Some Mississippi Squares

 I've been working on so many different projects lately, that I haven't been able to concentrate on any specific one. I got the blanket and elephant done for El's little one just in time to learn about Em having her #2 due at the end of November. That blanket is now finished as well, but I'm undecided as to what sort of stuffie I'll make for the Sprout. I have decided what sort of Christmas stocking I'll make, though, and that was inspired by the Mississippi Squares.

Here are a few of the squares I've finished so far:

Live Oak

Pine Tree

Mississippi Outline

Pelican gliding over waves

I have several more graphed out. 

I've learned some things about gansey stitch grouping in the process. A vertical straight line will disappear if it's just one stitch wide (think ribbing, because that's exactly what ribbing is designed to do.) I had originally planned to do the Mississippi Outline as just a line around the edge, but then decided to make it solid for better visibility. 

Overall, I'm pleased with the progress so far. My main objective is to have enough finished by 2024 George County Fair time. This year's fair entry is the crochet Traveling Squares afghan. I finished it earlier this spring, thanks to yarn sourcing assistance from all 3 daughters. (I unknowingly picked a yarn that was discontinued so they all went shopping at their local stores to see what was still available.)

I'll post all my fair entries when it's close to October.

Inspiration from an Albanach

 Last week I discovered a YouTube channel called Albanach Knitter. Andrew is a gentleman who lives on the island of Arran in Scotland. Apart from the joy of listening to him talk, I have learned new knitting things. I had never heard of heapies or gansey, but now I'm inspired! 

Andrew is writing patterns for gansey motifs for Arran. What if I tried to do the same thing for Mississippi! 

Here's an example of what I'm talking about. This is a gansey sampler.

Gansey uses knits and purls to create a raised pattern. The dots (purl stitches) on this graph will create a 3-D image on the fabric as you knit. I've actually done something like this before, I just didn't know it had a name. I made Emma a pot holder (and later a Christmas stocking) that has an image of her dog Boo using this technique. 

I found an easy way to create graph paper that matches your specific gauge using a spreadsheet, so now I'm excited to start collecting ideas for images for Mississippi squares.

So far my list looks like this:

Biloxi lighthouse
pine cone/tree
live oak
blues/Hwy 61
church
Jackson coliseum
hurricane symbol
catfish
peanuts
Kermit the frog
cows
ballet
an outline of MS
cotton
magnolia
Windsor ruins
sandhill crane
alligator

My 3-D Angel - 2 Ways!

 

Ort jar

When I started on my quest to create the 3-D angel, I was exclusively a needle tatter. After much trial and error and a jar full of unsatisfactory attempts, I managed to create an angel that made me smile. I was asked to share the pattern, but before releasing a potentially flawed pattern to the public, I wanted to make sure what I had written was actually what I had tatted. 

2 angels

In the meanwhile, I came upon pictures of some beautiful shuttles. Well, that was that. I needed to learn how to use shuttles, just so I could have some beautiful shuttles! And also an opportunity to test the written pattern for the angel, but using a shuttle rather than a needle.

I couldn’t find a way to fit both methods into 1 pattern without being terribly confusing, so I copied, pasted and edited to get the shuttle part. I’ve got them in a document here .

If you make either of these angels and run into problems with the pattern, please let me know so that I can make corrections.

Approaching the Angel

 When I was first introduced to the concept of tatting, I came upon a picture of a 3-D angel that fascinated me. THAT’S what I wanted to learn how to do! But almost every pattern I could find was flat. How did one go about getting results in 3 dimensions that tapered at the top?

Yesterday I was going through my beginner instruction book to see if I had missed any lessons to practice on. Nope, but I noticed that a small flat medallion at the end (which I had already done in white) had been done in the book in green and turned into a small Christmas wreath.  There just happened to be a ball of green thread sitting at my elbow so I decided to do a bit of practice.  

 

I’m not sure what I did differently on the new green one than I did on the first white one, but something was definitely different! Even though the white one had a mistake on one of the joins, it laid flat like the picture. This new green one just simply would not! I looked at stitch counts and everything seemed to be correct. Was it the tension or just the different thread itself? Who knows…..but….there it was! That 3-D effect I had been looking for! Now to work with that. 

