Archive for September, 2009
Well, Hello There!
Monday, September 28th, 2009
Hi Readers!! And Hi from New Baby!
I’ve finished the Bulky version of the Fitted Raglan Shawl!
I’ll write a better post later. I’m in the coffee shop borrowing internet … and am supposed to be on my way to the hardware store for paint! New House is going well…figuring out some of the quirks.
Posted in Patterns | 3 Comments »
Pure Knits!
Saturday, September 19th, 2009
I just have to let you know about the wonderful new knitting book Pure Knits: Sophisticated Designs in Shades of White
from my good friend Yahaira! This book has been in the works for a long time, and I am so happy to see that it is now available to pre-order on Amazon! It’s a beautiful collection of knits from a group of very talented designers.
Here is the publisher’s description:
Whether creamy and warm or wintry cool, white evokes a sense of classic purity. Celebrate its astonishing variety with a collection of 25 stunning all-white projects for intermediate to advanced knitters, all made from the most luxurious yarns ever. From sensuous sweaters for women to adorable baby and children’s outfits to rugged masculine attire, these garments take white to new levels of excitement and opulence. Best of all, you’ll find that using white yarns only draws attention to the gorgeous textural details of each piece—the complex combinations of knits and purls, show-stopping lace, and sophisticated cables. The projects include: a delicate sleeveless tunic from luscious silk mohair and silk; a man’s cabled sweater; and an exquisite hat-and-bootie set that’s soft enough for baby’s tender skin and elegant enough to make a perfect shower gift.
Posted in Uncategorized | No Comments »
Spotlight on Mols … the Blue-Ribbon-Winning Knitter!
Friday, September 18th, 2009
A few days ago, I received this note in my Ravelry inbox:
I’m a twelve year old girl that has knitted your back to school vest. I took it to central Wisconsin State Fair and got Best of Show. I just want to thank you for making this pattern. It means a lot to me. Thank you!
Mols
WAHOOOOOOO! Congratulations, Mols!
Mols has graciously agreed to let me post a photo of her in her Fair-Winning Fitted Knit! Doesn’t she look great!?
The pattern can be found in my book:Fitted Knits: 25 Projects for the Fashionable Knitter
Posted in Patterns, events, press | 4 Comments »
My Princess
Thursday, September 17th, 2009
Isn’t she sweet? On this day, she had a cold and a runny nose, and she thought it would feel good to dump out the toy box and relax in a sea of toys.
Her speech is really blossoming!
The other day she put on her pink frilly skirt and said, “Tutu!” And while we were shopping for some new fall shoes, she said, “Mazie’s shoesies.”
In five short months, I’m going to have not one but TWO amazing kids. I’m so lucky. Every single day.
(No matter what state of torn-up the new house is in while we redo the cabinets. No matter how much junk there still is to pack and move.)
Mantra: I’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m luckyI’m lucky!!
Ok, I belive it now. Thanks for the interlude.
Posted in just chit chat | 2 Comments »
Online Classes…LOVE THIS!
Tuesday, September 15th, 2009
As you can tell, I’m totally engrossed in teaching my knitting class, and in preparing for the next one (Tshirt yarn class).
I’ve been working on more and more Tshirt yarns to use in my class project examples and their patterns:
I’ve already had some wonderful feedback on the shawl class.
From Dana:
I love the class so far! It’s such a unique approach to a knitting class- I can do it on my schedule and at my own pace, which is a great advantage when you have a busy schedule and can’t give up work time to take a knitting class when it’s scheduled in a store. This isn’t my first lace project, or even my first shawl project, but I am learning a lot of new tips and tricks just the same!
From Sammie:
I wrote about the class on my blog already! This class has been so truly enjoyable and such a good learning experience so far. I’ve learned so much about knitting from charts and find I really like it very much - so much more than written instructions. I’ve knitted lace before, but always from written out instructions. Charts have always kind of intimidated me - they look so complex.
To me, it is so much more practical to have a class like this than a “live” class where you might spend a couple of hours in class but you certainly couldn’t complete a whole shawl. I love being able to watch a video, work on a row and then go back to watch the next video when I have time. I can do it late at night when I can’t sleep!
From Kat:
I think this online class is brilliant. The information I have gotten is wonderful! I am enjoying knitting the shawl, and while my work schedule has been hectic, I am almost done with the first section repeats. As I work to beginning section #2, I am happy that Ste[f]anie is showing how to work the repeats and her knitting tips are wonderful.
Ah! Warms a teacher’s heart! 
Posted in Online classes | No Comments »
How to join a new ball of yarn to your project (video post)
Sunday, September 13th, 2009
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.
Posted in tips and tricks, video post | No Comments »
Fitted Raglan Shawl Pattern: Worsted Version
Friday, September 4th, 2009
Woo Hoo! The worsted version is finished, the pattern is finished, you can purchase it here and in my Ravelry Store!
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!
Posted in Patterns | 2 Comments »
Sock Weight Mirth is DONE!
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
Doesn’t it go well in our new house??
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
Class starts September 7, and we’ve already got a lucky 13 people! AMAZING! I never cease to be amazed by you guys.
Posted in Patterns | 1 Comment »
Turn old Tshirts into yarn and FOUR great projects (video tutorial)
Wednesday, September 2nd, 2009
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.
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.
Posted in gift knitting, video post | 4 Comments »
We bought a house!
Tuesday, September 1st, 2009
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!):
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!
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!