Uncategorized – Jan Atherton

All Or Nothing…

Modified Cruden Vest

Ever waited ages for a bus and three arrive at once? Well that is sort of what happened with my knitting projects! For the last couple of years I have been trying to complete some of my UFOs, only allowing myself a new cast on if I need something for travelling that can be worked on in between other things.

The vest is a very modified version of Ysolda Teague’s Cruden design, the numbers for the cast on and the motifs used are pretty much the same, however I changed the original scoop neck into a v neck, which works better on me and I made the ribbing a bit deeper to give me a neater, more late 1960’s/early 1970’s fit, similar to the one in the photo of Steve Marriott of the Small Faces, photographed by Andrew Maclear (not Gered Mankowitz, as I originally thought) that was the inspiration for the vest. The vest isn’t a recreation of Steve’s vest, the photo is a bit too dark and indistinct to do that, but I loved the cropped proportions and the dark background with brighter motifs and wanted something with a similar feel.

I cast the vest on in the summer of 2018, but it sat in a bag knitted up to the second set of wider motifs for a couple of years,then I knitted it up to the underarms in April this year, then finally I dug it out about a month ago and just finished it off! I knitted the upper body flat and in sections and used a 3 needle bind off on the shoulders, as the fit is quite close and I wasn’t 100% sure it would fit, so I wanted to be able unravel it and reknit it, if it was a bit tight around the bust, which I wouldn’t have been able to do if it was steeked. Now I know how many stitches I need for a similar garment in Fair Isle, I can maybe try steeking another time, but I also like that the edges are fully finished by knitting it this way.

For anyone interested in the colours used in this project, I used Harrisville Shetland in Midnight as the main colour for the background and ribbing and the rest of the colours were all Jamieson & Smith’s 2 ply Jumper Weight yarn in the following colours:

FC41, FC37, FC34, 123 mix, 20 and 14.

Cruden

Lightweight Hipster Shawl

The first scarf is Joji Locatelli’s Lightweight Hipster shawl, knitted in a lovely merino fingering weight yarn that was hand dyed by Sarah at Another Crafty Girl – this was deep stash from about 2013, I had thought a while ago about making socks with it, but I think this was a far better way to use it. The shawl was written for a similar base and I was able to use every last scrap, the original has fringe, but I’m not sure I have enough to add it and I quite like the edge without it. I’m not sure if Sarah still dyes yarn, or not, but this was lovely to use, the colour is called Blueberry, but it is more of a soft cobalt blue.

https://www.jojiknits.com/product-page/lightweight-hipster

The second scarf is Gudrun Johnston’s Tarra, from the 3rd book in her Shetland Trader series. I also used Jamieson & Smith’s 2 ply Jumper Weight in this project. I used colours 203, FC37, 21 and FC56.

The cowl is the Torshavn cowl by Susan Crawford, I used Sunday Knits Nirvana 3 ply in Ocean and Brown Sheep Naturespun Sport in shade 730S/Natural. The Brown Sheep yarn is slightly thicker than the Nirvana, but both yarns are super soft against the skin and lovely to use. I only had a 20g mini skein of the Nirvana, so I left off the narrow contrast edging on the cowl, but in the end I think I could have done it, maybe next time! If you want to try a colour work project for the first time, this would be a lovely one, it is only two colours and the floats are small – it would be perfect with handspun yarn, either fingering/sport weight too! 🙂 I have linked to the Blodini cowl, which uses the same basic stitch pattern, I think I originally purchased the pattern on Ravelry, however as I can only spend a short amount of time on ravelry, due to migraines, I prefer to share a link to Susan’s blog.

Pattern – Blodini

Tarra

Torshavn

Link to inspiration photo of Steve Marriott:

https://www.pinterest.com/pin/479914904058947763/

Twist and turn as you walk and learn…

Ashford e-spinner with hand dyed merino/nylon singles.

This year I decided to put both my Christmas and Birthday money, from my family, plus some savings, into buying an Ashford e-spinner 3. I finally had enough money to purchase one in June and ordered it from Halcyon Yarns, who are based in Maine. It was back ordered and originally it would have been due to arrive in August, but Halcyon were able to keep it for me until we arrived back from visiting family in the UK during August. Their customer service was excellent!

I decided not to do any kind of unboxing and I wanted to spend time trying out a few things and getting used to it before I wrote anything about it. There are some wonderful videos out there by Angela aka Rainbow Ange at Yarn ‘n’ yarns, Rachel Smith at Welford Purls and Felicia Lo Wong at Sweet Georgia, all three videos were very helpful to me when I was setting up my e-spinner. I will post the links to these videos at the bottom of the page. The title for today’s post comes from Deacon Blue’s song Love’s Great Fears.

