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So I recently participated in the Rainbow Swap on Craftster.org. Unfortunately, my partner seems to have flaked on me, though she has until Friday to contact someone before the organizers of the swap get an angel (someone else on Craftster to make me a package and in return, they get Friend of Crafster status for a year).
Since I am sure she received my package (which I’m kind of bummed about) I’ll go ahead and show you what I made for her:
Fingerless mitts using Peaches and Cream in fiesta and some black Simply Soft
Crochet bracelet that took me a while and I liked, so I’m pissed I gave it to someone who flaked on the swap.
Little pouch I wasn’t using anyway.
Shrinky-Dink jewelry, which I’m really pissed about because I love how it came out and the ring was a bit of a PITA to get right. Rawr.
I also sent her a couple of extras, like shoe laces, the rest of the Peaches and Creme yarn, an a flashy light up thing. Hopefully I’ll get an awesome angel and I won’t feel quite as bummed.
At long last, the items for the Craft my Wish Swap on Craftster have been sent and received by the intended parties, and I have finally received my final package from sg1psychopath, which came all the way from Great Britain and somehow managed to do that is less time than it took for Nikimac’s package to get from Virginia to Washington. *shrug*
Anyway, here’s what I got from sg1psychopath:
Sweet buttons (the red ones will probably go on my version of Lilith, which I think I’m just going to design myself), a phone holder, which I will make an honest effort to use, a bookmark, a little box with shells (which she didn’t make but had around) and a pillow cover, which doesn’t have a pillow in because she (understandably) wanted to save on shipping, and one of these days, I’ll just haul my ass to Michael’s to get my own pillow form.
And here is what I made for my partners:
For Nikimac:
A little itsy-bitsy sweater for her baby due in July:
I’m so excited I got to make this. : ) I used Lion Brand Cotton-Ease, US 10/6mm needles and the 5 Hour Baby Boy Sweater pattern. It’s so tiny and so cute! Now I want to make a ton of baby sweaters. : )
Also, this little earflap hat for her two-year-old son:
I freehanded the pattern top-down using US 7/4.5mm dpns, red Ella Rae Class wool, and blue Lion Wool. The earflaps were picked up after casting off, and there’s a border of single crochet around everything. I love this hat too because it’s cute and tiny.
And also this kickass apron:
Oh my God… This apron. It is my opus. Okay, not really. But it WAS extremely frustrating and turned out extremely AWESOME. I am kind of sad I don’t cook and therefore have absolutely NO use for any such thing because I really love it. Niki really loves it though, so that’s good. : )
I was going for a retro sort of look, and I think I got it. I found the fabric at Walmart on the day before send out (yep, I did this all the night before, as I do everything) for $1.50 a yard and bought a yard. And I used every inch. The white bits are pieces from various t-shirt scraps. The ruffle at the bottom was extremely frustrating and I did not enjoy sewing it on and poor Mary, my sewing machine, did not enjoy sewing it on either. She does not like knit fabric. Nor did she like this this, seersucker-ish fabric that the main bit of the apron is made of. But she pulled through like a champ, and it looks awesome. I am SO SO proud of this thing.
For JanelleJ:
Amigurumi Fruits and Veggies:
With faces! Cute. Had to put these off til the last minute because I lack food-colored yarn at school. Fail. I actually intended to make many more of these than I actually did, but I ran out of time and also desire. And food colored yarn. So I have a pear, a lemon (which I made up and did NOT use a pattern for, even though there’s one on Ravelry), and an orange which actually looks more like a peach and I guess it doesn’t matter which. Pretty basic patterns.
A stuffed elephant:
I improvised this design using Vanna’s Choice, left over from Talia way back. It’s based on the crochet elephants I used to make, and I definitely like the knit design much better. Mostly because I prefer knitting and find it’s much faster and much less annoying. *shrug* I think this little guy came out looking pretty cute though. : )
Headbands for her two-month-old:
Basically some elastic and some fabric scraps. These were definitely a last minute decision, and I, of course, made them Thursday night. I like how them came out though. They were very simple, and I would definitely make them again given an occasion.
Decorated Notebooks:
The smaller one I got in a previous swap but knew I would never use, so I slapped on a carrot (one of her desire themes/motifs) and called it a day. The other one I am MUCH more fond of, but I went through a couple different octopuses before settling on that one. I think that one is adorable though. The paper inside of it is the innards from a small notebook that was missing a cover. So I glued some black construction paper to the spine, slapped on an octopus, and called it a day.
And because I didn’t make anything large like the apron I made for Nikimac, I also threw in two skeins of Bernat Matrix and two spools of ribbon. You don’t need pictures of those.
