Stitch, Brinn, Stitch!

FO: Betta Fish Rosie

February 19, 2012 in knitting | Tags: betta fish, commission, finished object, FO, knitting | Leave a comment

I received an email yesterday from a woman whose son recently lost his Betta fish to infection. She said she did not knit but her son was missing his pet and could I possibly make a knitted one for him that looks like his pet.

You can’t really turn down such an adorable request, can you? Of course not. This is the picture of Rosie she sent me:

I happen to have some blue/purple yarn that was a pretty close color match, though not shiny, obviously. Here’s the fish I came up with:

(It’s a little blue-er in real life.)

I used a slightly modified Betta fish pattern of mine. I added the front red bits and did the bottom fin a little differently than in the pattern. I sent a picture to the woman who requested the fish and her son is pleased with it. So that’s good.

Because what the hell good is knitting if you can’t occasionally help a sad kid?

(PS You can now purchase handknit betta fish on my etsy shop here.)

Futurama Swap!

February 16, 2012 in embroidery, knitting, Misc. Crafts, paper craft, swap | Tags: art, bender, cross stitch, drawing, finished object, FO, futurama, hypnotoad, knitting, paper crafts, robot devil, swap | 2 comments

My partner, TwistedTruth, received her package yesterday so I can FINALLY post about the completely awesome things I made her. I have been DYING to show you guys this stuff since I started. I am completely thrilled with everything I made. So here’s what I made:

First, the card:

Paper cut out, gold cardstock and black sharpie, covered with mod podge. Seriously, you guys. I need to do this paper cut out/pod podge delio more often because I really enjoy it and the results are usually pretty good.

Then a cross stitch bookmark:

I used the pattern that’s located here for the Professor then sewed some red felt on the back. My partner does a lot of ATC swaps, so I figure this could be a fabric ATC if she wanted.

Then I did some drawings, which isn’t a thing I usually do because I generally consider myself non-artistic. But I can copy an image pretty well:

Colored pencil and sharpie on card stock. My partner said she likes Pazzuzzu, the professor’s gargoyle. I thought this was a cute scene to sketch. I left the color testing on the side because I find that sort of thing interested, but she can trim it off if she likes.

Next is a somewhat more ambitious art piece:

Sharpie on card stock. Based on this toadily (yes, I went there) bitchin’ image here which is, of course, based on this iconic Obama poster. I am completely, utterly thrilled with how this came out and I am considering making another for myself. Because seriously, I’m toadily (yes, again) chuffed with it.

Last and not least (greatest, actually) is the pis de resistance, this fantastic stuffie:

It’s a knitted Robot Devil! Made in recycled wool. A pattern I made up as I went and which is probably entirely too complicated for me to want to write up. He has cardboard in the larger shapes and 18 gauge wire in the limbs so they can be posed. He doesn’t sit up very well but I think it’s a pretty good likeness.

Look at his little fingers!

I can’t wait to see what my partner makes for me but I’m so excited about the things that I made that getting stuff in return is just icing on my crafting cake.

Sweaters on the Needles

February 14, 2012 in knitting | Tags: cat pictures, knitting, sweaters, test knitting, wip, work in progress | 1 comment

I currently have a total of five knits on the needles, but we’re going to forget about the three I haven’t touched in ages to focus on the two sweaters I’ve got in the works.

The first is a heavily-modified version of the Airy Lace Wrap-Around Sweater from Fitted Knits. I just recently made one for a swap, but I’ve started another for me:

I’m using a recycled nylon/viscose/angora/cashmere blend, a laceweight held double. I’m using a smaller needle than recommended because my yarn doesn’t have the halo that mohair has. I’m going to make the sleeves and the body longer, forgo the cables, and probably mess with the wrap ties.

The second sweater I have OTN is a test knit, the thread for which is here. It’s a super cute vest with cable detailing.

This is a recycled merino fingering held double. I’m loving the fabric I’m getting.

And yes, those are my adorable adipose stitch markers.

BONUS! Kitty picture:

Sometimes Scrawny forgets to pull his tongue back into his mouth.

FO: Baby Sharks

February 12, 2012 in knitting | Tags: Etsy, finished object, FO, knitting, mittens, sharks | 2 comments

So remember when I said I was done making shark mittens for the season? Yeah, me neither.

Pattern: Deep Blue Sea (linked on my patterns page)
Yarn: Recycled hand dyed grey and recycled red
Needles: US 8/5 mm

They’re little! They took no time at all! I made some money for them! Whoo!

Posts coming up will be a bit more exciting because I’m finishing up my package for a Futurama swap on Craftster. I finished a big thing yesterday and it’s completely awesome (for a sneak preview, check out my Ravelry page. Not you, partner!)

FO: Airy Wrap Sweater (WWFY)

February 5, 2012 in knitting, swap | Tags: finished object, FO, knitting, mohair, swap, sweater, wrap sweater, wwfy | 2 comments

So that mohair wrap sweater I’ve been working on? It’s totally finished and in the mail to its owner.

(The recipient is bigger than me so I’ve got Elizabeth II on a larger setting.)

Pattern: Airy Wrap Around Lace Sweater by Stephanie Japel from Fitted Knits
Yarn: Knit One Crochet Too Douceur et Soie held double
Needles: US 11/8 mm straights and a 10.5/6.5mm circular for the sleeves
Mods: Added a slit in one side and made one front wrap shorter, as requested.

