh that begins and ends with yarnovers, there are a couple of rings of a flower-like motif, and then a leaf motif and some fans.  I've seen all of these motifs in other patterns that are explicitly credited to Niebling.

It's a bit more than 100 rounds.  I'm already somewhere in the 30s, so maybe 1/10 done or so.  I found a full ball of DMC Cebelia #30 in my stash so that's what I'm using.  I should have enough to do the whole doily, I hope.  One never knows, though.

Here's a picture of another doily that I knit with a different ball of DMC Cebelia #30.  This pattern is not much more than 100 rounds, but I used almost all of the thread, yikes!

This is Lavori 11/35.  It's in the Ravelry database as Stern (star) since apparently it was called that in an earlier publication, Neue Mode Sonderheft 5601: Kunststricken.  I used the chart and Italian-language instructions in Lavori 11.

Although this is a pretty doily, it was not as much fun to knit as I had hoped.  For one thing, it has a LOT of stitches per round.  Lots and lots.  Way more than seemed necessary at the time.  That's part of why the doily ended up blocking out so big -- if stitches can't spread out horizontally, they will spread out vertically.  I was kind of sweating by the end, hoping that I'd have enough thread to finish.

Also, I don't know how to describe it, but it seemed kind of blah as I was knitting.  It's well-designed, but, well, it felt ordinary.  No delightful (or aggravating) surprises.  Just elegant leaf motifs and stacked increases and decreases amid plenty of hex mesh.

I don't believe it's a Herbert Niebling design.  It's not attributed to anyone in particular, but it doesn't have the chart quirks that I find characteristic of Niebling's charts.  Yes, doily chart forensics...  In particular, the hex mesh area never starts and ends with a yarnover and no further information.  Instead, the two yarnovers hang out together at the end of the round, and one is given explicit instructions on moving one of those stitches at the end of the intermediate round.  Also, the crochet-ing off is more complex than Niebling usually calls for.

I don't regret making this beautiful design, but I have no desire to knit it again.  I'd love to know who designed it, though, and also what else he/she designed.

Lavori 11 is a fun publication.  I was lucky enough to be able to get it when it was published, and I've never regretted doing so.  It's a mix of patterns by a variety of designers.  I've made at least 9 patterns from it so far and will undoubtedly make more.  A lot of the patterns appear in other publications, often German-language ones such as some of the Sonderheft issues.

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And because I feel like it, and this blog is just for me, I want to dither about doilies for a few paragraphs.

There's another old French-language pattern I'd like to do, but it's text only, no chart.  Also, some of the leftmost abbreviations are cut off in the copy I have.  It's a cute pattern, very Niebling-esque, with typical leaves and flowers and hex mesh.  It looks like it binds a bit in the outer rounds, which deforms the stitches in a way I find attractive.  Also, it has one do a crochet cast-off in the middle, and then pick up stitches and do an outer motif.  It's possible that the motifs wouldn't bind if they were allowed to be round or scalloped instead.

Dunno if it would be a fun experience or not.  I could also chart out the pattern, though that too might or might not be fun.

I'm also considering some of the patterns in Lavori 7.  I've done a few so far, but there are some larger ones that are intriguing.  I'd need to make sure I had enough thread, though.  And enough ambition/stamina if I choose one of the larger designs.

There are some other FdA patterns I'd like to do, too.

I do keep a list of doily patterns I'd like to make, organized in size from smallest to largest.  Some things drop out as my tastes change.  New things get added.  When I'm not seduced by an unexpectedly alluring pattern, I look at my list for inspiration.  I've knit a lot of doilies from that list over the years.

That's enough about doilies for the moment.  Other knitting is occurring but nothing is particularly photogenic or worthy of blogging about yet.

Back to the k5-togs!  The crossed stitches are calling!

Snowflakes and Cameras

Our household needs another camera. This post should have gone out over a week ago, except that I was waiting to get my hands on the camera and then transfer the photos over to the 'puter.

Not only do I need ready access to a camera, it would be nice if I could develop some skill in using it. Oh, well. That's another task for another time. I can see some improvement from when I started this blog. I suppose there is no Secret Photography Genius waiting to be unleashed here.

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Here at the Doily Underground, we do more than knit doilies. Sure, you all know that I knit other things. However, knitting is not the only thing I do. I spin. I dye. I braid. I weave (mostly narrow wares). Etc.

