Dotted Rays Finish

I estimate the bind-off for this shawl was 450+ stitches. It wasn't quick but it is always satisfying to finish a knit project. 

Here it is before blocking. 

I love wet blocking to open up lace and create a little drama. 

See how those double-yarn-overs open up!

I love this shawl for its simplicity while knitting and the impact it makes as a finished object. 

My guess is this is about 250 grams and a good size. 

Now I all I need is some cooler weather so I can wear it. Details, including the pattern and yarn source can be found in my Dotted Rays Update post from July 2020.

Tools and Supplies (affiliate links):
Needles: Knit Picks Options Wood Interchangeable Knitting Needle Set - US 4-11 (Sunstruck)
Blocking mats: Balance From Puzzle Exercise Mat with EVA Foam Interlocking Tiles
Blocking wires: Knit Picks Lace Blocking Wires & T-Pins
Knit blockers: Knitter's Pride Knit Blockers & Pin Kit

Stitch markers: CLOVER Lock Ring Markers 20/pkg

Cranky Socks

This is where my alternate ball of yarn rests while I work the heel on a monster sock. This little epiphany has really helped me knit the heel faster and more accurately. This is possible because the yarn guide for the mini mast has slots for the entire yarn path.

What makes a pair of monster socks a pair? Usually the only thing that matches is the cuff. Otherwise, they are made with one to two row stripes of scraps of Knit Picks Felici in whatever color I happen to grab. No two socks are alike.

Sunday mornings, after we've had breakfast and Darling Husband has left for the market, I start the laundry, change the bed and bath linens, clean the bathrooms, and sit down to finish a pair of socks. Sometimes there are only two socks (like last Sunday) sometimes there are several pairs of socks. 

Finished monster socks! One of these days I'm going to post a bunch of these on Etsy for sale. I'll keep you posted. You could put scrappy on your feet this winter.

If you would like a pair of socks machine knit just for you, stop by my Etsy shop and send me a note. I'm sure we could work together to create your new favorite pair of socks. If you have some socks yarn and you don't have the time to knit it up, maybe a sock tube is something you would like to try. Send me a message through Etsy for that.

Making these on the circular sock machine is possible because I have these two optional attachments for my machine. I'm never going back to the stock yarn carrier. Split is the way to go.

Split Yarn Carrier by Chambord CSM

Hybrid Mount Mini Mast for Erlbacher Gearhart Circular Sock Machine

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Knitter's Pride Aqua Sock Blockers, Medium

Fiskars 7 Inch Softgrip Student Scissors (snipping yarn)
5 Pieces 5 Different Size Bent Latch Hook Crochet Needle Hook (picking up dropped stitches)
Cable Clamp PRO Cable Management 4 Pack (used in place of weight buckle)
Brightech Lightview Pro Flex - Hands Free, Magnifying Glass Desk Lamp for Close Work (lens removed)
Zibra PB100LZR Grip-n-Glide 1-Inch Round Trim Paint Brush (to clean lint/dust from machine)
24 Pack Metal Rectangular Empty Hinged Tins (hold extra machine needles)
addi Express Hook (picking up dropped stitches, hanging setup bonnet, finishing missed stitches)
Do4U Drinking Home Office Table Desk Side Huge Clip (I use it to hold the ball/cake of yarn while I crank but it could hold your drink, too)
BLACK+DECKER WM225-A Portable Project Center and Vise (this is my machine stand, slightly modified for a larger work surface)
RuMe Bags Baggie All (Aspen) (to hold my hand-finishing supplies: yarn needle, needle threader, scissors, Kitchener directions, stitch markers, etc)

Scrappy Quarter Cabin

Part 4: the scrappy finish.

I planned on trimming this quilt last week but didn't get around to it until Saturday. I cut my borders at 2.5" then trimmed them down after quilting. This helps me keep the border consistent all the way around after quilting.

I pulled out a bunch of 2.5" strips to make a scrappy binding. Scrappy bindings are generally my favorite and this was no different.

Such a happy scrappy binding! I even added a few more pieces before I was done.

I do love some swirls!

I finished the binding by machine because this quilt is going to get used. And, I wanted to be finished without having to sit under a quilt in the heat.

It is a great quilt! A special thank you to Christina Cameli and her blog A Few Scraps for this fun and free tutorial. I highly recommend her book Step by Step Texture Quilting. You can read my review in this post from July 2020 or check out the books section of her website to buy directly from the author.

Scrappy Quarter Cabin Part 1
Scrappy Quarter Cabin Part 2
Scrappy Quarter Cabin Part 3

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Creative Grids 6.5" Square Ruler
Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler
Tucker Trimmer III
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q
Quilt design software: Electric Quilt (used in this instance to calculate the number of blocks I would need for the size quilt I want to make)

Sunshine Crossbody Pouch

A friend mentioned the Sunshine Crossbody Pouch pattern from Bagstock Designs and I decided to give it a go. This is a free pattern with detailed instructions with color photos. You can also find a handful of step-by-step video tutorials on YouTube if you search for "sunshine crossbody pouch". I looked through my collection of vinyl, fat quarters from Spoonflower, and zips to come up with the perfect combination. This fabric Cephalopods world is still available on Spoonflower. 

