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Posts Tagged ‘needle point’

Another Needlepoint Knitted Pillow Off the Needles

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , , , , on July 5, 2012| 2 Comments »

I was so glad to get this one done so I could send it to my grandson.  He has been checking on it’s progress the last few months, so now he won’t have to wait anymore.

I had great fun knitting this one.  I even knitted some extra leaves, which I placed in the front of the duck, stuffing them a bit to give it a 3 dimensional look.

One other thing I did differently from the last pillow was to make my own pillow form.  I discovered that most of the forms  (no matter what you pay for them) are made with clumps of fiber fill, often leaving a lumpy surface.  Of course, that is unacceptable when you have spent many hours working on one of these pillow tops.  The only solution-make it yourself.

I began the process with a sheet of Poly-fill quilt batting.   I cut two 17 inch squares, then machine sewed them together on three sides, using a long stitch.   I stuffed the middle with tiny pieces of fill, poked them in place with a #1 DPN, then whipped the open edge shut.  You could even use two thickness (sheets) for each side to unsure an even smoother surface.   Anyway, it  worked great.  It will also dry much faster as there is no cloth on the inside.

I will be making all my pillow forms from now on.

Now it’s time to box it up and head to the UPS store.  My grandson will be a happy camper!

I hope to have this pillow pattern available soon.  I will be starting my J’s Designer Pillow page soon.

KT

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Blending Colors of Yarn, Plus

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , , , , on June 13, 2012| 2 Comments »

Unable to purchase all the necessary shades I needed to knit up the Wood Duck pillow for my grandson, I decided to make up my own by blending two single strands of colors together.   In the illustration below, the areas where I have used the blended yarns are marked with circles of various colors.

The red circle indicates the Steel grey/ Iris heather mix.

 

The next combination  in the green circle, is a teal/dark green mix.

 

The blue circle marks the side of the body.  In this section I chose to blend the Suede color with gold.  This combination allowed me to transition to the single gold color without a definite line.

All this is to say that you don’t have to settle for the color combinations that are out there.  You can blend your own.

HOW ?

1.  Select you colors.  Peel off the amount you normally use in your colorwork ( I use about an arm’s length).

2  Separate the plies.

3.  Tie one end of the two strands together.

4.  Lay the joined end of the two strands in the palm of your left hand.

5.  Lick or moisten the palm of your right hand and rub the two strands together vigorously for about 30 seconds-

inotherwords, “spit splice” the strands together.

6. Wet your right palm again, now push down on the combined strand and roll it away from you about 5-6 time.  This sets the twist.

7.  Move the blended strand to the left, so you can work the same process in the next section of yarn to your right.  Be sure to repeat the same number of rolls when setting the twist.  Continue this process to the end of the strand.

Your finished strand should look something like this-

The above strand is a combination of “Pumice Heather ” and “Iris Heather.”

*  If you find an area that didn’t get twisted enough, just wet you palm and work a few more rolls at that point.

Next time you can’t find the color you need, you might try this out.  It’s fun to see what color combos you can come up with.  When I need larger amounts, I use a drop spindle to re-spin the two strands together.

Have fun- KT

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Painting with Yarn II- Majestic Eagle

Posted in Knitting Projects, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , , on November 2, 2011| Leave a Comment »

This last month as I began working on my Wildlife series I found myself back in the mood to paint some more yarn pictures.  The White Tail Buck motif spurred me on, so here is #2 in the series- I just couldn’t put it aside.  I’m on a roll!!!

I realize that the digital renditions are not the real thing, but it does give one the luxury of seeing what the finished work will look like – almost.  It also gives me an opportunity to judge the balance, and color combinations; besides, never in a life time could I knit up all my ideas, I would have to live to be 200 plus.

All the charts in this pattern are detailed.  They include many variations and applications for you to consider, along with instructions for the special stitches I use in the finishing details.

The charts can be applied to the front of a sweater (Eagle motif options), incorporated into an afghans design (sportweight) and adapted to needlepoint project.  This particular pattern is charted for 8 stitches and 11 rows using a #1 (2.5) needle, knitting with fingering yarn, but I always include the charts for sportweight yarns as well.  All of the patterns are set up for knitting, thus the grids are composed of  rectangles, not squares. There is also a cameo grid applied to each version, which is one of the many options available.

The main pattern is set up for a 14 x 14 and 16 x 16 inch pillow tops, however, I always knit the whole pillow, (see my Tropicana Rose design in the pattern gallery)- I love using texture stitches on the back.

Bottom line for me is the artistic creation.  It’s been great fun, and very rewarding.

Pictured below are version I and II

 “Majestic Eagle”

  It will be on the shelf soon.   I hope you like it!

Happy Knitting!

Knit-tweaker

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The Design Gallery

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , , , on September 21, 2010| Leave a Comment »

I have just completed my first two Needlepoint Knitting pillow designs.  Tropicana Rose is available as a PDF download on my new page, entitled ” Free Pattern Catalogue.”

  Tropicana Rose Pillow

                                                                                                                                                                                                    

This pattern offers the experienced knitter a few challenges, yet provides great fun at the same time-at least it did for me.

In the photo above you get a peak at the back of the pillow, without the fringe. This is just one of the options of this design.

Here it is fresh off the needles.

