Dogwoods

I haven't been to town this week, perhaps the dogwoods are already blooming there but here in the foothills, my dogwoods are just now starting to show the beginning of blossoms. Here's a photo I took this morning, the tree is right beside the screen of our back porch, I love it being so close.
When we moved to SC back in 1961 my husband (who was the master of stories and fables, not always true) told me the story about the dogwood and the cross and told me that the dogwood always blooms at Easter time. I remembered that this year as I've watched my tree get ready to bloom. Then I decided to Google Dogwood and see if he was just telling me that or if it really was a legend. I found out it really was a true legend and there's more to it, I'll bet anything he knew the rest of it too. Here's what I found:

The word ~dogwood~ comes from a custom in England to wash dogs with a concoction made from dogwood bark to cure mange.

According to legend the dogwood was the size of the oak and other forest trees. Being firm and strong, it was chosen as the timber for the cross, during the Crucifixion of Christ. According to stories, the tree was distressed for being used for a cruel purpose, and Jesus being nailed to it sensed this and told the tree, "Because of your regret and pity for my suffering, never again shall the dogwood tree grow large enough to be used as a cross. Henceforth it shall be slender and bent and twisted and its blossoms shall be in the form of a cross, two long and two short petals. In the center of the outer edge of each petal there will be nail prints, brown with rust and stained with red, and in the middle of the flower will be a crown of thorns, and all who see it will remember ..."

The wood of dogwood was widely used in the textile industry and to make shuttlecocks, spools, dowels, baseball bats and shingles. Dogwood is so hard that it can even be used as a wedge to split other wood. The bark was used to make tea as a remedy for fever. According to Loudon, 1838, Arboretum Euonymus, a decoction of its leaves was used to wash dogs to free them from vermin. It was used to intoxicate fishes in Jamaica and as a tobacco additive by American Indians.

British Columbia adopted the Pacific dogwood Cornus nuttallii as its official provincial flower in 1956. During World War II, the sale of dogwood lapel pins earned money to purchase wool and other comforts for British Columbian soldiers. Dogwood blossoms are depicted on British Columbia’s coat of arms and on a flag flown by franco-Columbians, or French-speaking residents.

Dogwood ~Flowers or Trees~ are the official state flowers/trees of Missouri, New Jersey, North Carolina, Virginia & British Columbia.

On April 23, 1995 President and Mrs. Clinton planted a flowering dogwood on the grounds of the White House to memorialize the loss of life in the Oklahoma City Bombing.

My Logo

OK, I know you're dying to know how I got this logo. I've had it since 1987. How it came about was, in December 1986 we came to SC from Michigan to have a look at our property one more time before we built a house. We got a map that showed the mountains and their names and discovered that the mountain in front of our property was called Piney Mountain. So my son decided we should call our house Piney Mountain Cottage since it sits at the bottom of Piney Mountain. That was it, the Perfect name.

About that same time I decided to go ahead and start up a business. I wasn't sure what I was going to sell, probably knits since like most machine knitters who buy their first knitting machine thinks they're going to start selling knits (little do they know what that entails...)

So I went back to our home in Michigan, wrote to South Carolina and applied for my business license. That following summer we moved. We planned on living in a camper in the driveway while the house was being built. I wasn't about to live here in that camper until there was electricity so I went to Spokane where my Mom lived and hung out with her for the summer.

Mother's next door neighbor has a daughter close to the same age as me. The daughter is an artist, home from art school. I decided to ask her to draw a logo for me. I knew I wanted it to be a little old lady, knitting of course, and a cottage with the mountains in the background. Well----the logo you see is sort of what she came up with. I loved it but the only problem with it was the mountains. She and I grew up near the Rocky Mountains, the mountains around here are rounder and softer, older my husband told me. So I rounded out the mountains and there you have it, my Piney Mountain Cottage logo. I love it as much now as I did when she first came up with it.

Knitweave Scarfvest

This is a lightweight vest (or scarf) and drapes slightly around the neck. Look at the picture, you can see light through the fabric, I would never knit this sock yarn alone at this high tension but I believe knitting it loosely with no weights helped with the edges rolling problem.

Machine: Silver Reed LK 150

Knitting Yarn: 3-50g balls of Red Heart Heart & Sole with Aloe (I purchased this at Hobby Lobby This is a superwash wool sock yarn).

Weaving Yarn: 1-50g ball Queensland Collection, Kathmandu Aran Tweed double knit weight wool, 85% Merino Wool, 10% Silk, 5% Cashmere.
(any wool yarn will work for this but since it only takes 1 ball, make it special. I highly recommend a wool blend for this project because it steams flat easier than acrylic.

