Yay! I Finished the Duplicate Stitch!

Woo Hoo! This morning, I made myself finish the duplicate stitch work on the "Go USA" Oddball Baby Blanket. It turned out nice!

Duplicate Stitch Embroidery on Stockinette Knitting

It's my turn to knit a section on the "Go USA" Oddball Baby Blanket for the Southeast Region. I wanted to do something creative, so I knit a section of all white stockinette, so I could do some patriotic decorations in duplicate stitch embroidery. I've only done duplicate stitch once before, on a Christmas stocking, so I figured I could use some more practice.

I grabbed a book in my craft room called "Tink's Second Book of Duplicate Stitch Alphabets" and a couple other books and patterns of duplicate stitch designs. Then, I sat in my craft room and pondered what would work best. I didn't have any patriotic patterns, so I put down the books and looked on the internet. I finally found some knitting charts for stars, so I decided to use those.

Next, I took at close look at the stockinette knitting I had done for the blanket, so I could see how many stitches I had to work with. 21 rows high by 94 stitches wide.

So, I picked an alphabet pattern in Tink's book that is 18 stitches high. This would make some BIG letters, saying "Go USA".

Then, I got a piece of graph paper, and charted out the stars and letters, before putting into Microsoft Excel. (I decreased the size of the columns in Excel, so they would be the right size for charting.) Next, I copied the design I made into MS Paint, did some variation with the colors, and ended up with this:


Not too bad for my very first charted design! :)

Then, I got together my materials:

Leaflet entitled "A Beginner's Guide to Duplicate Stitch"
Scissors
Yarn Needle
Glasses
Knitted Blanket
3 skeins of yarn for the embroidery: Light Blue, Dark Blue, Red

When I wanted to get started stitching, I realized that it would be much easier if I could enlarge the design for better viewing. So, I did my work at my computer, so I could view the design VERY LARGE on my computer screen.


Then, I started stitching. Here's the star on the right, with the blue part finished, and the red part getting started:


First star is done!


After that, the second star was quick work:


Then, I started doing the letters, from the last toward the first. So far, I've only finished "SA". Tomorrow, I'll get to work on "Go U..." ;)

Frogging and Putting Back on the Needles

I know there are all these easy and fancy procedures for frogging or ripping rows of knitting, and then perfectly placing them back on the needles in just the right way.

Well, I'm not that kind of girl.

I just pull out the needles and start ripping.

Then, I put all the stitches back on smaller needles, and then knit the next row with needles of the original size. It just makes my life easier.

Of course, this would not work with silk or a lace project, but I'm very rarely doing that kind of knitting anyway. Most of my knitting is done for charity, with worsted weight yarn that stands up all by itself when you pull out the needles. Ha!

Now, the other day, I had a MONDO project to frog. I ran out of yarn when there were 50 stitches left on the row. It was one of our Oddball Lapghans, with 200 stitches on each row. And, of course, it HAD to happen on the wrong side row, which I needed to end on in order for the next color change to look right. So, that meant I had to unravel two rows. Bummer.... :(

So, I pulled out my needles, ripped out both rows, then carefully carried the entire blanket (it's almost complete now) and laid it out on my bed, so I could put the stitches back on knitting needles again.



While it was all laid out like that, I decided to measure it and see how big it was so far.
45 inches wide by 40 inches tall. So, it's almost complete! :)

Then, I went back in my craft room, and found a size 3 circular knitting needle that was 36 inches long. Perfect. ;)

Next, I leaned at the edge of the bed, and put the needle through each of the loose stitches. Easy-peasy!



All that was left was to add on my new yarn, and start knitting with the original size knitting needles. Mission accomplished!

Wow! What a beautiful gift!

One of my friends in the Knitting Help Forum surprised me with an EXCELLENT gift. I could not believe it when I opened the package.



Glass Knitting Needles! I feel like Cinderella.....
I've always admired glass knitting needles, but never thought I would actually OWN a set!

I can't keep my hands off them. Now, I just have to decide what project I will start with them. It has to be something EXTRA special, that's for sure.

Neat!!!!

Also, a while back, another friend in the forum surprised me with some lovely peridot earrings that she had made for me! I am so spoiled by my friends in the forum.

UFOs are FOs now!

Yay! I was able to get a lot done this month during our "Turn your UFO's into FO's" knit along in the Knitting Help Forum.

I finished the blue blanket I spoke about earlier:


I completed the "Wildflowers" Oddball Baby Blanket, which was worked on by 6 knitters in the forum.


I finished the "Barbie" Oddball Shawl, which was worked on by 6 KH Forum knitters.


I completed the "Moonlit Forest" Oddball Shawl, which was worked on by 5 forum knitters.


I knit the last section and added a crochet border on the "Fairy Land" Oddball Baby Blanket, which was worked on by 5 forum knitters.


And I bound off the "Pink Power" Oddball Baby Blanket, which was worked on by 6 knitters.



I also completed the "Nursery Rhymes" Oddball Preemie blanket, which was worked on by 5 knitters. I added the crochet border.


And I made a little coffee cup cozy for travel cups. I think I might have made it too small. I'll have to test it out first, and then I'll give a report. I made it with Berroco Hip Hop yarn.


So, it was a productive month for me. I still have several projects to complete, but at least I've made a dent in them!

Right now, I'm still working on these things:

Oddball Preemie Blankets
"Racecar Alley" - adding border
"Cherry Blossoms" - adding border
"Cloud Nine" - adding border
"Citrus Punch" - knitting last section, and adding border
"Beach Party" - re-knitting two sections and adding border
(there was a hole in this blanket that I could not repair, so I had to frog back through two sections)

Oddball Shawls
"Candy Shop", "Magic", "Flower Garden", "Shades of Pale" - finishing up
"Rainy Day" and "Angel Wings" - knitting a section

Oddball Blankets
#1, #2, Lapghan #1, Lapghan #2 - Knitting last sections, and adding border

I also have some personal knitting that I wonder if I will ever get to!

Cabled Baby Pullover for display at Cottage Yarn.


"Dream by Moonlight" Shawl


A bulky cardigan with Thick & Quick yarn.


Some red ankle socks for my son.


A Harry Potter scarf.


A Fair-Isle headband


A baby sweater


And I haven't given up on the rectangle shawl for charity!