Felicia and Rachel both talk about their experiences with both the Ashford e-spinner and a few of the other e-spinners that are currently on the market. I found that my initial experiences with the e-spinner were very similar to those experienced by Angela in her video. The e-spinner had quite a strong uptake and I needed to reduce the uptake and to cross lace the flyer in order to spin a fine single that wouldn’t either drift apart, or be pulled apart by the e-spinner!

I have only used the e-spinner for a short time so far, but I like it for plying and for spinning smooth, worsted yarns. For spinning woolen yarns from rolags and long draw, I prefer to use my Lendrum, which has a gentler uptake and I have the ability to gradually slow down using the treadles while manipulating the singles with both hands if needed. I think both wheels will work together well as a team and I like to have the ability to have different types of projects on each wheel at the same time.

I had the advantage of experience of both spindle spinning and treadle wheel spinning before buying my e-spinner and that helped me when I was getting started with the e-spinner. I think there would probably be a steeper learning curve if using an e-spinner was your first spinning experience, spindle spinning teaches you to be able to draft and gives you time to study your yarn to see how much twist you need and you can easily take out any extra twist too. The Lendrum introduced me to the effects of changing the uptake, tension, speed and to using different whorls to create different yarns, however don’t let that put you off trying an e-spinner out if you can, they can be a very accessible way to spin, especially if space is limited, or you find spinning on a conventional wheel, or spindle is painful, or uncomfortable.

Take the long way round

One of the things I like about social media is that there are many different ways to share information about various crafts out there now, that just did not exist even 10 years ago. I feel like even though I have been making things for a long time, that there is always something new to learn, however I also feel that I still use a lot of trial and error when making things as well and some people don’t always share that part of the process, they just prefer to skip that and not show the effort involved, or how to correct mistakes, which can be disheartening, especially to someone new to the craft. This is where forums come in and blogs, I still love knitting blogs, even though they are not always updated now.

Visual representations like charts, diagrams and photos help me the most, followed by videos, or someone showing me how to do something. Others prefer detailed written instructions. As far as patterns are concerned, I like to have both types of information available, just so I can double check just to make sure. I’m teaching myself how to knit toe up socks just now, so that I can get to the point where I can either knit a basic pair of socks either way up without a pattern, or looking down at my knitting as often, this year is about improving the way my knitting flows. I want to be able to make things that fit based on my own measurements, or to customise patterns to fit in the same way that I have done with some of my sewing projects. I have also just finished spinning up some BFL/Yak/Alpaca/Camel/Silk blends, possibly for a cowl, or a shawl, once they are dry, I can do some sampling to decide what lace patterns I want to use. This photo was taken after plying, but before washing the skeins.

Over the years I have changed the way I knit quite a lot, for many reasons, firstly to improve tension. I used to knit very tightly, I had a death grip on my yarn sometimes which made for wonky stitches, as the yarn got stretched out. Secondly to make it more comfortable to knit for longer periods, I learned to switch over to my left hand. I write and draw mostly with my right, so now I feel like my hands are more evenly balanced. I haven’t really shown that anywhere, but I think that is because I’m wary about doing so, I know my knitting and purling looks odd when people see it and I have seen some odd reactions to it, which is one of the reasons why I think I have been reluctant to video it, but I know it is something that is more comfortable for me long term. My knitting and purling look very similar, the main difference is in the way that the needle goes into the stitch, when I knit the needle goes under the right leg of the V from front to back and to purl the needle goes under the right leg of the V from behind to the front and the yarn is wrapped over the front of the needle to the back for both knit and purl, if that make sense.

I think I’m more of a process knitter, I do want the finished object eventually, but it is more about the time spent enjoying what I’m working on and learning the skills along the way, to make what I want look the way I would like it to. I often have to alter patterns, so over the next few years I feel like I want to explore more resources for adjusting the ones I have and for writing a few things for myself from scratch. I have thought about writing up a few ideas, but I know I prefer to make things rather than promote them, I don’t enjoy that bit! It is a long term goal along with spinning some yarns to go with them and recording that process/progress as well. I love seeing everyone’s Make Nine’s on Instagram, there are so many gorgeous items made every year, but I know that planning everything that far in advance doesn’t always work for me. What kinds of knitting websites do you enjoy and what kinds of instructions work for you?

A Small Change of Scene

Please note that from today, Tuesday 28th of April, Ten storey love song’s web store is now at the following address:
https://tenstorey.square.site/

I am working from my small home studio, while homeschooling my son during the current lockdown, commissions are welcome based on a an estimate and materials deposit.

This design was inspired by the colours of the ceramic pendant which was made by my friend Lisa Peter Russ. The necklace was created by me using bead crochet and a mix of Czech and Japanese seed beads.

