Lord Kitchener's Stitch

The Chinook winds have started here - and snow is melting.  And that means ice...  Underneath my feet...  Treacherous ice waiting for the unsuspecting.  And that means neighbourhood walks are off for the forseeable future - at least until the next snowfall at any rate.  It's been almost a year since my "big fall" and I don't mind telling you I'm terrified of falling again.

So...I retreat into the house and pick up the knitting needles, although Libby and I did venture over to the dog park this morning where she made friends with a gorgeous Doberman named Kira and we played with the frisby.  Libby's pretty good at the Frisby catching - not so good at bringing it back but we're working on it.

 I feel much more confident walking on the icy grass than I do tip toeing down the sidewalks around here - and the alleys are skating rinks - polished ice that looks like glass and is twice as dangerous.

I've just finished a very interesting scarf  designed byCarol Huebscher Rhoades and published in the September/October issue of Piecework Magazine.  You can find it at  pieceworkmagazine.com -

This was such an interesting scarf to knit - the two fan shell motif's are knit separately, one of them then turning into the narrow rib pattern and finally joined up with the Kitchener stitch.  The idea here is no bulk around the back of your neck, but a pretty ruffle in front.  I used a lovely wool/mohair blend spun at "Custom Knitting Mill" in Carstairs and given to me by a friend whose niece owns the goats and sheep.  It was gorgeous to work with and this scarf will go back to my friend to thank her for the wool - I used around 100g of the wool and 4mm DP needles.

And that got me to thinking about the kitchener stitch itself and what a great grafting technique it is...and that got me to thinking about why it is named Kitchener stitch.
So, a bit of research later I found out why this very handy joining technique is named after Field Marshal Horatio Herbert Kitchener, first Earl Kitchener 1850-1916, a hero of the Boer War, the war in Sudan and the first world war.

According to the research I found, Lord Kitchener was also quite involved with the British Red Cross and "exhorted" (lovely word that) British, Canadian and American women to knit "Comforts" - i.e. mittens, scarves and socks for the soldiers.

 But here's the interesting part - Kitchener knew how to knit socks! - and he had a sock design of his own using a squarish "grawfted" toe which he distributed to the Red Cross and which he insisted would be a much more comfortable toe closure for the soldiers in their boots.  Clever eh?  And this "Grawfted" square closure became known as the kitchener stitch!  And it is more comfortable to wear - no question.

But Kitchener stitch can also be used for other things - among them, this lovely scarf I just finished.

In this case the grafting is done in the round - which can be as bit more tricky but still works like a charm.

One of my favourite technique books is Mary Thomas's Knitting book, first published in 1938 and is full of wonderful drawings.  Mary ignores the name "Kitchener" and just calls this "knitting graft" and she has a song - or chant to help remember what to do when.

 Front Needle
"Take off as if you were going to knit
Prepare as if you were going to purl
Back needle
Take off as if you were going to purl
Prepare as if you were going to knit"

 Bear in mind you have the same number of stitches on the front as on the back, and this technique is done with your tapestry needle, keeping the yarn between the needles, not over the needles. 
So simple, so effective and indeed makes for happy toes or any other invisible grafting you want to do.

Back to the Christmas knitting - three pairs of socks are finished finally - keeping the projects small this year - "comforts"
talk soon.  p

I am Remembering today

When the first World War started he was a 34 year old family man.  He worked for the CPR railway Company as a conductor.  He had a wife and four small children, Ron, Mildred, Lester and baby Gertrude (my mother)
Then in 1917 or there abouts, the call for soldiers reached it's fingers out to Canada and Canada responded.
He found himself training in Scotland, in uniform, having his portrait taken.  Was this the picture he carried of his family?  The small portrait underneath is taken in France in 1918.
He was a handsome man, a family man, and he was my grandfather, my mother's father..James Johnston Greer, born 1880 in Miami, Manitoba, married to 19 year old Eva in 1905.
 What an upheaval it must have been for that little family, for my Grandmother, Eva, wondering if she would ever see him again.
But he did come home and he sent and brought souveniers.

This Crib cover, hand stitched with lace and silk ribbons was for my mum, the newest baby.

And here is the carriage cover he found.  It says souvenier of Belgium - hand painted silk and belgium lace with embroidered flowers and leaves.  An amazing piece of work.

I don't know if he managed to send these treasures home to Eva or if he brought them back with him.
I do know he was in the trenches of France and Belgium and was a victim of mustard gas.

These are three hand stitched post cards and a delicate silk handkerchief - souveniers of France he sent to his wife from France.  Did he wonder if he would come back?  He must have.  Somehow these wound up in my mother's wooden handkerchief box.  The stitching is exquisite.

He did come home, fathered a fifth child - Lorraine - and saw her married to a flyer, Jack Brechan and send him off to fight in the second World War, and watched his son Lester sign up for the Canadian Army.   
James passed away in 1948 of cancer  at 62, and family legend is the Mustard Gas ultimately killed him.  He is buried in the Burnsland Veteran's Cemetery in Calgary.

Knitting Big!

Just for the record I like knitting and crocheting with fine yarn, and small needles.  I knit Socks with 4 ply fingering for goodness sake!   And I knit them with 2.50 or 2.75 mm needles.  I like this.

Knitting on 25mm circular needles with a yarn the circumference of my index finger was very far from my mind....until the call went out last week from www.stashlounge.com  to the team for hats, scarves, cowls and blankets made with "Big Loop" , pure wool merino.   Stash has been invited to open a "Pop Up Shop" in Holt Renfrew, for the weekend of November 7-9.    Here is what Veronica, our intrepid leader, has planned:

 

 

"Our booth is going to feature finished knitwear made from Loopy Mango's Big Loop merino. Blankets, hats, scarves, and cowls will be for sale at our booth. We will also be selling Big loop skeins, Big Loop Mini kits, and Big Loop needles and kits. We will be knitting hats and scarves on site. We will be giving micro knitting session to anyone interested. "

So..the knitting is ON!

Veronica loves big knitting - the bigger the better.  Her reasoning is that the project goes very fast - and she's right.  One of these hats knit up in about an hour...maybe a bit more or less.  The tailing in is done with a felting needle.   The hats are chunky, clunky and very, very popular right now - actually all knitted or crochet hats and scarves are very popular right now - this is a good thing.  Winter is coming to Calgary.

I pressed the pumpkin into service as a hat model - although his head was a tad big.

The hats look warm and cozy, and they are

It will be a fun time at Holt Renfrew this weekend for sure.

Drop in if you are downtown and say hi.