Neither Hip Nor Funky

I find seaming strangely beautiful. I often procrastinate on the finishing because I would rather be knitting. However, I do love the magic of invisible seaming.

Mattress stitch is your friend. Whipstitch also sometimes makes it onto the friend list. I even let Kitchener hang with me. Some of those others (like setting in sleeves) are not so friendly. Luckily it was all whipstitch and mattress on this one.

All the hemming and seaming are complete on the Sunrise Circle Jacket. I still need to find buttons and attach. Well, I found the perfect buttons, but there was only one left….so I need to find it somewhere else.

The fit is different that I was envisioning; it is a little looser. It was a little disappointed at first, but it is quickly growing on me. I think that part of the initial disappointment was due to the fact that I couldn’t try it on as I knit. Therefore the picture that I held in my head of how it would fit was the picture of the model. Since I am not a tall, skinny model and am more of an average/medium size and not quite 5′4”, that was never going to happen. Crazy how that works.

I will have the FO photo shoot and post all the details this weekend.

After my super official drawing a name out of a Brooklyn cap, the winner of the Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed is….Lara

I’m finishing up the hems on the Sunrise Circle Jacket, so I will hopefully be seaming soon. There’s quite a bit of finishing involved in this one. As an extra bonus, you can see the dreary Oregon winter weather in the background.

Another bit of tweedy goodness has taken its place on the needles. This is the start of the Equestrian Blazer for my sister. I’m using Rowan Yorkshire Tweed in Hero. Although I loved using the Debbie Bliss for the Sunrise Circle and I think that it is great for structured knits, this yarn is less stiff and softer…making me want to use it for a cardigan for myself in the future.

*The template for Squidersons is now up in the sidebar.  Hopefully I’ll get the flower template up tomorrow.  (I left that drawing at work, so I wasn’t able to do it tonight.)

This yarn has been seen before on the blog in action in my Sunrise Circle Jacket, but let’s take a closer look at the tweedy goodness.

One of the best parts…look at that dye lot number. It saved me a lot of unnecessary worry.

I thought that I was going to run out of yarn. I had been worried about it since finishing the first side of the jacket. I started the back with less than 3 balls, and I was really beginning to fret. So I went on eBay to see if any of this discontinued color was available, and there were six balls of it. Just as a shot in the dark, I emailed to ask about the dye lot. It was 7712, baby, the same as what I was using. The price was cheap and I snapped it up. (My stash rules include buying yarn to complete projects. I am not trying to torture myself, just to re-evaluate how I spend and take time to appreciate some of the pretty yarn that I already have.)

I finished knitting the Sunrise Circle Jacket last night, and although having the extra saved me some stress…..I didn’t actually end up needing the extra ball. It was close, but I had about 5 yards left of my original yarn. So I am giving away the extra that I don’t need.

One ball of Debbie Bliss Aran Tweed to you. It is a fairly stiff, sturdy yarn…and oh so tweedy. It is enough for a cute purse, perhaps Twiggy tweed or a cute little cabled number. If you want it, just leave a comment that includes the words “tweedy goodness” before Sunday at 9pm Pacific, and I will draw a name.

(aka Another excuse for me to make a list)

When my WIP list is exactly how I want it, I feel satisfied and relaxed in my knitting. I feel guilty if I get too many things on the needles. Yes, I know knitting should always be pleasurable…that’s one reason that I try to keep my WIP list small and balanced.

It all started with my love of stuffed animals as a child; I could barely fit on my bed between all the stuffed animals. I had a couple favorites that I would hug while I slept. However, this led to me feeling very bad for neglecting the other stuffed animals, so, every so often, I would try to pick one of the others to hold as I fell asleep. Part way through the night I would always switch back to one of my favorites and abandon whichever poor stuffed animal that I had taken pity on…which, of course, I felt bad about afterwards. Because when you leave the room, you know that your stuffed animals talk to each other. And sometimes the “favorites” lord the fact that they are more loved over “the others”. (What? You didn’t know that. I swear that it must have happened. Why else did the others sometimes look so forlorn and the favorites look so smug?) Hence the cycle of guilt about neglecting inanimate objects. It is probably also one of the reasons I try to avoid getting knickknacks. “Oh poor Mr. Hummel you have been at the back of the case behind the ‘They call it puppy love’ Precious Moments for so long. I’m so very, very sorry.”

So I have to keep my knitting list small so that I can cuddle with each of them, and they each have their own time set aside for cuddling:

The ribbed sweater (Durrow)
This gets cuddled with during movies and car trips, basically anytime that I can’t be looking at my hands. When I get to the cabled sleeves, they will take over the cuddling time currently occupied by Pomatomus.

