Hello to visitors!

I want to say ‘hello’ to all the visitors who have been stopping by my blog because of a knitting link that has gained a wide circulation today.  I know the link goes directly to the pattern for which some visitors may be looking, but I see that tons of you have also found my home page.

I want to let you know that there is a related follow-up pattern that turned the face cloth into a table runner.  For the fast knitters, there may still be time to get that done for Easter.  If not, there is always next year.  To see the Easter Crosses Illusion Table Runner and get the free pdf, click the link. 

Besides,  a knitting-related post makes for a better Home Page than the ‘Dead Guy Mail’ post I just uploaded on what I didn’t know was going to be a high site-traffic day.  

Advent Candles Illusion Knit Table Runner

I know it’s St. Patrick’s Day but I just finished knitting an Advent runner for my table and I promised to post the pattern when it was completed.  Besides, because of the design, I will leave it on my table for the remainder of Lent now, too.

Here’s the techno-deal for the day . . . the light was perfect, I set the table with winter greens and everything, took the photos and then my camera died.  I don’t mean died as in the battery needs charging.  I mean died as in there is no way I’m going to get those photos from that camera.  So I asked Goodnight if I could borrow her iPod to use the built-in camera.  She was kind enough to agree.  (Thank you, Honey.) By the time I realized my problem and re-set the table for Advent, the light had changed.  I admit that I rushed the second photo shoot because we were on our way out the door for green bagels!      Oh well, you’ll get the idea.

The photo below shows the four purple candles with their respective yellow flames.  The image is repeated at the opposite end of the runner.  I left the center section a plain white to accommodate the Advent centerpiece of candles and greenery.

The photo below shows the table runner from a different angle.  As one moves about an Illusion/Shadow knit piece, the images come in and out of view.  I love it!

The following photo is an overhead shot of part of the runner: just stripes.

Like I said, I’m leaving the runner on my table for Lent.  I deep-sixed the winter greens and swapped them out for a vase of brown twigs.  Two-season table runner!

If you’d like to knit my Advent Candles Illusion Knit Table Runner, feel free to click the link to download the pdf.

Happy knitting!

Liverpool Football Club Illusion knit scarf

A knitter contacted me last week and asked if I could help her with a scarf she wanted to make for her husband, an avid fan of the Liverpool Football Club.  She told me that she liked the Illusion/Shadow style of knitting she had seen on some of my Super Bowl 2012 Super Scarves, but didn’t know how to come up with the design.  I agreed to help. 

She sent me a link to the Liverpool Football Club’s website and we discussed the lettering and the colors.  Easy enough.  Additionally, I noticed a red and white checked pattern on the website, so I incorporated the checks into the Illusion work.  Check the link for the website.  You can see the lettering as well as the red and white checked pattern there.

Here’s what I came up with in the end.

 

Every good visible Illusion image photo has a good invisible Illusion image photo to accompany it.  Changing the viewing angle of the knitted piece makes the image appear or disappear.

If you live across the pond from me (or across the street) and are a fan of the Liverpool Football Club or know someone who is and would like to make the Liverpool Football Club Illusion Knit Scarf , click the link for the free pdf pattern. 

Happy knitting!

“Host City End Zone” . . . Super Scarf #41

I have completed another Super Scarf for the 2012 Indianapolis Super Bowl Super Scarf Project.

While I was watching the Indianapolis Colts’ regular season home opener in September, I spotted an image that I thought would make a great Super Scarf.  I snapped the photo and knew I would get to it sometime before the deadline to the Super Scarf Project.  I got to it this week.

The photo I took shows one of the end zones at Lucas Oil Stadium.  From my vantage point, the large letters spelling out ‘INDIANAPOLIS’ in all caps on a blue background immediately struck me as a great idea for a scarf.  The two required colors were already there. 

Enjoying the Illusion/Shadow style of knitting as much as I do, I decided to chart letters and knit the scarf in that style.  Here’s what I came up with – fresh off my needles and unblocked at the time of the informal photo shoot.

I decided that my scarf falls within the parameters of the Super Scarf Project because I am recognizing the Host City of the 2012 Super Bowl and not showing support for a specific team.