Bend Me, Break Me…

Bending my brain trying to work out how to draft a fitting sloper and fitting block based on my own measurements. I would love to see if I can use it as a base for other designs of my own. I have been following Suzy Furrer’s Blueprint class and enjoying that, but my computer keeps crashing, so my drawing is still at the halfway stage – I’m not sure how much of it can be seen in the photo, I am working lightly in pencil, so I can rub it out easily.

https://www.instagram.com/p/B9o4J69Jsf-/

The Muslin and drawings on the left are ones I decided to drape for comparison, firstly on Audrey, my dress form, then adding alterations on top for me. Have you ever made a sloper? Did you find it useful, difficult, or easy?

I’m enjoying two you tube channels’ just now one is called Sew Custom and the other is The Closet Historian, Suzanne and Bianca have very different clothing styles, but both use fitting blocks based on their own measurements to design some beautiful clothing for themselves that fit really well, as they are based on their own measurements. Which is something I would love to try to learn to do.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jmVbt0jl9A8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4UnU4nGrScE

Phases

I have had this idea percolating in at the back of my mind for quite a while now, though I have had serious beader’s block for quite some time, combined with having sporadic beading time over the last few years.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZKcl4-tcuo

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iYYRH4apXDo

After David Bowie died a few years ago, I thought about making a series of beaded pieces inspired by two of his songs Life On mars and Space Oddity and I started gathering cabochons and stones that looked like they either could have been found on distant planets, or washed up on shore, or were covered in divots and small craters. My friend Lisa Peters Russ has been making some ceramic cabochons that looked perfect for this project. The project was put on the back burner due to work related projects.

When Gary Lightbody and Snow Patrol released Life on Earth recently, that rekindled my desire to work on the series, the song fitted so well with the other two.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XqYWcp1JH7Y

The designs will employ a combination of different free form beadwork techniques, including bead and thread embroidery, peyote stitch, herringbone stitch, bead netting, Chenille stitch, Albion Stitch, right angle weave and CRAW and appropriately enough Hubble Stitch. There will also be bead crochet, wire work and maybe some chainmaille in the mix too, who knows. There will be photos showing sketches and progress photos, as I go along – if you are sure you want to know how my warped brain works! Some will be wearable, others may be art pieces, we shall see…

To get you in the mood I had a little fun last night making the modern equivalent of a mix tape – a playlist from Google Play. These are some of the songs I have been playing regularly as I bead, it is just under 2 hours long, but I hope it gives a feel for the project, which will be open ended as long as I can think of new ideas for it.

https://play.google.com/music/playlist/AMaBXynegh6sc_DJwtWlvPJT9aq04On0e1_hr6XJFkyzEocRf7lPW7bUZs2gYmUXjHfAs5BxJ-FVMM6lpiY6OudFVGZ6tlId1g%3D%3D

This is the track listing for the Playlist:

1. French Navy – Camera Obscura
2. Girl From Mars – Ash
3. The Girl Who Fell in Love With the Moon – Boo Hewardine
4. Tonight We Fly – Divine Comedy
5. Rhymes of an Hour – Mazzy Star
6. The Universal – Blur
7. Woke From Dreaming – The Delgados
8.Tonight, Tonight – Smashing Pumpkins
9. The Moon Is Mine – Fairground Attraction
10. Mykonos – Fleet Foxes
11. Desire Lines – Lush
12. Iceblink Luck – Cocteau Twins
13. Sixth Sense – Imelda May
14. Damaged – Primal Scream
15. Life On Earth – Snow Patrol
16. In the Frame – Del Amitri
17. Pink Moon – Nick Drake
18. Moon on the Rain – Fairground Attraction
19. Solid Air -John Martyn
20. Side – Travis
21. Moondance – Van Morrison
22. Guiding Star – Teenage Fanclub
23. Edge of the World – Kevin McDermott
24. Space Oddity – David Bowie
25. One of a Kind – Naomi Bedford and Justin Currie
26. Life On Mars – David Bowie

This side of the Morning…

One of my Facebook friends, Andrew Thornton, recently challenged his friends to blog more again, he had always enjoyed blogs, but had noticed that many of his favourites were not blogging as often as they used to. I’m terrible at keeping up with mine, but I thought it might be fun to try posting about what I’m working on, especially as my focus is changing a bit. I hope you will visit Andrew’s blog too, his work is gorgeous:
http://andrew-thornton.blogspot.com/

Ewan and Jeremy were away with our friends Tim and Henry over the weekend, so I had my first day where I could just do my own thing in the studio for months. I wasn’t working towards a show, or anything for a website. The last thing I wanted to do was bead. sometimes when a hobby becomes work, then something else has to take its place when you need something to both relax and inspire you.