4 buttons

Final Measurement: 6 inches wide x 40 inches long on the straight sides plus the 2 pointed ends

Gauge:Woven Swatch - 6 sts and 8 rows per inch with 1 strand of Red Heart and 1 strand of the weaving yarn.

Machine:This was knitted on the LK 150 but I used the LK 140 carriage which knits looser than the LK 150 carriage. I used a loose tension (4), probably if I had use the LK 150 carriage I would have to use a tension 5 to match the gauge I got with this carriage. I purposely knitted it loose and used no weights to help eliminate curly edges. You can see light through the fabric when you hold it up but that’s ok, its soft and lightweight and wonderful to wear.

How to Weave on the LK 150:I used a 1x1 weave, over one, under the next, alternating every row. To weave just place the weaving yarn in front of you in a bowl or something that will keep it from rolling all over the floor, don't use the antenna. Leave the knit (background) yarn in the antenna as normal. As you weave, pull forward every other needle as you get to it. Needle 1, put the weaving yarn over the needle, back against the bed, needle 2 put the weaving yarn under, alternating over every other needle. Then knit the row with your Red Heart yarn. Next row alternate the over and under needles so those that you put over last row, put under this row, be sure to pull out the needles as you get to them. If you have a weaving carriage, follow the directions that came with it.

Knitting Directions:
E-Wrap cast on 2 stitches with your Red Heart Yarn. Hold the stitches with your hand under the bed rather than using weights or use a lightweight plastic clothespin to hold it down but don’t use anything heavy. Remove the clothes pin ASAP. K across.

Begin Knitweaving:
Row 1. Weave under 1 stitch and over the second stitch. Knit across with the Red Heart yarn in the carriage.

Begin increasing every row on carriage side.
Row 2.Increase on carriage side, continue weaving, your first row was over/under and you’ve added a stitch, this row will be under/over/under. Continue this sequence increasing 1 stitch carriage side each row until you have 12 stitches each side, or until your piece is 6 inches wide.

Continue knit weaving until your scarf is 34 inches long (row 272)or, with a tape measure, drape 40 inches around your neck as a scarf, go to your mirror and make a note where you want the first buttonhole. You’ll want the 4th buttonhole to end about 2 rows before the end of your 40 inches. Place 2 more buttonholes evenly between the first and last. or just follow my directions below:

Mark for buttonholes:
At Row 272 mark the left side edge with contrast yarn for your first buttonhole.
Continue knitweaving, mark your second buttonhole at row 288.
Mark row 304 and finally at row 318.
Knit 2 more rows, you will be at row 320 or 40 inches.

Begin decreasing every row carriage side until you have 2 stitches left, weaving every row as you did on the other side. Bind off those 2 stitches.

Knitting Machine Crochet-Like Trim:
Use 2 strands of Red Heart’s Heart and Sole

Knit-crochet your edges using the Crab Stitch technique on your machine from Charlene Tate's web page, http://charmknits.com/crochet-like-trims.htm WARNING: Work a few rows and check to make sure your work isn’t puckering from putting the stitches too close together. If they are, take out that bit and do it again, skipping a stitch to keep the work flat. Charlene suggests you skip every 6th stitch.

Start with the base stitch: Begin with the right side of the garment facing you, working from R to L, pick up the first full fabric st and hang on a ndl. K 2 rws. Pick up bump under st and hang on ndl to the R of the ndl. K 2 rws. Two ndls are now in work and a base st is finished.

Continue with the Crab Stitch Technique: With a single prong tool, pick up next fabric st and hang on new ndl to the L of the L ndl. Transfer R st to new L ndl and put empty ndl out of work (A) position. (Original L ndl becomes R ndl.) K 2 rws. Repeat until last fabric st remains. On the Curves, do the stitch twice to help keep the shape correct. To end, hang last fabric st on L ndl and transfer st on R ndl to L ndl. K 1 rw.

When finished with the first row, go around 1 more time. This time pick up the bars between the bump from the first crochet row. When you get to the buttonhole markers make your buttonholes by knitting 4 stitches in the same space before continuing with the crab stitch (sort of like making a chain if you were crocheting. Before you continue, make sure your button will fit through but not too loose, you don’t want it to come unbuttoned when you are wearing it. If you prefer, just crochet a chain after you get the work off the needles.

To finish your scarfvest, if you’ve used wool you can actually steam with your steam iron and press down hard shaping it as you steam. I folded mine in half to keep the shape the same on both side. Weave in all ends and sew your buttons on. you’re ready to wear.