Below is another photo  showing how the foreground letters begin to disappear as the viewing angle changes.  Some of the letters are still visible.

The crocheted blue border on each long side and the blue fringe increases the blue background which sets off the lettering.  Below is an image of the scarf from a 90-degree viewing angle – the obligatory ‘stripes’ so inherent to Illusion/Shadow knitting.

I just checked the Super Scarf Project website and they are showing an amazing total of 10,797 scarves collected to date.  We are approaching the deadline for having the scarves arrive in Indianapolis, but there is still time to knit fast or finish what you’ve started.

I ran into a snag with embedding links today, so if you want information about donating a scarf, check out this link:  www.indianapolissuperbowl.com/super-scarves/

Magic Water – Super Scarf #34

I have completed another Super Scarf for the Indianapolis Super Bowl.  For my 34th design, I decided to pay tribute to one of the Community Initiatives that were established by the Indianapolis Host Committee:  1st and Green.

You can click on the link to read the interesting environmental details of the 1st and Green initiative, but for this Super Scarf, I wanted to focus on water:  H₂O. 

My Magic Water Super Scarf is an Illusion/Shadow design.  The photo below was taken at an obtuse viewing angle, at which the design becomes visible.

Illusion/Shadow knitting is constructed using (for the most part, though not always) two colors in alternating double rows.  The pieces look striped as they are knit.  The magic happens when the piece is set on a flat surface and the viewer steps back to widen the viewing angle.  Below is a photo of the scarf as it looks when viewed at a 90-degree angle.  Just stripes and the water disappears.

But . . . we don’t want water to disappear, so check out the 1st and Green link for tips and to join their challenge to save water and offset carbon,  if you’d like to.

Note 1:  For one of my granddaughter’s science fair projects, she decided to focus on saving water at home.  Because of her project, I had already charted water drops for a face cloth that I knit for her.  I borrowed my own chart and then added charting for the H₂O image.

Note2:  As of the original post date, I had not decided to crochet a border on the scarf.  Illusion/Shadow knitting curls cause a knit piece to curl and I am not always opposed to the curl.  Scarves, especially, can curl around our necks anyway when we wrap them around – so somtimes I igore any edging.  Since writing this post, I have added three crocheted rows to the long edges of the scarf, beginning with the wrong side facing me for the first row.  The photo below is the result.

There are other ways to handle the curling, but in the end, a decision has to be made.  I went with crocheting.  If you notice a slight waviness to the edges now, it’s because the H₂O image was worked over en even number of stitches and the image of water drops was worked over an odd number of stitches.

I just checked the Super Scarf website and they are showing a total of 6,256 scarves that have been collected so far.  The number is still climbing.

If you would like to knit the Magic Water Scarf, click the link for the pdf pattern.

Happy knitting!

“Magic Double Flyover” – Super Scarf #32

I have completed another Super Scarf for the Indianapolis Super Bowl.

While I was knitting #31, the Super Flyover, I decided to challenge myself and knit a flyover as an Illusion/Shadow knitting project.  Here’s what I came up with.

It was fun to play around with converting my previous design.  The jet contrails had to fit into the dimensions of the rectangular scarf, rather than hang separately as in #31.  I knit the F-18 C Hornets separately and appliqued them to the scarf in the proper locations, matching each to their contrail.  For the two side jets and the center aircraft, I decided to allow them to hang off the scarf a bit – for visual interest.  It also helps them be more visible against the blue background used to set off the contrails.

llusion/Shadow knitting is most often constructed by color changes every two rows.  The front/right side is most knit across.  On the back/wrong side, the design image is most often set in using a combination of knits and purls.  I say ‘most often’, because I have broken those conventions from time to time.  On the front/right side of a knit piece, the design is visible when viewed at an obtuse viewing angle (greater than 90 degrees).  When the knit piece is viewed from a ninety-degree angle, the image fades into the stripes used to construct it.  On the back/wrong side of the knit piece, the image is visible, but the colors are reversed.  It’s fun and I love to play with the designs.

