Most years we have the opportunity to take off or greatly reduce our workloads the last two weeks of the year. We focus more internally and work through personal projects. It feels natural when we honor it, the winding down of one cycle as another begins.
This year, my creative fire caught just a few days before Christmas. We made it over to the LYS, Yarns, Threads & More, formerly Yarn Durango on Dec. 20th. I knew there was no way anything would be completed or shipped ‘on time,’ and didn’t worry, knowing whenever the gifts are received, they’ll be appreciated.
Rubies Wrap
I switched gears, put down some other things and focused on this wrap for my husband’s grandma. When we headed to the LYS, I had a scarf, shawl or wrap in mind and wanted it to be red. Grandma gifted us her portrait one year, and she looks vibrant in a red top. Not to mention, she lives in Razorback Country.
The LYS had Malabrigo Rios in Cereza—Spanish for cherry, and an Argentine wine grape variety. I paired it with Plymouth Kid Gloss in Cherry. I’ve been kinda obsessing about mixing in mohair since I read Tin Can Knit’s posts about this layering technique. It adds softness, warmth, bulk and GLOW to the knit-work.
For the pattern, I turned to my trusty Japanese stitch bible, picked out ribbing for the ends that continued up the sides like a border, and a lacework pattern that reminded me of grape clusters to make up the body. I didn’t use the mohair in the border, dropping and picking it back up intarsia style. Guessing at the finished size, about 65 sts were cast onto 6mm circular needles, although the pattern is worked back and forth. It was completed in about 3 weeks. There were a few snafus, that only I will know about, like the fact that the pattern grew and shrank in width throughout and the last hank of yarn was a totally different weight!
Ears!
In the last knit round-up, Knit Wit, I wrote about the inspiration behind this hat. Before I even left the store, we were scanning ravelry for ideas and patterns both for the animal ears that stick up and the hat flap ears that hang down. Some time later I found and bought the earflap hat w/furry ears pattern by Larisa Vilensky. On a piece of graph paper, I charted out bunny ear shapes based off extensions from Larisa’s pattern but still had to make some adjustments on the fly as they ‘shaped up.’
What held up the wearing of the hat was that there was nothing to hold up the ears! I started down the path of playing with moldable plastics and was not satisfied with the results. I’ll eventually find another use for that material. The other option was plastic canvas, as I’d found a resource online who talked about creating their version of this exact same hat, using the canvas to stitch thru. The stitching created the shape and tension needed to perk those ears up. Just last week, I thought, “What have I got to lose?” and started trimming out canvas and stitching. The results were fabulous and the satisfaction almost instantaneous. Now I wear those ears with pride!
And here’s another ‘oops’ secret I’ll let you in on, the ears are backwards. The hat pattern is meant to have 3 textured diamonds in the front and two in the back; but when I went to curve the ears, I wasn’t paying attention. I don’t know that anyone but me will ever notice…
Sparkles
About this time last year, I shared a post that included some of my jewelry designs. Over the recent break, I finally got around to re-working this bracelet. A dear friend gifted me with a Lulu Dharma wrap bracelet in labradorite several years ago for my birthday. What really was the most meaningful thing about this piece of jewelry for me (besides the gift giver) was its namesake, whose brand translates as ‘Whimsical Purpose.’ I wore this practically non-stop for maybe three years? Wear and tear had popped the fastening button off, and I’d reattached it. The threads holding the beads was starting to fray, a few beads had been chipped or shattered and fallen off, and the leather cord was disintegrating; so it was time to recycle it.
I pretty much copied the original design in a wire version. This wire I think is used for welding and is pretty flimsy. So far I’ve only lost one section of beads and am doing a better job of taking it off to sleep or bathe/soak. Found the chain and fastenings at my local bead store in Durango, Beads & Beyond.
I’ve been trying to think of a way to show off this necklace design, and now that we’re talking jewelry, this seems the best time. Last year my husband and I celebrated 20 years of marriage. To honor the occasion, we picked out this stunning pendant by Navajo artist, Albert Jake on Southwest Silver Gallery, which is actually locally owned/operated. The design problem was finding a necklace that I liked to hang it from. I’m still looking to find an option by another talented, regional native to support local craftspeople. In the meantime, I set out to create the necklace as seen in my mind’s eye.
Wouldn’t you know when I walked into the bead store in Durango, it was a trunk show day. During a trunk show the place is festooned with a rainbow of gemstones. Walking around with my pendant, looking for the perfect matching shade of blue, I found it in a hank of Afghan turquoise heishi beads. I love the look of hanks and really just want to buy them all to restring as-is and wear a big ole rope of beads. I asked the people behind the counter for tips to create that look. They recommended stringing onto fishing line and had almost all the components on hand. What I had to return for was the finishing cones since I didn’t really know what the diameter of the finished necklace would be. On a separate trip I found some handmade Thai silver cones that just barely fit, and finished off this masterpiece perfectly.
WIP: Sampler Poncho
This was one of the projects I set aside when I focused on the Rubies Wrap. On two separate trips, I bought these cakes of Arenaria yarn from EY Select in Primavera from the yarn store in Silver City, which sadly no longer exists and also means they’ve been hanging out in my stash for a few years. I got the idea to design another poncho, but I knew there wouldn’t be enough of this one type of yarn. I also wanted this yarn to be a big-ole cowl-like neck on the poncho. Jessica Cooper’s Square Sampler Poncho pattern for a crocheted poncho is crafted in sampler style squares and then assembled. Aha! I could find fun knit patterns to try out from my Japanese stitch bible, and I could switch up yarns for even more of a patchwork effect. So on that December trip to the LYS, we found a couple of shades of Malabrigo Rios that compliment the sage to forest green of the Primavera and reserved the last cake for the neck embellishments. Seven of sixteen squares have been crafted so far. It’s fun to run through a square in just a day or two and try a new pattern the next day.
There are a few more things I completed or am working on knit-wise, but they are related to gifts, so I’ll keep them ‘under wraps’ till they’ve been gifted. Then I’ll be sure to share them here, too; and maybe they will inspire and fuel your next creative holiday.