Stitch, Brinn, Stitch!

FO: Crofter Socks

October 17, 2012 in knitting, life | Tags: finished object, FO, knitting, socks | 1 comment

Ravelry tells me I started these socks on September 12, so I am super pleased to get them off the needles.

(Yes I know they don’t match. Apparently the yarn was not all the same colorway. I didn’t buy it; I just worked with what I had.)

Pattern: It’s a toe-up sock with Wendy Johnson’s gusseted heel. Wedge toe.
Yarn: Sidar Crofter DK, three skeins
Needles: US 2/2.75 mm

Sooooooocks. I love socks. I love handknit socks. These are pretty fabulous. I love long socks. There isn’t too terribly much to say about them other then they are very long and I like them. I don’t know much about the yarn, but it’s 60% acrylic, so we’ll see how it wears. I have other socks mainly composed of acrylic that I’ve purchased and they’re not too bad. So we’ll see.

In fandom news, I am on book 7 of the Star Wars X Wing series. I just today started Solo Command, the third Wraith Squadon book. I kind of love it. It’s super fun. After this is the Courtship of Princess Leia because I have fallen HARD for the Star Wars extended universe. Expect crafts about it. And, of course, you can follow my progress here

Also, I signed up for another swap. This one is Sherlock-themed, but nothing with that will happen for a while. I’m trying to do another round of OWS but I’m not sure what’s happening there.

In other knitting, I recently purchased this ebook and OMG LOVE. It’s so pretty. I’ve already cast on for the Parquet Underbust Corset and I plan to make like nine other things. I’m feeling a bit of cast on mania, but I’m trying to curb it. I’m thinking of ripping the Pfeiffer Falls scarf I started ages ago and working the Legacy Frock Coat in the scrummy worsted cashmere.

Doctor Who Swap: OMG ALL THE THINGS

October 14, 2012 in other people's crafts/cool things, paper craft, sewing, swap | Tags: doctor who, swap, the doctor, the empty child | 1 comment

OMG. YOU GUYS. My Doctor Who swap package. PREPARE TO BE AMAZED AND JEALOUS. Behold, my awesome haul from stafaniegk:

AHH WALL HANGING I LOVE IT. Check out this GQMF, Donna:

AHH A CLOCK. We so needed a clock. And of course I will tell people it’s half past David Tennent. BECAUSE YES.

CHECK OUT THESE BOXES. I love boxes. This are covered with Doctor Who goodness. The one on the right is entirely pictures from The Empty Child/The Doctor Dances. YAY. The boxes are from IKEA and I had to assemble them (which was… interesting). I’m highly amused that there’s a rivet that had to go through Rose’s temple:

All the doctors! I am going to store all the things. Inside this fab box was this:

Basically a billion cards (with envelopes!) all with Who quotes. SO MANY QUOTES. Inspiration for my next embroidery project. Will be sending cards to everyone I know. : )

Laminated copies of this pic. ADORABLE. Hello, new bookmarks.

And the best thing of all:

YOU GUYS, STEFANIE MADE ME GUESS WHO. IT’S GUESS DOCTOR WHO. AHH. I love it. Look at the little character cards:

And as if that wasn’t enough (which, Christ), she sent everything in this totally awesome box covered with Who pictures:

EVEN THE BOTTOM HAS PICTURES:

So yeah. All the things. I can’t even word you guys. I’m just stunned and so very grateful for the awesome people I get to swap with. Just… OMG.

FO: Star Wars Cross Stitch

October 12, 2012 in embroidery | Tags: blasters, cross stitch, embroidery, han solo, hoopla, star wars | Leave a comment

Sooo as I may have mentioned recently, I have fallen HARD into Star Wars fandom. I’m currently reading Wraith Squadron, which is obviously completely ripped off of Rogue Squadron but it’s so much fun that I don’t care. Related to that: I have recently started actually using Goodreads. You can find me here.

Anyway, I’m a big nerd and you know I make stuff when I fall into a fandom. So I made something. A cross stitch to be exact:

I used letter charting software available here and the blaster pattern from the original cross stitch here. I’m sort of in love with the result. It’s on, I believe, 14 count aida and mostly DMC floss.

The silver floss is metallic. Check it:

It was a huge pain in the ass to stitch with because it’s so slippery, but I made it work.

And now, about the hoop. I had a hoop that was the perfect size but I didn’t have the back. So I did some, um, construction of the part I had (I actually ended up breaking it so it’s rejoined into a circle with quite a bit of tape). I ran a line of stitching around the outside of the fabric and pulled to create a form for the hoop to sit it. Then I glued the fuck out of it.

Anyway, I love it. It’s sitting proudly up on my hoopla wall/door, which I finally got around to taking a picture of:

Every single one of those hoops is related to some fandom (Firefly, Angel, Avengers, BSG, Dr. Horrible, Rickroll (sort of!), Buffy) except for the one that says “Let there be love.” I’d say I need to stitch up some non-fandom hoops, but I really don’t. : )

Stay tuned for what I received from my Doctor Who swap because HOLY SHIT you will be jealous.