Here’s a photo of my “Magic Double Flyover” Super Scarf show from the right side at a ninety-degree viewing angle.  You can see a hint of the faded image, but mostly the striping. 

I haven’t mailed Super Scarf #31 to the Host Committee yet because I wanted to wait until I finished #32.  Below is a photo of them side by side to show the comparison of the two flyover scarves.  Besides, Goodnight has been playing with the first one.  This morning she lifted it off the table in a simulated take-off and flew the Hornets around my dining room.

 

So, why did I call #32 “Magic Double Flyover?”  This scarf has the same design on both ends, that’s why.  And when the volunteer who receives this Super Scarf wraps it around his/her neck and looks down at the scarf ends, the Hornets and their contrails will be visible to them – all flying away.  ZOOOOOM!

I just checked the Super Scarf Project website and they show a total of 4,386 scarves that have been collected so far.  Yea!  Check the link to get the specs for making a Super Scarf to help raise that number to 8,000 by November, 2011.

Now, I really must tidy up the dining room.  There are fifteen F-18 C Hornets in there.  My only question is do I have to actually mail them, or could they just take off from my dining room table and make the trip on their own? 

“#1″ Super Scarf – the tweaked version

Okay . . . . I liked my most recent Super Scarf when I posted it a couple of days ago.  But I like it even better now.  A few days away from work, several hundred miles on my car for a road trip, and a little time to knit somewhere in the middle worked a little magic on the scarf.

I made a decision to add two rows or single crochet on each long edge of the scarf to hinder the rolling.  It worked nicely.  I chose to do it in white because I did the hand in white and the cast-on and bind-off edges are in white, too.

As much as I liked the hand when I was done, I decided it needed a little spiffing up.  Truthfully, I was concerned that my stitching wasn’t going to be tidy enough on the inside of the hand.  But it didn’t look too bad in there, so I decided I could do the rest of the stitching and still not have it look messy.  It’s not visible, but I still wanted things to be neatly finished.

Now it has the ‘fun’ factor in it.  Much more appropriate for a football game like the Indianapolis Super Bowl!

The back side of the #1 finger has some added stitching, too.

To attach the hand to the scarf, I sewed four buttons to the inside of the front of the wrist.  This makes the hand removable if the volunteer recipient wishes to take it off.  The buttons slip right through the yarnovers, but snugly enough to hold the hand securely.  You can see three buttons in the photo below, but there are really four.

MUCH better!  I like this one a lot.

“#1″ – Super Scarf #30

It’s time for another Super Scarf for the Indianapolis Super Bowl.  With this scarf, I pay tribute to those fans who attend football games with their Fabulous Fan Foam Fingers (FFFF).  I’m sure you’ve seen them before, but I snagged one from the internet so you can see what I’m talking about.

Image source:  http://www.sportswearhouse.com/store/page38.html

 

 

The FFFF above has a team name listed, but that is not allowed for the Super Scarves.  I used it for illustration purposes only. 

My “#1″ Super Scarf is done in the Illusion/Shadow style of knitting.  Fans are #1.  Volunteers are #1.  Those who have been contributing Super Scarves are #1.  Those who take on the task of hosting an event the scale of the Super Bowl are #1.  That means: #1, #1, #1, #1!!!!!!  That’s what I knit into the scarf.

The image below is the right side of the scarf viewed from an obtuse angle (greater than 90 degrees.)

The scarf is too long to fit on my table for a full shot, but the images are repeated to fill the length of the scarf.

Illusion/Shadow knitting tends to curl because of the stitches used.  I may work a single crochet edge to each long side of the scarf yet.  I’m undecided about that.  Hmmmm . . . . what to do?

When the scarf is viewed from the right side of the fabric at a 90-degree angle, the images fade into the stripes that formed them – leaving a hint of the image (or a shadow.)

I’ve never shown the wrong side of the fabric before, but it’s fun because the image shows up there, too, only it’s reversed in color, and reversed in orientation.  The ‘#’ image is reversible, but the ’1′ isn’t, so look check it out.