A lot of my recent crafting time has been spent either knitting and spinning a sweater, or sewing I think I’m becoming addicted to French seams, it hides all the gubbins and loose threads inside the garment! I want to learn to make more of my own clothes, so I have a few patterns I want to work on over the winter including 2 shirt patterns and even some underwear. If I want basic plain black and white it is fine, I love my Marks and Spencer’s basic t-shirt bras, but my size is difficult to find, in anything other than those colours. Most companies skip right past it, or they are over $40 for a bra if I can find them.

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaouljRHshj/?taken-by=janatherton

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaouElmnC5a/?taken-by=janatherton

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaWpUisncvg/?taken-by=janatherton

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaB6y7LHRju/?taken-by=janatherton

https://www.instagram.com/p/BaJ2farHfNF/?taken-by=janatherton

Stop the World, I’m Getting Off…

With everything going on around the world in recent weeks, I found the one way to stay calm and to unwind was to spin on my new wheel. I’m now finished with the singles for my shawl for the Windy City Knitting Guild challenge. I have plied about 2/3 of it and will do some more tonight. Now I have to decide what to make with it. Do I design my own, or do I pick a pattern that would be suitable for this gradient yarn?

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP34onAg_IW/

When I got into spinning a few years ago, I started with a Purple Heart wood supported spindle from Wanton Woolies. I love this spindle for very fine, short fibres, but sadly this company don’t seem to be around anymore, so I can’t post a link. The little bowl I use for spinning with this spindle is a little sauce bowl, I have a bead crochet project sitting in it just now, waiting until I have the concentration to work on it.

My second Spindle is a Rosewood mini Turkish spindle from Subterranean Woodworks. This one is tiny, it fits in the palm of my hand and weighs 0.56 oz when empty, but it holds about 1oz of fibre if you layer it on well. I love this one when I go traveling as it easily fits into my lovely knitting bag that my friend Doris made for me. I have some white alpaca on this spindle just now.

https://subterraneanwoodworks.wordpress.com/

https://www.instagram.com/p/BP79Rf9DjUI/?taken-by=janatherton

My third was a Scott Snyder Turkish spindle, this one is about twice the size and weight of the other Turkish. It can spin various weights of yarn and I love it for plying as well. I will often take 2-3 turtles from the smaller spindle and ply them together on this one. At the moment I am spinning some hand dyed silk hankies on this one, but this photo shows a previous spin of a Merino silk blend from Ashland Bay:

https://www.etsy.com/shop/SnyderSpindles

My fourth spindle is a beautiful drop spindle made by Mike King at Spanish Peacock. It is both beautiful, light and very easy to use. I love it for lace weight singles as it spins like a dream! This photo is from an older project, some of my own rolags I’m spinning up for a woven scarf, but it shows the steampunk style design quite well.

http://www.spanishpeacock.com/

In my next 2-3 posts I will post about some spinning and knitting podcasts that I love and I’m thinking of maybe adding a little bit about one or two books that I love – note, these mini reviews will be based on books that I have bought with my own money and have found helpful, or I have enjoyed unless otherwise stated.

The title of the post comes from the lyrics of this Stone Roses song, so don’t be too worried! Sometimes I need to take time to zone out, to work on something that feels comforting. Is there any of the things that I do that you would like to hear more about? Knitting, spinning, beads, crochet? I want to get into more regular craft blogging, but ideas would be welcome.

Do you think there is a theme going on?

Ewan has been going to an Art camp at Lille Street Art Centre this week, so I have had my mornings free and I have been working on a few things in between laundry and other tasks. When I was picking him up after class the other day, when I saw the interesting old lino floor:

So I decided to mix up some beads and bead up a chenille stitch necklace in similar colours, slowly graduating the colours from dark at the ends to lighter shades in the centre:

Then I dug out a knitting project I started before I went back to Scotland, the colours were very similar! I may have to frog this and restart it, I love how it looks, but it may be too small and I want it to fit me, not Ewan!

Lumpy Bumpies part 1…

My brain is a bit scrambled with everything that has happened in the last few days, so I made today a weaving day to clear my head.

I’m trying out something called collapse weave using some of the lace weight yarn I bought with my birthday money and some hand spun wool singles made from the merino Ewan dyed for me with food colouring a few weeks ago. It was a bit pale, so I blended it into some rolags with some other shades of wool, spun it up and now I’m weaving with it.

It won’t look the same once washed, it should form pleats, or gathers as the wool shrinks, while the cotton stays the same, in a similar way to a seersucker fabric would. It could be a disaster, who knows! Part of the fun is just trying it out for the first time. If it works out, I may try making a few scarves for the shop.