March 08, 2010

Garter stitch baby blanket

I just completed this garter stitch blanket for a friend with a two month old and delivered it last night. The fabric is super soft and I'm happy with how it came out.

Posted by Dave at 05:07 PM |

January 04, 2009

Piggy mittens for Sarah

The snow and short days have made for great knitting weather and these are the latest to come off the assembly line, a pair of piggy mittens for Sarah. I got the pattern off the awesome knitting site Ravelry.

Posted by Dave at 08:18 PM |

December 18, 2008

iPod Touch Felted Cozie for Mom

I made this sleeve for Mom's new iPod as a Christmas gift. I'm already jealous of it and might have to make one for my phone. It was a quick and satisfying project.

Posted by Dave at 09:22 AM |

November 27, 2008

Afghan for Michael and Tiffany

Five years ago I made an afghan for Drew and Beth's wedding present and this year I did the same for my friends Michael and Tiffany. They were married a couple months ago but I just mailed them the completed blanket. I'm pleased with how it turned out. It was my first project using a knitting technique called entrelac. Unlike with Drew and Beth's I did not have to knit all the little squares together at the end. It's an especially fitting gift since Tiffany is who taught me to knit.

Happy Thanksgiving to all!

Posted by Dave at 01:39 PM |

September 25, 2008

Sarah's sweater

While babysitting today Sarah asked me about my knitting which I'd brought over since she was supposed to be napping but turned out not to be very sleepy. She asked what I was making, who it was for, how to do it. I showed her a little and look forward to being able to teach her to knit as she gets older. Then I pulled out a sweater from her closet that I made for her almost a year ago. It was a little big back then but fits her great now. I'm glad she'll get to wear it at least a couple times before her next growth spurt. Maybe it will look good on Emily down the road. It's made of sturdy hemp that softens after each wash.

Posted by Dave at 05:34 PM |

June 21, 2008

Baking bread

I have always been a fiend for bread, at least from the consumption side. And I've enjoyed baking bread too with a focus on finding the simplest way to bring it to the table. For a while this meant a bread machine that I inherited from my grandmother, then a no-knead French country-style bread. And most recently I've been making a no-knead bread publicized in the New York Times that comes out great. However when Scott gave me Peter Reinhart's Whole Grain Breads book for my birthday this year I knew it was time to get "serious" about baking bread. more...
See the images...

Posted by Dave at 06:23 PM |

December 25, 2007

Christmas stockings

At the wire I finished Sarah's stocking, just in time for Santa to fill it last night. I did it quickly but am happy with the result. Also pictured is Beth's stocking which I knitted a couple years ago when Beth had her first Christmas with us at Woods Gap. I'm carrying on a family tradition as we all have hand-knitted stocking from either my grandmother Mimi or Uncle George. Unknowingly I knit the same pattern as Uncle George did for my mom's stocking sixty years ago! I only hope Sarah's holds up as well...

Posted by Dave at 03:13 PM |

August 14, 2007

New fence, gate and hot tub

I have long wanted a hot tub and when I moved to Portland and experienced the gray cool winters I wanted one even more. My new house had a perfect spot for a hot tub, in fact the last owner had taken out a hot tub. Also there was no bath tub in the house. So on Thursday my hot tub came. I had to take out the fence and gate for them to get it in the backyard. This was no big loss because both were falling apart and the gate was troublesome to use and only opened about 18 inches. So I built a new fence and gate, improving the line at the same time. Here are better photos of just the hot tub and just the fence and gate.

Posted by Dave at 04:50 PM |

December 28, 2006

Mom's hat

I made this hat for Mom over the summer but just photographed it recently. I've made a number of hats but I knit all of them in the round mostly with stockinette pattern which makes a great hat. This time around I felt like trying something new and had Mom look through a Vogue knitting book on hats. She settled on this pattern and we went to Knit Purl to get the yarn. We chose this cotton yarn because wool can irritate Mom's skin. It's knitted in a herring-bone pattern into several pieces that are later seamed together. I think it's supposed to evoke a style from the twenties.

Posted by Dave at 10:25 AM |

March 13, 2006

Mmm...biscuits!

