Hugs

During this time of quarantine, the thing I have missed the most is hugs.  I am from an Italian family that always hugs.  It is part of who I am.  I sign my posts with hugs and my e-mails with hugs.  Hugs are really important to me.

So, it only seemed right that I design a little hug from me to you.

This one is made out of sock yarn.  You could even use scraps of leftovers if you want to for one of your colors.  You can use variegated yarn or solid colors.

I used three colorways for mine.  

There are three stages of this shawlette:

The first panel is to induce a state of Zen.  While some may find repetitive tasks boring, knitters usually find them relaxing.  A simple repeat over and over lets you chill and watch a movie, some videos or, listen to a podcast.  You don't worry about messing up because you've got this memorized and even if there are rows and rows of repetitions it feels good to have this kind of knitting once and a while.

The lace panel, which we will explore next week is a stitch that looks like people or angles holding hands to me.  I love lace and wanted something friendly.  This pattern has a few really cool elements to it that are not so common in knitting.  I think it will be a lot of fun.

The last section of this 3-part series will be to make an edging that is fun.  I haven't figured out what this is yet.  I keep hearing to trust in my process, so I am.  I have a  bunch of ideas and a lot of swatching to do.  lol

I give you Hugs Part I 🤗

Yarn

Panel 1 is about 300 - 400 yards of sock weight on size 5 needles

Panel 1

CO 144 stitches in any manner you like with color A, I used the cable cast on to give it some stretch.  I just made a little video here last week on this technique if you are unfamiliar with it.

***This shawlette can be made bigger if you choose.  CO any multiple of 24 + 12***

For 66 rows: K3, YO, knit to the last three stitches, YO, K3

(This is Ruinwen from the future - do not cut your tail - we will be continuing these rows a bit in the next Panel.)

When this section is complete you will have 33 garter ridges and added 132 stitches.  You will now have a total of 276 stitches on your needles.

That's it, relaxing garter for rows upon rows.  I love to have a project like this on days when I want to knit but I don't want to count stitches or repeats.

Garter stitch is the first stitch that we learn and it is always comforting to go back to.  It is akin to our favorite comfort food and always brings a sense of calmness. 

My hope is that this stitch will allow you to relax a little. As the skein unwinds let go of a little bit of stress or worry.  Take a deep breath and release it as you release all that tension in your neck and shoulders.  Let each stitch lull you into a sense of peace and serenity. 

Bright Blessings!
🙏☯𑁍♰✡☆㊪💖
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My friend was making the mesh scarf and didn't like the way the edge worked so I rewrote it to add another stitch to the opposite edge.  Even the simplest patterns always have something to teach me.  

Here is the link.

Cast on an odd amount (changes are in blue)

Row 1: K2,*YO, K2tog* repeat * * to last stitch, K1

Row 2: K2, purl to the last stitch, K2

🧶 

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In two weeks we will work on Panel II of our Hug.  I wanted to give everyone enough time to knit the section before proceeding.

Thanks for reading!

If you have any questions regarding this or any of my other tutorials, please feel free to leave a question in the comments.

Happy crafting!

Ruinwen

😀

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

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Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

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Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.

🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏

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Vixenpath is a safe space.

If you are:

LGBTQ+

Black

Brown

Asian

Any race

Coming out

Anything.

I am a safe person and I will always hold space for you in love and light.

Charlotte

In December of 2013, I had a posterior vitreous detachment.  A floater joined my right eye and I named her Iris.

Last week I had a PVD in my left eye and a new floater has joined my field of vision and I have named her Charlotte.  It was the name that came to me as my eyes were numbing and dilating and I think it is a beautiful name.

Once again the Doc said that everything looks good I just have a new floater which is bigger than Iris and I say, that is great!  Praise the Goddess!

I happily welcome in a new floater friend.  They teach me how to slow down when I have worked too many hours on bright screens.

