Tag Archives: blog

May30

Playing with my knitting machine

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Playing with my knitting machine

I’m finally starting to come out of my latest adventure…spinal surgery!! YAY…not.  I was expecting the surgery itself to be way worse than it was, but it wasn’t horrific.  Granted, feeling staples brush against the vertebrae in your back is not a good time.  It’s been slow but the incision is finally healing.  The nerve damage from the blown disc pinching off my S1 and S2 nerves for 9 months will take longer to heal, if it ever heals at all.  I hope I finally heal completely because walking with a cane really sucks.

The worst thing about the whole thing was that I couldn’t sit for more than 10 minutes at a time (and then I had to sit in a reclined position), thus I COULDN’T KNIT!!!!  It really stunk but I found a way around it; I had the fore-site to elevate an old card table and dug out an old Bond Knitting Machine, that I’ve had for years, and set it up.  About two weeks after the surgery, I was standing and walking so I designed a simple baby blanket that I could make; it wasn’t exactly like knitting but it was the best I could do at the time. The good thing was that I was able to gauge it out to a hand knitting pattern.

If you’d like to have this pattern, it can be found at:

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

~or~

http://www.ravelry.com/stores/cape-cod-stitchery

long viewcable close upfolded close up

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Apr18

Busy, busy, busy…

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It seems like everything that could have happened lately, has.  I’ve been working on getting more worsted weight patterns made but life sort of has gotten in the way; a few weeks ago was my precious husband’s birthday, the next day we had to put our beloved 13 year old German Sheppard, Minnie, to sleep because her poor body was just giving out on her.  Then barely after going through the anguish of losing her, and seeing how much our Jack Russell, Dexter, missed her too…I had to get spinal surgery.  Needless to say, it’s been a tough months so far.

In between the gaps of activity, I was able to get a few patterns done: Worsted Weight Diamonds and Worsted Weight Quilted Stars; both were originally chunky yarn patterns but I converted them to worsted weight yarn.  Chunky yarn blankets are lovely in the winter, because they’re soft and heavy, but way too warm for summer (however, they make lovely floor blankets!).

I’ve also have developed a new obsession…Portuguese pin knitting!  I love working with worsted weight yarn but lets face it, knitting a blanket with smaller yarn seems to take forever!!  But, once I got the hang of pin knitting, I was easily doing 100 stitches a minute, almost twice as fast as standard knitting.  I loved it so much, not only did I make a few knitting pins for myself, I made some to sell in my Etsy shop!

If you’d like to see the new knitting patterns, and the older ones that I’ve had posted for a while, please see them at:

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

 

Feb16

Chunky Yarn Baby Blanket in Wavy Lines

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My latest baby blanket design; this creation was a happy accident because I was going for a large basket weave but once I started knitting it, I noticed that the main vertical lines were waving on their own…and I love the way it turned out!!  I’m thinking that I’m going to make this one into an adult sized blanket but that will be a project for another day.

If you’d like to obtain a copy of this knitting pattern, it is located at:

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

Thanks for looking!!

Feb6

Chunky Yarn Baby Blanket in Stars

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Hello everyone!  The good thing about winter is that there is plenty of time to knit and I’ve been busy.  My latest is a chunky yarn knit baby blanket that has the illusion of stars in it, or snowflakes (I’ve heard both…) in charcoal gray.

To  get a copy of the pattern, please feel free to visit my Etsy store at:

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

Thanks!!!

Dixie

 

Jan31

Knitted cubes, in 3D

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I thought I would share my latest design; a reversible knit and purl baby blanket knitted in a stunning spice red, chunky yarn.  Very soft and appropriate for an evening out with Mom and Dad!

This pattern is available, along with many others, at:

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

Thanks for stopping by!

Dixie

Jan18

Busy…busy…busy…

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It’s been a pretty busy couple of months for me, between the holidays and everything…thankfully, I was able to add two new baby blankets to my design collection of non-traditional baby blankets.

The first is a knitted, chunky yarn, mustard colored baby blanket, that’s large enough for a toddler.  It’s very soft, fluffy and quite cozy!