I also crochet. At this time of year, I crochet snowflakes. I have a serious weakness for crocheted snowflakes. Over the years, I've made dozens of them. I usually give them away, of course. Most people seem to think that they're rather cute, and not a sign that the maker is seriously unbalanced.

Scattered among this post are a few of the ones that are still around the house. I don't know if they'll stay here or if I'll pass them along to the next unsuspecting soul in need of a holiday gift.

My doily knitting habit provides the raw material for the snowflakes. I crochet them from the remnants of the threads I use for knitting doilies. The snowflakes don't take much thread.

I get the patterns from various sources. Some are off the internet. Some are from various publications one can find in the needlework stores, things from Dover or Leisure Arts and the like. One of my favorites is a German crochet magazine with a Christmas theme. Someone kindly gave that to me a few years ago. I try to restrain my buying habits, because how many snowflake patterns can one household absorb? (Let's not get into my knitted doily pattern collection.) I probably have a few hundred different snowflake patterns scattered among the various booklets, magazines, and internet print-outs.

Snowflakes are quick to crochet. They rarely take more than an hour per flake. The ones I do are usually less than 6 or 7 rounds. They're excellent stress relief. It's fun to have something to show for such a small amount of work.

After I've done a pile of them, it's time to get them ready for gift-giving. I prepare a blocking board, usually cardboard but sometimes styrofoam. I put plastic wrap on it so the snowflakes don't stick.

I prepare a blocking solution of Elmer's glue (or any white glue) heavily diluted with water. It doesn't need to be very gloopy. Then, I dump all the snowflakes in the solution until they're soggy.

I remove a snowflake, squeeze out most of the liquid, and carefully pin it out on the blocking board. I pin the points and anything else that needs pinning. I can manually stretch out some of the other parts of the snowflake if necessary.

After all the snowflakes are pinned out, I let them dry. (Big surprise, right?) After they're dry, I unpin them. I add a hook to a suitable point. The hook is often something simple like an opened-up paper clip. Then I give them away, except for the ones that hang around the house for a while.

I used to care passionately about realism in my snowflakes. They had to have exactly 6 points or they weren't worth making. Now I now longer care. They have to be fun to make. That's all.

What else do I crochet? Lace, of course. I like doilies, mostly the smaller ones. I don't like crocheted doilies as much as knitted doilies, but they're still fun to make when I'm in the mood. I include the amazing multi-motif crocheted tablecloth patterns in the doily category. I also have a weakness for lace edgings. In the yarn category, I find that crochet is good for afghans, cloths in general, some household items such as rugs or bags, and toys. I tend to prefer the elasticity of knitting for clothing items.

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A project report: Since my last post, all I've done is part of a sock.

It's another toe-up sock with a short-row heel. The yarn is a patterned yarn from Regia. It's very cheerful -- narrow stripes of red, blue, green, aqua, and black, separated by narrow bands of gray and white checks. It's very easy to count the rounds on this one!

I should probably do an afterthought heel to keep the color pattern looking good. Since these socks are for me, and since the sock-knitting is for stress relief, I'm not going to bother with that detail. I'd rather knit the sock in one piece, with only the beginning and ending yarn to darn in. A friend of mine was impressed at my ability to turn one long piece of string into such a complicated shape. I smile when I think about that. It is part of the magic of knitting.

I've also thought about doing a toe-up sock in the way that top-down mittens are made. I'd make the toe and foot from one end of the yarn ball. I'd make the heel from the other. I'd join the heel in as I got there, similar to the way that the thumb of a top-down mitten is joined to the hand. Maybe I'll do that for some future sock project. Or maybe not.

Since the photo was taken, I've done another few inches. I'm happily going 'round and 'round. I won't have to decide on the leg length for a while longer.

This morning, I managed to do another several rounds on my Icelandic yarn sweater. That had been waiting until I had time to ball up some skeins of yarn. I finally had the time to wind a few more balls, and thus I can continue for a while. This is the sweater of simple stockinette with a staghorn cable going up the middle of the front. I still haven't decided what the top part is going to be like. It might be a square-set drop-shoulder. It might be another raglan.

I'll try to take a photo of the sweater when I've done enough for it to look interesting.