So I have been knitting more and taking more breaks.  When my eyes were super dilated I started working with this rainbow yarn and thankfully I can knit feather and fan (old shale) practically in my sleep.

My friend gave me this beautiful homeless yarn that a friend gave her.  I love rainbows and color and working a few repeats of this simple pattern has given me such great joy.

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One of the things that I got back to during the pandemic was making herbal blends.  It has been hard to find blends that don't add one of the foods that I am allergic or sensitive to.  This led me to a trial and error with the family and I am happy to say that I worked up a new spice blend which I want to share with you all.

Herbal Steak Seasoning (though it works for chicken, hamburger, venison...)

3 tsp black pepper

2 tsp salt

1 tbsp garlic powder

2 tbsp onion powder (or grind up dried minced onions)

2 tbsps of each: oregano, rosemary, and thyme (Can you tell I'm Italian?)

1 tbsp smoked paprika (my secret ingredient)

1 tbsp smoked chipotle

I grind the whole kit and caboodle until it is really fine using a mortar and pestle.

I have tried it with a bunch of meats (including venison) and it really lends itself to waken up the flavors.  

When our CSA has herbs I get them and then dry them so that I can use fresh spices as much as possible.  Sometimes our grocery store has fresh herbs too and we will buy those so I can dry them.  I love when the house smells like rosemary or thyme (my favorites) when they are drying.

Let me know if you try it and what you think.

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

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Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

**************************

Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.

🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏

**************************

Vixenpath is a safe space.

If you are:

LGBTQ+

Black

Brown

Asian

Any race

Coming out

Anything.

I am a safe person and I will always hold space for you in love and light.

Beginnings

I love this time of year as the earth wakes up from Her slumber and slowly colors the landscape in greenery and floral decorations.

This tree is a new visitor to our little slice of heaven.  She deviated from her dictated area and grew on our side of the fence and I feel blessed to have her here.  I get to view the blooming and new growth as I wash the dishes and that really makes me happy.

remembering my childhood home

Growing up we were blessed with beautiful pink cherry trees that lined our streets with the majesty of the sakura.  There is a reason that we were gifted so many of these magical trees to adorn the tidal basin; they bring joy and invite in beauty.  After the coldness of winter, these amazing blooms usher in hope, laughter, and joy.

So, having a kinda cousin to those memories is really a special blessing for me.

Speaking of beginnings...

I had a new knitter ask about some tips and tricks that would help a beginner.

So here are some things that I wish I had known when I started knitting that I try and always share with my students.

Casting On

Usually, the way you learn to cast on is how your first teacher taught you.  My Mom was my teacher and she taught me a way to cast on that I rarely see anyone do so I always have three ways to share with students so they can pick the one that resonates with them the most.

The cast-on sets the base for the fabric, it is your first row and the framework for all the stitches to come.  

Some fabrics need more give and others can make do with whatever you throw at them.  Anything drapey like lace will need more give from the cast on.

The three cast-on methods that I usually teach are.

• The long tail
• The cable
• The crochet

The following videos were made with my new tripod/gimble and I am still getting used to working in mid-air to film.  Sorry if they are a little wonky!

The Long Tail

This is a stretchy kind of cast-on that is perfect for beginning projects like scarves.

The downside to this cast-on is that you never know how much of a tail to have.  This can be mitigated by wrapping the yarn around the needle for the number of stitches you have.  This will be close to the amount of yarn you will need to cast on with.

I have seen it done many ways but I still cast on the way my Mom taught me all those years ago.

The Cable

The cable cast-on is my go-to cast-on for most things because it is very stretchy.  I also like the fact that you cast on from your tail end on so you don't have to worry about the tail like you do in the long tail.

The Crochet

This is a great way for crocheters to take a leap into their first knitting projects, it is also a fabulous cast on and has a decent stretch.

Crochet is a sibling yarn craft to knitting and can be vital to fixing dropped stitches, can be creative and fun as it adds embellishments and edgings (I 💖 picot) and as I have mentioned here, it can be used to start a beautiful foundation to your fabric.

