pockets for africa

dear friends,

there were questions about my plains shawl, the one i posted about last week, so i thought it best to 

answer them here, if it helps anyone, that would be great.

1. 'how did you find a needle long enough?'  i used a 38" circular needle, which held the one thousand

one hundred and fifty two stitches, just. if i made one again, a larger length would probably be a good 

investment for the hands. that many stitches bunched together can hurt.

2. 'did you make a mistake? and have to go back?'  no, luckily. and here's why. for all the rows up to

the lace portion, one stitch marker (to mark the beginning of the row) was all that was needed. and you only  have to pay attention on the increase and faux increase rows then, when the gull pattern began, i placed a marker every third repeat. the gull stitch is a seven stitch repeat, so every twenty one stitches a marker went on the needle. it quickly became clear that i wouldn't have enough markers. i only have about a dozen. so i went to a craft store and bought a few packages of jump rings. i needed fifty five total. the not so good thing  about this was, the fifty five markers were like adding fifty five more stitches and i really did wish for a longer needle then! 

3. 'are you crazy?' hee hee, i hope not. 

we have confirmed we will be visiting a himba village, while on our safari to namibia next month. it's necessary to have a guide take you, for language, cultural reasons, to bridge the gap. i'm so thrilled, it's been a long time dream. so i've begun making something to bring, to give. i started with the necklaces i showed a couple posts ago, but tired of working with itty bitty string and size zero needles. i need something a little quicker. so these pockets were born.

the himba of namibia

 i have a plan to add something small to each, a trinket, buttons, sea glass...

animals. african ones would be good.

i truly feel one the best parts of visiting other countries, is bringing gifts to share. because of the wonder of blogging, in 2009, we met african blog friends and the orphans of kazungula in botswana. i knit thirty five little hats (it can get very cold there), for these babies.  you can read about this here. 

now while i knit, i'm picturing more smiling faces i can't wait to meet.

~

if you would like to make a pocket i would love to bring it with me to deliver to the lovely himba.
there is still time (if you hurry). one pocket only takes about an hour. depending on what weight yarn
you use. there really is no pattern, but for those that would like to follow what i've made here are
my notes:

using worsted weight yarn and size 8 double point needles
cast on 26 stitches
divide on three needles, 8, 8, 9
join to knit in the round
knit 3"
knit 2 together all the way around
knit one row
using tail pull through 13 stitches.
crochet approx. 34" chain, attach to each side and single crochet
around edge.

if you'd rather knit this on two needles as a sort of rectangle and stitch it up, that would be great too.
no need to leave out the non dpn folk.

we're leaving in nineteen days. just to let you know (hee hee, i've been counting down
reminding everyone around me, sorry)  email me at:  lorix5@hotmail.com for my address, if you'd like to send one. i know it's a small thing, these pockets, but in many ways, it's a large thing indeed.

joining with ginny a bit early this week, happy yarn along!

fun with pockets ~ a tutorial

thank you so much for the sweater love. i'm happy that the pockets were liked.

if you'd like to try adding pockets to your knits too, here is a photo tutorial of how i've done it. ready?

here we go...



 here is what you'll need to make your pocket(s). i've used contrasting color wool for the inside, but if you'd rather keep to all one color, then disregard the second color. for demonstration purposes i've made a swatch. before cutting into your sweater, i would suggest always making a swatch to practice on

first, you'll want to determine where the pocket should be, then find the center on the sweater (swatch). it's easy to just look, but if you like you can add pins to mark the placement



 if you pull your swatch apart, you'll be able to see the stitches a bit clearer. do you see the double vertical bars? the upside down v?  choose one in the top center of where you'd like your pocket opening to be

 lift the stitch so you isolate just one

 see?

 now it's time for the scissors

 making sure you have just the one stitch

make (deep breath) the cut

 :)   okay, that was a bit exhilarating wasn't it?

 next, begin unraveling. delicately, pull the cut thread, from one side, then the other. (remember, your working from the center).

