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Posts Tagged ‘kid mohair’

Knitting a Relief Sculpture

Posted in Knitting Projects, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , on February 8, 2015| Leave a Comment »

As most of you know, I love knitting something challenging.  That is why I am “into” knitting relief sculptures.  To that end, I thought I might share my thought process in planning for this type of knitting.

sparky pillow finished

 

The above pillow design (Sparky) has become the number one attraction in my home.  Everyone who comes has to pet the “dog.”  I can see that I will be sending this one to the groomer quite often.

As a result of the reaction to the realism of this design, I took on the project of creating another”doggie” pillow for one of my singing companions.

This is Angus!

angus chart plan

This time I will not only raise the dog, but I want realistic folds in his favorite blanket.

relief sculpture fans

So-besides adding an extra ply of yarn to the areas of the dog that I want to raise, I will create increases on one side of the ridges (solid black lines) which will allow me to create life like folds in the blanket surrounding the subject. Fans A,B, and C will be folded under, and the ridge will be on top. Fan “D” is just the opposite. The additional stitches forming the out side edge of the fan ( dotted line) will fold up to resemble the natural fold of the mounded fabric. The areas immediately adjacent to the fans will be filled to soften the incline to the folds.

* To see how I fill these areas, go to my post,”One Doggie Pillow, Done!”

OK! Now how will I mark the chart? Humm????

I will designate the ridge stitches with a solid circle.   I will place a marker on the each side of the ridge stitch.  As I add stitches I will move the fan side marker. to indicate the added stitch.  This way, I won’t have to mess with the chart, as these stitches will not be counted, I will simply knit the next stitch in the color indicated on the chart.   All the additional stitches will be added in the color of the ridge stitches.   I plan on keeping my fan width at no more than one inch, or 9 stitches at its widest part.  I will post the results of my experiment when finished.

Another possibility is to pick up stitch along the side of the head and knit the ear separately.  Hummmmmm…???????

I have ordered a  “fudge” colored kid mohair to be worked in with the varied colors on the dogs coat, and will use white mohair to add his graying hair on the face.  This should be a fun project.  I can’t wait to get started.

 

Just sharing-  KT

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One More Pillow Design off the Needles

Posted in Knitting Projects, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on May 2, 2013| Leave a Comment »

Today I finished my Red Hat Silkie pillow.  This has been a joy to work on, and soon I will be sharing the pattern on my Designer Pillows page, but for now here she is ready for her debut in Southern Idaho.

ms slikie - red hat pillow

Here is the back-

ms slikie - red hat pillow back

I love the floating red chains over the purple background.  I think this would make a lovely fabric for various projects.

I hope to make a video of the the process soon, as this color combo should make it very easy to see.  Will upload it ASAP.

KT

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Mixing Yarn Weights for Special Affects

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , on April 22, 2013| Leave a Comment »

This project has been a delight to work on.  It not only is colorful but has given me the opportunity to use various yarns and weights in the same project.  My Red Hat Silkie pillow is also another of my knitted sculpture designs.  Below is a photo of the top blocked on the needles, awaiting the back portion to be finished.

ms red hat silkie pillow top

This project incorporates, lace weight floating chains over a fingering yarn base, lace weight mohair in different strand counts to create raised areas in the design for the sculptured relief, a lace weight crocheted ruffle on the parasol, and crocheted chain detail on feet, hat and swirls.

Below is a photo of the sculptured relief areas.

silkie relief portions

As you can see I concentrated mainly on the chest and tail area.  I was able to accomplish this by just adding an extra strand of the lace weight mohair when knitting in these spots.  I used 3 strands for the flat, and 4 strands for the raised.  It worked great!   As in all my sculpted designs, it is secured on the back with a 3 step process.

1)  encircling the area with a yarn strand, or strands, then pulling in the area to return to the original gauge

2) filling the area with yarn or fiber fill

3) over laying the area with netting or Tule, then stitching it down with a single ply of the appropriate yarn color. this insures that it will hold it’s shape, even when it is washed.

