Knitting Seed Stich Backwards

I've made a bit of progress on the Forest Path Stole; I've nearly finished the fourth tier. Whenever I work on something like a heel flap on a sock or entrelac, instead of flipping back and forth, I'll usually knit backwards. Basically, if I had turned the work, it would be purl stitches, but instead I'm knitting to the left needle instead of to the right. I have a tutorial here about knitting backwards. Now, for the FPS, I've been turning it every row for the rectangles because my tension is a little off with the laceweight knitting backwards, though that may change as the stole grows. I might start knitting backwards. But for the side triangles with the seed stitch, it's really a pain in the bum to knit a couple of stitches and turn. So, I will knit from the right needle to the left instead of turning my work and here's how I do it. (Depending on how the current row is set onto the previous row, it could be used for rib as well.) I've used a worsted white yarn so you can see it better than laceweight.

I'm in the middle of the row here, working to the left needle. I'm at what would be a purl stitch if I had turned my work. With yarn in back, insert the left needle through the top of the stitch on the right needle and yarn over from back to front.

Pull the yarn over through the stitch and take the old stitch off the right needle, leaving the newly-formed stitch on the left needle. You have what appears to be a knit stitch on this side (it would be a purl stitch from the other side.)

The next stitch would be a knit stitch from the other side. With the yarn in front, slip the left needle into the back of the stitch of the right stitch so that the needles are coming through the stitch the same way.

Yarn over from front to back.

Pull the yarn over through the stitch and take the stitch off the right needle. And it appears to be a purl stitch from this side.

I hope this tutorial is helpful. Let me know if it makes sense (or doesn't). You just repeat to the end of the row, then you're ready to knit as usual from the left needle to the right. No turning necessary! I'd recommend practicing on a heavier weight yarn to get the hang of it before trying it on the stole.

In other knitting news, I've started my first toe-up socks and I might be hooked. I did a provisional cast on because I already know how to do that. It's pretty cool being able to try it on as you knit it and being able to maximize the yarn usage. We'll see how the backwards heel flap in SKS works out.

Lots of ice on the ground here. About two inches of solid ice. When we backed the minivan onto the two inches of ice on the drive, it didn't even compact at all!. And it's pretty much impossible to get the stuff off the drive now without about a ton of road salt. Yuck. We still haven't had a good snow. A bit of snow and then lots of ice. I guess I'm pretty much over the whole wintry thing by now. I'm ready for spring.

Edit: I hate when my updates still haven't shown up in Bloglines hours later even after manually "pinging" the feed several times. Argh!

WIP Wednesday and Polymer Clay Continued

Actual progress has been made on the Forest Path Stole. One and a half whole rectangles. I'm on tier 4. All while listening to my new Norah Jones CD.

I know lace usually looks like crap before it's blocked, but this shawl really seems to. You just can't tell anything about this one, but trust me, it's going to be gorgeous. I love the magic of blocking. For anyone interested, I'm using a circular needle to hold all the rectangles not currently being worked. I'm working each rectangle with a DPN and one of the circular needles. The first rectangle (on the left) has been completed for the tier and the left needle is being used as a stitch holder. The second rectangle is only halfway done and I am using a DPN and the right needle to work it. When it is completed, I'll move it over to the left and work on the next rectangle. It does make more sense if you're either working on this shawl or done entrelac before. (Speaking of which, I not only want to work on my entrelac socks from Knitters', but now I also want to do Eunny Jang's socks from the new Interweave!)

I will show the Snowman vest, I promise, just as soon as I finish all the fiddly embroidery.

For now, I'll amuse you with more polymer clay. To use the molds, choose your color and condition it. Press a small wad firmly into the mold and carefully remove.

You may have to do this more than once to get it right. Carefully trim off the excess and smooth. You can sand and polish after it's been baked. You can make a shank at this point by just taking a small bit of clay and poking a hole in and flatten one side. You bake it separately and glue it onto the back of the button using superglue.

You can decorate the buttons before baking with artist's pastels (the soft kind, not the oil kind) or with powders.

I've used Jacquard Pearl Ex Powders. (Yes, that Jacquard.)

You just dip the tip of a paintbrush into the powder and "paint" it over the clay. Bake according to clay package directions and paint with a varnish for the clay to keep the powders from rubbing off later.

(Edit: I've had a couple of questions about care, so here you go. As long as you handwash your sweaters, you shouldn't have to remove the buttons. If they aren't varnished, acrylic paint and the powders will probably wash off eventually, but varnish should protect the button. I personally would not run the buttons through the washing machine - though they might be fine on cold - but definitely not through the dryer.)

I also meant to have some of the buttons fired and to paint them with acrylics, but I'm suffering from yet another cold and it's kicking my butt, so that will have to wait until another post. I just can't seem to stay well this winter.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone!

Polymer Clay Button Molds

You can use polymer clay to make unique buttons. There's a tutorial on the sidebar for caned buttons, but these instructions are for making molds. First you find a button you like.

You can also use rubber stamps, jewelry, sea shells, or other items, just something that will make a clear impression. Then you condition your polymer clay by rolling it your hands and playing with it until it's pliable and soft. You then press the button firmly into the wad of clay.

Carefully remove the button and you have a mold.

I apologize if this is a little blurred; it really is hard to get a clear picture sometimes of the mold. You now "fire" the clay (which is really at a low temperature in your oven) according to package directions.

Pretty simple, huh? Wednesday, I'll continue the tutorial with how to use the molds to make buttons and a few tips on decorating them.

There is a little knitting going on. I've finished the second snowman vest except for sewing the buttons on and all the fiddly embroidery, so I'll get to that sometime soon. And I've just finished the heel of the second CTH sock, so I'm on the home stretch there. Finally, I'm picking Forest Path back up this evening and figuring out exactly where I am. I'm going have progress for next week's KAL update!

Stay warm! (We're expecting a bit more snow tonight.)

Polymer Clay Snowman Buttons

Polymer clay is a wonderful thing for crafters and knitters can use it to make customized buttons for their garments. I am going to make buttons for the snowman vest and I'm going to show you how I do it. Almost every polymer clay book out there has the same technique (called "caning") that I'm going to use. It's taken from glasswork and you can use it to make many very detailed, nearly identical buttons.

The first step is to match the blues for the buttons. These are the colors I wanted to match. I used blue and white to match the left and blue and a little black to match the dark blue. Easy. I then made up larger amounts.



This is how to make the snowman face. I started with a hollowed out tube of white and added white and black strips for the smile. I then added more white and strips for the eyes. Then I rolled the cylinder to make the snowman face.




I then added two white body cylinders.







I surrounded the snowman with light blue and then dark blue.






Then, I rolled the cylinder down to about the size of a dime.






It's ready to be cut.







And we have buttons. I cut about 25 off the cane and I poked holes to sew them onto the vest and cooked them according to package directions.