I made a prototype last night. It is NOT pretty! (Hence no photo that I’m willing to share yet) But it is a beginning in my quest!

So stay tuned to this same Tat-Channel! (If you watched Batman in the 60’s you’ll see what I did there.)

Kay’s New Antique Bookmark

 There is a lady at our church who always does nice things for the church staff. Every Christmas, we all get a present from Kay. During the year, she invites us to lunch at her house. She leads a weekly women's bible study  several times a year. Kay also writes a wonderful daily devotional that she posts on her Facebook page. I wanted to do something for her to say “Thanks for all you do.” So I made an “antique” bookmark for her today.  

How is that possible? What defines an item as an antique? 

Construction process? Tatting is an old art form. It’s difficult to say when needle tatting began. This article mentions a reference to needle tatting in the mid 1800’s, but the practice itself could be much older than that. 

Material used? Based on the price printed on the label, the thread I used was manufactured sometime after 1935 when a ball of Knit Cro-Sheen sold for 25¢, but before 1947, when that same ball sold for 30¢. My label has an original price of 29¢. I found 2 balls with that label at the Goodwill store in town recently. (The $1.99 label was put on by Goodwill) I had to buy them, just for the history of they represent. This thread was at least 75 years old!

I have so many questions: Who bought them when they were new? Did they have a beautiful project in mind or we’re they just buying supplies in case a pattern struck their fancy later? What craft did this person have in mind for this thread: did they knit or crochet or tat or something else? If they tatted, did they use a needle or a shuttle?

A ball of thread or a skein of yarn is a bundle of possibilities, a blank slate, just waiting for you to create something from it.

The pattern for this project can be found here.

The Accidental Bumblebee

I bought a needle tatting book on New Year’s Day. A new friend (that’s you, Laura) had mentioned the art on a visit over Christmas. I’d heard the term “tatting” before but had no idea what it was. I’ve knitted and crocheted for years so I was excited to add a new craft to my arsenal. 

Each craft has its own language, I’ve discovered. When learning a spoken language, you begin by repeating simple words and phrases. Then you string more words and phrases together. Finally you have a vocabulary and a structure to fit it into. You begin to speak original thoughts instead of just repeating what someone else said. Tatting is exactly like that!

I made some things by following simple patterns. Then I wanted to speak my own tatting thoughts. I came up with an idea for a dragonfly that I’m still working on. I thought I had it nailed down, but certain parts of the construction are holding me back. 

So instead of continually creating the whole thing just to get to the part that wasn’t working, I decided to make an abbreviated shortcut version that skipped over the parts I knew already worked so I could concentrate on the problematic parts. 

This week, I saw to a new technique: dimpled rings. They look very much like hearts, and with it being the build up to Valentine’s, I was seeing them frequently on tatting sites. I put the dimpled heart in as a substitute wing and accidentally made a bumblebee! The pattern is written out below. 

Accidental Bumblebee

R. = ring

DR. = dimpled ring Video demo

DNRW = do not reverse work

lp = long picot (which will become antennas when cut)

The bee is 2 rings and 2 dimpled rings. The long picot on the head is snipped to form the antennas. 

Body: R. 2-6-6-2 close, knot, Rw

Left wing: DR. 2+(first p on prev ring) 12-3 pull the needle through but not all the way, place a paper clip or stitch marker on the loop of the tail thread so that the loop doesn’t close all the way. Work another ds very closely to the stitches just pulled off, join to the picot just made; 12-2. Close DR through the marked loop, adjusting the stitches as you pull tight. Knot DNRW

Head: R. 2+(p on wing) 4 lp 4-2. Close, knot DNRW

Right wing: DR. 2+(last p on head) 12-3, pull through with marker on loop, 1+(p just made), 12+(p on body*) 2, close ring through marked loop. Knot. Bury ends. Snip long picot  

*To reach that last picot join, you’ll need to pull the needle through to get it aimed in the right direction, pull the thread up with a crochet hook and loop it over the needle. Finish the last 2 ds. Pdf instructions

Em's Pocket Vest

 I have a friend who saw a shawl online asked me if I could make it. I checked it out and really liked it and decided I'd buy the pattern and make one for myself as a trial for making hers.

