I've got to ask why...(I have a new mashup for you)

I've been back on with calligraphy for a couple months... the fourth time WILL BE a charm on gaining mad skills. 

but now I've got to ask...

With all the multi-media dabbling and doooing searching and experimenting.... why...

why...

WHY..

why haven't I tried to use my versamark reinkers in my dip calligraphy pen before and then emboss it?

WHELLL guess what I'm going to do now..

On to new heights with my card and envelope making then..

stay tuned.

good bunny good bunny hopping off to try my new mashup.

seriously - versamark reinker on your calligraphy pen and then heat emboss it!

Oh it'll be grand.

have fun peeps.

Suz

This crafty lefty just can't stop

I just can't stop wanting to learn about how to make things. I dredged up what little supplies I could gather, augmented the rest and bounded on my little pads at jack rabbit -or- caffeinated bunny speed to several videos and websites.  Wow, my eyeballs are dry. Yes, I'm talking about paper crafting!!!  I began by making gift boxes with style for birthday presents... and note cards.

Well, there is only so much you can do without certain tools. (((oh - why why why did I ever give up my old stamp pads and rubber stamps, stupid bunny brain)))...

I remember way way back   - no really -   way back when scrap booking hit the scene. I just didn't have the funding to indulge, so I didn't.  Oh the marvel of it all. And back then (similar to now).. I had a sense of a kind of a sadness of being left behind and watching my friends create and create and create. Wow and all their lovely tools and stacks of paper!! Oh Jeni, Oh Allie. you ladies are awesome at it.  I still possess EVERY quilled card that Jeni sent me. And I won't forget seeing Allie's scrap booking work room for the first time.

A couple recent recipients of my cards have said I should sell at the spring fling boutique at work...

hmmm...

hmm..

who knows - maybe, just maybe. I don't know... we'll see.

Suz

Finished Pat Williams design - with more Orthodox style and embellishments. Yes, I created the sheepherder - which didn't come with the pattern set.

Nativity finger puppets - made with my new sewing machine. 
And yes, I'm selling my faithful workhorse Bernina 1130.

I am part way through making the ITH Pat Wms Nativity finger puppets.  I have made a few changes so far to make them as Orthodox as possible.  Mary's mantle color for one, and I painted silvery-gray beards on Joseph and the wise men - the photo doesn't show very well.  Halos to come for Infant Jesus and Mary - maybe some glued on stars for Mary's mantle too.  Not going to do the cow - really.  but I will do a couple more angels, and more than just one sheep.  I will do some sheepherders using Joseph's pattern.  I am hoping that I can open the PES file in a stitch editor to incorporate some of these tweeks.  We'll see...   here's the progress:

Hope you all had a great Thanksgiving. Sus

OK - I skipped a formal dinner and spruced up my torn up but still soft and good on the feet - GEL MAT in the kitchen.  It was $18 dollars three years ago... and being a cheap bunny I decided to fix it up instead of buying a new one.  Before / during / and tada photos!!  Yes, that's black duct-tape covering the rips in the mat.

Sew... it fought me most of the way.  I ended up stopping my edge stitching and basting the old mat to the new black vinyl, then continuing with the oil cloth edging.  I did have to roll it up as I sewed, and used a tiny pokey stick tool from Harbor Freight on the corners to get it under control as I sewed. What a bear!  This was way worse that sewing that lead lined X-ray dental vest.  But that's another story.

Costs - Oil cloth edging - I don't know an eighth of a yard - maybe a dollars worth (I have a bit because I have been making kitchen appliance covers out of it - no photos yet of the collection b/c only two are done and I have a couple more to go).  The black textured vinyl was on sale at Hobby Lobby.  I think I paid five for a half yard.  So six bucks.  Much better than another $18.  AND it coordinates with my kitchen.  Saved 12 dollars on the DIY.  M&L has 20% off for the next week - I'm should go buy more oil cloth to finish the kitchen. I need more duck cloth anyway to finish Vlad's BBQ cover.
Lello cover - done
mixer cover - to do
Blender cover - to do
NuWave cover - done
toaster cover - to do
knife block cover - to do -Oooh - maybe I'll use the left over black textured vinyl for this - yeeeessssss. with a cool red metal zipper up the front to get to the scissors easy.

Just wait a month or so because I will be making swags with jabots and chevrons for the front room windows - or getting a baliage on my hair - depends how much money I have and how well my own DIY hair project hidden color test turns out tomorrow.

Outta here - time to hit the pillow and start drooling.
Spakoine Nocche as Vladimir says.

Kitchen Cafe curtains - finally

I completed my kitchen cafe curtains this weekend. Yay - happy 4th of July 2014!!