The second blanket is also knitted with chunky yarn but in a subtle denim blue, this one is also a good size for a toddler.

Both patterns, along with the other chunky yarn baby blankets patterns in my collection, can be found at:

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

Feel free to message me if there are any questions.

Thanks!!!

Aug17

I’ve expanded my “project” for making patterns for my knitting and crocheting!!

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Banner for Cape Cod Stitchery; where my pattern designs will reside.

Cape Cod Stitchery; where the information regarding the knitting and crocheting patterns designs will reside.

Hello to my faithful followers!  I haven’t been around for a little while, because I’ve been a bit busy working on my latest project; not only have I been creating more baby blankets but I’m now actually writing down the patterns for the projects that I’ve designed and am in the process of creating PDF’s from them for publication and putting them up for sale (for a reasonable price even though they take quite a bit of time to create) on Etsy and Ravelry.

There are two main reasons for why I decided to finally make my own patterns.

First, and most importantly, I’ve discovered that the patterns that I see published in knitting/crocheting magazines look very complex and more time goes into deciphering the pattern than goes into creating it.  I guess that’s why I decided to start designing my own creations…it was just easier to do. Fairly recently, the software to create professional looking knitting and crochet charts has become obtainable, by people like me, who have enough of a working knowledge of graphics design to be able to make written charts and patterns clear and easy to follow.  This is so anyone that has a basic working knowledge of knitting and crocheting can accomplish them without frustration.

Secondly, I’ve discovered by looking at my own creations, that making something beautiful doesn’t need to be ridiculously hard to do.  I’ve had several people tell me, over the years, “That blanket looks so difficult to make, I can never do that!” even after I assure them that the projects are actually easy to do.  Since the “pattern” was in my head, trying to explain how to do it was nearly impossible.  I’ve resigned myself to making patterns that are not only clearly explained, with a chart provided if the project can be simplified by creating one, but to also provide step by step instructions (with images) of how a stitch is made.  I’ve also figured out how to create videos, for posting on YouTube, explaining the process as well.

With that said, designing and publishing simple and easily explained knitting and crocheting patterns is my objective.

I’m very close to posting my first pattern, that hasn’t been posted yet but will be shortly, so I’ve created another blog specifically for knitted and crocheted projects that I make, and sell, patterns for: http://capecodstitchery.com/; please pop over and take a look!  This is an image of the first blanket that I’m making a pattern for; a herringbone stitch baby blanket in sage green and off white stripes with an I-cord edge:

cropped herringbone blanket

I will still post my personally made projects here on Etch Stitch and Burn so please continue to pop in, from time to time, to see what I’ve been up to.

Thank you for all of the support!

Jan21

Here are the latest projects in yarn.

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Even though I haven’t updated my blog in a while, I have been busy crafting.  Granted, I haven’t had a lot of time to do it but the least I can do it post them.cable baby blanket 3

Pictured to the right is my most recent creation, a cable knit baby blanket.  I’ve never been much of a knitter but have always been intimidated by doing cables so, since a friend of mine at work is preggers, I decided to take the plunge.  Much to my surprise, it was incredibly easy to do!  Since I’m not one for following patterns, I decided to design my own and this is what I came up with.  It looks incredibly difficult but I’m very happy with how it turned out.

 

 

 

 

 

flower granny square blanket This is a granny square blanket that I ended up doing for one of my co-workers before his daughter was born.  Again, not being one for following patters, after the lavender flower was created, I pretty much went on my own for this one.  I was so happy with how it turned out, I entered it into our local county fair, last year, and got a blue ribbon for it!  A local yarn shop liked it so much, they gave me a $25 gift certificate also.  I’m glad because I really love the store! http://www.sageyarn.com/

granny square blanket 1Again, this is another granny square baby blanket for another of my co-workers that had a daughter on the way.  When I asked him what colors his wife liked and what the color of the nursery was, he said that she’s a big fan of pink and yellow.  This picture doesn’t show the colors very well but trust me…it was REALLY pink and yellow!  Again, no pattern…just winged it.