The First Row

There are a bunch of things that one has to keep in mind when knitting their first row and this is only a small sampling of possibilities:

• tension
• yarn placement
• extra stitches and/or holes
• marking sides
• lifeline (you won't need this on the first row but it is good to know about)

Tension

the circle shows where I abandoned tension all together
in my first double knitting piece from 2008

Tension is the amount of snugness that you have to put onto each stitch to keep them all uniform.  If you pull too tightly it will evident in your stitches.  If you knit loose then your stitches will follow suit.  I have seen all types of knitters.  I saw someone knit so tightly they broke a bamboo needle and I witnessed someone knit so loosely her stitches would fall off the needle all the time.

But that is okay.  Good tension comes with time and practice.  You talk to most of the people who are knitting their first scarf and they will have relaxed towards the end and found their stride, the tension of the fabric will reflect this.

Your first project is a badge of pride it shows how much you have improved and become one with your craft.

Yarn Placement

The working yarn is a very important component in knitting.  When you knit the working yarn is usually in the back and when you purl, the working yarn is usually in the front.  

When you are going back and forth between the two like we talked about last time when making ribbing, you have to move the yarn with your stitches otherwise you can get unintentional holes in your fabric.

Extra Stitches and/or Holes

Holes - So we have already talked about holes in your fabric from holding the yarn in front when making a knit stitch.  If it only happens once and a while you can just drop the yarn over (this is what an intentional hole is called) off of the needle and the fabric will absorb the extra yarn.

Another way I have seen extra stitches form is from the first stitch of the row as shown above.  You can see how the first two stitches look different from the stitches next to them.  This is because this first stitch has the working yarn pulled backward which then creates what looks like two stitches.

Extra Stitches - Instead of ripping out your row if you find an extra stitch, you can just knit two stitches together somewhere in the center of the row and you will be back to your cast on number.

When your amount is in doubt, the knit two together decrease can save a lot of grief.

Marker on the Right Side

Knowing the right side of knitting from the wrong side of your work can be really important at times.  If both sides are knit this is not a real problem because both sides are identical.  Later on, though this little trick can be super helpful.  Place a marker on the right side of your work so that you always know which side is the right side.

Later on, you will learn to read your knitting and this won't be so necessary unless you are working on something that looks similar on both sides, yet each side is different like two-color brioche or double knitting.  Sometimes I just find myself forgetting the simplest things and this trick has saved me more than once.

One of my knitting friends let me know today that this trick really helped her and reinforced it being on my list.

Lifelines

This is an example of a lifeline.  Like the name implies, this method of proactive knitting helps to keep your rows intact; like the “save” function in a program.  A lifeline is made when you use a blunt tapestry needle to carefully thread a piece of yarn that contrasts with your knitting, through the centers of the stitches as they present themselves on the needle.  

Note: avoid going through any markers or splitting any stitches when you do this.  

 a lifeline adapts to your fabric

Then, should the need arise, you can remove your needles from your knitting at any time and rip back to that line, reload your stitches back onto the needle, and start knitting again.

Lifelines can provide an added sense of security when knitting, giving you a safe place to go back to.  They can be added and moved as new rows are correctly completed.  They can also let you try to add mods to a pattern that isn’t working without losing your work.

The only drawback is you must use them before you need them.  Some feel that they take too much time and effort, but in my experience, even as a more advanced knitter, I find the time to put them in is more than worth it when it spares me hours of re-knitting a project.

Bright blessings and happy crafting!

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If you have any questions or comments on this or any of my other tutorials, please leave me a comment.

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Safe socially-distanced hugs  🤗

****************************
Sending love and light to everyone being affected by this virus.  

May you be safe.  

May your loved ones be safe.  

🙏

***************************

Sending love and light to everyone facing discrimination, hate, prejudice, inequality, or racism.
🙏🙏💖💖🙏🙏