I’ll be honest. I picked the Matrix because I wanted it out of the stash. I have no regrets.
Unfinished objects, that is, as you might have guessed. While cleaning my (disaster-area, like, tornado-ravaged) room, I found a couple of things that were almost done, but not quite.
I found this calorimetry:
Just needed a button, so I sewed that on. Made from Red Heart Super Saver, and I think I only cast on 80 or 90.
And this cowl/neck warmer thing:
Needed buttons and I needed to weave in the ends, so I did that, and now I have a lovely neck warmer. It’s a couple rows of garter stitch, a couple rows of stockinette with two drop stitch rows, and some more garter stitch. I got the lovely handspun yarn in a swap, and I wanted to use it for something special. It’s pretty pink with strands of gold and silver and white. Pretty. I only had 55 yards, so I had to pay attention so I could use as much as possible. I think I only had a yard or so left. : )
So my mother is a frequent yard sale shopper. I occasionally like to go with her, but this morning I had to work so I did not go. Fortunately, my mother kept me in mind and picked up a gallon-sized ziplock bag of buttons! (It wasn’t full, but still.) Many of them were the extra buttons you get with clothes with buttons, and while most of them were boring two or four hole flat buttons, there were a couple of really cool shank buttons, brass with vaguely nautical themes:
But my favorite of all the buttons is this tiny little heart-shaped one:
So now my button box is almost full! Here’s a gratuitous shot off all of my buttons:
And now for some actual knitting content. I have two projects on the needles currently, because you know, I thought I’d just keep the project orgy going. Yeah. Anyway, I have a DROPS cable bag and the Climbing Vines Pullover from the winter IK. Both are slow going because they’re either cables/ribs or require me to follow a chart. I prefer to knit on the pullover because, as I am using Knit Picks Wool of the Andes, it is lovely to knit on, and the pattern is challenging and interesting (even though I hate charts). I am knitting the bag because I really would like to have the bag, not so much because I enjoy knitting it. I am using Red Heart Super Saver because I wanted something cheap and easy to wash, though in retrospect, I should have just sucked it up and gotten some Plymouth Encore or something. *shrug* I’m slogging through it, bolstered by the fact that it’s really cute and I have adorable pink lining fabric.
More details on those will come later, when I get a little further into the construction. I mostly just wanted to show off my buttons. : )
Pattern: Everlasting Bagstopper by Amy Singer (Knitty)
Yarn: Lily Sugar and Cream Cotton in Jute (2 balls)
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm 24″ circular (Susan Bates, and then I switched to Knit Picks Options)
Modifications: Used a smaller needle and knit the bottom until I liked the size. Followed the directions through the pattern bit, then basically just did a couple rows of garter stitch. I don’t know what the actual directions say cause I didn’t read that far. The strap is just a hair ribbon thing that I tied on.
I still might put in a lining because I don’t really like the way it pulls and sags when I’ve got stuff in the bag. I also might put some plastic canvas or something in the bottom so it has a rectangular bottom instead of that pulling and sagging. But then again, I might not. But I don’t know how much use I’ll get out of this as is. So I’ll probably line it. Eventually.
In the last days of the final semester of my freshman year of college, I whipped out a little white shrug, partly to use up yarn, partly because I’d been meaning to make that particular pattern, and mostly because I felt I needed a shrug to wear over strapless dresses and tank tops.
Specs:
Pattern: Minisweater by Stephanie Japel
Yarn: Caron Simply Soft
Needles: US 9/5.5 mm Circular (The very annoying Susan Bates one)
Modifications: Scrapped the puffy sleeves and did regular raglan increases til the sleeves fit. Also scrapped the edging. I’m not sure what’s up with that. Has anyone actually knitted the edging on that sweater?
Anyway, the fit is fantastic and the Simply Soft actually works quite well in this pattern. I wouldn’t knit a whole sweater out of it because I imagine it would sag like hell, but it works for a little shrug. I think I will wear it a lot. : )
Okay, so this isn’t really a dramatic or terribly interesting project to post about, but I think it’s pretty, and it’s a knitted thing, so it certainly fits in here on this blog of mine.
SPECS:
Pattern: Harmonic Mosaic Cloth
Yarn: Lily Sugar and Cream in White and Playtime
Needles: US 7/4.5 mm
Modifications: None, reeeeally. I followed the pattern all the way through then switched colors and followed it through again then sewed the two together so I would have a washcloth with two right sides with patterns.
I like it. I think I will get some good use out of it, and I needed something for work anyway. Plus, it was pretty fun to knit and the effect is pretty cool. Also, I used up some stash yarn, which is always a good thing.
