zeebee beanie

My zeebee beanie is finally done. I finished the knitting part at my usual pace and had fun with the short row technique. The construction of the hat is fun to watch develop as you knit. I also like the look of the completed crown. But I took weeks to get up the nerve to graft it together. If you read schmeebot's instructions on finishing this may make sense to you too. For me, I start quivering when I read, "should you stumble and mess up the last stitch." It doesn't much matter what comes next because all I feel is fear. My head knows this is silly. I mean, making a mistake while knitting will have very little lasting effect on my world. In fact I can always frog away and try again. Yes, my head knows this, but for my heart it's different.

If you are thinking of making a zeebee too, let me tell you, my heart was wrong! The finishing was fine, not perfect, but fine. schmeebot's writing assumes you are a knitting neophyte and therefore goes into great detail.

It is true, however, I had never done a garter stitch graft/Kitchener stitch. Now that took me some time to figure out. I started with the reverse stockinette graft two times before I finally figured out how to do do a garter graft/Kitchener Stitch.

I thought I would share my findings with you so that you too can do a reverse stockinette, AND garter graft/Kitchener Stitch! First I have embedded a YouTube video of the stockinette graft/Kitchener Stitch (for those of you struggling to teach yourself this stitch). For those who are already comfortable with this stitch scroll down to my table the shows you the differences between the graft stitches.

Grafting / Kitchener Stitch Table

Type	Prep stitches	Front Needle (1st)	Back Needle (2nd)
Stockinette	F - S1: aitP*on; B - S1: aitK*on	S1: aitK off; S2: aitP on	S1: aitP off; S2: aitK on
Reverse stockinette	F - S1: aitK on; B - S1: aitP on	S1: aitP off; S2: aitK on	S1: aitK off; S2: aitP on
Garter**	F - S1: aitP on; B - S1: aitP on	S1: aitK off; S2: aitP on	S1: aitK off; S2: aitP on
F = front needle; B = back needle; *aitP = as if to purl; *aitK = as if to knit; ** For this to work, ensure purl bumps are snug up against the front needle, and knit stitches are against the back needle. Repeat as needed! Picture of my zeebee beanie to follow. This beanie is supposed to be for me, but it doesn't suit my large melon head! So this zeebee will have a very limited life. But I am certain there will be other zeebee's in my future!

Vintage Mesh Bag

Pattern: Mesh Bag

Source: Gifts and Accessories by Beehive, Book 90. Pattern, p. 20.

Yarn: Elsebeth Lavold Hempathy (dk), Rose 006, Turquoise 008

Content: 41% Cotton, 34% Hemp, 25% Modal

Balls: 50 gm, 160 m (I used 2 and a bit to complete this)

Crochet hook: 3.5 mm (US E, US 4)

I finally made this bag. I have wanted to make it for years. I like how it folds down to fit into its own carrying clutch. My version is one row short on the mesh, but it was getting so large I knew it was time to stop.

I hope to give these colourful bags as gifts. They are sure to help reduce the use of a few plastic bags, and do so in style!

I plan to modify this pattern to use one ball of Hempathy. I am not sure it can be done. If successful, the finished pattern will be posted here. In the mean time you can download the vintage pattern. I believe Gifts and Accessories by Beehive, Book 90 is now in the public domain and therefore I can share. If I find out differently I will remove this link immediately.

Download the pattern for this mesh bag (pdf).

Designers List from Q17 0807

I am enjoying looking up the designers you posted in Quesiton 17 0807. I thought I would share the links with you too. Enjoy surfing!

• Victorian Lace, Jane Sowerby
• White Lies Designs, Romantic Knits by Joan McGowan-Michael
• Bittersweet Blog, Hannah Kaminsky
• Cookie A: Monkey Socks, Pomatomus, Hedera, Baudelaire, Red Herring, Queen of Cups
• Eunny Jang, everything
• Nancy Bush, socks and shawl
• Cat Bordhi, her moebius creations, felted bags and catbeds
• Wendy Johnson's toe up sock patterns
• Elsebeth Lavold designs
• Stefanie Japel's Glampyre Knits
• Friendly Sock Compilation
• Elizabeth Zimmermann (of course)
• Kaffe Fassett for his amazing colourwork
• Wendy's patterns on her blog Knit & Tonic
• Teva Durham, Loop-d-loop book
• Charlene Schurch, Sensational knitted socks, etc.
• Jenna Adorno on knitty.com - Anitfreeze, Blaze, Tempting, Tempting II
• Alexandra Virgiel at Artisokka.com - Alice, Ballet Camisole, Coronet, Fibonacci, Mesilla, Pasha the Penguin, Rose, Soleil
• Meg Swanson of Schoolhouse Press
• Dorothy Siemens of Fiddlesticks Knitting
• Norah Gaughan and her Knitting Nature book
• Jane E. Slicer-Smith of Signatur Handknits. Her Harlequin Jacket featured in Knitter's Magazine #85 (Winter 2006)
• Sivia Harding Knit Designs - Extraordinary Knitting Patterns
• Melanie Gibbons of Pink Lemon Twist - Hanami Stole, Swan Lake (a.k.a., Mystery Stole 3)
• Catalina Shawl by Gabriella Chiarenza(you can see I agree! Check out my KAL button)
• Veronik Avery (from Montreal no less!) Check out her Short-Row Hat & ZigZag Sweater. And she has a new book - Knitting Classsic Style.

Question 17 0807

Who is your current favourite designer?

My favourite these days is Hanne Falkenberg of Denmark. I appreciate her use of colour and texture. Some of her work looks so tailored. Take a peak at her Tweedie (below).

Special notice: This month I will be picking one entry, at random, to receive 2 hanks of Shelridge Farm Soft Touch Heather fingering yarn in Highland Mist (enough to make a large pair of socks). The prize winner will be chosen on Sunday, September 16th, 2007. If you would like to be included in the draw please send me your email address to fingersfancy at inbox dot com once you have posted your submission to the comments section of this post.

ETA: If you wish to email me, please put "[FF]" in the subject line (without the quotes). Otherwise your email will be lost.

Favourite Socks

Here are the re-footed socks I promised to show you.

I believe these are the first socks I knit. And now they are the first socks that I have repaired by replacing the feet.

Yes, the colours are not the same. I used remnant yarn - one is cream and the other is white. I used two strands of fingering weight yarn.

They fit my love perfectly and are certainly unique. They will continue to be a terrific pair of boot socks.

On Catalina

You may want to check out my post on the Catalina KAL.

It took SO long without my usual setup.

My favourite socks are up next... I just have to crop the picture and post.

See you soon! :o)

Still here

I must apologize. It has been a long time since I have posted anything to this blog. But don't give up on me. I have a bunch of stuff to post and plan to be doing so soon.

It is just that my computer died. Heat stroke I think. The other day I went to turn it on and it didn't make a sound. No familiar click or whir. Just silence and an acrid smell. I am taking her in to the computer hospital and hope to up an blogging soon. I will keep you posted.