I can’t wait to get the back done.  The design for the back uses the same floating chain design as I used for the front.

I will update the photo of the finished produce soon, as Ms Silkie is scheduled to make her debut at a Red Hat gathering in southern Idaho in May.

Just thought I would share-

KT

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Another Knitted Pillow Off the Needles and on to the Couch

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , on September 7, 2012| Leave a Comment »

This project has been particularly interesting, as I not only had fun knitting Intarsia , Armenian knitting and Fair Isle, but I also was able to combine three different types of yarns in this design.  The border was done in fingering yarn with lace weight wool and silk strands of  free floating chains riding over the top.

The chicks were especially fun to do with a combination of Aloft mohair, added to a ply of fingering yarn.  Their  3D look was accomplished by adding an additional  two strands of the black mohair to the belly and wing area.  Adding these extra strands automatically increased the gauge without changing the stitch count.  I was able to restore the  gauge around the area by filling the void with poly fill stuffing, then running a few strands of lace weight across the back, side to side, and top to bottom.   Taking up the slack with these strands, allowed me to contract the surrounding stitches back to their proper gauge.  The next move after blocking the top was covering the back with nylon net, (great stuff, by the way) and stitching around the expanded portion of the chicks,so that it would remain securely in place.

The  combination of the Mohair and the 3 D affect  made my chicks look like the little “fuzz balls” they really are.     They are the first thing people touch when they pick up the pillow and comment, ” Oh my gosh!  They look so real!”  And so they do.

The details on the legs, feet, and beak were done with duplicate stitches and crocheted chains of one and two plies of the various yarns.   The various shades on the hen are yarns that have been blended, using  of one ply of each color that have been hand spun back together.   Check out my post on blending yarns if you are interested .

So….the most clarifying  statement I can make about this pillow is that I was never bored knitting it.  It definitely was a challenge to my adventurous knitting spirit.

I also loved working with the free floating chains on the frame of the picture.  Of course as I looked at it more closely I realized this free floating chain pattern would look great on the bottom of a tunic, or the cuff area of a sleeve, or……..  Hummm????  Maybe?   …….

I have included a  tutorial describing the entire process with this  pattern.  I even included charts for practicing the process.  This tutorial is also on my “Fun Stuff”page.  It includes a sample swatch chart of the border for you to practice with.  Enjoy!

At present the pattern is available  in my Ravelry  and Etsy stores.

Again, it was an extremely fun knit.

Happy Knitting

KT

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A Lace Shawl for Mom

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , on November 17, 2011| 2 Comments »

I just finished a lace shawl for my 90 year old mother.  I got the pattern from Heirloom-knitting.  It is an easy to knit, and is especially beautiful made of lace weight kid mohair.  But…. for my purposes, that being stability and warmth, I chose to knit it with Knitpicks “Gloss” fingering yarn, made of wool and silk.

Here is a photo of it on the bed, drying in the glare of the snow outside.

Here is a close-up.

I did modify the pattern on the top, as my mother will want to close it with some sort of button, or frog.  To give it a more stable finish after the finally row of decreases, I just knitted about 4 rows, then worked a Pico edge, to give it the extra stretch that was needed for it to lay out nicely.

As you can see in the photo above, I now have a modified scallop at the top, but it is not as drastic as the one’s on the sides.

The bind off I used was accomplished by casting on one stitch (knitted cast on). Knitting that stitch and the next one, I dropped the first stitch over the second, counting it as one cast off stitch.  Next, I cast off 2 more stitches in the normal way.

Slipping the stitch left on the right needle back to the left needle, I began the process again.   That’s  it!  Cast on one, bind off three.

*Note – Because I didn’t go to a smaller needle, as is sometimes recommended for a pico cast off,  this method created a small scalloped lace edge.  I think it looks great.  It works for me!!

You can get this lovely pattern call “Frost and Ice Shawl”  at Heirloom-knitting.

Happy Knitting –

KT

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