Yarnie V. Hooper Swap

October 10, 2012 in embroidery, other people's crafts/cool things, swap | Tags: captain hammer, doctor horrible, embroidery, rick astley, rickroll, swaps | Leave a comment

I AM TERRIBLE AT POSTING. What is this having a job nonsense? Don’t people know I’m supposed to be knitting and telling people on the internet about it? Anyway. As I mentioned, like a week ago, I received a while ago from the Yarnie vs. Hooper swap. And what I got was AMAZING and FABULOUS. AHH.

First, this fannish hoop:

Ahh, Doctor Horrible! I love it. Who watched the premiere on the CW yesterday? I don’t have tv so I didn’t, but I am fixing to watch it on Netflix. Bonus: My awesome partner dyed the muslin yellow.

Also, can we just talk about this satin stitch? Because damn. I hate satin stitch, but this is so PERFECT and so EVEN and I’m amazed. FOUR FOR YOU FELICIASLAYDCRG, YOU GO FELICIASLAYDCRG.

Aaaaand the second fabulous hoop:

I’m sooooort of obsessed with the Rickroll, especially in physical media like this. I LOVE IT. And look at the little stitched Astley! He’s so cute! The stitches are so little and even! AHH. My hoop wall/door is getting awesome. I love it.

I actually did some cross stitching myself, so I have to photograph that so I can show you. I will tell you that the fandom (because OF COURSE there’s a fandom) is Star Wars. My boyfriend got me in to the EU starting with Rogue Squadron and now I’m all obsessive.

I also received for the Doctor Who swap and OMG. Need pictures though. Plus all the stuff I’m knitting. Must blog more.

Doctor Who Swap: Part 1

October 3, 2012 in knitting, painting/art-type things, paper craft, sewing, swap | Tags: doctor who, drawing, fingerless mitts, finshed object, FO, galifreyan, knitting, painting, spoilers, swap, TARDIS | 1 comment

As promised, here’s what I made for the Doctor Who Swap on Craftster I participated in:

Pattern: TARDIS socks
Yarn: Lion Brand Sock Ease and some white and black scraps
Needles: US 1/2.25mm
Modifications: Well, they’re mitts and not socks soo….

I’m pretty chuffed with how they came out. They were a bit large for my hands, but I have small hands.

I made this zipper pouch, the fabric of which you will recognize from the drawstring bag I made myself.

This drawing of the Doctor’s name from his cot in “A Good Man Goes to War” (the second part; can’t remember what that one’s called). I actually traced it from my computer screen, though I did sketch it out more fully on my own.

I painted a notebook to look like River’s spoiler journal and coated it with mod podge. I drew this on the inside front cover:

It says “Spoilers” in circular Galifreyan. I love it.

I also made a card, but I don’t have a picture of it. I signed my name in circular Galifreyan thought. : ) My package should arrive sometime next week (excite) and I will definitely show that off.

Next time: What I received in the yarnies vs. hoopers swap. Because it’s awesome.

FO: Hello Kitty Scarf

September 30, 2012 in crochet | Tags: crochet, finished object, FO, granny square, granny squares, scarf, swap | 1 comment

Here is the second thing I made for the Yarnies/Hoopers swap. It’s crochet because sometimes I do that too.

Pattern: Hello Kitty Scarf from Made by K
Yarn: Wool Ease (white and pink), recycled acrylic/wool (pink and black), a tiiiiny bit of recycled shetland held triple (yellow)
Hook: H/8, 5mm
Mods: Oh so many. I followed the directions for the kitty faces sort of but I know how to make a granny square. I didn’t do the oblong ones, I just made regular ones. I also added an extra square behind the kitty face squares.

This is what the back of the Hello Kitty squares look like. I made two more squares but with one fewer round. Then I sewed them on and tucked all the ends behind it. That way I didn’t have to worry if my embroidery was messy or ends weren’t woven in perfectly.

There’s a picot edge all around the outside which was probably the most time-consuming part. I like how it came out though. I gave the scarf a quick steam block before I sent it out to help everything lie flat.

Here’s a close up of the Kitty square that isn’t awful. It’s the flower I think. The other one is sort of misshapen but it looks more or less like Hello Kitty.

This project made me remember how much I enjoy crochet and granny squares. Might have to make something with that soon.

And now, a fannish aside which will probably contain vague spoilers to last night’s Doctor Who fall season finale:

So who else watched it? Because MY FEELINGS. For one brief, shiny moment near the end I thought everything was going to be okay and then Moffat was like “lol NOPE.” But I wasn’t crying yet so I figured I’d be okay AND THEN THERE WAS THE AFTERWORD. And there were tears. Because AMY. I’m barely coherent about it. I’m going to miss those two SO MUCH. Because Rory. RORY.

Anyway. Next time on the blog will be some Doctor Who stuff from the Doctor Who swap. What I sent has been received for a while so I’m going to finally get around to posting pictures of what I made.