After I got mine finished, Em was visiting one weekend and decided to wear it to church on Sunday.  (When the girls visit, something from my closet is always on one of them Sunday morning!) She really liked it and asked if I could make one for her with a few modifications. She liked the look and the fringe and the pockets, but wanted it to cover her back where a shawl just couldn't. After talking through a couple of ideas, we decided that 2 shawls would do the trick: one for over each shoulder, seamed together up the back, leaving the front open; and seamed up the sides, leaving openings at the top for armholes.

The shawl itself is the Perfect Pockets Shawl by Sonja Hood. I purchased this pattern. It's not mine to share.

However, the construction of the vest is mine and I can share here without revealing the original shawl pattern. 

I made the pockets from the original pattern first, using a US-6 crochet hook. The pockets are a good gauge to calculate how many stitches for the main body of the shawl. From that I decided to change hook sizes and stitch totals. (I did go ahead and use those first pockets on the vest, rather than frogging them and starting over.)

POCKETS:
For future projects my pockets will be 22 stitches wide with 9 rows of hdc, 3 rows of wrapped stitches, and 6 more rows of hdc.

The body of the vest can be constructed 2 different ways. 1) If you're not averse to seaming, you can make 2 identical scarves and seam them together about halfway up the back. 2) If you try to avoid seaming whenever possible, you can begin the 1st row of the 2nd shawl as simply the next row, but then about halfway along that 1st row, you'll need to make the remainder of that row as Foundation stitches. (it'll be a free-floating snake of a row until you add more rows)

STITCH AND ROW ADJUSTMENTS:
For Em's vest, I made the initial shawl a total of 124 stitches long. The original calls for more, but it wraps across the back of the shoulders. For this one, each half lays across just one shoulder so it doesn't need as much length.  I needed each shawl to be roughly 12 inches wide so it has a finished diameter of 48 inches. This is to fit comfortably around your hips/bust without being too tight. Adjust as needed. Divide your total by 4 to get how wide your shawls need to be.

For a long length of stitches I prefer to use a foundation row rather than chaining all those stitches.  It's easier to count full stitches than to count chains and less likelihood of twisting things. 

VEST:
Foundation hdc 124. After you work the border hdc rows, start working the wrapped stitches. Measure how wide that first hdc border is (all rows of it), double it and subtract from 12 (or your width from above.)  That difference is how wide you'll need to make your rows of wrapped stitches. Your total number of wrapped stitches should be 1 less than half the total number of hdc (124/2 = 62 - 1 = 61 wrapped stitches)

My hdc border was roughly 2.5 inches wide. Two borders (one on each edge) add up to 5 inches. So I needed about 7 inches of wrapped stitch rows between them.  For me that worked out to 8 rows of wrapped stitches.

SEAMED BACK:
Make 2 pieces. For the seaming, I used a crocheted slip stitch seam. You could also use a whip stitch. I actually preferred the look of the crocheted seam on the outside rather than the inside, but since the pieces don't really have a right or wrong side, you can decide after you join them which you prefer. For a total project length of 124 stitches, seam the back up 60 stitches from the bottom (back), leaving 64 open at the top (front.) 

NO BACK SEAM:
If you are creating it as one piece, make the first shawl as directed with your stitch and row  adjustments from above. Now,without finishing off, just continue the next row (which is equal to the first border row of the 2nd shawl) still attached to your last border row.  On my 124 stitch version, hdc just like before, but only for 60 stitches. Stitches 61 through 124 will be done as foundation hdc. (Here's where you see that free-floating snake of a row.) At the end of this row, be sure to count and make sure that you still have 124 stitches: 64 free-floating and 60 attatched to the rest of the piece. 
Note: your neck comes straight up from your back. The opening over your shoulders adds a bit of length to the front. That's why it's not just the same front and back.

Keep following the pattern you worked on the beginning shawl and you'll see the other front side starting to take shape. 

SEAMED SIDES:
When you're done, fold the piece in half with the open fronts on top and the back on the bottom. Seam up the sides about 38 stitches and leave the rest open for the arm holes. 

If you really just HATE seaming, you could make a couple of ties to bring the front and back together and leave them basically open.