I really like this sweater a lot, and the fabric the yarn made is super soft and nice. The sweater’s recipient seems to like it thus far; I hope she likes it when she actually gets it. It was actually really fun to knit and working on 8 mm needles made it seem to fly by. It actually took about a month, but I was knitting other things at the same time.

Incidentally, this makes sweater number one for the year. And yes, I’m participating in the 12 sweaters/12 months challenge on Ravelry again this year. I made it to ten last year. I’m thinking I can probably make 12 this year but I probably don’t need 12 sweaters. Maybe I’ll make some for other people/swaps. I probably have 12 sweaters I want to make for me though.

I really think I might make a version of this sweater for myself out of some recycled merino/angora/nylon/cashmere. I’ll probably make a few changes (make the body longer, forgo the cables, full sleeves, more stitches for the fronts for better coverage. I think I’ll have enough yarn. And I really love wrap sweaters.

Doctor Who Swap

February 3, 2012 in other people's crafts/cool things, swap | Tags: adipose, craftster, doctor who, other people's crafts, swap, ten, tennant | Leave a comment

YOU GUYS YOU GUYS YOU GUYS! I received for my Doctor Who swap and it is the BEST THING EVER and you should all be jealous. SERIOUSLY.

!!!!!! Tiny Ten!!!!

He stands on his own! His glasses are removable! He has shoes! AND LOOK AT THAT HAIR. He has the most adorable little cowlick thing that Tennant rocks. I made some ridiculous noises when I pulled this out, let me tell you.

But also there were stitch markers! That are adipose!

Also, remember that Weeping Angel I crocheted?

I’ll make a proper TARDIS one of these days but for now, the note card was a perfect stand in.

So basically, I incredibly love dragonflyducky/Kerstin, and she is the best ever. (Seriously, did you see his little hair?)

For more Who crafts, the gallery is here.

Shameless Plug Time!

February 2, 2012 in blog, life | Tags: blog, boyfriend, joe, life, other peoples' blogs | Leave a comment

So I talk about my boyfriend fairly frequently on this here blog of mine. His name is Joe. He looks like this:

So he’s pretty amazing. He has a blog now! It’s muchly about music (orchestral and film in particular). He’s delightful and witty and humorous (and I’m not just saying that because I’m with him). Seriously, he’s great. Go read the blog. Be amused.

Blog blog!

Swap: One Tiny Doctor Who Thing

February 1, 2012 in embroidery, paper craft, swap | Tags: caftster, daleks, doctor who, ott, paper crafts, swap, weeping angel | 1 comment

As I’ve mentioned before, my love of a fandom is cemented when I craft for it. Well, I recently participated in a Doctor Who swap on Craftster.org. It’s a OTT thing swap, wherein you make one tiny thing based on the theme. I am super super proud of what I made. (dragonflyducky, if you haven’t received yet, no peeking!)

It took me a while to decide what I wanted to make, and I finally decided on an embroidery. And it’s great:

(It says “The angels have the phone box.”)

Check out those o’s! They’re so neat and even! For the angel, I found a picture of a Weeping Angel, then traced it from my monitor onto some tissue paper. Then I taped the tissue paper to a sunny window and traced the design onto my fabric. Yes, it was quite a few steps. Yes, it turned out awesome.

I also made a completely awesome card/bonus art thing.

The pieces were individually cut out of cardstock and glued down. There are a couple of pen lines but the majority is just bits of paper. The whole thing is coated in mod podge, giving it a sort of artsy feel. It’s kind of amazing. You may recall I made a similar card for my BSG swap. It’s a somewhat time-consuming process but the final product is so cool. I should do more art-type things.

I’m also currently involved in a Futurama swap, a hat swap, and I’m still working on the mohair sweater for WWFY. I like swaps. Also, yes, I’m a huge nerd. : )

WIP: Airy Wrap Around Sweater

January 30, 2012 in knitting | Tags: knitting, swap, sweater, wip, work in progress, wwfy | Leave a comment

So it turns out that a stockinette sweater with two strands of mohair knit on 6.5 mm needles goes really quickly. When I last showed you this sweater, I hadn’t separated the sleeves yet. It currently looks like this:

It’s fast. I started that sleeve last night. And I went to work today. And it’s almost done.

And I really do like working on this sweater. I’ll be sort of sad to give it up, but I did get some lovely yarn in return (Noro Aurora and Interlacements New Mexico) and I’ll definitely be making one for myself. At some point. Eventually.

I also have a scarf on the needles out of birthday yarn I got from my boyfriend. Also, I’m knitting one more pair of shark mittens. I know.

GUYS GUYS GUYS

January 27, 2012 in knitting | Tags: commissions, Etsy, finished object, FO, knitting, mittens, sharks | 2 comments

DO YOU KNOW WHAT THIS IS?

THIS IS THE LAST PAIR OF SHARK MITTENS FOR THIS SEASON.

I AM SO EXCITED. I GET TO KNIT THINGS FOR ME NOW.

Except not really because I am knitting a mohair wrap sweater for a swap. But more on that later. Anyway. Sharks.

They’re done. These ones are knit in Feza Yarns Zarone, which I dyed with RIT dye to get black. The red is from a GIGANTIC recycled JCrew sweater. I have never been more excited to be done with a series of things. OMG.

Anyway, yeah. More on the sweater later.

RAH!