Just click on “The Design Gallery” at the top of the page.

Enjoy!

Knit-tweaker

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Wandering Chains/Just a little needle gymnastics!

Posted in Knitting Projects, Knitting Tutorials, Uncategorized, tagged , , on August 30, 2010| 1 Comment »

Lately, I have been playing around with what I term as Wandering Cable Chains.   Why this term?  First, the stitch itself appears as if it is a crocheted chain laying on top of the knitted surface.  Secondly,  the method of moving the stitch is similar to when you work a “Cable” pattern; hence the term “Cable Chains.”  The “wandering” part, is the ability to take this chain st anywhere you want. 

 This stitch has enabled me to created many differents special affects for my lastest project-Needlepoint Knitting.  It can be used to outlines sections of any Intarsia design(if you like the smooth edge look),  draw designs on plain stockinette background, and best of all it is a great cover-up st for decreasing a very busy pattern on a raglan sleeve design.   The pictures below show just  a few possiblities for their use. 

This pillow top is one of my lastest Needlepoint Knitting designs. You can see that I have used the Wandering Cable Chain to create an oval frame and textured design around my roses.  Below is a close up of the detail in the frame of my Tropicana Rose Pillow.  You can see the chains forming  lattice work around the oval frame of the design.

 Below is another application of this technique.  This diamond design can be applied to sweaters or any flat surface.  I will be posting this pattern soon. 

 

Here is a example of how I used this stitch to cover the necessary decreases in this complicated pattern.

 But for now, I decided to post a tutorial that explains the process, and gives you a chance to play around with it.

This sample is just a swatch I played around with.  You will notice that it is not centered, that is because I was indeed just wandering around with my chains.   However, the pattern that I have in the tutorial is centered.  There are 14 pages of  written instructions and pictures,  as well as a chart that will give you a chance to try it out.  The chart on the last page has the symbols that I will be using in all my Needlepoint knitting patterns. 

I hope you have as much fun as I had working with these chains.

Wandering Cable Chains Tutorial

Please feel free to contact me if you have any questions.

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Painting with Yarn/Needlepoint Knitting

Posted in Knitting Projects, Uncategorized, tagged , , on July 20, 2010| 2 Comments »

I am so excited to be able to share my new project with you.  It began when I was inspired to knit a cross stitch Iris, designed by my friend at Temping Tangles.  My first challenge, of course,  was to create a canvas on which to place my picture.  The next question was the shape.  Finally, deciding on a diamond sampler, I began working on the frame design. As the frame of a picture is very important, I played with many ideas before I settled on the final design.  I knew that I wanted to incorporate several techniques in the project, so keeping that in mind I did the canvas itself in stockinette, the picture in Intarsia,  used a variety of  texture stitches to created diamond frame, and a crocheted chain to fill in the details.

No boring knitting here!!!!

After several attempts  I came up with this.  Here is my first knitted canvas.

In the flower itself I concentrated on the main colors, then with a crochet hook I used a chain stitch to put in the details.  It worked just great.

The next step was to see if I could design one myself.  So….using a picture of an Iris I found on my computer, I charted it for my diamond shape knitting canvas.

Here, again, I did the detail stitches with a crochet hook , using a single strand of the yarn(making it lace weight).  This technique gives you great detail without adding a lot of bulk.  This diamond frame can be filled with your favorite flower, or pet. It can  be adapted to apply on a sweater, front , back or sleeve.  *I will be posting a tutorial on this adaptations soon.

Here is a closer look.  You can see that I elected to leave the leaves with the cross stitch look, but that can be rounded off with the crocheted chain as well.

Here is a close up of the crocheted detail.

Why am so I excited about this?  It has opened a Pandora’s Box of ideas for future projects.  Now I can chart any picture I want, place it on my canvas and knit away.  In fact, I am working on a new one right now.

After finishing the design, my friend took my work and turned it into a cross stitch pattern.  The result was a pattern that offers both knitted and cross stitch designs. There are two versions of each design, along with complete detailed instructions.  Of course you are always welcome to contact me for further instructions if needed.

If you would like to try this, click on “NeedlePoint Knitting” here. All four patterns will be  toward the bottom of the page.

You can also click here.

Oh, be sure to check the info below for Counted Wishes Cross Stitch Festival and pass it out on to your Cross Stitching friends.  You even might find something there to tempt you!

On midnight, just before the start of the upcoming Counted Wishes Festival, August 1-7th, I will be releasing several Brand New Designs for your stitching delight.

Remember, you will have the chance to win one of my designs, FREE if you are the grand prize winner. So be sure to visit and sign up because there will be more than one winner!

If you love Cross Stitch you are in for a Treat!

Show Specials, Grand Prizes, Drawings, Just for Fun Games AND –  best of all, Pricing Discounts during the show week. At the start of the show week, I will post the information right on my main website’s “News! News! News!” page at http://www.temptingtangles.com/

 so you can find out just what my Special Pricing Discount will be.

Remember: Counted Wishes Cross Stitch Festival for the upcoming 2010 Fall edition will be available to all of you August 1st through the 7th where you can buy from us directly.

My designer friends and I will be there to offer you new designs and lots of wonderful surprises.  Even better is that our designs are available instantly – what is better than Instant Gratification? Do come see us in August and join the fun.

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