Pomatomus
One down. I knit these when I want to concentrate. Although the pattern becomes intuitive, you still need to look at it while knitting. (Well I do; you may have mad knitting prowess that I don’t possess.) These are normally cuddled with at the cafe at my LYS on Friday to wind down after the workweek and on Saturday mornings while listening to radio and podcasts.

Sunrise Circle Jacket
This one flips back and forth. I work on it during movies I have already seen or tv shows that I don’t need to follow closely, since I need to figure out increases and decreases every so often. Near the end of the fronts, there was a lot of counting,so I could only work on it while listening to radio/podcasts.

Travelling Socks
Stockinette in the round, baby! These go to work meetings with me and hang out in my purse to be pulled out if I have to wait in a line anywhere. Or, if like last weekend, when I follow P-funk blindly around a kitchen store as he shops for kitchen gadgets (me–not so much a cook). I am making a series of mis-matched socks out of my left-over sock yarns for P to wear cycling. This one is from the Trekking XXL leftover from my very first pair of socks. What to do with leftover sock yarn? Knit more socks.

If each of these categories are fulfilled and balanced like above, they each get cuddled with and everyone is happy. However, if the categories are not balanced, I get startitis and cast on for more projects, and my WIP list gets too long, and the favorite projects start lording their status over the forsaken projects, and…..the cycle of guilt over inanimate objects starts anew. A precarious balance, my friends.

(Picture heavy post)

Step 1. We can have lots of fun
Step 2. 2. 2. There’s so much we can do
Step 3 3 3 It’s just you and me

Okay since that is all I know of that song, I will move on to the actual tutorial

Supplies:

• Freezer Paper, black marker, X-acto, envelopes
• Cutting Board, Matboard, or cardboard
• T-shirts, bags, etc.
• Fabric Paint (You can use regular acrylic paint in place of fabric paint. It works fine but can sometimes be a bit flaky after washing)
• Iron

Step 1. Place the waxy side of the freezer paper down and draw your image. I will use P. Edward Squidersons II as a demo.

Step 2. After sketching the image, use black marker to fill in all the areas that you want the paint to go through.

(If you are using a pre-printed image, you will start at this step. Convert your image to black and white. You can then tape your image facing the waxy side of the freezer paper. You will be able to see the black areas that you want to cut out through the freezer paper.)

Step 4. Make a copy of your image. If you have a simple shape, you can skip this step.

Step 5. Start to cut out your image. Save any of the cut out white pieces in an envelope.

For example, I saved Squidersons’ eyes, head pieces, and the areas between the legs.

You can throw out the black areas.

Step 6. Iron on the main stencil of your image, waxy side down. Make sure you place the iron straight down. You are likely to peel up parts of the stencil if you move it back and forth how you would normally iron.

Step 7. Grab the copy that you made of your image and your envelope full of pieces. Refer to the copy as you piece your image back together like a puzzle, ironing each piece down as you go.

Make sure that you are placing the small pieces waxy side down so that they don’t end up sticking to your iron.

Step 8. Start painting. It is better to dab at the stencil rather than use back and forth brush strokes, which are more likely to peel up the smaller sections of the stencil. Make sure to use a fairly thin layer of paint. (I’ve found out that if you put on too much paint, it is likely to smear in the wash and give you a splotchy t-shirt.)

Step 9. Let the paint dry completely before peeling up the stencil. You can use a hair dryer to speed up this step.

Step 10. Heat set the paint by pressing on each section for 20-30 seconds with the iron set on high. (If you didn’t use fabric paint, you can skip this)

You’re Done. Enjoy looking suave.

A quick recap:

Freezer paper is quick and easy…oh and fun, of course.. The lines are more crisp than what you get with fabric marker, and it is quicker than screen printing, unless you want multiple copies.

A few options for use:

(Clockwise from top)
1. Have a food stain on your shirt right between your boobies? Place food there on purpose.
2. Have dress shirts that you never wear? Add some flair.
3. Have paint stains on a shirt already? Add a stencil image. It may not cover the stains; however, they now seem like they are just part of the charm of the handmade tee.

I hope this was useful. Let me know if you have any questions.

*Look in the sidebar in the next day or two. I will post a template for the flower in the bottom picture and for Mr. P. Edward Squidersons II.

EDITED TO ADD:
If you have any questions, leave a comment and I’ll reply.
I figured that I would answer a few of the common questions here also:

• Freezer paper is similar to wax paper, but it is only waxy on one side (this helps when you are trying to iron it down.)
• You can find it at most larger grocery stores. Smaller ones often don’t. (The ones in my neighborhood are small, so it took me three tries to find it. However, any major chain should have it.)
• Freezer paper peels off easily, leaving no residue. It seals well enough to create crisp lines but is not very sticky.

Edited to Add (4/7):

I have read that you can use the stencils up to 5 or 6 times with good results. (I haven’t tried this myself yet).