Question for the weavers

Partner was complaining the other day that there were not enough rag rugs to always have a clean one on hand for when the dog goes out and in. Portland is really wet in the winter.
I of course immediately began thinking on how to turn all my old fabric scraps and worn out clothes into rugs. I know almost nothing about weaving but was willing to give it a go. As my mind worked on solving problems that were occurring there I began knitting a rug from old T-shirts, (see below). I wasn't really pleased with the resulting fabric but was having problems resolving the issue of joining the strips end to end without having to stop and sew them on as I went. A single long strip sewn together beforehand seemed like a bad idea as there would then be a lot of "tail" to pull through with each pass through the loom and I didn't want to build a complicated loom. I finally stumbled on to the idea of slitting the end of each strip and then joining the kind of like joining two loops. No bulky knots!
For the loom I just took 4 boards, two of which were drilled with pilot holes every 1/2 inch and screwed those two to the other two. A double strand of string was then strung on to the frame and with the use of a bamboo "collar pointer" weaving commenced.

I'm getting an "hourglass" shape thing going on though. Should the nails be closer together? Is there a trick I need to know to avoid this situation?

Here's the knit rug start. It's old T-shirts cut in continuous spirals and wound up as "yarn" and garter stitch knit on size 11 U.S. needles.

so far this fall...

...1 scarf, 1 hat and two pairs of mittens. All of which are already very much needed. It's chilly out there.

prototype puppy pullover for Pepper

The shaping and sizing are a little off, but now I have the info to go ahead and rewrite the pattern to fit better.

I'm delusional, again. / Wiedermal bin ich selbsttäuschend.

(Deutsch nach dem englisch)
Yes boys and girls it's that time of year again. The time of year when we courageous, yet foolish, knitters tell ourselves that we can do it this time. We CAN knit a sweater that the man that lurks in our lives will not only like, but also will actually wear.
This time I've decided on a sort of hybridized Nordic cardigan with a more Cowichan inspired motif.
The details are still fuzzy, I'll work it out as I go.
The colors I'd envisioned were a dark and a light grey, with blue, mustard, rust and burgundy accents. At the yarn store I bought light and dark brown with light and dark green and rust accent colors. I apparently left my brain in the car when I went into the store and instead of buying 600 to 700 grams of the primary color I bought that many yards. My secondary color was one they had only one skein of on hand, but hey, they would order more for me. I also forgot that I didn't have the correct needle that I thought I'd need. This morning after realizing my temporary lapse of cognitive thinking, I mean by that the yarn error, not the fact that I am knitting a sweater for a man who will just put it in the closet forever and ever, I called my LYS to see if they had more of the yarn on hand. They didn't. Luckily I found both colors I need at Angelika's website. Less than an hour after ordering she e-mailed to say that it was already in the post and on it's way1 Thanks Angelika!

Ja Kinners, es ist noch wieder an dem Zeit worauf wir mutig, aber auch narrisch, Strickern uns selbsttäuschen und uns sagen dass wir können es dieses Mal tun. Wir können ja ein Pulli für den Mann der in unsere Leben rumlungert stricken. Ein Pulli der er wird nicht nur mögen, aber auch tragen.
Dieses mal habe ich mich entscheidet es soll ein Cardigan sein so wie so, teilweise Nordic und auch Cowichan inspiriert. Die Details sollen/werden sie sich erst Später erklären.
Die Farben die ich im Sinnesbild hatte waren dunkel und auch hell Grau, dazu blau, senf und burgundy betonungfarben. Was ich kaufte waren hell und dunkel Braun, dazu hell und dunkel Grün und Rost. Wahrscheinlich, als ich im Laden ging, hinterlasste ich mein Gehirn im Auto. Statt 600-700 Gram der primärfarbe Garn zu kaufen, kaufte ich 600-700 Meter. Mein Wahl für Zweitfarbe hatten sie nur eine Balle, Na, die könnten doch mehr bestellen. Ich vergass auch dass ich brauchte die richtige Nadel.
Heutmorgen als ich merkte meine temporär Sinnungsunfähigkeit, über die Garnfarben meine ich, nicht um dass ich wollte ein Pulli stricken der würdet nur im Schrank sitzen, rief ich der Laden an und fragte ob es gab noch mehr Garn. Leider nicht. Glücklicherweise fand ich ein Website dass nicht nur beide Farben hatte aber binnen ein Stunde waren sie schon verpackt und unterweg, Danke Angelika.

I can't seem to get a really good picture...

...of the tablecloth I recently finished.
It is knit from Karabella vintage cotton, color #309 on US8,5mm, needles.
The design is based on 3 Herbert Niebling designs.
The finished size is 108 inches, 2.75 meters, across and weighs 3.5 pounds, 1.5 kg. My estimate is about 4200 yards, 3900 meters, of yarn were used. I lost track of how many skeins I ended up buying. Probably around 30. Luckily the dye lot never changed.

How can anyone resist...

... using autumn colors for some project? I'm making either gloves or mittens.