Double click on the diagram to see the measurements

If you’d like to make this scarfvest on any other machine, make a tension swatch. Get out your calculator and start with 2 needles, ewrap cast on, increase every stitch every row on carriage side until you have a 6 inch width. Continue knitweaving every row until your piece is 40 inches long. Decrease down to 2 stitches. Repeat the Crochet-Like Trim as above. Sorry but I have no idea how many balls of the yarn it will take. If you buy extra you can always make a pair of socks with the Red Heart yarn. Remember, no weights and knit it loose enough that it holds it shape but is a bit drapey.

Scarfvest is finished

Here it is finally, the scarfvest I've been working on forever (it seems like it anyway). Its knitweave, the knitting yarn is Red Heart's Heart and Sole, a sock yarn, superwash wool, spun with aloe. I really like the yarn and will definitely use it again. The weaving yarn is a double knit wool that I bought in a yarn shop in Wisconsin while visiting over Christmas.

You can probably tell from the pictures I knitted it pretty loose because I had a theory that one of the reasons our machine knit edges curl so much is because the machine has it stretched tight horizontally and we have it stretched tight vertically with weights. So--I used no weights and knitted it looser than I usually do. The edges still rolled a little but nothing like they usually do.

I solved the slight roll by doing machine knit crochet edges. I knew that Charlene Tate has several how-to-crochet by machine on her web site at www.charmknits.com/ I did the Crab Stitch which is a backward single crochet all the way around. When I was finished I decided to do 1 more row. Normally you wouldn't do 2 rows of crab stitch but I like the way this looks, probably a bit different than if I had crocheted it by hand but I'll never crochet by hand again unless I have to do a stitch that isn't on Charlene's web page. To make the buttonholes I did sort of a chain stitch (on the machine) as I got to the place where I had left a buttonhole marker, I just knitted 4 rows on 1 stitch, then joined it by continuing on with the crab stitch, hard to explain but it worked.

Tomorrow I'll get my notes out and see if I can write up how I made this thing, right now I can't remember exactly how many stitches I used and exactly how I did the tuxedo ends but I wrote it all down.

Spring Flowers are Coming Up

Definitely its spring here in SC. I have been outside working in the little flower gardens in the front, removing the leaves that I left in them to keep the bulbs and roots warm over the winter. Now its time to spruce them up. The forsythia bushes have just started to bloom here in my part of the foothills and the azalea bushes have started to show some buds. I've carefully sprayed them all winter with Liquid Fence to keep the deer from eating them. I'm on my way to town and I'm going to get a picture of the pretty Bradford Pear trees that line the driveway of a local church.

Meanwhile my knitting is going nowhere.

I've been working on a scarfvest for over a month. I finally almost have it finished but am trying out different edge treatments for it. I've settled on a half double crochet done on the knitting machine (tried it by hand but my crocheting leaves a lot to be desired). Once I decided to do that I couldn't make up my mind about which yarn to use, the warp yarn or the weaving yarn. That issue is finally settled, I'm going to use the warp yarn which is lots thinner than the weaving yarn. Now I'm waiting until Thurday when its going to be cooler and raining. With 3 cool days ahead I should finish that blasted scarfvest and then its time to do some spring cleaning in the loft.

My son and family are coming down from Michigan the end of the month and my grandaughter loves to sort and organize so she's going to help me with this job that has just been way too hard for me to do alone. Why is it, the older we get, the harder it is to part with little pieces of fiber? I find something, an old magazine, a knitted swatch, a half finished sweater and off I go on another project that I tell myself I'll finish before I finish the sorting and tossing. Oh well, it keeps me going I guess--some day I may actually get the sorting and tossing done but until then I do love looking through the stuff.

Australia's Damaging Fires

Here's the world's most unique and deeply inspiring experiences for art and garden lovers of all ages created by Bruno Torfs. Recently the raging fires in Victoria completely destroyed his unique forest creation taking over 300 paintings and sculptures.

As you take a walk through the forest pictures, please take a moment to reflect on the beauty gone and the many people who have lost their homes, their loved ones, their livelihoods, the severely injured, the animal life and the dedicated fire fighters, police, civilians, and those involved in caring for the traumatized and injured. For more about this amazing man,more pictures of his art and his forest, go to www.brunosart.com

Mallards at Play

Early this afternoon I came home from town and took the dog back to the pond where he loves to get a drink, survey the world and play. Wow! I turned the corner to the pond and there were 2 mallards swimming along enjoying themselves as if they owned the place. I silently told the dog not to bark (he's never seen a duck before) luckily he didn't bark, he just watched them and then wandered away unimpressed, thank goodness. I turned and quietly walked back to the house for my camera and got some shots of them enjoying their swim.