Now my husband and I can actually eat our meals with a bit more privacy when we want the window and blinds open for fresh air.  No more lookie-loos from the passers by between the 4-plexes. Goodness gracious, it sure seems everybody looks up to our kitchen window (we're on the 2nd floor) as they walk on the sidewalk below ALL THE BLOODY TIME when we are having our dinner.

List of ingredients for the 3:1 valence and 2:1 tab cafe's.
1 - 6 foot window [duoh]
2" wide grosgrain black ribbon for the tab tops [2 spools from Hobby Lobby]
6 yards print fabric and 6 yards lining - rail road cut so there are no seams to cast shadows [I love M&L fabric's prices]
1- decorator rod with clear bubble finials [under 12 dollars at Family Dollar Store]
1- 74" redwood furring strip for the valance (stapled with the pneumatic stapler - it was soooo fun!) [ 1 dollar from Ganhal Lumber] mmmmmmm air-tools.  so cool.


Next up... two cushions for the chairs, and a new vinyl cover for my gel mat that has many rips in it.
I'm somewhat torn between actually having dinner or sewing first.

Toodles for now - Suz

bare fingernails before cutting short in March 2012

Those two photos were from March 2012.  It took me from Jan 01, 2012 to get them that long.  In April I cut them dead short for a temporary job in the food industry.  I started growing them out again at the end of June when the assignment ended.  This is where I am at now Aug 4...

This was July 2, 2012

Comparing July 2 to Aug 2 they actually grow pretty quickly in a month.  I regularly manicure to offset my clumsiness - and so the knitting yarn doesn't snag on my nails. I tend to rush around and break my nails on things like drawers, doors, handles and reaching for pots and pans or the worst is when the bread board slips from my fingers snagging a nail corner on the way down (((ouch))). Biotin pills from Costco daily helps to keep them nourished and to withstand some of the rough and tumble things I get myself into.

I'm just a girl that likes girly girl things.
Have a lovely weekend!

KE-2400 MANUAL

Hello fellow owners of the Juki Hi-Memory Singer KE-2400 Memo Matic knitting machine...
Here is the manual (10.1mb file) on pdf:
https://docs.google.com/open?id=1vSNTVhiOI1MmkouXV1myE_WEPZlDpcFKH3h_aTkldVjjasvGrlBCpywKfb4C

Look for the accompanying Learn as you knit book in a week or so after I scan it.

Enjoy!
toodles & God bless - Suz

standard bed MK socks flat bed tip: instep stitch protector when doing short row heels

Use a piece of spare punch card as a damage blocker when knitting short row heels. This will protect the instep stitches held in "F" or "H" position from being felted by repeated passes of the carriage brushes.

I sliced off a couple inches of punch card from the roll and punched a hole row. Yes that is a pun and a twisted use of the word whole. Then I inverse curved the sides and hung on the needles I needed to protect against felting after pulling them into holding position. You can either cut the sides or fold. I've done both in the photo for your benefit.

The punch card stitch protector works better than tape, file folders, or whatever else for ease and speed because the pre-drilled guide holes help you punch each hole to line up directly with the needles. It beats removing the stitches to a holder or WY and rehanging. Each punch card protector can last at least one pair. I base this on my very thin, almost velum, roll of punch card material.

FLOSS YOUR SOCKS! tutorial link youtube no sew flat seam machine knit socks

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W3GrluyVWM
no sew flat sock seams single bed machine knit.wmv

FLOSS YOUR SOCKS!
This is a 12 minute tutorial of an idea that came to me after stitching up side seams on socks that I knitted on my single bed (I don't have a ribber) standard knitting machine. Titled "no sew flat sock seams single bed machine knit"

I concluded a few improvements after completion:
1. that it would be better to come from the bottom with the dental floss bobbin instead of over the top and down.

2. it is not necessary to knot the main yarn being pulled through the edge stitches - just be sure to have enough length to make sure it doesn't come un-threaded from the dental floss leader. This way there won't be a yarn knot to hang up while coming through the edge stitches.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4W3GrluyVWM

Samantha Socks

this is a medley of hand knit and machine knit techniques

I goofed up on the lace pattern on the machine. However, it turned out easier to replicate in the hand knit section on the foot. So it worked out easier.

Now that I know what NOT to do on lace knitting on the machine I think I've got it a ok going forward.

I made my own punch card for the slip stich heel, and worked out the methodology for it. ODD no. sts (so each end is slip stitch) watch the side tension - DONT pull the side stitches tight.