tunisian crochet baby blanketThis is another baby blanket I made, during the creation process, in a different technique called Tunisian crochet.  It’s actually a very old technique that was used quite a bit during the 30’s and 40’s but was called an afghan stitch instead of Tunisian crochet.  By mixing up the colors, I found that it makes a lovely hound’s tooth pattern.  I also made the crochet hook because, at the time, I couldn’t purchase one in the large size that I needed.  You guessed it…no pattern!

hippy bag tunisian crochetThis is the final picture I’m posting.  This is another example of Tunisian crochet, in the hound’s tooth pattern, but this is actually and handbag.  I did make this with a commercially available crochet hook and it made a very tight and rigid fabric.  I call this my “Dirty Hippy Handbag”.  Once again, without fail, this one isn’t from a pattern either.

So, there you go!  I hope I made up for my absence by catching my blog up with my crafting activities.  Thanks for looking!!

Aug11

Another long absence but I’m back!!

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Remember when on the last day of December, New Year’s Eve, when you’re sitting around with your family and waiting for the new year to come, the discussion always heads towards “I hope next year is better than this year!”

Well, it hasn’t been so far.  Actually, it’s been one step left of brutal.

The first of the year kicked off with a massive snowstorm that hit the New England and then I deployed to the Midwest for four months.  The time within the four months consisted of:

1.     Unyielding snow storms and bone chilling cold that didn’t let up.

2.     Complete homesickness being away from my husband (and my dogs) for so long.

and the worst one…

3.     My precious father passed away before our eyes.

Needless to say, I haven’t been feeling all that creative and crafty lately.  However, as it is said, “when God closes a door, he always opens a window”; a window opened after being consumed in the fog of loss and grief for my Dad.  Don’t get me wrong, I’m still hurting but a spark of my former self has returned, thanks to my husband, friends and family.

The first shot in the arm was that I decided to go back to college, thanks to the provocation of my friends.  I’m 6 weeks into my first class and I’m pulling a 98.2%; not too bad for an old lady such as myself.  The second is that it’s come to my realization that I’ll be eligible for retirement in the next 4 – 5 years and that I’d better start laying the foundation for what I’m going to be doing once retirement happens.  Knowing that once retirement occurs, my hubby and I will escape into the wilds of somewhere but a concrete fact remains that we are both technology geeks so wifi will be there…so I’m returning to the world of blogging.  I don’t know what I’m going to do with it but it’s time to give it a go again.

So, for my loyal followers that wondered what happened to me, I’m back and will do everything I can do stay relevant again.  Please forgive me, it’s been a really tough year…

Feb15

I really don’t like winter…

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My apologies, I haven’t had the ability to be very creative lately.  Don’t get me wrong, the ambition is there and I’m  still thinking about my newest project on an hourly basis but the stars haven’t alined properly for me to do so.

Shortly after finishing my last project, I started another one (a different style of snowflake ornament) in order to try and expand a color pallet for the inlay.  However…it was really cold!  Unbearably cold actually! It was impossible to be comfortable enough in my workshop to put in any time at my scroll saw.  That lasted for few weeks.

Once the clouds were parting on the arctic blast around here, I felt the pull towards the workshop again.  But alas…we got a blizzard here on Cape Cod last weekend!  I hadn’t been in a blizzard for a really long time so I’d forgotten how frustrating they could be.  The 1 1/2 feet of snow was frustrating enough along with the limited mobility (even though my husband and I both have 4-wheel drives) but losing power for 2 1/2 days was massively annoying!  Granted, we did better than most; we had heat, hot water, radio and light (in a limited capacity) due to the generator.  So many people had to leave their homes because they had nothing.  We even had one evening where we ran an extension cord from the bathroom, into the living room, in order to watch the movie “Army of Darkness” on my laptop with long retired speakers (I’m not even sure where they came from, only that I still had them) while cooking Ramon noodles in an old pan on the woodburning stove.  It wasn’t an ideal evening but we were cozy.

Anyway, the power returned and life went back to normal again so I’m hoping to get some saw time in this weekend.  I’ve been experimenting with different mediums to color resin with and I think I may be onto something.

Hopefully, I’ll have another entry coming soon.