Coming soon: Stay tuned for pictures of the shrug (waiting for the sun, sort of) and things from the Craft My Wish swap (waiting for packages to be received by all parties). Also, there’s a rainbow swap coming up too. And a string bag. And a cable purse. Well, at least I’ll have lots of posts planned. : )
So I had to work (I’m a lifeguard/swim instructor) from 11 a.m. to 8:30 p.m. today, and that kind of sucks. But the day had a fantastic endcap: My last class of the night was cancelled due to thunderstorms and also lack of participants AND when I got home from work, on my bed, I found a package. I proceeded to squeal in excitement and tear it open:
My Knit Picks Options! And pretty fast shipping–I ordered them late Thursday night so they got the order Friday morning. Go Knit Picks! Anyway, I immediately put together the 24″ US 7/4.5mm needle because it’s the size I’m using for a string bag, and I was previously using a Susan Bates needle, and the cable is constantly all twisty. But look:
Not twisty at all! Eeeeee! I’m so excited about these needles. In my last Knit Picks order, I ordered US 6 and 7 16″ fixed and I haven’t gotten a chance to knit with them yet. : ( But I have PLANS. For HATS. And it’s going to be awesome.
Oh, and as for actual knitting progress:
Started a washcloth because I need one. And because this one is cool. And because this yarn is awesome (Lily Sugar and Cream in Playtime which should really be called Sunset). More deets later when it’s done (probably tomorrow if I can get all this swap done in time).
So I’m officially home for the summer, which is less than great, but it does mean I have lots of time for knitting and blocking and sewing and other such crafting. Which means I’ve finally had time to finish and block and photograph the Superman sweater. And I looove it.
Specs:
Pattern: Button Me Up by Lauren Chau (I really like her patterns, actually).
Needles: US 8/5 mm
Yarn: About 2.5 skeins of Ella Rae Classic in red and a half a skein of Lion Wool in blue.
Modifications: Pretty much ignored the sleeve instructions and did what I wanted, ignored the striping pattern because a stripe across the boobs looks good on no one. Probably made it longer, cause I do that. Long torso. Made the ribbing shorter. Don’t need five inches of 2×2 rib on my stomach and also I hate knitting ribbing. Also, did the button band different (one button) mostly because I fail at reading directions and did it incorrectly, though I like my mod.
So, I’m totally in love with this sweater and it’s definitely my favorite sweater that I’ve made to date. It fits wonderfully, it was fun/quick to make, and I love the color scheme. I am a huge fan of this sweater. Unfortunately, it’s made of wool and it’s currently almost May, so that’s a bit of a bummer. It almost definitely won’t be cold enough to actually wear it for a couple of months. 
Maybe I’ll be able to wear it around the house. My bedroom is a good 10 degrees (at least) colder than the rest of the house, and I actually have a little air conditioner back there. Hmm… I’ll find an occasion to wear it. : )
The yarn is nice, but it’s a little itchy, so I would definitely wear a long sleeved shirt under it. It’s lovely though.
Also, one more picture:
Meet Elizabeth, the mannequin bust my mother picked up for me in Florida over spring break. The size is off, but since I’ll mostly use it for modeling FO’s (easier to take pictures of it than myself) it’ll be close enough.
Currently on the needles: Various swap things, a string bag (Everlasting Bagstopper, if you’re curious), and fixing to be either a cabled bag (I need to get yarn for it though) or Climbing Vines pullover. I also recently finished a shrug, pictures of which will be up shortly/whenever I get around to it. They’ll probably be on Elizabeth. Cause that is WAY more convenient. : )
Another triangle scarf, because I like them.
Specs:
Pattern: None, it’s just a big triangle with some yo’s.
Yarn: Bernat Satin Sport in Seashore (love the color, not a big fan of the yarn)
Needles: US 6/4 mm
(More pics on this projects Ravelry Page
It’s basically a huge triangle of stockinette and I got bored, so I cast off a little too soon (because I’m project monogamous, so I couldn’t just start a new one). I still have about half a ball of the yarn left and the scarf is a wee bit too small, but it works and I rather like it anyway. It’s acrylic, so that was no fun, and the yarn was really splitty, so I had to pay attention and it wasn’t quite the mindless knit I had in mind.
Also, this was my first time using yarn thinner than worsted. I still prefer worsted and above, though the sport wasn’t too bad and it’s really more of a dk weight anyway. I ordered some fingering when I ordered from KP, but that will get turned into lace (or possibly Clapotis) so it won’t be too bad. I like knitting lace and it will be sufficiently complicated to keep me entertained.
Stitch, Brinn, Stitch! 