Suz.

youtube link for a short tutorial: speeding up your dutch-heel slip/knit work

http://www.youtube.com/user/susiefreckleface?feature=mhee#p/a/u/0/Iaqs49fXaQA

roflmao

Hippie child socks - ages 4-5

size 3 Kollage Yarns square dpns.
8sts (7.75sts) and 12rows per inch guage.
Regia stretch - Partie

c/o 41
knit 1 row
divide onto 4 dpns 11-10-10-10
to join - slip the end st over the 11th st on opposite end.
proceed as normal

CUFF 10-10-10-10:
10 cuff rounds - k1 p1

LEG 10-10-10-10:
20 stockinette rounds

HEEL FLAP ROWS:
slip st heel flap 20 sts, 20 rows

TURN HEEL ROWS:
sl-1, k2 past ctr, ssk, k1, turn (5 left)
sl-1, p5, (ie. purl 2 past ctr), p2tog, p1, turn (5 left)
sl-1, k6, ssk, k1, turn (3 left)
sl-1, p7, p2tog, p1, turn (3 left)
sl-1, k8, ssk, k1, turn (1 left)
sl-1, p9, p2tog, p1, turn (1 left)

GUSSETS:
pick up 10 gussets
knit the gusset pick up round twisting the pickups [and my secret slip/pass/over to eliminate gusset hole]
distribute stitches 18-9-9-18 and count the center bottom as your round markers
gusset decreases are on alternate rounds
round 1, 3, 5, 7, 9, 11, 13 are mirrored decrease rounds
round 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12 are knit rounds
at end of round 13 redistribute stitches to: 10-10-10-10
(from 11-9-9-11)

FOOT:
25 foot rounds 10-10-10-10

TOES:
toe decreases mirrored alternate rounds until 2-2-2-2 then slip one in middle over other in middle and put on two dpns = 3-3
thread tail through 6 sts, pull, weave, cut.

TIPS:
when ssk decreases - slip the 1st onto right needle normal through front to back, BUT... slip the second stitch by 'knitting into the back loop' but don't drop it off - merely fudge the tip of your left needle into the 1st slipped stitch as if to pick it up , yarn over - and knit them tog. Doing this flips the underlying slipped stitch so it lays almost as flat as a k2tog.

Chandler's preemie socks

Chandler’s preemie socks


Preemie socks on five dpns.
For a quicker knit-up use four dpns on the leg portion; switch to five dpns at the gusset rounds through the foot and toes.

You'll notice that at the heel flap you begin with slip one and purl across... That is because you divide for the heel flap by knitting the first twelve stitches of the round onto CONTRAST waste yarn - 4 rows should be fine... and then with your main yarn technically at the end of the round just completed, you purl back across the row (i.e. the last 12 stitches worked). When you pick up the slip stitches to make the side gussets twist the stitches by knitting into the back of the stitches and viola... no holes!!!

1. c/o 24
2. rib 1x1 10 rounds
3. stockinette 10 rounds
4. slip stitch heel flap will be 9 rows.
4a. knit 12 sts onto contrast WY - four rows will be fine.
4b. Now, you will begin the heel flap with a purl row and end with a purl row
s1 - purl 11, turn
*s1 - k1*, repeat across, turn
repeat these two rows for a total of 9 rows
5. turn heel:
s1 - knit 1 past center - ssk - k1 turn
s1 - purl 3 - p2tog - p1 - turn
s1 - knit 3 - ssk - k1 - turn
s1 - purl 3 - p2tog - p1 - turn
s1 - knit 4 - ssk - turn
s1 - purl 4 - p2tog turn
s1 - knit 5 and......
6. continue knitting in the round: pick up 6 sts anklebone, unravel WY and pick up instep sts, pick up 6 sts on other anklebone knit to end of round. count this as one round.
7. begin standard gusset decreases:
on odd rounds - decrease
on even rnds - knit
proceed gusset decreases to 24 sts remain
standard decreases at anklebone gusset: k2tog, knit to other anklebone gusset and ssk.
8. stockinette to round 36 or 5/8 inch less than desired length.
9. begin standard sock toe decreases:
on odd rounds - decrease
on even rounds - knit
decrease rounds: k1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts of instep, k2tog, k1; k1, ssk, knit to last 3 sts of sole, k2tog, k1.

proceed with the toe decreases until 12 sts remain
10. end with knit round and kitchener when 12 sts remain. Weave in ends.

Enjoy!
Suz

getting around to it

seriously a dishcloth design for those of us who need to get a round to it.
so here's your round 2 it.

DIY video latch hook tool from knitting machine needle

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UM3eVYb3Nuo

MELKITE MITTENS CHART

Just reworked the chart: MELKITE MITTENS

testing testing

6-17-09 - test blog