On Friday I cut out all the pieces. Fabric, interfacing, vinyl, all ready to go. I buy my zippers from Zipit Zippers on Etsy. Great prices and excellent service. I may need to order some more.

I only had a fat quarter of the cephalopod print so I was very careful with my cutting to get just the right images in my center panels. 

Assembly on Saturday was pretty quick since I did all the cutting on Friday. I deviated from the pattern a little with the strap but that's just because I make my cross body bags this way and it works for me. The pattern is perfectly fine the way it is written.

Sewing with vinyl means I get to use my craft clips more than usual. I like them better for keeping some things lined up because they don't distort the fabric like pins can. 

This is a view of that interior zipper pocket and the fact that I failed to leave that zipper open while constructing the bag. There was some sailor language but it was unnecessary as it was really easy to grab that zipper pull and open the zipper from the lining side of the bag. It was super easy to turn the bag through that interior pocket. Maybe I should change my view on this kind of zippered pocket. 

Don't forget to label your work! Seriously, if you spend hours of your time making something put your mark on it. I mean it. 

And my finished bag! This was a fun little bag. I don't know that it would be my everyday bag (not that I carry a bag at all any more) just because it doesn't really have a convenient place for my phone. That outer pocket is big enough to hold your phone (I have the Samsung) but it isn't getting it into or out of that pocket. My ideal handbag includes a slip pocket inside that is big enough for my phone.

My favorite zipper supplier is ZipIt Zippers on Etsy
Free pattern Sunshine Crossbody Pouch from Bagstock
I buy my bag hardware from Strapworks.com

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Creative Grids 6.5" Square Ruler
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q
Pellon Flex Foam
Craft Clips
Heat'n Bond Non-Woven Feather Weight Fusible 20"x 25 Yards-White
SF101 Shape-Flex® (I was unable to find this for a reasonable price on Amazon. I recommend checking your local big box craft/sewing store.)
Pattern storage: Plastic Envelopes, Clear Reusable Poly Envelope Waterproof File Folder with Snap Button, US Letter/A4 Size

Cranky Socks

When I post my fresh-off-the-machine socks with the waste yarn still on the toe I often get asked interesting questions like "I'm so confused!🤦🏻‍♀️ How do these work?" Part of this is because some people don't know how machine knit socks are constructed. Here is a quick overview of the finishing process, which isn't very different from hand-knit socks.

The heels and toes of machine knit socks are constructed with short-rows on the machine by working half the stitches. After I remove the sock from the machine, I put the live stitches onto a pair of short circulars (I use Knit Picks 16" circulars, size 1). There are many circular sock machine knitters that don't do this. They just do the Kitchener stitch with the waste yarn still on the live stitches. I still haven't learned how to do it that way, and I'm pretty good at doing it this way so it is how I do it. 

Then I remove the waste yarn and pull out the long tail left for closing the toe.

Thread that tail onto a needle and close up the toe using the Kitchener stitch.

Finally, push the needle through one of the last stitches and weave through the short rows towards the toe and then back up. This locks in that tail so it doesn't come undone. I have close to 10 pair of socks finished this way that I wear daily (when the weather will allow). I have yet to have a toe fail.

Two finished toes.

Making a finished pair of socks. So much sock yarn, so little time. If you would like a pair of socks machine knit just for you, stop by my Etsy shop and send me a note. I'm sure we could work together to create your new favorite pair of socks. If you have some socks yarn and you don't have the time to knit it up, maybe a sock tube is something you would like to try. Send me a message through Etsy for that, too!

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Knitter's Pride Aqua Sock Blockers, Medium

Fiskars 7 Inch Softgrip Student Scissors (snipping yarn)
5 Pieces 5 Different Size Bent Latch Hook Crochet Needle Hook (picking up dropped stitches)
Cable Clamp PRO Cable Management 4 Pack (used in place of weight buckle)
Brightech Lightview Pro Flex - Hands Free, Magnifying Glass Desk Lamp for Close Work (lens removed)
Zibra PB100LZR Grip-n-Glide 1-Inch Round Trim Paint Brush (to clean lint/dust from machine)
24 Pack Metal Rectangular Empty Hinged Tins (hold extra machine needles)
addi Express Hook (picking up dropped stitches, hanging setup bonnet, finishing missed stitches)
Do4U Drinking Home Office Table Desk Side Huge Clip (I use it to hold the ball/cake of yarn while I crank but it could hold your drink, too)
BLACK+DECKER WM225-A Portable Project Center and Vise (this is my machine stand, slightly modified for a larger work surface)
RuMe Bags Baggie All (Aspen) (to hold my hand-finishing supplies: yarn needle, needle threader, scissors, Kitchener directions, stitch markers, etc)

Scrappy Quarter Cabin

Part 3

Some projects take longer than others. This was part of the cost of creating this quilt. Little scraps and strips all over my sewing side-table. Once I had all my blocks I put these scraps back in the bins for another day. 