having already determined the length of your pocket,  only unravel as many stitches
as you want your pocket

 again, carefully, without pulling, pick up the bottom stitches. these will be the top of the pocket. do not cut the unraveled wool, these will be woven in at the end

 here we have nine stitches picked up. now turn your swatch over to pick up the stitches for the back

 now we're on the back side, picking up the stitches from the bottom (which is really the top of the pocket)
don't worry, if that doesn't make sense, i promise it will.

 you should have the same number of stitches, here we have nine on the front of the pocket, and nine on the back

now on the back, using a contrasting color if you like, attach your yarn to the first stitch on the needle, and begin to knit across the row.  here i used a silky merino held double. it's a good idea to use a yarn with a similar weight if you'll be adding a second color

 keep knitting until your pocket is the the length you want

 here is how the backside will look, see how the top stitches that you picked up are knit down?

 when you get to the desired length, bind off, and come back to the front

front of work, with the green hiding behind

see?

now attach the main color yarn to the first stitch and knit one row across

 then bind off, and the front is done

it's already beginning to look like a pocket  :)

now it's time to seam and stitch your pocket down

using the main color wool, split your plies and use one to sew with

starting at the top right corner begin seaming. you will of course be much neater than i am here,
the light was fading fast, and i wanted to finish up while it was still good!

but you can see what needs to be done. sew all the way around your pocket, picking up just the backside of the knit stitch. this is so your stitches won't show on the front. sometimes it might be necessary to split stitches. it's okay

now weave in all those left over pieces

 admire your bravery

it wasn't so scary afterall and now you'll have a place for your treasures. one of my favorite posts,
is about these things (treasures and pockets), and it's titled, very originally, pockets (there is knitting too)

if you'd like more of a hidden pocket, when your using a contrasting color, just knit the first two rows
on the back side with the main color yarn, then add the contrast

your friends will think you are quite clever. happy pocket making!

xxx lori

at the beach

i have discovered it's near impossible to blog, while at work or at the beach, where i've been most of the time. the surf is up here, luckily coinciding with a classic surf contest that i've been watching and taking a few pictures of. i'm on my way down to the finals this morning. my husband finished yesterday in first place in both divisions he was in, the masters and grandmasters, so he'll surf again today. just when he confided he might not compete anymore, chuck found new inspiration in the form of one small boy. travis, our surf crazy grandson. this boy is his most dedicated fan (well, there would be me...i have the starry eyes for him, but i don't run up and down the beach. anymore. hee hee). see where we are here.

i did want to share with you before i head out today, a coupon you might want to take advantage of, it's for a photobook at 'my publisher'. so sorry i wasn't on this sooner, it expires tomorrow, but you have ninety days to make your book once you buy the voucher. for ten dollars you can make a hard cover, twenty page book. i made a tutorial for bookmaking at 'my publisher' here. the link for the coupon is here. i think it's a great way to try it out. i hope you'll let me know if you do.

to the beach now!
love, lori

knitting color

i've made a swatch for demonstration, and a very short, under three minute, video to share
(nearly didn't post this, feeling kind of awkward here, who wants to hear their own voice. oh dear).

it wasn't as easy as it seemed, to make one. it's a bit like writing
on a typewriter, mistakes show! truth is i was self conscious, even though it
was only me at home! well, i hope these tips, if you haven't used them before,
will help you in your color knitting. that's the most important thing.

if you don't want to watch or can't, what i've shared are two tips that help
make fair isle, or color knitting, much easier.

the first is to work with short strands (i said cut yarn, but really
meant short strands!). the idea is to cut a yard or two at most, of
wool. this eliminates balls of tangled wool, bobbins or twistys. the
shortened strands practically undo themselves. i tried to show in the
video, but i couldn't drop the wool or you wouldn't have been able to see it.
it really does work though.

the second tip is to spit splice the ends as you go.
much less weaving at the end of your project. again, in the video
my hands were out of the picture somewhat,
but you will want to take both your ends, after separating
them about an inch. wet them in your mouth, then overlap
about a half an inch, pinching the wool together. then between
your palms, roll the wool until you have a nice felted bond.
(thank you bella for reminding me to say this will only work with
animal fibers, anything that is 100% will do).

i liked the first video i made much better (everything is easier to see) but it
didn't want to be published. i hope this one was some help, thank you
for watching!

joining with....