That's what Sam is thinking as the aroma of these biscuits I'm baking floats about the apartment. This is the second time I've made biscuits for Sam and they have been a big hit with him. He gets one each morning when we come home from the park. Rae and Ross also thought they were tasty. I got a recipe from Two Dog Press that's super easy. It's a quick satisfying project and well-appreciated by others :)

Posted by Dave at 02:38 PM |

December 05, 2005

First sweater

So my mom says I haven't blogged in a while and who can argue with that so here's me wearing the first sweater I've ever knitted. I started this project about a year and a half ago and picked it up here and there. For a while it was all done except for blocking it which I did recently. The pattern suggested I further stabilize the back neck and shoulders by sewing over along the seam which I may get around to doing. The various knitting patterns turned out beautifully in this wool/mohair/silk yarn called Prairie Silks by the Brown Sheep Company. As you can see the sweater is a little big on me with a few extra folds (click the photo for a detail of the sweater). I may later try it in the drier to shrink it some more... Still I will wear it with pride and just be careful Sam doesn't get his jaws on it as he thinks it and all yarn whether knitted or not is the cat's pajamas.

Posted by Dave at 02:41 PM |

August 16, 2005

Chair workshop

Last week my dad and I took a chair-building workshop at the Northwest Woodworking Studio. The class was a birthday gift from my brother and taught by famed chairmaker Brian Boggs from Berea, Kentucky.

Chairs are a special challenge because there aren't too many right angles. Chairs are a special joy as well because you get to use a shaving horse which is a real joy to sit at and make shavings with either a drawknife or a spokeshave. Up to Thursday night both my dad and I were dubious we would have finished chairs by the end of the week however Brian had everything under control and we weaved the hickory bark seats Friday afternoon with everyone successfully assembling their chairs. I still need to do some final shaping and apply finish to the chair.

Posted by Dave at 03:37 PM |

May 25, 2005

Yoga mat bags

Since January I've been taking yoga regularly but both my parents have been doing it for years. When I saw a pattern for a yoga mat bag in Stitch n' Bitch Nation I thought of them. I gave them the bags for their birthdays this year.

Posted by Dave at 07:04 AM |

November 19, 2004

More socks

I'm back at knitting socks. I make them on two circular needles as taught by Judy Wilcox at the Yarn Garden. This current pair is for a friend.

See my first pair here.

My second pair completed

One pair of socks on two circulars

Close-up view

Posted by Dave at 09:37 AM |

April 05, 2004

Shaving horse

On a recent trip to Virginia, my dad and I made a shaving horse. Dad turned the legs and several people have commented they look like horse hooves. I followed a project plan from a chair-building book I have.

On a future trip I plan to enjoy using the shaving horse and eventually make some fine chairs, however I'm not currently accepting commissions for your dining room set of Windsors.

Posted by Dave at 05:57 PM |

Workbench

In my one bedroom apartment I've chosen to have a workshop in my bedroom and sleep on a futon couch in the living room. I've enjoyed having a project/work room. My biggest project so far has been to build a workbench. I built this bench last summer out of framing lumber.

On the end I installed a Veritas twin-screw vise which has worked beautifully. You can also see my favorite Japanese saw in action.

Posted by Dave at 05:44 PM |

February 16, 2004

Socks

I just completed my first pair of knitted socks! For those who don't knit, socks look pretty small and unimpressive but I've just learned how much go into them. They were a lot of fun though and I'll be doing more for sure. I made these as part of class I took through the Yarn Garden of Portland taught by Judy Wilcox.

Posted by Dave at 09:23 AM |

September 14, 2003

Teddy bear

For my birthday this year my brother got me a scroll saw. I'd been taking an interest in his woodworking hobby. You can do lots of cool things with a scroll saw. It's excellent for cutting intricate curves in relatively thin stock. I created this bear using a technique called intarsia. The pattern was in Wood magazine and is by Judy Gale Roberts. I used scraps of cherry, walnut, maple, and some unknown species which forms the pads on the feet. It's been called "painting with wood" because traditionally you don't use stain, paint, or dyes but the natural variations in wood to create the pattern. I used a drum sander attachment on a drill press to shape the contours in the pieces after cutting them with the scroll saw.

Posted by Dave at 10:34 AM |

Afghan

Last December I saw a friend of mine knitting scarves to give her family for Christmas. I asked her to show me the basics because it looked like such a peaceful activity. She did and I did some swatches and then a couple of hats. My first big project though was an afghan for my brother and his wife's wedding present. I got the design out of a book called Easy Afghans, but chose the yarn and colors with some help from my mom at a great Portland knitting shop, The Yarn Garden. I find knitting very meditative and I'm looking for my next project.

Posted by Dave at 10:23 AM |

Drawing

With the additional free time I have being unemployed I have been exploring various creative pursuits. From knitting to woodworking I am enjoying activities that I didn't pursue when I was working. Recently I checked the book "The New Drawing on the Right Side of the Brain" by Betty Edwards out of the library. Her idea is that pretty much anyone can learn to draw and it's all about learning to see without naming and abstracting everything. I enjoy the challenge of making a drawing.
See the images...

Posted by Dave at 09:35 AM |