Another cost was the leftovers. These are the pieces too small to sew into larger pieces. My trimmings are always small like this. These will be added to my pet bed donation trash-bag for the next time I get to give those snips away to the gentle souls who make pet beds for local shelters.

The final layout was something like this. A few blocks got moved about in the assembly process.

I always feel like assembling a quilt with on-point blocks takes forever! It doesn't, it just seems that way. 

I added a mostly solid border to stabilize all those edges. With the bias for the majority of the quilt running the length and width of the quilt it can be challenging to keep it from shifting about. Adding a border stabilizes the overall piece and keeps me from stretching those edges. It also gets me to square before quilting. The next step is quilting. So many decisions!

Scrappy Quarter Cabin Part 1
Scrappy Quarter Cabin Part 2

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Creative Grids 6.5" Square Ruler
Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler
Tucker Trimmer III
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q
Quilt design software: Electric Quilt (used in this instance to calculate the number of blocks I would need for the size quilt I want to make)

Odds and Ends

I finished these fun socks made with a couple leftovers from other socks. These were made of leftover semi-solid black from the middle of a ball of Knit Picks Duos, colorway Rocket Ship. I didn't know if I had enough for the sock but it worked out great with two row stripes of each color. The other is a speckle leftover from an Into the Whirled, colorway Captain Tight Pants. These came out so much better than I could have hoped and I love them.

I worked on my Ard-ri shawl some more. The fabric for this one is divine.

I made more progress on my latest Dotted Rays shawl. I think this is the last wedge of the shawl. I really like these colors together.

I splurged and bought myself the Florid Bloom template set and Double Wedding Ring Quilts book from Victoria Findlay Wolfe. I'm still reading through the book. EDIT: acrylic templates are not included with the book. You do get paper templates in the book but the acrylic templates are an extra purchase.

I finished the Scrappy Quarter Cabin quilt top and moved it to the long arm (more on that later in the week) so now the design wall is empty. I need to find that next great project, or pull one out that I set aside. So many options! What are you working on?

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Knitter's Pride Aqua Sock Blockers, Medium (these are not pictured but they are my preferred sock blockers)
Knitter's Pride Dreamz Tunisian Crochet Hook Set
Cheryl Ann's Quilting Design Wall - 72" White

Cranky Cranker

This what my Erlbacher Gearhart looks like when you break it down to parade rest. This is where I ended up when I couldn't figure out why it was dropping stitches because it wasn't doing what it should do.

You can't see the grub screw in that hole. Because I screwed in in until it was well inside. I can tell you that if it sticks out far enough it will cause all manner of problems.

While I was in there, I wiped everything down and added some oil. Smooth operator!

I think putting those 72 needles back in the cylinder is the most time consuming part of taking it apart to clean it. Afterwards, I managed to get a sock knit up rather quickly.

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):

Fiskars 7 Inch Softgrip Student Scissors (snipping yarn)
5 Pieces 5 Different Size Bent Latch Hook Crochet Needle Hook (picking up dropped stitches)
Cable Clamp PRO Cable Management 4 Pack (used in place of weight buckle)
Brightech Lightview Pro Flex - Hands Free, Magnifying Glass Desk Lamp for Close Work (lens removed)
Zibra PB100LZR Grip-n-Glide 1-Inch Round Trim Paint Brush (to clean lint/dust from machine)
24 Pack Metal Rectangular Empty Hinged Tins (hold extra machine needles)
addi Express Hook (picking up dropped stitches, hanging setup bonnet, finishing missed stitches)
Do4U Drinking Home Office Table Desk Side Huge Clip (I use it to hold the ball/cake of yarn while I crank but it could hold your drink, too)
BLACK+DECKER WM225-A Portable Project Center and Vise (this is my machine stand, slightly modified for a larger work surface)
RuMe Bags Baggie All (Aspen) (to hold my hand-finishing supplies: yarn needle, needle threader, scissors, Kitchener directions, stitch markers, etc)

Custom Masks

Another quilter asked if I could make a pair of custom masks for a bride and groom. I said yes.

First, I used the machine's built-in fonts to design the embroidery and make it the size I needed. I then learned about poor embroidery alignment on pre-cut fabric and how my embroidery thinks I want one color when I want another. It was a good test.

Then, I got it right on the second time. I even managed to get it similarly lined up on the second mask. 

Different lining for yet another visual indication of who each belongs to. 

Pressed and ready for top stitching. 

Top stitched and ready for their trip to the west coast for the happy couple. Don't let the pandemic slow you down or prevent you from making memories. I hope these help make their special day a little more special.

Tools and supplies (affiliate links):
Creative Grids 6.5" x 24.5" Rectangle
Creative Grids 6.5" Square Ruler
Creative Grids 4.5" x 12.5" Rectangle Quilting Ruler
Fiskars Rotary Cutter
Fiskars Rotary Cutter replacement blades
Fiskars Self Healing Rotary Cutting Mat
BLACK+DECKER Classic Steam Iron
Grabbit Magnetic Pin Cushion
Fiskars 8-inch scissors
Juki TL-2010Q
Clover 2-Type Bodkin