FO: Mandrake

September 28, 2012 in knitting | Tags: finished object, FO, harry potter, knitting, mandrake, swap, toy | 1 comment

Well it turns out that thanks to all the secret knitting I’ve been doing (which has all been received) I have quite the backlog of FOs to show off. This first one was made for a Yarnies vs. Hoopers swap on Craftster. I was a yarnie (obviously) and this is one of the things I made for my partner:

Pattern: Mandrake Plant
Yarn: Recycled cotton/linen blend and various green cotton scraps.
Needles: US 2 maybe? I sort of just grabbed some dpns.
Modifications: Knit the body in the round and pretty just made up the leaves/twigs as I went.

The face details are made by sewing a ridge into the fabric of the face, which was interesting to do. You can also see in the above picture that the head is a little misshapen. For some reason I got a big, thick trunk-like protrusion, even though I (am pretty sure I) followed the directions. Ah well. It’s a convenient grip point. And also, it’s like a tree? Anyway.

I’m pretty pleased with the leaves though, even though I had to sew them all to the body of the thing and I’m sure there were about a million of them. More like 18ish BUT STILL. There were many.

I made one more thing for this swap which I will show off next time. There’s also the Doctor Who swap. And you know I’ve been knitting and casting on.

FO: Dalek of Wedded Bliss

September 25, 2012 in knitting, life, sewing | Tags: bag, dalek, doctor who, finished object, FO, knitting, life, sewing | Leave a comment

Soo hi there! Sorry for the radio silence. Anyway, I can finally show off one of the super secret projects I’ve been working on. This past weekend the boy and I traveled up to Pittburgh for our friend’s wedding. And I, being the crafty sort, made her gift. It is totally geeky, like the newly weds. So yeah.

Pattern: EXTERMIKNIT
Yarn: 50/50 wool/acrylic blends recycled from sweaters in pink and black. Also some scraps of grey and a tiiiiny bit of blue.
Needles: US 8/5mm
Modifications: I started with the base then switched to pink to work from the bottom up. I also knit icord for the plunger and gun arms. My bobbles are also a bit smaller than written. There is floral gauge wire in the appendages. Oh, and I used slip stitches in the neck stripes bit to make it look more like a classic Dalek.

I’m kind of inordinately pleased with the eyestalk and the little blue bit. Yay.

If I were more clever, I would have included on the care tag (which I made later and did not photograph) some sort of “Exterminate” or Dalek pun buuuuut I’m not so I didn’t.

I also sewed up a drawstring bag to package everything in. Because wrapping paper is for people who don’t sew apparently. IDEK. Anyway.

So yeah. Wedding present times. Whoo! More knitting/crafting FOs soon, I promise.

WIP: Sweater and Socks

September 14, 2012 in knitting, Uncategorized | Leave a comment

As much as I would love to show off some FO pictures, most of the things I’ve finished recently are either super secret or swap stuff. Or shark mittens that I keep forgetting to photograph anyway. But I’m trucking along on some not-so-secret knits, and that stuff I can show you.

First, the lace sweater, which I’m calling Diamonds in the Rough:

I’m actually a bit further along than this– I finished the collar and am working on the sleeve cap shaping. I’m attempting a seamless set-in-sleeve and it has occurred to me that I possibly should have tried to make a sweater with seamless set-in sleeves, something I’ve never done before, in stockinette before I attempted it in lace, but oh well. It’s a learning experience. And the body fits pretty well:

The sleeves are going to be wide and I’m not sure what I’m going to do about that quite yet. I’m going to work the sleeve cap on both sides and then go from there.

The other non-secret thing on the needles is a pair of socks:

Well, one sock anyway. I’m using Sidar Crofter DK on US 2 needles. Toe up, obviously. Wedge toe. Will probably attempt a toe-up flap and gusset heel. I have three skeins of the yarn so I’m going to try to make them as long as possible.

I DID send my package for a Doctor Who swap yesterday, so when that is received, I can show pictures of what I sent. So stay tuned. : )

FO: Avengers Assemble!

September 10, 2012 in embroidery | Tags: avengers, cross stitch, embroidery, finished object, FO, hoopla, wee little stitches | Leave a comment

So remember how I said I was going to be back with a FO the other day? I totally meant to. And then there was a huge storm and most of my evening looked like this:

Yeah. So. Here I am today! I did some cross stitching the other evening and ended up with this sweet hoop:

I used the pattern from Wee Little Stitches. I left out Hank and Jan, obviously. I wanted to do the Hulk too but I didn’t feel like making one up, so I just went with the three boys.

It was a super fun, fast stitch. I have no idea what count aida cloth I used and most of the colors were DMC but that’s because I got most of them from a kit I got from my grandmother and the colors were labeled. Most of my thread is thrift store or yard sale stock so I don’t keep track of the color numbers. I use what looks good.

Here’s a close-up of little Thor, who was the most complicated because he has about eight billion different colors. But he’s so cute! I love this hoop. LOVE.

I wanted to include a pic of it on my hoop… door, but it’s not up yet. Another time, certainly.