It doesn’t show in any of the above photos, but I used yarnovers at both ends of the scarf.  There are no fringes on this scarf.  I did that for a reason.  Whoever receives this scarf should have full bragging rights as #1, so . . . . . I added my version of the FFFF on one end of the scarf.

I knit the hand in the round much like constructing a glove.  I didn’t knit all the fingers because there is only one finger on the FFFF and I wanted less bulk.  I stitched the outline of the extra fingers on the front of the hand.  That seems enough to give a fair representation of the FFFF.

There are buttons on the inside wrist section of the FFFF and they slip through the yarnovers at the end of the scarf to keep it secure.  The hand is detachable, leaving a proper scarf when the hand is off.  That’s why I didn’t add any fringe.  I didn’t want it stuffed into the hand.

So there you have it.  “#1″ makes # 3o for me.

I’m nearly finished typing the pattern for the scarf (not the hand yet.)  I will post it when I get a chance to finish it.  (A day or two.)  Goodnight has been keeping me pretty busy lately: track, softball, declamations, drama club . . .   Jelly Bean the Evil Queen will have her debut soon.

I just checked the Super Scarves website and they are showing a total of 4,521 Super Scarves that have been collected so far.

How’s the knitting going where you are? 

“Host City Magic” – Super Scarf #24

Time for another Super Scarf for the Indianapolis Super Bowl in 2012.  I just checked the site this morning and they have collected nearly 2400 scarves.  We have a way to go to reach 8000.

I’m rather fond of the Illusion/Shadow style of knitting and decided to design another scarf using that technique.  It just makes me smile to see the images appear, I guess.  And yet, they are disguised as stripes . . . . . it’s like playing for me.

Anyway . . . for this scarf, I was thinking about Indianapolis and all the work that has to go on behind the scenes in order to prepare for the Super Bowl.   I thought I would give the host city a huge ‘shout out’ via my yarn. 

In the photo below, you have to read it from the top down . . . but it says “INDY   XLVI.”  I decided to use this message because the first and last character was the ‘I’ and it makes it look somewhat symmetrical – at least on the ends.  The eight characters made the scarf a tad longer than some I’ve done, but still within the accepted dimension limits set by the Host Committee.  The letters in the foreground look larger than those at the top of the scarf, however they all have the same width and height dimensions.

 

Here’s  the scarf a look at the scarf from a 90-degree viewing angle – showing the stripes that make up the magic. 

I guess we can’t judge a scarf by its stripes, eh?  At least not until we see what magic unfolds when the viewing angle changes.

I knit the scarf with some yarnovers at each end, which provide equally spaced holes for the fringe.

So . . . . Indy . . . . here’s a shout out to you fresh off my needles.  Thanks to everyone who is playing a role in the preparation for Super Bowl 46.  Hang in there!

I’ll be posting the pattern here when I get the opportunity to finish typing it.

 

Happy knitting!

“Helping Hands” – Super Scarf #21

It’s time for another Super Scarf!

This scarf is my second tribute to the volunteers who will be lending their hands to the Indianapolis Super Bowl in 2012 wherever they will be needed.   For this scarf, I resorted to designing  in the Illusion/Shadow style of knitting because I still think it’s magic!  The scarf is based on a face cloth I designed for Mother’s Day, but I wanted to see if I could successfully alternate the image/background colors.  It worked! 

The design looks like large patchwork squares with hands  appliquéd in the center of each square.  Alas, that is not  at all how the scarf is constructed.  It’s simply made by two alternating rows of color.

Here’s a photo of my “Helping Hands” Super Scarf with the striping clearly apparent.

But . . . like volunteers, the hands magically appear.  To see them, one must step back and change the viewing angle to greater than 90 degrees and the images become visible.  Magic!

Also visible in the photo directly above, is a subtle, 2-stitch striped border that I maintained from the invisible to the visible view of the scarf.  It runs the full length of the scarf, just for some added detail.

The scarf can be knit using the same color for each hand and the same color for each background square, or the colors can be reversed for each square.  My pattern includes the directions for both options.

If you’d like to knit my “ Helping Hands Super Scarf ”, click on the link for the free pdf pattern.

Happy knitting!