No Posts, but I am knitting

Several weeks ago I finally recieved my portfolios of Herbert Niebling patterns and promptly started knitting. There wasn't a pattern that fit exactly what I was looking for, a large circular tablecloth for Partner, so I started with the center of "heinke, transitioned into "Dahlie" then "Edith". I now have about 1000 stitches on the needle per round and still have a ways to go. I forget how many balls of Karabella Vintage cotton I've purchased so far. I may eventually just give up and bind the dang thing off and call it good enough, not yet, eventually.

Arminée with corrections

The Arminée Shawl

See corrected version here.
I used Elsebeth Lavold silky wool, charcoal colored, 3 1/2 skeins, and size 7 U.S. needles.

Errata - if counting rows as odd only, row 11 should have a yarn over before and after the center pivot column, it's the 6th row up from the beginning. Thanks Dennis!
The interlocking Diamond modules should also have a left decrease after the yarn over at the "bottle neck". the 4th Module up on the right should also have the same stitches as all the other modules. dang, it's hard to rewrite these things from your notes into a legible chart.

The Arminée Scarf

Adaptation of a stitch pattern from Lisl Fanderls "Bäuerliches Stricken" books.
There is also a larger triangular Shawl version, I only have my handwritten chart for that though. I'll publish that pattern when I get it charted up legibly. My beautiful assistant Maisie helped me block it on the Attic floor.
Click on Image to see it larger.

Oooops, forgot to say that I used Elsebeth Lavold silky wool on size U.S. 8, 5mm needles.

Dog Hair Blanket

A friend in Wyoming who had a half Coyote dog had saved the hair from brushings and wanted a blanket knit from the yarn that she had made from it. I gamely went along and even knitted outside while spending time with my dog and the pig. It was such a big project that I wanted to work as much as possible and get it done with.
Using a shawl pattern from MMario over at Men Who Knit.
I cast on for 4 shawls and knit in the round from the center out. It got really big.
Maisie was kind enough to pose with the finished blanket. I imagine her fur would yield a very similar yarn.
A detail shot.
In order though, to show how big it really is, Partner also stood by it.
I told you it got really big.

Rust scarf

Cascade 220 on size U.S. 8 needles.Cast on 28.Knit 6 rows garter stitch.Slip1,k5,yo,k2tog.tbl,p2,yo,p2tog,k2,yo,k2togtbl,p2,yo,p2tog,k2,yo,k2togtbl,k4repeat this row over and over until you have the length you want.knit 5 rows garter stitch and bind off.

The Green scarf/ der grüne Schal.

*X*O*X*O ,
*X*O*X*O ,
*X*O*X*O ,
OO*X*OOO ,
O*SOZ*OO ,
O=Knit/Recht Masche
S=knit 2 together/2 zusammen rechts
Z= knit together through back loop/ 2 zusammen, verdreht
X= knit 3 together/ 3 zusammen rechts
*= yarn over/ Umschlag

Cast on multiples of 8, I did 40. 4 stitches on each side are the border, these will always be a knit.
Slip the first stitch on every row.
Knit garter stitch for 6 rows.

Row 1: Begin pattern, working from bottom right. (read chart from right to left, bottom to top.)
Row 2,4,6,8,10,etc. Knit or purl as stitch indicates, I just worked them all as knit stitches.
Continue pattern.
Finish with 6 garter stitch rows.

Aufschlag so viele Maschen die durch 8 teilbar sind. Bei mir war es 40.
4 Maschen am Beide Ende sind Randmaschen, die sind immer rechts gestrickt.
An jede Reihe hebe die erste Masche nur ab.
Stricke 6 Reihe mit rechte Maschen.

Reihe 1: Fing mit der Muster an. Arbeite von unten rechts. ( lese die Karte von rechts nach links, unten nach oben.
Reihe 2,4,6,8,10, u.s.w. Stricke die Maschen wie sie sich zeigen. Ich habe die Alle nur als rechts Maschen abgestrickt.
Weiter machen nach der Muster.
mach der Schal denn mit 6 Reihe rechts Maschen fertig.

I've not been entirely idle.

Someone over on the Men Who Knit site was looking for a simple hat pattern, so, here's my basic hat instructions, the variation possibilities are endless.

Cast on multiples of 6 stitches. I generally go for 96 on size 8 DPN.
Knit 1, purl 1 or K2,P2, or K2, P1, your choice of ribbing for however far you want it to go up the hat.
If you want the ribbing to turn up like in the picture work ribbing for 2 inches and purl 1 row as a crease line.
After you have about 4 inches of the hat "body" start working the decreases. I generally put in a decorative row or two at his point to transition from what ever stitch pattern I'm using, i.e. cables, before going in to the decreases. I often use the "braid" as described in this entry.
The decreases are worked every other row. divide number of stitches by 6 and knit two together where this number falls,
for example; 96 divided by 6 = 16, so every 15th and 16th stithes are knit together.
knit 1 row
next row every 14th and 15th stitches are knit together
etc.
when you're down to 5 or 6 stitches between dividing points work the decrease every round.
when you have only 6 stitches left on the needles break off the yarn, thread it through remaining stitches, pull through to inside and weave in.
Weave in any loose ends.
You have a hat.